{"meta":{"things":["Office Chairs","Vinobrew","Reconditioned Sander Drums","Lithographs"]},"text":["thomas jefferson, one of america's founding fathers, came up with the first swiveling mechanism for office chairs.","Decades later, charles darwin added small wheels, called casters, to his chair to roll it around the study as he worked on the theory of evolution.","Today, office chairs still swivel and roll.","The office chair has become a status symbol.","Executive versions have kingly dimensions.","They're extremely plush and have serious lumbar support.","Using a hydraulically powered machine, a worker bends 14-gauge steel tubing to form the bottom cushion frame.","He joins the ends and welds steel bars to the middle.","The bars will support the mechanism for adjusting the position of the seat.","He hooks s-shaped steel springs from the front to the back of the seat frame.","These sinuous springs will eventually provide a flexible web of suspension in the seat.","He positions the rods laterally and clips them to the springs for additional stability and support.","The office chair seat frame is now complete.","Next, a worker builds the chair's back frame.","The frame includes a spine lumbar support, armrest attachments, and other parts.","He grinds burrs and other rough spots from the steel.","In the upholstery department, another worker smoothes a leather hide so that it sits evenly on the cutting table.","He cuts out the patterns following cardboard templates.","As he cuts, he works around the natural flaws in the hide, making calculated decisions to minimize waste.","By cutting carefully, he'll be able to get all the leather he needs for one chair from this large hide.","That's important because color and grain can vary from hide to hide.","Using pieces from the same one will give the chair a consistent look and texture.","Once all the leather pattern pieces have been accumulated, another worker cuts foam cushioning for backing.","The density of the foam in the chair varies.","He uses more rigid foam for the chair's contoured cushioning so it will hold its shape.","Another worker selects softer foam for the part of the chair that the occupant's back will rest against.","He cuts slits into this softer back padding.","This creates channels that will ultimately become a design feature.","Using chalk, he draws lines onto the corresponding leather that match up with the slits in the foam.","A worker aligns the chalk lines in the leather with the slits and puckers the leather as he sews the backing to it.","This forms a ribbed pattern in the upper half of the chair upholstery.","He stitches the padding flat to many of the other pattern pieces.","This particular part is a side panel for the back of the chair.","Returning to the upholstery with the ribbing now, he sews contoured casings to each side.","To complete the back of the chair, workers add a chipboard panel and encase the structure with foam, then cover it with the leather upholstery.","Once the chair seat has been upholstered, an employee installs a plastic cover to enclose the back.","He screws a sliding plate to the base.","This mechanism will work in conjunction with the plate to slide the seat forward and backward, depending on legroom needs.","It also has features for adjusting the tilt and height of the seat.","The hydraulic cylinder for adjusting the seat height is next.","The cylinder also doubles as the chair's stem, and it swivels to allow the seat to rotate 360 degrees.","He attaches the aluminum base to the cylinder.","He snaps the casters into slots in the aluminum base.","He equips the back of the office chair with an automobile-style headrest.","The prongs fit into the brackets in the chair frame.","Finally, he locks the armrests into the frame.","This office chair is now ready to make someone's desk job a lot more comfortable.","Vinobrew is just what the name implies-- vino, meaning wine, and brew, referring to beer.","This hybrid beverage is part of a fledgling trend by some adventurous breweries and wineries to merge their two otherwise separate worlds of alcohol and create a unique drink.","This vinobrew is made from port-style sweet wine, dark strong beer known as stout, and another ingredient that's brewed-- coffee.","This concoction is the collaborative creation of a winery, microbrewery, and coffee producer.","The microbrewery grows some 20 different varieties of hop plants whose flowers contain the resins and essential oils that give beer its bitter and aromatic characteristics.","To begin the beer-making process, the brewmaster fills a tank, called a mash tun, with water, then ignites a burner.","When the water heats to around 150 degrees fahrenheit, he pours in a blend of different types of malts.","Malts are cereal grains such as barley or corn which have been soaked to kick-start germination, then, once sprouted, dried with hot air to halt germination.","Stirring the malt into the hot water activates enzymes that convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.","After an hour or so, he transfers just the liquid, called wort, to the boil kettle and gradually adds different varieties of hops.","He brings the wort to a boil to kill off bacteria and sterilize it.","Next, he cools the wort and transfers it to the fermentation tank.","Then he adds yeast.","Over the next 10 to 14 days, the yeast consumes the fermentable sugars in the wort, converting them into alcohol and producing carbon dioxide gas, which creates bubbles.","This process transforms the wort into beer.","At the coffee company, the hot coffee beans must be cooled quickly after coming out of the roaster so that they don't overcook.","This perforated cooling pan stirs the beans to help dissipate the heat, then a commercial coffee grinder grinds the beans into coarse-ground coffee.","To prepare coffee for the vinobrew, a worker puts grounds into a filter bag, saturates the bag with cold water, then submerges the bag in water, letting the grounds soak for about 16 hours.","Then he pours the coffee into a large jar.","At the winery, winemakers harvest and press the grapes, add yeast and ferment them, then age the port wine for at least 2 years in oak barrels.","To prepare to make vinobrew, the winemakers test samples from different barrels for acidity and sweetness to help decide which wines to potentially use.","The winemaker and the coffeemaker then experiment with amounts of those wines and different cold-brew coffees made from various types of beans.","The brewmaster also joins in, measuring out beer.","This process is as much art as science.","For each batch of vinobrew, the respective makers play with a selection of ingredients and with the proportions, tasting and smelling the samples to evaluate aroma, sweetness, bitterness, and acidity.","What they try to create is a harmonious blend of the three elements, a new flavor without the taste of any one element dominating the others.","Once they pin down the winning formula, they replicate it on a large scale for production.","The winery pumps the selected wine from storage tanks into barrels for transport to the brewery.","At the brewery, the brewmaster pumps the required amount of wine from those barrels into a blending tank.","He pours the required amount of cold-brewed coffee into the blending tank.","Then he pumps the required volume of beer into the tank.","Beer makes up the largest proportion of the recipe, followed by wine, then coffee.","After blending the ingredients in the tank, the brewmaster pumps the vinobrew into a beer keg.","Then he injects carbon dioxide gas to add more carbonation.","When you pour a glass of vinobrew, the bubbles rise to the top, producing foam known as beer head.","But while this might look and feel like regular beer, one sip tells you that vinobrew is uniquely different.","To refinish a hardwood floor, one has to sand it with a floor-sanding machine.","After a few thousand hours of operation, the machine's drum, which drives the sandpaper, wears out.","The contractor can either replace it with a new one or send the worn one out to be reconditioned.","This company specializes in reconditioning worn sander drums, that means restoring them to like-new condition.","A drum can be reconditioned as many as eight times before it has to be replaced.","The first step is to grind off what's left of the aluminum drum's worn rubber surface.","It gets worn down due to the drum rotation speed of up to 2,600 revolutions per minute and often gets damaged by running over protruding nails or carpet tacks.","A worn drum doesn't hold the belt of sandpaper taut, which causes the machine to slip to the left and right, rather than sand smoothly in a straight line.","A worker places the drum on a press to detach the arbor shaft, which attaches the drum to the sanding machine.","When the drum was new, its aluminum sides were freshly painted.","That paint is now mostly worn away.","Sawdust and rubber residue fill the drum's nooks and crannies, so a worker places the drum inside a sandblast cabinet and puts his hands through gloves that reach inside.","He holds the drum in one hand, a sandblasting nozzle in the other, and in a few minutes, the drum is pristine.","But it still has an ever-so-thin layer of rubber remaining, so another worker mounts the drum on a lathe and shears off the rubber with a knife.","Then he passes the knife again, removing a mere tenth of a millimeter of aluminum.","This exposes a new smooth aluminum surface.","Then a worker cuts a sheet of brand-new rubber to the exact length needed to cover the circumference of the drum.","The rubber is nearly two-thirds of an inch think, roughly twice the thickness of the worn layer they grinded off.","After clamping it down flat, the worker applies an adhesive designed for rubber.","Then he sprays an accelerant onto the drum's primed surface to strengthen its bond with the rubber.","He lets the accelerant dry for 6 hours, then spreads a second coat of adhesive on the rubber and wraps it around the drum.","Twenty-four hours later, with the adhesive cured, another worker mounts the drum on a lathe and trims off the excess rubber from both sides.","He then sands the trimmed edges to make them perfectly flush with the sides of the drum.","The drum goes back on the grinder now to finalize the overall diameter of the drum.","Using a ruler, a worker adjusts a measuring instrument, called a caliper, to the diameter measurement.","He then grinds down the rubber a bit at a time, spot-checking with the caliper regularly.","The worker stops grinding once the caliper check tells them the drum diameter is correct.","If a sanding drum isn't perfectly balanced, it vibrates and disfigures the floor, so a worker mounts the drum on a balancing machine.","He applies a band of masking tape and draws a black line on the tape to give the machine a reference point from which to start measuring.","As the machine rotates the drum, a sensor measures velocity on both sides simultaneously.","If the velocity is inconsistent on either side, he balances the drum by adding or reducing weight on the problem side.","To reduce weight, a worker drills a hole to remove aluminum.","To add weight, he fills the drilled hole with tin, a metal that's far heavier than the aluminum he removed.","The final step is to repaint the sides.","A worker masks the rubber with a template then sprays the aluminum with rust-inhibiting metal paint.","Now this main component of a floor sander is as good as new, ready to bring a worn wood floor back to life.","Lithography was discovered when german playwright alois senefelder had no paper handy for writing a laundry list.","So he wrote it down on a stone using a grease pencil and stumbled onto a new method of printing, one that relies on the chemical aversion of grease and water.","Lithographs can rival paintings for detail and mood.","They have a unique visual quality, and that's why making them hasn't become a lost art.","A lithograph starts with a flat limestone slab.","The artist confirms the same thickness all the way around the slab.","She now resurfaces the stone using a grinding tool called a levigator.","She wets down the surface of the stone and the levigator to allow the levigator to move freely across the stone during grinding.","The artist sprinkles silicon carbide grit on the stone.","She spins the levigator across the stone and, together with the grit, it grinds off the top layer.","This process removes the previous drawing and preps the stone for the next one.","She finishes the grinding with a finer abrasive to give the limestone a smooth finish.","Once the residue has been rinsed off, the stone is ready for a fresh image.","She brushes a natural gum, called gum arabic, around the edges, creating a border that will be receptive to water but not the printing ink.","This process makes a non-image area.","The artist marks up a piece of paper with a crayon made of wax, charcoal, and clay.","She places the paper on the stone, crayon-side down, and sets a drawing upside down on top.","She tapes the drawing to the stone.","She now follows the lines of the figure on the paper with a pencil, pressing firmly.","This transfers the drawing to the stone and creates a reversed image on it.","The artist simulates specks of snow, with a technique called stippling, with gum arabic and a brush.","She fills in the drawing using a greasy crayon.","The stone picks up and holds the greasy substance.","These crayons come in varying degrees of hardness.","Once the artwork is complete, she dusts the image with rosin which is a tree sap powder, followed by a talc powder.","This will ultimately protect the image during etching.","The artist then brushes gum arabic onto the art to protect the stone from the corrosive nature of the etching material, a mix of nitric acid and gum arabic.","This mixture alters the surface of the stone so that the image areas will attract ink, and the non-image areas will repel it.","She places a sheet of paper on the print stone and applies lubricant to the bottom of the scraper bar on the press.","She spreads more lubricant onto a tympan, a thin sheet of durable plastic, that she's placed on the paper-covered print stone.","This allows the stone to slide under the pressure of the press.","The artist moves the sliding press bed forward so that the lithography stone sits directly under the scraper bar.","She turns the mechanism to tighten the bar to the stone.","She moves the press bed forward to test the pressure of the scraper bar.","She confirms that the pressure is sufficient for printing but not too tight.","Satisfied, she removes the tympan.","She washes the crayon from the stone using highly refined mineral spirits.","What remains is a ghost of the image.","The artist then rubs a petroleum-based substance onto the stone that will serve as a base for the ink.","The substance attaches to the image on the stone.","Using a big leather roller, she picks up oil-based ink.","An assistant dampens the stone with a wet sponge.","The artist transfers the ink to the damp stone.","The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink while the wet parts don't.","The assistant moistens the stone again.","The artist places a sheet of print paper cut to size over the image.","She covers the stone with clear plastic tympan.","The press bed rolls forward until the stone sits directly under the scraper bar.","The preset bar applies the exact pressure needed to print the image onto the paper.","The artist carefully lifts the paper, revealing a perfect mirror image of the art.","Using the same stone, she can make hundreds more, each one a work of art."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Giant Valves","Sardines","Barographs","Disposable Diapers"]},"text":["Valves control the flow of liquids and gases through pipes and tubes.","They're so much part of our lives, we hardly think twice about them.","But a faulty valve in an airplane or chemical plant could be catastrophic.","Valves must be precision-made and trouble-free, whether it's small enough to fit inside the human body or as big as a car.","Many gate valves use handwheels to control the flow.","Turning this wheel opens or closes a gate or wedge inside the valve body.","This giant 11-ton gate valve works the same way.","It will receive an internal gate or wedge that starts and stops the flow of liquids or gases.","First, an automated horizontal boring mill prepares the valve body for assembly and for a controlling mechanism.","It takes a controlling mechanism or motor, not a handwheel, to open and close a wedge that weighs about 3,300 pounds.","An automated drill pilot drills the flange of the valve body.","This centers the holes used for the bolts that will connect the valve cover.","A technician double-checks to make sure the holes are in the right place.","Then an automated spade drill starts penetrating the flange.","Coolant prevents the steel from heating up and removes steel chips from inside the perfectly centered holes.","Meanwhile, the wedge is ready.","A propane torch preheats the wedge for the plasma-arc welding machine.","This machine hard-faces the sealing surface of the wedge, a process that ensures minimal wear.","Hard-facing creates three rows of weld beads, which will be machined smooth.","Before installing the wedge, a technician inserts a seat ring into the valve body.","A seat ring helps ensure precision fit with the wedge.","The ring fits into the grooved body cavity.","Then the technician sets another seat ring into place.","Before the wedge goes in, a semiautomatic welding machine welds the two seat rings into place using a rotating positioner.","Then a lapping machine inserted into the valve body polishes each seat ring to guarantee their finish is flat and smooth.","Next, a crane lowers the machined wedge into the body cavity.","Using a gauge, a technician verifies the gap.","He repeatedly checks to see what adjustments the wedge may need to ensure a tight shutoff.","Another technician installs a sealer gasket to prepare the valve body for the cover or bonnet.","Now he begins final assembly.","A fully adjusted wedge with the stem attached fits perfectly in between the two seat rings.","This stem will connect to the controlling mechanism that opens and closes the valve.","A crane lowers the bonnet with attached yoke assembly onto the body.","Its studs fit exactly into the holes that were drilled into the valve's flange at the start.","A technician readies all the bolts for machine tightening.","Then he greases the top part of the stem.","He lowers the controlling mechanism onto the stem, and he screws it into place until it's flush with the yoke, the top part of the bonnet.","A technician then bolts the controlling mechanism onto the yoke.","Finally, another technician spray-paints the fully assembled gate valve with a protective coat of corrosion-resistant paint.","Precision-made gate valves are expertly crafted.","They come in all shapes and sizes and are equipped with controlling mechanisms or handwheels.","From refineries and nuclear power plants to submarines and aircraft carriers, gate valves are helping our world run safely.","The health benefits of eating fish are always under study.","Today, it's said that most fish, like sardines, are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids.","If you want to make healthy eating choices, you need to stay informed, so seeing how these little guys end up on your kitchen table is a good way to start.","Sardines from the pacific coastal waters off of costa rica are freshly packaged in a variety of tasty flavors.","It starts when sardines are put into a vat of icy water to keep them fresh.","The temperature of the fish must be kept below 41 degrees fahrenheit to avoid spoiling.","The fresh sardines then go through a machine that deposits the fish onto sorting lanes.","Each lane allows a certain sized fish to fall through the gap onto a chute below.","Sorted as small, medium, or large, the fish drop into the proper container.","Then workers load a specific size of sardine into a machine that removes the scales.","Removing the scales takes 3 to 11 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.","Once done, there is no mistaking a sardine with or without scales.","Workers then place descaled sardines onto trays that take them into a cutting machine.","They arrange the sardines on the trays in such a way that blades inside the machine will cut off the heads and tails.","A look inside the cutting machine shows how it removes the heads and tails and sends them on their separate ways.","It also cuts open and cleans out the bodies of the sardines and readies them for packaging.","The packing cans travel by conveyor to a work station, with their bottom side up and open.","They fill the cans manually to decrease the possibility of introducing foreign matter into them.","The worker draws on his experience to estimate the required weight, then stuffs and trims the fish to fill the cans one by one.","To be sure each can is exactly the right weight, he weighs and adjusts the amount in each tin.","In only a matter of minutes, he completes a set of cans.","Then another worker turns the set over and sends the open-bottom cans into an oven that cooks the sardines at about 212 degrees fahrenheit.","After cooking for about 25 minutes, a worker turns the set of cans over again and transfers them onto a conveyor system.","All the cooked sardines gradually funnel into a single file, and depending on the product, a filling machine treats them to oil or a specific flavor of tomato sauce.","The filling machine overfills the cans with sauce, but a flute hidden inside the machine removes just enough sauce to put the lids on properly.","The machine pressure-seals the lids onto the cans so that when they exit the machine, they're airtight.","The traveling cans then enter a machine that washes them in about 194-degree water and makes them spotless.","Pallets of cans then go into a chamber that sterilizes the product to keep it fresh.","Then the cans go into a labeling machine that applies a thin coating of glue and precut paper labels onto each one.","The finished product comes out of the machine with an attractive full-color label, ready to ship to the customer.","Sardines come in a variety of flavors with easy-to-open packages that maintain the freshness of the fish.","Ancient civilizations tried to forecast the weather by observing cloud patterns or even using astrology.","Today, we rely on instruments like the barometer or the barograph, which automatically records on paper the variations in atmospheric pressure.","High pressure indicates good weather.","Low pressure means bad weather is likely.","This barograph has three main parts-- the recording arm, the cells that react to atmospheric pressure, and a rotating drum.","To make the drum's lid, a die-press operator stamps out a 3½-inch disk from a long strip of brass.","He cleans off the grease from the die press and places the disk on another press to form an edge.","To make the drum, he cuts a 4-inch-long cylinder from a brass tube.","Next, he places the drum on an arm that rotates at high speed.","He etches fine lines into the brass using steel wool.","Thanks to a handy rotating device, all the drums get an even coating of protective lacquer so the brass doesn't corrode.","The barograph's mechanism rests on a solid brass plate that's 8½ inches long by 5 inches wide.","A worker greases each one and then places them on a press that punches out the holes for the fastening screws.","Next, he places the plate in a metal holder and buffs it with a rotating polishing brush.","He applies wax to the brush to help achieve a perfect mirror finish.","Now workers use a fine grade of sandpaper to polish the solid brass arms that will hold the working parts in place.","Then they line them up on a board and buff them with a polishing brush.","How do they get those parts so shiny?","By washing off any machine grease before polishing them.","Putting the barograph together is precision work.","Laid out before the assembler are all the working parts she will need.","She begins with an arm, inserts a brass screw, then sets in a second arm and attaches them to the baseplate.","These hollow metal cells are the key to the mechanism.","Air pressure makes them expand and contract.","The barograph records this movement to measure high and low pressure systems.","The cell stack is put in place on the baseplate.","Then they add the lever system that connects the recording arm to the paper.","This lever system connects to the arm, raising and lowering it so the felt pen at the tip can record changing air-pressure levels on the drum's rotating chart.","The assembler inserts tiny pins to hold it together.","Inside the drum's base is a battery-driven quartz clock, which maintains a steady rate of rotation.","Now she wraps the chart around the drum and attaches a brass clip to hold it in place.","The drum rotates once over a seven-day period, so slowly that the movement is invisible to the naked eye.","There's a gear system inside the drum, which rotates it once it's set on the axle.","A brass screw holds it in place.","Now the worker puts the mechanism on a mahogany base.","She screws it into place, then covers it with a glass and mahogany housing.","Brass hinges and a closing mechanism hold the housing firmly in place and provides easy access.","A quality controller places the barograph into a pressure-sealed chamber to check its accuracy.","He compares the barograph's recordings to gauges outside the chamber that measure the changes in air pressure that he applies inside the chamber.","This weekly chart shows hour-by-hour recordings of air-pressure variations measured in hectopascals, a unit of atmospheric pressure.","Barographs are available in a variety of designs, from modern to traditional brass and mahogany models that any sailor would be proud to own.","Parenthood has many joys, but a dirty diaper isn't one of them.","And that's why we have disposable diapers.","They were first introduced in the 1940s for travel use.","It took several years for the idea to catch on.","But when it did, diaper duty was never the same.","Many would say disposable diapers represent a change for the better, helping parents make the best of a messy business.","They start with superabsorbent polymer particles, which drop into a forming chamber.","Pulp unwinds into the same chamber.","A spray of water helps suppress any static electricity that could interfere with processing.","Inside, the pulp mixes with the polymer particles.","The result is this fluffy absorbent material that will be the diaper core.","This rotating drum has a vacuum that shapes the fluffy material into padding.","Another vacuum drum then merges the padding to a moving web of fabric.","Guides fold the fabric around the padding, and a hot adhesive seals it.","At this debulking station, rollers compress the padding, making the diaper core slim enough to comfortably fit a baby.","A cylindrical cutter slices the diaper core to size.","At another station, plastic film winds around guides and merges with another stream of fabric.","Machinery glues the layers together to form the diaper's back side.","Next, equipment pulls elastic bands into other layers of fabric to make leg cuffs and outer gathers on the top portion of the diaper.","The elastic will ensure the diaper fits snuggly, preventing leaks.","Each diaper will be equipped with a set of these front tabs punched out by this rotating die.","This cylinder applies stretch side panels to the top part of the diaper, which has the leg cuffs and gathers.","The absorbent core now meets up with the back side of the diaper.","And then the other layers come together and adhere.","A computerized system monitors the assembly.","Incredibly, it takes less than a quarter of a second for all the layers of the disposable diaper to be assembled.","The diapers now travel past guides that fold down the tabs and side panels.","The diapers are then cut into individual units.","Again, belted rollers compress the completed diapers.","Paddles then fold them in half.","Conveyor belts relay the folded diapers to a carousel.","Finger paddles separate them and position them for packaging.","Sensors count the diapers as they move toward compression arms that squeeze the required number together.","A pusher swoops in to slide the diapers into a bag.","Vacuum arms open the bags right on cue.","Hot bars seal the package full of diapers.","It then moves down the line to be packed into boxes for shipping.","Each disposable diaper has a phenomenal capacity to absorb liquid, and the key is those polymer particles.","They act as tiny gel sponges, expanding to hold many times their weight in fluid.","Cut open a wet diaper, and you'll discover the liquid has turned the solid particles into gel.","The proof is in the weighing.","For example, this dry diaper comes in at about an ounce and a half.","When wet, it weighs over 18 ounces.","And that's the bottom line."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sawhorses & Toolboxes","Sorbet Pops","School Buses"]},"text":["When it comes to construction, renovation, or simply repairs, whether you're a seasoned pro or a do-it-yourselfer, having the right tools makes the job easier.","Sawhorses support the piece of wood you're cutting, and a toolbox keeps your implements organized and portable.","Sawhorses are always sold in pairs because you need two under a piece of wood to stabilize it for cutting.","By pulling the hinged tray upward, the sawhorse collapses flat for transport and storage.","This model is made from pellets of an exceptionally strong type of polypropylene plastic.","A vacuum system draws the pellets into an injection-molding machine.","The machine melts them then shoots the liquid into a mold.","It takes about a minute for the liquid to solidify, at which point the mold automatically opens, and an articulated robotic arm removes the parts-- for each sawhorse, two halves, the legs, and two panels which form the collapsible hinged tray that holds those legs open.","The robot drops those parts at the first assembly station, where a worker joins each panel to a sawhorse half and applies non-slip footpads.","These pads help keep the sawhorse stable and protect the floor from scratches.","The worker lays out the parts for both sides of the sawhorse in a positioning fixture then activates the press a couple of times to snap the parts together.","At the next station, a worker inserts ribbed rubber pads into molded holes on top of each sawhorse half.","These anti-slip pads help hold large pieces of wood steady on the sawhorse.","Next, he lays both sawhorse halves on the work table and with a tool called a stamping arm, snaps the two panels together.","This forms a strong hinge, which opens and collapses the tray.","The sawhorse is now finished and heads to the packaging station.","There, a worker stacks two sawhorses, then, with a foot pedal, activates a machine which binds them with a plastic strap.","Then she tapes on a wrap-around label.","Have tools, will travel.","This two-piece toolbox consists of a large storage tub on the bottom and a spacious toolbox on top.","Like a rolling suitcase, it has two large polypropylene wheels with molded-on rubber treads and a collapsible pull handle.","A toolbox doesn't have to withstand pressure bearing down on it, so it's made of standard, rather than high-strength, polypropylene.","The injection-molding process is the same.","The storage tub, the toolbox bottom, and the toolbox lid are each molded separately.","In the assembly area, workers apply an adhesive label on the front of the toolbox then install the latches for locking the lid.","The latches slide into molded slots.","After inserting a removable tray, workers install the lid with a few strikes of a non-marring urethane hammer.","Both lid and latches snap in easily because the polypropylene is still hot and flexible.","Once it cools and becomes rigid, the lid and latches can't dislodge.","To assemble each wheel, workers position a star nut and steel axle into the wheel, then, with an assembly ram, press the axle into the star nut to lock the parts together.","They snap a wheel onto each side of the tub portion of the toolbox, then, with a press, force the wheels into their final locked position.","Once the toolbox and tub portions are each separately assembled, workers hang a parts tray on the rim of the tub then sit the toolbox on the tray and lock it in place with two large side hinges.","And that completes construction of this workshop on wheels.","Traditionally, sorbets have been dished up between courses to refresh the palate, but served in a squeezed-up pop, a sorbet becomes a snack you can grab anytime-- no need for scoops, spoons, or dishes.","Just squeeze the sorbet out of the paper sleeve.","Now that's refreshing.","A long favorite of foodies, fruit sorbet has gone mainstream with these squeeze-up pops.","More fun than a few scoops in a dish, sorbet pops are also lower in calories than a lot of other snacks.","They start with freeze-dried rice syrup.","They pour it into a mixing vat that's a mega version of a home blender.","They add strawberry puree.","This is the main ingredient of the sorbet pops.","The berries were pulped within 12 hours of harvest.","The next ingredient is cane sugar.","It's followed by strawberry essence-- compounds extracted from the berries for more intense flavor.","They turn on the tap for the final ingredient-- water.","It's time to close the lid and power up this industrial blender.","The mixer has four blades that turn at a high velocity.","They whip up the sorbet ingredients to the consistency of a fruit smoothie.","The sorbet mixture then flows into refrigerated pipes that chill the mixture to 40 degrees fahrenheit.","The pipes wind around the factory and finally deliver it to holding tanks.","Inside, an agitator swirls the chilled mixture to maintain the smoothie-like consistency.","Once a tank is full, a technician tests the acidity and the level of suspended sugars in the mixture.","If the levels are right, they transfer the mixture into a continuous freezer.","It pumps air into the sorbet mix, and it churns and scraps it against the freezing-cold walls of the machine.","Cool water runs through the motor to keep it from overheating as it freezes the sorbet.","This is only a partial freezing to keep the sorbet soft enough to be pumped into the paper squeeze tubes.","A device with little robotic fingers pries the papers tubes from a stack and deposits them in slots in a moving tray.","The tubes are in position to receive the partially frozen sorbet, and because the sorbet is only partially frozen, it is able to now flow through conduits.","Frozen solid, it couldn't make the journey to the squeeze tubes.","As the sorbet is pumped into the paper sleeves, its temperature is critical.","It is precisely 37.8 degrees fahrenheit.","One degree cooler and it would be too thick to pump.","A degree warmer, and ice crystals would form during the final freezing.","The next machine collects foil lids from a pack, using rubber heads with tiny magnets in the center.","It deposits the lids onto the sorbet-filled tubes.","The foil lids stick to the glue-coated rims.","This line fills 280 paper sleeves with fruit sorbet per minute.","That's just under 17,000 per hour.","An iron applies heat to the lids to further melt the glue and provide a water-tight seal.","It happens fast so the sorbet doesn't have time to start melting.","Sealed and partially frozen, the sorbet pops cascade into crates.","Each one holds about 100 pops, so they don't need to keep count.","And then it's into the blast freezer, also know as the shock freezer.","Fans circulate the cold air to rapidly lower the temperature of the sorbet pops, bringing it down to -24 degrees fahrenheit.","This fast freezing prevents the formation of large ice crystals that would damage the consistency and flavor of the sorbet pops.","Out of the freezer, a mechanized arm grabs and opens cardboard boxes.","A pusher shoves the sorbet pops into the boxes.","And they're ready to grab and squeeze.","The big yellow school bus puts millions of children on the road to an education.","It all started in the 19th century with horse-drawn trucks known as kid hacks.","The word \"hack\" was short for hackney carriage.","In the 20th century, they were motorized and became known as school buses.","Every school day, children across north america wait for the school bus.","Appearance-wise, it's hard to miss.","Big and yellow, it is deliberately conspicuous, designed to stand out in traffic so other drivers slow down and take notice.","Manufacturing starts with a support structure-- the steel underframe.","They arrange several short rails down the top of two long frame rails.","These cross rails will link the long rails and provide strategic support.","Using the lift, they raise the long rails, and the cross rails slide into position just under the rims of the long ones.","Now, in a fixture that pins the rails together, workers bolt them together.","With the school-bus underframe assembled, they roll in two enormous wheel axles complete with brakes.","Overhead cables lift the bus frame and workers guide it into place on the axles.","They attach the axles to the frame with metal brackets, shackles, and spacers where needed.","The chassis is ready for the engine.","They lower it onto the front of the frame and secure it with bolts.","The school-bus engine packs a lot of power.","It's diesel-fueled with six cylinders.","Next up is the front cal assembly, which includes the instrument panel and steering column.","A workers wires the steering wheel to the controls in the column and slides it into place.","They mount the tires and rims-- four on the back axle to handle the heavier passenger load and two on the front.","Using a multi-pronged tool, the worker tightens numerous nuts to fasten the wheels to the axles.","They now encase the engine with a fiberglass hood.","The hood has been pre-painted and equipped with cross-view mirrors and headlights.","They bolt it to the vehicle frame, and after adding antifreeze and coolant, the bus is technically drivable.","They roll it over to a test station to check the brakes.","The wheels turn on rollers so the bus runs in one spot.","A computer monitors the performance of both the front and back brakes as a driver applies them.","They now move on to build the school-bus body.","The body starts with the floor.","They unwind double-sided galvanized steel into a machine that slices it into panels.","It also cuts holes to be used for assembly.","A forming machine folds the sides to create support beams.","Two more steel beams will really stiffen the floor panel.","A worker positions those beams on the panel, and an automated machine welds them to it.","It feeds the floor panel to the welder incrementally so it can spot weld down the length of the beams.","It takes dozens of welds to solidly secure the steel supports.","And with those reinforcements, the floor panel is complete.","It's ready for assembly.","Workers arrange several panels upside down in a precise configuration.","Then it's into a second automated welder that joins them to make one school-bus floor.","After manually welding pockets for wheels, a machine called the floor flip picks up the bus floor and turns it rightside up.","They're now ready to build the passenger compartment, so stay tuned.","A school bus transports precious cargo-- children.","To hold the average bus together, they use an incredible 6,100 rivets, bolts, and screws and make a total of 840 welds.","For the maker of school buses, there's strength in those numbers.","To build the frame for the school-bus walls and ceiling, they bend steel beams into bow shapes.","A hydraulic machine with pushers does the job in seconds, achieving an exact radius.","The bows will serve as ribs for the school-bus body.","They make several bows for each bus.","The precise number depends on the bus size and capacity.","Workers plug the ends of the bows into holes in steel rails and secure them with bolts.","They weld lateral supports higher up, and the cage-like skeleton of the school bus takes shape.","They're now ready to build on this framework.","They attach the metal windshield surround.","The team then moves the steel side sheets and skirting into place.","They secure these panels with super-strong adhesive and numerous rivets.","Using cables and nylon straps, they pull steel sheets to the roof structure to make them conform to the contours.","The steel is 20-gage-- a grade that's flexible enough to be easily bent.","The cables hold the steel panels tightly to the roof structure while the workers rivet them to it.","The number of rivets and the strength of the joints are among many government safety standards the school bus must meet.","Working from the inside, they glue fiberglass insulation into the pockets of the cage to keep the bus warm in winter and cool in summer.","The insulation will also muffle road noise and absorb some of the student chatter for a quieter ride.","The team installs steel panels on the ceiling.","These panels have tiny perforations to allow sound to escape into the insulation.","They tape up the windows and doors and sand some areas as they now prepare to paint the exterior of the bus.","The paint, national bus yellow, takes the metal from dull to bold.","This shade was developed specifically for school buses and can be noticed even with peripheral vision.","With the paint now dry, they open the doors and lay a plywood subfloor inside.","It too will absorb noise.","An employee drives the chassis over to the school-bus-body production line, and parks it.","Using cables, they lift the bus body over to the chassis.","At over three and a half tons, it's hefty.","They gently lower it onto the frame rails and mate the front to the hood.","They tie the body to the frame with heavy-duty clips.","They arrange the seating to surround the passengers with cushioning.","This creates compartments around the occupants to protect them in a collision.","Outside, a worker applies school-bus lettering.","Another worker presses an adhesive-backed manufacturer's emblem to the hood.","They equip the bus with the flashing lights and stop signs to get the attention of other drivers when children are loading and unloading.","They also install a crossing gate to keep children within the bus driver's sight line.","They test all of the warning lights and safety devices.","And satisfied that everything is operational, the bus rolls off the production line.","It's taken a day and a half to build it, and when it comes to an education, it's ready to deliver."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Compact Discs","Mozzarella Cheese","Pantyhose","Fluorescent Tubes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Compact discs...","Mozzarella cheese...","Pantyhose...","And fluorescent tubes.","Today there's virtually no limit to the information we can store on compact discs.","Millions of bits of data representing words, numbers, music, graphics, or even video can be stored on the discs.","Let's take a \"spin\" through a cd factory.","Compact discs are copies made from an original glass master disc.","A thin plate of glass is first placed in this unit, which brushes the surface clean.","Cleaning is done with de-ionized water and a small goat-hair brush.","The excess water is eliminated by the rapid rotation of the disc.","The disc then goes into this surface analyzer, where a laser beam inspects the cleanliness of the surface.","At this stage, two chemicals are applied-- a primer and a photoresistant coating.","This operation is done at a temperature of 70 degrees fahrenheit and lasts three minutes.","The disc is carefully retrieved from the apparatus.","Then the photoresistant coating dries in an oven for 30 minutes.","This developer has two spouts.","One applies a de-ionized water, and the other sprays a solution to develop the data etched on the glass.","The information is now engraved on the disc.","Then the disc is placed in this metal-coating equipment.","The next step consists of applying a thin coating of nickel and vanadium.","This electroforming process results in the master from which discs will be made.","The etched glass is immersed in a chemical solution for 70 minutes.","Then the plated piece is removed, thus obtaining a die.","The die is sent off for finishing.","It is stamped out into the desired shape.","The excess material is recycled.","Next, the compact discs will be fabricated from this master unit.","Here we clearly see the stamping-out technique.","The master is taken out.","A technician peels off the film which protected the data etched onto the die.","After a visual inspection, the die is sent to the pressing department.","The die is delicately installed in the mold, which will form compact discs.","Discs are made from a very special plastic called \"polycarbonate\".","The mold is closed, and liquid polycarbonate is injected into the die.","It comes out as a small, hard, translucent disc.","It is now ready to be metal-coated so it can be read by a compact-disc reader.","A robotic arm lifts the disc from the mold and places it on these supports.","This metallizing process is extremely short and very simple, taking but a second.","It consists of covering the plastic disc with a very thin coating of aluminum.","Here we see the inside of the mold, where the aluminum coating is applied.","In this facility, almost everything is automated, helping them produce over 100,000 compact discs per day.","Protecting the surface of the disc is essential, so a coat of varnish is applied.","This also helps silk screening stick to the surface.","Ultraviolet lamps quickly dry the varnish.","And here in the pressing room, they apply the label.","This step is also very fast since the machine prints 70 discs in 60 seconds.","Once the silk-screening is completed, the finished discs leave for packaging.","In a sandwich, as a topping, or all by itself, cheese has always been a popular food.","This dairy product goes back thousands of years, and it's always started with three basic ingredients-- milk, curds, and whey.","Just ask little miss muffet.","Like all cheeses, mozzarella starts from milk.","To assure good milk quality, the interior and exterior of milk-transport trucks must be washed after being emptied.","A tank such as this one can carry an average of 8,000 gallons of raw milk at temperatures between 37 and 39 degrees fahrenheit.","Raw milk destined for cheesemaking contains 3.8% fats and 3.3% proteins.","They store the milk and whey, a milk by-product, in these immense silos, each with a capacity of 59,000 gallons.","This milk separator extracts surplus cream to adjust the percentage of fat according to the type of cheese to be made.","Fabrication begins with this tank, which feeds the pasteurizer.","Pasteurization sterilizes beverages which can easily ferment.","Milk samples are drawn off to accurately determine their milk-fat and protein content.","Tests are carried out in this laboratory, where they impose controls.","These test tubes contain milk samples which will undergo microbiological analysis.","Milk quality must be impeccable.","This is a curdler with a capacity of 6,600 gallons.","Here milk and other essential ingredients are introduced, such as the enzyme, rennet, that curdles the milk.","This mix must be well-stirred and cooked.","The agitators are used to cut the whey into little lumps.","This step takes about 30 minutes.","The temperature of the tanks depends on the type of cheese they're making.","Agitators continue stirring the milk.","Once cooking is done, the whey is pumped onto tables to be drained.","It stays there for about 25 minutes.","The solid and the liquid are now well-separated.","The liquid we see draining is called the \"lactoserum\".","The lactoserum will be concentrated and transformed into milk by-products.","The water has been almost entirely extracted, and the cheese particles are now sufficiently dry.","This large automated blade then moves cheese particles towards the next step-- the molder.","In the molder, the cheese is cut up before being carried to the cooker-- the final processing step.","It appears that this mozzarella has just the right texture.","The cheese finally arrives at the molder, which will give it the proper shape.","Each mold has a 5 1/2-pound capacity and is rectangular.","Brine, a salt solution, cools and salts the cheese blocks.","The blocks are unmolded and fall into a brine tank.","The cheese blocks will remain in another brine solution for a while.","Then they're carried by a conveyor towards another tank, where they will be immersed for 4 to 10 hours at a temperature of 36 degrees fahrenheit.","Sprays of brine remove the foam which forms at the surface of the tank.","The 8,000 gallons of milk we saw coming in by truck at the beginning have enabled the factory to produce 1,400 blocks of cheese in 8 to 12 hours.","Finally, the cheese blocks are vacuum-packed and ready for shipment.","There was a time when women wore silk stockings.","Then came the invention of pantyhose, a cheaper, more convenient alternative.","Pantyhose are knitted from strands of raw nylon.","It's no \"stretch\" of the imagination to say that when they go on sale, there's usually a \"run\" on them.","Making a nylon stocking takes only a few minutes.","However, it's a complex operation that involves the knitting of five to eight threads as fine as a hair.","The threads, usually nylon and spandex, are used along with elastic.","Sometimes polyester or cotton are added.","The knitting machine goes into action.","This one fashions a tube for sheer stockings in 90 seconds.","In three minutes, it makes a tube for tights.","Its speed is adjusted according to the product being made, varying between 750 and 1,200 revolutions per minute.","Once the tube is knitted, it is sucked up and lands in a bag, where it will be inspected.","More than 500 machines share the work, each making a specific model.","The two ends must now be joined.","This automated machine assembles the two tubes together to form the pantyhose.","Then scissors cut the pantyhose, a necessary step in production of a pair.","This opening is enlarged to allow for sewing, which will join the two tubes at the top of the leg.","The label with the size or brand name is sewn in place in 10 seconds by this robotic machine.","At this pace, it sews on 4,800 labels in 8 hours.","Installing a gusset requires some preparation.","Scissors makes a hole at the joining point.","Then the stocking is turned inside out by suction so certain stitching can be done on the inside.","Thus, these stitches will be less visible.","Now the foot must be sewn.","This robotic machine places the foot in position.","Then a sewing machine makes stitches at the same time it cuts away excess material.","This step takes only 10 seconds.","Then the pantyhose is turned right side out, again using suction.","Everything is ready for installation of the gusset.","The pantyhose is placed in a tub and taken to this department.","The stocking is again suctioned and placed on a gusset machine by the operator.","This method assures that the gusset will be well-centered without a pleat.","Putting in the gusset is the final operation in the process.","A precut piece of cotton is slid into the space reserved for the gusset and automatically sewn in.","Only aesthetic touches remain, such as adding a little color to the pantyhose.","They're placed in this machine, which has a large drum with four compartments and a 99-pound capacity.","The pantyhose are washed in soapy water, then immersed in dye.","Temperature climbs gradually to 200 degrees fahrenheit.","After a 5-minute rinsing cycle, a softener is added.","This process takes 2 1/2 hours.","Once dried, they proceed to inspection.","The pantyhose is placed onto a form which stretches it to allow inspection for any imperfections.","If all is well, the pantyhose is transferred onto another metal form, where it will be pressed.","The pantyhose's position is guided by a magic eye.","The pantyhose is then carried toward a steam room, where it will stay for 2 1/2 seconds before being dried in 7 1/2 seconds at 280 degrees.","They fold and pack 420 pantyhose per hour and make 180,000 pairs per day.","Throughout the ages, artificial light has let people extend the convenience of daylight long after the sun goes down.","Fluorescent tubes are more energy-efficient than light bulbs.","That's probably why they've become a \"fixture,\" so to speak, in stores, factories, and offices.","Once, the only source of light was the flame of fire in the forms of torch, candle, and oil lamps.","It remained so right up until the 19th century, when gaslight made its first appearance around 1840.","Almost 40 years later, thomas edison invented his famous incandescent light bulb.","In 1909, the frenchman georges claude developed the fluorescent tube, a light that remains unaltered to this very day.","Did you know that mercury allows us to see in the dark?","The production of fluorescent lamps is highly complex.","The fabrication process starts with glass tubes that have been meticulously cleaned with warm water to remove dirt and impurities.","Then the tubes have to be specifically shaped with a folder-shaper.","They're heated for 30 seconds, then quickly curved using a template.","This automated machine can bend 14 tubes a minute.","The bent tubes go into the coating chamber, where a thin coat of phosphorus is applied to their inner surfaces.","Phosphorus produces light by transforming ultraviolet photons generated by the ionization of mercury.","The surplus phosphorus is removed from the ends of the tube to facilitate sealing.","They now move to the electrical components.","The cathode mount is made in this auto mount.","Here, they make the wire that will carry the current from the mount.","The wire carrying the current is shaped.","And here, the wire is heated.","This prepares it for the next step.","It's essential to prevent the cathode coating from spreading to the prongs.","The filaments are inserted into their mounts.","The emissive substance plays a crucial role.","When heated, it emits electrons, which participate in producing light.","The emissive substance is actually this liquid.","The wiring mount is transferred from the auto mount to the sealing machine.","At this stage, the wiring mount and the glass tube are joined.","Sealing is done at a very high temperature.","One important step remains.","This is where the glass tube is emptied of air and filled with gas.","This machine also decarbonizes the tube and introduces the drop of mercury essential for producing light.","Once the very tiny drop of mercury is injected into the tube, the fluorescent lamp is almost completed.","But one step remains.","This threader positions the wires for insertion of the tube cap, which establishes electrical contact.","The tube cap is placed into position in preparation for sealing.","The cap must be securely attached and installed in a watertight manner to eliminate any risk of leaking.","The capper permanently seals the cap onto the tube, and it's all finished.","Each lamp is tested on a large testing wheel to verify its quality and performance.","Once the meticulous inspection is over, the fluorescent lamps are carried to the packaging department.","A robotic machine handles the lamps and places them into the packages.","The glass tubes have now become fluorescent lamps."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Air Boats","Onions","3D Metal Printing","Curved Cabinet Doors"]},"text":["An airboat is a flat-bottomed vessel with a huge propeller at the back.","All of the boat's mechanics are above the water line, and just a bit of the hull rests below.","This makes the airboat the preferred mode of transport through shallow water, particularly marshes and swamps.","to steer an airboat, large vertical rudders direct the propellers' airflow.","At full speed, an airboat can hit 62 miles per hour.","The boat's hull is made of aluminum that's about 2/10 of an inch thick.","Workers stiffen the hull's bottom plate with aluminum \"t\" bars positioned 7 inches apart.","After they clamp the \"t\" bars, a jig descends to hold everything steady as workers weld on the strips.","Next, they weld on aluminum sheets to form the sides of the hull.","At the front, they push the bottom up for welding, giving the boat a curved bow.","They complete the hull by welding on a sheet across the back to form the transom.","To that, they weld a splash plate that prevents water from coming over the edge into the back of the boat.","Next, they weld various parts to the front of the boat to reinforce it structurally and to create a covered storage area.","Once that's done, they screw a thick sheet of high-resistance polymer to the bottom of the hull.","Should the boat scrape against a rock, this layer will shield the hull from damage.","Once that's secured, they paint the inside of the boat with a blend of epoxy and paint.","This forms a layer of what they call \"webbing\".","On the outside of the boat, they apply a coat of primer followed by two coats of durable marine paint.","Meanwhile, others have constructed and painted the boat's above-water structure out of steel or aluminum tubes.","The rigging, as the structure's called, supports the mechanics, two fiberglass seats, and the instrument panel.","They mount a belt-driven reduction unit to the boat's gasoline engine.","This unit reduces the propeller speed in conjunction with a preassembled set of gears.","Without it, the propeller would turn at the same rate as the engine.","This would exceed the propeller's operating limits and destroy it.","The engine is now ready to take its place at the rear of the rigging.","Heavy-duty bolts secure it.","Under the engine goes a 50-gallon fuel tank-- at the very back, an aluminum radiator.","Then they bolt the rigging to the hull's \"t\" bars.","Next comes a floor panel and a 3-passenger bench seat with a storage compartment underneath.","The boat's exhaust system consists of stainless-steel pipe, which attaches with band clamps to a header coming off the engine.","The other end leads to a stainless-steel muffler.","From that, an exhaust pipe runs out the rear of the boat.","Next, they mount the propeller guard, a stainless-steel safety cage that surrounds the engine and propeller.","The three propeller blades are made of carbon fiber.","Aluminum rudders steer the boat by directing the propellers' airflow.","Cables or rods connect the rudders to a control stick.","Smaller airboats, like this one, are ideal for hunting and fishing.","There are also much larger pleasure models that can carry 18 or more passengers on excursions.","Historians believe consumption of this common vegetable dates back to prehistoric times, when it grew in the wild.","Man eventually learned to cultivate onions, and this strong-tasting plant bulb became a food staple of many ancient civilizations throughout the world.","In ancient egypt, the onion was an object of worship, the inner structure of concentric rings symbolizing the eternal circle of life.","Today mechanical harvesters pull the bulbs out of the ground and lay them out in rows.","After drying for a day or two, a tractor collects them into large baskets for storage.","To prevent spoilage, the onions are stored at between 34 and 36 degrees fahrenheit.","When they arrive from the field, their first stop is a cooling tunnel from which powerful fans remove the heat.","The vegetables take about five hours to cool down to the storage temperature.","The grower separates the onions according to variety and size, then either bags them for sale whole or sells them to a processing plant.","At the processing plant, workers load the onions on a conveyer that leads to the peeling and cutting stations.","A cutter chops off each bulb's top and tail simultaneously.","It also scores the skin to prep it for peeling.","The onions then move into a custom-designed peeling machine.","It uses a combination of air and water pressure to blow off the skin.","The onions then roll off the peeler and pass before quality-control workers who swiftly cut away bruises and any other imperfections as well as anything the cutter and peeler might have missed.","The next machine rinses the onions with cold, ozonated water that kills bacteria.","Then the onions pass through a metal detector, just as a precautionary measure.","At this point, there's a fork in the processing road.","One direction leads to slicing, the other to dicing.","On the slicing line, workers load the onions into tubes that feed slicing blades.","These blades are adjustable to output slices anywhere from 1 1/2 to 25 millimeters thick.","Workers gather up the complete slices and fill 5-pound plastic trays.","A conveyer moves the trays through a machine that seals them with plastic film.","The film has microperforations designed to allow in just the right amount of oxygen to keep the onions fresh.","On the dicing line, meanwhile, the onions collide head-on with a rotary blade that chops them to bits ranging from 3 to 25 millimeters in diameter.","The diced onions then go for a bath in cold water.","Chopping an onion releases juice from its tissue, paving the way for bacteria to grow.","This cold-water treatment reverses the damage, restoring shelf life.","Next, an escalator transports them from a spin dryer to the packaging department.","There an automatic scale portions out the specific weight they're packaging in this production run.","When the target weight is reached, a trapdoor swings open, dropping the portion into the waiting package.","Restaurants buy their diced onions in jumbo-sized bags.","The filling machine automatically forms plastic into a bag, adds a zipper closure, then seals the bag.","For grocery stores, the factory packages smaller quantities of both diced and sliced onions in plastic containers.","Kept in the fridge, they remain fresh for at least a couple of weeks.","For busy cooks, it's a convenient, no-tears time-saver.","Building complex shapes out of metal typically requires weeks of manufacturing, using tailor-made casts or precise machining techniques.","But 3-d metal printers are faster and cheaper.","They build objects from successive layers of metal powder, which are then fused together at high temperatures.","3-d metal printing makes it easy to manufacture complex metal shapes using a fully automated process.","Every item starts with a computer model of the object.","This is the build box in which the object will be created.","A technician plugs in electric heaters and pours superfine stainless-steel powder into the box.","The heat will keep the metal powder from clumping.","He pushes the box into the machine, then fills the feed box with more stainless-steel powder, which will be needed later in the process.","The machine spreads the first layer of stainless-steel powder in the build box.","Tubes carry a binding substance to the machine's printhead.","This binder acts like a weak glue and is injected in very narrow jets by the printhead.","As the printhead moves back and forth over the stainless-steel powder bed, it deposits binder at the exact locations specified by the computer.","As soon as the printhead has finished printing a full slice of the object, powerful overhead heaters ensure the layer is completely dry.","A roller applies a new layer of powder a fraction of a millimeter thick.","Then the printhead adds a new layer of binder.","This builds the object from the bottom up.","The printing process takes several hours.","Once the layering is done, they put the build box in a curing oven heated to 350 degrees fahrenheit for 24 hours.","This will evaporate all the moisture and harden the binder.","They vacuum out the loose powder, and the piece emerges, its stainless-steel particles lightly held together by the binder.","They gently blow air to dislodge any excess powder.","At this point, the object is very porous and contains about 40% air.","It is so fragile that it can easily be crushed with bare hands.","Using more stainless-steel powder, they prepare another box in which the piece will be infused with bronze.","They're making a support structure on which to rest the pieces during the next phase of the process.","They carefully fill the box with alumina oxide grit, which will support the pieces during the infusion process.","This dam prevents the grit from leaking out.","Now they pour in bronze powder.","The piece is then heated in a furnace at more than 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for 24 hours.","This melts the bronze, which then gets sucked up into the piece like water by a sponge.","Infused with bronze, the piece is now solid metal.","They knock off the base with a hammer.","It's taken just a few days to build this intricately designed piece of hardware.","It can now be polished, gold-plated, or painted to match any decor.","Whether they build sophisticated door handles or fancy sculptures, 3-d metal printers work faster than conventional methods at just a fraction of the cost.","To create classic, elegant style in a kitchen or bathroom, decorators typically use traditional materials such as wood and marble.","Curved cabinets can heighten that effect.","But their unique style comes at a higher price because, for the most part, these elegant doors must be custom-ordered and handmade.","Most cabinet doors produced by this factory are custom-made.","They typically start out as a sketch, which the factory transforms into a technical drawing.","They then use that drawing to program the automated woodworking machines.","After cutting all the pieces of wood they'll need, they run each one through a planer.","It simultaneously smoothes both the top and bottom surfaces.","A cabinet door consists of a center panel surrounded by a frame.","This machine, called a molder, carves the frame's two vertical pieces and cuts a groove on one edge into which the center panel will fit.","To construct that center panel, a worker feeds planks through a wood shaper that bevels their edges.","The angle of the bevel is such that when the pieces line up side by side, they'll form a curve.","After trimming the pieces to the length of the center panel, another worker runs them through a glue applicator, which coats the beveled edges in adhesive.","Then she lines up the pieces in an assembly fixture that's been adjusted to the center panel's width and radius.","Once everything's positioned, she applies clamps which force the pieces tightly together.","The glue sets in 20 minutes.","Once the glue cures to full strength, the piece goes onto a computer-guided router.","It rounds both sides of the panel for a smooth, seamless look.","This particular door has a concave curve.","Others can have a convex curve or a crossbow curve, which is \"s\"-shaped.","The same router now automatically switches to a different type of tool and profiles the panel's edges.","It also carves a tongue that fits into the groove in the frame pieces.","The same machine can then load another tool to engrave a custom motif or monogram if the customer desires.","Next, a computer-guided sander smoothes out the panel, preparing the wood for stain or paint later on.","Making the frame's horizontal pieces is more complex than making the vertical ones because the top and bottom have to curve just like the center panel.","Workers coat thin slices of wood with heat-activated glue, then stack them over a curved form in a press.","The press squeezes the slices tightly together.","Then a high-frequency electrical current generates intense heat, triggering the adhesive.","The bonded slices exit the press looking like a solid, curved piece of wood.","Once the glue has set, a computer-guided router carves it to the same decorative style as the vertical pieces.","It also miters the corners so the horizontal and vertical frame pieces will fit together seamlessly.","All that's left to do is glue the frame to the panel.","The tongue running along the panel's perimeter fits neatly into the groove of each frame piece.","Workers now clamp everything together and let the glue set for a half-hour.","Then the cabinet door goes off for painting or staining.","This factory produces curved cabinets in 10 different types of wood and dozens of colors and finishes, opening the door to endless design possibilities."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plastic Cups and Cutlery","Special Effects Makeup","Gold","Harps"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Plastic cups and cutlery...","Special-effects makeup...","Gold...","And harps.","The industry calls it single-usage plasticware, but that's just a fancy way to say throwaway plastic dishes.","Plastic plates, bowls, drinkware, and cutlery come in many styles and colors.","So for your next party, you can go disposable for everything from champagne flutes to parfait glasses.","Factories make cutlery by injecting plastic into molds.","They make cups, plates, and bowls using a different process called thermoforming.","Before the forming phase can begin, an automated system loads polystyrene pellets into a machine called an extruder, adding pigments for colored plastic.","The extruder heats the pellets until they melt.","Then it forces the molten plastic through a die to shape a hard-plastic sheet about 8/100ths of an inch thick.","They use molds to form this continuous sheet into plastic cups.","First, the sheet passes through an oven that's 10 feet long.","It heats the hard plastic until it becomes malleable.","Then it enters the thermoforming machine, which simultaneously pushes and vacuums the sheets into the mold cavities...","Forming row after row of cups.","The entire process takes just three seconds.","The cups then travel to the trimmer, which uses a die to cut them off the sheet.","The machine grinds up the leftover plastic and remelts it into new sheets, so there's no loss of material whatsoever.","The trimmer feeds the cups directly to a machine that stacks them...","Then feeds them to a conveyor belt in one long line.","The conveyor transports them to a machine called the lip roller.","It reheats the cups just enough to make the plastic flexible.","Then, as we see here in slow-motion, it folds the rim over, forming a rounded lip.","They also make cutlery from melted polystyrene pellets, as well as from polypropylene-- a lighter, more flexible, and less expensive type of plastic.","The cutlery molds consist of two halves.","You can see the difference in this fork mold.","In one half, the utensil cavities are right-side up-- the fork prongs indented.","In the other half, the cavities are upside down-- the fork prongs raised.","A plastic-injection machine melts the pellets and injects the molten plastic into the mold.","A built-in cooling system solidifies the form in about 10 seconds.","The extracted cutlery drops to a conveyor belt that leads directly to the automated-packaging equipment.","For certain customers such as fast-food restaurants, the factory packages utensils individually.","The automated wrapping machine cuts polyethylene film to size, heat-sealing the ends.","This factory also uses polypropylene pellets to make straws.","The black beads are pigments to color the plastic.","An extruder--  a different one this time-- melts the pellets, then forces the molten plastic through a circle-shaped die.","As the long, continuous straw exits the extruder, it cools and hardens in a tank of chilled water.","As it leaves the tank, a knife chops it into individual straws.","They fall onto a conveyor belt which transports them to the packaging line.","Just like the forks, these straws will also be individually wrapped-- but in paper, not plastic film.","The wrapper machine feeds them one-by-one into a paper sleeve.","Gears mesh the edges together, creating a crimped seal.","The dies on this machine turn ordinary straws into flexible ones by forming a corrugated section that lets you bend the top of the straw toward your mouth.","The machine compresses the corrugation to preserve the shape.","Back to the plastic cups now.","This factory can print customized designs in up to six colors applied simultaneously.","Ultraviolet lamps built right into the printing press dry the ink instantly.","Polystyrene is naturally transparent.","Combining two grades of polystyrene creates plasticware that's semiopaque and also highly flexible.","On \"how it's made,\" we usually stick to the show's title and show you how products are manufactured.","But this next segment is about special-effects makeup-- the kind that makeup artists use on theater and movie actors.","So in this case, we'll show you how it's made, but we'll also show you how it's applied.","Watch as this special-effects-makeup artist works his magic to transform this 28-year-old woman into a senior citizen.","After gelling her hair flat, he glued on a bald cap using a theatrical adhesive called spirit gum.","He protects her eyebrows and eyelashes with petroleum jelly, then covers her face in alginate, a material generally used to take dental impressions.","Then he applies wet plaster bandages.","After 25 minutes, the materials harden into a mask.","Now he lines it with plaster.","In a half-hour, the plaster hardens into a perfect replica of the woman's face.","Like putting non-stick spray on a baking pan, he coats the model in a release agent.","Then, using professional-grade plasticine, he begins to sculpt an elderly face.","He smoothes out the wrinkles with strong rubbing alcohol so they'll look realistic.","He uses a bumpy rubber pad to give the skin an aged orange-peel texture.","The finished sculpture sits in water for 2 to 3 hours.","This activates the release agent, detaching the plasticine from the plaster underneath.","The artist carefully cuts the sculpture into sections.","The number of pieces varies with the size and complexity of the mask.","Now he can start producing the mold he'll use to cast the elderly woman's face mask.","First, he takes a thin plaster impression of each piece.","Then he coats the impression in plaster to make the positive half of the mold.","Once it hardens, he applies the plasticine piece to space the depth of the mold cavity.","Then he coats that in plaster to create the negative half of the mold.","When it hardens, he applies release agent to both mold cavities, pours in hot gelatin, then closes the mold.","In a half-hour, the gelatin hardens into a flexible replica of that particular piece of the plasticine sculpture.","He implants synthetic hairs to create eyebrows.","Now, using surgical glue, he begins to apply the pieces, called prosthetics.","He starts with the largest facepiece first.","It includes the nose, cheeks, neck, and upper lip.","He cuts a hole in the chin area so that he can apply the chinpiece.","Now the lower lip.","He cuts off the excess, then glues the edges of the chinpiece to the large facepiece.","Now for the forehead-- again, he applies glue along the edges to connect it to the rest.","To age the eyes, he uses contact lenses.","They create a ring around the iris-- a typical feature of elderly eyes.","Using tweezers, he applies eye bags, again gluing the edges to the rest of the mask.","And finally, some wrinkly eyelids.","With the mask fully assembled, it's makeup time.","Using a toothbrush, the artist sprays it unevenly over the mask, then smudges it with his fingers.","This technique creates a realistic look because the human face--  aged skin especially-- has color variations.","Using a very thin brush, he accentuates some wrinkles by creating depth with a darker color.","Now some freckles and age spots...","And a gray wig.","And finally, just a bit of lip color because lips dull with age.","All this takes an experienced makeup artist about a month of work.","And such expertise doesn't come cheap.","A major transformation like this for stage or screen can cost up to $10,000.","Gold is the softest and most malleable metal.","It can be pressed extremely thin, crafted into various shapes, even drawn out to form a fine wire, and all without breaking.","Gold isn't affected by water or oxygen, as many metals are, so it doesn't rust or tarnish.","Most gold comes from lode deposits, also called vein deposits-- concentrations of gold and other metals in the cracks of rocks.","Lode deposits require hard-rock mining, using drilling and blasting to remove gold-bearing rock called ore.","Miners descend more than 1,600 feet underground.","There they drill holes for explosives using what's called a long hole air drill.","They drill in a specific pattern set out in a plan prepared by the mine's engineers.","The engineers know exactly where those veins of gold are thanks to the mining company's geologists, who've studied ore samples.","The company collects these samples by drilling deep into the rock at 50-foot intervals.","These diamond-drill cores, as they're called, are up to 330 feet long and measure 1.5 inches in diameter.","Gold in its natural state isn't pure.","It's usually intertwined with silver or other metals.","So the mined ore has to be processed afterward to isolate and extract the gold.","A ton of ore yields only about 2/10ths of an ounce of gold.","After blasting the rock apart with explosives, miners use what's called a muck machine to transfer the ore to cars headed to the main shaft and then aboveground to the mill.","There, a crusher reduces the large chunks into smaller rocks about the size of road gravel.","A mill then pulverizes them to the texture of beach sand.","The factory adds a water and cyanide solution, then another mill grinds it further into a mud-like pulp.","The pulp flows into large settling tanks.","The wet solids are heavier and sink to the bottom.","The water at the top drains to another area.","They transfer the wet solids to an agitation tank and blow in air.","The oxygen sets off a chemical reaction between the cyanide and the gold trapped in the ore, triggering the gold to dissolve and leach into the surrounding water.","Drum filters then separate the water from the solids.","This water now joins the water that was separated earlier.","They pour in zinc powder to solidify the dissolved gold and form pieces containing both zinc and gold.","To smelt it into bars, they first have to mix several chemicals-- manganese dioxide...","Fluoride...","Silica flour...","Borax...","And sodium nitrate.","This chemical mix, called flux, will separate the gold from the impurities.","They pour it into the smelter, whose temperature is a fiery 2,910 degrees fahrenheit.","They rotate the smelter so that the contents heat evenly over 2 1/2 hours.","The heavier gold eventually sinks to the bottom, while the impurities, called slag, float to the surface.","They pour out the slag, taking a sample to make sure it contains no gold.","If it does, it goes back in until it's gold-free.","By now, the gold has cooled slightly, so they reheat it to 2,910 degrees fahrenheit, then cast it into bar-shaped molds.","The gold takes about four minutes to solidify.","It's put in a basin of cold water, where it will cool completely after an hour.","They extract the gold bars from the molds and clean off any slag residue.","Gold bars are also called ingots.","At this stage, the gold is 80% pure.","The united states mint will refine it to 99.9%-- the international gold standard.","Harps come in many sizes.","The type that classical musicians play is known as the orchestral, or concert, harp.","It produces more tones than any other stringed instrument.","The player plucks the harp with the thumb and first three fingers of each hand, while at the same time operating foot pedals.","The harp is one of the oldest string instruments, originating in the middle east as early as 3000 b.c. harps begin appearing in europe in the 700s.","They initially had a curved pillar.","By about 1500, this evolved into a sturdier straight pillar that could support more tension.","As music became more sophisticated, they added a second row of strings as well as pitch-raising mechanisms, enabling the orchestral harp to produce more notes.","This harp is a cross between a classical harp and a celtic harp.","There's the pillar in the front, the sound box in the back, and the neck running across the top.","The sides of the sound box are called the ribs.","They're made from pieces of solid poplar, 3/10ths of an inch thick.","The instrument maker traces a rib-shaped template on the wood and then cuts out the shape using a band saw.","He clamps them onto his worktable and, with a plane, makes them symmetrical.","Now he draws three lines across each rib to mark where he'll cut slots.","You'll see what those slots are for later on.","Next he glues on a notched strip of wood called a lining to the curved side of the rib.","The lining enlarges the glueable surface, making it easier to assemble the side to the back of the sound box.","The notches enable the lining to bend to the curved shape.","Now he glues on the lining that will connect the straight side of the rib to the front of the sound box.","He shaves off some wood with a small plane, then rounds off a corner.","He planes the back lining as well, removing a corner to flatten it.","Trimming the linings reduces the final weight of the instrument.","Now he cuts off the ends of the linings on both sides to be able to slide into place the adjoining parts, the bottom plate, and the top plate.","They're made of russian plywood, which is a piece of plywood sandwiched between sheets of birchwood 1/10th of an inch thick.","He glues the top plate into place, then clamps it.","He does the same with the bottom plate.","He closes the back of the sound box with what's called the back plate.","It's also cut from russian plywood.","He glues it onto the lining, applying pressure with tight rubber strapping.","When the glue dries after about an hour and the strapping comes off, he marks the location of the sound holes, the holes from which sound exits the instrument.","He constructs the top plate on the front of the sound box from solid spruce.","He lays the pieces down from widest to narrowest, then glues on a reinforcement strip made of solid maple.","The strings pass through the strip and another on the inside.","They prevent the tension from rupturing the top plate.","He attaches a solid poplar frame to strengthen where the top plate and the ribs join.","After sanding with fine sandpaper, he coats the sound box in varnish.","Remember those slots in the ribs?","They now hold bracings to prevent the ribs from bowing under the tension of the strings.","Using a band saw, the instrument maker cuts the neck from a board of russian plywood about an inch thick.","He makes a slot for gluing the pillar, also made of russian plywood.","Once the varnish on the neck and pillar are dry, he hammers in pins for the strings.","This type of harp has 34 strings.","Brass bridge pins space them evenly apart.","Steel zither pins adjust the tension for tuning.","He uses a wooden guide to hammer the pins to a uniform depth.","The three finished pieces fit together with dowels and slots.","He secures the joints with glue and a long screw through the pillar.","Strength is critical.","This harp has to withstand 790 pounds of string tension.","Reaching through the sound holes, he threads the strings through the reinforcement strips to the pins outside.","These are nylon strings.","Harps can also have steel strings.","He winds them around the zither pins with a special key.","The last step is to tune the harp with the help of an electronic tuner."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Horse"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Horse-drawn carriages...","Artificial eyes...","Dog and cat food...","And mirrors.","Nothing takes you back to the past quite like a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, a timeless vehicle in both appearance and construction.","Building one today still requires the expertise of several traditional craftspeople, from ironworkers to wheelwrights.","The carriage's turning mechanism is a fifth wheel that is positioned horizontally above the two front wheels.","Workers weld the fifth wheel to the carriage's steel frame then weld the boarding steps to the frame.","Until now the frame has been positioned upside down.","Now they turn it right side up to install the driver's seat.","First they measure carefully to ensure it's perfectly centered.","Then they weld it in place.","Once the frame is complete, it goes through an acid wash to remove any residue.","Then they buff the welded joints to smooth out their surface.","The carriage has drum brakes.","Workers install them onto the axle then assemble the steel springs that make up the suspension and bolt them onto the axle as well.","Next, they connect the brake line.","Then they install the whole assembly under the carriage's frame.","Like in the olden days, they make the wheels out of wood.","Metal isn't flexible enough to withstand bumps in the road.","They use ash because it's a very hard wood that doesn't rot easily.","Workers position 16 spokes around a steel hub.","They clamp the spokes in place, compressing them against the hub.","Then they secure them with nuts and bolts.","Next, they mark the spokes in two places.","The first line shows how long to cut each spoke, the second line how far to dowel the end.","To form the dowel, they first shape the end into a cone.","Then the cone into a dowel.","Those doweled spokes will fit into corresponding holes they now drill into two semicircular strips of wood.","The strips form what's called the fellow, the round part of the wheel.","Workers tighten the hub then press a steel band called a channel against the fellow.","They cut the channel to size.","Then weld the ends together.","Finally, they buff the joint smooth.","Next, they drill eight holes through the channel then, using a tapering tool, thread the holes to fit the bolts that bind the channel to the fellow.","Finally, they tighten the bolts with a special gun.","The tires are made of rubber.","They contain two steel wires to hold them in place over the wheel.","Workers grease the channel of the now-painted wheel so that the tire will slip on easily.","Then they mount the wheel on the automated tire-installation machine, which pulls on the wires, installing the tire tightly over the wheel.","They solder the wire ends together using bronze solder for a stronger joint.","Then-- here comes the high-tech part-- they bang the wheel on the ground four or five times until the distance between the tire ends closes, covering the soldered wires inside.","A tap of the hammer followed by a final bang ensures the tire joint is secure.","Now they can mount the wheels onto the axles and install the axles under the body of the carriage.","After testing the fifth wheel and the brakes...","It's time to apply the finishing artistic touches.","All they need now is a little horsepower.","The ancient romans and egyptians fashioned artificial eyes out of painted clay.","By the 1500s, europeans started making them out of enameled gold and soon out of glass, which remained the norm for hundreds of years.","Today most artificial eyes are made of acrylic.","If you've lost an eye in an accident or to a disease, a specialist known as an ocularist can fit you with an artificial eye.","You can get a ready-made model or a custom-made prosthesis, like the one for which this patient is being fitted.","No two people's eye sockets are the same, so the first step is to take an impression.","After inserting an impression tray, they inject a material called alginate, filling the entire socket cavity.","After 90 seconds, the alginate sets, and they can remove the hardened impression.","They place the impression in a mold.","And pour in a type of plaster.","When the plaster has hardened, they remove the impression tray and then the impression itself.","What's left in the mold is a plaster replica of the socket.","Now they put a wad of acrylic plastic dough into the mold...","Lock the mold into a press, and submerge it in a high-pressure curing unit for 25 minutes.","Then they cool the mold in cold water.","Here's the original impression compared to the acrylic model they've just cast.","This model is called the fitting shape because they use it to fit and mark the positioning of the fake iris.","They accentuate the markings, then attach a peg with a drop of wax.","The peg indicates the natural angle of the iris when the patient is looking forward.","Next, they add wax around the perimeter to enlarge the fitting shape.","This excess will give the ocularist some room to work with for the final sizing.","Now they take this marked and enlarged fitting shape and make a plaster mold.","They will later use that mold to cast the actual artificial eye.","But first they have to make the iris.","They take a curved, black acrylic disc and paint it as realistically as possible with high-quality artist oils.","The patient has to be present so they can match the real eye.","Next, they glue an acrylic cornea with an appropriate-sized pupil onto the painted iris.","At this point, the artificial iris is half an inch in diameter.","If the patient's real iris is smaller, they trim down the replica to match.","The iris then goes into the plaster mold covered with white acrylic dough.","After the same high-pressure curing process as before, out comes the artificial eye covered with excess white acrylic.","They trim off that excess and the peg using a grinding tool and a cutter.","This refines the shape and exposes the iris buried underneath.","They smooth the surface against a grinding stone and verify the measurements.","Then, using hard coloring pencils, they add finishing touches to the iris and draw blood vessels.","They label the eye with the patient's initials and then apply an acrylic coating to seal the pencil marks.","To create veins with some dimension, they use the same acrylic coating to stick on some delicate silk threads.","Once they're satisfied the artificial eye is a perfect match, they seal the artwork with another acrylic coating.","Once that cures, they polish the eye to a shine with a cotton wheel.","The shapes and colors of artificial eyes are endless because patients' eye sockets and irises vary greatly, as do their scleras, the white of the eye.","This artificial eye, or ocular prosthesis, is ready.","The final step is to ensure that the fit is perfect.","The patient's ocular muscles attach to the implant, enabling his artificial eye to move in unison with his real eye.","So much for feeding fido scraps from the table.","Today's pet food is the stuff of sophisticated nutritional science.","It's about protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals--  a well-balanced diet.","Want to bet some dogs and cats eat healthier than their owners?","The formulas for dog and cat food differ because dogs and cats have different nutritional requirements.","Cats, for instance, need more fat and protein in their diet than dogs do.","But the basic ingredients that factories grind up to make dog and cat food are similar.","First, corn kernels.","Then cereals, such as barley...","Wheat...","And rice.","Workers weigh the ingredients, grind them in a mill, then combine everything in a mixer until they have an even and well-blended powder.","A machine called the extruder transforms that powder into bite-sized pieces of pet food.","It steam-coats the mixture, then forces it through dies at high pressure.","The dies shape it, the way the tip of a pastry bag shapes icing into swirls or roses.","Check out this dog-bone die.","As the continuous stream of shaped mixture exits the die, a spinning knife cuts it into pieces.","The company has different dies to produce different shapes.","This is a batch of round pieces.","Next stop, a hot-air dryer for 25 minutes.","It heats the pieces to 300 degrees fahrenheit to draw out the moisture, then cools them at room temperature.","Once the pieces exit the dryer, they enter a revolving drum, where they're sprayed with fat and flavoring.","The fat is designed to add food energy while the flavoring gives the bland pieces an appetizing odor and taste-- appetizing for pets, that is.","The rotation ensures the pieces get coated evenly.","From here, the pieces go into storage silos.","When they leave the silos for bagging, the machinery screens out any crumbs.","The pet-food industry has made some interesting observations about the likes and dislikes of its four-legged clientele.","Apparently, cats and dogs aren't crazy about food that's too dry, too hard to chew, or too mushy.","If the pieces are too small, they'll swallow them whole without chewing and not digest them properly.","But if the pieces are too big, they'll gag and get turned off to the food altogether.","In the packaging department, automated scales weigh the exact quantity per package.","This batch is destined for bags weighing about 6 1/2 pounds.","The package sizes range from just under one pound all the way up to 44 pounds.","Shelf life is from 12 to 16 months, depending on the formula.","Pet-food experts say dogs and cats prefer food with a fattier content and a combined meat-and-cereal formula over just cereal alone, but too much meat flavoring can turn them off.","Cats, as a rule, are more particular.","They favor more acidic food, while dogs tend to have a sweeter tooth.","And you thought kids were fussy eaters.","No bathroom is complete without one.","And any parent will tell you that no teenager can survive without one.","Mirror, mirror on the wall, how do they make you, after all?","Well, \"how it's made\" is about to show you.","But first, let's reflect on the history of mirrors.","The earliest mirrors were curved pieces of highly polished metal, such as brass or bronze.","They're even mentioned in the bible.","Then, in the 14th century, the venetians invented very crude glass mirrors that reflected off a metallic backing.","They later perfected this technique using an amalgam of tin and mercury.","Eventually, the secret of mirror-making spread to other cities.","By 1835, a german chemist developed the silver-backed mirror that we know today.","A mirror starts out as clear glass.","A robot lays each panel horizontally on a conveyor belt, which transports it to the washing station.","There, sprayers blast the glass with water and cerium oxide, a powder derived from a type of soil.","Rotating brushes scrub and polish both the top and bottom surfaces, removing oils and other contaminants.","This washing process takes about a minute per panel.","Next, sprayers rinse the glass with piping-hot demineralized water, demineralized because the minerals in plain tap water would damage the metals they apply next.","The first metal is liquefied tin, which goes on what will be the back of the mirror.","It allows the second metal, silver, to adhere because silver won't stick directly to glass.","The silver is also in liquid form mixed with a chemical activator.","Within seconds of interacting with the tin, it hardens.","And as it does, you begin to see a reflection.","It's this silver backing that transforms clear glass into a mirror.","Sprayers rinse off the excess silver, which gets recycled back into the system.","The factory will seal the silver backing with two coats of paint.","Paint by itself, however, isn't enough to protect the silver in the long term.","So they first spray on a layer of copper.","Sprayers rinse off the excess copper.","Then the panel passes through a dryer at almost 160 degrees fahrenheit.","This evaporates the moisture on the surface in just 75 seconds.","Now the panel passes, copper side up, through what is called the curtain coater, a machine that runs a continuous curtain of paint across the conveyor belt.","With its fresh coat of paint, the mirror then passes through an oven heated to 210 degrees fahrenheit.","After a minute and 45 seconds, the paint is cured.","Now the second coat of paint.","There's no reason for the different color other than to differentiate the coats.","This time, the curing period is twice as long and at a higher temperature, close to 245 degrees fahrenheit.","After an acid wash to remove any metal residues, they stand the panel upright to inspect it.","If they find a fault, such as a bubble in the glass, they cut that portion out.","The factory now cuts these large panels into whatever size and shape the customer has ordered using a special mirror-cutting machine that's precision-guided by computer software.","It scores the mirror using a carbide wheel.","Carbide is a strong metal.","To make round mirrors, the machine first scores the panel into squares.","Then, in each square, it scores a circle.","Using special tools, workers separate the squares, then the circles.","To make beveled mirrors, they use what's called the shape-bevel machine.","First, it carves out the edge.","Then polishes it to a shine using concentrated cerium oxide, a stronger version of what they used earlier to clean the glass surface before plating it with metals.","Mirror factories also ship whole panels to shops that do the cutting themselves, a fragile feat that's certainly not for the superstitious."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Induction Cooktops","Truck Scales","Tetra Pak Containers","Harmonicas"]},"text":["Mankind has always cooked food, using everything from campfires and barbecues to gas and electric stove tops.","Now he can use an induction cooktop.","It doesn't need a fire, a flame, or a red-hot burner.","It uses innovative cooking technology our ancestors never dreamt possible and would swear was pure magic.","An induction cooktop doesn't use traditional cooking elements above or below the cooking surface.","It uses copper induction coils that generate high-frequency electromagnetic fields.","These fields excite the molecules in the pan, creating heat only in the cookware itself.","That's why the yolk remains cold and only what touches the pan cooks.","The magic starts with a punching press that stamps computer-generated shapes into sheets of cold-rolled steel.","These cutouts fix the position of the induction coils that sit under the glass surface.","A press break bends the four sides of the steel so it will hold a glass-ceramic top in place.","In the meantime, a machine spray-paints the burner box, the visible part of the cooktop.","A technician affixes the labels and the power cord onto a housing box that will conceal the induction electronics and coils.","She secures the power cord for strain relief.","She then attaches the power-cord ground and a system ground wire to the housing box.","She places a cover on the box and screws it into place.","Another technician puts together the induction electronics.","These assemblies of circuit boards, cooling fans, and semiconductors drive the cooktop.","She covers the electronics with insulation and a metal carrier plate that will support the induction coils.","Then she feeds the user-interface wires through the top of the coil-carrier plate.","The technician screws the carrier plate and the electronic assemblies together, then grounds the electronics.","Protective tape around the openings will prevent the user-interface wires from rubbing against the coil-carrier plate.","And some insulation will protect the electronic assemblies.","She closes that side of the electronic housing box and attaches all the power cables.","A sheet of insulation goes on the flip side of the box, where she mounts the electromagnetic-coil assemblies.","The iron slugs on the back of each coil pod help distribute the electromagnetic energy to the cookware evenly.","She connects the coil assembly to the system board.","Then she places the remaining four coil assemblies onto the carrier plate and connects their leads to the system board.","Meanwhile, another technician assembles the components of a glass touch-user-interface panel.","She connects the interface to the steel holder that was bent into shape at the start and is now attached to the black burner box.","She covers the cooking surface and control panel with an attractive stainless-steel frame, then connects the system board to the control panel.","She closes up the other side of the burner box.","Then she bolts everything down to complete the cooktop.","A technician tests the unit.","Using a metal object to activate the electromagnetic field, he verifies that the controls respond properly.","He makes sure all five induction coils are working and the power output from each coil is correct.","The control panel confirms it's a success.","Clean, safe, and energy-efficient, induction cooktops make cooking food quick and easy.","At a highway weigh station, inspectors weigh each transport truck on a road-level scale to calculate taxes on the goods it's hauling and to make sure the load doesn't exceed safety limits.","You also find truck scales at grain silos, quarries, and other sites that move bulk products.","The key to this enormous scale is the tiny component called a strain gauge, which sends signals to the scale's computer when compressed.","They make the strain gauge from a laminate by bonding paper-thin sheets of nickel-iron foil, epoxy, and teflon in a press.","Then they coat the laminate in a light-sensitive chemical and apply a plastic film with an image of strain gauges in negative format.","Then they expose the setup to ultraviolet light.","The light-sensitive chemical reacts, imprinting the images into the laminate's metal surface.","Now they have rows of strain gauges.","An inspector examines every gauge and marks any flaws to be discarded.","Now a technician measures how much voltage flows through each gauge.","If it's too low, she raises it by rubbing off a microscopic amount of surface metal.","When the strain gauges are finished, they cut them apart and send them to the load cell department.","There, workers delicately tape four strain gauges into each stainless-steel load cell.","Then they solder electrical wiring to each one.","The wires all run to a circuit board at one end of the load cell.","And from the load cell, wiring runs to the scale's computer readout.","The smallest amount of moisture or dirt would cause a strain gauge to malfunction, so they weld a cup over each one to hermetically seal it within the load cell.","Every finished load cell undergoes a quality-control check to verify that it works properly.","The testing machine applies weight in increments until it hits the maximum weight the cell can bear-- 34,000 kilograms, or 75,000 pounds.","The truck-scale structure in which they'll install the load cells is called the weighbridge.","They begin assembling it upside down, with a surface made of steel plates.","To build the base of the weighbridge, they lay out a grid of thick steel tubes and crossbeams.","Workers lower a guide to help them align the parts perfectly.","Beneath each load cell is a pin.","In order to weigh accurately, a load cell has to be level, so it's critical to make sure this pin is level before welding on the bulkhead that holds it.","Once fully welded, the weighbridge is assembled and ready for painting.","The paint equipment laces the powdered paint with a positive electrical charge and the weighbridge with a negative one.","This evenly draws the paint particles onto the steel like a magnet.","In another department, they assemble the steel stand on which the load cell will sit.","A welder tacks the pieces together, then a robot does the full welding.","Now that all parts are ready, final assembly of the truck scale can begin.","The weighbridge, right-side up now, contains eight load cells at different locations.","The first step is to install each load-cell stand into its respective position.","They insert a link on each side of the stand.","They position the load cell at the top of the links...","And the bulkhead pin at the bottom.","Then they close up the location with an access plate.","The last step is to calibrate the scale.","They lay a 10,000-pound weight on different parts of the scale to check if the digital readout is accurate.","It takes a lot of time to get a truck scale just right, but it's definitely worth the \"wait\".","[weight] tetra pak containers keep drinks and food products safe to consume for up to a year without refrigeration or the use of additional preservatives.","Made mostly from paper, they're recyclable into things like egg cartons, paper towels, and toilet paper.","A tetra pak container is packaging built with nature and freshness in mind.","Tetra pak containers hold all sorts of food products, from smoothies to fine wines.","The package gives products a long shelf life because of its special layers-- the plastic layer, the paperboard, and the foil.","A plastic coating makes the package leakproof.","Tetra pak containers are made entirely from recyclable materials.","The first step to making them is printing.","A worker selects the appropriate printing plates for a given customer and applies them to the cylinder of the printing press.","The press transfers one color at a time to the paperboard layer using solvent-free ink.","A tetra pak container can have up to six colors.","At full speed, it takes only minutes to print.","A strobe light visually stops the motion, helping the pressman check the quality of the printing.","A worker feeds the printed paperboard into a lamination machine that will join it with the plastic and foil layers.","At the same time, a worker loads a roll of micro-thin aluminum foil into the laminator.","A gas flame heat-treats the paperboard to ensure adhesion to the plastic layer.","The laminator extrudes liquefied plastic between the roll of aluminum and the heated paperboard.","Rollers squeeze all the layers together.","The printed paperboard, with all its protective layers applied, then comes off the back end of the laminator in a large master roll.","The operator threads it into a cutting machine called a slitter.","It cuts and winds the printed material onto individual rolls.","The slitter's knives cut the material into four lanes, each of which becomes a smaller roll.","The operator trims the excess material from each roll.","Then a conveyor system sends the rolls for shipping to a packer to be filled with their product.","At the packer's plant, an operator loads the roll of flat packages into a filling machine built and installed by tetra pak.","Tension rollers guide the material into the filling machine where it is sterilized.","The machine then forms and seals the material into one continuous tube.","And a little further down, the machine fills the tube with product.","It then cuts the tube into individually sealed packages...","And drops them into a chute for folding.","It ejects the finished packages onto a conveyor belt.","Finally, it sends the packages on their way to the customer.","Lightweight, compact, and recyclable, tetra pak containers are eco-friendly, and that's certainly something to celebrate over a glass of fine wine.","There are two main types of harmonicas.","A diatonic harmonica has 10 mouth holes.","It plays a 7-note major scale in a single key of music.","A chromatic harmonica has up to 16 holes, plus a special slide mechanism to produce extra notes so it can play in any key.","as air goes through a harmonica, so does saliva, which is why they make the inner structure from a type of wood that doesn't expand or smell with repeated exposure to moisture.","Making a standard chromatic harmonica begins with a block of pearwood measuring about 5 1/2 by 1 1/4 inches.","They run it against a cutter that carves a row of air chambers front and back.","This produces the component known as the comb.","A press stamps slots in a millimeter-thick brass plate that will hold the reeds.","The plate will eventually go on top of the comb, its slots aligning with the comb's air chambers.","Another machine cuts reeds from brass-based metal specially formulated by this company to produce quality sound and be corrosion-resistant.","Working one size at a time, they cut a batch of a few hundred reeds.","They test a reed from each batch with a tuning machine, plucking it to see if it produces the correct pitch.","The size and profile of a reed determines the note it produces.","The longer it is, the lower the note, and vice versa.","Now they rivet the reeds to the reed plate-- one reed for each note.","Consecutive reeds go on opposite sides of the plate.","With this configuration, blowing into the harmonica vibrates one reed, while drawing air out vibrates the other.","They flatten each rivet on one side of the plate.","This fastens the reed securely at the bottom, leaving the rest free to vibrate.","If necessary, they file the reed down so the slot doesn't obstruct its movement.","now a tuning specialist gets to work.","She plays each reed on the plate and compares the tone to a perfectly tuned set of reeds for reference.","If the pitch is off, she adjusts it with a bit of filing.","once the reed plate is in tune, it goes on top of the comb, the reeds and slots aligning with the comb's air chambers.","Workers attach the parts with steel nails that have a brass plating to prevent corrosion.","Now for the two-piece cover that encloses these internal components.","For standard models, the factory uses stainless steel, starting with a sheet that's less than a half a millimeter thick.","Fancier harmonicas have silver- or gold-plated covers.","The sheet goes through a press that has a series of dies.","They progressively stamp out the cover pieces, first embossing the artwork, then cutting the size, then forming the shape.","Workers sandwich the comb between the two cover pieces, then attach everything with either brass-plated nails or brass- or nickel-plated screws.","Chromatic harmonicas have a mouthpiece over the blowholes.","It's usually made of chrome-plated brass that they curve slightly in a press.","The mouthpiece shields the lips from a slide mechanism inside.","That mechanism has three parts-- a slide with a button positioned in between two plates.","They screw the mouthpiece onto the front of the harmonica.","When you press the mouthpiece button, it redirects the air, raising the notes half a tone.","No harmonica leaves the factory without a sound test.","Rather than blow into every instrument, the testing department uses a machine that blows air in and out.","last stop is the cleaning department.","There, workers inspect for scratches, then polish and package so that each and every harmonica will look as good as it sounds."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bronze Bells","Wooden Airplane Propellers","Charcoal Briquettes","Gas Log Fireplaces"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Bronze bells...","Wooden airplane propellers...","Charcoal briquettes...","And gas-log fireplaces.","Throughout history, bells have played both practical and ceremonial roles.","Village bells would ring to mark time and to warn of danger.","Church bells would toll to summon worshipers.","Bells are traditionally cast of bronze, a metal that's as durable as it is melodic.","when it comes to bell making, there'd be neither swing nor ring without a mold.","And only a quality mold makes a quality bell.","The mold is made using a pattern.","This particular bell will have decorative lines on the surface, which will require a separate mold made from this five-piece pattern.","After greasing the pattern's surface with a release agent, workers lower a wooden casing around it.","This casing will hold the mixture of fine silica sand and epoxy they'll use to make the mold.","Workers pack the material tightly between the pattern and casing.","The epoxy sets in 10 minutes, and now they have a sand mold in which to cast the bell's decorations.","They still need a mold to cast the bell itself.","They make it with this aluminum pattern.","After spraying it inside and out with a release agent, they lower the decoration mold they just made right over it...","Then on top of that, a steel casing to contain the sand mix.","Workers pack the sand mix and wait for it to set.","Then they flip the casing and add another section to hold even more sand mix.","But before the next load of sand, they insert what's called the gate.","This aluminum rod shapes the channel through which they'll pour the molten bronze into the mold cavity.","They fill up the mold with more sand.","Then they form a funnel around the central channel because it's virtually impossible to pour molten bronze directly into such a small hole.","They poke the sand mix to make sure it's set, then pull out the gate.","They separate the two casings, each of which contains a section of the mold.","Then the patterns come out, leaving behind the mold cavity.","Workers tidy up the mold walls and paint on a powdered graphite solution which will act as a barrier, preventing the hot metal from eroding the epoxy that holds the sand mold together.","Next, they spray on a second coat of wash.","The sand is so fine that without this step, the mold would reproduce the brush strokes onto the cast bell.","Now they measure the size of the pour hole and custom-make a ceramic filter to glue inside.","This filter will screen out the slag, oxidized particles that form when molten metal meets air.","Workers stack the two mold sections back together and clamp them tightly so that the bronze won't leak out during casting.","Melting enough bronze ingots for an average-size bell takes about two hours.","To get a smooth enough consistency, the furnace has to heat the metal to about 2,100 degrees.","For a quality casting, they must pour the bronze in one continuous flow-- no stops and starts.","The funneling basin they made in the sand prevents overflowing.","The bronze takes about a half-hour to solidify and up to 24 hours to cool.","Workers remove the sand mold with a jackhammer, being very careful not to hit the bell inside.","The extracted bell is covered in a residue of burnt epoxy, which they remove with a wire brush.","Then, with one well-aimed strike of a sledgehammer, they disengage the gate.","Now they mark the exact center point of the bell.","That's where they'll install the hardware from which the bell will hang.","They drill a small hole, then gradually drill it larger and larger.","A big hole can't be bored in one shot because the friction-induced heat would crack the bell.","Workers tip the bell on its side to hang the clapper-- the official name for the bronze hammer inside.","Every bell this factory produces goes through six stages of polishing, starting with a coarse grinding belt and finishing with a fine-cloth buffing wheel.","Two hours of polishing later, the bell looks as beautiful as it sounds.","coming up...","A new spin on a centuries-old invention-- the wooden propeller.","The propeller dates back to 1493, when leonardo da vinci sketched out the concept for a helical screw that could propel a machine vertically into the sky.","The propeller is still occasionally referred to as an airscrew-- a term that accurately reflects its basic design and function.","The key to making one--  plenty of sanding.","Wooden propellers start out as a laminated block of maple wood.","Lamination is a process where several layers are glued together.","The block has between 36 and 48 layers less than 1/16 of an inch thick.","Depending on the model, workers select a master pattern that is between one and two yards long.","They lay this pattern over the maple block and mark a one-inch center hole.","They drill the hole...","And lay in a centering pin to hold the pattern in place.","A worker traces the pattern on the top of the block.","He then cuts the outline with a band saw.","This is the propeller's profile.","Next, he traces a pattern on the side of the block.","This is the propeller's pitch-- the amount of twist in the blades, which dictates the amount of propeller thrust.","Using a pattern guide, he marks where the pitch blends into the center hub, then removes the bulk of the pitch with a band saw.","Now he clamps the block onto a computer-guided milling machine that carves the pitch to very precise dimensions.","The machine's carbide-tipped cutters shave infinitesimal amounts of wood with each pass.","Precision milling just one end of the propeller can take up to 60 passes.","Next, a worker shapes the airfoil with a band saw.","The airfoil is the side of the propeller that is shaped like an airplane wing and produces forward thrust.","The pitch side...","And the airfoil side.","Workers use a tool called a spokeshave to smooth the propeller even more.","Then they verify the airfoil's thickness and curve with a hand gauge.","A spray of dark paint helps them know where they've been as they begin smoothing the propeller's surface.","They remove any remaining carving marks using a belt sander.","Then they check the propeller for balance.","Using a pneumatic sanding drum, they perform an overall sanding and punch in propeller specifications-- diameter, pitch, flight direction symbols, and manufacturer i.d. workers hand-inspect the propeller, then perform a final sanding and balance.","A coat of clear enamel seals the wood.","And a safety color sprayed on the tips makes the propeller visible while it's spinning.","Two final protective coats of clear enamel, 24 hours of drying time, and these propellers are ready for takeoff.","When we return, fire up the grill.","It's time to make some charcoal briquettes.","The charcoal briquette was invented in 1897, but interest in it was slow-burning, so to speak, until the 1920s.","That's when automaker henry ford decided to recycle wood scraps from car making into barbecue briquettes, and these little nuggets became a smoking sensation.","Barbecuing with charcoal has become immensely popular since ford's time, and every year, several million tons of wood scraps are converted into high-quality charcoal briquettes.","Today, briquette production starts with sawdust and wood chips from lumber mills.","A truck unloads it all into a pit.","Bulldozers blend the material called fuel to obtain a uniform end product.","As the mix travels up a conveyer, an electromagnet removes any metal contaminates.","The mix falls onto a vibratory screener, which sifts out the larger pieces of wood.","At this point, the fuel is still very moist.","To dry it, a worm screw draws the mix up into a long, rotating dryer.","The dryer heats the wood mix to a searing 1,400 degrees.","The dryer is sealed to prevent oxygen from leaking in.","This allows the wood to dry without catching fire.","After four minutes in the dryer, the moisture has been cooked out of the mix.","Workers add anthracite coal to the hopper, and it mixes in with the fuel.","Anthracite coal is known for burning at high temperature.","Then they mix in lime.","Lime makes the briquettes turn white after they're ignited-- a visual indication that the barbecue is ready to rock 'n' roll.","The mix, now blackened, passes under a second electromagnet to remove any metal that could damage the equipment downstream.","Finally, workers blend in cornstarch, which binds the ingredients together.","A worm screw supplies the mixture to a press roll, where a constant spray of water keeps the mixture from sticking.","The press rolls compact the mixture into briquettes.","The process takes just a fraction of a second.","At this point, the briquettes contain 35% moisture and are very soft.","A screener shakes out fine material from the briquettes, which is recycled back into the process.","A sweep belt transports and distributes the briquettes in a 250-foot drying tunnel.","They are heated to 280 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.","This will reduce their moisture level from 35% to just 5%.","The lower the moisture level, the better it burns.","A conveyer transports the briquettes to automated scales that weigh them for packaging.","Every portion is the same, plus or minus one briquette.","As the scales release the briquettes, robots below move bags into position to capture them.","A sealing machine glue-seals the bags, then prints a production date and shipped code on each one.","Open the bag, and a backyard barbecue is just one match stroke away.","And who can resist the smokey flavor of charcoal-grilled food?","When we return...","Turning up a different kind of flame with gas-log fireplaces.","Gas-log fireplaces are clean-burning, fully contained units that are growing in popularity.","They provide instant warmth at the flick of a switch.","And you'll never have to head out on a cold winter night to get more logs or clean up the ashes.","To make a gas-log fireplace, workers first screw fittings to a gas-control valve.","Then they attach the valve and gas pilot to the frame.","The gas pilot is a small flame that burns continuously, enabling you to ignite the gas instantly.","They cap the control valve with knob extensions that allow the user to control the flame's intensity from outside the fireplace.","Next, they install burners and orifices.","The orifice controls the gas flow in each of the burners.","They attach an electrical connection from the gas pilot to the control valve...","Adjust the length of the gas-pilot supply line...","And screw the line to the control valve.","Finally, the line is attached to the gas pilot.","The fireplace's ignition system is now complete.","Next, workers attach a safety device called a thermocouple to the control valve.","If the flame ever goes out, the thermocouple cuts the gas supply.","The unit now undergoes testing to ensure that there are no leaks.","What's a fireplace without logs, even if they're replicas of the real thing?","This factory makes artificial logs from a mixture of fire-resistant ceramic fibers and a liquid resin that binds the fibers together.","Workers attach a log-forming mold to a pumping arm...","Then immerse the arm in the mixture.","The mixture fills the mold cavity.","The mixture is soft when it comes out of the mold and is held together by the dense, interwoven layers of fibers.","The excess fiber is trimmed off, and the log is placed on a baking rack.","Then it's into an oven at 450 degrees for 5 hours.","When it comes out, it's as hard as a log.","Workers remove the sharp edges with a rasp, then dip the log in a mixture of binder and heat-resistant paint.","Over that, they hand-paint details replicating the look of charred wood.","The paint is baked on, making this decoration permanent.","And it'll have no problem taking the heat.","The paint can withstand temperatures up to 2,300 degrees.","Back in the testing department, workers calibrate the mechanism that adjusts the fireplace flame.","They use a flowmeter to verify the rate at which the gas flows.","The back burner produces a yellow flame, while the front burner gives off a reddish glow.","Combined, they look more realistic.","Workers package the individual components and include some lava rock to simulate a bed of ashes underneath the logs.","It all adds up to a beautiful, cozy fire...","At the flick of a switch."]}
{"meta":{"things":["1000th Item"]},"text":["Cycling shoes have cleats for bolting the foot to the pedal.","The cyclist is connected to the bicycle, body and soul.","Bike shoes with clip-in cleats are a fairly recent innovation.","The first versions appeared in france in the 1980s and were modeled after alpine ski bindings.","Avid cyclists are very attached to their bicycles through special shoes that clip to the pedals.","Cycling shoes transfer power from the foot to the pedal more efficiently than ordinary shoes.","To start, an overhead press drives cookie-cutter shapes called dyes through layers of fabric to punch out shoe parts.","They use breathable nylon mesh for these upper pieces and synthetic leather for parts like the shoe toe box.","Synthetic leather is rigid, waterproof, and lightweight.","It takes 18 pieces of fabric to make one cycling shoe.","This assembler pieces together the upper mesh parts and stitches on synthetic leather trim.","She adds a synthetic leather side with vent holes.","It gives the cycling shoe structure.","With one half of the cycling shoe now complete, it's ready for the other half.","She joins it to the other half at the toe end using high-density nylon thread.","The next part is the heel cup.","It's a piece of molded polyurethane that adds strength and form to the back of the cycling shoe.","She stitches on trim and joins the heel cup to the rest of the cycling shoe.","Next, using superstrong kevlar thread, she sews the toe box and tongue to the cycling-shoe assembly.","The configuration leaves open areas for mesh vents at the front of the shoe.","The shoe upper is now complete and ready for the inner sole.","It's made of high-density plastic.","The employee tacks it to a foot mold using small nails.","He sets it aside and places a pair of shoe uppers in hot and rounded clamps to warm them to a pliable state.","He stretches each upper around a foot mold with a tacked inner sole.","Then it's over to a machine that oozes epoxy-- a high-strength glue that is impervious to weather extremes.","The machine grips and folds the cycling-shoe upper to the sole as it applies epoxy to seal them together.","The epoxy hardens quickly, and a computer-controlled grinder gets rid of the excess.","Now a spinning brush applies a different epoxy that will need heat to activate it.","At the next station, a worker applies a release agent to a mold.","He inserts a piece of carbon fiber-- a high-tech composite material.","He adds nylon for texture.","He flips the upper part of the mold, and the two parts come together like a waffle iron.","Inside, the layers melt into one and then cool, creating a tough and lightweight outer sole.","They punch out vent holes and trim the edges of the sole.","They paint designs on to it and add a nonslip clear coat.","He glues tough nylon mesh over the vent holes to keep the dirt out.","He tapes the cleat mount onto it.","It will be more securely installed for the individual cyclist at the bike shop.","And after an application of epoxy, it's into the oven.","At the same time, he heats the glue-covered outer sole in another oven.","The heat activates the epoxy.","It's time to join the outer sole and the shoe upper.","He carefully aligns them and presses them together.","He then sets the shoe on a cradle, and hydraulic pushers apply pressure as the glue sets.","He presses the foot form that's still inside the shoe onto a sharp post, stabilizing it to pull the shoe off.","The next employee installs a cable-closure device that acts like a shoelace but doesn't become tangled.","She adds a ratchet-style plastic buckle.","Crafted by hand using high-tech materials, it's taken about an hour to make these cycling shoes.","And now they're ready for a spin.","For centuries, yurts have been home to herders on the asian plateau.","They continue now for practicality and portability.","Today yurts used as second homes or studio spaces offer durability, comfort, and a barely detectable footprint.","This is the engineered, modern version of the ancient nomadic structure.","Compression and tension together form freestanding yurts that today feature all the modern conveniences, including kitchens, dining areas, and lofts.","The vinyl polymer roof is gradually shaped into a cone.","A worker folds the polymer, laying two edges beside each other on top of a formica board.","Using a hot-air welder, he melts the two edges together.","A vinyl laminate valance is heat-welded to the bottom perimeter of the roof, creating a watertight connection.","Together, the workers pull the entire bottom perimeter of the roof through the heat welder.","In the woodworking area, a worker drills a hole in a roof rafter.","With a router, he cuts a notch that will eventually fit over a support cable.","Workers spray an oil finish onto the tooled rafters for aesthetics and added weatherproofing.","To keep the rafter from slipping off its cable, a worker screws a keeper bolt into a brass thread in the hole.","He assembles the compression ring, which sits at the top of the yurt.","He screws in rafter brackets made of galvanized steel.","A worker uses silicone glue to attach a rubber gasket to the bottom edge of the roof's acrylic dome.","The workers rest it on the compression ring, where it'll be held in place by cables and stainless-steel springs.","They begin preparing the yurt's lattice wall.","The vertical-grain pieces of douglas fir are dipped in water-based nontoxic penetrating oil.","The pieces for the lattice wall are placed in a multiple-head boring machine.","In one shot, it precision drills 200 identical holes through several pieces of wood.","A worker begins assembling the lattice wall.","As he lines up the pieces of wood, he flexes them to test their strength.","The alloy rivets he places in the holes will act as hinges.","He uses a pneumatic riveting machine to assemble the wall.","Its load-bearing capability, once fully assembled, is extremely high.","Larger yurts will have walls with as many as 200 pieces, while smaller yurts will have closer to 100.","Once riveting is complete, the worker makes sure the wall spreads properly.","On-site, workers spread the lattice wall.","They bolt both ends of the lattice to the doorjambs.","A worker places the galvanized aircraft cable in the upper notch of the lattice wall.","Workers attach roof rafters to the compression ring.","The ring end of the rafter is attached to the brackets with a through bolt, while the wall end of the rafter attaches to the cable.","The rafters are made of machined stress-rated wood, which can withstand the weight of snow.","They level the compression ring.","They drape a polyester insulation lining over the rafters and fasten it securely in place.","They cover the insulation lining with a highly-efficient reflective insulation.","Using fiberglass-reinforced aluminum tape, they seal the seam.","The foil insulation rests between the lining underneath and the exterior roof.","The workers now roll the vinyl laminate exterior wall around the sides of the yurt.","The exterior wall is securely laced into grommets along the bottom edge of the roof valance.","A worker standing in the compression ring hoists the acrylic dome up to the top of the roof and positions it on the compression-ring frame.","Yurt windows are sewn in with mosquito netting and have a clear vinyl covering.","All in all, yurt living means never pulling up stakes.","Marine plywood is used in the construction of docks and boats.","You can't use standard plywood in such wet environments.","Marine plywood isn't affected by moisture because it's made from sheets of a tropical hardwood that's naturally water-resistant and bonded with water-resistant glue.","Marine plywood is typically used in boats for flooring, bulkheads, and furniture.","The surface is typically a decorative type of wood veneer, such as oak, maple, teak, or mahogany.","The core, however, is made of bonded layers of okoume, a water-resistant species that grows in the hot and humid equatorial forest of gabon in africa.","When the okoume logs arrive at the factory, an automated chainsaw cuts half the shipment into pieces, measuring the length of a finished panel of plywood, and the other half into pieces measuring the width of a finished panel.","This produces logs with the grain running in one direction, as well as logs with the grain running in the opposite direction.","This is critical because when they construct the plywood, they'll crisscross grain directions to add strength.","Next the logs go through a series of rotary blades that progressively shave off the bark.","The now-barkless logs enter the rotary peeling machine.","It works like a giant pencil sharpener, shaving off a continuous thin sheet called a ply, hence the term plywood.","The ply is between 1/100 and 1/10 of an inch thick, depending on its position in the finished panel.","Blades on both sides trim the ply, producing neat, straight edges.","Then the machine rolls up the ply.","The next machine unwinds the continuous ply and slices it into separate plies.","If the log that produced this roll was one of those cut to the eight-foot length of a finished plywood panel, then this machine makes a cut every four feet-- the width of the finished panel...","And vice-versa.","This thickness of plywood has a five-ply core.","Three of the plies remain dry, while two go through this machine, which rolls strong, water-resistant glue simultaneously on both sides.","Now assembly begins.","Alternating grain directions, the first ply is a dry one, the second a glued one.","The bottom of it sticks to the ply underneath-- the top to the dry third ply that goes over it.","The next ply-- the fourth--  is a glued one.","The bottom sticks to the ply underneath, and the top to the fifth and final ply a dry one above.","Workers use a powerful pneumatic staple gun to attach this assembled core along the front edge so that it doesn't come apart as it enters the press.","The press holds 10 core assemblies at a time.","The current thickness of a core is the sum of the piles plus glue.","The press will reduce that by 10%.","It applies about 170 pounds per square inch of pressure, while at the same time heating the core to 250 degrees fahrenheit to literally cook the adhesive.","The core exits the press after seven minutes, the plies now perfectly flat and solidly bonded.","The wood veneer for the core's decorative facing is very thin, barely more than 1/100 of an inch.","To create a pattern resembling a hardwood floor, they join two strips at a time with a wavy thread of glue.","Next they join the two mated strips to two others, and so on, until the assembled veneer are the length and width of the plywood core.","The core, meanwhile, goes through the glue machine, which coats both top and bottom with adhesive.","The veneer sheet is also glued, but on one side only.","Workers lay the veneer glued-side up then carefully place the core onto it.","A second veneer, glued-side down, goes on top.","The okoume core is now sandwiched between two decorative wood veneers.","The press applies the same heat and pressure as it did to the core assembly, but for just one minute.","The result--  a finished sheet of, in this case, cherry veneered marine plywood.","Marine plywood comes not just in a variety of veneer choices, but also in a range of thicknesses.","Typically comprised of three to 13 plies-- always an odd number in order to have equal weight on either side of the central ply for balance.","There are many types of paints at an artist's disposal, each producing a very different effect.","Oil paint is opaque and rich.","Encaustic paint, being wax-based, has a unique texture that the artist can shape, then reheat, and reshape in countless creative ways.","Oil paint comes in liquid form and stick form.","With either, the artist can combine it with other products to modify the consistency.","Being oil-based, the paint takes a couple of days to dry, so there's lots of times to work with it.","However, once the coat is dry, it can't be reworked.","Encaustic paint, by contrast, is wax-based, so the artist must melt it while applying it.","Because wax cools and hardens so quickly, encaustic paint has a short working time.","However, the artist can reheat it and work it some more.","The main ingredient in encaustic paint is white beeswax.","To that, they add carnauba wax, which comes from the leaves of the carnauba palm tree.","Carnauba wax is quite fragile, which is why they strengthen it with beeswax.","They melt them in a microwave oven on convection mode.","Next they add dammar resin, which comes from trees native to southeast asia.","They grind the chunks of resin into of powder in a coffee grinder, then mix it into the molten waxes.","The resin will act as a solidifying agent, as well as make the paint glossy.","Once the ingredients are evenly blended, they pour the mix through cheesecloth to filter out minute plant particles, which the resin contained.","They weigh out a quantity of synthetic pigment and add it to the wax-resin mixture.","The ratio of pigment to mixture varies by color.","Some have more wax and less pigment and others vice-versa.","This manufacturer won't reveal any specifics about ingredient proportions.","Its paint recipes are top-secret.","After mixing for about 15 minutes, the paint is ready.","They carefully pour it into a mold.","This type of mold produces sticks.","The paint hardens in just a few minutes.","They scrape off the excess and melt it back to liquid to cast the next batch of sticks.","Then they unscrew the mold and pry it apart.","Once the mold is safely opened, they gently extract the finished encaustic sticks.","They wear gloves because the sticks are still a bit hot and can stain their hands.","For those same reasons, they wrap the sticks, once labeled, in plastic.","This manufacturer also produces handmade encaustic paint in another format--  rectangular blocks.","The process is identical.","The mold is made of flexible rubber.","The paint hardens sooner than in a metal mold because rubber dissipates heat far faster than metal does.","Workers don't need to wear gloves when extracting the blocks because the paint is already cool and therefore won't stain their hands.","To make oil-paint sticks, they first make a large batch of oil paint out of walnut oil, pigment, a drying agent, and a bit of wax.","Then they weigh out a specific quantity and add more walnut oil.","Next they add combined carnauba wax and beeswax, which are necessary to form the stick shape, however less wax than for encaustic sticks.","They blend all these ingredients for about 15 minutes, then pour the paint into a metal mold to cast sticks.","Every batch of oil sticks undergoes drying tests to ensure the paint dries within two days after being applied to paper.","Encaustic is the more durable of these two types of paints because it contains a larger percentage of beeswax, which is resistant to moisture.","And encaustic painting, therefore, doesn't have to be varnished or put behind glass."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Worcestershire Sauce","Lawn Bowls","Radio"]},"text":["Its name can be a bit of a tongue-twister-- \"wuss-te-shire\" sauce, \"woos-ter-sheer\" sauce, \"wuss-te-sure\" sauce.","All those pronunciations are acceptable, as are the endless ways to use this condiment, from flavoring beef recipes and salad dressings to joining tomato juice and vodka in a bloody mary.","In the early 1800s, an english nobleman in the county of worcester hired two local chemists, john lea and william perrins, to duplicate a sauce he had tasted while traveling in india.","The resulting concoction was unpalatable, so they relegated it to the cellar.","Years later, they came across it during a cellar cleanup and gave it another taste.","Lo and behold, the sauce had matured and was now delicious.","They christened their creation \"worcestershire sauce\" and went into business.","Today, more than 170 years later, that same company produces that very recipe, the specifics of which remain a closely-guarded secret.","The process begins with onions and garlic pickled in malt vinegar for one to two years.","Inside the pickling barrels, the bulbs slowly liquefy, their flavor infusing the liquid.","Other barrels contain anchovies cured in salt for several months.","Additional ingredients include salt, sugar, white vinegar...","Malt vinegar...","Tamarind concentrate...","Molasses...","And a top-secret blend of flavorings and spices.","Starting with the two vinegars, workers pour the ingredients one at a time into gigantic blending tanks.","There goes the tamarind concentrate.","Now the anchovies.","The ingredient proportions are top secret, as is the prescribed mixing time between ingredients.","Now the pickled onions and garlic...","Sugar and salt...","And that secret blend of flavorings and spices.","Next, they pump the mixture into maturation tanks.","There, over the course of several months, the ingredients age and interact with each other, undergoing complex changes in their natural chemistry which produce the sauce's distinctive flavor.","Agitators rotate intermittently to keep the ingredients well-blended.","The sauce then goes through a sieve, then through a press, followed by another cycle of blending and straining.","The sauce is a smooth liquid by the time it progresses to the next phase--  pasteurization.","This process heats the sauce to kill off organisms, ensuring optimal flavor for at least 18 months.","The sauce needs no artificial preservatives whatsoever because the vinegars it contains are natural antimicrobial agents.","The bottling process is entirely automated.","The factory produces different formats.","This one is modeled after the original bottle from the 1830s.","The machinery closes each bottle with a one-piece, plastic flip-top cap.","Inside, there's a small hole to ensure the sauce dispenses at the right flow rate.","This prevents accidentally pouring too much sauce.","As each bottle enters the labeling machine, an arm descends onto the cap.","The machine applies glue to a label, slaps it on the bottle, then the arm spins the bottle against brushes that push the edges of the label flat.","Then, depending on the format they're packaging, the equipment groups 6 or 12 bottles together and, from underneath, folds a carton around them.","Then it shrink-wraps the carton, which then joins others on a pallet.","The production process and recipe have remained essentially the same since worcestershire sauce was first bottled in 1835.","Lawn bowling is a quiet, civilized game, not something you'd expect to be outlawed.","But in 16th-century england, henry viii banned lawn bowling among commoners because it was a distraction from work.","It took a couple of centuries before his ban was lifted, and the game became completely legit.","In lawn bowling, the path to victory is not straight.","The bowl is designed to roll in a curve towards the object ball-- the smaller yellow one called the jack.","For many years, lawn bowls were made of a tropical hardwood called lignum vitae, but as this wood has become increasingly rare, manufacturers have turned to melamine.","And unlike wood, melamine doesn't change shape with temperature and humidity fluctuations.","Production begins with melamine granules that have been pre-dyed in a variety of colors to appeal to individual preferences.","An employee scoops the granules into a tub and weighs them.","Lawn bowls come in a range of sizes to fit different hands, so the weight varies accordingly.","He drapes a cloth over the melamine granules and holds it in place with pieces of wood.","Then it's into a machine called a pre-heater.","It uses high-frequency radio waves to melt the plastic into putty.","The cloth absorbs moisture generated in the process.","All those melamine bits have now merged into a malleable mass.","He squeezes it to reshape it a bit so it can be inserted into a molding press.","This 150-ton press forces the plastic dough into a hot mold to shape it into a lawn bowl.","This lawn bowl may look round, but it's not a perfect sphere.","This slightly irregular shape will cause it to roll into a curve.","He marks the size and other information onto it, and then it's over to a computerized lathe.","It spins the lawn bowl while the blade carves it to perfect that asymmetrical shape.","Other tools then etch two rows of half-moons onto the surface.","This engraved pattern makes the lawn bowl easier to grip.","The next blade slices off the nubs used to spin the lawn bowl in the lathe.","It also smoothes the surface until all evidence of the nubs disappears.","This receptacle uses suction power to hold the lawn bowl steady while a carousel moves it forward to undergo a vigorous polishing.","The polisher rubs paste onto the surface to buff the lawn bowl to an even sheen.","A robot then turns the lawn bowl upside down to expose the unpolished side...","Then puts it back in the receptacle so the polisher can buff this side of the lawn bowl.","The entire lawn bowl now gleams, and an unpolished bowl next to it looks dull by comparison.","But there's more polishing to come.","The next machine spins the lawn bowl against another polisher.","This one applies a finer-grade compound to it.","Down the line, lasers move in unison to engrave the same emblem onto four bowls.","It's a scottish thistle, one of over 4,000 team insignias available in this production facility.","Each lawn bowl then goes for another spin, and an employee paints over all the detail work.","He wipes the paint from the surface, but it remains in the engravings to accentuate them.","Some lawn bowls get two-tone paint jobs.","The worker brushes red paint into a hawk engraving, which provides a nice contrast to the yellow detail work.","Then it's over to the testing department, where they roll each bowl down a chute and check its swerve.","They also verify that each bowl lands in approximately the same spot as the master bowl, which means they're all equal and they conform to world standards.","Including cooling time between processes, it takes about two days to make a lawn bowl.","But once the work is done, it's all fun and games.","Radio-controlled model jets first flew onto the radar in the 1970s and have since evolved into sophisticated flying machines.","Many have turbine engines and use real jet fuel.","They allow people who would otherwise never pilot a jet to experience the thrill of flight with both feet on the ground.","Radio-controlled model jets can roll and dive like actual jets.","And they can reach speeds of up to 280 miles an hour.","Operating one isn't child's play.","It takes practice and skill to pilot this kind of model aircraft.","It also takes money because they cost up to $20,000.","Making a model jet begins with the paint job.","They airbrush designs directly into the molds that will be used to shape various parts.","This particular mold will be used to make one half of a wing shell.","When the paint dries, they roll epoxy resin into the mold...","Then put down a layer of fiberglass.","They reinforce the fiberglass with superstrong carbon fiber, then brush on more epoxy resin.","The next layer is balsa, a lightweight wood from south america.","They apply carbon fiber to sections of the wing where parts are to be attached.","Another sheet of fiberglass, and epoxy is the final layer.","Now they add a layer of absorbent material, then sandwich the mold in plastic film.","They install a connector for a vacuum hose and hook it up.","The vacuum pulls out the air, squeezing the layers together.","Then they bake the unit, which activates the epoxy, fusing the materials together.","Next, they assemble the wooden framework for the wings.","They reinforce it with strips of carbon fiber and apply epoxy on the edges.","The model makers carefully install the framework on the wing shell.","They apply an extra rib along the wing tip...","Slide aluminum cylinders into tubes in the framework, then bead more epoxy along the wing shell's perimeter.","They use high-strength adhesive in strategic parts of the framework to attach the other half of the molded wing.","They bolt the molds together and set the assembly aside to allow the epoxy to cure.","After a few hours, they extract the wing, its artwork nicely transferred from the inside surface of the mold.","Machinery then cuts holes in the wing for installing landing gear and motors called servos.","This router is computer programmed to make perfect cuts without damaging the internal framework.","This is critical because just a fraction of an inch off, and the router would destroy the carefully crafted wing.","The modeler now perforates the fiberglass layer of the wing.","He's creating a hinged section called an aileron.","It's a control surface that will cause the plane to turn or roll.","The ailerons and other control surfaces will be powered by servomotors.","The front fuselage shell has been molded and is now ready to be revealed.","Like the wings, the body of this model jet needs a supporting framework along with brackets for attachments.","Another computerized router carves them out of multilayered carbon-fiber board.","The modeler glues these parts inside the fuselage and the tail of the jet.","Coming up next, this model jet gets its wings and prepares for takeoff.","Controlling one of these jets is challenging and requires concentration.","These are expensive toys, and the learning curve is steep.","One bad landing, and this model jet could end up in a crumpled heap.","It's why flyers hone their skills at airfields and test them in international competitions.","Back at the factory, the molded pieces of this model jet are coming together.","They attach the wings to the fuselage using the cylinders installed earlier.","Then the modeler moves to the aircraft's tail and attaches the stabilizers...","The rudder...","And the vertical fin.","Super-strength glue cements the assembly.","Next, they build the motor.","This one is a ducted-fan electric system, a type used in smaller jets.","The modeler first assembles the casing that will hold the fan and its motor.","He slides airfoils into the casing to create four ducts, which will properly channel the flow of air.","He slides the electric motor into the aluminum hub...","Then anchors the assembly with a screw from the other side.","The next part is a speed-control mechanism.","He solders its wires to those protruding from the motor.","He encloses the mechanism in a vented tube, then sets the assembly aside temporarily.","Now focus turns to the fan, which he hooks up to a testing device.","As the fan spins, the machine analyzes it for vibrations that would indicate the blades are out of balance.","The gauge shows it's vibrating slightly, so he makes adjustments, and then it's ready to install.","He attaches the fan to the motor shaft and secures it with a bolt in the center.","It's now time to power up this motor at a test station.","he brings it up to full throttle and measures the thrust it generates.","It passes the test, so he installs it in the model jet's fuselage.","Later, this ducted fan motor will be connected to a battery pack.","Now he moves on to the landing gear and attaches air cylinders to the front and rear wheels.","Pumping air into these cylinders will cause the wheels to retract after takeoff.","This system will also cause the wheels to engage for landing.","Next, a sheet of clear thermoplastic is transformed into cockpit-canopy parts.","A machine heats the plastic, then vacuum-shrinks it to two molds.","The plastic hardens in seconds to create two clear plastic bubbles for the jet canopy.","They mold the cockpit shell in two sections using the same technique.","With the cockpit now installed and a doll for a pilot, this '50s-era korean war jet replica is in fighting form.","All that's left is to install the radio-control system, which will be done by the operator after purchase.","From nose to tail, the attention to detail isimpressive.","Some of these model jets even have gas-turbine engines for added authenticity.","With radio controls installed, this turbine model jet is ready to taxi down the runway.","The operator does one last check of the control surfaces, then it's time for takeoff.","Miniature turbine engines sound and work like those of a big jet.","These jets rumble and soar and can be made to perform many aerobatic stunts.","Of course, it all hinges on both the skill of the operator and a job well done at the factory.","But this looks like another successful landing."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Umbrellas","Outboard Motors","Silver Cutlery","Tape Measures"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Umbrellas...","Outboard motors...","Silver cutlery...","And tape measures.","It provides shelter from the rain, protection from the sun, and it's a chic fashion accessory.","The umbrella originated in ancient china some 1,700 years ago.","Since then, it's evolved from the original parasol to the modern-day collapsible canopy.","Unlike mass-produced models, this quality umbrella is meticulously crafted by hand.","Production begins with a birchwood shaft, which an artisan stains to match the umbrella's handle.","He narrows down the shaft so it will fit perfectly into the handle.","After buffing the handle to a shine, he glues it onto the shaft.","Next, the artisan forms two springs from wire made of nickel silver, a metal that can withstand extreme tension.","He bends one end of the wire into a triangular shape...","And hammers it flat to ensure a neat fit.","He cuts two slots in the shaft, one at the top and one at the bottom.","Then he pierces each slot, creating a hole for the spring to hook into.","With a bit of stain, he hides the exposed wood.","For the umbrella to open and close easily, the springs must fit snugly, so the end of the spring gets a right-angle bend.","This shape sets the correct tension.","With a tap of the hammer, the springs now rest firmly into the slot.","After trimming the spring, the artisan forms it into the perfect shape by purposely overbending, then correcting the position.","A small pin inside the shaft prevents the spring from opening fully.","This brass runner is what you slide up the shaft to open the umbrella.","A stop pin limits the runner's travel, preventing the canopy from blowing inside out.","The artisan fits a length of tying wire around the slot in the runner, then threads the canopy's eight ribs onto it.","The ribs are made of a type of steel that's strong, yet flexible, so they curve into a dome shape when the umbrella's open, then straighten out again when it's closed.","The ribs' other ends are wired to what's called a notch.","Once they're in place, they'll rest just below the handle line.","At the spot where the notch will sit on the shaft, a hole is drilled.","This will hold the pinning wire in place.","Workers cut eight triangular-shaped panels called gores from durable nylon.","They attach a label, then assemble the canopy by sewing all eight gores together.","Next, eight metal tips are inserted into a machine that wraps them in fabric.","Then they're stitched to eight locations inside the canopy.","These smaller pieces of fabric, called prevents, stop the canopy from chaffing against the frame.","This decorative rosette hides the point at which the runner and ribs meet.","Next, the canopy is draped over the shaft and hand-sewn tightly over the notch.","A tip is attached over the end of each rib.","Then each rib is aligned with a canopy seam.","After checking the fabric for imperfections, a worker secures the ribs in position by sewing them to their respective seams.","They roll up the umbrella to check that the fastening button and band attached earlier are in the right place.","A decorative ring goes over the notch.","Then the top of the shaft is crowned with a ferrule-- a brass cap with a protective steel tip.","This company embellishes its shaft with a steel-plated band, ideal for engraving the owner's initials.","After a quick wash, the canopy is ironed for a neat, crisp finish.","The final touch is a matching cover which you can slide off in an instant if you're caught in a sudden shower.","When we return, an inside look at the outboard motor.","Outboard marine motors come in a variety of sizes and horsepowers, ranging from single-cylinder models to powerful eight-cylinder configurations.","They can run on gas, diesel, or electricity, and they can provide power for a quiet day of fishing or an exhilarating offshore drag race.","Outboard motors have an engine on top and a gear case below.","This aluminum engine block is the skeleton that houses the cylinders-- the heart of the engine's internal-combustion system.","Under a stream of cutting fluid, machines hone the cylinders to precise dimensions.","Miniscule x's are carved into the steel that lines the cylinder walls.","Oil will settle into these x's, keeping the walls well-lubricated for the piston.","Workers assemble each piston manually.","First they build a ridged bearing and insert it into the loop at the end of a connecting rod.","Then they fit the rod into a pistonhead, securing it with a pin.","The pistons are placed in the cylinders.","Then they lower the engine's crankshaft into place and attach it to the loops at the ends of the connecting rods.","The crankshaft's bearings are lubricated and capped off.","Then this part of the engine is sealed with an aluminum cover.","To get the cover's positioning just right, the first bolt is driven into place manually.","A precision torque wrench does the rest.","Now the top is screwed on.","A magneto system is mounted onto the crankshaft.","As it spins, it generates electricity for the engine's electronics and pumps.","Meanwhile, on another assembly line, the gear case takes shape.","This machine locks the case's forward gear to a shaft that'll turn the motor's propeller.","The propeller shaft connects the lower driveshaft.","The factory buys these pieces readymade from a supplier but still has to refine the dimensions so that everything fits together perfectly.","This machine analyzes the shaft.","It concludes that this one needs to be a fraction of an inch longer, so workers add the required number of steel disks called shims.","They insert this driveshaft into the gear case, then attach the propeller shaft with the forward gear.","Now the gear case is linked to the driveshaft, which connects to the propeller shaft, which turns the propeller.","The next piece to go into place is the middle section of the motor-- the part in between the engine and the gear case.","First, workers attach the gear case-- now fitted with a shift rod for switching gears-- and an upper driveshaft which transfers power from the engine to the propeller.","Next, the unit gets a coat of paint that's salt-water resistant.","When the paint's dry, workers bolt the engine on top of the assembly.","The engine is plugged into a master computer which automatically uploads an operating system onto the engine's internal computer.","Then, using a scanner, they input information about each cylinder.","The motor is now fully operational.","Workers insert a propeller onto the propeller shaft, then lower the motor into a test tank.","This factory tests every motor it produces.","They run the engine for about 10 minutes while a computer analyzes the performance data.","After drying the engine thoroughly, workers apply the finishing touches, starting with the two-part cover that encases the lower portion of the motor.","Then they latch another cover over the engine...","And stick on decals.","Both covers are made of heavy-duty plastic coated in paint that won't fade, even after a lifetime of sun, wind, and water.","Up next, turning out the silverware that turns an ordinary dinner into something special.","Cutlery dates back to the stone age 300,000 years ago.","Prehistoric people made the first cutlery from splinters of stone, shells, horn, and wood chips.","During the bronze age, humans found a better material-- metal.","Forks came along much later, originating in ancient greece.","Whether cutlery is sterling silver, silver-plated, or stainless steel, the production process is the same.","It all starts with thin sheets of metal.","As workers manually feed the sheet through a press, a die inside punches out utensil shapes called blanks.","Fork blanks go into a piercing tool which slices away three strips of metal.","This creates four prongs with a support bar across the top-- for now.","Meanwhile, spoon blanks go into a machine called the cross roller, which expands the spoon head sideways, thinning out the metal at the same time.","Then it's into a clipping tool which trims the spoon head to precisely the right size and shape.","Both spoon and fork blanks now go into a grinding machine that smoothes away rough edges by vibrating them against small plastic cones.","Elsewhere in the factory, a specialized tradesman sculpts the steel die that will stamp the pattern on the cutlery handles.","Working from a designer's illustration, he has to interpret the pattern in three dimensions.","This requires tremendous skill because the depth of the design varies throughout the handle.","He measures these minute variations with a tool called a micrometer.","In the press, the die does three things-- emboss the pattern, gently bend the handle, and mark the back of the utensil with the manufacturer's name.","Now back to the head of the utensils.","The forks go into a press that bends the prongs to the right curve.","Now that support bar can finally come off.","Spoons, meanwhile, go into a press fitted with what's called a bowling die.","It strikes the spoon's flat head into a bowl shape.","Every time you strike metal, it hardens a bit.","So repeatedly during the shaping process, workers have to heat the blanks to soften them again.","Making knives is more complicated than making spoons and forks.","Each knife handle is constructed from two halves.","A press punches them out and stamps the pattern.","Then a clipping machine removes excess metal around the perimeter.","Now workers coat the edge with flux, a chemical cleanser.","The surfaces have to be spotless to bond properly.","The two halves are wrapped together with string.","Then powdered metal is poured into the cavity.","It immediately sticks to the flux on the edges.","The excess is discarded.","Then the handles are run through a mini furnace for 12 minutes.","The 1,600-degree heat liquifies the metal powder, soldering the two halves together and burning off the string.","After polishing, the solder line will be invisible.","Workers pour cement into the center of a centrifuge machine and load the hollow handles all around.","As the machine spins, it fills each handle with cement.","Now each handle gets a stainless-steel blade.","The blade's stem goes directly into the wet cement...","And a clamp holds the parts together during the hardening process.","A 12-minute bath in hot water cures the cement, making the handle/blade connection rock-solid and giving the handle weight.","For worker safety, it's only now, near the end of production, that they sharpen the blades.","A good polishing and this elegant silverware is ready for even the most sophisticated dinner party.","Coming up, a factory that goes the whole nine yards.","A popular tool in any utility closet, the spring-driven, retractable tape measure was invented in the middle of the 19th century.","But it didn't really become popular until the 1940s.","Today, any handyman without one just doesn't measure up.","Measuring tapes take the guesswork out of any job, and if you don't use one, you'll soon see the error of your ways.","Production begins with a three-dimensional computer design.","To bring that vision to life, a machine first pulls hardened strips of steel-- five at a time-- across a network of rollers that coat them with primer.","Then comes the paint.","After the paint dries, the strips are rewound in preparation for printing.","Printing cylinders roll the measurement markings onto the steel strips.","They use black ink for millimeters and red for meters.","Next, they heat the measuring tape.","This ensures that the protective plastic film applied by this machine will stick well to the steel.","Rollers then give the tape a concave contour so that it can be extended rigidly.","Every few seconds, the presses grind to a halt and a blade cuts the tape to the correct length.","At the same time, it punches a hole for the end hook, which is then riveted into place.","Another machine rolls up steel to make springs.","The spring enables the measuring tape to retract into the casing.","The end of the spring is clipped to an automatic-winding machine.","A worker places the lower half of the tape measure's casing into position.","The machine then rewinds the steel spring and transfers it into the casing.","The spring gets a little lubricating oil.","Then workers install the control breaks, which can be used to lock and unroll tape in place.","Assembling the rest of the casing is a snap.","Everything is screwed together.","The measuring tape is attached to the spring.","And then it's time to test that spring action.","This factory makes some longer measuring tapes from glass fibers, which are far lighter than steel.","Multiple strands of glass are pulled through a tub of white liquid plastic so that they'll stick together.","The fibers then enter a machine that coats them with more plastic melted down from hard pellets like these.","This process transforms the glass fibers into a strong yet flexible tape, the type commonly used for surveyors' tape measures.","A computerized printer transfers measurements to the tape a meter a second.","Lights illuminate the tape so a camera can check for printing defects.","An inspector double-checks the print job and also examines each tape for accuracy.","Some tapes are more accurate than others because of varying standards in different industries and different countries.","She grades each tape and marks it so that it can be tracked back to the operator.","A laser then moves over the tapes to check the accuracy level again.","If the reading is off by even a few thousandths of a millimeter, then the tape is rejected.","Winding a surveyor's tape is a manual job.","No spring system here, because that would make the tape measure too heavy and unwieldy.","After winding, the tape is cut and the end hook is fastened into place.","And finally, these measuring tapes are ready to roll."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Copper Pipe Fittings","Cylinder Music Boxes","Pepper Mills","Hot Rod Steering Columns"]},"text":["In the world of plumbing, it's all about connections.","And we're talking about elbows, t's, and other fittings.","Fittings hold everything together.","They're also used to reroute pipes and control the flow of liquids.","Without them, things just wouldn't flow as they should.","With so many shapes and sizes to choose from, today's pipe fittings literally have all the angles covered.","They start with sheets of copper.","This copper has been refined until it's 99.99% pure.","They load the sheets into a furnace that's fired at just over 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","The copper melts into a piping hot soup and then flows into a second furnace.","This one has cylindrical molds which draw the liquid copper up and cool it as they shape it into solid copper rods.","These rods are flexible enough to wind through rollers as they travel towards a big spindle.","They spiral around the spindle, accumulating in big coils to await the next step.","This device uncoils the copper and chops it into little pucks about the diameter of a quarter.","Incredibly, each one of these pucks will be used to make a plumbing fitting.","This tool pushes the copper puck into a cylindrical die to shape it into tubing.","In this one swift action, a little copper puck is transformed into a much longer piece of pipe.","This copper has been reshaped as easily as a piece of putty.","One end is closed, but it's just temporary.","At the next station, equipment bends the tubing around forms to give it an elbow shape.","At the same time, a blade cuts the closed end to open it up.","Next, these elbows will get some fine-tuning.","A 2-part device comes together to steady them as tools stretch the internal diameter so the part will fit on other pipes.","A spinning cutter then carves bevels onto the rims.","This beveled edge will allow it to slide more easily onto other pipes during installation.","Over at the next furnace, they're working on a larger-scale project.","This molten copper will be used to make fittings for high-rises and other buildings with bigger plumbing systems.","The copper flows into a casting furnace.","It generates copper rods that are about the size of a telephone pole.","Each one weighs about a ton, so it takes a crane to move it down the production line.","A circular saw then carves them up, producing copper chunks that look a bit like firewood.","They heat each chunk in a furnace to make it more pliable.","Then it's into an extruder.","It uses tons of hydraulic pressure to hollow out the copper log.","At the same time, it forces the copper into a die that stretches it 12 times its original length and slims it down considerably.","The lengthy tubing cools down in a milky bath.","Then a crane moves it down the line to equipment that adjusts the diameter and chops it up.","Water now flows into the shorter piece of pipe, which is encased in a mold.","Tools push into the pipe, forcing the water in a vertical direction.","Sheer water pressure reshapes the tubing into a \"t,\" while the mold establishes the contours.","\"t\" fittings are used to combine or split the flow of fluid in a plumbing system, and the water forming press does a seamless job of making them.","But there's still the matter of the closed end at the base of the \"t,\" so they chop that off.","They machine all three openings, because when they connect it to other pipes, it has to fit--  to a \"t,\" of course.","Now these fittings are ready to join other pipes and parts.","And by doing so, they'll make our lives a whole lot more convenient.","In victorian times, the cylinder music box could make or break a party in the parlor.","Its rich, ringing tones filled the room, and the design was truly a mechanical marvel.","Today that distinctive sound still resonates as companies make these instruments for a growing collectors' market.","Open the box, and you'll discover the gift of music from another era.","just wind up the mechanism inside for live music without any human performers.","a cylinder revolves, and strategically arranged pins strum a comb to produce the notes.","The ethereal sound is similar to that of a bell choir or a harp ensemble.","It all starts with equipment that stamp and cut steel to produce a comb shape.","A circular saw carves teeth in it, and this tool sharpens them.","They bake the combs over flames and then plunge them into a cool oil to create a thermal shock that hardens the steel.","With a flat tool, they direct melted lead into a mold positioned under the comb.","The lead hardens into a weight that will help produce the low notes.","A rotating tool cuts teeth into it.","They now spread lead solder on the comb's edge and on a corresponding piece of lead.","They file off excess lead and then tune the comb by first clipping the teeth...","Then grinding them until the notes they produce are precisely pitched.","This bit of fine-tuning is computer controlled.","they dip synthetic feathers in glue and apply them to the bass notes to soften the vibrations.","This completes the musical comb.","They move on to the brass cylinders and drill holes in them to transfer the musical score.","A computer controls this process, as well as the next one, which involves cutting steel wire and inserting it into each of the cylinder's holes.","This is called pinning.","And, of course, in the old days, it was all done manually and was far more time consuming.","Next, they pump resin into the cylinder and it adheres to the wall, securing the pins from the inside.","They spray compressed air to cool the cylinder as the resin cures.","After an axle has been installed inside, they arrange the cylinder on a baseplate and install little racks for the axle to turn on.","The cylinder speed will be regulated by the governor.","Using a special tool, they wind a long spring into its housing near the governor.","It's the release of this spring's pent-up energy that will cause the cylinder to rotate and strum the comb.","Positioning the comb next to the cylinder takes a certain know-how.","If it's even slightly out of place, there will be a lot of sour notes.","Dust can also affect the music, so they make sure to get every speck.","It's time to attach the lever that winds the music-box motor.","This little spring completes the connection.","They slide this mechanical musical instrument into its box, and it's showtime.","The classic wooden cabinetry sets the stage for a musical act that has timeless appeal.","there also are more contemporary-looking music boxes.","this art-glass design showcases the centuries-old technology.","And then there's a version that comes with all the bells and whistles.","Here, the cylinder operates cams that hit bells while, at the same time, plucking the comb.","It's a good example why the music box continues to be a tough act to follow.","ever since the 14th century, people have been using pepper mills to kick up the flavor factor, so they definitely have a well-seasoned reputation.","Today, pepper mills come with state-of-the-art grinding mechanisms and there are even electric models for a truly crushing experience.","Freshly ground pepper has more spice than pre-ground pepper, which makes pepper mills a hot commodity.","They make the grinding mechanism from tough, hardened steel.","An automated chiseling tool carves teeth into the outer ring, making a row of larger ones to crack the peppercorns and a row of smaller ones for fine grinding.","This smaller ring is to be the moving part of the grinding mechanism.","After the stamp trademark information onto it, a tool etches teeth into it, as well.","They're designed to grind freely against those in the outer ring without locking together.","Thick steel wire now uncoils and travels between rollers for straightening.","Then there's quick chopping action as a rotating cutter slices it into shorter pieces.","Each one will become a drive shaft for a pepper mill.","A tool slims and trims one end of the shaft so it will fit into the inner grinding part.","Rolling cutters carve threads into the other end for attaching it to the adjuster knob of a manual mill.","Robots install the inner grinding ring on the drive shaft.","They randomly select parts for close-up scrutiny.","A camera zooms in on the pepper mill's grinding teeth, and a computer analyzes their dimensions and general quality.","Now it's time to assemble the grinder's outer ring, shaft, and inner grinding device, which they press-fit to the pepper mill body.","They surround the grinder with a metal ring and brace it with a bracket.","They insert a light bulb to illuminate your food so you don't add too much pepper.","Then they attach a test motor, which turns the grinding mechanism and checks the bulb.","A few units are selected to undergo a grueling test.","They run them for hours at a time to confirm this production run can handle the daily grind.","But a pepper mill just isn't complete without its partner, the salt mill.","They use stainless steel to make its grinding device because it resists the corrosiveness of salt.","Hydraulic machinery punches the metal into dies 10 times to shape the salt mill's outer grinding rings.","Here you can see the various stages of the forming process.","The final result is a part with three large, jagged teeth in the lower section.","They're designed specifically to move salt crystals towards the inner grinding ring.","After a computer check, this part is ready for assembly.","They install it in the salt-mill housing and then insert the inner grinder and shaft.","Once the electric motor is attached, this salt mill is done like dinner.","For a traditional pepper mill, they sculpt wood into that classic shape recognized by pepper fans everywhere.","They insert the same kind of grinding hardware that's used in the electric mills, but the shaft is longer because this manual mill will be quite a bit taller.","Chefs often prefer a pepper mill with height because it's easier to use.","Once assembled, the pepper mill gets a fill-up.","Then they cap it and adjust the top knob to a medium grind.","Of course, all mills can be adjusted for different-sized grinds.","From fine to coarse, the choice is yours.","It's really a matter of taste.","The driving force behind a vehicle's direction is the steering column.","It connects the steering wheel to the front wheels.","But despite the name, steering isn't the steering column's only job.","It also houses the turn-signal switch and a tilt mechanism to adjust the angle of the steering wheel.","This company makes custom steering columns, the kind you order when building your own classic car or truck.","For the main shaft of the column, an automated band saw slices steel tubing, two at a time, to a specific length.","This belt sander smoothes out the rough edges.","The next machine forms the shaft into a specific shape that'll engage and turn with the steering wheel.","A computer-guided laser cutter makes the steel housing that'll cover the steering column's upper components.","It cuts holes for the various control levers that'll connect to the steering column.","The upper housing now goes onto a device that holds it steady while a belt grinder removes any surface imperfections.","Meanwhile, workers weld together the two steel pieces that make up the steering column's lower housing.","Then, to make the steering column look sleek, they attach a steel cone using a fine welding torch.","With an abrasive belt, they polish the weld line until it's barely noticeable.","Then they do an overall polishing to make the entire surface smooth and ready to paint.","They've attached a component called the lower yoke shaft to the main shaft made earlier.","After greasing it, they snap an upper yoke shaft into it.","These enable the shaft to pivot when you tilt the steering column.","Here, they install a component in the lower housing to which they'll later attach the tilting mechanism.","Once that's in place, they install a pull wire to help pull through the electrical system later on.","Finally, they slide the shaft through the housing.","A computer-controlled milling machine shapes the tilting mechanism's aluminum body.","The next machine installs position-locking fingers which allow the column to tilt when you pull the tilt lever then re-engage to lock in the selected position.","This press installs bearings to make the turning process smooth.","Now the upper section joins the lower section.","They attach with two pins that allow the column to pivot.","A thick steel spring supports the column so when the fingers disengage the column doesn't just drop into the driver's lap.","Next, they install the column's upper housing.","That's the part with the holes for the levers to control the tilt, the turn signals, and the emergency flashers.","Remember that pull wire?","They tape the signal switches and wiring to it then pull them through the column.","They'll later cushion this exit hole with a rubber grommet to prevent any chafing.","Next, they install the horn cam.","It passes power from the horn to the steering wheel to enable honking.","Using this tool, they lock in a retaining clip to hold everything together.","All the wiring that passes through the steering column connects to a plug.","You just insert it into the vehicle's electrical system.","These steering columns come in a choice of finishes.","You can also buy an unfinished column and paint it yourself.","After installing the column, you just add a steering wheel then mount the levers and knobs included in the kit.","Then, from that point on, you're in the driver's seat."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Race Car Oil Tanks","Plaster Mouldings","Lemongrass Oil","Fly Tying Vises"]},"text":["In racecar engines, excess lubricating oil is stored in tanks rather than oil pans.","This prevents the oil from sloshing around during the race and causing drag on the crankshaft.","With less drag, performance is increased.","So these oil tanks are part of a winning strategy.","Racecar oil tanks come in various shapes and sizes in order to fit into difference vehicles.","But their purpose is the same-- to keep excess oil out of the engine to boost performance.","Each tanks starts with a computer design.","The engineer maps out the precise dimensions.","They input the measurements into computerized machining systems.","This first one cuts a long piece of aluminum into smaller pieces, creating blanks to make parts known as tank rings.","A vertical milling tool sculpts a recess in the blank to seat an o-ring sealer.","Then, switching bits, the machine contours the outside of the blank, taking it from rectangular to round.","Other tools carve a large hole in the center and profile the inner diameter so that the part will mate to the tank.","This ring is designed to be removable to access the tank for maintenance.","Here's the blank before and after machining.","Like powerful cookie cutters, computerized punches cut out numerous parts from an aluminum sheet.","They include the oil tank body, the top, and other assembly pieces.","To make the tank body cylindrical, a worker turns a crank to curl it around a roller.","This tank body is called the wrapper.","He drills a hole in the bottom cone.","The hole is for the line that returns lubricating oil to the racecar engine.","Using a thin band saw, he trims the cone to fit the tank ring.","With a device known as a hydraulic tube bender, a worker shapes a piece of pipe to a precise radius.","This pipe will be used to vent air into a chamber at the side of the oil tank.","He trims the ends of the vent tube using a band saw.","A worker welds the tank ring to the bottom cone, creating a thick seam all the way around.","He then seals the seam of the cylindrical wrapper body and welds a top cap to a deaerating baffle.","Air will rise through it and vent it into and out of a side chamber, leaving only oil in the tank.","He slides the baffle into the wrapper body.","He inserts the vent tube in a hole on the side of the tank.","He fits an adapter ring to the upper lip of a tank and taps it down with a rubber mallet.","He welds the baffle and filler neck to the tank body, and then assembles the air vent chamber to the side of the oil tank and welds it to it.","Moving to another station, a worker now taps perforated plastic inserts into holes in the air vent chamber.","These inserts will both vent and filter the air from the tank.","He fits a rubber sealing ring around the fill neck and screws the cap on.","He applies the adhesive-back decals to the tank for branding purposes.","He caps the oil inlet tube to keep contaminants out during shipping.","He turns the tank upside down and installs a valve on the bottom of the vent tank.","He inserts a rubber o-ring into a groove on the base of the tank wall and tucks it into place all the way around.","After equipping the fittings on the cone with caps for shipping, he installs the cone on the base of the tank and screws the ring tightly to it.","Accessing the tank for maintenance reasons will mean unscrewing this part.","That completes this racecar oil tank.","Hooked up to a system of pumps, these tanks will receive and dispense oil sparingly to improve engine performance.","They've been well-equipped for life in the fast lane.","The ancient greeks first began beautifying interiors with ornate columns and moldings shaped from plaster.","Decorative moldings were a popular design feature in much of europe from roughly the 17th century onward, with italian tradesmen becoming famous for their mastery at plasterwork.","Specialists in traditional plasterwork are a rare breed these days.","But that's who you need to hire to properly repair plaster moldings in a historic home or to craft plaster moldings from scratch.","To repair this damaged ceiling medallion, the plasterman first saws and chisels off the problem portion, clearing a flat work surface.","Then, he drives and screws part way to anchor the new portion of molding.","The heavier the plaster molding, the more screws you need to hold the load.","Another plasterman, meanwhile, prepares the plaster.","The first ingredient is lime compound-- a simple mixture of lime, also known as calcium hydroxide, and water.","He forms a well with his scraper...","Then fills the well with a mixture of roughly three-quarters water to one-quarter construction-grade bonding glue.","He adds just the right amount of plaster of paris, which is powdered gypsum, the same stuff they use to make casts for broken bones.","He takes his trowel and thoroughly blends the lime compound, glue mixture and plaster of paris.","When it has the consistency of pudding, the plaster is ready.","The plasterman does this all by eye, without ever actually measuring a single ingredient.","After applying bonding glue to the repair area, the other plasterman trowels on lots of plaster.","Then, he takes what's called a circular running mold.","Its profile is out of the existing molding.","He runs it back and forth over the wet plaster, hence the term \"running mold\".","Then, he carefully scrapes away the excess and runs a wet paintbrush over the new and old portions of the molding.","This makes the transition between the two appear seamless and smoothes out any imperfections.","To make the running molds, he cuts out a cross section of the existing molding and traces it to produce a sheet metal template with the same profile.","Then with that, he cuts the shape in wood, producing what they call a stock.","After sanding the stock smooth, he screws on the metal template.","The wood backing prevents the metal from bending as he runs it over thick plaster.","He screws more wood to the stock to form a handle.","To make crown moldings, the plasterman mounts a track to guide his running mold.","He checks for anchor screws obstructing the path.","If he finds any, he drives them a bit further into the ceiling.","He brushes on bonding glue and lets it sit for five minutes.","Then, he begins applying the plaster in sizable globs.","He passes the running mold over the plaster.","He repeats several times with additional plaster, waiting 20 minutes or so between coats to let the plaster harden just enough to hold the shape.","He applies the final coat by hand, filling in crevices and imperfections.","Then, he passes the running mold one last time.","The wet plaster molding takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours to dry, depending on its size and on the humidity in the room.","Only when the molding is completely dry can the plasterman begin the next step, crafting the corner pieces, called miters.","Starting with larger knives and scrapers, he uses the edge of the adjacent moldings as a guide, adding some plaster, sculpting it, then removing the excess.","He keeps repeating these steps until each side of the miter matches the molding it joins perfectly.","It's a slow and meticulous process that takes patience and an expert eye.","Once he has perfected the profile, he refines the edges with smaller knives and scrapers.","Finally, he blends the surface with a wet brush, rendering the transition from miter to molding visually seamless.","Brand-new yet distinctively old-world.","Lemongrass isn't just a culinary herb.","Oil distilled from the plant is a popular ingredient in soap and spa products.","Used in aromatherapy for numerous therapeutic reasons with a fragrance that's citrusy yet sweet, lemongrass oil definitely passes the smell test.","Follow the scent of lemongrass, and the trail leads to thailand.","It's here that the plant is grown and processed into an essential oil.","Lemongrass oil is the signature scent in this part of the world.","After harvesting lemongrass, workers select the most fragrant specimens and dry them.","They transfer these plants, stalk and all, to a distillation facility.","The heady aroma of lemongrass will now be concentrated into a potent essential oil.","Workers unlock the top of the still and pour in chlorine-free, deionized water.","Once the still is one-quarter full, they add the lemongrass.","They stack the bundles in a crisscross fashion, creating gaps for steam to pass through.","They fill the still to the brim.","It will take 66 pounds of lemongrass to make roughly 1 quart of highly-fragrant essential oil.","They screw the lid tightly to prevent the loss of steam during distillation.","They activate the still, and it heats the water to the boiling point.","Steam rises through the plants and picks up the oils.","It carries the oil vapor up through a pipe and into a condenser, where the vapors cool and return to a liquid form.","The liquid oil and water drip out into a flask.","Oil and water don't mix.","So the oil floats to the top.","And the water is drained off and recycled back into the distiller.","The technician then collects the lemongrass oil in a bottle one drop at a time.","The lemongrass oil undergoes a second distillation in a laboratory, using a more sensitive piece of equipment known as a rotary vacuum evaporator.","The oil flows into a flask that's spinning in a hot bath of vegetable oil.","The evaporator pumps out air and creates a vacuum in the flask, which lowers the boiling point.","This prevents damage to the delicate molecules responsible for the lemongrass scent.","The oil vapors rise to a condenser coil where they reliquefy, leaving any residual water and impurities behind.","The pure lemongrass oil drips into a receiver flask.","As distilled lemongrass oil is collected, more flows into the evaporator beaker for purification.","The distilling process is continuous.","The rotary vacuum evaporator processes roughly 2 to 3 quarts of fragrant oil per hour.","They store the lemongrass oil in a cold room with other essential oils.","Like fine wine, it must be kept cool, or it could spoil and ruin its bouquet.","When it's time to formulate ingredients for a cream or lotion, a technician blends lemongrass oil with other essential oils.","Just a few drops make a difference you can smell.","They also use lemongrass oil to enhance the soothing qualities of bath crystals.","The technician first sifts epsom salts and baking soda into a bowl.","He adds measured amounts of the blend to sea salt crystals.","He stirs the ingredients by hand to evenly distribute them in the mix.","The bath salts are now ready for an infusion of the double-distilled lemongrass oil.","He adds it to a submixture of other essential oils to create a blend with calming effect.","He pours the essential oils onto the crystals.","And they soak into the tiny spaces in the particles.","They then add some more aromatic spice-- a freshly-ground blend of lemongrass, turmeric, and other ingredients.","He sprinkles the herbs onto the crystals and folds them into the blend.","The final effect will be skin-tingling and rejuvenating.","Incorporated into many products, lemongrass oil will awaken the senses.","Fly fishing uses artificial lures called flies rather than natural bait like worms.","A fly is a hook that has materials like feathers tied to it with thread to trick the fish into thinking there's an insect floating on the water.","To make your own flies, you use a fly tying vise.","This fly tying vise has pockets at its base to hold your materials and sturdy steel jaws to grip the fishhook while you tie those materials onto it.","This machine makes the sand molds for casting the metal pocket bases.","It deposits moist sand into a flask to form one half of a mold, then rolls over the flask to a pattern on the other side.","After spraying the pattern with a nonstick coating, a worker sifts sand onto it.","Then the machine deposits sand on top to form the other half of the mold.","It compresses the sand with roughly 4 1/2 tons of hydraulic pressure.","The pattern sandwiched at the center forms the mold cavity.","A machine separates the halves to remove the pattern, then puts them back together.","In the casting area, workers heat pieces of bronze to approximately 1,922 degrees fahrenheit, melting them down.","They remove the pot from the electric furnace and place it in a pouring shank.","They pour the molten bronze down a channel leading to the mold cavity.","After about a half hour, once the bronze has cooled and solidified, the flip the mold onto a vibrating grate.","First the impact and then the shaking break the mold.","The sand falls through the grate while four connected bronze pocket bases remain on top.","Once they're cool enough to be handled, a worker saws them apart.","The bases go into a rotating drum filled with tiny steel beads.","As the drum spins, the centrifugal force throws the beads against the bases.","This removes all remnants of sand and polishes the surface smooth.","The bases go onto a computer-guided milling machine.","It drills a hole to affix the mounting piece for the stem that holds the head of the vise.","The mill also cuts a circular hole at the center of the base for a decorative coin bearing the manufacturer's logo.","They finish the bases with a clear protective coat, a proprietary formula that prevents the bronze from oxidizing.","The vise's other parts are machined out of metal bars.","Here, a computer-guided lathe transforms two square steel bars into the vise's jaws.","First, it cuts a small half circle on one piece for the cam that opens and closes the jaws.","Then, it turns the ends to form a point.","The entire transformation from bars to jaws takes about 90 seconds.","They place the jaws, one at a time, into a press and make a slight bend to set the correct spring tension.","They verify the depth of the bend with a specialized measuring tool, then send the jaws to an outside facility that applies a black protective finish.","When the jaws come back, workers assemble them.","First, they put the cam through the semicircular hole.","Then, they compress the jaws in a vise and slide an aluminum head onto the back.","When the jaws come out of the vise, they expand to their original position, retaining the head.","Workers apply the manufacturer's sticker, then thread a brass thumbscrew that you turn to lock in the position of the head, which swivels left, right, or 360 degrees.","They then bolt the handle into the cam.","When you depress the handle, the cam opens, opening the jaws.","On the reverse side of the jaws, they mount a clip for holding the feathers, yarn, or other materials you're using to tie your fly.","Then, they glue the logo coin into the pocket base.","They install the mounting piece for the stem, then the stem itself.","A thumbscrew on the mount holds the stem in place.","The head connects to a swivel at the top of the stem.","The jaws securely hold the hook while you tie your fly using anything from feathers and fur to tinsel and beads, creating your imitation of an appetizing insect or tiny fish."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Personal Watercraft","Wine","Office Furniture","Ice Skates"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Personal watercraft...","Wine...","Particleboard office furniture...","And ice skates.","They're to water what snowmobiles are to snow, what motorcycles are to road.","The proper term for these adrenaline-pumping, wind-in-your-face vehicles is personal watercraft, but most people call them sea-doos.","The fiberglass shell that's the body of the craft is molded at another factory.","It arrives here ready-made.","Workers use a template to position decorative decals on the upper shell, called the deck.","Next, they install rubber footpads on the steps.","A robot drills holes in the lower shell, called the hull, first for the drainage system...","Then for the exhaust system.","Next, workers install the straps that will hold the internal components in place.","Then they install the rubber pad that goes under the motor.","Next comes the motor mount to hold the motor in place.","Finally, the motor itself.","This 130-horsepower engine arrives at the factory fully assembled.","It's a matter of putting it in place.","Next, they install the jet pump-- that's what gives the watercraft its jet power-- then the battery, then the driveline-- that's what links the motor and the jet pump.","The 14-gallon gas tank goes in next.","They connect the driveline...","Then install the jet housing.","That's the protective casing around the jet pump.","Meanwhile, a robot works on the deck.","It applies globs of glue in key locations.","Workers stick on various straps that will hold internal components in place.","Then the robot glues the circumference of both the hull and deck.","They heat the hull to activate the glue...","Then clamp the deck to the hull.","The glue takes about 15 minutes to dry.","Using an ultrasound machine, they inspect the seal to make sure it's watertight.","Next, they install the hood and the steering column.","Now it's time to run an engine test.","The last step is to install a plastic bumper.","A roller presses it securely into place.","Researchers invented a way to identify faraway objects, even in thick fog or complete darkness.","They use a laser combined with military night vision technology to locate objects or people up to miles away.","The system is so precise, it can read the name of a boat in the dead of night.","The next time you enjoy a glass of wine, think about your place in history.","Wine may date back to 6000 b.c. nowadays, wine comes in bottles, not animal skins, but the basic principles of winemaking remain the same.","Wine grapes grow best in temperate climates.","The riper the grapes, the sweeter the wine, so growers wait as long as possible before harvesting their crop.","Pickers gather grapes by hand, cutting off the bunches with shears to avoid tearing the plant.","For red wine, winemakers use the entire red grape-- juice, skin, pulp, and even seeds.","For white wine, they use just the juice of white grapes.","While the winemaking process itself is certainly a factor, the quality of the grapes is what ultimately determines the quality of the wine.","Grapes are affected by weather, by soil conditions, and by how the vines are pruned during and between seasons.","The grapes go into the crusher, then into the presser, which squeezes out the juice.","Inside the winery, the result of all that crushing and pressing ends up in large stainless steel tanks.","The winemaker adds yeast to convert the sugar in the grape juice to alcohol.","That's called fermentation.","Winemakers constantly experiment with fermentation to try to improve the quality of their wine.","They take samples of grape juice and mix them with different types of yeast.","Yeast is found throughout the environment, in wild berries, for instance.","They hydrate the yeast with a bit of grape juice, then pour the mix into the grape juice sample, let it ferment, and then see how it turns out.","The big fermentation tanks are refrigerated, and monitoring their temperature is critical.","White wine must be fermented at around 63 degrees, red wine at 86 to 95 degrees.","The fermentation period depends on the type of wine.","White wine has to ferment for three weeks, red wine for just 10 days.","Rosé wine is somewhat of a half-breed...","Made with red grapes, but fermented slowly, like white wine.","It comes out pink.","There's an extra step in making red wine.","During fermentation, they drain the tank to aerate the wine.","The oxygen helps the yeast work faster over the short 10-day fermentation period.","Then they pump the wine back in through the top of the tank to mix everything thoroughly.","During fermentation, they not only monitor temperature, but also the sugar level.","As the juice becomes wine, the sugar level drops, and the alcohol level increases.","Except for very sweet wines, fermentation is finished when the sugar's gone and the alcohol content is 11% to 13% for red wine, or 11% to 11 1/2% for white and rosé.","The wine is stored for a few months, then it's run through several pressure filters to remove any particles.","Then it's time to bottle the wine.","Large wineries have fully automated bottling plants.","Smaller operations have semi-automated systems like this one.","The key in bottling wine is to avoid getting air inside because oxygen turns wine sour.","The colored wine bottles protect the wine from light, which can also affect the taste.","People have used cork to plug wine bottles since ancient times because it creates a tight seal that keeps the air out.","Cork, incidentally, is a type of tree bark.","Inside the bottle, the wine continues to undergo subtle organic changes as it ages.","Nowadays, you have to be pretty high up in a company to have a solid wood desk.","Your desk is more likely made of pressed wood-- an inexpensive alternative made from lumber by-products.","Particleboard is a common type of pressed wood.","Lumber mill leftovers provide the raw materials for particleboard.","The process starts with truckloads of sawdust.","The next ingredients are wood shavings and wood chips from all types of lumber.","They feed those chips and shavings into a large mill that works like a giant food processor, chopping them up into little bits.","When the milling's done, the particles are between .","008 and .","5 inches in size and less than .","03 inches thick.","To make the humidity level uniform, they put the particles into giant dryers whose combustion chambers are fueled by leftover dust from the chopping mill.","After 15 to 25 minutes, the humidity level drops to 1.5%.","From here, they'll send the dried-out particles to a screening machine, which will separate them by size.","Pieces too big for particleboard are fed through the mill again.","Sawdust will become fuel for the dryers.","Larger particles go into the rougher core layer of the particleboard, smaller pieces into the smoother surface layer.","Meanwhile, the factory's glue department gets to work mixing resin, water, wax, and chemical hardeners.","Machines mix the glue and the particles, then push out a long, continuous mat.","A cold compressor forces the air out of the mat.","Then a hot press activates the glue and forces it all together.","Next, a saw cuts the continuous mat into large sheets called master boards.","They're still hot from the hot press, so they're put aside to cool for about a half-hour.","Once the master boards are cool, they're sanded.","Then a stacking machine piles them about 80 sheets high.","A saw cuts them into a smaller, more manageable size to be sent off to a furniture factory.","At the furniture factory, the first step is to laminate the particleboard panels with a decorative covering.","First, the glue spreader covers the board's surface with glue.","Then another machine sticks on a 4- to 5-foot strip of decorative paper fortified with resin, varnish, and other chemicals.","This covering comes in many different colors and designs, from solids to imitation granite or wood.","A blade cuts the paper between each board.","Then a machine stacks the boards to prepare them for cutting.","The saw cuts through six to eight boards at a time, depending on their thickness.","The next step is to cover the edges of the particleboard.","They take a strip made of pvc plastic that matches the laminate.","They glue it over the edges, then trim it for a neat finish.","Next, they prepare the pieces for assembly.","A multiple-head drill makes screw holes in the panels.","Meanwhile, they prepare the bag of hardware.","There's a separate bin for each screw, nut, bolt, and connector.","The machines count out the exact number of hardware each piece of furniture requires.","Then the hardware is automatically bagged and weighed to make sure nothing's missing.","Every so often, a worker assembles a sample to make sure everything fits together properly.","If it does, production continues, and they can proceed to packaging.","They put together the particleboards for each piece of furniture, add the hardware bag and instruction booklet, then seal everything in plastic film.","From here, it goes into a box to be shipped to the store.","Getting your first pair of ice skates is like getting your first bicycle.","It's a childhood rite of passage, and one that leads to another well-known ritual-- landing on your backside the first time you try them out.","How long have we been ice-skating?","An iron skate found in scandinavia dates to 200 a.d., but people likely put blades made of bone under their shoes even earlier than that.","Skaters tied on their blades with straps until the advent of the skate boot in the early 1900s.","Today, skates are lightweight and high-tech and are designed for specific sports-- figure skating, speed skating, and hockey.","It takes 145 steps to make this high-end hockey skate.","The skate boot is made of a synthetic material that looks and feels like leather.","Once they've cut the pieces that will make up the boot, they shave the edges, thinning them out so the boot won't be bulky, particularly where there's overlap at the seams.","They position a reinforcement piece onto what's called the quarter-- the main structural piece that will form the sides and back of the skate boot.","They glue it on with a hot press.","The boot pieces now go to the sewing department.","They stitch together the tongue piece, then, using a sturdy zigzag stitch, they attach the quarter and the heel piece.","They spray glue on the quarter...","And on the ankle support...","Then stick on a foam ankle pad designed to mold to the contours of the skater's ankles.","Next comes the lining.","They must center it perfectly for the skate to be properly aligned and balanced.","The eyelet machine works like a hole punch, punching out eyelets in the quarter.","They reinforce each eyelet with an aluminum washer.","The last step in the sewing department is called forming.","They place the boot over a metal foot form.","A hot press laminates the boot to give the back and sides of the quarter their shape.","In the assembly department, they put the parts together using a foot form.","They tack on a white plastic insole and a black plastic toe cap.","They brush on a layer of glue...","And attach the boot.","They sand the bottom of the boot to roughen up the surface for better adhesion.","An automated machine applies a layer of glue along the contours of the boot's underside.","The boot then goes through a heat machine for a couple of seconds to evaporate the solvent in the glue, making it tackier.","As with the lining, they must position the sole perfectly, or they'll throw the skate off-balance.","An 8-ton press presses it onto the boot.","The sole is made of strong carbon or carbon composite depending on the skate model.","Once the glue is dry, they drill two holes through the sole for attaching the skate blade.","The blade sits in a plastic holder.","They screw it in place through the holes, then secure it with five steel rivets and four more resistant copper rivets.","Like the lining in the sole, the blade's alignment is crucial.","Roller hockey skates are made almost the same way as ice hockey skates, just instead of a blade, they attach an aluminum chassis with rollers.","In the finishing department, they inspect the inside of the skate, checking the blade holes and rivets in particular.","They plug the blade holes.","Then they lace up the first three sets of eyelets.","Finally, they install what's called the footbed-- the high-density foam padding that lies under the foot.","Last, but not least, they clean the skate, trimming excess threads and removing any glue residue."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Laptops","Panettone","Saxophones"]},"text":["The first computers used to be the size of an entire room.","Then they were built to fit on your desk.","The newest design is a portable device that sits on your lap, and today's laptops are made even smaller and more powerful than ever.","With its lightning-fast processor and impressive graphics, this laptop is designed for high-performance gaming.","The computer's brain, called the motherboard, begins as a printed circuit board.","Its pattern of lines and pads and copper is the wiring for the electronic components that will be soldered to the board.","This machine places a stencil of the component layout onto the board and applies solder paste through the openings.","A quality-inspection camera photographs the solder paste and sends the images to a computer.","The computer analyzes them, looking for any missing paste, misalignment, or other mistakes.","If the board passes inspection, it passes through 15 robotic machines, each of which places up to 150 components on the correct locations on the board in just 30 seconds.","Then the board runs through an oven that melts the solder paste, connecting the components to the board.","Another camera inspection ensures that the internal processor is correctly soldered, and that no component is missing or shifted out of position.","After function testing and a visual inspection, the motherboard moves to the assembly line and is set aside for the time being.","Next, technicians manually assemble the top half of the laptop called the panel kit.","They place protection film on the 15-inch lcd screen.","Then they plug in the cable that will connect the lcd to the motherboard.","They insert the lcd screen into a frame with a web camera and microphone already embedded.","Then they attach this antenna bottom cover to the screen cover and position the motherboard cable inside it.","Next, they install the module for the webcam and microphone.","They attach two hinges, which connect this panel kit to the rest of the laptop.","Then they install the wi-fi antenna in the antenna bottom cover.","All components are concealed in the antenna bottom cover behind this antenna top cover.","They complete the panel kit by pressing in a thin metal frame around the screen.","Next, they assemble the bottom half of the laptop.","First, technicians attach the top cover to the panel-kit hinges and the touchpad.","Then they install the right and left speakers in the top cover.","Now the motherboard comes back into play.","After inspection, a computer-guided router cuts out openings to accommodate the computer's fans, which prevent the electronics from overheating.","A gaming laptop generates a lot more heat than a regular laptop and therefore requires two powerful fans rather than one.","After checking that the fan screws are sufficiently tightened, they place the motherboard into the top cover.","Contaminants such as dust or oil can impede proper contact, so as a precaution, they clean the connectors for the memory modules with solvent, then dry them with compressed air.","Then they install the memory module, the wi-fi and bluetooth module, and the solid-state disc, which stores data.","They connect a high-capacity battery to the motherboard.","Batteries for gaming laptops are typically larger because the faster processor and dual fans consume more power.","The last component is the keyboard, which fits into a rectangular opening in the top cover of the bottom half.","A laser-etching machine marks the required information underneath.","An automated machine tests numerous functions, and a quality-control team tests several others, including the virtual-reality feature...","The lcd and keyboard color displays...","And the keys.","Not only must the keys function properly, they need to be durable, so enthusiastic gamers won't break them while playing.","Panettone is a traditional italian sweetbread most commonly prepared for dessert on christmas and new years.","Baking authentic panettone can take up to two days or more to make.","A certain expertise is needed to turn these ingredients into its domed-like shape while maintaining its fluffy center.","The baker pours high-protein flour to a mixing bowl.","Then he adds the flour into an industrial-sized dough mixer that has hooked mixing arms.","He adds fresh yeast, milk powder, and enough water to bind the ingredients together.","He places the safety cage over the dough mixer.","As the hook agitators blend the ingredients, gluten forms.","Glutens will give the panettone structure.","Sugar will feed the growth of the yeast.","The agitators evenly distribute it in the dough.","Meanwhile the baker cracks eggs and separates the yolks from the whites.","He weighs the yolks and adds them to the mix.","This panettone recipe calls for egg yolks only.","Yolks provide fat to help emulsify the dough and give it flavor.","To further enrich the flavor of the panettone, he adds a generous amount of butter.","The mixer folds it into the dough.","He transfers the dough to a container and leaves it to rise for 11 hours.","This process is called proofing the dough.","The dough undergoes multiple proofings.","In between each proofing period, the baker deflates the dough and returns it to the mixer.","During this process, the yeast consumes sugar, so he adds more to feed the process.","Next, he adds more of the other ingredients, and the mixer kneads them into the dough for one hour.","The mixer works the dough, creating bands of elasticity, so that the dough will stretch during rising.","In the final mixing stage, the baker adds vanilla extract for another flavor dimension.","While the dough mixer distributes it, he measures fruit by weight.","The panettone recipe calls for two parts raisins, one part candied orange pieces, and one part candied lemon pieces.","The mixer folds them into the dough.","After another proofing, the baker slices the fruited dough into chunks.","Some of the water in the dough will evaporate during baking and the panettone should end up about two pounds.","He shapes each chunk into a uniform mold and leaves the dough chunks to rise for an hour in a warm chamber.","Instead of metal pans, panettone is baked in these paper molds.","The molds will also be used as retail packaging.","After about an hour in the warming chamber, the dough chunks have doubled in size.","The baker works them into a rounder form and transfers them to paper molds.","Then it's back into the warming chamber for another proofing.","As the dough rises, the round shape is contained by the paper molds.","After six hours, he takes out the molds and carves crosses into the risen dough.","He adds small pieces of butter to the middle of each cross.","After 24 hours of preparation, the panettones are ready to be cooked.","They bake for 45 minutes at 320 degrees fahrenheit.","Once complete, he quickly spears each panettone with a metal rod near the base and hangs it upside down.","The panettones cool for up to 24 hours in this upside-down suspended state.","This stretches the warm breads to give them their dome shape and stops them from caving inward.","Once cooled, the panettones are ready to be wrapped for retail.","All that proofing has allowed the flavors to mature and the fluffy texture to develop.","The yeast will act as the preservative, keeping this italian christmas bread fresh for up to 30 days.","The saxophone was invented in the mid-1800s by adolphe sax, the son of belgium's chief instrument maker.","With the saxophone, sax blended the power of a brass horn with the nuances of a woodwind instrument.","This instrument has the ability to sound bright and edgy or dark and moody.","Even though it's made of brass or high-copper alloys, the saxophone is technically a woodwind instrument.","That's because it produces sound by vibrating a reed attached to the mouthpiece.","The process of making a saxophone starts with a long brass or copper sheath.","A hydraulic punch cuts the metal into rectangles.","After tracing a flared pattern onto one piece of metal, a craftsman aligns the pattern with the punch to cut out the part.","This part will now be formed into the saxophone's bell.","The worker folds it around the metal rod and pounds it with a wooden stick to do some initial shaping.","This takes the part from flat to three dimensional.","After the seam has been welded, more hammering rounds the shape substantially and improves on the flare at the end.","Next, the craftsman repeatedly pounds the flare to form it into a bell.","Hand-hammering shapes the metal and also alters the physical properties to make the sound more resonant.","Throughout the forming of the instrument, it is heated with a torch.","This makes the metal flexible enough to be shaped.","Next, he slides the bell onto a form.","He brushes lubricant onto the metal...","And lowers a roller.","The form spins the curved bell against the roller, which smoothes out dents and forces the bell to conform to the dimensions of the roller.","The rolled saxophone bell is the one on the right.","It's dramatically different.","Now we can see the saxophone's body take shape.","It starts with this piece of metal that's wider at one end.","The operator places it under a cone-shaped form.","Using hydraulics, it descends to fold the part and imprint the cone shape on the metal.","After more forming, another worker welds the seams to complete the cone.","This part of the instrument is also called the tube.","Meanwhile, the forming work on the saxophone bell has been completed.","A worker locks the upper part of the bell into a machine and turns the punch device to cut the tone holes.","Sound waves will be emitted through both the open tone holes and the bell's flare.","Later, another worker aims a torch at the saxophone body to soften the metal, so that the rims of the tone holes can now be formed.","He slides the body onto a steel mandrel with round inserts.","He aligns the tone holes with holes on the mandrel.","He sets a guide rack on top, aligning the holes in the rack with the holes in the instrument.","He inserts tools through the holes and threads them into the round inserts in the mandrel.","A support bracket props up the tools.","Using the tools, he pulls the inserts through the holes.","This forms a rim around each hole.","The raised edging will allow key cups to close the tone holes effectively.","The craftsman drills the rims to smooth and level them.","This will prevent gaps that could affect the sound of the instrument when the key cups close.","The next part is the bow, which will link the saxophone bell and body.","The craftsman brushes a cleaning agent known as flux onto one end.","He connects the two parts and applies more flux to the bell where it meets the bow.","He then melts solder where the two parts come together, completing this critical connection.","The solder makes the joint airtight.","He turns over the bell and bow assembly to complete the job, ensuring that the solder encompasses the entire joint.","He dabs water onto the soldered joint to cool it down.","But before this saxophone is ready to make music, a few more steps must be taken for good measure.","The saxophone has tonal qualities similar to those of the human voice.","Its sound can range from sultry, dark tones to high-pitched exuberance.","It's no wonder the saxophone has found a place in many music styles from jazz to pop to the classics.","The standard saxophone has 23 different tone holes and an equal number of key cups to close them.","At this factory, each key cup is assembled by hand.","A craftsman arranges the parts of a key cup in a fixture to position them for soldering.","He inserts a rod that will act as an alignment and positioning tool.","He applies flux to clean the part and melts silver solder into the connecting points.","To prevent the parts from sliding, the craftsman uses pincers to adjust their position.","Other keys are grouped together on a brass plate known as a rib.","He spaces the key posts evenly on a rod that serves as an alignment tool.","Several overhead clamps hold the posts in place on the rib.","He applies the chemical cleaner to the base of the post and the plate around them.","Silver solder is melted around the post, and as it solidifies, it fuses them to the plate.","Next, the craftsman removes the overhead clamp system.","After sliding keys onto the ends of the alignment rod, he positions the assembly on the saxophone body.","He closes the keys onto the corresponding tone holes and solders the base plate to the lower part of the saxophone body.","He brushes water onto the solder to accelerate the cooling and solidification.","He then removes the alignment rod and uncaps the tone holes for now.","A cleaning agent is brushed onto the back of a rib that supports a second grouping of key posts.","He solders the rib to the upper part of the saxophone body and takes the alignment rod off.","The posts have been installed in a specific sequence to support extending keys on a hinge rod.","Later, another worker polishes the bow and bell assembly against a buffing wheel, which polishes the instrument to remove smudges or fingerprints and give the brass parts a mirror finish.","They dip the brass saxophone parts in a bath where sound waves help remove residual dirt and grease.","There's also a chemical primer in the bath that will help a lacquer bond to the brass.","A technician sprays the lacquer onto the brass to protect it from corrosion and tarnish.","Floral artwork will add visual flair to this copper saxophone bell.","The copper has been painted black to make the art stand out.","The artist follows the stencil with an etching tool, rotating it using a twirling motion technique, etching in fluid movements.","He doesn't stop until he's completed a line to prevent any inconsistencies in the engraving.","After he completes the pattern, he does detail work.","This exposes the copper metal and makes the art pop.","Returning to the brass saxophone now, a technician screws long hinge rods to the posts.","He attaches the keys, which have been equipped with pads in the cups.","A tiny screw secures this grouping of keys.","He turns the saxophone over, inserts a light, and looks for escaping rays, making adjustments if needed.","He installs needle springs under the key rods and main hinge rod.","They'll enable the keys to spring back after they're pressed.","He tests the spring action and, again, checks for light leaks.","He now fits the bell bow to the main body.","There's a connecting ring that holds them together, but he'll also lock them in place with a screw.","From start to finish, it takes about a month to craft this saxophone.","Whether it's made out of basic brass or something a little showier, the look of the instrument can reflect the saxophonist's playing style, but the tone of the instrument defines it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Technical Glass","Washing Machines","Playing Cards","Crossbows"]},"text":["A traffic intersection, a hollywood movie set, the outside of an airplane-- it's hard to imagine any common ground among them until you flip a switch, a light switch.","Traffic lights, movie lights, and aircraft lights are all made of the same type of special glass.","It's called technical glass.","Borosilicate glass has a low thermal expansion and is very durable.","It's used in high-temperature applications and when abrasion resistance is important.","It begins with a mix of silica sand and chemicals called batch.","Workers shovel the batch and recycled glass, called cullet, into a pot furnace, where they melt for two days.","A variety of colorants are added to make hundreds of different colors.","Next, it's on to the molding process.","Workers heat a ring and transfer it to the top of a mold.","Then they twist and turn a stick called a punty to gather some melted glass and carefully string it in the mold.","A plunger squeezes the molten gob into shape.","The glass solidifies in seconds.","This glass lens is used as a landing-light cover on an aircraft.","They extract it from the mold for a quick inspection.","Any imperfections, and it gets recycled.","If the lens is acceptable, it's held in a forming device to finalize the shape.","The burner maintains the proper temperature of the ring.","Once formed, the lenses are cooled in an annealing oven, which relieves unwanted stress in the glass.","This circular mold makes theatrical and landscape lighting.","Again, a gob of molten glass is dropped in the mold, and the plunger is depressed, forming the lens.","Heat-resistant tongs enable workers to handle the hot lenses.","Red and yellow lenses need a high-temperature anneal for the color to appear.","This is called striking.","Back on the molding line, special tools are used to ensure this aircraft lens maintains its shape.","A quick spin on the light wheel illuminates any defects.","After a trip through the annealing lair, the lenses are ready for further processing.","The molding process for larger lenses can be more complicated.","This large convex lens requires several gobs of molten glass placed carefully on top of one another.","The plunger enters into the molten glass, forming the lens.","Deep ridges located in the plunger of the mold create the circular prisms on the glass lens.","Within seconds, the lens is ready for extraction and inspection.","Using heat-resistant mitts, workers scrutinize the glass from every angle, checking for small fractures or imperfections in the glass.","Next, they inspect for flatness using a paper-thin plastic feeler.","If it slides underneath, the lens is warped and unacceptable.","They check the glass thickness in many locations, using a calibrated thickness gauge.","Any major defects, and they discard the lens.","In the factory's finishing shop, they use a diamond saw to slice away excess glass around the periphery.","A special sanding belt is used to smooth the surface to perfection.","Then, with a cloth buffing wheel, they polish the glass to a shine.","At last, the final inspection.","Using calipers, they measure the lens's ridged edges, called the flange, to make sure the dimensions are correct.","Producing such a colorful assortment of technical glass takes a lot of work, but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel.","In the days before electricity, doing laundry was just plain hard work.","The first electric washing machines were little more than a bucket with a motor attached.","Fully automatic machines came about in the 1960s.","But with rising concern for the environment, there are new designs that need less water and electricity to get the dirty job done.","Most washing machines contain a circular tub to hold the laundry.","But this model has a unique feature-- a hexagon-shaped tub made from panels of laser-cut, perforated stainless steel.","The operator separates the cut panels and places one on a bending machine called a press brake.","It forces the panel against a die, bending the edge.","The operator repositions the panel for the next bend, repeating this until the six-sided shape is complete.","Then an assembler attaches a hinged door to the tub's opening.","That's where the laundry goes in.","This inner tub is contained by another outer tub.","To assemble it, a welder sets a stainless steel plate onto a welding fixture.","Then he places the tub's main frame and slides in another steel plate to close it up.","He clamps the tub firmly in place then spot-welds it on each side so the pieces hold together.","Next, he takes the tub over to a machine called a seam welder.","There, an electrode wheel travels all along the tub's edge, welding together the front and back panels to the main frame.","There's still more welding to do with the use of a robotic welding arm to build the machine's 24x27-inch steel base.","A concrete counterweight mounted on the outer tub's side prevents the machine from shaking too much when it's in operation.","Next, an assembler attaches a pressure tube and a sump hose to draw the used water out of the machine.","He seals both tubes with a watertight adhesive.","Now he can install the suspension struts that support the outer tub, one at each corner of the base.","A single electric motor powers the whole machine.","It's set on the machine's underside on an adjustable pivot shaft.","With the motor in place, assemblers now turn over the completed outer tub and lower it into position on its base.","They connect the support struts on all four sides and then push the tub to make sure the struts align properly and keep the machine balanced.","Next, the inner tub is set into the outer tub.","Workers insert a stainless steel shaft right through both tubs.","A strip of watertight foam is set along the outer tub's perimeter to seal it before workers install a plastic bezel that keeps water from splashing out of the machine.","Next, assemblers install the drive pulley onto the shaft that supports the inner tub.","A drive belt connects the motor to the pulley, which rotates the shaft and the inner tub that it supports.","Now they slide a stainless steel outer cabinet onto the base that covers the tubs.","It contains a control board, the brain of the washing machine.","The assembler sets the lid into place, and the machine is complete.","The control-board wiring is located on the underside of the lid.","That's also where the valves that dispense detergent, bleach, and softener are.","Before it leaves the plant, a member of the quality-control team tests it out with a load of soiled laundry.","According to the manufacturers, the unique shape of the inner tub is the key to making this a lean, green washing machine that requires less water, less detergent, and less energy to get the job done.","There's been a lot of water under the bridge since the days of those first machines.","They've sure come a long way.","The playing card traces its roots back more than 1,100 years to 9th century china.","Since then, generations young and old lay down their true colors in a variety of games, each as unique as the traditional 52-card deck and as timeless as the four famous suits.","Whatever the hand, a winning combination of technical features makes these playing cards durable and cheater-proof.","Industrial humidifiers control the moisture level of the card stock.","This prevents the cardboard from drying out and warping.","Technicians regularly monitor the cardboard's temperature and humidity by inserting a flat probe 4 inches from the top of the 3,000-sheet stack.","Card stock arrives from the paper mill ready-made-- two layers of cardboard bonded with colored glue.","This construction makes the playing cards impossible to see through.","Before making printing plates, a technician checks the artwork for the deck, then prints out a low-resolution sample to confirm the sequence and layout are correct.","There's absolutely no room for error, so she carefully double-checks every card for suit, sequence, color, and layout.","A signature on this sticker confirms these cards are good for print.","The next step is to make a digital proof.","This printer's internal laser heat-transfers dots of colored foils onto a clear film.","These dots perfectly reproduce the content and color of each card.","Next, a laminating machine bonds the exposed films onto a sheet of the same cardboard used to make the cards.","This produces a printed proof showing exactly what the finished playing cards will look like.","Here, graphic artists adapt hand drawings of the face cards, adding color and a touch of regal class wherever needed.","The next step is to make the printing plates.","A computer-guided laser etches the design into the polymer surface of the printing plate.","Entirely automated, this machine produces 30 plates an hour.","To set up for a print run, workers pour several cans of thick cyan ink into the ink duct.","The three other colors--  same setup.","When the printing press gets rolling, each fountain will disperse ink evenly via 16 rollers.","Feeders transport the cardboard sheets one by one into the press.","Each printing plate is mounted on a rotating drum.","Rollers transfer the ink onto the plate, which then transfer onto a rubber blanket, which presses against the passing cardboard as it moves through the press.","At the end of the machine, the printed sheet is flattened and stacked.","They feed the same sheets back through the press, this time upside-down.","The sheets now move through a cutting machine called the combi, where rotating blades divide the sheet into columns, then into individual cards.","The cards get grouped into decks.","Then the deck heads into what they call the cornering station.","A die descends and, in one fell swoop, cuts off all four corners.","Next, a robotic arm nudges each deck onto a conveyor destined for the cello wrapper.","Grippers pull a cellophane reel downwards while a knife then cuts the film.","A heated bar descends and seals the film, which forms an envelope.","With a simple pull, the red tear strip removes the wrapper.","The traditional english deck is the international standard for games such as poker.","But there are many more types of playing cards.","This set of spanish cards, for example, has no numbers, just symbols.","Whether at the casino blackjack table or the kitchen table, playing cards are the real deal.","A crossbow is a modern bow and arrow that you shoot like a rifle.","It's popular for both target shooting and hunting.","With a rifle, you can shoot from 200 yards away.","But using a crossbow is more of a challenge.","You have to be at least four times closer to your target.","A crossbow consists of the bow and the stock.","The bow shoots the arrow, while the stock houses the trigger and the aiming scope.","A plate of fiberglass is the starting point for the bow's limbs, the two curved arms that pull back and release to shoot the arrow.","A vacuum holds the plate steady as a computer-guided grinder does some initial shaping.","Workers measure the plate with micrometers to ensure it meets strict specifications.","This is a special type of fiberglass.","The fibers all run in the same direction, meaning they can bend repeatedly without weakening over time.","Workers mount the plate on a computer-guided cutter.","It carves out the limbs with a high-pressure water jet-- the most precise way to slice fiberglass.","Each plate yields four limbs--  two bows' worth.","The severed fibers make their surface rough, so a little polishing is in order.","The limbs go into a vibrating tub filled with ceramic stones that rub against the limbs, wearing down the coarse fibers.","Now the limbs are ready for decoration.","The design is printed on plastic film.","This machine uses heat and pressure to transfer the design.","The next bow component is called the riser.","They machine it out of aluminum, then jazz it up with an ink transfer.","To assemble the bow, they bolt a limb to each side of the riser.","It acts as a spacer, separating the limbs so that the arrow can pass between them when you shoot.","The riser and limbs go into a press, which applies more than 660 pounds of pressure, bending the limbs into an arc.","Next, workers mount a set of aluminum pulleys on each limb tip.","These are called compound cams.","Next, the yoke.","A yoke is a string with a loop on each end.","They anchor one loop to one side of the limb tip, pass the other end through a loop on a steel cable, then anchor it to the other side.","This forms \"y\" shape that distributes pressure on the limb evenly.","They repeat the same process with a second yoke on the other limb.","Now for the bowstring.","On each limb, they attach the bowstring end to one side of the cam.","Then they anchor the cable coming from the yoke to the other side.","Next, two rubber silencers go onto the bowstring.","When you shoot, these silencers absorb the string's vibration, reducing the sound.","These components make up what's known as a compound bow.","This design enables the bowstring to propel the arrow farther.","Now the bow is finished and ready for testing.","This scale measures how much strength it takes to draw the bow.","Elsewhere, the stock is coming together.","First, the trigger mechanism.","It undergoes extensive testing in a specially designed device that applies air pressure to simulate the bowstring tension.","They pull the trigger six times to ensure it fires properly.","Then they apply the safety catch.","And with a strap to get maximum strength, they pull some more.","This makes absolutely sure the trigger won't fire accidentally in the safety position.","After attaching a connecting rod that fits in the bow's riser, they install the trigger in the barrel.","Then they bolt these components into the stock housing.","They attach a bridge and rail on which the scope will mount.","Now they test the trigger again to check the installation.","Connecting the crossbow's two sections is simple.","You insert the stock's rod into a slot in the riser and tighten the mounting bolt.","Then you attach a foot stirrup.","To cock the bow, you stand the crossbow on the ground, put your foot in the stirrup, and pull the bowstring upward until it locks into the trigger mechanism.","Then you pick up the crossbow, aim, and fire."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steel Bistro Sets","Letterpress Printing","Bamboo Ceramic Lights","Asphalt Compactors"]},"text":["The metal bistro set is a fixture in european-style cafés and small restaurants.","The set consists of a small dining table and two chairs.","A bistro set is also popular in homes with limited outdoor space as there's usually enough room for one on a balcony or small patio.","The small restaurant bar known as the bistro originated in 19th century france.","Its iconic dining sets are still being produced today in both traditional and modern styles.","This french factory makes them out of strips of flat steel with rounded edges.","The first step is to flatten the strip with pressure-applying rollers.","The steel then enters a press which does three operations simultaneously.","It cuts pieces to the required length, rounds their ends, and punches out holes where required.","These are parts for the table legs.","Meanwhile, this computer-guided machine bends a 1/2-inch steel rod into a circle to form a ring that will support the tabletop.","This table is collapsible, allowing it to fold flat for storage.","Therefore, two of the legs are hinged.","A pin and notch lock them in the open position.","After putting together the folding legs, a worker positions all the parts for the base on an assembly fixture.","Then he operates a welding robot, which welds all the crossbars, reinforcing the legs and the legs to the ring.","It only takes about 2 minutes to weld all these parts into a folding table base.","The manufacturers make the tabletop from a square piece of sheet steel.","This machine first sheers off the corners, transforming the square into a circle.","Then it draws the edge upward to form a 1/2-inch-high rim on what will eventually be the underside of the tabletop.","It also cuts a hole in the center for an umbrella pole and draws that edge, as well.","A worker mates the tabletop to the folding base.","He inserts the ring into the tabletop's underside rim.","Then he opens the base and uses spreading pliers to pull apart, then butt the ends of the ring.","Next, he shields the underside of the table with a scrap piece of metal and welds the butted ends.","The table is now fully constructed.","The chair parts are cut on the same press as the table legs.","Each chair has two long legs and two shorter legs.","This machine simultaneously folds and twists the two shorter ones and folds the two longer ones.","The operator then connects them with a crossbar.","The next operator places these connected short legs in another machine.","He adds washers to the protruding ends of the crossbar, then the two long chair legs, connecting them lower down with the crossbar.","The machine welds that crossbar and forms each end of the other crossbar into a rivet, which creates the folding point for this collapsible chair frame.","The next operator places the frame on another machine, positioning three holes on each side onto upright steel pins.","He lays two steel slats for the chair back on these pins, then five more for the seat onto identical pins riveted to a pair of steel bars.","The machine then forms the pins into rivets, attaching all the slats.","He then assembles the seat to the frame, completing the construction of the chair.","The tables and chairs go on to the paint line.","The first station washes and dries the furniture.","Next, a worker opens each one to spray paint the articulation points.","Then, automated nozzles paint the rest.","This is industrial-grade powder paint known as powder coat.","A 10-minute trip through a tunnel oven at 370 degrees fahrenheit bakes it on.","Workers apply product information stickers, cushion protruding parts with plastic covers, and enclose foot protectors.","The bistro set is now ready.","Just unfold and unwind.","In an electronic world where a few taps on a device keyboard sends an invitation or greeting card, it's not all that common anymore to receive something printed the old-fashioned way.","Yet there's nothing quite as elegant as the crisp, recessed print that traditional letterpress printing produces.","Letterpress printing is a centuries-old method that's making a comeback.","The printing press makes an impression in the paper with raised type as it applies the ink.","The printer first sketches out some design ideas.","Then he detours into digital technology, finalizing the colors and composition and choosing the font in traditional metal type.","He cuts paper to the size of the greeting card he's making.","The paper is 100 percent cotton, which is more pliable than standard wood-fiber paper, thus enabling a deeper impression.","Cotton paper is more delicate, so he has to cushion it while cutting.","Otherwise, the clamp holding the stack would dent the paper.","Now it's time to set up.","He locates the selected font in the type cabinet.","Each individual character, called a sort, is backwards because backwards type prints forwards.","He finds the sorts for the first line of text and lines them up left to right and upside down in what's called a composing stick.","Once he completes the type of the line, called a form, he clamps it in position.","Then he takes a metal frame, called a chase, and mounts the form at a specific position inside the frame, filling the excess space with blocks of wood called furniture.","Just below the piece of furniture that's underneath the form, he places a compression device called a quoin and expands it with a key.","This locks the form in position.","He chooses each ink color from a fan deck, then follows the recipe to mix it.","This is color extender, which works like paint thinner, diluting a dark color to a lighter shade.","He mixes the color extender into the ink, blending the two ingredients thoroughly.","When the color matches the fan deck sample, he places a glob on a piece of cardboard and takes the mixture over to the printing press.","He applies it in dots all over the ink disc.","Then he pumps on the treadle to run the rollers back and forth across the disc.","This spreads the ink over the disc and onto the rollers.","He inserts the chase containing the form into what's called the bed of the press.","Now for the test run.","The printer pulls the lever to bring the bed and platen together so that the form, inked by the rollers, creates an ink-filled impression in the paper.","If the print is off a bit, he marks the correct position by pencil and installs gauge pins, which will hold the paper there.","Now he's ready to start printing.","There's no automation here.","He manually places one sheet at a time in the gauge pins.","The ink dries quickly because it's rubber based and because cotton paper absorbs well.","This printer's technique is a hybrid of traditional and modern approaches, as he uses computer-generated graphics.","He sends the digital file to a company that makes a polymer printing plate, which he mounts on an aluminum base that fits in the chase of the press.","He switches plates to do the next graphic in a different color, layered over the first.","The polymer plates marry the old and new technology by making it possible to print computer-generated graphics by traditional letterpress.","After printing the inside of this greeting card, as well, he uses a scoring rule mounted in another press to make a perfectly straight fold line down the middle of the paper.","The result is beautiful, textured print on elegant cotton paper just like the good old days before ink-jets, e-cards, and e-vites.","Bamboo-ceramic lights add a touch of zen to any space.","Made of ceramic and inspired by bamboo, they resemble bundles of tropical grasses, but they're not exact replications.","These light fixtures offer an artistic interpretation of an exotic element from the natural world.","Trying to create a tropical ambiance?","It's all in the lighting.","These ceramic lights celebrate the natural beauty of bamboo and set the mood.","Making the ceramic casing starts with a slurry of clay and water known as slip.","A propeller mixer evenly distributes the particles.","The slip flows through a hose and into plaster molds.","The artisan controls the amount going in, ensuring that each one is filled just below the brim.","Over 3 hours, the clay thickens and congeals along the edges.","After pouring out the remaining slip, he trims the clay casting, which has a putty-like consistency.","After leaving it to solidify a bit more, he carefully disassembles the mold, revealing the clay casting with a bamboo-like detail.","After curing overnight, the casting further solidifies, and the color lightens.","Using a knife, he adds more definition to some of the detail and cleans up the rough edges.","He also shaves off protrusions formed where the mold parts came together.","He lightly sands the entire bamboo ceramic casting to smooth over any remaining imperfections.","Using a wet sea sponge, he washes the entire casting.","This softens the clay on the surface and gets rid of any minute scratches left by the sanding.","The artisan then cuts holes in the back of the casting.","One is for installing the light socket, and the other is to run wires to the electrical junction box.","With the clay surface still moist, he carves nodes, or joints, into the bamboo canes.","He also cuts wide vertical lines to create the effect of cracks that occur in bamboo naturally when they dry out.","After firing the clay casting in a kiln and then cooling it overnight, the material has become a strong, durable piece of ceramic.","This craftsperson examines it for imperfections and then begins the painting process.","She sprays a very light yellow paint onto the bamboo ceramic.","This gives the piece just a hint of color, but it provides the desired undertone.","Next, she mixes a green oil paint with thinner and then brushes the mix into the grooves and notches.","This accentuates these areas.","She also brushes it onto the edges of the bamboo ceramic light box to better define the profile.","Using a soft cotton cloth, she blots up some paint from the palette and wipes it on the ceramic.","This softens the brush strokes and gives the ceramic cane structure a hint of green.","She sets the light casing on a revolving stand and inspects the coverage.","She then applies a liberal amount of brown paint to the entire piece, and the brown color completely overpowers the green and yellow paints.","She rubs off a lot of the brown paint.","This tones it down and subtly brings out the other colors.","This produces color variations that evoke the different tones of dry bamboo.","The paint transforms the piece.","A technician inserts the socket and pulls the wires through one of the holes and out the back.","He secures the socket in the light box from the back with a washer and nut, and that completes this bamboo ceramic light fixture.","Making it takes roughly 1 week, but the final result is very unique.","While providing illumination, it may also be an object of conversation.","Asphalt compactors are the heavy rollers of paving.","They're equipped with vibrating drums that weigh several tons.","The sheer load, in combination with the mechanical vibrations, compact new pavement.","This locks the aggregate particles together in order to provide a strong and stable road.","The asphalt compactor vibrates as it applies its weight to fresh pavement, and this process removes air pockets that could ruin the newly laid road.","To make this critical piece of road-building equipment, a computerized plasma torch cuts through heavy-gauge steel.","The operator selects the programs that guide the cutting.","The torch cuts out the compactor's body panels, the plates for the rollers, and many other parts.","A worker welds the front of the compactor frame together, and he attaches bracket plates for a pivot-hinge steering system.","Another worker guides a steel plate into a rolling machine.","The machine shapes the thick steel into the shell of a compactor roller.","The machine requires a few passes to establish the correct radius.","A crane then transfers the rolled steel to a fixture that positions bulkheads within the shell.","It then lifts the shell with the bulkheads and fixture onto a table, and a worker wraps cables around it.","He adjusts the length of the cables with a thick steel pin.","He tucks brackets behind the cables at the seams to protect them during the welding that will come later.","He installs chains and tightens them to hold the shell steady on the table.","He then activates what's called the squeezer.","Hydraulically powered, this machine pulls the cables to close the gap in the shell, and while the cable keeps the seam tight, the worker tack welds the seam and bulkheads from the inside.","With the tack welds holding everything together, a robot does the full welds on both the seam and the bulkheads.","The seam weld is large and protrudes from the shell...","So the next worker grinds the seam flush to the rest of the shell, allowing the roller to operate smoothly.","After a thorough wash, the roller goes into a paint booth to be sprayed first with epoxy primer and then urethane paint.","The rollers spend about 50 minutes in an oven to bake on the coatings.","An electric tug transfers them to the assembly line.","Here, the rear half of the compactor frame is taking shape.","A worker bolts the hitch to the frame.","He attaches a hydraulic steering cylinder to the hitch and secures it with a thick steel pin.","The next worker screws guide pins to the hitch.","He runs hydraulic hoses to the front section and links the rear structure to the front.","Next, workers lower the diesel engine into the front frame.","They anchor the engine by driving thick bolts into substantial engine mounts.","A center pivot link provides a second connection between the front and back parts of the compactor.","A worker torques the bolts that secure the link to the back.","Moving forward, workers lower the operator platform into place, complete with a seat and the controls.","They secure the control base to the frame with bolts in each of the four corners.","The compactor is now ready for the two rollers.","They've been equipped with vibrating mechanisms since we saw them last.","The team bolts the back roller in place and then connects the lines to the hydraulic systems that drive it.","They install the second roller and connect the hydraulic and electrical lines.","They calibrate the rollers to ensure they operate at the same speed.","They adjust the pivot steering if needed, and then it's time to roll."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fresh Cut Flowers","Adhesive Tape","Tofu","Lottery Tickets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fresh cut flowers...","Adhesive tape...","Tofu...","Tofu...","And lottery tickets.","And lottery tickets.","To wish condolences, congratulations, or for romance, there's no shortage of occasions for sending flowers.","Whether made up in a splendid arrangement or simply placed in a vase, fresh cut flowers rarely go unappreciated.","Roses are a perennial favorite.","Florists buy them from commercial greenhouses.","Those greenhouses have sophisticated sprinkler systems positioned to irrigate the soil rather than the plants because watering directly on the rose bushes would grow harmful fungus.","The hotter the weather, the more watering is required-- up to seven times daily for about five minutes each time.","The greenhouse climate is computer-controlled.","If it gets too humid, the computer automatically triggers the roof to open, bringing down the temperature.","The ideal greenhouse temperature for most flowers is about 70 degrees fahrenheit during the daytime and 60 degrees at night.","With every watering, the roses get a low-level dose of fertilizer, the botanical version of taking a daily vitamin supplement.","It's a mix of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium.","The proportions are determined by ongoing soil analysis.","If the pest specialist detects a bug problem, he applies an insecticide treatment to target the particular pest, but first, they close the roof so as not to pollute the outside environment.","Workers handling the chemicals wear masks and protective wear masks and protective clothing.","Clothing.","The roses grow through the openings of horizontal trellises positioned one above the other.","This ensures the stems grow tall and straight.","Crooked roses, after all, are worthless.","Cutting the roses is tricky and prickly.","Workers have to wear thick gloves to protect them against the thorns.","They cut the stem at a 30-to-45 degree angle just above the second set of 5 leaves.","The cut must be precisely at that spot for a second rose to bloom about 40 to 55 days later, depending on the season.","Growth is slower in winter because there's less sun.","The growth period also varies somewhat according to the variety of rose.","The fresh cut roses go into a bucket of lukewarm water with a few drops of bleach to kill off any harmful bacteria.","Workers then check each and every rose to make sure the blooms and foliage are free of blooms and foliage are free of defects.","Defects.","Then they classify the roses by length.","The longer the stem, the more the longer the stem, the more the rose is worth.","The rose is worth.","They make a bundle of each length...","Then trim the bottom of the stems to equalize the height.","They wrap the roses in newsprint so they won't dry out during shipping.","The transport trucks are refrigerated in summer and heated in winter to keep the roses at a safe temperature, about 40 degrees fahrenheit.","To make a bouquet of dried roses they select open blooms for a nicer look, then hang them upside down in a room cooled by fans.","They leave lots of space between bouquets so the air will better circulate.","The roses take a week to dry out.","Fresh cut flowers are striking, whether part of an arrangement or in a vase.","They can last in water for about a week, provided you trim half an inch of the stems to open up the water channels.","Fill the vase with lukewarm water, never cold water.","Pour in a bit of bleach to ward off stem-clogging bacteria.","Change the water every three days, and be sure to keep the flowers away from the heat of a flowers away from the heat of a sunny window.","Sunny window.","Adhesive tape was invented in 1925 as a painter's masking tape for auto-body shops.","That led to transparent tape, designed to seal the cellophane wrap used by the food industry.","Then tape was introduced as a household item, and the idea just stuck.","These rolls of plastic film called polypropylene are on their way to becoming shipping tape.","The rolls go on a machine called the unwinder.","Workers then position a strip of adhesive splicing tape along the end of each roll.","This will enable them to connect one roll after another, creating an uninterrupted feed to the production line.","Now watch closely.","Once a roll unwinds completely, its end sticks onto the splicing tape at the beginning of the next roll.","Once that roll's unwound, its end will stick to the beginning of the next, and so on.","An automatic tension adjuster ensures that the machine pulls the film evenly to prevent ripping.","The unwinder also applies a solvent to the film's surface.","This prevents the film from sticking while unrolling.","To transform this film into tape, they coat one side with a hot adhesive known as hotmelt, made from several ingredients.","Synthetic rubber gives it flexibility.","A u.v. protector keeps it from drying and discoloring, while an antioxidant prevents aging.","Synthetic resin makes it sticky, while pigmentation oil provides a choice of color-- in this case, tan.","They load the hotmelt into a preheated holding tank, which keeps the melt at a piping 390 degrees fahrenheit to prevent it from hardening.","The tank pumps the adhesive to a machine called the gluer.","They wipe away the excess, then roll the film.","And there goes the adhesive.","A cooling roller-- that black one on top-- immediately hardens it.","A computerized sensor ensures there's an even coat of adhesive.","If not, it automatically signals to the pump to adjust the output.","Now a machine called the rewinder rolls the tape onto spools.","Remember the unwinder that spliced the rolls together?","Well, the rewinder unsplices them.","When a spool fills, a knife separates the tape at the splice point so that winding can begin point so that winding can begin on the next spool.","On the next spool.","The tape on just one of these spools would run the length of 85 football fields.","The spools feed a row of sharp razor blades called the slitters which divide the 5-foot-wide tape into several strips.","Shipping tape is almost 2 inches wide, so they get 31 strips per spool.","Each strip winds onto a cardboard core, and its end is cardboard core, and its end is sealed with a tab.","Sealed with a tab.","The length of tape per roll varies according to the customer's specifications.","As the machine ejects the finished tape rolls, in comes the next batch of cardboard cores.","Then it's off to the packaging department.","Nothing's shipped out, however, before a quality-control check.","They test a sample roll from each spool.","In one test, they unroll the tape sticky side up, then release a tiny, stainless-steel ball down an incline, measuring how far the ball rolls before it sticks and comes to a stop.","To pass the test, the ball has to adhere within a certain distance.","The stopping distance varies depending on the type of depending on the type of adhesive tape.","Adhesive tape.","Some people just can't get past that rubbery texture, but tofu enthusiasts say it's all in how you prepare it.","Tofu is a great source of protein, low in saturated fat, and cholesterol-free.","And it's versatile, absorbing whatever flavors surround it.","Tofu is made from soybeans, the seeds that grow in the pods of the soybean plant.","They contain 40% protein, more than double the protein in beef or fish.","They start by soaking the soybeans in cold water for 18 to 24 hours, depending on the season.","In winter, beans are stored in outdoor silos and take time to warm to room temperature.","Here's what the beans look like before and after soaking.","As they absorb the water, they double in size and soften up a bit.","The bloated soybeans go on to a conveyor belt where a rotating device transports them to a crushing machine.","The machine crushes them into a thick and grainy soup of soybean milk and pulp.","It does this by forcing the beans through an internal filtering screen.","Next, they transform the soup into a paste by heating it in a steam cooker for 3 to 4 minutes.","Then it's into a centrifuge machine.","As the chamber spins, the centrifugal force separates the milk and pulp.","The milk passes through a cone-shaped filter, while the pulp, called soy meal, sticks to the sides of the chamber.","The soy meal goes off to be sold for cattle and pet food.","The milk stays behind to be transformed into tofu.","Still piping hot, it goes into a coagulation tank to be thickened into curd, but first, they add different herbs and spices, because this batch will be sold as flavored tofu.","Then they add the coagulant, magnesium chloride...","Along with water to activate it.","Then more stirring.","It takes about 15 minutes for the soybean milk to congeal into soybean curd, otherwise known as tofu.","When it's ready, it's still steaming but pretty soggy, so they run it through a perforated cylinder to drain as much liquid as possible.","By the time the tofu comes out the other end of the cylinder, it's relatively dry and roughly the consistency of scrambled eggs.","Now it can be processed into those familiar blocks you buy at the supermarket.","They transfer the tofu into large rectangular molds lined with cheesecloth.","Then it's into a press that applies 130 pounds of pressure.","This squeezes out most of the remaining liquid and molds the lumpy, loose tofu into a firm rectangular block measuring 15 by 29 inches.","They cut the block lengthwise and widthwise into 54 blocks of 10 1/2 ounces each.","Tofu is pretty tasteless, but like a sponge, it absorbs the flavor of whatever it comes into contact with.","They drench this batch in a spicy marinade to make jalapeño-flavored tofu.","After verifying the weight of each block, they package the tofu with a sprinkle of spices for garnish.","Then, to kill off any bacteria, the blocks go into a pasteurizer at 230 degrees fahrenheit for an hour.","When they come out, they drop into a cooling basin filled with water just above freezing temperature.","They stay submerged for about an hour.","Tofu comes either preflavored or plain.","It also comes in different textures.","Firm tofu maintains its shape in soups and stir-fries, while soft tofu and silken tofu are ideal tofu and silken tofu are ideal for blended dishes and desserts.","For blended dishes and desserts.","The odds of winning big in a lottery are slim to say the least.","Still, we keep hoping that lottery ticket will become our one-way ticket to extreme wealth.","Experts say your odds of picking the winning numbers never change no matter how many people buy tickets.","Lotteries are by no means a modern invention.","The emperors of ancient rome held them for entertainment.","European monarchs used state lotteries to help fund their extravagant lifestyles, and the american colonies held lotteries to finance roadwork and construction projects.","Pressure from the church and widespread fraud led many countries to ban lotteries during the 1800s, but governments eventually reconsidered.","They just couldn't resist they just couldn't resist milking that cash cow.","Milking that cash cow.","Eye-catching lottery tickets are designed by graphic artists.","A technician takes the design, separates it by color, then sends the information to a machine called an image setter, which generates one negative per color.","Next, they place the appropriate colored film under each negative and expose it to ultraviolet light.","This hardens the color not shielded by the dark portions of the negative.","When they wash away the unhardened color, they're left with a color image.","They layer the films to make the client a mockup of the finished lottery ticket, in this case a scratch-and-win type.","Now they make the printing plates-- one for each color of the design-- first for the non-playing area, everything outside the scratch zone.","Each negative goes onto a paper-thin aluminum plate coated with a u.v.-sensitive emulsion.","They expose the plate to u.v. light for about 20 seconds.","This hardens the unshielded emulsion.","The rest is washed away in a chemical bath, leaving the design in relief on the plate.","For the ticket's playing area, a similar process is used, but instead of an aluminum plate coated in emulsion, they use one made of photo polymer, a light-sensitive plastic.","The finished plates are now ready to go on to the printing press.","Their raised service will work just like a rubber ink stamp.","The non-playing area goes on first.","This method is called offset printing.","The press applies up to nine different colors, one after another, from lightest to darkest.","High-intensity u.v. lights dry the ink in the mere half-second between color applications.","Next comes the playing area.","A high-speed ink-jet printer first applies the game numbers, chosen randomly by computer.","Infrared lamps dry the ink in a split second.","A strobe light enables the press operator to do spot checks as the tickets whiz by at a rate of 16 feet per second.","Then the printer gives each ticket a unique bar code.","This enables ticket vendors to scan your ticket to see if you've won.","It also shows whether a winning ticket is genuine or a forgery.","The next machine seals the game numbers with layers of varnish and applies six coats of scratchable ink.","An electronic scanner checks the positioning of the scratchable ink, making sure it hides the numbers.","The first three scratchable-ink coats are black.","The next three are white.","All those layers are used to keep cheaters from holding the card up to the light to see the numbers.","Now they can finally print the playing area design onto that white background-- in this case, a crossword design.","A machine now perforates the rolls of tickets so they can be folded.","It processes almost 10 feet of tickets per second.","Here's what that looks like in here's what that looks like in slow motion.","Slow motion.","The next machine folds the tickets along the perforation lines into piles called fan folders.","Goodbye, slow motion.","Goodbye, slow motion.","Here's the actual speed.","Here's the actual speed.","Before the lottery tickets are shipped out, several samples undergo a quality-control inspection.","The company checks that the tickets are properly printed.","It also performs a series of scratch tests and chemical tests to make sure they're absolutely to make sure they're absolutely cheatproof.","Cheatproof."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Screwdrivers","Compact Track Loaders","Physician Scales","Carbon Fibre Bats"]},"text":["Bit by bit, the screwdriver makes the life of a handyman a whole lot easier.","The screwdriver first showed up in the early part of the 19th century.","It evolved from a flat-bladed bit used in a carpenter's brace, and its invention was a definite turning point.","These trusty tools come with different bits to fit a variety of screwheads, so all you have to do is apply the right torque, and it's mission accomplished.","The job of making screwdrivers starts with coils of specially formulated steel.","Wheels straighten a thick wire, and then it travels through an aperture.","On the other side, a machine rocks back and forth as it cuts the wire to length and forces it through four dies.","The first die narrows the steel to the required diameter.","The others form a hexagonal bolster partway down.","This bolster will allow a wrench to be applied to the screwdriver to increase its turning power.","A quick shower washes away the lubricant, and these screwdriver shafts are ready for inspection.","The technician examines them for defects and measures the length and the dimensions of the hexagonal bolster.","Once he confirms that everything is to specification, the screwdriver shafts head into a machine that will transform the tips into a slotted shape.","At the first two stations, the press flattens the tip.","The third one trims it and stamps the part number onto it.","The flat blade is probably the most common of screwdrivers.","Its chiseled tip turns a standard slotted screw.","After the screwdrivers are heat-treated to increase their hardness, they sand the tips to shave off .","1 of a millimeter.","They confirm that with this slotted guide.","Then they insert the screwdrivers into a different slotted device.","This one shuttles them over to a grinding wheel.","This wheel trims them to their final dimensions.","Visually, the change is subtle, but this fine-tuning will make a big difference in the screwdrivers' performance.","Now they twirl in a machine that blasts the tips with mild abrasive.","This texturizes the surface to allow this screwdriver to really grip a screwhead.","The texturized tip is the one on the right.","Over at another station, a different kind of screwdriver is taking shape.","This is a phillips.","Its tip has a beveled cross point to correspond with a phillips screw.","This machine carves ridges into the bevels of the cross point to give it extra gripping power.","A press then slams into the other end of the screwdriver to create flanged grooves.","These grooves will allow them to lock the screwdriver shaft into its handle.","It's time for some positive vibrations.","This vibrating feeder causes the screwdrivers to chafe against each other, and the action removes any waste material.","After they texturize the cross-point tip, it's over to a laser machine.","It etches the part numbers onto these polyurethane handles.","And now for the gripping part.","The assembler attaches the handle to the screwdriver blade.","He then places the screwdriver in a machine that applies mechanical force to solidly entrench the shaft in the handle.","With the screwdrivers now on a tray, they move through a curtain of plastic.","A machine heat-seals the plastic around the edges.","The loosely wrapped tray then enters a special furnace, and the heat shrinks the plastic around the tray to neatly wrap up this job.","It has taken several days to make these screwdrivers, and now they're ready for the twists and turns of any job.","Tools like these screwdrivers are really an extension of the human hand.","A quality tool will enable you to work with more precision, but, of course, you have to grasp the fundamentals of your project.","And depending on what kind of handyman you are, that could be a whole other story.","Compact track loaders move materials like dirt, gravel, and even snow into a dump truck or any other type of machinery.","The rubber tracks give them the traction to work hard while treading lightly over soft ground conditions like grass.","Compact track loaders can be used year round.","Compact track loaders give a smooth and stable ride over all sorts of terrain.","Their rubber tracks and suspension allow them to turn on a dime and work in places where other machines can't.","To start, technicians attach four sets of mid wheels to a frame rail.","The wheels are made of plastic and rubber.","Then they assemble the axle suspension using rubber cords so the wheels can flex up and down.","They tighten the bolts and mark them as done.","After they attach two more sets of mid wheels, what's called the frame-rail assembly is complete.","Technicians then attach a turnbuckle to the frame rail.","The turnbuckle will be used to tighten or loosen the rubber track.","Next, they put together the drive sprocket assembly-- the part that drives the track.","They put a drive motor into a housing, add the sprocket assembly, then put on a heavy-duty bearing.","Finally, they install a support plate which completes the drive-motor assembly.","A technician then mounts the drive-motor assembly onto the frame-rail assembly.","Technicians install the rubber track onto the frame-rail assembly.","A little lubrication makes the track go on easier until its molded lugs interlock with the drive-sprocket assembly.","Next comes a larger idler wheel, which they install at the end of the track, securing it on the axle.","He tightens the turnbuckle to give the rubber track the correct tension, completing the undercarriage assembly.","The track loader will ride on two of these undercarriages.","A technician installs the machine's main suspension onto the chassis, then connects the hydraulic-valve assembly.","It's the hub to which they connect all the hydraulic lines and hoses used to control the machine.","Using a crane, the technician mounts the engine to the chassis.","Once the engine is secure, he puts on the integrated fuel tank.","He installs a hydraulic cylinder and connects its two fluid lines.","One cylinder goes on each side of the machine.","They are used to move the loader bucket up and down.","He then connects the undercarriage assembly to the chassis using an undercarriage pin and pneumatic wrench to secure it in place.","A technician now installs the loader assembly-- the part that holds the bucket or other attachment.","Once installed, this machine can lift more than 3 tons.","He secures the assembly in place using heavy-duty pins.","Then technicians install the operator's station that helps protect the driver from the elements and from debris.","A technician makes sure the loader arm works properly, then drives the track loader on a treadmill to test all the systems.","He runs the engine at full speed until it reaches the appropriate operating temperature.","This shows that everything is working as it should.","Finally, he affixes the company logo.","Compact track loaders are strong and agile machines.","They work just as well on dry surfaces as they do in wet and muddy conditions.","Stepping onto the scale at the doctor's office is a moment of truth not everyone enjoys.","Little has changed in the simple design of these scales since the early 1900s.","Cast iron has given way to steel and aluminum.","That means they've actually gotten lighter over the years, unlike some of us.","This scale compares the weight placed on the platform with a standard weight known as a poise that slides along an off-center waybeam until it balances.","A punch press forms sheet steel into the head, or top of the scale's column.","Workers form the column from another piece of steel using this press brake.","Then they spot-weld the head and column together.","Another machine stamps out lengths of steel that will form the frame for the scale's base.","Workers use the press brake again to bend both sides of the steel lengths.","Then they fold it by hand to form the frame.","They clamp the frame onto a base, and this robot welds them together.","The robot moves on to weld other components to the scale, such as the lever mechanism and the baseplate.","Now workers place steel bearings at each corner of the base, where the lever mechanism will rest then add the base frame.","Next, they install the long lever...","Then the short lever.","A c-clip joins them together.","Once it's right-side up, the lever mechanism hangs off the platform.","The columns receive a coat of electrostatically charged paint that evenly coats the metal for a flawless finish.","Once it's dry, a machine silk-screens the brand name onto the column.","Now for the final assembly.","A worker inserts a 4-foot steel rod that will tie the waybeam to the levers.","He works the rod up through the column, then, at the column's head, he screws it to the waybeam's shelf.","Another worker hammers the large poise into position on the waybeam, then the smaller poise.","They screw on to the beam in two parts so they can glide freely.","She applies a gauge onto the beam that indicates the weight measured in pounds from 0 to 350.","Now she takes a zero-adjustment screw and spring-loads it onto the beam.","This allows the beam to balance when the poises are set at zero and the scale is unweighted.","A retaining ring holds the screw in place.","At the assembly line, workers fasten the scale's column to its base.","They cover the pivot to protect it from wear and set down the waybeam that balances on it.","Then they connect it to the steel rod that comes up through the column from the base.","Once the waybeam connects to the lever mechanism at the base, the scale is functional.","Now it's time to make sure it's accurate.","Each scale goes to a weigh station where workers check the readings in 44-pound increments.","If the readings are off, workers go back and remove some lead from inside the large poise so the scale calibrates perfectly.","Just a few grams of lead can make all the difference in accuracy.","Finally, they place a plastic cover over the working parts, and the scale is complete.","When the competition is stiff, sometimes it helps to be a little flexible, and that's the idea behind the carbon-fiber softball bat.","Manufacturers can tweak the stiffness of carbon fiber to produce a bat with some elasticity.","It's a striking innovation.","Carbon bats are a high-tech way to improve your game.","Incredibly, these hard-hitting bats start with pliable sheets of carbon-fiber infused with a special resin.","They crisscross the sheets and then iron the side with a paper liner to melt the layers at the seams.","A hot steel roller then applies some serious pressure to fuse the carbon-fiber layers together.","They slice it to size.","Now they peel away that paper liner and spiral the carbon fiber around a steel bat form.","By changing the angle of the weave, they can fine-tune the bat's elasticity to a league's specifications or to an individual player's performance level.","They wind polypropylene tape around the carbon layers to squeeze out the air between them.","They bake the carbon in an oven for two hours.","This cures the resin impregnated in the carbon so the many layers become one.","After they slice away the tape, they slide braided weaves of carbon and fiberglass over the fused carbon form.","They secure the braided tubing with tape.","They pull a layer of thick carbon over that, followed by a superstrong synthetic weave called aramid.","One last taping, and this softball bat is ready to take shape.","They place the carbon-wrapped forms in a mold.","As the mold closes around them, they prepare an epoxy resin.","They then inject the resin into the mold.","It permeates the many layers wrapped around the steel form.","The mold applies hot pressure to bake the layers together and define the contours of these bats.","It takes just a few minutes in the mold to transform the many layers into a solid bat.","This 5-ton puller now extracts the steel form on which the carbon bat was built.","They use this pneumatic equipment to test its flexibility.","A lathe now spins the bat as a cutter moves in and carves the hardened resin base into a knob.","The knob on the right now meets league specifications.","Now this carbon bat goes for another spin so they can sand it from every angle.","They dip the bats two at a time in black primer and hang them to dry.","The bat then takes on a more colorful appearance with a variety of spray paints.","They transfer decals with production information onto the barrel of the bat, and a laser burns the company logo and serial number into the painted carbon.","They cap the bat by press-fitting a polycarbonate plug to the barrel.","Resin completes the seal, and they add extra to adjust the bat's weight to league specifications.","They pump the resin in through a hole in the knob, and it flows up to the barrel plug.","Then they weigh each bat to verify that it's within an acceptable range.","Using a hydraulic ram, they drive a steel pin into the hole on the bottom of the knob to achieve the correct balance point.","And it's time to wrap this carbon bat with synthetic leather, making it easier to grip.","These high-tech bats are now ready to team up with raw talent, and they could blow the competition out of the ball park."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carbon"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Carbon-fiber masts...","Fortune cookies...","Imax projectors...","And roller chains.","In the world of sailing, lightweight ideas are the best kind.","This carbon-fiber mast is a good example.","At the half the weight of aluminum or wood, it allows the boat to move faster, and it's a pillar of strength, easily holding up a full sail.","Whether you're a sailor or passenger, it's nice to know you can count on its support.","They launch production of a sailboat mast with a strip of carbon fiber.","They wrap it around a long mast form, which will serve as a mold.","They trim the material and peel away the paper backing.","Between 20 and 100 layers will be wound around the mold, depending on the size of the mast.","They apply some layers in a crisscross manner to give the mast more structural integrity and help it hold its shape.","They cut away the overlap so that the edges meet perfectly.","The material is a bit creased and bulky at this point, so they wrap it with plastic pull tape to compress it.","Then they remove it.","This temporary taping is done after each layer, but they leave it on after the final one and tape a breather cloth around it.","Then they pull a long plastic vacuum bag over the entire thing.","They seal the ends with tape.","They attach the vacuum connector and hose and turn it on.","It sucks air from between the carbon layers, compressing them further.","Next, it all heads into an autoclave to be baked under pressure.","This will squeeze more air from the layers.","At the same time, the heat will activate glue impregnated into the material, permanently fusing the layers.","They make this fitting in a similar fashion.","It's called a gooseneck plate, and it will connect a boom or spinnaker pole to the mast.","Back to the mast.","They pull the big aluminum mold out of the mast tube.","Using a disk sander, they rough up the surface so paint will stick.","They drill two holes.","And using a jigsaw with a special blade, they connect them, making one wide slot.","And remember the gooseneck plate?","They trim it using the jigsaw so that it will fit snugly on the mast.","Next, a worker maneuvers a plastic pipe with a string on the end.","He threads the string through the mast tube, then hooks it and pulls it out of the slot made earlier.","It's a messenger line, and it will be used to install the rope halyard that will raise the sail.","They also use messenger strings to install electrical wiring, connecting such things as radar, horns, and lights.","They're all funneled through the inside of the mast.","The mast has now been painted, and a worker installs the upper end of the pulley system for the halyard.","He slides in a pin that holds the halyard pulley and bolts on a guard to keep the rope from fraying.","Next, they screw on a device that will let the captain know which way the wind is blowing--  the wind indicator.","He twist-locks a signal light to the top of the mast.","It will indicate the boat's direction to passing vessels.","Now they attach a piece called the toggle.","It's a connector piece between the gooseneck plate and the boom.","This carbon-fiber mast is now seaworthy and will soon make its debut on the water.","The fortune cookie is a snack with a message, and the message is usually as sweet as the sugary shell.","But there is one surprising thing about the fortune cookie.","It wasn't invented in china, but in california in the early part of the 20th century, and people in china have never really developed a taste for it.","Yes, the fortune cookie is about as american as apple pie.","But more than pie, it gives you something to think about.","To make a batch of fortune cookies, they start with a sack of sugar.","They empty the whole thing into a big steel mixer.","Fortune cookies are about 20% sugar.","They add some food coloring, just enough to turn the cookies that distinctive gold shade, then some melted vegetable shortening.","They pour in some starch as a thickener.","Pipes spray water into the mix.","And then they add pastry flour.","This soft wheat flour will give the cookies their texture.","They add a bit more water, because too little of it would make for a crumbly batch.","Then it's time to mix it all up.","After a few minutes, they check the consistency.","Then they pour in more melted shortening and a soy-based lecithin.","Once that's blended in, the cookie mix ebbs from the bowl as a hose pumps it out from the bottom.","Next, ejector nozzles squirt the batter onto hot moving trays, making precise little patties that look like regular cookies.","You could call this \"the wheel of fortune cookies\".","Hot molding plates revolve.","Each one descends and presses onto four fortune-cookie patties, flattening and shaping them.","They travel through an oven that's almost 30 feet in length and bake for about a minute.","They come out of the oven piping hot and are given no time to cool down, because these fortune-cookie patties need to stay soft so they can be easily manipulated in the next step.","Steel prongs push little paper fortunes into each cookie as they fold it into that distinctive butterfly shape.","There are about 5,000 different fortunes in the mix at this factory, so it would be rare to get the same fortune twice.","This plant makes a truly astounding number of fortune cookies every day--  about 4 million.","The folding molds open as the track descends.","The fortune cookies, now cooled and crispy, drop to a conveyor below.","It takes each fortune cookie through a wrapping mechanism, which envelopes it in plastic.","Then a hot blade cuts and seals the package in one fell swoop.","The packaged fortune cookies transfer to another conveyor, which transports them to an inspection station where many production lines converge.","A worker checks to make sure there are no breaks in the package or the cookie.","He tosses out any rejects.","After all, a broken fortune cookie could be bad luck.","A box moves into position, and hundreds of cookies fall into it-- 350 cookies, to be precise.","They're portioned out by a scale overhead.","Then a plastic ram gently presses the cookies into the box to reduce the bulk.","A conveyor belt moves the box full of cookies under a metal bar, which pushes the flaps down to close it.","And now the time has come to crack open the cookie in the proverbial ritual.","Hope our fortune is a good one.","So, you want to be on the big screen.","You won't get there without a movie projector.","It was invented over a century ago, and the concept is the same today.","Film revolves in front of a light which projects an image onto a screen.","But the latest technological advancements allow for much bigger screens.","Its film is 10 times larger than normal, and the projector magnifies it 400 times as it moves in a sideways-rolling loop, rather than the traditional vertical feed.","And instead of the usual sprockets, registration pins retract as the film loads and then reach out to steady it as it rolls.","A vacuum sucks the film to the aperture lens.","This is how they keep the gigantic image perfectly steady.","To make an imax projector, they bolt two prisms together and mount them on a part called the lower illumination module.","The prisms and a mirror will reflect the projector's light to a similar part called the upper illumination module, which will relay the light to the lens.","It's a fly's-eye lens, a collection of many lenses on one glass.","Each will focus to a single point, ensuring an even distribution of light.","A technician screws two fly's-eye lenses together and then places them in a fixture to align the two halves.","He switches on a light and places an alignment guide over the lenses.","There are red and green filters on this guide, and he brings them into focus.","He adjusts them until the red and green lines merge.","It means the two fly's-eye lenses are now aligned.","Next, they install the upper illumination module in the projector frame, and then they flip it.","They remove the protective cap from the back.","Then they attach it to the lower illumination module which we saw assembled earlier.","Here, they bolt together the rotor support and motor.","The rotor is this big wheel.","It's the heart of the projector.","It drives the film forward in that distinctive wavelike action.","This piece, called a stader, will act as a guide for the film.","He fits the aperture block on the front of the frame.","Using a crane, they lower it onto the base.","They screw in spacer bars and install the second projector assembly.","These two assemblies will enable the system to run three-dimensional movies.","Now it's time to position the main lens at the front of the projector.","They remove the lens cap, and it's time for the film.","The film wave happens 24 times a second.","We've slowed down this footage so you can see it all happen.","The film of a test chart ripples in front of the aperture, and then vacuums pull it down for a 1/24 of a second.","This eliminates any shakiness in the projected image.","Now we're showing it in real time.","You get the picture.","There's also nothing ordinary about the lamps the imax projector uses.","They're very powerful, but they use the light very efficiently.","And now it's time to enjoy the show.","Roller chains are used all over.","We're all familiar with them as the chains that move energy to the wheels of our bikes.","But roller chains also transfer energy in industrial and agricultural machinery.","They really keep things moving, and without them, a lot of important equipment would be powerless.","To make a roller chain, a punch press pulls steel from a giant spool.","Using 500 tons of force, it cuts shapes out of the steel.","These shapes are the link plates that will join all the parts of the roller chain.","The plates travel on a series of conveyors.","An arm positions them as they head towards the next punch press that makes two holes in each link plate.","A worker then pours them onto a tray and spreads them evenly across it.","A vibratory mechanism shuffles them into a blazing furnace.","This heat treatment toughens the steel.","Then they cool down slowly in a tank of oil.","After that, they go for a tumble in the washer, to get rid of the oily residue.","Meanwhile, another machine uncoils some steel to make bushings, or sleeves, for the chain pins.","The blade slices the material to the correct length.","Then mechanical arms fold the steel around a mandrel.","Here's the action in slow motion.","In real time, it all happens faster than you can blink an eye.","The bushings fall into a bin, and now they're ready to be heat-treated.","They open the furnace and stand away from the blast.","A railcar takes the bushings into the flames.","This may look destructive, but the bushings will come out stronger.","Now it's time to make the pin that will hold everything together.","This machine shoves a steel rod into a jig, and a saw cuts it to size, which varies, depending on the chain it will be used for.","A mechanical arm then picks up the pin and transports it to rotating heads, which machine down the ends.","The pins then travel across a grinding wheel, which reduces them to a specific diameter.","Next, they go through a wash cycle.","A special mix of lubricant and solvents rinses away the residue from the grinding.","These are the pins before and after grinding.","Now it's time to put the pieces together.","This is a breakdown of what happens at a blurring pace on the assembly line.","The link plates and bushings go into an assembly device.","A ram presses them together.","They remove them and place two more link plates in the device.","They position rollers on top of them and slide the bushings and link-plate assembly into place.","They press-fit it all together.","And now they have links for the roller chain.","The next step is to fit the roller links together.","They clamp them into a fixture and slide in pins.","A hydraulic ram presses the pins to the base of the assembly.","Then they connect the pins with another link plate and press it in place.","This is repeated as they lengthen the roller chain.","They can also widen it to enable it to handle more horsepower.","To do this, they stack single strands of roller chain.","They use longer pins to hold all the layers together.","Again, a fixture holds it in place while the ram does its work.","This produces heavy-duty roller chain.","The one shown can handle 400 horsepower.","Finally, they lower the roller chain into a vat of hot grease to lubricate the joints.","And that's the end of the production process for the roller chain."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Downhill Ski Bindings","Immersion Parts Washers","Mining Ventilation","Pencil Sharpeners"]},"text":["The binding is the most important component of a downhill ski.","It attaches the ski boot to the ski.","It prevents injury by releasing the boot if the skier falls.","Also, an integrated brake engages upon release, stopping the ski from sliding down the hill.","Every downhill ski binding has a toe and heel piece.","The toe usually releases sideways in a fall, and the heel releases upward.","The earliest bindings were made of heavy stamped steel and had no safety release.","Today's bindings are made of lightweight material, such as extruded aluminum and fiberglass-reinforced plastic.","Using 3-d software, the research and development team designs the binding along with the molds and dyes used to manufacture the components.","The team produces a prototype of each component and uses three-dimensional measuring tools to verify the specifications.","Workers paint the visible aluminum and plastic components then cure them in an oven for 40 minutes.","They also dry them at room temperature for 24 hours.","This company produces high-end racing models, as well as less expensive models for beginner to intermediate skiers.","This aluminum housing is for the toe piece of a racing binding.","They screw on plastic tabs to keep the metal from damaging the plastic ski boot.","Then workers assemble the indicator, which is used to adjust the release setting.","The release setting determines how much torque is needed to trigger the binding to release the ski boot.","The torque is generated by the weight of the skier falling.","They place a bronze and aluminum ball joint in the metal base.","The ball joint acts as the rotational center of the toe piece when it releases.","They lubricate the ball joint with grease before putting the base in an assembly fixture.","Then they add the toe piece housing...","And a plastic cap with a white line on the side.","As they screw down the cap, it compresses the spring underneath.","They test the finished toe piece.","This machine stamps the company logo on the heel piece of a binding that's designed for beginner to intermediate skiers.","This one is made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic with a clear polyurethane protective cover.","You press the heel piece with the ski pole to get in and out of the ski.","Next, they mount a heel piece to a base and assemble the internal mechanism.","This includes a screw-down cap that sets the internal spring to a specific release setting.","An automated machine tests each heel and toe piece to make sure the mechanism functions correctly.","Another machine unscrews the cap halfway to lower the release setting to the midpoint.","Next, a metal pin connects the pivoting top of the heel piece to the base.","This setting tool locks the pin in its lateral position.","Now, workers mount the ski brake to the heel piece.","The ski boot maintains pressure on the brake to keep it in the off position.","In a ski accident, the fall releases that pressure, triggering the brake.","After the binding has been adjusted to the length of the ski boot, workers insert a notching pin that locks the heel piece to the mounting plate of the ski.","These plastic caps hide the heads of the lateral metal pin.","Finally, workers connect this lever to the notching pin.","You simply pull it up and back to disengage the pin and adjust for boot length.","The company subjects random samples from the production line to rigorous quality control tests.","Bindings are made to international standards.","These standards dictate how they're supposed to react to falls.","Provided the binding is correctly set for the skier's weight, boot size, and skiing ability, these standards ensure the ski boot releases in an accident but doesn't inadvertently release if the skier hits a big bump.","Removing oil, heavy soils, scale, or rust stains on a piece of metal can be tough.","This is where industrial cleaning technologies come in handy.","Immersion parts washers use degreasing and descaling compounds to clean metal.","They also use ultrasound to literally shake off the muck.","An immersion parts washer agitates water mixed with an industrial detergent to clean a mechanical part or piece of metal.","A pneumatic lift mechanism moves the platform up and down inside the tank as the water heats to about 150 degrees.","A robot loads stainless steel into a laser cutter, using suction cups to manipulate the sheet metal.","A cnc cutter uses a 2,500 watt laser to cut the steel, following a layout entered in a cad system.","The layout maximizes the number of parts made out of a single sheet.","The machine parts come out on an unloading platform where an operator performs a visual inspection.","He takes the parts to a cnc folding table.","The machine bends the sheet metal to form the outside shell of the immersion parts washer.","This is also called the tank skin.","A hydraulic bending machine makes flanges in the sheet metal to reinforce the tank walls and provide a surface for welding.","This high-end sheet metal-forming technique allows workers to produce a series of parts for multiple units.","A worker assembles the machine parts on a welding fixture.","He uses clamps to hold the pieces in place as he welds them together using an electric mig torch.","Welding such a thin sheet of stainless steel is a tricky job because it's more susceptible to warping from the heat.","The tank goes through a 24-hour leak test before painting.","A painter applies epoxy and acrylic hybrid electrostatic powder coat.","The coat combines the protective strength of epoxy and the resilience of acrylic.","The painter places the tank in a massive curing chamber...","And sets the oven time and temperature.","The baking process gives the powder coat a grainy, textured finish.","A worker grinds down the weld profiles and polishes the top tank walls with fine sandpaper.","Another worker brings in the lift arm and inserts it in the tank.","He puts the bearing support mechanism in place and bolts it onto the tank.","He inserts the rollers that will support and guide the lift arm...","Then drives a shaft through the bearings.","He installs the pneumatic cylinder behind the bearing support and pins it on top of the lift arm.","He brings in the agitator pump and installs its 3/4-horsepower electric motor next to the bearing support.","A plumber installs the fittings for the tank filter.","The filter removes contamination and debris from the cleaning solution.","A worker installs the platform and bolts it on the lift arm.","He installs a rack on the platform.","It's made of grainy fiberglass to prevent the pieces from shifting during a cleaning cycle.","After testing the movement of the lift arm and platform assembly, workers install the steel lid on the tank...","And attach its hinge.","Then they check the fit of the lid.","An electrician makes the connections for the heat and timer controls...","And screws the electric panel onto the side of the tank.","He closes the electric box, then tests the lift arm, the lid, and the agitator pump.","As the lift arm moves up, the platform lifts clean parts out of the water.","Washers like this one can clean anything from automotive castings to printing press parts.","In an underground mine, ventilation is critical for the safety of the miners.","Above-ground fans can either blow in fresh air or they can suck out toxic gases using ventilation ducts suspended from the ceiling of the mine shaft.","The black ventilation ducts are made of fiberglass.","The yellow ducts are made of vinyl reinforced with steel wire.","Both are designed to withstand negative pressure when drawing out gases and positive pressure when blowing in air.","To manufacture sections of fiberglass duct, they use a steel mandrel.","Workers wrap plastic around the mandrel to prevent the fiberglass from sticking.","They also wrap cardboard around one end of each duct section to increase its diameter.","Next, they start up the fiberglass winding machine.","It draws 29 strands of fiberglass roving through a bath of resin, then winds them in a helical pattern up and down the mandrel, building up a layer between 3 and 10 millimeters thick, depending on the application.","The regular end is called the spigot.","The wide end is called the bell.","The spigot of one duct section fits snugly inside the bell of the next.","This way, multiple sections can be connected to each other.","Workers embed d-rings at regular intervals along the top.","These rings are used to suspend the ducts from the mine shaft ceiling.","Once the winding is finished, workers cut the roving...","And roll the fiberglass-covered mandrel into a large oven for curing.","It takes about 30 minutes to cure the resin on a duct this size.","Once it's cured, they extract the mandrel.","They saw through the middle of the fiberglass duct to divide it into two shorter ducts of equal length.","Each has a bell end and a spigot end.","Workers use a hand saw to cut and shape some pieces into fittings.","Fittings are angled or \"y\"-shaped pieces that connect two straight pieces, allowing the route of the ducting to turn or branch out.","They connect the cut pieces with galvanized metal tape, then they seal the gaps with strips of fiberglass cloth saturated with resin.","To make spiral duct, they weld together sheets of vinyl to create a wider sheet.","On one end of the tube, they weld in a ring made of galvanized wire rope.","At the other end of the tube, they weld in an adjustable coupler.","To connect duct sections, the ring of one section fits into the coupler of the next one.","They mount the tube on the guide bar of the spiral winding machine.","The machine applies steel wire to reinforce the vinyl.","It also enables the duct section to collapse into a compact hoop.","As it works its way down the tube, the machine covers the wire with a strip of vinyl.","It welds the vinyl to the tube, forming a pocket that both locks the wire in position and protects it from wear.","When the machine reaches the opposite end of the tube, they cut the wire and remove the duct section.","The last step is to attach hangers at 2-foot intervals.","The hangers are used to suspend the ventilation ducts from the mine ceiling.","Spiral ducts are the easiest type of ventilation to transport and install because they're collapsible and lightweight.","However, they can get damaged in high-traffic work areas, so mines prefer to use sturdier fiberglass ventilation ducts.","Before the pencil sharpener, people used knives to sharpen the tips of pencils.","It was in the mid-19th century when a french inventor came up with a clever tool-- a little box with a blade and a cone-shaped opening.","Just twist the pencil into it, and it makes a very precise point.","The pencil sharpener has been a favorite of pencil pushers for over 150 years.","With a few twists, it can hone the graphite tip of a pencil to a very fine point.","To make pencil sharpeners, they start with high-carbon steel for the blades.","The steel unwinds through a straightener, then a feeder serves it up to a punchcutter.","It cuts out five blades in one action, complete with assembly holes in the center.","It also embosses the company logo onto it.","This machine can generate well over 100,000 pencil sharpener blades in an hour.","A worker distributes the blades onto a conveyor that will take them to an oven.","The temperature inside is 1,500 degrees.","The blades slowly circle in the oven.","This step takes 15 to 20 minutes.","Exposure to the intense heat and a quick cooldown in oil harden the blades, but it also leaves them tarnished.","So they drain the oil by spinning the blades in a perforated drum.","Then they add a mix of dried corn and polishing paste to the blades.","The drum tosses the blades in the polishing medium for six 6 to 12 hours.","This restores them, as we see in this before-and-after shot.","A circular feeder sorts them into a single file and racks them on a metal rod.","Once on the rod, a machine grinds a cutting edge into all of the blades at once.","Next, they manufacture the housing for the pencil sharpener blades.","A circular saw cuts a ridged magnesium bar to the correct length.","The magnesium blocks tumble into a feeder, which funnels them into a stamping machine.","The machine stamps the company logo onto the top and lower side of the blocks.","Machinery moves the pencil sharpener bodies forward to a drill that bores cone-shaped, pencil-sized holes into them.","A second drill carves holes in the top for screwing the blades into the pencil sharpener bodies.","A little metal rod shoves the pencil sharpener bodies out of the machine and into a bin.","A worker plunges the pencil sharpener bodies into five chemical baths.","Each bath has a different formula.","The chemicals soften the edges of the magnesium bodies, making the surface shinier.","A worker spreads the pencil sharpener bodies across a mesh conveyor.","The conveyor takes them through a dryer to remove any residue left behind by the chemical solutions.","These pencil sharpener bodies are now ready to receive blades.","A feeder system delivers them to an assembly station.","The screws funnel into an automated screwdriver at the assembly point.","A mechanism slides the blades into the pencil sharpener bodies as they arrive.","The pencil sharpeners fall into a bin, ready for retail.","It's taken many different processes to produce these magnesium pencil sharpeners.","Here's a recap of the process.","Over a century and a half after its invention, the manual pencil sharpener is still making life easier.","And in modern factories, the concept has been honed to a fine point."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Petanque Balls","Biologic Medicines","Asphalt Pavers","Basque Espadrilles"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"-- pétanque balls...","Biologic medicines...","Asphalt pavers...","And basque espadrilles.","the french game of pétanque is somewhat similar to the italian game of bocce and the british game of lawn bowling.","It's played with hollow steel balls called boules on a dirt or gravel surface.","The object of the game is to toss the balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball.","The first pétanque players carved their balls from wood.","By the late 1800s, players hammered in nails to make their balls heftier and less likely to crack when hitting other balls.","Then came brass balls and later the hollow steel balls used today.","Manufacturing begins with long bars of carbon or stainless steel, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.","This is stainless steel.","An automated saw cuts pieces about 1 3/4 inch long.","Workers place the pieces on a conveyer, which moves them into an induction oven.","The oven heats them to between 1,650 and 2,190 degrees fahrenheit, softening the steel.","As soon as a piece comes out of the oven, the forging press strikes it three times, first flattening it into a disk.","Next, thinning the disk, then stamping the disk into a half sphere.","Workers mill the forged half sphere on a lathe to refine the shape and to create a gap they later fill with metal wire when they weld this half to another half to form the ball.","A worker drops the milled halves down two separate chutes and deliver two halves at a time to an automated welding machine.","The machine clamps the halves together and welds them to each other.","A robot removes the ball from the welding machine and transfers it to a computer-guided milling machine.","As the machine's lathe spins the ball, a knife shaves off thin layers of steel to smooth the ball and make the weld invisible.","This also puts the ball within a specific diameter and weight range in accordance with international rules governing the sport.","The machine also engraves a pattern to help identify whose balls are whose.","International pétanque rules require a ball to have four items engraved into its surface-- the brand name, the pattern name, the weight of the ball, and a serial number for the set to which it belongs.","Once the brand, pattern and weight are engraved, the balls move along a conveyor toward the tempering station.","Cutting, heating, forging, and machining steel makes it brittle and weak.","Tempering is the process of hardening it to restore its strength.","After heating the ball to between 1,470 and 1,830 degrees fahrenheit, they immediately cool it in water that's about 104 degrees, a process known as quenching.","After tempering the steel, manufacturers polish the ball with an automated sander.","The finished balls do vary slightly, so this last automated machine weighs each one and sorts it in rows of identical weight.","Then, equal weight balls are grouped in sets of three and are engraved with the same serial number.","These pétanque balls are made of carbon steel.","To prevent oxidation and corrosion, the factory electroplates its carbon steel balls with a protective layer of chromium.","It submerges the balls in a series of chemical baths and water baths to prep the surface for the final dip in an electroplating tank in which an electrical current draws chromium particles through the water and deposits them onto the ball's surface.","The chromium treatment leaves a white film.","This brushing machine removes it and restores the shiny finish.","International rules require pétanque balls to be 2 3/4 to just over 3 inches in diameter and weigh between 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds.","The retail box contains three identical balls engraved with the same serial number, along with the wood target ball, a cleaning cloth, and a warranty card.","The goal of the game is to toss the balls as close as possible to the target ball while knocking the opponents' balls away from it.","And the player's feet must remain planted inside a small circle when tossing.","You can play pétanque indoors in a venue known as a boulodrome or boule bar, or you can play outdoors anywhere there's a patch of relatively flat ground.","Biologic medicines are proteins produced inside living cells, which are mini factories generating the genetically engineered protein treatments.","It's a different approach from traditional drugs, which are manufactured using chemical synthesis.","Biologics offer hope where other therapies have failed.","To mass-produce these biologic medicines, scientists use the molecular machinery inside living cells.","The process starts with the insertion of genetic material into chinese hamster ovarian cells.","They're known as cho cells.","They keep them frozen in liquid nitrogen until the next step.","In the seed lab, a technician thaws the cells in warm water.","He transfers them to a glass flask that contains growth media.","The growth media is comprised of hundreds of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals.","It's a recipe to help the cells multiply.","A worker transfers the flask that contains the cells to the production side of the plant.","The team injects the mixture into a 5-gallon-capacity bioreactor.","Inside, a propeller agitates the mixture to stimulate growth.","Over a 3-week period, the number of cells increases exponentially.","Each new cell is programmed to produce the target biologic protein.","A worker sterilizes this 21-gallon-capacity bioreactor to prepare it to receive the cell mixture.","Under precisely controlled conditions in the bioreactor, the cells multiply substantially.","Over several weeks, the team transfers the cells to progressively larger bioreactors.","The cells grow until there are trillions, each producing the target protein.","Next, a technician measures salts and other dry ingredients.","He's preparing a recipe for purifying the protein liquid once it's been separated from the cells.","He labels the bag and records the information separately as required by government regulations.","He adds the ingredients to purified water in a mixing tank.","An automated system keeps tabs on the condition of the purification solution.","After separating cellular material from the protein mixture, the team pumps it through steel and glass columns.","Here, the purification solution works with resin beads to separate the protein from the impurities.","The purified protein is stored in steel tanks at -4 degrees fahrenheit.","It keeps the biologic medicine in a stable state.","Meanwhile, in the quality control lab, a technician injects a sample into glass capsules.","She places the capsules into a robotic analytical instrument.","This sophisticated equipment measures the potency and purity of the biologic medicine.","Once the biologic medicine passes the tests, they prepare glass vials to receive it.","That means an intensive cleaning.","The automated system loads the vials into individual slots, and sprayers rinse them.","The system then transports the vials through a heat tunnel that sterilizes them to remove any potentially harmful toxins.","Moving through an isolated sterile zone, the vials funnel into a fill station.","Nozzles dispense a specific dose of biologic medicine into the vials.","Here, plungers insert stoppers in the vials.","A camera then takes a picture, and a computer instantly analyzes it to confirm that the stoppers have been correctly installed.","The system then caps the stoppers to completely seal them from contaminants.","This machinery hygienically fills and caps over 100 vials per minute.","A worker visually inspects each vial.","He carefully swirls the contents as he looks for impurities.","If he sees any, the vial of medicine will be rejected.","Finally, this technician takes a sample and conducts a test to ensure the medicine is sterile.","Grown in living cells, these biologic medicines are now on their way to potentially making a difference in people's lives.","The development of the asphalt paver in the early part of the 20th century changed the way roads were built.","The paving machine took over from large crews who paved surfaces manually using picks and shovels.","This invention has made it a lot easier to pave the way.","The asphalt paver transforms rough roads into smooth ones.","This paving machine distributes asphalt, levels it, and also provides the initial compaction.","Making one starts with a computerized plasma cutter.","The operator programs it to cut out all the parts of the paver structure from heavy-gauge steel plates.","It also configures the cutting to minimize waste.","The plasma tooling also cuts and threads holes for bolting the parts together.","Once the parts have been cut, a crane transfers them to a welding fixture.","The fixture holds the parts for the paver frame in tight alignment while a welder tacks them together.","He also tack welds smaller parts like engine mounts to the structure.","Once the tack welds are done, he does full welds throughout, creating strong, thick seams.","A team loads more steel into a computerized press break.","It clamps the steel plate between a matching punch and die.","Then, using hydraulic power, the press break makes precise bends to shape the steel into a section of the paver hopper.","With the first bend done, one of the workers measures the angle with a digital level to confirm that it's exactly right.","The team then moves the steel plate into position for the next bends.","They make a total of three in the hopper part.","Those three bends must be perfectly angled and positioned to fit the rest of the hopper.","It's why precision is critical.","They do a final check of the three bends using a template.","Next, a welder joins a side panel to the hopper part with the three bends.","These two parts form the left side of the hopper.","After an acid wash, it's into the paint booth to coat the steel with an epoxy primer and urethane paint.","The parts then spend time in an oven to accelerate the paint cure.","Then it's over to the assembly line, where construction of the paver tractor is already underway.","A worker bolts gear systems to the sides.","These gears will drive the paver wheels.","With the help of a crane, the team guides the engine into position.","The engine's mounting structure mates to bushings in four locations.","They now assemble the hopper to the front of the paving machine.","Hinge tubes on the hopper part intermesh with tubes on the center conveyor framework.","They'll run a long pin through these hinge tubes to complete the assembly.","With everything in good working order, they're ready to build the screed, beginning with the base plate.","The screed is a critical apparatus.","Its system of vibrating extenders both levels and compacts the asphalt once it's deposited on the road.","They're also equipped with heating elements to keep the asphalt workable.","They run a battery of tests on all these components to confirm that the screed is fully operational.","The screed is now ready to be mated to the paver tractor.","They put the tractor in reverse and back it up to the screed until brackets on both meet in perfect alignment.","Once the brackets have been bolted together, the asphalt paver is ready for work.","The road ahead will be long and potentially winding, but it should be pretty smooth, thanks to this asphalt paver.","Espadrilles have been a popular style of casual footwear for decades now, yet most people likely don't know the origin of this comfortable cloth shoe.","Europeans have been wearing espadrilles since the 1300s.","The basque region in northern spain is still famous for them.","Espadrilles are fashion forward and a step back in time.","The people of the basque region have been making these cloth and jute shoes for hundreds of years.","They began reinforcing the soles with rubber in the early 1900s.","Jute is a plant fiber that's spun into strong, coarse twine.","For traditional basque espadrilles, they use twine that's about 1/10th of an inch thick.","Large jute spools feed an automated braiding machine.","Its five bobbins move in a circular pattern that produces a neat braid measuring roughly 3/4ths of an inch wide by a quarter of an inch thick.","Right after exiting the braiding machine, the braid enters a calibration machine which applies tension to make the dimensions uniform.","Each espadrille sole is hand-crafted by an artisan.","He winds the braid on a form that's more than a century old.","The positioning of the metal pegs in the holes correspond to the size of the shoe he's making.","The closer the pegs are to each other, the smaller the shoe size.","After nine rotations for this shoe size, he cuts the braid, then, using a large needle, ties off the end.","He places the wound braid into a press which, as we see here in slow motion, compresses it into the shape of the sole.","In real time, this step takes just a couple of seconds.","Then he picks up the sole with a comb and feeds it into an automated sewing machine.","Two large needles, one above, one below, simultaneously stitch all the way through the sole with thick jute thread, binding the wound jute braid.","This machine sews more than 100 pairs of soles per hour.","By now, the espadrilles' signature jute sole is formed and sewn, but it's not quite finished yet.","To prevent it from wearing out, it needs a protective layer of rubber.","The artisan now opens a mold for the corresponding shoe size and fills the sole-shaped cavities with a pre-measured quantity of colorless rubber granules.","Then, he places the jute soles on top.","He closes the mold and places it in a press for 6 minutes.","The press heats the mold to 300 degrees fahrenheit, melting the rubber granules.","The liquid rubber spreads throughout the cavities, penetrates the jute fibers and vulcanizes, meaning it hardens and cures.","This produces a rubber outer sole about 1/6th of an inch thick that protects the jute inner sole.","The espadrilles' uppers are made of 100-percent-cotton canvas.","The artisan stacks about 20 pieces and cuts them simultaneously with a razor-like blade.","Each upper is comprised of a front piece and a back piece.","A seamstress sews the upper entirely by hand.","She wears a glove that has a copper cup built into the palm, which she uses to force the giant needle through the tough jute.","After stitching the front and back pieces to the sole, she sews them to each other along the sides.","She closes and reinforces the toe with three rows of stitches.","All this with strong, thick thread made of braided cotton.","This maker of basque espadrilles prides itself in using only natural materials, even in the paper packaging.","The rubber used for the soles contains no colorants but is infused with citronella, a fragrant plant oil believed to help repel mosquitoes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Motorcycle Goggles","Handbuilt Jukeboxes","Vacuum Excavators","Pewter Shaving Sets"]},"text":["The inuit and yupik native alaskan tribes invented specialized goggles to prevent snow blindness.","In the early 20th century, a new kind of eyewear was created for airline pilots in order to protect their faces from wind.","Soon, motorcyclists started wearing the eyewear for the same purpose.","This manufacturer uses the same tooling process used to produce the iconic eye protection worn by the ace pilots of the royal air force during world war ii.","Production begins with a coil feeder, which feeds a strip of soft-coil brass into a press tool.","The tool stamps out a series of flat blanks.","The press simultaneously punches two guide holes that will help position the blanks on the other tools.","Two raised press tools form the blank around a left and right die.","The press tools add new folds and contours to the blanks.","Another press tool stamps out the center aperture.","A device punches out stitching holes that will allow an attachment to connect to a leather face pad.","A different press tool punctures the stitching holes located along the goggle frame.","Due to the age of the machinery, the distance between the holes has become slightly uneven, giving the goggles their distinctive character.","Next, the nose-bridge bracket is positioned on a rivet shaft.","With the eyepiece in place, the craftsman triggers the device to rivet the components together.","Before he attaches the two eyepieces, the craftsman polishes each piece against a grinding wheel.","This is a two-step process starting with an operation called scarfing, which prepares the surface, followed by polishing with a special compound.","The goggle lenses will be installed into the frames at a 45-degree angle, so a grinding wheel casts a 22.5-degree angle on each section of glass.","The craftswoman removes the slight burr left by the grinding process with a sanding wheel.","The lenses are made out of shatterproof laminate for additional protection.","The lens frame is made out of a painted brass channel.","The brass has been annealed for strength and to remove any internal stresses.","A small rod is inserted as a temporary support.","She places the assembly in a clamp and secures the channel in place with a brass cleat.","She uses a manual hand press to bend the channel to 45 degrees.","The craftswoman removes the support rod and applies epoxy glue to the seam between the two sections of glass.","She inserts a brass cleat to hold the assembly in place, and this time the cleat is permanently fastened to the assembly.","Now the eyepiece is ready for the next phase of production.","The eyepieces are attached to a leather face pad made from lamb nappa leather.","A craftsperson starts the process by using a custom die and a 10-ton press to stamp out the required shape.","Then she uses a leatherworking sewing machine to stitch the two layers of the face pad together.","With exactly 1.5 millimeters between each stitch, the attachment is durable without overperforating the leather.","She sews the inner perimeter of the face mask with an overlocking stitch.","This operation is not easy.","It takes a skilled leatherworker up to seven months of training to become truly proficient.","Before sewing the nose-cover section of the face pad, the craftswoman glues the layers together to ensure they're assembled correctly.","After the glue has cured, the goggle eyepieces are placed in position over the face pad, and the components are stitched together by hand.","The goggle assembly is almost complete.","The goggle lenses are placed into position in the channels of the eyepiece frames.","Now they just need to be secured in place.","The headband clips attach to the goggles and lock in the lenses.","Not only do these handcrafted goggles protect your face, you can be assured they will never go out of style.","Today we can listen to music instantly from a smartphone or in our car, but to enjoy a bit of nostalgia, you can still enjoy a more tactile and visual musical experience by pushing down a button and waiting for a jukebox to load and play a song on a vinyl record.","This classic 1940s dome-top jukebox is built by hand.","It plays vinyl records, which are loaded into the machine after purchase.","A technician builds the cabinet out of thin, flexible sheets of plywood.","Once five sheets of wood have been glued together, the technician places them in a dome-shaped mold.","After glue is applied to the inside of the cabinet, team members insert the wood back panel.","The layers are then held together by hydraulic rams for 24 hours.","Then workers remove the cabinet from the mold and install shelving and brackets.","The brackets, or knuckles, are made out of zinc and will hold the cabinet door together.","When a knuckle comes out of the mold, the edges are rough and contain excess metal, so a technician smoothes the knuckle with a belt sander and then uses a guide to drill screw holes.","The factory sends the knuckles out to a specialty metal plater, who plates them with chrome.","The cabinet door consists of a front hoop and a front panel.","Technicians place both parts in an assembly jig to ensure they are positioned correctly.","Then eight knuckles are connected-- two at the top and three on each side.","Every jukebox is uniquely handmade, so a technician verifies that the door and cabinet are aligned accordingly.","Next, both components are moved to the cabinet-finishing area to be painted or stained, depending on the wood.","The customer selects the color and any options, such as programmable l.e.d. lighting or bluetooth connectivity for streaming digital music.","The bubble tubes are handcrafted from standard glass tubing.","An artisan seals the tube at the bottom then passes a probe to check for any small cracks.","If the tube is intact, tiny silicon crystals are placed at the bottom, and fluid that turns from liquid into gas is poured into the tube at very low temperature.","The artisan melts the glass with a torch to seal the top of the tube.","Each jukebox has four straight bubble tubes and four curved ones.","Making a curved tube requires two artisans.","One heats the tube, while the other bends it around a form.","Next, the tubes are placed in a tester, which heats the fluid, turning it into gas.","The silicon crystals at the bottom disrupt the gas as it rises, creating hundreds of rising bubbles.","As the bubbles reach the top of the tube, they cool and turn back into liquid.","A technician installs the tubes inside transparent protective covers.","He connects each tube to a heating plate hidden inside the cabinet.","Another specialist wires the jukebox electrical systems and speakers.","The speaker assembly is located behind the front door of the cabinet.","A 1950s-style jukebox is made with shaped glass and chrome.","It has a curved, see-through front door, which allows the user to watch as the vinyl system finds, pulls, and plays the selected record.","Each machine contains a 70-slot circular basket that holds a two-sided record.","The motor in this reproduction jukebox is guided by computer software.","The motor rotates the basket to bring the selected record to the lift arm.","Another motor rotates the turntable to play the song.","The software reads the position of each record via an optical sensor and a rotating slotted disc.","The software calculates the quickest route to the requested record, then spins the basket to bring the record to the lift arm.","So when your jukebox arrives, all you have to do is drop in your favorite records, make title cards using the labeling software, and insert them in the title display.","This jukebox is ready to provide the listener with good times and good vibes for many years to come.","Standard excavators shovel and dig, but due to their size, they can sometimes break underground utilities.","Vacuum excavators dig with a technique that doesn't cause damage, softening the soil with a high-pressure stream of water, then sucking up the mud into a debris tank.","A vacuum excavator functions as a pressure washer and shop vacuum.","Using a high-pressure water jet, the excavator removes materials with a vacuum hose and deposits it into a debris tank.","The tank holds up to 1,188 gallons of debris and is made from high-strength sheet steel.","A steel rolling machine curves the sheet under pressure.","A welder clamps the ends of the sheet together and tacks them to form a cylinder.","Next, he transfers the cylinder to a welding fixture and fully welds the seam.","Then the welder mounts a steel dome to the front end of the tank.","Using an assembly jig, he clamps the dome into position.","He strikes the dome with a mallet to close any gaps between the dome and the cylinder.","He tack-welds the parts to each other.","He removes the cylinder from the jig and fully welds the exterior seam around the perimeter.","Another machinist welds the inner seam.","Other components are welded to the tank.","These include a large hinge for the tank's rear door, side pins that allow the tank to tilt when emptied, a pair of windows, storage hooks, and an inlet for the suction hose.","Once all the steel parts have been cleaned with hot water and a chemical that inhibits rust, a technician sprays them with primer.","Then a coat of durable, epoxy-based paint is applied.","The paint takes a couple of hours to dry.","The vacuum excavator is built into a welded steel trailer that has upright steel posts on each side to hold the water tanks.","A technician installs l.e.d. brake lights and side indicator lights.","Next, wiring is run along the length of the trailer.","The wires control the machine's trailer brakes and safety lights.","Then the wiring is connected to the lights.","A technician covers every connection with heat-shrink plastic.","This will ensure the connected wires are water-resistant.","Next, the hydraulic pump is installed, as well as rubber cushions to protect the bottom of the debris tank, and reflective red-and-white safety tape, as required by law.","A technician installs two industrial tires on each side of the trailer.","He runs hydraulic lines from the hydraulic pump to the lift cylinders that tilt the debris tank and to its rear-door mechanism.","The empty debris tank weighs more than 1,500 pounds.","Using an overhead crane, a team lifts and positions the tank over the rear part of the trailer, lowering it into the hydraulic lift system.","Next, the power pack is installed on the front of the trailer.","The pack contains the gas or diesel engine, the vacuum and water pumps, the battery, and belts that connect the pumps and engine pulleys.","After the first of two polyethylene water tanks are assembled, technicians install an air-filtration unit.","The unit protects the inner components of the vacuum pump.","Two technicians install the second water tank, placing it in between the trailer's support posts.","Then the tank is secured with two crossbars.","To dig with a vacuum excavator, the suction hose is attached to the debris tank while the other end digs.","Then the ignition, water, and vacuum pumps are started.","The water pump pressurizes the water flowing from the tanks through the hose and out the nozzle of an attached wand.","The water pressure turns the soil into mud, and the suction hose removes the material.","Thanks to this shovel-free process, operators can now dig without damaging underground utilities.","Inside a pewter shaving set is a double-barreled mug called scuttle.","In one compartment, it keeps shaving water hot, while holding soap in the other.","The set's badger-bristle shaving brush is used to work the soap and water into a hot lather.","With a pewter shaving set, the user employs nostalgic tools to shave.","It's elegant, and it helps get the job done.","Pewter of made of tin, with a small amount of copper and antimony.","Tin is a soft metal, while the other metals add strength.","A metal worker places a filter gate at one end of the mold.","He scoops up molten pewter and pours it in the mold in front of the filter gate.","The filter gate captures impurities as the pewter flows to the other side.","Heat causes any air pockets to rise to the surface and dissipate.","Spraying the pewter with cool water accelerates the solidification.","After 10 seconds, the pewter has hardened into a thick slab called an ingot.","A metal worker breaks off the excess material left by the filter gate.","The pewter is now in a workable form.","A technician places the ingot in a machine with steel rollers and adjusts the space between the upper and lower rollers.","Using 66 tons of pressure, the rollers flatten the ingot.","It takes several passes through the rollers to reduce the ingot to its desired thickness.","Additionally, the rolling stretches the ingot, transforming it into a large sheet.","Later, the sheet will be used to make the shaving scuttle and brush handle.","Now it's time to construct the beard combs.","A technician ladles molten pewter into a rubber mold.","The centrifugal force forces the liquid pewter into the mold's crevices.","After 2 1/2 minutes, the mold is removed, producing seven pewter beard combs.","The technician extracts the combs from the runners formed from the molten pewter.","After sanding, the combs are dipped in a specialized solution.","In a vibrating machine, the ceramic pellets shake off most of the excess solution.","But the solution that's seeped into the embossed logo remains, adding definition.","Back to the shaving scuttle and brush assembly, a large sheet of pewter is cut into discs.","A technician pours resin into a mold to create the shaving-brush handle.","After the handle's cured for 25 minutes, the resin transitions from a liquid to a solid.","Now he has a handle form to work with.","As the handle spins in a lathe, the technician shaves off imperfections with a cutting tool.","A sharp, circular die cuts out discs from the pewter sheet.","With the handle core still spinning, the worker shapes the pewter disc, essentially giving the part a pewter skin.","Using the same spinning techniques, the scuttle shaving mug are now complete.","Using a natural abrasive mixed with oil, the pewter parts are buffed.","This step removes flaws and provides an initial polish.","Then the maker's mark is carved into the shaving-scuttle base, stamping the logo into the pewter.","Now that the scuttle-mug parts are assembled, a technician solders the base to the scuttle body.","A decorative cured handle adds visual interest and will provide the user a place to grip.","A technician adds more solder to seal the handle to the scuttle body.","This shaving scuttle is now complete.","All the parts will undergo an extensive polishing, giving the pewter a mirror finish.","Using a buffing wheel, a technician polishes the shaving scuttle one last time.","Finally, this pewter shaving set is ready to take on stubble."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Traditional Bows","Coffee Machines","Mascots","Hammocks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Traditional bows...","Coffee machines...","Mascots...","And hammocks.","When some innovative caveman invented the bow and arrow, it was a huge breakthrough.","The discovery turned the homo sapien into an efficient hunter-gatherer.","These days, archery has made a comeback in the hunting community, and it's even been reclassified as an olympic sport.","Today's bows are definitely not primitive devices.","Crafted with calculated precision, they make it easier for you to take your best shot and hit your intended target.","To make a longbow, a craftsman cuts six strips of cherry wood just under a quarter of an inch using a band saw.","Then, with a belt sander, he repeatedly thins the wood strips on both sides, tapering the ends a little each time.","The tapering gives the wood some flexibility, which the bow will need to launch arrows into the air.","With this band saw, he now carves a handle from a piece of wood.","Next he brushes superadhesive glue onto fiberglass strips and the tapered strips of cherry wood.","He works swiftly because the glue will start to dry in less than an hour.","Now he layers the strips.","The fiberglass strips buttress the six glued wood strips on either end.","This process is called lamination.","Next he glues the wood handle to the fiberglass and wood lamination.","And he tops it with a piece of masking tape to protect it from scratches and glue smudges during the next steps.","Now the laminates are squeezed together.","He places them on a carved plywood shape called a bow form.","He positions a steel heat strip, a rubber hose, and another plywood form on top of the laminates.","He clamps it all together, then inflates the rubber hose with an air compressor.","The pressure from the hose combined with the heat from the metal strip mold the wood to the bow shape as the glue sets.","One hour later, he removes the laminates, nicely pressed and glued into more bow-like curves.","Now he draws the bow form onto the newly curved lamination, following a template made of fiberglass.","With his band saw, he cuts the wood along the lines he's just drawn.","He cuts an arrow shelf.","That's the notch for the arrow to rest as the archer aims.","Then he trims the handle, making it a little wider at the center for comfort.","Next, using a coarse-toothed file, he hollows out little grooves in the upper and lower limbs of the bow.","They're called string nocks and the string will loop around them.","To strengthen the tips, he glues little pieces of fiberglass and moose horn over them and the freshly filed nocks.","He clamps it in a vise grip to set.","When it's dry, he files through the horn and fiberglass to bring back the nock groove.","He smoothes it with sandpaper.","Now he glues another piece of wood over the handle to improve the look and feel of it.","He clamps it together while the glue dries, and three hours later, he sands it.","Next he wraps the handle in a piece of leather and stitches it together with nylon thread called artificial sinew.","Many years ago, they used the tendons of an animal for thread.","The leather will make the bow easier to grip.","With a gel pen, he writes a serial number on the back of the bow, along with the draw weight.","This bow will hold about 44 pounds of pressure in check when it's drawn.","This is a flemish string jig--  a wood fixture with posts on it.","He loops nylon string around the posts.","This is how he measures the string.","It's always four inches shorter than the bow.","He cuts it with a utility knife, then rolls wax onto it to make it easier to work with.","He measures some string.","Then he twists 16 strands of nylon-- 8 black and 8 white-- into a braid with loops on the ends.","He hooks the string on the nocks and it's time for target practice.","As he bends the bow, energy is stored.","He releases it, and the energy propels the pointed projectile right on target.","Coin-operated coffee machines are a staple in offices and public places.","Years ago, these machines just weren't able to produce consistent brews.","And there also wasn't much choice in brewing style.","But today, even finicky java junkies drink machine coffee because the latest machines have mastered the art of making delicious coffee one cup at a time.","This office coffee machine actually makes several different types of hot beverages.","And if your employer prepays, you don't have to insert any coins.","Production begins with a sheet of steel about 6 1/2 feet long by about 1 1/2 feet wide.","This flat, as it's called, will become the top and side sections of the machine's casing.","A computer-guided punch press makes dozens of perforations for ventilation and for the various fittings the machine will need in order to function.","A worker puts another sheet of steel into a press.","This press bends the metal into 90-degree angles.","This piece will become the bottom of the casing.","A worker uses a spot-welding machine to assemble what's called the base panel.","This will later house a waste chute, overflow sensors, and wires.","Another worker coats the casing with an epoxy-based paint powder.","This process statically charges the powder and draws it to the metal like a magnet.","Excess powder falls into a barrel below.","Here a worker installs a fan that will vent the steam and heat generated inside the machine.","Another worker assembles one of the two coffee-delivery mechanisms, called augers.","When the machine's on, they move the ground coffee to the brewer.","He installs the augers into what's called the dual hopper.","The hopper's two sections will hold up to six pounds of different coffee blends, such as dark and light roasts.","Next he installs what's called an agitation wheel.","This plastic wheel helps move the ground coffee along and prevents it from getting stuck.","The worker then aligns plastic couplings on the augers to mate with the ingredient dispenser.","The dual hopper attaches to the ingredient dispenser with one screw in a pivoting bracket.","Workers also connect power wires to the dispenser's motor and to a water-inlet valve.","Next they install a heater and temperature sensor inside a plastic water tank that's nearly two gallons large.","This 1,100-watt heater keeps the water at 200 degrees fahrenheit, just below boiling.","That's the optimal temperature for extracting flavor from ground coffee beans.","After applying stickers warning service technicians to turn off the machine before draining it, a worker installs three outlet valves-- one to dispense hot water for tea, one for coffee, and another for hot chocolate.","Next come stainless-steel rods to monitor the water level inside the tank.","They trigger an automatic refill mechanism.","The worker connects power wires to the brewer motor.","Then she mounts what's called the whipper mixing bowl.","This aligns with the chocolate-syrup dispenser to prepare the hot chocolate.","Next she installs the brewer-motor assembly into the machine's casing.","This is the coffee machine's 15-button selection panel.","It lets you select what type of hot drink to brew, in what cup size, and when to start.","The panel also displays the prices when the coffee's not on the house.","Once that's hooked up, workers test the chocolate-syrup delivery system.","They run water through it to ensure it doesn't leak.","They also test to see if the system dispenses the correct dose of syrup.","One dose is a half ounce--  a tablespoon.","A small cup of hot chocolate requires two doses.","A large cup requires four.","Now they install the brewer.","It works much like a french press coffee maker, brewing a separate batch for each cup.","To test it, they run water through it and make sure the selection panel works properly.","By testing the panel with the coffee machine closed, they ensure the circuits are properly aligned behind the selection buttons.","Depending on how strong you select your coffee, a dispenser releases between .","2 and .","6 ounces of ground coffee into a re-usable nylon filter.","A piston then forces hot water through the filter for 10 to 20 seconds, depending on the size of the cup.","This process extracts the flavor of the ground beans.","The machine then scrapes away the coffee grinds and throws them down the built-in waste chute.","Then it prepares for the next customer, and the next delicious cup.","Mascots are supposed to bring luck, but the people who wear mascot costumes have had a few lucky breaks themselves in recent years.","The outfits are much lighter now, and there's even an exhaust system complete with a tiny fan inside the head so it's not so hot in there.","That helps the mascot keep his energy up for the entire game.","This dinosaur mascot for the lung association is part of a new breed.","It's really evolved into something that's relatively easy to work in.","To make this dinosaur, they sketch him out.","Then the artist modifies the figure to human proportions, targeting a height of 5'10\", which means the costume would fit performers 5'8\" to 6' tall.","The artist designs huge eyes and a very extravagant mouth, and not just for creative reasons.","The large openings will give the mascot performer room to see and to breathe through screens.","Now a sculptor carves big pieces of lightweight, uncrushable foam.","With a utility knife, he shapes the dinosaur's head, based on the design pattern.","Traditionally, fiberglass has been used for mascot heads but foam is half the weight.","He attaches a battery pack to the inside of the head, at the back of the neck, using velcro.","He tests it to make sure it has enough juice to power this tiny, square exhaust fan, which is to be placed inside the head at the top.","Then he sprays glue on the foam, sticking the sculpted layers of foam together.","Now the dinosaur head is starting to shape up.","He cuts out those enormous eye holes.","Then he tries on the head for size.","He checks visibility and ease of movement.","Next the sculptor slices into a very dense piece of foam.","It's dense because it will need to hold up to heavy traffic.","This is the dinosaur's foot.","He scoops out foam in the center of the foot, hollowing out an area.","Then he carves out more, following a pattern of a size-12 shoe so that a human foot could fit inside this big mascot claw.","He rounds the outside of the foam foot with a belt sander.","Now the foot is fully sculpted and ready for the fabric department.","There, a worker sprays heavy-duty glue onto the outside of the foot, and stretches a nylon fleece fabric over it.","The fabric has a lot of give so that it can be tightly pulled into the grooves of the foam.","Now she sprays adhesive onto the bottom of it and cuts off the excess fabric.","She sews the seams with a very tough thread.","Then a worker glues a rugged rubber sole onto the bottom of the dinosaur foot.","This is a toenail made of nylon stuffed with polyfill.","It takes three hours to make a foot.","Now it's back to the other end.","He glues an eye onto the mascot head.","The eye is made of breathable nylon stretched over a plastic frame.","Another worker sews on a horn, which is made of fabric-covered foam.","Then she stitches on the nostrils.","And now the mascot has some expression.","But there's one more step.","He glues a white nylon screen over the mouth and sticks black fabric strips over it to give the mascot its smile.","Now a worker drafts a pattern for the outer body.","It will go over an inner-body suit that will give the mascot its rotund shape.","She cuts the liner fabric for the outer body, following the pattern...","And then follows the same pattern for the outside fleece.","She sews three layers-- fleece, foam, and liner-- all together.","This serger machine cuts off excess fabric, and it sews and binds the edges.","She hand-stitches the scales onto the back of the dinosaur mascot.","And now it's time to give this mascot suit a test run.","It fits like a glove.","But what's the view like from the insideof that head?","Hmm.","Not too bad.","This dinosaur mascot suit is ready to help its user excite the crowd.","When christopher columbus discovered the new world back in the 15th century, he also discovered the hammock.","It was in the west indies that columbus found natives lounging in what he later described as sleeping nets.","And when hammocks were introduced to the europeans, they really caught on.","Hammocks are still used centuries later.","Hammocks were once called hamacks because they were woven with fibers from the hamack tree.","Today they're made of braided polyester.","To make a hammock, a worker measures and marks the spots for holes to be drilled in a hardwood spreader bar.","He spaces the 22 holes almost 3 inches apart.","He rounds the edges of the wooden bar with a shaped cutter called a router, smoothing out any sharp edges that could jab you when you climb into the hammock.","Using an electric drill, he makes holes a half inch in size in the spreader bar.","Then, with a countersink, he scoops out the wood around the edges of the holes, to make a gentler slope for the polyester rope.","He adheres the company's prepasted label onto the bar.","Next, 16 bobbins turn at a speed that could make you dizzy just watching.","They're spinning the polyester cord.","The bobbins twist the 16 polyester strands, braiding the strands into a herringbone pattern while electrical pulleys draw them up.","The pulleys drop the cord in a drum.","Now it's all in the wrist action.","A weaver deftly intertwines the thick cord into a triangular shape.","She's making the hammock's harness.","It's called a clew.","She tugs each row tightly to a ring at the top to ensure that the weave is steadfast.","As she weaves, she drapes the long pieces of cord over a wood frame, to keep them from tangling.","After the triangle is formed, she checks for errors in the weave.","Now she threads the clew cords through the holes in the spreader bar.","She snares a cord with a large crochet hook.","Using the hook, she threads a cord through the hole at the furthest end of the spreader bar and then knots it.","And she does the same on the other end of the bar.","While the bar hangs by the two cords, she pulls the rest of the clew cords through all 22 holes in the bar.","Next she positions the spreader bar under a guide bar to ensure everything's level.","And she knots the rest of the cords tightly onto the underside of the spreader bar.","It's a critical step.","If there's any slack in the clew, the yarn will stretch and the hammock will be misshapen.","This hammock harness is now strong enough to support a 450-pound person.","Next she uses a 10-foot-long cord to make a chain of small links by pulling each link through the previous one.","The top of the chain rope hangs from a hook, stabilizing it, and allowing the weaver to quickly turn the simple cord into an intricate-looking chain.","Now she hooks each end of the chain onto pins on a loom.","She weaves another cord into the chain, threading it with a crochet hook.","She makes one loop in about every sixth link in the chain rope, and she hooks that cord onto the same pin as the chain.","There's no rest for the hammock weaver.","She takes a shuttle, which is a piece of wood with 656 feet of cord wrapped around it.","She pulls it from below up through the available loops and then back down, expertly weaving the web that is the hammock bed.","She hooks a second chain rope on the loom, and threads the edge of the woven bed to this chain.","Now she places the spreader bar of a finished harness on one end of the loom.","She lines up the pins of the loom with the holes of the bar.","She knots the cord on each pin to a cord from the spreader bar.","She repeats the process at the other end of the loom, binding the second harness to the hammock bed.","She makes one last knot in the chain...","And then removes the excess cord with the heat gun.","The heat gun makes a clean cut with no ragged edges to unravel.","With high-quality construction, this hammock will surely provide years of relaxation."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Electric Baseboard Heaters","Moulded Pulp Containers","Chicken","Video Games"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Electric baseboard heaters...","Molded pulp containers...","Prepared chicken...","And video games.","Electric baseboard heaters are inexpensive, easy to install, and practically maintenance-free.","Unlike radiators, they're inconspicuous and they take up very little space.","And best of all, you can control the temperature room by room.","A baseboard heater is simply wires and a heating element in a steel casing.","They make the element using a strip of paper-thin aluminum 7 inches wide.","It's lubricated with soap, then goes through a forming machine.","A die punches the strip into little squares called fins.","They measure half an inch by three-quarters of an inch and have a circle in the middle.","The machine pierces the circles and cuts the fins apart.","This machine churns out 600 fins per minute.","It stacks them on steel tubes, the lengths of which vary according to the length of the heater.","As each tube fills to capacity, a worker takes it away to be wired up.","Elsewhere in the factory, they make the heater's casing using what's known as cold rolled steel, a flexible type of steel that can be worked without using heat.","After a squirt of oil for lubrication, the first die cuts holes for attaching the baseboard to the wall.","Then the second die cuts holes for attaching the heating element to the casing.","Now the steel travels through what's called the roll former-- a machine whose series of rollers successively bend a flat strip of metal, one fold at a time, into the shape of the casing.","From start to finish, 20 rollers make 20 bends.","The process takes about 150 seconds per casing.","After the last fold, a computer-controlled die cuts the casing to the required length.","The higher the heater's wattage, the longer the casing has to be.","Models range from 300 watts--  about 2 feet long-- to 2,500 watts--  about 8 feet long.","Next, they put a steel junction box on each end of the casing.","These hold the wires that the electrician connects to the house wiring.","Workers spot-weld both junction boxes simultaneously.","After a thorough washing, computer-controlled sprayers coat the casings in paint powder.","Then it's into an oven for 20 minutes at 365 degrees fahrenheit.","This transforms the powder to liquid, drying it instantly.","After running a red wire for the electrical current the length of the casing, they rig up what's called a linear high limit temperature control-- a safety device that prevents the unit from overheating and catching fire.","Gas inside the temperature control expands under intense heat, triggering the device to cut the current.","Now they install supports to hold the heating element in place.","They're made of satin-coat steel, a rust-resistant metal.","As the element heats up, it naturally expands.","To prevent it from scratching against the metal casing and making annoying noises, they install a heat-resistant plastic bushing.","Now they connect the red wire that will carry the electrical current to the heating element's black wire, capping it with a wire connector.","They clip it to the cover of the junction box-- easy access for the electrician installing the baseboard.","Then they close the junction box cover.","At the other end, they connect the red wire and the black wire to the temperature-control wire.","This runs the electrical current through the safety device at all times.","After a voltage test, they close it up and snap on a panel to cover the element.","Being toasty warm is now just an installation away.","\"molded pulp\" isn't exactly a household word.","But it is a household item.","Chances are, you've got an egg carton in your fridge that's made of it.","This thick, cardboardlike material can be shaped into a variety of containers, like those drink carriers they give you at the fast-food restaurants.","Farms ship out their eggs in trays called filler flats.","These flats begin as recycled paper-- old phone books, newspapers, magazines, cardboard-- pretty much any product made of paper fibers.","The factory even recycles its own flats that had been rejected by quality control.","The raw materials go into what's called the pulper-- a giant blender that mashes everything up and blends it with hot water that's 110 to 150 degrees fahrenheit.","The hot water swells the fibers, causing them to break apart.","After 20 minutes, they become pulp, a watery mixture roughly the consistency of hot oatmeal.","The pulp exits out the bottom of the pulper through a filter that screens out plastics and other contaminants.","Shaping the flats is a fully automated process.","Formation molds descend into a vat filled with pulp.","A vacuum sucks the mushy mixture onto them.","Water jets rinse of the excess.","Rotating above are transfer molds.","They grab the flats off the formation molds and move them onto a conveyor.","Before the transfer molds grab the flats, though, a brush applies a water-based lubricant.","This ensures the flats won't stick to the molds.","It's just like greasing a baking pan.","The molds themselves are made of bronze, plastic, or aluminum, depending on how long the factory intends to use them.","They're covered with a stainless-steel mesh.","This mesh ensures an even vacuum through the mold so the pulp spreads over it evenly.","The soggy flats now go into an oven for 12 minutes to dry out.","The 400-degree-fahrenheit heat evaporates the water.","This bonds the fibers together, forming a rigid material.","After they exit the oven, a device appropriately called an up-ender flips them up so that they stack into each other.","A built-in counting mechanism triggers the machine to section off the required number of flats per package...","Then compresses them...","And seals them in plastic film to keep the dust out.","The factory uses the same molding process to make four-cup drink carriers.","These, too, go into an oven to dry out the pulp, but only for six minutes-- half the time the filler flats need because this product is smaller and lighter.","Automated compactors stack the finished drink carriers.","Then workers compress them for packing and shipping.","The factory also makes disposable urinal bottles for hospitals.","They add chemicals to the pulp to make the bottles liquid-tight.","These molds are three-dimensional and lined with mesh on the inside.","When they submerge into the pulp vat, a vacuum sucks in the pulp.","When they resurface, water jets rinse the excess pulp off the bottle necks, and the vacuum sucks out the water.","A spiked conveyor belt transports the bottles to the drying oven.","They dry at a lower temperature than the flats and drink carriers do-- 350-degrees fahrenheit-- and for longer time--  a half-hour.","This ensures the chemicals that make the bottles liquid-tight cure thoroughly.","While urinal bottles can't be recycled for sanitary reasons, drink holders and filler flats are recyclable, making them extremely environmentally friendly.","In the year 2001, the average person ate 61 pounds of chicken.","Given that rate of consumption, if we had to process the poultry ourselves, chances are, we'd be in a rather foul mood by dinner.","Thank goodness for chicken-processing plants.","The chickens arrive at the factory with their feet, legs, and heads already cut off.","What's left are the breasts and wings.","The slaughterhouse also removed the internal organs.","A conveyor belt transports the chickens to the cutting and deboning zone, a bustling assembly-line operation.","Workers prop each chicken on a cone-shaped stand, in order to have both hands free.","Cutting up a chicken properly isn't as easy as you might think.","The workers get special training.","It's crucial they keep their knives well-sharpened and wipe them after every five or so chickens.","The first cuts remove the wings.","Starting on one side and positioning the knife horizontally, in line with the top of the cone, the workers make an incision where the wing joins the shoulder, then cuts downward, across the back of the chicken, then a quick cut and twist to detach the wing.","It's the same procedure on the other wing.","The incisions at the wing/shoulder joint must slice through the tendon completely, otherwise, detaching the wing is difficult.","And struggling with a slippery wing while holding a knife in your hand can result in a serious injury.","The next cuts remove the skin and breasts.","They peel off the skin, then pull on the two breasts, and make a quick incision to release them.","They slice the breasts apart, carefully checking for bones that might have broken off from the carcass and could be hiding in the meat.","The next cuts remove the tenders-- the meat located under the breast.","Workers make an incision in the middle, just under the wishbone, and down the length of the carcass.","This detaches the tenders, enabling the next worker on the line to pull them off.","Meanwhile, waiting in the wings are the wings.","Workers load them onto a machine appropriately called the wing-cutter-- a mini ferris wheel that takes the wings for a little ride, right into a sharp knife that chops them into three sections-- the drumette, the chubby part with the most meat; the winglet, the middle part; and the wing tip, the pointy part with barely any meat.","This factory transforms the meatier drumettes and the winglets into frozen, ready-to-eat chicken wings.","The first step in that process is seasoning.","Workers load the pieces into a giant drum.","As the drum rotates, they inject the seasoning-- barbecue or honey garlic, for instance.","After about an hour, the chicken wings come out evenly coated.","Now these freshly seasoned wings go into a gas-fired oven, where they bake at approximately 480-degrees fahrenheit for 8 to 11 minutes.","They come out fully cooked and ready to eat.","They go into a freezing mechanism for about a half-hour, then to the automated-packaging department, where they're sealed in a bag.","These chicken pieces--  wings, tenders, and breasts-- are prepared differently.","After seasoning, they travel through a rotating drum that coats them in a flour-and-bread-crumb mixture, then into a second drum for a second coat.","Next stop, a 40-second deep fry in canola oil, just long enough to adhere the coating.","Then from the frying pan into the fire, as they say-- well, into the oven, actually.","After 20 minutes at about 480-degrees fahrenheit, these chicken pieces are fully cooked and ready to be frozen and packaged.","They started out a generation ago as simple black-and-white ping-pong games on a tv screen.","Today's video games are vivid, sophisticated, and fast-moving, driven by state-of-the-art computer software featuring the latest in high-tech graphics.","It all started in 1952 with a cambridge university phd thesis on human/computer interaction.","The student invented a primitive tick-tack-toe game on a vacuum-tube computer-- the very first computer game with graphics.","A team at m.i.t. designed the first recognized computer game in 1962.","Then, in 1972, a stanford student invented the arcade game \"pong,\" which later became a home video game you could play on your tv set.","It all begins with the people who form what's called the core team.","They brainstorm in meeting after meeting to hammer out the concept-- how the game will look, how it'll work.","Then they plan out the production schedule, assigning who will do what when.","They break down the game on paper and color-code the components.","Then they post them on a bulletin board that'll act as the production's nerve center.","Now work on the artistic concept begins.","Artists sketch out the characters and backgrounds on paper in a scene-by-scene storyboard.","Meanwhile, graphic artists recreate those storyboard drawings three-dimensionally on the computer.","This step enables the development team to use the latest in computer-animation technology to bring the game elements to life.","They add colors, textures, shading, and of course, movement.","After developing a preliminary version of each character, the animators superimpose a skeleton.","By manipulating the skeleton, they make the character move.","They experiment with different movements until they decide which ones they'll use for the game.","The animators have to design every movement each character can potentially make in the game.","That's 700 movements for this main character alone.","Once that's done, they flesh out the character's features and costumes.","The evolution of the characters from the first pencil drawing to the final version is quite remarkable.","Other animators work on the backgrounds, the game's playing field.","Once they have a rough version laid out, they refine it by adding details, colors, and textures.","To give it depth and dimension, they use virtual lighting to create shading and shadows.","To advance the story line, this particular video game is interspersed with one-minute animated movies.","These segments, called cinematics, are animated in high-resolution to produce a top-quality image.","The interactive game, on the other hand, is in low resolution because computers can't process high-res images quickly enough for fast-moving play.","The animators have to create every character twice, in both high and low resolution.","Meanwhile, for the cinematics, they animate the storyboard using rough-draft characters.","This is simply to calculate the timing and to map out a clear path across the backgrounds so the characters don't collide with the scenery.","To make the cinematic's action look realistic, they use a technique called motion capture.","The animators videotape themselves performing the action, then use animation software to reproduce it on the computer.","Computer programmers create the video game's menu settings, among other features.","Computer engineers design the artificial intelligence, the brain that runs the game.","It's made up of thousands of computer codes.","For the cinematics, actors record the characters' lines in a sound studio.","An audio technician mixes the voices with music and sound effects and synchronizes everything with the action.","Now they take the video game out for a test-drive.","Do the characters move the way they're supposed to?","Do they go where they're supposed to?","Or do they run into trees and walk through walls?","This is the development team's last chance to rid the games of any bugs.","After that, the company can finally market the video game and hope it becomes a hit."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Flying Water Bikes","Throttle Position Sensors","Cinnamon Cordial","Handmade Rasps"]},"text":["Looking to get high on a new water sport?","Well, you literally can riding a flying water bike.","It attaches with a long hose to the back of a jet ski, elevating you up to almost 40 feet above the water where you can perform aerial flips and spins.","The jet ski's water thrust feeds three jet nozzles on the flying water bike.","One propels the bike upward.","The other two feed jet control nozzles that maneuver the bike.","The bike's frame is made out of aluminum parts because it has to be lightweight as well as relatively corrosion-resistant, especially if it is going to be used in saltwater.","This curved tube will become the lifting jet.","To build each jet control nozzle, a worker places a housing on an alignment fixture then hammers an endcap into position.","Holding the housing steady with a clamp, the worker welds on the endcap.","This housing will cover the bushing at the heart of the jet-control nozzle.","He inserts an elbow into the opening in the endcap and welds the parts together.","After welding a jet nozzle cone to the other end of the elbow, he welds a handlebar to the housing.","These five welded parts make up the body of the first jet control nozzle.","To prep for painting, the manufacturers rough up all the aluminum parts by tumbling them with abrasive stones.","This component splits the portion of the water thrust that bypasses the lifting jet, sending it in opposite directions to the jet control nozzles.","The lifting jet tube now has a nozzle cone welded to one end, a coupling for attaching the fire hose to the other, and an oval hole in the curve, which aligns with the angled end of a straight tube in the middle, called the backbone.","After positioning parallel support bars between the lifting jet and the splitter, the welder fuses all the parts together.","Then he flips the assembly jig and welds on the seat support.","The seat support attaches where the lifting jet and backbone meet.","After masking the ends of the splitter, a worker sprays the completed frame, jet control nozzles and other aluminum parts with powder coat.","This helps protect against corrosion.","The parts go into an oven for up to a half hour to bake the powder coat to a shiny finish.","Then workers install an aluminum camlock to securely fasten the fire hose to the coupling.","Another worker attaches the remaining components to the frame.","First, he screws in the pair of footplates on which the rider stands.","Then he bolts the bottom half of each plate to the parallel support bars and the top half to just ahead of the camlock.","He mounts a padded knee rest to the support bars.","It can be easily repositioned to accommodate the rider's height.","On each unpainted end of the splitter, he installs an internal support ring, then a precision-fit nylon bushing and an external support ring, which he screws to the splitter.","The worker slides the jet control nozzle housing over the bushing and screws it to the internal support ring.","The two control nozzles maneuver the water bike.","To ascend, you pull back gradually on both of them, simultaneously.","To descend, you push forward on both.","To spin, you move one forward and one back.","And to do a backflip, you yank both control nozzles all the way back.","He assembles the water bike's body.","It's made of molded polyethylene with a waterproof urethane pad to cushion the front of the rider's body.","The seat is made of the same padded material.","Both pad and seat attach with plastic clips.","The hollow body is completely watertight, which is why the bike floats.","The final step is to mate the body to the frame.","The completed water bicycle weighs 30 pounds.","Once connected to a jet ski with the fire hose, this water bike flies at a speed of up to 20 miles per hour.","By maneuvering the jet nozzles, it does backflips, multiple spins, and even dives 20 feet underwater.","A throttle position sensor reports the position of the throttle plate to the engine computer so that it can decide how much fuel to inject into the engine and many other things.","Without this critical sensor, the ratio of the air-fuel mix would be compromised, and the engine would likely stall.","In internal combustion engines, the throttle position sensor is on constant alert, sending the necessary power demands to ensure a smooth ride.","Making these sensors starts with printed circuit boards.","These boards will ultimately process physical data and convert this into information the engine computer will understand.","A robot transfers the boards to a conveyor which takes them to a solder screen printer.","The printer squeegees solder through a stencil to deposit it in specific locations on the boards.","The squeegee and stencil then retract, and the conveyor shoves the boards forward to the next operation.","Here, a robot retrieves electronic components from tape on a reel and deposits them on the soldered spots on the boards.","It collects multiple parts from the reel at one time and installs them on the boards faster than you can blink an eye.","Moving forward, the printed circuit boards arrive at a camera station.","The camera clicks away and sends pictures of the boards to a computer.","The computer analyzes the placement of each component.","With the computer's okay, the boards head into an oven with different heating zones.","The oven melts the solder and then cools it down to fuse the components to the boards.","The oven then ejects the sensor boards.","Next, a technician serves them up to automated test probes.","The probes energize the components on the boards and, in the process, collect information.","They send the data to a computer, which analyzes the function of the components on the board and to make sure they're fully operational.","Then the boards move to a pneumatic punch.","It separates the 18 sensor circuit boards by cutting the tabs that hold them together.","A worker assembles a metal spring to a plastic magnet holder.","He places a high-wear washer over the neck the magnet holder.","Then he inserts the magnet holder assembly into the throttle-sensor housing and places the unit in a tray.","After glue has been injected in the holders, a robot moves in.","It scans the holders and confirms that there is glue in each cavity.","It then inserts magnets in the holders.","A worker installs a torsion spring in the housing.","It will hold the magnet holder tight to the throttle body.","He now inserts the printed circuit boards into the sensor housings.","Terminals in the housings mate to slots in the boards.","He solders the terminals to the boards to establish the connections.","All the parts are now in place for throttle position sensing.","A worker places covers over the sensor board compartments.","An ultrasonic welder then melts the plastic at the interfaces.","Once it hardens, the weld bonds the cover to the sensor body.","A robot pipes silicone adhesive on the welded seam to create a double layer of protection.","The sensors ride on a conveyor that goes through an oven.","This cures both the silicone on the welded seam and the glue inside to secure the magnet to the holder.","Out of the oven, the sensors travel through a cooling station.","Probes then power the devices and calibrate them for use in specific vehicles.","A robot holds the sensor in front of a laser, which etches the date of manufacture.","Back on a conveyor, the throttle position sensor travels under a magnifying glass so that the laser-etching job can be scrutinized.","This throttle position sensor is now ready for detection duty.","Cinnamon cordial marries the pungent flavor of one of our favorite spices with alcohol.","Think of it as the liqueur equivalent of a cinnamon bun.","On its own or as in ingredient in a specialty drink, cinnamon cordial can add some serious spice to cocktail hour.","Cinnamon cordial is the distilled spirit that is both sweet and spicy.","It's this complexity of flavor that is at that heart of its appeal.","This particular cinnamon cordial starts with a blend of california grape brandy that's been aged for 2 years.","The distiller measures the amount the recipe calls for and pours the brandy into the main production vessel.","He then pumps neutral grain spirits out of a big holding tank and into the measuring bucket.","This spirit is 190 proof, which means that it is 95 percent alcohol.","He adds it to the grape brandy.","Together, the brandy and the neutral spirits will serve as the alcohol base for the cinnamon cordial.","The brandy contributes color and a little flavor while the clear spirits add potency.","Next up are the spices that provide a first layer of flavor.","Using a scale, the distiller measures the amounts for the recipe, beginning with whole coriander, a spice that will impart a citrusy zest to the cinnamon cordial.","The next ingredient is cloves.","This spice has a sweet and peppery essence.","Finally, he adds dry bay leaves.","He crumbles them to release their herbal fragrance.","These three spices will ultimately provide background flavor, while the cinnamon that's to be added later will be the main event.","The distiller reopens the production tank and drapes a mesh nylon sachet over the opening.","He pours the carefully measured spices into the bag, and they become immersed in the alcohol.","He draws the bag of spices shut and leaves it in the alcohol for 2 weeks.","During this time, the alcohol extracts flavors from the spices.","Staying true to the recipe is critical.","Adding too much of one spice or leaving the spices in the alcohol for too long could ruin the batch.","After steeping, the liqueur is ready for the cinnamon spice.","He adds two kinds-- cassia, which is from indonesia, china, and vietnam, and ceylon cinnamon, which originates in sri lanka.","He breaks up the cinnamon tree bark to increase the surface area for steeping.","He also adds two different powdered cinnamons for extra flavor and color.","He now makes simple syrup from organic sugar and water and adds it to the mixture.","This syrup provides sweetness and dilutes the alcohol content substantially, bringing it down to 68 proof.","He leaves the blend to steep for a week.","During this time, he samples the beverage daily to confirm that the drink is developing correctly and that the cinnamon flavor is properly balanced.","The color change during this week is dramatic, and it's an indication of the cordial's deepening flavor.","When the taste and color seem just right, he removes the spices and pumps the cinnamon cordial into 25-ounce bottles.","This bottling system is equipped with a filter to remove any impurities.","Once full, he corks the bottle.","Using a special labeling machine, he rolls on the label that identifies the product for marketing.","He then heat-shrinks a plastic seal around the cork.","He puts a signature on it, and this cinnamon cordial is ready for the cocktail circuit.","Tour the workshop of a cabinetmaker or woodcarver, and you're sure to come across a collection of rasps.","A rasp is a hand tool with teeth that you push forward with pressure over wood to shape it.","Rasps come in various textures, called grains, ranging from coarse to fine.","Machine-made rasps may suffice for hobbyists, but fine woodworking requires premium rasps like these, which are made entirely by hand.","A rasp starts out as a steel bar, called a blank.","First, a worker heats one end of the blank in an oven at a temperature of approximately 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","When the steel glows somewhere between orange and red, he immediately cuts the end to a crude point with a press.","Then he places the end under a spring hammer which strikes it repeatedly against a die, forging the crude point to a refined one.","After repeating these steps on the opposite end...","He inserts the blank into a shearing machine.","This cuts across the middle, dividing the blank into two flat rasps, each with a pointed end and a flat end.","The worker puts the flat end into the oven.","Once it reaches working temperature, he places it in a press.","The first strike tapers the end.","The second cuts off steel to form the tool's handle, called the tang.","The rasp shape is fully forged.","An experienced craftsman now begins refining it.","First, he runs it against a grinding wheel to remove excess steel.","Because steel warps in the forging process, he hammers along the tang, point, and length to straighten the rasp.","This step is critical for structural strength because if the grain of the steel isn't perfectly straight, the rasp will warp when the craftsman later hardens the steel by tempering.","Once the rasp is straight, he grinds the flat surfaces on a grinding belt.","Then he returns to the grinding wheel to remove excess steel around the point.","By the time he completes this step, the point is transformed from this to this.","After additional grinding to polish away the marks, it's time to give the rasp some teeth.","This process, known as stitching the rasp, is a highly specialized skill that requires exceptional dexterity.","The stitchers form every single tooth by hand with a single hammer strike on a punch.","The punch shape and size determines the tooth shape and size.","The hammer size determines tooth height.","A heavier hammer forces the punch deeper into the steel, forming a taller tooth.","The larger and deeper the teeth, the coarser the grain of the rasp.","The artisans stitch the rasp a quarter section at a time to set the teeth at the proper angle.","The tooth angle differs when they're making a left-hand rasp versus a right-hand rasp.","The expert craftsman now hammers a slight curve back into the rasp.","If left straight, it would curve when they temper it.","By preemptively curving it, the rasp will straighten when tempered.","He submerges the rasp in a molten salt bath inside the tempering furnace.","Salt prevents contact with oxygen, which burns off the carbon in the steel, thus destroying its properties.","After removing the rasp from the salt bath, he gradually cools it in a quenching tank filled with saltwater.","Cooling steel at just the right speed and direction is critical.","Too slow, it doesn't harden sufficiently.","Too fast, it twists or warps.","He does a final straightening in a press.","The final operation is a very soft sandblasting.","This removes residue from the salt bath and transforms the surface from shiny to matte.","These handmade rasps come in a multitude of shapes and 15 different grains ranging from coarse to fine, so the woodworker can always select the right rasp for the task."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Seatbelts","Windows","Wax Figurines","Hot Air Balloons"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" seatbelts...","Windows...","Wax figurines...","And hot air balloons.","It's an indisputable fact that seatbelts save lives.","When a car comes to a sudden stop, the seatbelt prevents you from hurling forward.","It spreads the stopping force across the sturdier parts of your body, namely your rib cage and pelvis.","This spreading action dilutes the strength of the stopping force, minimizing injury.","Before production can begin, the factory has to adjust the seatbelt design to fit the specific car model, to make sure the belt path is clear, that there's enough room for rotating parts to move, and so on.","On the factory floor, robots assemble most of the mechanical components.","This plastic disk, containing a spring and a weight, is part of the locking mechanism.","It's what stops the seatbelt straps, called the webbing, from lengthening when you jerk forward due to a sudden stop or hard deceleration.","The locking mechanism goes into the seatbelt's retractor mechanism, the component that lets the webbing extend and retract.","The webbing will wind onto this aluminum spool in the retractor, a rewind spring keeping it taut.","Sudden deceleration will cause this silver ball to trigger the locking mechanism.","This will stop the spool from rotating and lock the webbing.","This next robot assembles what's called the pretensioner mechanism.","While the locking mechanism stops the webbing from lengthening, the pretensioner sharply pulls the webbing back, tightening any slack.","The pretensioner kicks in only in the event of a crash.","The sudden deceleration on impact triggers sensors which signal the air-bag control module to send an electrical charge to the pretensioner.","This charge sets off a tiny explosion that deslacks the belt.","This worker installs the explosive device, called the micro gas generator, or mgg.","After lubricating the inside of its aluminum cylinder with grease, she inserts a piston and the mgg.","The mgg contains a chemical called nitrocellulose.","The electrical charge coming from the air-bag control module ignites this chemical, causing a tiny gas explosion.","That generates pressure within the cylinder, driving the piston upward at high speed.","This triggers a gear that winds the retractor spool backward, taking up any slack in the webbing.","After capping off the micro gas generator's housing, a robot transfers the completed pretensioner mechanism to the retractor's frame.","Then it screws on a steel cover plate to hold the pretensioner in place.","They install the rewind spring onto the spool of the retractor mechanism.","This spring is what provides resistance when you pull out the webbing to buckle up.","Then, when you unbuckle, it rotates the spool to rewind the webbing.","The car company decides what type of spring to use.","The thicker the spring and the more coils, the greater the tension, and therefore the faster and smoother the belt retracts.","But the greater the tension, the less comfortable the seatbelt is on the body.","The webbing is made of woven polyester fiber.","This machine sews one end over into a loop for the pin that'll anchor the webbing to the spool.","The pin is made of either plastic or steel, depending on the type of retractor they're using.","A worker now threads the end through a machine that automatically winds the webbing onto the retractor spool, making sure the pin is properly attached.","At the same time, the machine checks the overall belt length to make sure it conforms to the client's specifications.","At this factory, every single seatbelt component has to pass a thorough quality-control check.","Here a machine checks a key safety feature, a lever-and-ratchet mechanism that prevents the webbing from extending after you've belted in a child car seat.","Now for the final assembly.","Workers load all the seatbelt parts in a jig, a holding device that arranges them in the proper configuration.","A worker feeds the webbing through the shoulder loop, from which the belt hangs, and through the tongue plate, the part that clicks into the buckle.","Both these components are made of steel for strength, with plastic coverings matching the car interior.","The last step is to sew the anchor to finish off the other end of the webbing.","Every seatbelt design goes through extensive testing before going into production.","This machine assesses how much pull the webbing and retractor can withstand before breaking.","This machine tests the webbing's durability, running it through 50,000 abrasion cycles to ensure the material doesn't wear out.","The earliest windows were merely holes cut into the walls.","People living in warm climates left them uncovered, while people in harsher climates used animals skins to keep the cold out.","In the far east, people covered the opening with paper.","Then came glass panes in sashes that swung in or out or hung one above the other.","This type of window is called a casement window.","A crank mechanism opens it at an angle.","To build the window frame, the factory begins with 16 1/2-foot lengths of extruded pvc, a type of plastic.","As clamps hold the pvc steady, a computer-guided circular saw cuts the sizes required for the frame.","The same machine also cuts the pieces for the sash, the inner frame around the glass.","Each frame is made from four pieces, whose ends are mitered at a 45-degree angle.","Now workers load eight pieces onto a computer-guided welding machine-- eight, because it welds two frames at a time.","First a heating block, whose temperature is 446 degrees fahrenheit, melts the ends.","Then the machine pushes them together.","They fuse, forming the frame's four corners.","Here's the same process, viewed from above.","As the melted ends bond under pressure, excess pvc oozes out at the joints, then hardens.","The next machine will clean that up.","A robot reads the profile of the specific frame style.","Then it uses one of several cutting heads to shave the excess off the corners.","From here, the sash and frame go to another area to receive hinges.","Meanwhile, workers cut the glass to size.","They start with a huge sheet, measuring about 6 1/2 feet by 10 feet..","It's very heavy, about 200 pounds.","So, they lay it on a specially designed table.","A blower sends up air through tiny holes.","This floats the glass just above the surface, making it easy to move around.","They score the glass using a sharp carbide cutting wheel.","This window will have what's called a thermopane, two panes of glass with argon gas in between for insulation.","One of the panes has a transparent metallic coating to reflect the heat back into the house.","They adhere a strip of silicone foam around the perimeter of the first pane, notching it for a good fit around the corners.","The foam is covered in a thin, strong polyester film to prevent the gas from leaking through.","The strip is a spacer, creating a gap between the two panes that's just over 1/2 inch wide.","That's where the gas will go.","They cut a hole at the top of the spacer and another at the bottom.","You'll see why shortly.","This window features decorative grid work called muntin bars.","They're made of aluminum and go between the two panes.","A worker lays the bars onto the first pane, then uses this guide to line them up perfectly straight.","Then she puts the second pane on top.","It sticks to the exposed adhesive edge of the spacer.","Now the double-paned glass goes through a press, whose rollers apply pressure to ensure a strong and thorough bond to the spacer.","After the glass exits the press, workers pump in argon gas through that hole at the bottom of the spacer.","The speed of the gas flow is critical.","If they pump it in too fast, it'll mix with the air in between the panes, rather than push it through the hole at the top of the spacer.","After plugging the holes, they coat the spacer in a polyurethane sealant.","This makes the thermopane completely airtight.","Now it's ready to go in the sash.","A piece of pvc called the glazing stop holds it there.","They snap it in place using a roller.","A little pvc cement to seal off any miniscule gaps in the corners, then the sash goes into the window frame.","Their respective hinge parts simply snap together.","The last step is to snap the frame's crank arm onto the sash.","Making religious figurines out of wax is a tradition the french brought to the new world.","For hundreds of years, this delicate craft wasn't open to just anyone.","The technique remained a closely guarded secret, practiced only by monks and nuns within the confines of their monasteries and convents.","This artisan uses a centuries-old technique to restore antique figurines and to make new ones.","She begins with pure beeswax, paraffin wax, some powdered chalk to make the waxes less transparent, and a bit of solid animal fat to make the wax less fragile once it hardens.","She heats the can of ingredients in a pot of water for about two hours, until everything's melted and homogenous.","Then she tints the mixture using oil-paint pigments.","There's no exact recipe.","She goes by gut feeling, fiddling with various colors until she creates the exact skin tone she's looking for.","Once she's certain the color is uniform throughout, she pours the mixture through a stocking.","This filters out any contaminants or undissolved particles.","Now she pours the mixture into a plaster mold.","There's a different mold for each figurine model.","This one's a baby jesus.","The wax takes about 10 minutes to solidify.","The figurine comes out easily, because she had greased the mold cavity beforehand with filtered sheep fat.","The figurine at this point is firm enough to extract from the mold but still soft enough to sculpt.","With a very fine blade that she heats over a flame, the artisan now scrapes away the seam left by excess wax that oozed out of the gap between the mold's two halves.","Then she runs the figurine through the flame just long enough to melt off any wax particles left behind by the scraping.","After smoothing the surface with a solvent, she signs the back of the figurine with her initials, then uses the flame once again to melt off the scraped-out wax.","Now that the figurine's body is finished, she can begin the detail work.","She melts pine resin with beeswax to make glue, then brushes it on the figurine's head.","Then she takes strands of human hair-- clients often supply their children's hair-- and soaks them in water.","She wets strips of fabric, as well.","Then she rolls the hair around a knitting needle to make curly locks.","She winds the fabric over the curls to hold them in place until they air-dry.","If she's pressed for time, she'll dry them in the oven on low heat.","To make bigger curls for a larger figurine, she simply uses a thicker knitting needle.","Now, using a hot blade to reheat and activate the glue, she applies each length of curls individually.","Once she's finished covering the head, she attaches a little halo made of brass wire, heating the end so that the wax melts on contact and holds it in position.","Now, using a small, pointed tool that she repeatedly heats on the flame, she sculpts the fine facial details-- the figurine's eyes, eyelids, nostrils, and lips.","Again, a little solvent cleans off the wax particles.","Now she brushes the figurine head to toe with powder made of pumice and pigment.","This will help the watercolor paints adhere to the wax.","She paints the eyes, lashes, brows, and lips.","Once the paint dries, she applies a touch of varnish to the eyes to make them shiny and bright.","Once the varnish dries, she dresses the figurine and positions it in its setting.","The first passengers ever to ride in a hot air balloon were a sheep, a duck, and a chicken.","That eight-minute flight took place in france in 1783.","Today's hot air balloons work on the same principle-- the burner heats the air, the balloon envelope holds the air, and the basket carries the passengers.","Hot air balloons fall under government aircraft regulations, so their engineering has to meet very specific performance and safety standards.","Once the technical design gets approval, the factory works on the graphic design.","The computer renders the graphics into plans that resemble a giant jigsaw puzzle.","Each piece has a code number.","The computer generates a paper template for each one.","Balloons usually fly in the early morning, when there's still dew on the ground.","So, the nylon fabric with which they make the balloon envelope has a silicone coating to repel moisture that would generate mold and mildew.","After tracing each template with grease pencils, they cut the fabric by hand and mark the corresponding code number on the back of each piece.","Then, following the plan, seamstresses sew the pieces together like a giant quilt, using heavy-duty thread.","The type of seam they stitch is the strongest possible-- what you typically see on jeans.","They sew the seams to nylon straps, called webbing.","These run both horizontally and vertically, forming a giant grid.","Should the fabric rip, the seam and webbing combined prevent the tear from spreading.","Hot air balloons often carry a corporate logo.","Workers divide the design into components, project each one onto a piece of fabric, trace it, and cut it out.","They first glue, then sew the components to the balloon in one of two ways either into the fabric, or on top of it, as we see here.","Stainless-steel aircraft cable connects the balloon envelope to the basket below.","Workers slip a plastic sleeve, then a copper sleeve over one end, then loop the cable.","They line the loop with a stainless-steel thimble.","This thimble will protect the aircraft cable from damage due to wear and tear.","They crimp the copper sleeve to lock the loop.","After taking various measurements to ensure everything conforms to strict specifications, they wrap tape around the sharp end of the crimp, then, using an industrial heat gun, shrink-wrap the plastic sleeve over it to seal the connection.","The basket is made of wicker or a similar natural material woven over a stainless-steel frame.","Wicker is flexible enough to absorb the shock of a bumpy landing.","They cover the bottom edge with rawhide to protect the wicker when it scrapes against the ground.","They pad, then cover the top edge in suede or leather for comfort when you're leaning on it to admire the view.","These nylon poles, called uprights, fit into the frame.","They support the burners above the basket.","Hot air balloons run on propane, the same stuff gas barbecues use.","Only a barbecue produces about 70,000 btus of heat, while a hot air balloon's two burners together generate 30 million btus, enough to warm a large building.","After connecting the basket to the burner frame with cables, they cover the cables and uprights in protective padding.","Then they hook up the hoses running from the burners to the propane tanks housed in the basket.","Now for the final assembly.","First, they tip the basket onto its side.","Then they take those looped cables they made earlier and hook one end to the frame of the burner system.","The other end is already hooked up to the balloon envelope-- one cable to every vertical strip of webbing.","Depending on its size, a balloon has between 12 and 28 of them.","They form the skeleton of the balloon, carrying the weight of the craft and its passengers.","After laying out the balloon envelope, they use a fan to inflate it partway with cold air.","This takes 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the balloon.","Then they fire up the burners to heat the cold air.","It expands to fill the envelope.","The fabric near the burners is fire-resistant.","Because hot air weighs less than cold air, it rises, pulling the balloon upright and off the ground.","You control vertical movement by manipulating the envelope air temperature.","To ascend, you turn the burner flames higher.","To descend, you pull a cord to vent hot air out the top.","You can't really steer horizontally.","The trick is to ride different wind currents."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Composite Propane Cylinders","Salsa","Water"]},"text":["A composite propane cylinder is an alternative you'll appreciate if you've ever lugged a steel propane cylinder for your gas barbecue or if you've ever run out of gas in mid-grill because you couldn't tell how much propane was left in the tank.","Composite material is 30% lighter than steel and see-through.","Composite propane cylinders are made of transparent fiberglass encased within a plastic housing.","Propane, a liquid under pressure, expands as temperature increases.","So as a safety feature, the cylinder valve is equipped with an overfill-prevention device, a valve shut-off that kicks in when you've filled 80% of the cylinder.","This ensures ample room for the propane to expand.","Fiberglass is actual glass that's been drawn into thin fibers, then woven into fabric or, in this case, yarn.","It's the ideal material for a gas cylinder because it's strong, lightweight, rust-proof, and nonflammable.","A robot simultaneously winds 12 strands of fiberglass yarn over a steel form shaped like a half cylinder.","The winding pattern is very specific, strategically designed to make the cylinder walls as strong as possible.","While winding, the robot applies a powder binding solution.","This immobilizes the strands so that the shape won't collapse when the robot later lifts it off the form.","The winding process takes about 45 seconds and produces what's called a preform.","The robot transfers the preform over to the next machine, a molding press.","It injects liquid plastic at high pressure, impregnating the fiberglass.","Then it heats the preform for 10 minutes to cure the plastic.","What comes out of the molding press is a fully formed fiberglass half cylinder.","The top-half cylinder needs to be prepped for the valve.","First, an automated drill bores a hole.","Then workers apply caulking around a valve fitting...","Set the fitting on an assembly fixture...","Position the hole over it...","Then press the fitting into the fiberglass.","Now they mount the top- and bottom-half cylinders on opposing lathes.","A computer-guided grinding wheel with a fine diamond-grid surface trims the edge of each half cylinder to an exact specification.","Then it machines a precise 3-degree taper on each edge at opposing angles.","Next, an automated nozzle applies adhesive onto the tapered edges.","Then the lathes move toward each other, mating the halves.","The tapered edges slot together in a tight fit.","After the adhesive cures nearly two hours later, this is a solid, inseparable cylinder, which, as per the certification label, conforms to the standards required by government regulators.","Every single cylinder this factory produces undergoes safety tests.","This one, in a pressurized chamber, ensures the cylinder can hold the required amount of pressure.","This submersion test ensures the cylinder is gas-tight.","If bubbles appear in the water, it means there's a leak.","After a cylinder passes testing, workers install the valve, which is already connected to the overfill-prevention device.","The valving machine holds the cylinder steady, while it turns the valve to the precise tightness the engineering specifications require.","Now it's just a matter of snapping together the cylinder's two-part plastic housing.","The housing has handles for carrying the cylinder.","It also has a flat base to allow the cylinder to stand upright.","Composite propane cylinders come in various sizes to fuel everything from barbecues to patio heaters, even ride-on lawn mowers and factory forklifts.","Salsa is a staple of mexican and southwestern cuisine-- a spicy tomato-based condiment people typically enjoy as a topping on tacos or dip for tortilla chips.","Recipes vary, as does the kick factor-- from mild to extra-hot.","\"salsa\" is the spanish word for \"sauce\".","This american company produces nine different flavors, from regular to roasted garlic to pineapple-mango.","All flavors begin with fresh tomatoes delivered daily to the factory.","Workers inspect them carefully and remove any stems, leaves, and unripe or imperfect tomatoes.","Other workers, meanwhile, cut the stems off cilantro, a leafy herb that acts as a major flavor-enhancer.","They wash the cilantro in a tank of ice-cold water, then transfer it to another cold-water tank for a second wash, and then to another tank for a third wash, then a fourth and final wash, this one in a machine with food-safe vegetable sanitizer, containing bacteria-killing hydrogen peroxide.","Then they dry the wet cilantro in a giant salad spinner.","In another area, they prep the onions, peeling the skin and slicing off the ends.","They rinse the onions with water and the same sanitizer they used on the cilantro.","Ditto with the tomatoes.","This industrial-strength dicing machine chops up all the produce ingredients.","It has interchangeable blades to adjust for different-sized cuts.","First through the dicer--  the tomatoes.","They enter whole and exit in pieces about 4/10 of an inch big.","Next, the onions.","The dicer chops them into pieces roughly 2/10 of an inch in size.","Meanwhile, the cilantro goes into a cutter which chops it into fine pieces.","The recipe proportions are roughly 80% tomatoes, 5% onions, 2% cilantro, 5% green peppers, then additional flavor-specific ingredients, plus salt, pepper, and vinegar.","With the prep work done, it's now time to blend all the ingredients in a giant mixer.","Each batch begins with 55 gallons of tomatoes.","Next comes the cilantro.","This and all the ingredients are pre-weighed, so as to be in the correct proportion to the quantity of tomatoes.","The onions are next.","This particular batch of salsa is garlic-artichoke flavor; hence the next ingredient--  diced artichokes.","Now the combined liquid ingredients-- lemon juice, lime juice, and white vinegar...","Followed by the combined dry ingredients-- salt, pepper, dried celery, and garlic powder.","A final high-speed five-minute mix ensures everything is thoroughly blended and ready for packaging.","The finished salsa goes into vats.","From there, at packaging time, a pumping system moves it to the automated filling machine, whose nozzles squirt the required quantity of salsa into plastic containers.","The machine then seals each container with a plastic safety film and presses on a cover.","This is what the packaging process looks like in slow motion.","It actually moves at about twice this speed.","The filled containers now pass through a combination x-ray/metal detector.","On the off chance a foreign object fell into the salsa during production, the machine flags the affected container and triggers an automated arm to eject it from the production line.","This standard food-safety precaution ensures that every single container proceeding to labeling and then onto store shelves is \"a-olé\".","To pump water from the ground, the windmill reaches to the sky.","The blades catch the breeze and spin, while gears convert the spinning action into pumping action.","This technology has been around for over 2,000 years.","The first known water-pumping windmills originated in persia around 7 a.d. in 19th-century america, this was the wheel of progress-- a metal-bladed windmill that turned with greater force than traditional wooden ones, even in low wind conditions.","Its superior pumping capacity made it indispensable to pioneers settling inland, away from rivers and streams.","And today this same design continues to be a part of the rural landscape, especially when there's no electricity to run water pumps.","Production begins with a 100-ton punch press.","Once activated, it cuts triangular shapes from galvanized steel sheets, each with a slot in the center.","Each cutout will be a windmill sail.","They'll need 18 for each wind wheel.","Once stacked, they transfer the sail shapes to a rolling station.","The roller curls the steel to an exact curvature, producing a slightly bowed shape, which will efficiently capture the wind.","Next, a worker wraps a metal rib around each sail.","He taps the sides until it fits snugly to the sail.","The rib has a tab that slots into the hole in the sail's center, allowing the two parts to interlock.","Bands fit through the ribs to assemble the sails in groups of three.","Next, a worker slides a metal loop over the guide wheel and drives the ends into holes in the gearbox, using a sledgehammer.","He rivets the ends to the gearbox so that they're solidly ensconced.","Next, he inserts the wind-wheel hub and shaft into the mainframe of the gearbox.","He taps it to nudge it tightly into place.","He then grinds the brake lever to shape it to the brake mechanism on the hub.","This braking system is critical.","It will stop the wind wheel from spinning out of control in high winds.","He spins the hub and activates the brake several times to confirm that his machining is dead-on and that the brake system works perfectly.","If it doesn't, he makes adjustments.","Next, using a very toothy circular cutter, he carves grooves into steel blanks to shape the gears.","The difference is quite obvious.","He installs a set of these gears at the base of the metal loop and secures them with a metal pin.","He checks their turning radius and then mates a larger set of gears to the smaller ones, ensuring that the teeth intermesh.","This very substantial gear system will drive the guide wheel, creating the pumping action.","Two metal parts, called pitman arms, link the gears to the guide wheel.","A steel pin holds everything together.","As the gears turn, the guide wheel rolls up and down the loop to complete a pumping cycle.","Next, he screws a series of thin metal rods to the hub.","They're called wheel arms, and they hold the windmill sails.","The wheel arms fit into precut holes in the structure of the sail sections.","He secures the assembly with nuts.","Once all the sail sections have been mounted to the wheel arms, the windmill is ready for a spin.","It's a test run to confirm the wind wheel and gears function flawlessly.","It takes a crane to lift the 640-pound windmill to the top of its tower.","Once it's in position, a worker guides the gearbox onto the mast pipe.","Once it's secure, they hoist the helmet.","It's a cone-shaped metal cap that will protect the gears from the elements.","He bolts it to the top of the gearbox.","With that job done, this windmill is ready to pump.","It should last decades, providing water that is as free as the wind.","Dragsters roar out of the starting line in a cloud of smoke, and then it's a blur.","Traveling at speeds of up to 320 miles an hour, these hot rods rip through a quarter-mile racetrack in less than 4 seconds.","It's why they need parachutes to slow down and come in for a safe landing.","Blink a couple of times, and the race is over.","Packing an incredible 8,000 horsepower, a dragster is at least 50 times more powerful than a subcompact car.","With fat rear tires for traction and a tapered aerodynamic body, the dragster is engineered for one thing only-- speed.","Production begins with the heart of the vehicle-- the powerful 8-cylinder engine.","To reduce drag, the engine block is made of lightweight aluminum.","A technician carefully installs the camshaft...","And then fastens the timing cover to the front of the engine.","The timing cover prevents oil leaks.","He installs the crankshaft and hub.","And once the eight rods and pistons have been loaded and connected, he tests their movement and function.","Satisfied with their performance, he encases them in an oil pan.","With the installation of the drive gears and other components, the engine block is now complete.","They move on to the supercharger, a forceful blower that boosts engine power tremendously.","This worker seals the seams with urethane and caps the ends.","He slides strips of teflon between the rotors for extra sealing.","All this sealing will ensure that the compressed air generated is directed down through the bottom of the supercharger and into the engine.","With the supercharger now installed in its magnesium casing, he connects a cage-like starter to its drive pulley.","It's now time for a test run.","Blue streamers have been attached to the bottom of the supercharger.","Their fluttering is a visual indication of the force of the air generated.","The next employee attaches fuel pipes to the dragster's metal skeleton.","They install the engine and the high-tech clutch.","This racing clutch is equipped with five discs to transfer power from the engine directly to the wheels.","Between every run, the dragster engine will be completely rebuilt.","The rebuild should take just 22 minutes.","So the team at the factory is on the clock to prove it can be done.","The technician torques the cylinders to the engine block.","He installs the fuel-distribution system and connects the hoses to the cylinder heads.","Dragsters run on nitromethane, known as top fuel in the sport.","It delivers more power per stroke.","Still on the clock, the crew transfers the supercharger to the engine and connects it to the intake manifold.","They use super-strength kevlar strapping to restrain the supercharger in the event of an explosion.","They loop a belt over the gears that drive the supercharger.","They adjust the engine valves...","And then check to confirm the valves move freely.","They cover the valves with this titanium lid to prevent oil leaks and keep all the parts in place.","A technician connects spark plugs to the engine through slots in the cover, two per cylinder.","With each step carefully timed and executed, it has taken 22 minutes for the crew to get this dragster engine in rip-roaring shape.","In that 22-minute window, they also bolt the back wheels to the axle.","They then slide the steering wheel into place in the cockpit and give it a try to confirm that it steers the tires at the front of the dragster.","Also part of the 22-minute routine, a check of the fuel lever and the loading of the parachutes.","They'll be tested at every pit stop before repacking.","Finally, they fill up the tank with nitromethane fuel.","This high-performing fuel is both volatile and corrosive, so there's a protective cover.","This dragster is almost ready for the starting gate.","All it needs is a sponsor to pay all the bills.","One last test of the clutch, and this dragster is ready for the track.","and it's off in a cloud of tire smoke."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aluminum Canoes","Wooden Stave Bowls","Wheelchair Accessible Vans","Marimbas"]},"text":["When world war ii ended, an american manufacturer of fighter jets needed to land new business.","The factory employed the same stretched-aluminum process used for shaping aircraft wings and came up with an aluminum canoe.","No fighting machine, the aluminum canoe is designed for a peaceful day at the lake.","Among watercraft, the aluminum canoe is the strong, silent type.","It resists breaking and cracking when it comes up against a rock or any other underwater object.","So this is one invention that is unlikely to sink into oblivion.","Aluminum itself is too soft for canoe construction.","So metals like magnesium, nickel, and silicone have been added to give it the needed strength.","Factory employees unwind the aluminum alloy onto a work table.","Using electric shears, they cut it to length.","They lift the metal sheet onto a mold of of part of the canoe hull.","They clamp the metal to a hydraulic system and activate it.","It pulls and stretches the aluminum-alloy sheet to the mold, and it conforms to its shape.","The molded sheet needs trimming, so they transfer it to a work table, and place a template over the contoured section.","They clamp it into place.","With a scribe, one of the workers etches the pattern onto the molded aluminum.","The team then transfers the aluminum sheet to a jig and cuts out the pattern following the etched outline.","They shape and cut a second part exactly like the first.","The two symmetrical halves will form the hull of the aluminum canoe.","They bake the hull halves at 390 degrees fahrenheit for eight hours.","The heat strengthens the aluminum and adds rigidity to it.","Out of the oven, a member of the team now aligns two halves.","It's a perfect match, so he now lowers a large clamp.","Once in place, he turns a crank to pull the two parts of the aluminum canoe together.","Now tightly, clamped, he welds the two parts along the bottom.","This joins them with a water-tight seam.","With hand clamps, he tacks the two rounded ends together and welds here.","He links the end welds to the one on the bottom, and the result is one continuous leak-proof weld from bow to stern.","Next, the team positions an aluminum keel along the bottom seam.","They reinforce it from the inside with the t-bar.","They drive rivets through the t-bar, hull, and keel to secure the assembly.","They install substantial aluminum guards on the bow and stern using rivets to secure them.","These guards will protect the end welds.","They brace the base of the canoe from the inside with six aluminum ribs.","Welded, riveted, and with a good support structure, this aluminum canoe has really taken shape.","They equip the rim of the canoe with aluminum gunnels, pounding them with a rubber mallet to improve the fit.","Then a worker rolls non-skid paint on the inside so it won't become slick when wet.","They bring incandescent heat lamps in, and the paint dries quickly in the warm glow.","After just 30 minutes, the paint is dry.","Then it's time to see if it will float.","They transfer the aluminum canoe to a tank of water.","They clamp a bar across the canoe to apply nearly 1,000 pounds of pressure-- more than the weight of two people.","They check for leaks, especially around the rivets.","There are none.","Crossbars and bench seating complete the fabrication.","There's one last bit of business, and that's the company insignia.","This aluminum canoe is now ready for recreation.","10 hours in the making, the fun has only just begun.","Bowls have existed for thousands of years.","Very early bowls, used to serve food or drink, have been found in china, ancient greece, and in certain north-american cultures.","Modern bowls can be made from a variety of materials, such as ceramic, plastic, metal, and wood.","Wood bowls come in many shapes and sizes.","Many different kinds of wood are used to make bowls, such as rubberwood and teak.","Acacia is also a type of wood used to make bowls.","Workers cut flat planks of acacia using a large circular saw.","The acacia was cut a few days ago in nearby plantations.","Planks are cut to thicknesses required for bowl production and pre-dried on pallets, spaced apart for better air circulation.","Using a table saw, a worker cuts the wood planks, now kiln-dried, into pieces long enough to make the bowl wall.","Another worker uses a tilted table saw to cut the wood into shapes resembling a cone.","Drying the wood eliminates water that might cause cracking later on.","A worker trims the pieces, giving them the angle they need, so the staves can be rounded later on.","Another worker smoothes the rough side of the staves with a spinning cutter.","This also helps shape the wood pieces.","Another employee lines up the staves on a table before applying glue.","She spreads a wood-binding glue onto the sides of the staves.","Once they're thoroughly covered with glue, she begins assembling the bowl by sticking the sides together.","She assembles a few pieces at a time, handing them to another worker, who arranges the bowl's shape by leaning the staves against a center piece.","They continue the process until all the staves are in place.","Then they'll squeeze the staves tightly together.","They stretch elastic bands around the outside of the eventual bowl.","The elastics, held in place by a steel ring, squeeze the staves firmly against each other.","With a hammer, she lightly taps the staves into place, making sure they are flush against each other.","She turns the bowl over to make sure none of the staves around the top rim are sticking out too far.","She then leaves the bowl to dry.","About five hours later, they remove the elastics and, again, leave the bowl to harden for a full day.","A template is attached to the eventual bowl, in order to cut a circular opening for the bottom piece.","The template serves as a guide during the cutting process.","A worker moves the bowl around, allowing the cutter to create a perfectly sized hole for the bottom section of the bowl.","It's made of the same kind of wood-- in this case, acacia.","A worker applies glue to the edges of the bottom hole...","And to the outer edge of the round piece that goes in the bottom of the bowl.","He inserts the bottom plate and uses a hammer to force it firmly into place.","After another day of hardening, a worker places the bowl in a lave.","With a variety of knives, he begins shaving off the wood.","He starts on the inside wall of the bowl.","Then he shaves the outside of the bowl, gradually giving it shape.","He then uses sandpaper to smooth the surface of the bowl.","Another worker then uses a lave to sand the surface of the bowl.","He makes the surface as fine as possible.","He must have a keen eye for detail in order to make the bowl surface perfect.","A worker sprays a foodstuff varnish onto the surface of the bowl.","Several layers are applied with drying and polishing after each one.","If required, a stain is also applied.","They place a sticker identifying the manufacturer on the bottom of the bowl.","A worker then packages the wood bowl.","With the bowl secure, the only thing tossed around will be the ingredients you put in it.","The minivan was designed with families in mind, but it also revolutionized travel for people in wheelchairs.","Retrofitted for wheelchair accessibility, the minivan offers unprecedented mobility.","No need to wait for special wheelchair transportation when there's a minivan in the driveway.","Convert a minivan and change a life.","A wheelchair-accessibility conversion offers the convenience of a ride anytime.","From the outside, the van will look no different.","But inside, the modifications will be major.","The total revamp starts with the removal of the van's middle and third-row seats.","They pull out the carpet and completely strip the vehicle from the front seats to the back.","Underneath, a technician saws off the exhaust system, and disassembles the rear suspension.","The entire undercarriage behind the engine is about to be reconfigured to make way for a new lowered floor.","The team also removes the 20-gallon fuel tank.","They'll replace it with one of the same capacity to fit the new configuration.","They cut out a large section of floor and relocate displaced wiring.","They're now ready to roll the new floor framework into position below the vehicle.","This steel structure replaces the original one and is strong enough to support the additional weight of a wheelchair.","A motorized one can weigh as much as four adults.","They slide the new steel floor into the vehicle and lower it into the framework.","The new floor is significantly lower than the one the van came with, and it increases the wheelchair passenger's headroom by about 10 to 15 inches.","After installing the new fuel tank, suspension, and exhaust systems, they return to the interior.","A technician fits and binds carpet underpadding to the van.","He installs the carpet and clamps it while the adhesive cures.","With the back of the van rebuilt and carpeted, they now ready the wheelchair ramp.","A technician applies a gritty material with an adhesive backing.","He simply presses it to the ramp and smoothes out any air bubbles.","This gritty material will provide a slip-resistant surface for the wheelchair to move across.","He attaches a handle...","And installs two cable assemblies to connect the handle to the ramp latches.","He attaches a return spring to the handle assembly.","He turns the handle and tests the latches to confirm that the mechanisms function properly.","The team then links the wheelchair ramp to the new floor with a long hinge.","They install stainless-steel trim over the hinge to protect it and also connect the counterbalance cables to the ramp.","Hidden springs at the end of the cables provide tension to significantly lighten the load for the operator.","The ramp weighs about 130 pounds, but the operator ends up lifting just 15 of that, due to the spring-loaded tension.","They reinstall the interior plastic panels and repurpose the original second-row seatbelts.","As they finish up inside, an employee puts the company name on the door of the vehicle.","The wheelchair-converted van is now ready for a test drive.","The operator unfolds the ramp.","He folds away the new seats to make way for the wheelchair.","He extends the tie-down belts and attaches them to the wheelchair.","He wheels the passenger into the van...","Locks the wheelchair breaks...","And ties the chair to the floor.","There are standard seatbelts to fasten, and then it's time to sit back and enjoy the ride.","Seated in the converted minivan, the individual can now experience the freedom of the road.","The marimba is a musical instrument similar to the xylophone, except with a wider and lower range of notes and metal resonators underneath the keys to amplify the sound.","While the xylophonist uses hard rubber mallets, the marimbist usually strikes the wooden keys with a variety of mallets covered with wound yarn.","the marimba keyboard is chromatic, meaning it includes all the semitones of a musical scale-- the equivalent of the 12 white and black keys on a piano.","Each wooden key has a resonator, an amplification tube underneath, tuned to the same note.","When the mallet strikes, the resulting vibration causes the resonator to hum that note, transforming the otherwise thin, muted sound into a louder, richer tone.","They keys are fashioned from honduran rosewood, which is hard and dense, yet elastic.","After cutting the thickness and width, they set the dial of this custom-made saw to the note they're making, which positions the wood to be cut to the correct length-- no measuring required.","Next, using a router, they round off all the edges.","When a key has sharp edges, it's more likely to chip or splinter when struck, even though marimba mallets are soft and frequently covered with wound yarn.","The next step is to drill holes at the nodes, which are specific non-vibrating points on the key.","The nodal holes are for the cord that will suspend the key over it's resonator.","Now a computer-guided milling machine sculpts a very precise arch in the underside.","This roughly tunes the key.","To fine-tune the key, they must tune the fundamental note plus the first and second overtones-- the subtler notes that sound simultaneously with it.","When the tuner strikes the key, an electronic machine reads the exact frequency of the vibrations.","He repeatedly taps, takes readings, and sands the arch...","Until the fundamental and overtones are pitch-perfect.","They seal the wood with lacquer.","This protects the key from moisture penetration, which would alter the key's tuning.","For each key, they make a resonator out of brass tubing.","The lower the note, the wider and longer the resonator.","Some are so long, they must be j-shaped or u-shaped to fit under the keyboard.","To make those curves, workers use short, angled pieces of tubing to join longer, straight pieces.","They divide the resonators in groups then bolt each onto a painted steel rail.","There are six groups of resonators on this full-range marimba.","The instrument is nearly 10 feet long.","The ends of the frame are height-adjustable.","Between the frame ends, a center pole receives the six resonator sections arranged shortest to longest.","Then, running over the resonators, wooden crossrails suspend the parts to support the keyboard.","Under the lowest and longest keys are those curved resonators, fashioned from angled, soldered pieces of tubing.","Posts mounted in the wooden crossrails support the cotton cord running through the key's nodal holes.","At the end of each resonator is a patented tuning plug.","After using a lave to shape a piece of hard plastic into a cylinder with a required diameter, they saw off a slice about the size of a hockey puck.","They then quarter the slice, running the cuts just 90% of the way through.","These slots make the plug flexible.","Next, they drill a threaded hole through the center to the same depth as the slots and wrap the edge in polyethylene gasket tape.","The tape smoothes the surface, helping the plug glide easily into the resonator.","Then they thread a wing screw into the center hole and insert the plug into the corresponding resonator.","To tune the instrument before playing, you move the plug up or down until the node is the exact same pitch as the key above.","Then you turn the screw to push the sections outward, locking the plug in position.","everything from this point on is in the marimbist's hands."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Glass Bottles","Hacksaws","Goalie Masks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Glass bottles...","Hacksaws...","And goalie masks.","Whether they're colored or clear, glass bottles and jars are green.","No trees died to make this eco-friendly packaging.","Glass is made of natural ingredients that are abundant.","You can recycle glass endlessly, and making it uses less energy than producing metal or plastic.","The recipe for glass combines about a half a dozen natural, raw materials, but the main ones are silica sand, soda ash, and limestone.","Silica sand usually makes up about 45% of the batch.","The soda ash helps melt the silica evenly.","It comprises about 15%.","A limestone content of about 10% make the finished glass more durable.","They combine these ingredients with recycled glass called cullet.","The factory's equipment feeds precise amounts of the materials into a furnace.","Over a full day, the fiery heat-- 2,730 degrees fahrenheit-- melts everything together, producing a gooey liquid that's the consistency of honey.","The molten glass pours out of the furnace.","Sheers cut the flow at precise intervals to produce cylindrical gobs.","Each gob is the exact amount required to make one bottle or jar.","They drop to a device called the scoop.","The scoop moves them to troughs that feed them to jar-forming and bottle-forming machines.","A gob of molten glass goes into a preliminary mold.","In a matter of seconds, it comes out as what's called a parison, a miniature version of the final bottle.","Each parison then moves into a blow mold, the cavity of which is the shape of the final bottle.","The equipment blows the compressed air into the parison, stretching the glass outward toward the wall of the mold cavity.","This process creates the final bottle shape and hollows out the inside.","These are amber-colored beer bottles.","The color is produced by adding small amounts of iron, sulfur, and carbon to the glass mix.","The factory uses a similar manufacturing process to produce other types of bottles and jars.","In this run, the company is making 375-millimeter wine bottles out of clear glass.","This run is producing 375-millimeter liquor bottles, also out of clear glass.","But this mold has a special feature-- a recessed insignia on one of the walls, which produces a raised insignia on the front of the bottle.","After the bottles leave the forming machine, they travel through flames, otherwise they would cool down too quickly and crack from thermal shock.","A loader now gently pushes the bottles into what's called an annealing lyre.","The bottles cool at a controlled rate as they move through the lyre.","This releases stress from the glass gradually.","As the bottles exit the annealing lyre, a sprayer coats their exteriors with lubricant.","This enables them to move smoothly through the rest of the inspection and packaging line.","The bottles now line up in single file to head into the automatic inspection station.","As the machine spins each bottle, cameras and probes check for imperfections such as cracks or bubbles.","The inspection equipment then examines the top to check dimensions and insure the threads for the screw cap are molded correctly.","Before shipping, a worker does a final visual inspection.","The proportion of cullet and glass can be as high as 90%.","Cullet melts at a lower temperature.","So for every 10% of cullet in the mix, the factory uses up to 2 1/2% less energy to produce its glass.","Now that's an incentive to recycle.","The world of saws is made up of many marvelous tools-- big saws and jigsaws, handsaws and band saws, backsaws and hacksaws.","They all have their specific purpose.","Hacksaws are chiefly for cutting metal or other tough materials.","So what keeps hacksaws on the cutting edge?","Hacksaws come in many shapes and sizes.","Companies make hacksaw blades out of a wide range of steel alloys.","Here a thin band of steel feeds into a machine that cuts it into blanks 10 to 12 inches long and a half-inch high.","Workers load 300 blanks at a time into a jig.","They lightly hammer them to compress them into a block for easier cutting.","They then feed the block into a machine called a mill grinder.","It cuts teeth into the upper side of the blanks.","A water-based lubricant washes away the metal particles.","This hacksaw model has a 24-point blade, which means there are 24 teeth to every inch.","Workers use an ordinary paintbrush to remove any metal residue.","The quality-control department inspects each blade for flaws.","Then it's off to the next phase.","Next, a separator detaches each of the 300 blades, aligns them, then sends them through a setting machine.","The machine bends the teeth to either side at a slight angle.","This is called offsetting.","It'll enable the blade to clear away particles as it saws, preventing it from jamming.","Now it's time to harden the teeth.","The factory does this by heat-treating the metal.","A worm gear aligns the blades to enter a heating coil.","In this process, the electromagnetic heating coil heats the teeth to temperatures as high as 2,200 degrees fahrenheit depending on the type of metal.","This takes no more than two seconds.","After the blades exit the heating coil, the surrounding air cools them down over the next several hours.","This phase is called air quenching.","The blades are now ready for printing.","An offset printing press applies ink to raised lettering on a cylinder.","That cylinder transfers the ink to strips mounted on another cylinder.","These strips then print the company name, the blade length, and the number of teeth per inch on the side of the blades.","Now a machine inserts the blades in groups of five into slots called fingers.","The fingers rotate the blades and place them on a conveyor belt.","The machine raises the blades and tapes them together at one end.","This makes it easier to transport them to another part of the factory where production continues.","Next, the hacksaw's frame, the component that holds the blade.","Workers place the frame components in a jig that's positioned on a rotating carousel.","A robotic welder fuses the components.","A press punches three holes in the handle for attaching a foam or plastic grip.","Workers fit the two halves of the grip in a sonic welder that fuses them using high-frequency sound waves.","The sound waves create friction at the seam.","This generates enough heat to melt the parts together.","Now the frame is ready for the blade.","An automatic device tightens a wing nut to put tension on the blade.","A final quality-control check.","With each randomly selected blade, the testing machine cuts through a block of stainless steel.","The machine performs this test six times per blade.","Then the computer calculates the average number of strokes.","If the average falls within the norms for this particular model, the batch gets the thumbs-up.","Goalie masks are all about putting up a tough front.","It's not just their protective shell and cage.","Their wild paint jobs are designed to intimidate.","Incredibly, back in the 1960s, the first masked goalies were ridiculed by fans who viewed the masks as a sign of weakness.","It was a case of adding insult to injury.","Today these masks allow the goaltender to play it safe, so they're far less likely to be sidelined by a serious injury.","They start with a plaster mold of an average joe.","They plug the mouth hole with plasticine.","This insures that the mold won't spring any leaks while they fill it with plaster of paris.","They let it dry for half an hour.","Then they pull off the initial mold to reveal the solid impression.","They press plasticine onto strategic areas.","This mimics the foam safety guards that cushion every mask.","The final result is called a plug, and it will be used to make a two-part compression mold.","After applying a black sealer, they polish it smooth, eliminating imperfections that would be visible on the mold they're going to make from it.","Over at another station, a worker in protective garb unrolls fiberglass fabric.","He cuts and layers sheets of it, then draws patterns onto the tops one, spacing the shapes closely together to minimize waste.","The goal is to score 100 goalie masks from one roll of material.","Using a disc cutter, he slices through 25 layers of the fiberglass fabric.","Then he stacks various composite fabrics-- several of the fiberglass one and patches of kevlar-- for reinforcement.","Kevlar can absorb so much impact, it's also used to make bulletproof vests.","He places more fabric over the kevlar.","He spreads an epoxy resin onto each layer.","He drapes them over a mold that's been made from the plug and smoothes the material to eliminate air pockets as he continues to layer and glue.","He's laminating all the pieces together to form one.","He trims away the ragged edges...","And then places the inside portion of the mold into the outside one.","The wet fabric is now sandwiched between two mold pieces.","He lowers a one-ton press to compress the layers of fabric as the resins between them continue to form a bond.","He adds some clamps to keep things tight.","After 20 minutes, he pries the laminated fiberglass shell out of the mold.","This is one very tough shell.","It's the raw form of a goalie mask, but it still needs a lot of work.","So it's over to the trimming-and-grinding station.","He places a trim jig over the shell.","Using a high-speed router, he cuts an opening for the cage.","He slices off the flash with a disc grinder.","And then he sands and grinds the edges.","He drills holes to attach various fasteners.","Then he carves out larger holes for ventilation and to reduce the mask's weight.","Coming up next...","Watch as the paint pros go to work on these shells.","The makers of goalie masks have turned safety into an art form.","The goalie mask has become a canvas for some very bold designs and colors.","It's a kind of psychological tactic to intimidate the other team, and it also scores points with the fans who like the cool paint job.","They prep the mask by roughing it up with an orbital sander.","Then they pour a sealer into a container.","The technician wears a charcoal respirator because the emissions are toxic.","He adds the activator solution...","And a reactive reducer and stirs the sealer together.","Then he sprays the sealer mix onto the masks.","The finish will cure and harden as the chemicals in it generate their own heat.","Next, this system stirs up some hot hues automotive paint as the technician sprays a vivid gold base coat onto the masks.","Computer graphics created with signlab software are sent to a plotter that cuts out adhesive vinyl paint masks.","He pulls away unneeded vinyl around the stencil, a process called weeding.","Then he presses the vinyl stencils against the goalie mask and peels off the paper backing.","Applying a stencil to the crown is tricky because the surface is curved with ridges, so it doesn't lay flat.","He lifts and cuts the pattern with a utility knife and then straightens it out.","This mask is starting to look pretty impressive, but they cover the whole thing with white paint.","It's a temporary cover-up.","This process is all about layering patterns and color.","They apply more vinyl shapes.","And then, using a pressurized paint system, they spray everything bright red.","Next, an artist airbrushes some shadowing onto the now barely visible image of a leaf.","He peels away some of the paint-mask vinyl.","And it's time for a really neat effect.","He sprinkles the surface of the mask with water.","Then he mists it with paint, and the water droplets catch the paint.","He blasts it with a heat gun.","The water evaporates, but the paint dries in droplet form, giving the mask a frosty look.","He airbrushes a drop shadow around some lettering, dispensing with the usual safety gloves for this detail work.","And now all is revealed as he peels away the vinyl.","The goalie mask is showing its true colors.","But wait--  a little touch-up job is needed.","He traces the pattern onto see-through paper and then transfers it onto bristol board.","He cuts it out with a utility knife.","Then he aligns it with a shape on the mask and precisely airbrushes around it to make the smudge disappear.","With a final clear coat, this mask has visual impact.","It makes a colorful statement.","And now it's time to put all the pieces together.","She screws on the stainless-steel cage and applies a little glue to reinforce the adhesive-back foam cushioning.","She attaches the sweatband with velcro so it can be removed and washed.","And then she moves on to the back plate.","She threads the harness through the back plate to the front of the mask to attach them.","The harness is elastic, so it gives the mask some flexibility.","Now it's ready for some ice time.","And with their various custom paint jobs, these masks all say the \"puck\" stops here."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Socket Sets","Leather Shoes","Aluminum Water Bottles","Bike Chains"]},"text":["The invention of the socket wrench in 1864 put a whole new twist on fastening things.","With the socket wrench's ratchet mechanism, the user could tighten bolts in a continuous motion without breaking to refit the wrench to the fastener.","It was a real time-saver.","Modern socket wrenches come with a range of sockets and extensions to handle the nuts and bolts of many different jobs.","They start with this coil of thick steel.","It travels through a die which straightens it to a knife that slices it into short billets.","A machine then drives a series of forming tools into the billets.","The tools force them into a socket shape and create the all-important hexagonal opening that matches the profile of the nuts and bolts.","To get rid of lingering lubricating oil, the parts go for a tumble through a spiral washer/dryer system.","A conveyor delivers them to a computerized cutting tool.","It removes sharp edges and sculpts a bevel on the socket's inner rim so it will slide onto bolts more easily.","It takes just seconds to improve this socket's profile.","Different tools then sculpt the square opening in the drive end of the socket.","That's the part that locks onto the end of the ratchet wrench.","A powerful rolling stamp now engraves the part's size and the company name onto it.","Once those details are out of the way, it's into a flaming oven to undergo a heat-treating process.","A rapid cooldown follows the heat treatment, hardening the metal.","The sockets now toss about in this rotating chamber as they're blasted with very fine steel particles.","This cleans the parts and buffs the parts, but there's much more polishing to come.","They clamp the sockets onto a rotating table.","It delivers the part to a grinding belt for a very vigorous polishing.","You can see the difference this makes in the part on the right, but these sockets need to be absolutely flawless.","So they next go into a tub of ceramic stones.","They rub mild acid onto the parts to get rid of any small blemishes that remain.","The parts then receive a thorough wash and rinse, which prepares them for chrome plating.","Now freshly chromed, the sockets look way too nice to be immersed in this brownish stuff, but it's actually a rustproofing solution to protect them from corrosion.","They lock the tub of sockets in a centrifuge machine.","It spins the parts to get rid of the excess rustproofing liquid.","And now these sockets are ready to shine on the job.","Attachable extensions improve the reach of the socket wrench.","Forming equipment swings into action, pressing steel billets into dies to mold them into the rough shape of an extension.","After a wash and dry, it's over to a lathe.","And as the extension spins, cutting tools create the squared opening that allows it to be attached to the wrench.","Cutters then go to work on the other end.","They shape it so it will fit into various sockets and shave the shank to reduce its diameter.","Next, a rolling stamp cuts a knurled texture into the socket-wrench extension, creating a much less slippery surface to hang on to.","They insert a stainless-steel spring into a hole formed at the end of the extension...","Then scoop up a steel ball so it sits in the cavity above the spring.","A machine then press-fits it to the extension.","This creates a mechanism onto which the sockets attach.","It takes about three days to complete this socket set, but it will equip you to handle jobs of many sizes and just about any tight situation.","If you're a lover of fine footwear, when it comes to dressing your feet, nothing beats leather because, unlike synthetic materials, leather lets your feet breathe.","And high-end leather shoes feature superior construction that makes them lightweight and comfortable to wear.","The vision originates with a design sketched on a flexible plastic sheet.","To help the stylist perfect the design, they put it on a rigid foot form called a last.","Exotic skins have natural variations throughout, so a specialist must hand-cut the pattern pieces to ensure the right and left shoes match well.","They use a splitting machine to shave off a layer from the underside, equalizing the thickness of all the pieces.","Then a skiving machine thins the edges so the pieces will be easier to sew together.","They punch decorative holes into certain pieces with a manual press, so it's up to the operator to make sure the distance between holes is consistent.","The top of the shoe is called the upper.","They sew together the upper pieces, then hammer the stitches to make the seam smooth and flat.","Next they glue a narrow leather strip along the border of the upper to hide the leather's unfinished edge.","This also produces a decorative trim.","Now they attach a lining made of goat leather and flax.","This style of lining fits snugly over the last, a particular type of construction that allows for a more comfortable type of insole.","They put the lining inside the upper and slip them onto the last.","Then they glue on the insole.","This type consists of a rigid section-- the black part-- and a more flexible section--  the white part.","Now they glue the lining to the upper and put the front of the shoe, called the point, into a machine that grips the edge of the leather and pulls it straight.","The next machine's mechanical fingers wrap the edge underneath and glue it, pulling evenly all around so that everything's symmetrical.","The next machine does the same thing at the back of the shoe.","They grind down the leather edge, creating a flat, even surface that's ready for the sole.","Next they heat the leather to make it malleable and hammer until the upper assumes the shape of the last inside.","The hammering also rids the leather of any wrinkles.","They coat the underside with glue and carefully position the shoe's leather sole.","The glue takes about 10 minutes to dry.","Then they run the edge of the sole through a splitting machine.","This separates a thin layer which they now sew to the upper.","Durable twine and a heavy-duty loop stitch ensure the upper and sole remain inseparable.","To hide the stitching, they glue and grind down the edge.","A thorough polishing gives the sole a slick-looking finish.","Every pair of shoes this factory produces is polished by a specialist, who creates just the right shading to bring out the leather's best features.","This is the last step of roughly 200 manual operations that go into producing just a single pair of these luxurious leather shoes.","It was swiss hikers who carried the first aluminum drink bottles in the early part of the 20th century.","Today's lightweight bottles can be reused endlessly, meaning less waste in landfills.","They can also be recycled, so making one is not a wasted effort.","Some of those first trailblazing bottles still survive today, reminding us that this kind of container is made to last.","Today's bottle starts with an aluminum puck 2 3/4 inches in diameter.","The puck travels down a chute into a punch press.","It uses 660 tons of force to stretch that little puck into a long cylinder with a bottom.","A blade chops the open end down to the correct size, and then a tool pushes it onto a conveyor that sends it down the line.","The aluminum cylinder lands on a wheel which relays it to the next station.","There, machinery moves the cylinder's open end into position for tools to squeeze it into a bottleneck.","The tools pinch the metal a total of 26 times to draw the open end down to half its original diameter.","This gentle forming process results in less stress on the metal.","The last tool presses a threaded ring into the inside of the bottle for screwing on the cap.","The process leaves the threaded neck a lot thicker than the rest of the bottle so it will hold up to heavy usage.","Now the bottles head into a wash station.","They get a really good scrubbing to remove the lubricating oil from the forming process.","They then travel through a dryer, and after a few minutes, they emerge clean and ready for the next operation.","The interior wall of the aluminum drink bottle is about to be lined with a microthin, high-tech polymer.","This revolving device picks up each bottle using suction and delivers it to an individual sprayer.","The spray nozzle coats the inside of this container with a polymer.","The liner has been specially formulated to be chemically inert, which means it won't absorb or transfer flavors.","At this point, the coating is powdery, and you could wipe it off with your finger, but that's just temporary.","As they bake it, the powder will solidify and bond completely to the inside of the bottle.","The bottles move through an oven that's heated to 356 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes.","The liner doesn't add much weight to the bottle.","Here they weigh one before lining and after, and the difference is just a few grams.","Now the bottles spin by a gauntlet of spray guns for an even coat of paint.","Like the inner liner, this outer veneer will need to be baked on.","When it dries, the paint takes on a glossy look.","An automated squeegee silk-screens designs onto the bottles.","A jet of air dries the ink between printings as they build up the artwork using different colors.","And now it's time to screw on the cap.","As she caps the bottle, this worker performs a final inspection of the product.","From a small aluminum puck to a handy drink bottle-- incredibly, this transformation has taken just three hours.","And in its various styles, this reusable bottle is sure to make a lasting impression.","Pedaling a bicycle causes a chain reaction that sets wheels in motion.","A bicycle chain is essentially a roller chain.","It's designed specifically to transfer pedal power to the bicycle's rear drive wheel.","With a good bicycle chain, you can go far or, at the very least, take a short spin around the hood.","The chain is the driving force in a bicycle's transmission system.","It travels over gears in a perpetual loop to keep the cyclist moving forward.","Actions like shifting gears or braking will regularly put this critical mechanism to the test.","It all starts with this punch press.","It cuts and presses steel into the shape of the chain's inner links, which looks a lot like a figure eight.","Incredibly, it generates 10,000 links per hour.","Each of these figure-eight links has been made to interconnect, and their contours allow them to travel easily across the bike's gear sprockets.","They send samples of the links to a measuring station to confirm the space between the holes is precisely 12.7 millimeters.","The tester also gauges the diameter of the holes, which must be accurate to within a fraction of a millimeter.","Then the links bake in an oven at more than 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","The blazing heat, followed by a quick cooldown, hardens the steel.","They now shovel these inner links into a doughnut-shaped machine.","They add ceramic and silica powders...","And pour in a small amount of water.","They then screw the lid on this machine.","It shakes vigorously, causing the powders and water to form an abrasive paste that polishes the links.","They load the polished inner links into a metal basket and shut the door.","Machinery plunges the basket into a series of chemical baths to give these inner links a nickel-teflon veneer.","The nickel-teflon surface will resist corrosion, and its smooth texture will allow the chain to travel easily over gear sprockets.","The bike chain's outer links get a different kind of finish.","Unlike the inner links, they don't travel over sprockets, so a simple nickel plating will do.","They're now ready to assemble the chain one section at a time.","Tubes feed the parts one by one into this assembly machine.","Gripper arms adjust their position to assemble the links to other chain components, such as retainer rings and spacers.","The machinery presses pins into the links' holes to secure the assembly.","Then grippers move the completed section of chain down the line.","It takes a whole lot of little pieces to build one short section of bicycle chain.","The sections are linked together in one long chain, which now winds by an inspection station to be examined for flaws.","After that, the chain takes a dip in hot oil, which lubricates the links to prevent squeakiness and wear down the road.","The chain exits the lubricating station and travels by wads of absorbent material, which soaks up the excess grease.","A laser tool then signals the location where the chain is to be cut, and a blade chops it at the exact spot.","A standard bike chain is just over 56 inches in length.","It consists of 114 inner links and 114 external ones, so it's got what it takes to go the distance."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cookware","Inlaid Boxes","High"]},"text":["A quality pot and pan has the ability to heat uniformly throughout so that food cooks evenly.","Copper is by far the best heat conductor, but copper cookware is very expensive.","Aluminum conducts heat well but isn't durable.","So many cooks use stainless-steel cookware that contains aluminum.","This high-end line of stainless-steel cookware has an aluminum core running throughout.","Production begins with two stainless-steel sheets.","Using a spot welder, workers tack them together along one side.","Then they lay the connected sheets onto an assembly fixture.","A vacuum arm pulls up the top sheet, and they insert an aluminum sheet in between.","This metal sandwich goes onto a conveyor that takes it on a 10-minute ride through an oven.","The heat--  700 degrees fahrenheit-- softens the metal.","This preps them for the bonding and shaping operations to come.","From the oven, the metals enter the first mill, which uses electric current to heat and bond the three layers into one.","Now it's into a second rolling mill.","This one strengthens the bond.","That steam you see is the water-soluble lubricant evaporating against the hot metal.","Now the bonded metal travels to a second oven for reheating.","This further strengthens the bond.","From there, it's into a 110-ton press.","It forces down a die to cut out the starting shape of the piece of cookware they're making.","They clean off any debris from the metal cutting.","Even a minute shard getting under the press would damage the metal.","Now the disk goes into a 220-ton press containing a forming tool, which forms it into the shape of a 10-inch frying pan.","A sheet of paper between each shaped pan prevents scratches.","They install different forming tools on the press to produce different types of cookware, from saucepans to stockpots.","Now that they've formed the shape, they need to do some refining.","This trimming press first removes excess metal around the perimeter.","Next comes what they call edge conditioning.","The perimeter trimming left the rim rough, so now they smooth it by running it against a cutter at high speed.","The next stop is a polishing machine with an abrasive belt.","The pan's interior surface rotates at high speed against the belt.","The result is a high-gloss finish.","Now for the exterior.","The pans go onto a rotary buffer.","Each pan runs against 10 progressively finer buffing wheels.","By the end of the circuit, the stainless steel has a mirror finish.","It's time to get a handle on this cookware.","First, they use a press that's essentially an industrial-strength hole puncher.","It applies nearly 20 tons of force to perforate the metal.","Workers position rivets in the holes, then use another press to squeeze them flat.","As the rivets spread outward, they secure the handle firmly in place.","This company's top-of-the-line stainless-steel cookware contains a copper core within the aluminum core-- a structure designed specifically for induction cooking, the latest culinary technology.","A thin cut along the perimeter exposes the copper within, giving this high-end cookware a signature look.","After all, performance and style are everything in an industry where the competition's always heating up.","For centuries, people have stored their possessions in special boxes-- jewelry chests, watch cases, music boxes.","Although designed for storage, they're often as beautiful and as treasured as the goods they hold-- truly ornate, handcrafted works of art in their own right.","These wooden boxes are handcrafted and decorated with beautiful wooden inlay designs.","To build the box structure, the carpenter uses linden, a soft wood that's ideal for carving.","He begins by cutting slots in each end of the four sides.","Then he glues wooden inserts, called biscuits, into one side of each piece...","Leaving the slot on the other side empty.","Then he assembles the sides by fitting the biscuits of each side into the empty slot of the connecting piece.","After clamping everything firmly together, he checks the size by tracing a template of the final shape.","Once the glue is dry, this computer-guided machine cuts the sides to that shape.","The next step will be to veneer the sides with a decorative wood, such as olive, rosewood, redwood, or california burr walnut.","For aesthetics, workers tape four identical sheets together so that the grain of the wood appears in mirror image.","The carpenter then applies a coat of glue onto the sides of the box and presses on a piece of veneer.","They've embellished this one with some inlay work beforehand.","He presses the veneer flat to force out any trapped air.","This design calls for a black strip of bolivar wood to ornament each corner.","To make the box cover, the carpenter uses a machine called a pantograph.","He moves the head in the middle over a model of the cover.","This simultaneously moves routers on each side to shape a piece of wood to the same form.","Meanwhile, the inlayer lays a drawing of the cover's decorative design on a stack of wood boards and cuts out inlay pieces for several covers at once.","To color the edges of select pieces, the inlayer burns them in hot sand.","Some types of wood turn brown--  others, green.","After hand-cutting the design outline in a veneer sheet, the inlayer uses tweezers to position the pieces of inlay one by one.","A sheet of adhesive paper underneath holds the pieces in place for now.","Once the design is complete, the carpenter fills the crevices around the pieces with plaster tinted to blend in.","A final layer of plaster goes over the entire design to hold all the pieces in place permanently.","Once the plaster hardens, he covers the entire inlaid sheet in glue, further securing the inlaid pieces.","Now he flips it over, then peels away the adhesive paper...","And voilà.","He glues the inlaid sheet to the box cover.","Pressing it down firmly is a delicate process when the cover's curved like this one.","One wrong move, and crack.","After lacquering the edge of the cover, workers apply four coats of high-gloss varnish to protect the wood.","Finally, they screw on the box bottom, mount the cover to the box with hinges, install any other hardware, such as keyholes, and if it's a music box, install the musical movement.","Conventional gas water heaters are only about 75% thermally efficient.","But high-efficiency water heaters are up to 96% thermally efficient, meaning almost all the heat they generate gets transferred to the water.","It's the unique heat exchanger that makes these water heaters so energy-efficient.","The heat exchanger resides in the center of the unit.","It's made of steel pipe that goes through a process called mandrel bending.","Mandrel bending prevents the 12-yard-long pipe from kinking as it turns into the shape of a coil.","A welder fuses steel rods to the sides of the coil, making the flexible heat exchanger suitably ridged.","Next, a machine pumps a ceramic enamel through the pipe, from the bottom up, to ensure full coverage.","This coating protects the interior of the pipe against corrosion.","It takes about 6 minutes to fully coat the inside of the pipe and drain the remaining liquid.","It takes about 15 minutes inside a furnace for the coating to cure and become rock hard.","Now it's time to seal the heat exchanger inside an inner tank.","They first set it down on a base, then cover it with a steel enclosure.","It's this inner tank that holds the hot water.","The tank then goes into a vertical press that pushes it down onto the base.","A computerized arc-welding machine welds the tank together.","A technician then pressurizes the tank with air, and, using water, he checks for leaks until he's satisfied there are none.","He then pumps ceramic enamel into the tank, and a tumble-coating machine shakes up the corrosion-resistant enamel, fully coating the inside of the tank as well as the outside of the heat exchanger.","A technician then inserts cold-water inlet tubes into each tank.","He also inserts aluminum anode rods to help protect the inside of the unit by absorbing corrosive elements in the water before they can attack the steel tank.","After attaching all the plumber's fittings, he installs a second anode rod that gives the tanks double corrosion protection.","Now they put on what's called a rolling foam stop that helps them fit a painted jacket over the shell and maintain it in place.","Here, they attach the gas valve that is used to light the burner.","A painted cover then goes on the top of the jacket.","They connect a blower to the tank.","The blower is what expels the burner's spent gases to the outside air.","The next step is to hook up a burner to the gas valve.","This burner is what heats the air that goes through the heat exchanger, which, in turn, transfers its heat to the water.","A technician now fills the cavity between the inner shell and outer jacket with high-density expanding foam.","This foam insulation is about 2 inches thick and goes all around the circumference of the tank to prevent heat loss.","The unit then gets a cosmetic cover that conceals the blower.","Finally, a technician hooks up and tests each unit.","He follows strict quality-control standards which guarantee that the burner and all the fittings and connections are working properly.","Only then is the unit ready for shipping.","High-efficiency water heaters can deliver all the hot water you need and save you money while they're at it.","The motor scooter as we know it hit the streets just after world war ii.","Europe was rebuilding its devastated infrastructure, and the scooter offered affordable transportation at this critical time.","So in a small way, it helped put the postwar economy on the road to recovery.","Many decades after it was first introduced, the scooter is still big on the streets, and the uncertain cost of fuel is one reason why.","Production begins with a step-through chassis.","It's often built on a tubular frame.","But at this factory, they have a unique approach.","Robots join three pieces of molded steel together by executing hundreds of precision welds.","This transforms the three molded pieces into one solid chassis.","After rustproofing and priming, the chassis gets a paint job and a clear protective veneer.","They cure the finish by baking it on.","Then they polish away any imperfections.","The chassis moves down the line, where a technician installs its radiator system.","The next assembler clamps the radiator's wiring and hoses to the vehicle framework.","Some plastic edging helps define the lines of the scooter.","This model receives a 4-stroke, 150cc engine, which will make this scooter a bit more peppy than some.","It also has an automatic transmission.","Once the rear wheel has been installed, the worker hoists the engine over to the chassis.","He guides it into place just behind the passenger seat and then bolts it to the steel framework.","Next up is the steering column with the front brakes and wheel hub already attached.","The technician assembles it to a front fender...","Then inserts the steering column in its slot at the front of the scooter body.","Securing it is a delicate business.","He tightens this special tool to gently squeeze the assembly together.","This technique prevents damage to the components.","The handlebar is loosely screwed into place for now but will be properly tightened down later.","This scooter's front wheel has a 12-inch rim.","That's quite a bit bigger than those on early scooters.","The bigger wheels add stability and allow this scooter to reach a higher speed than its forerunners.","To illuminate the road ahead, this 2-wheeler will need a headlight.","It mounts onto the handlebar.","A technician then puts this scooter to the test.","She checks the headlight and all the signal lights.","She engages the motor and throttles up to check both wheels and the speed gauges.","Once it gets the okay, a worker installs the cover on the horn and then accessorizes the scooter with pieces of trim.","And now they install the scooter's saddle on a hinge over a storage compartment.","Another buff and polish makes this machine gleam.","The worker then installs pop-out footrests for the passenger.","After one last shine, it's over to the quality inspector.","That's the lady in yellow.","She scrutinizes the vehicle from all angles.","And when she gives it the green light, this scooter is ready to merge with traffic.","Life on the street can be tough, but this design has had a lot of road testing over the years, and that's what makes the motor scooter a classic."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Thinning Shears","Wagon Wheels","Toaster Pastries","Violin Bows"]},"text":["Thinning shears are scissors with at least one comb-like blade.","When the blades come together, some hair falls between the teeth of the comb, and that hair is cut while other strands are left intact.","A few quick snips, and this handy tool can do a lot for your style.","It's often necessary to go many lengths to achieve the right look.","Stylists use thinning shears to layer a cut from the inside.","This removes bulk to give hair height.","When it comes to improving your hairdo, thinning shears definitely have the teeth for the job.","They start with stainless-steel rods.","The rods ride a magnetized conveyor up to an induction heater.","It heats each rod from the ends until it becomes white-hot and soft.","The rod is now ready for forging.","A worker moves the hot rod back and forth over a die as a hammer slams into it.","This flattens and forms it into the shape of two scissor blades.","The forging leaves a lot of excess steel around the blades.","They cut away that excess.","Reheated now, a worker plunges the blades into a lead bath.","Then he dips them in oil, standing back as they flame up.","The lead bath and the quick cooldown harden the steel.","Another worker then clamps a blade into position.","A cutting wheel rolls into action and carves a comb profile into the blade.","A constant flow of water-based coolant keeps the temperature of the cutting wheel and the scissor part down, otherwise the cutting process could cause them both to overheat and compromise their strength and integrity.","This is the thinning scissor blade before cutting, and this is the blade with its new teeth.","At the next workstation, a robot transfers a blade to an automated grinding machine.","The machine grinds both the front and sides of the teeth to smooth the rough edges.","This robotic system processes up to 150 scissor blades an hour.","Next, it's into a tumbler filled with synthetic pebbles.","As the thinning blades bounce around, friction happens.","This smoothes more rough edges, especially the handles and finger rings that didn't undergo grinding at the robot station.","After about four hours, a magnetic conveyor retrieves them.","Then the midsection, where the two blades are to be joined, receives hands-on attention as a worker smoothes it using a fine abrasive sanding belt.","They move on to the straight scissor blade.","An employee hones it against a horizontal grinding wheel.","This aligns the cutting edge.","He inserts the threaded screws in holes in a straight-edged blade and in the corresponding comb-like blade.","He brings the two together and then tightens the screws to a specific torque.","Too tight or too loose, and these thinning shears won't operate smoothly.","With an emery board, he gently files the shears to get ride of lingering dust from the extensive grinding.","He now tests their function.","It isn't entirely smooth, so hammers a section of the comb blade to level it.","It now moves more freely against the straight blade.","And now the ultimate test-- he tries them out on a lock of artificial hair, and he confirms that these thinning shears are as sharp as they look.","Next, the blade comes up against a spinning leather belt.","This takes it from merely sharp to razor-sharp.","It also polishes the blade to a mirror finish.","A computerized laser burns the brand name and model information into the shears.","They screw a brass nub to the finger ring to give the pinkie finger something to rest against.","These thinning shears are now ready for shipment.","Soon, they'll be in the thick of things at the beauty salon.","Wooden wagon wheels roll through the tumbleweeds of another time.","Fixed to covered wagons, they transported settlers to the american west in the 18th and 19th centuries.","There are now cities and freeways where wagon wheels once blazed trails, but making them is not a lost art.","A thriving nostalgia industry keeps these big wooden wheels turning.","Wagon wheels are in demand for historical re-enactment events, museums, and the movies.","The wheelwright carves the hub from a chunk of strong, rot-resistant oak.","As it spins on a lathe, he cuts it to length.","He stops the lathe and marks measurements for the wagon wheel's profile, sizing it for reinforcing metal hoops.","He resumes carving, using the penciled lines as a guide.","He transforms the oak blank into a barrel-shaped design, which is traditional for wagon wheel hubs of the 1870s.","With the hub now clamped in another machine, he uses a mechanized chisel to punch out regular spoke holes known as mortises.","He angles the edge of each hole to receive the tenon end of the spoke.","He slides steel hoops onto the hub at the ends and in the center.","It's a snug fit, but it's not quite tight enough.","A hydraulic press squeezes the hoops around the hub to provide just the right tension.","The hoops will act as a constricting force to keep the wood from splitting.","From a chunk of wood into a substantial wagon wheel hub.","Now using tools called spokeshaves, the wheelwright shapes the hickory wood spokes.","He narrows the throat of the spoke to add flexibility, where it is to be inserted into the hub.","He coats the mortises of the hub with glue.","He inserts the spokes into the glued holes.","He drives them into place with a sledgehammer.","There are 12 spokes in total for this front wagon wheel.","The wheelwright then spins the wheel and eyeballs it to confirm that the spokes rotate on an even plane.","Then like sharpening a pencil, he brings the ends to a point.","This prepares them for the tenon cutter that now carves them into peg shapes for insertion into the wheel rim.","He installs the steam-bent wooden rim in two sections.","It's drilled to match up with the spokes.","At first, it's easy, but as the tension builds, it becomes tougher to insert the remaining spokes, so he stretches the rim wider with a clamp.","This gives him more room to maneuver as he fits the others into the rim half.","In the process, he creates a slight bow in the plane of the wheel.","It's a truss-like state that adds strength to the wagon wheel.","Now using an electric roller machine, he bends a strip of steel into a round wagon-wheel tire.","It takes just one pass through the rollers to achieve the desired bend.","The length will need to be precisely measured.","He measures the inner circumference with an old wheelwright tool called a traveler, to determine just how much tweaking it needs.","Then using a torch, he cuts the tire to the exact length required.","He makes the tire slightly smaller than the wheel itself because it must serve as a heavy-duty elastic band to hold the assembled wagon wheel together.","He welds it where the ends meet, and this completes the wagon-wheel tire.","He now bakes the tire briefly in an open fire.","The metal expands and at a strategic moment, they pull it out of the flames.","The tire has stretched to the point where it can be installed on the wheel, but it's not quite hot enough to cause the wooden wheel to catch fire.","They pour water onto the tire to bring it back to a cooler temperature.","As it cools, it shrinks to the wagon wheel, creating that elastic band effect.","Next, they prime and paint a matching set of wheels in the color of the client's choice.","And with those finishing touches, these wagon wheels are en route to the past.","For fans of american history, it's sure to be a sentimental journey.","For people who need to grab a quick bite for breakfast, the invention of the toaster pastry in the 1960s was the greatest thing since sliced bread.","Finally, the toaster could be used for more than toasting bread, and the toaster pastry was definitely a sweet alternative.","The toaster pastry retains its sweetness during toasting.","The syrupy filling and frosting don't melt out and into the toaster.","It's all because of the ingredients and how they come together.","At this factory, they start by making an organic pastry.","The blender operator loads dry ingredients, like rice bran, into the blender, followed by a sugar syrup and molasses.","It's the molasses that gives the pastry a brownish color.","He adds organic palm shortening and organic granulated sugar.","The flour and water are piped into the blender barrel.","Spiraling mixers blend and knead the dough to the desired consistency.","Next, it's into a hopper that feeds the dough between two rollers.","They squeeze and flatten the dough into a sheet that's about 8/10 of an inch thick.","A conveyor moves the toaster-pastry dough forward to sets of larger rollers.","They apply serious pressure to roll the dough much thinner.","Wheels at the sides fold back the dough as the width expands.","A dusting of flour to the rollers keeps things from getting too sticky.","Coming off the final rollers, the thickness of the dough has been reduced to 2/10 of a inch.","At another station, they whipped up a batch of cherry pomegranate jam.","The jam is hearty and thick, so it won't run as nozzles pump the jam onto the rolled pastry sheet.","Each toaster pastry receives three strings of jam.","This depositor system fills 10 tarts at a time.","It works out to 390 tarts a minute.","A second sheet of dough heads towards the jam-filled one.","En route, a spiked roller punches holes for venting steam during baking.","Without these holes, the pressure would build and the toaster pastries would explode.","The top sheet of pastry now merges with the bottom one.","The conveyor belts move it exactly the same speed, so the top pastry lands in perfect alignment on the jam-filled one.","A cylinder with a brass grid pattern bears down on the pastry to compress it between the jam fillings.","This forms pockets of jam.","A cylindrical blade slices the pastry into individual tarts.","A device pulls off the side trimmings.","The toaster pastries travel through a 150-foot-long convection oven heated to 300 degrees fahrenheit.","The operator keeps a close watch for leaking jam.","That would be a sign of bad seals in the pastry pockets.","He rejects any with leaks.","He also keeps an eye on the color as the pastries brown.","They shouldn't be too dark or too light.","Fresh out of the mixer, the pink frosting now flows onto a revolving belt that spreads it onto the toaster pastries at just the right thickness.","They've added a bit of starch to the icing, and it's this starch that allows the icing to harden and set so it won't melt and drip into the toaster during toasting.","They sprinkle granulated colored sugar onto the toaster pastries.","They call this topping the crunchlets.","The crunchlets add both flavor and texture to the pastry.","Once cooled, the toaster pastries transfer from one conveyor to another.","A breaker roller snaps them at the crimp line to separate them into groups of two.","The completed tarts head towards the packaging line.","An operator does a visual inspection as they pass by.","Mechanical arms push the tarts into aluminum wrapping.","Hot rollers seal and cut the wrap at the ends.","This wrapping preserves the tarts for eight months, no preservatives needed.","Suctioning arms grab and open cartons to accept the foil-wrapped toaster pastries.","It takes about an hour to manufacture a box of toaster pastries, and now it's time for a toast.","The type of bow used today for instruments in the violin family originated in france in the 1800s.","The master bow makers of the day used pernambuco, a wood being imported from brazil to make textile dye.","They considered this wood ideal due to its strength, durability, and beauty.","Today, just like hundreds of years ago, quality bows are made of pernambuco wood from brazil and horse hair.","To make the wooden part, called the stick, the bow maker lays a template onto a .","4 to .","5-inch-thick block of pernambuco and marks where he'll make his cuts.","He follows his markings with a band saw, cutting out the stick's basic shape.","Then he planes the stick, thinning it out, tapering it to narrow toward the front, and angling the corners to make the square contour octagonal.","Next, he repeatedly heats the stick with a gas flame to soften it and gently bends it against his knee.","Then, afterward, against a wooden form to give the stick a very precise curve.","This is referred to as the camber of the bow.","Next, using a handsaw and template, he cuts out a piece of pernambuco for the bow's front tip, called the head.","He refines the shape, first with a rasp, then with a file, then with sandpaper.","Then he glues on a bone plate to protect the head from damage.","He wraps string tightly around it to apply continual pressure while the glue sets overnight.","The next day, he files down the sides to make the plate flush with the wood.","Using a traditional drill, he bores a hole about 4/10 of an inch deep into the head and chisels the hole into a trapezoid shape.","This forms the hair block into which he'll later insert the hair.","Next, he measures and marks a block of ebony wood to begin making the bow's frog, the piece at the bottom by which the musician holds the bow and adjusts the tension of the hair.","He shapes the block using first a saw, then a chisel, and rasps, files, and sands all the surfaces smooth.","The frog has a space on top called the mortis, into which he'll later insert the hair.","The bow maker glues a decorative mother-of-pearl accent onto the side, then cuts two small plugs out of maple wood.","These will anchor the hair at each end of the bow.","He inserts one into the frog's mortis...","And the other into the hair block in the head.","A bow this size requires a tenth of an ounce of hair.","That's approximately 180 horse hairs.","The bow maker bonds them at one end with some melted rosin, a sticky plant resin, then inserts this end into the frog and anchors it with a plug.","Then he bends the hairs and slides on a nickel-silver ring called a ferrule to hold them together.","More expensive bows often have a gold ferrule.","To mount the frog, he inserts a long metal screw with an adjuster head into a hole drilled into the back of the bow.","The screw operates an eyelet connected to the frog.","Now he combs the hair straight.","The individual hairs must be parallel to each other for the bow to perform properly.","He ties the loose ends together with thread and bonds them with rosin.","Then he inserts the sealed end into the tip and anchors it with that second plug.","Back to the frog now, he moves the ferrule out of position, seals the mortis with a mother-of-pearl slide, then puts the ferrule back.","He wraps the parts of the stick the musician holds in silver or gold wire and leather to protect the wood from wear and brands the maker's name.","Turning the adjuster at the back moves the frog forward and backward to alter the tension of the hair.","The violinist tightens the hair before playing and loosens it when putting the instrument away."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Architectural Moldings","Pulleys","Industrial Rubber Hose","Sheet Vinyl Flooring"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Decorative moldings.","Commercial pulleys.","Industrial rubber hose.","And sheet vinyl flooring.","When you consider the high cost of renovations, architectural moldings are an easy way to get a lot of decorative bang for your buck.","By adding a crown molding along the ceiling, baseboard molding, casings, and maybe even a chair-rail molding, you can take a room from drab to dazzling without breaking the bank.","Decorative moldings can be made of solid wood, medium-density fiberboard, or finger-jointed pine.","These planks of eastern white pine are on their way to becoming finger-jointed molding.","They've just come out of the kiln.","A hygrometer measures the humidity in each plank to ensure the wood is dry enough to cut cleanly.","A worker directs a laser to read the dimensions of each and every plank.","The laser transmits that information to a computer, which guides a plane further up the line to shave the plank to the required width and square it.","This process transforms the plank into a block.","The blocks now enter a high-tech piece of equipment that identifies defects.","As each block enters the machine, a scanner records all its features.","It sends that information to a computer which calculates a cutting plan.","Guided by the computer, a saw chops out any knots or poor-quality wood.","The machine's kickers, as they're called, boot the cutoffs from the conveyer.","The blocks continue on, running against razor-sharp rotating heads that carve finger joints on the ends.","The next station coats the joints with industrial-strength carpenter's glue.","The conveyer picks up speed now and butts the blocks together with high pressure.","The joints lock in a tight fit.","When the glue dries, the joints strengthen even more.","The jointed blocks are connected in a continuous unit.","A saw now cuts it into standard molding lengths.","These lengths are known as finger-jointed blanks because they haven't been shaped.","A saw now cuts the blanks lengthwise to the thickness of the specific molding they're producing.","The final step is to profile the blanks.","A machine called a molder uses rotating steel knives to carve the wood to the required shape.","There's a different knife for each style of molding.","The molder transforms the blanks to moldings at a rate of 100 feet per minute.","Moldings made of finger-jointed pine or medium-density fiberboard are the least expensive on the market, but you can't stain them like moldings made of solid wood.","They have to be painted.","A pulley is a wheel with a grooved or barreled rim in which you can run a rope or belt.","It's a simple device used to lift a load that's hard to access or too heavy to move by hand.","Pulleys and multiple-pulley systems are vital components of many types of machines.","These pulleys are designed for use in small- to large-scale electric motors-- for example, fan belts in the air-circulation systems of office buildings, factories, and mines.","The factory makes its pulleys from a 50/50 mix of scrap iron and steel.","The furnace heats the metal to 2,500 degrees fahrenheit, slightly above the metal's melting point.","Workers adjust the chemical composition by adding carbon and silicon.","The right recipe is essential for producing quality metal.","In the furnace, the metal's impurities, called slag, rise to the surface.","Workers use giant paddles to skim it off.","Once the lab analyzes and approves the sample, they transfer the molten metal by ladle to a 30-ton holding furnace.","This furnace maintains the metal at a constant 2,500 degrees fahrenheit, the required temperature for a proper casting.","You can't pour metal this hot into a metal mold.","The mold would just melt.","So instead, the factory uses damp sand.","Sand withstands intense heat by absorbing it.","The machine forms the molds much the way you'd use a pail to form a sand castle.","It first constructs the bottom half of the mold.","This filter will screen out any slag particles the molten metal may still contain.","And these cores create empty spaces within a part.","Now the machine forms the top half of the mold.","They slip a weighted metal jacket around the finished sand mold.","This keeps it from collapsing under the weight of the metal.","Workers fill the molds right to the top.","It takes from 30 to 45 minutes for the molten metal to solidify.","They remove the weighted metal jacket...","Then dump the mold into what's call the shakeout.","The vibration breaks the sand mold apart, releasing the metal pulleys.","While the pulleys go off to be cleaned, the sand is recycled into new molds.","The pulleys are in rough form.","They still have to be machined to specifications.","A robot places each one under a computerized camera.","A visual-recognition program guides the robot to position the pulley properly into various automated-tooling machines.","This first machine makes the pulley's grooves.","The next machine will drill holes in the hub for installing the screws.","At the end of the machining process, a gauging system takes precise measurements and guides the equipment to correct any errors.","This is a two-part pulley, known as a variable pulley, because it can run a belt at variable speeds.","This tooling machine performs several operations on the male component.","It machines the face and outside diameter on one side, then flips the pulley over to make the bore and threads on the other side.","The last operation drills holes for two screws that will affix the pulley to the shaft of the electric motor.","A touch of lubricant, and the next machine assembles the male and female parts.","After setting the proper speed, the user locks the parts in position with a screw.","Many industries use rubber hose in their day-to-day operations.","They use it to remove water, clear out waste, or supply certain machines with air, water, or raw materials.","For instance, food producers might feed ingredients through a rubber hose into a mixer.","This company makes low-pressure and medium-pressure rubber hoses.","The intended use is what determines the rubber composition.","Function also determines the color, because industrial hoses are often color-coded.","The rubber arrives at the factory from the supplier in rough strips.","The first step is to run it through a mill.","The rollers heat the rubber, softening and smoothing it to an even texture.","The next machine cuts the rubber in strips to the precise width and thickness required for the size of hose they're going to construct.","Workers lubricate a steel mandrel that's the exact size of the hose's bore.","As the mandrel spins, they wrap a rubber strip around it, measuring and layering to build the necessary thickness.","Next, they add one or more reinforcement layers.","This strip is made of a high-strength synthetic fabric that's been coated in rubber.","It's designed to withstand the pressure to which the hose will be subjected.","The last layer of rubber forms the hose's outside covering.","After verifying the final diameter is correct, they wrap the entire hose construction tightly in wet nylon tape.","The tape will later shrink and compress all the materials together.","This factory also makes hoses with a built-in attachment on the end.","They position it on the mandrel, then glue the first layer of rubber to it.","This bond is reinforced with special textile strips and tightly wound, high-strength, carbon-steel wire.","They continue the wire more loosely down the body of the hose at a specific angle designed to withstand vacuum pressure.","Then they wrap the hose in a soft, stretchy rubber strip that fills the gaps between the wires.","Next comes a layer of high-strength, rubber-coated fabric, then, finally, the exterior covering-- light blue rubber for this model.","Again, the hose is pressure-wrapped with wet nylon tape.","Then, to make the hose more flexible, they create corrugations by wrapping it tightly in rope.","What's under the rope compacts, creating a dip.","They add another layer of nylon tape to hold the rope in place.","When construction is finished, the hoses, on their respective mandrels, go into an autoclave, a cylindrical chamber into which they feed hot steam at high pressure.","This vulcanization process, as it's called, triggers a chemical reaction that cures the rubber, making it elastic.","Once the hoses come out and cool, workers remove the tape.","The layers are solidly compressed.","They wash the nylon tape, then rewind and reuse it.","Now workers begin the process of removing the hose from the mandrel.","They tie one end with the rope to create pressure, then gently pump water between the mandrel and rubber.","The lubricant they applied earlier has prevented the rubber from sticking to the steel, so the hose separates easily.","They simply slide it off the mandrel.","Workers will now trim the ends, cut the hose to the length the customer ordered, then coil and package the hose.","This factory makes a wide range of industrial rubber hose in different diameters, different bore sizes, and varying degrees of flexibility.","Some hoses have specialty features, such as heat-resistant fabrics incorporated right into the rubber layers.","In 1860, an englishman invented linoleum, a revolutionary floor covering made of linseed oil, pigments, pine rosin, and pine flower.","A century later in the 1960s, vinyl flooring was introduced and eventually rendered linoleum flooring obsolete.","Vinyl flooring owes its existence to a german chemist who, in 1872, invented polyvinyl chloride, or pvc.","Pvc was considered a thoroughly useless substance until the 1920s, when an american researcher tried to make it useful by turning it into an adhesive.","He didn't succeed, but, in the process, he accidently discovered that heating pvc in a solvent transformed it into a flexible plastic, what we know today as vinyl.","Sheet-vinyl flooring comes in a wide range of designs, some of which simulate ceramic tiles or hardwood flooring.","As we see here under a microscope, vinyl flooring is comprised of three components-- a felt-paper backing on the bottom, a layer of vinyl foam in the middle, on which they print the design, and a protective layer of transparent vinyl on top.","To create texture, the factory applies an inhibitor to prevent the foam from expanding in select areas.","To make that vinyl foam, they first mix the powdered ingredients-- polyvinyl chloride resins, or pvc, white pigment, and calcium carbonate, which acts as a filler, but also helps color the mixture white.","In a separate mixer, the liquid ingredients-- plasticizer to make the vinyl flexible, fungicide to prevent mold growth, u.v. stabilizers to prevent fading, and a blowing agent, which they later activate to inflate the foam.","They combine the liquid and powders and mix for another 15 minutes.","After filtering the mixture to remove any lumps or paper-bag fragments, the liquid foam goes to the production line.","There, a large coater applies an even layer to a continuous sheet of felt-paper backing.","The coated backing then passes through an oven for about 15 seconds.","The heat--  430 degrees fahrenheit-- solidifies the liquid foam, fusing the pvc to the backing.","At this point, it's critical not to activate the blowing agent.","The floor's design will be printed directly on this foam surface.","A graphic designer creates the artwork by computer.","Then a colorist experiments with dozens of color combinations before deciding on which ones to use.","The computer breaks down the final design by color in order to produce an engraved plate for each one.","They test out the design on a piece of foam, printing one color after another until the design is complete.","On the production line, printing works the same way.","But because it's a continuous process, they use rotating cylinders rather than engraved plates.","The flooring just rolls right through them, receiving up to six ink colors one at a time.","A drier dries the ink in between applications.","Now it's time to apply the floor's top layer.","This coat of vinyl is known as the wear layer because it will be subjected to the wear and tear of walking.","The wear layer protects the design printed on the vinyl foam underneath.","Made of pvc resins and plasticizer, it goes on white but turns transparent when fused in the oven at 430 degrees fahrenheit.","At the same time, the heat of the oven activates the blowing agent in the vinyl foam underneath, expanding it.","To create a texture, they use a process called chemical embossing, in which select ink colors contain a chemical inhibitor to suppress foam expansion.","Wherever they print those colors, the foam remains flat.","These height variations create relief and simulate grout lines in imitation-tile designs.","To give the surface a sharper, more natural look, the flooring proceeds to a second process called mechanical embossing, in which an engraved roller imprints its pattern onto the surface.","The gloss level of the flooring varies with the chemical composition of the wear layer.","Workers inspect the finished flooring as it rolls off the production line.","It's 12 feet wide, wide enough for seamless installation in most rooms.","The packaging is entirely automated.","This equipment winds 100 feet of sheet-vinyl flooring per roll."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hand Forged Hammers","Gummy Vitamins","Boat Trailers","Tea Lights & Jar Candles"]},"text":["A hammer is an all-purpose tool most commonly used to strike nails.","Some hammers are designed for a specific purpose such as woodworking, metalworking, and masonry.","Professional craftspeople often forego mass-produced tools and invest in high-quality hand-forged hammers.","The steel head of this hammer was forged by a blacksmith.","This is just one out of 40 different styles of hammers made by a blacksmith.","Using a metal-cutting band saw, a blacksmith cuts a piece of cylindrical steel he makes the cut slightly larger than the final hammerhead size.","Next, he burns small amount of paper on coals in a cast steel pot.","A fan, located underneath the coals blows air upward to stoke the fire.","Once the coals are hot, the craftsman immerses the steel piece in the fire.","Once the steel is glowing bright red, he removes the piece with from the fire with tongs.","He begins striking it with a mechanical forging hammer operated by a foot pedal.","Throughout the forging process the steel is reheated to keep it formable.","The craftsman lowers the pedal, which activates the machine's hammer.","As the hammer strikes, the craftsman turns the cylindrical piece of steel to flatten the sides and shape it into a block.","Using a specialized tool, he makes a punch on the block to form a channel.","He flips the block and punches out the compressed steel to create a hole.","This hole is the eye of the hammer.","Next, the craftsman uses a tool called a spring swage to flatten one end of the block into the wedge-shaped end of the hammer known as the peen.","Each side of the peen is shaped against the grinding wheel to even out the surface.","Working on an anvil, the craftsman flattens the block with a handheld hammer.","Then, with a tool called a flatter.","He uses an oval eye-contouring tool to hammer a hole to form the eye.","Now complete, the craftsman polishes the hammerhead on a series of grinding belts.","Then the hammerhead is placed back into the fire for more reheating.","Back on the anvil, he uses a wire brush to remove scale caused by oxidation.","Then brands the steel with his name.","After heat treating both ends of the hammerhead, to harden the steel at the striking surfaces, he finishes off the metalwork with a die grinder, smoothing the sharp edges around the eye and forming a bevel.","Once complete, the craftsman moves on to the wooden handle.","He shapes a block of wood, often using hickory, with an angle grinder.","Using the grinding wheel, he shaves off the top to fit in the eye of the hammerhead.","With a band saw, he makes a 2-inch cut into the wood.","He cuts a wedge out of a softer type of wood, usually pine.","He marks the diameter of the eye on the wedge then sands off the excess wood so that the wedge will fit in the eye.","He inserts the split end of the wood handle in the eye, forcing it through.","Then he hammers the wedge into the split.","This pushes the two sides of the split in opposite directions, lodging the handle in the eye.","Next, the craftsman hammers in a hollow round steel wedge until it's flush with the hammerhead.","This wedge spreads the wood in different directions, locking in the handle.","He removes excess wood with an angle grinder until the top of the hammer is level and smooth.","Finally, this handmade tool is ready to make it's contribution to hand craftsmanship.","Gummy vitamins were invented in the late the 20th century by an couple looking for a way to entice their daughter to take her vitamins.","Infused into a gummy candy, vitamins are now a sweet and chewy experience for both kids and adults.","Just like gummy candies, gummy vitamins come in a variety of sweet, fruity flavors, making a vitamin a less bitter pill to swallow.","Each gummy vitamin starts with a specific formula.","First raw ingredients are selected and weighed.","Some are in liquid form and others are solids.","The nutritional ingredients are blended with water.","This particular batch is a multivitamin preparation.","It includes magnesium, calcium, and other minerals.","In a separate tank, technicians prepare the gelatin base which gives the vitamins a jelly-like consistency.","Next, sugar and gelatin pre-mix is poured into the tank.","The technician adds a sugar substitute to the other ingredients.","Meanwhile, specific amounts of water and glucose are dispensed into the tank.","It takes about five minutes to blend the ingredients for the gelatin base.","Then, the gummy vitamin base is transferred to a large holding tank.","In the lab, the nutritional mixture is tested for contaminants such as heavy metals and bacteria.","An automated syringe injects the solutions into test tubes rinsing inbetween injections.","Now the samples in the test tubes are ready to be analyzed.","For heavy metal testing, the sample is injected into an extremely hot vacuum chamber.","The plasma flame turns the metal contaminants into atoms, which the machine reads as different colors.","The machine also identifies and quantifies contaminants.","With the samples cleared for processing, they're ready for flavoring and colorant.","More vitamins are added in powder form to boost the formula's potency.","The liquid vitamin preparation and the gelatin base is piped into the mixing tank then, everything is blended together.","The batter is now ready to be made into thousands of gummy vitamins.","A conveyor queues up the vitamin molds.","Multiple nozzles deposit precise amounts of batter into small molds.","The conveyor moves the tray forward as the gummy vitamins begin to solidify.","A robotic arm stacks the mold trays in a holding area.","The arm gently lowers the trays into place.","For several hours, the pills continue to harden in the molds.","Once completely solidified, the gummy vitamins are removed from the molds and transferred into a revolving drum.","The tumble in the drum separates them.","They exit onto a perforated conveyor and any small bits fall through the holes.","The conveyor zigzags back and forth, allowing the gummy vitamins to cool and further solidify.","The gummy vitamins have now reached their final consistency.","The gummy vitamins head into a steam chamber.","The humidity from the steam preps the vitamins for sugarcoating.","The sugar clings to the gummy vitamins.","And the revolving action of the drum shakes off any excess, leaving just a dusting on the surface.","At the packaging station, the vitamins funnel into chutes where sensors count and release the pills into bottles.","As the bottles move forward, caps land on the rims.","And spinning rubber mechanisms screw the caps on tightly.","Down the line, labels with product information are placed onto each bottle.","Depending on the formulation, it can take up to three weeks to produce gummy vitamin pills and the result?","Nutritious gumdrops that are a real treat.","Before you can take a boat out on the water, you have to transport it to the water.","A boat trailer attaches to the rear of your vehicle with a trailer hitch.","You back the trailer into the water then release the boat and let it float away freely.","A boat trailer has either a quick-release latch system or a winch, a wheel you crank to wind or unwind a strap that hooks onto the boat.","Boat trailers back up into water so using corrosion-resistant materials is vital.","This trailer is aluminum with torsion axles made of galvanized steel.","Torsion axles contain shock-absorbing rubber cores.","On each axle, a machinist greases the spindle, and installs a mounting bracket for the brake caliper.","All the nuts and bolts holding the trailer's parts together are stainless steel.","The machinist mounts the wheel hub on the spindle.","The brake rotor is built right into the hub.","He secures the hub with a castle nut and adjusts the tension.","He inserts a cotter pin to lock the castle nut, bending the pin with a few taps of a hammer.","He pumps grease into the hub for lubrication then taps in a dust cap to seal in the grease.","He installs the brake caliper on the mounting bracket.","He hooks up the brake line to the caliper and mounts the tire to the hub.","On the back of the tire, there's a small brass elbow for connecting the brake line.","The frame that sits on the axles is made of aluminum.","Aluminum is strong and corrosion-resistant but also lightweight.","The frame has two main front-to-back beams.","Using a template for accurate positioning, another machinist punches boltholes into the beams with a hydraulic tool.","He uses a bending press to curve the beams to the specified angle.","This type of aluminum can be bent without compromising its strength.","Next, an anti-corrosion coating is brushed onto the axle's mounting plates.","Technicians position the beams on the axle plates, aligning the matching boltholes.","They bolt the beams to the plates, then bolt a rear crossmember underneath the two main beams.","This gives the frame side-to-side strength and stability in addition to helping support the load of the boat.","A pair of mounts are bolted onto the rear crossmember and on each of the two axles.","The bunk, the part that supports the boat, slots into the gap between each pair of mounts.","The bunk has a wood cap that's carpeted to protect the boat's hull.","To reinforce the bunk, punch holes are made in aluminum plates and bent with a press.","Sway braces are bolted to the mounts for additional support.","This company makes a patented pivoting bunk that adjusts to boat hulls of varying shapes.","At the front of the frame, machinists install the tongue.","The tongue unites the two main beams with the coupler that hooks up to the toe hitch at the rear of the vehicle.","For trailers with a winch, aluminum parts are cut for the winch stand.","A technician places the parts in an assembly jig which aligns them correctly.","Then, the parts are tack welded together.","Once welding is complete, the technician removes them from the jig, tack welds one additional part, then welds all the parts together.","He removes any debris from the welded seams with a cleaning solution.","Next, the winch stand is bolted to the tongue and the winch is installed.","Then, the brake line and the electrical cable for the trailer's l.e.d. lights are connected.","Guides are also installed, which center the boat on the trailer.","An aluminum fender is mounted over each pair of tires and reinforce it with a support bracket which they bolt to the frame.","Latch system trailers have an aluminum bar which stops the bow, securing the boat at just the right position.","Finally, this tow trailer is ready for smooth sailing.","There's a lot more to candles than lights the eye.","Before they were invented, people relied on candles made with wicks floating in flammable, spillable oil.","In the past, candles weren't just used for illumination.","Since they burn at such a steady rate, people have even used them as clocks.","Thanks to electricity, candles no longer have to illuminate our homes.","They can simply brighten our evenings with atmospheric lighting.","This wax has been made into a powder with a rotating bar that sprays drops of hot wax into the air.","As the drops fall, they cool and become solid wax particles.","A specialized machine called a core press vacuums the powder and begins a multi-step process.","A series of small tube-shaped holes with powder then hydraulic pistons compress the powder into short cylinders.","Transport units move them to the next station.","The compressed wax cylinder will form the core of the candle and prevent the burning wick from touching the edges of the glass.","First, it needs a wick and a sustainer.","The metal sustainer is the wick's base.","This machine shoots wicks into the sustainers, crimps them, and inserts the components into the candle core.","A machine places drops of glue in the bottom of a series of small glass containers before placing the candle cores inside.","The glue holds the sustainers in place to prevent them from sliding around when hot.","Onto the next phase of production, liquefied wax is poured into a mixing tank.","A technician pours in a series of additives.","They include plasticizers to help solidify the wax and prevent crystallization, as well as uv light inhibitors that can protect the wax from color fading.","He pours a premeasured quantity of dye into the container.","An agitator begins the mixing process which takes 20 to 30 minutes to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined.","The wax is maintained at 185 degrees fahrenheit so the liquid is kept in its liquid state.","Then, the liquid wax travels through tubing to a computerized filling station.","A set of nozzles fill the jars, surrounding and covering the cores.","Once filled, the jars move slowly through two separate cooling chambers.","The candles undergo extensive quality control testing for flame height and the temperature on the exterior of the container.","This facility also manufactures tea light candles.","The containers are made of aluminum alloy pressed into a cup shape with small panels at the bottom designed to direct melted wax to the center.","Moved by air, the containers fall into a sorter which spins them into an upright position and onto a conveyor that offloads them to the next stations.","Like candles, tea lights require sustainers and glue to hold the wick in place.","The steel discs drop into a vibrating sorting device.","A giant spool of waxed thread is fed into the wicking machine the machine cuts, and inserts it into the sustainer clip, and glues the assembly into a tea light container, the containers, with sustainers and wicks in place, move to a circular buffering table which disperses into three channels.","A multi-prong device advances the containers onto the filling machine's conveyor system.","The machine fills the containers in a two-step process, filling them halfway, letting them cool, then topping them up and cooling the completed product.","The two-step filling process ensures a consistent product at a faster manufacturing rate.","The cooling chamber circulates air through the space at a specific temperature to cool the candles at a calibrated rate.","From start to finish, it takes just 45 minutes to produce and package a tea light.","There's a lot more to that cozy candle glow than just wax and wicks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Indy Car Seats","Paper Flowers","Stand"]},"text":["Indycars are open-cockpit race cars that compete in the annual indianapolis 500 race in the u.s. the cars are entirely custom-built.","Even the driver's seat is specially contoured to the driver's body shape and position in which he or she sits most comfortably in the car.","The custom-made driver's seat in an indycar is made of fire-resistant fabric over impact-absorbing foam.","It has openings at the shoulder, lap, and legs for the safety harness.","To make the seat, they first have to produce a template, which is, in itself, a two-day process.","Technicians prepare, then pour an adhesive into a bag full of foam beads.","The adhesive contains resin and a hardener.","Once the adhesive seeps in, they squeeze out the air and tie the bag closed.","They knead the bag to spread the adhesive over all the foam beads inside.","Next, laying the bag flat, they spread the adhesive-saturated beads in an even layer.","Then they install a valve...","Attach it to a vacuum pump, and suction out most of the remaining air.","They shape a cavity in the middle to fit the driver's body.","Once they vacuumed out enough air to make the bag tight enough to hold the shape of this cavity...","They place it in the race car's cockpit, pressing the foam beads as snugly as possible into all the nooks and crannies.","This ensures the car seat will fit properly and not shift under the driver.","The driver now has to sit in the car so they can custom-contour the template to his body in the driving position.","Once he's settled comfortably with hips and shoulders square and wearing his helmet, they begin taking measurements, starting with the height of his head, critical for aerodynamics, and of his sight line over the hood, critical for safety.","Both measurements must conform with the racing association's strict regulations.","They also measure the distance between his chest and the steering wheel and ensure there's adequate leg clearance to enter and exit the cockpit.","The driver sits down, gets out, gets back in several times as the technicians measure and make adjustments.","The entire process takes about 40 minutes.","When it's all done, they run the vacuum for another four hours and let the foam cure overnight.","The next morning, they use a hot knife to melt a line through the foam and dislodge the template from the cockpit.","The driver returns for a final two- to three-hour sitting, during which the techs trim the foam as closely as possible to his body contour.","The shape now finalized, they cover the entire surface with cloth adhesive tape and a matte finish.","This creates a non-reflective background suitable for laser scanning.","Onto this dull surface, they adhere positioning targets-- reflective dots spaced four inches apart that create a grid pattern over the entire template.","The 3-d laser scanner reads these reflective dots...","That a computer translates into a 3-d image.","Specialized software then converts this image into a technical drawing, which guides an automated router to cut the seat parts out of polypropylene foam.","This precision-cutting process takes four to six hours.","The router cuts out six to eight sections, which technicians then carefully glue together into the full seat.","They cover the finished seat in fire-retardant material, first applying the fabric with spray adhesive, then trimming it to the shape of the seat.","This foam is quite elastic, so it absorbs impact and protects the driver.","At the same time, it has memory, so after a blow, it regains its driver-customized shape.","People have always been enchanted by the beauty of flowers.","It's not surprising that these jewels of nature, often in artificial form, are used in decorative objects and arts and crafts projects.","Paper flowers last forever, and you don't have to remember to water them.","These flowers are made of saa paper.","The saa tree is a variety of mulberry that grows abundantly across southeast asia.","For more than 700 years, villagers in northern thailand have been using saa bark to make paper.","The paper is used for crafting items such as umbrellas, fans, and flowers.","They soak the dried bark in water overnight to begin softening it up, boil it over a wood fire for four hours, then soak it again overnight.","All of this softens the bark into fibrous pulp.","Next, they soak the pulp overnight in hydrogen peroxide to whiten it, then they rinse off the bleach, which would interfere with the dying process later on.","Workers discard any discolored pieces.","The goal is to make each sheet of paper evenly white so that it absorbs colored dye uniformly.","Now they load the pulp into a mill, which grinds it up and mixes it with water.","This process, which takes about half an hour, transforms the pieces into soft, fluffy, and very soggy fibers.","What was once tree bark is now ready to be processed into paper.","Every single sheet is handcrafted on fine mesh screens.","They submerge a screen in water, then drop in roughly 15 ounces of fibers.","They manually stir the water to spread the fibers in a thin layer across the screen.","They slowly lift the screen out of the water and press the surface by hand to smooth it out.","The screen then stands in the sun for three to four hours, flipped a few times until the fiber's dry into a solid sheet of paper.","To color the paper, they fill a basin with hot water and add a chemical dye.","They test the color, and if it's just right, they submerge the sheet.","The sheet absorbs the dye instantly in a consistent shade thanks to the uniformly white base color.","They hang the sheet outside to dry in the sun.","In three to four hours, the paper is ready to bloom.","They cut out flower shapes with a hand-operated press that stamps a sharp metal dye through the sheet of paper.","Each shape will be a layer of petals in a flower.","There are dyes in various shapes and sizes.","However, the petals they produce are flat-- not very lifelike-- so workers place one petal at a time on a flower-shaped mold and stamp it with a hot press.","This permanently shapes the petals to the contour of the mold almost the same way a hot iron presses clothes.","Then it's assembly time.","To make a rose, they mount a white ball made of foam, or flower and glue, onto the end of a three-inch-long wire.","They fold the inner petals over the ball and pinch them together to create the center of the rose.","Then they thread four to five petal layers of the same size on the wire, bending and pinching those, as well, to form the rose shape.","Once the petals are complete, they finish off with a green paper leaf at the base.","To make a daisy, they take a flat flower and glue a brown paper dot in the middle.","Then they glue another flat flower beneath it and a leaf base beneath that.","To make another type of rose, they gently twist the tips of the petals.","Even though they're made from trees, these artificial flowers are environmentally friendly.","The saa's severed branches and stripped bark grow back quickly, providing a renewable supply of raw material for crafting blooming paper bouquets.","Weather-wise, these are turbulent times.","There are more storms and heat waves, and that means an increased likelihood of power outages.","A standby generator supplies emergency electricity within seconds of an outage so a homeowner can ride out the storm in comfort.","In today's high-tech world, staying plugged in has never been more important.","Wired to a home's electrical system, a standby generator automatically powers up in the event of an outage.","It assumes the electrical load until the public-utilities system comes back online.","With your own standby generator, a power outage is never a crisis.","Production starts with a stator.","It's the stationary core of the alternator-- the part that converts energy from the motor to electricity.","A press compacts 100 or more laminated steel disks to create the stator core.","Machinery unwinds steel banding and wraps it around the stack to hold the core layers together.","Machinery lifts the stator core out of the assembly device and transfers it to the next station.","Here, an automated system insulates the numerous slots in the core.","As the core turns, a machine cuts, forms, and inserts synthetic insulating fabric into each slot.","Meanwhile, at another station, an automated system winds copper wire onto a mandrel.","The slots in the mandrel are the same size as the insulated slots in the core.","This configures the copper windings to fit the core slots.","But first, a technician slides the copper coils onto a threading tool.","This tool maintains the configuration of the coils to prepare them for installation in the stator core.","They wind more bundles of copper wire.","Once all the windings have been correctly arranged on the threading tool, the technician is ready to transfer them to the stator core.","He places the stator on top of the threading tool and activates a hydraulic device that pushes the wires up through the tool and into the slots of the stator core.","The device retracts, and he removes the stator.","The copper wires transform the stator into an electromagnet, which is critical for electrical generation.","He trims the ends of the wires and sets the leftovers aside for recycling.","He slides insulating sleeves onto the ends.","Then it's into the lacing machine.","This machine crochets a string wrap around the bundles to hold the wires together.","It also pulls in any loose strands to keep them from snagging on generator components.","With the wiring precisely wound and wrapped, this important generator component is ready for the finishing touch-- a clear varnish.","The lid closes on the tank, and a vacuum pulls air out.","The tank then fills with clear varnish to coat the stators.","The varnish fills in any gaps in the windings.","They transfer the stators to an oven and bake on the varnish.","Once hardened, the varnish insulates the entire assembly.","The next technician connects the stator lead wires to a testing machine.","The machine applies high-voltage pulses to the wire windings and monitors the output for anything that could cause generator failure.","The stator passes the test.","A technician now positions an outer casing and an end cap on top of the stator, followed by a steel pressing plate.","A hydraulic arm then provides the muscle power needed to fit the casing and cap snugly to the stator.","Coming up next, the generator stator joins the rotor and engine, and the result is purely electric.","The average home may contain over 100 electrical appliances and devices.","When there's a power blackout, everything shuts down.","A standby generator restores electricity in seconds to keep the refrigerator running and the heat on.","In an extended power outage, a generator can be a life saver.","To produce the alternator's rotating part, the rotor, the technician stacks laminated steel disks to the same height as the stator core.","He lubricates the opening in the center of the disks.","He inserts a shaft, and a press pushes it into the stack to complete the installation.","Powered by the generator engine, the shaft will spin the rotor.","The technician installs steel rods to maintain the disks' alignment and then removes the rotor from the assembly device.","He fits more rods to it on a slight angle.","They'll act as conductors and stabilize the rotor's electrical output.","He slides aluminum caps onto both ends of the rotor.","Then it's over to an automated welder.","The machine grips the rotor at both ends and slowly turns it as a robot welds both caps to the rotor body.","Welded in place, the caps secure the aluminum rods.","The aluminum solder used in the weld is conductive and will create an electrical connection.","The technician unclamps the rotor from the welding machine and then tucks insulation into slots on the sides.","The rotor then goes for a spin in a machine that winds bands of copper wire around the insulated sections.","These wires will act as electromagnets and help produce electrical current.","They tie string around the wire, add bearings and a copper collector ring, and bake an insulating varnish onto the entire rotor.","They're now ready to assemble the standby generator.","Using a lift, the technician lowers the engine into position.","He joins the rotor shaft to the engine crankshaft.","To secure the assembly, he drives a very long bolt through the rotor to the crankshaft and tightens it to a specific torque.","Next up is the stator.","It will provide a magnetic field to advance the flow of electrons in the rotor.","The technician slides the stator onto the rotor.","A steel end bracket is next.","It aligns the rotor and the stator.","He forces the bracket into place.","To secure the alignment, he installs four long bolts from the end bracket to the engine-adapter plate.","He anchors the stator and rotor to the generator base and adds special rubber mounts under the supports to buffer vibrations.","He attaches a motorized carbon brush to copper rings on the rotor shaft.","The brush will collect electricity from the shaft and transfer it to the generator controller.","He secures it to the end bracket with screws.","He connects the wiring harness that moves electricity from the brush to the controller.","He links the other end of the harness to the engine.","He plugs in a sensor to monitor oil pressure and makes all the other electrical connections.","Next up is a panel through which he runs some of the wiring.","It acts as a separator to prevent entanglements and also supports the fuel regulator.","Other parts include a muffler to help dampen engine noise and a controller that converts generated power to the correct voltage.","The assembly of this standby generator is complete.","The technician fuels up and runs it first at partial capacity, then to the max.","The test confirms there's no wavering in electrical output.","Once encased in a neutral-colored corrosion-resistant shell, the standby generator blends into the background, but in a power outage, its contribution will definitely be noticed."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wooden Barrels","Fire Hydrants","Automotive Seats","Cathode Ray Tubes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Wooden barrels...","Fire hydrants...","Automotive seats...","And cathode-ray tubes.","In the old days, wooden barrels stored all kinds of goods, simply because they were easy to move.","If you couldn't lift them, you could roll them.","Today modern machinery has made barrels obsolete, except for storing fine wine and spirits.","And so the time-honored tradition of barrel making lives on.","These wooden barrels are for storing whiskey.","They're made from american white oak cut into pieces called staves.","The staves go into a planer that shaves them to about an inch thick.","Next, a machine punches two quarter-inch holes on either side of each stave.","Dowel pins made of hickory, a very strong wood, go into these holes to hold the staves together.","Workers take the staves, place them on a guide, and press them together.","A smaller piece completes the shape.","Now it's onto the rounder, a machine that cuts it into a circular shape.","This creates the barrel's lid, or head, as it's called.","And each barrel requires two, one for the top and one for the bottom.","The barrel head now goes onto a contraption called the char tunnel.","Its gas burners scorch the wood.","This charring not only changes the wood's appearance, it also gives color, flavor, and aroma to the whiskey this barrel will hold.","The workers coat the head's edge with liquid beeswax, which helps them set it snugly into the barrel body.","They run the staves against this machine to narrow their ends.","This gives the barrel its characteristic shape, with a smaller radius at the ends than in the middle.","At the barrel-raising station, a worker positions an iron hoop and starts to assemble the barrel inside it.","He selects staves that vary in width in order to use as few as possible.","This reduces the numbers of joints and potential leak points.","He has to be gentle as he lassos the barrel together.","If he pulls that dry wood too tight, it'll break into pieces.","A loose hoop gives the wood room to expand.","Next, the barrels pass through a steam tunnel for about 15 minutes.","This adds moisture to the wood so it can flex without snapping.","Workers pull out the barrel and remove the top and bottom hoops.","Sturdier hoops replace them and are hammered into place.","Without them, the barrel would spring apart.","Next, two more hoops around the body.","The wood groans from the intense pressure that forces the staves together, but there can't be any gaps between the staves, or else the barrel will leak.","The barrels pass over a gas burner that blasts a flame inside each one to char its interior.","Seconds later, water shoots into the barrel to put out the flames.","An automated saw cuts a v-shaped notch into the top and bottom of each barrel.","This is where the barrel head will slide in.","A fan blows away the sawdust.","Now a machine removes the iron hoop on each end.","A worker pours in a gallon of water to cool the barrel, still hot from the charring process.","Then he puts on a barrel head and stronger, permanent iron hoops on both ends.","Now machines remove the two iron body hoops and replace them with stronger ones.","These barrels hold their shape by sheer pressure.","There's not a drop of glue holding them together.","That gallon of water is still inside the barrel.","Workers drill a hole in the side, then plug it by hammering in a rubber stopper with a spout.","An inspector checks the barrel for leaks, stamps it approved, and labels it with a bar code for inventory.","Then they remove the stopper and out comes the water, turned to steam because of the heat.","The barrels are now ready to go on to the distillery, where they'll get their fill of some fine kentucky whiskey.","When we return, you see them on every street corner, but how are they made?","Fire hydrants have been in use for more than 200 years.","In the old days, their main purpose was to supply water to fight fires, but they also provided the public with a handy water supply.","Today fire crews rely on the nearest hydrant to help them douse flames whenever and wherever they break out.","Fire hydrants are essential to every community.","They need to be instantly recognizable, easily accessible, and simple to operate.","The ones in residential areas are designed to deliver an impressive 1,500 gallons a minute.","The hydrant-making process starts with recycled scrap iron, along with steel and raw iron.","Using a magnetic crane, workers load the metals into a furnace and melt them at 2,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This turns the scrap metal into molten iron.","This superhot mixture is transferred into a remote-controlled ladle...","And emptied into an automated pouring system.","To cast the hydrants, workers first make two-part molds by compressing a mixture of sand and bonding materials.","One part, called the mold, forms the hydrant's exterior shape, while the other part, called the core, forms the interior shape.","An automatic core setter positions a core in each mold.","Then a conveyer advances the mold under the pouring box, which fills the cavity between the mold and core with molten iron.","After the iron cools and solidifies, the molds enter a tumbling barrel.","As they revolve, the sand gradually disintegrates, freeing the iron casting inside.","Workers drill and thread the hydrant castings to prepare them for assembly.","Then they preassemble and paint them.","The fire hydrant's internal workings, called the valve assembly, allow water to flow through when the hydrant's open.","A series of rubber \"o\" rings on the main valve will prevent leaks when the hydrant is closed.","Now the hydrant is ready for final assembly.","Workers attach the nozzle section to the top of the hydrant barrel and fasten nozzle cap chains with a crimping tool.","Using a torque wrench, they attach cast-iron safety rings.","These rings are designed to disengage the top from the bottom of the hydrant so it doesn't get damaged if a vehicle hits it.","Workers clamp the water-main connector into place and pressurize the hydrant to normal city pressure to check for leaks.","Using a hoist, they lower the preassembled nozzle section over the stem...","And fasten it to the water-main connector with stainless steel bolts.","They lower the bonnet into place...","Bolt it to the nozzle section...","Then open the hydrant for a high-pressure test.","They turn the operating nut to allow water to flow through.","But first, they have to force out the air inside the hydrant with water.","Workers transfer the finished hydrant to a pallet and apply final paint touch-ups.","Some fire hydrants that were installed more than 100 years ago are still in use today.","Coming up, it's a cushy job, but somebody's got to do it.","Most people don't pay too much attention to car seating, but this feature has come a long way since the car was invented in the 19th century.","Back then, seats had no springs and not much padding.","So you could feel every bump on the road.","In today's car seats, we have a much easier ride.","Padded and belted, modern automotive seats are designed to be safe and comfortable.","The components are manufactured separately and shipped to this factory for assembly.","They arrive as needed on the production line so there's not a lot of stockpiling.","It means the flow of parts into this plant has to be highly organized because they make over 400 seat variations here.","The parts are carted to the assembly line in the order they're needed.","On this assembly line, there are 60 workers, each with specific tasks to perform.","They receive a build ticket for each part and scan it.","This allows a central computer to track production and verify that the right parts are being used to build the right seat.","An operator tucks the seat-warmer pad and cables into the cushioning for the bottom half of the seat.","She loosely places the fabric cover over the assembly and attaches it with wire.","Then it's over to the next station, where the operator completes the upholstery job.","Each worker has just 88 seconds to perform his or her tasks, so there's no sitting down on this job.","They install a seat-warmer system on the backrest section of the seat and cover it.","Then they slide an air bag into a special sleeve.","These seats come with springs that clip on to their metal framework to provide lumbar support.","Workers fit the cushion assembly onto the spring framework and pull it tight.","They smooth out any wrinkles, a process called finessing.","Then they install the headrest.","Next they tackle the lower framework.","They equip it with a mechanism that adjusts the height of the seat.","Electrical connectors go in next.","Then they bolt the lower framework to the cushioned backrest.","They attach the pretensioner apparatus, which locks the seat belt into position, then wire the connector box.","They fit the lower cushioning on the framework and add the recliner spring.","A plastic valance makes it all look neater.","Now it's time to take this driver's seat for a test run.","Inspectors hook it up to a power source and make sure the air bag and seat warmer are operational.","They iron out all the wrinkles because the automaker will reject any seat that's less than perfect.","Then they slide and tilt the seat to make sure the adjustment mechanisms are working properly.","Workers assemble the rear seats using the same techniques.","Again, each operator gets exactly 88 seconds to complete his or her job.","When you add it all up, an entire seat set takes just 62 minutes to assemble.","Before they ship the seat set to the car factory, they snap a photo as a production record.","It proves each set was in perfect condition when it left the factory.","Now these seats are ready to hit the road.","Workers strap them onto delivery pallets and load them into a big truck, 60 sets at a time.","They'll arrive at the car plant just as the vehicles they were made for are rolling off the assembly line.","Once they're installed, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.","Next, making the tubes that bring tvs to life.","The crt, short for cathode-ray tube, produces the image that we see on our tvs and computer monitors-- the ones that aren't lcd or plasma, that is.","Believe it or not, the cathode-ray tube was invented back in 1879.","A crt is made up of two main components, a large glass bulb and an electric gun.","Crts start with a molded glass bulb.","Workers remove microscopic debris with a high-pressure water rinse.","Then they spray hydrofluoric acid to clean the glass at an atomic level.","Phosphor solution is poured into the bulb.","Phosphor is an organic compound that emits light when struck by electrons.","The phosphor particles settle and form a chemical bond with the bulb face.","Workers pour off the excess solution...","And clamp the bulb over a nozzle that sprays clear lacquer over the phosphor.","The centrifugal force guarantees an even coat.","This worker paints a conductive coating over the anode button which will provide a flow path for the electrons that will light up the phosphor particles.","Meanwhile, another worker drops an aluminum pellet into a tungsten coil.","He places the bulb over a vacuum device and draws out the air.","Then he applies an electrical current to the coil.","It evaporates the aluminum pellet, which spreads a mirrorlike coating on the inside of the bulb.","Now they heat the bulb to 425 degrees fahrenheit for one hour.","This bakes out the lacquer and any trace of moisture.","Using a high-temperature flame, a worker aligns and fuses a glass neck to the bulb.","Then he paints it with the same conductive coating.","This assembly is part of the electron gun that goes inside the bulb.","It shoots electrons at the bulb's phosphor particles that lights them up, creating the image we see on screen.","Workers stack the grip cups that focus the electrons on the screen.","Then, using beading glass, they align and fuse them into position.","Robots heat and affix the beading glass to assemble the electron-gun components.","Then the gun is cooled with pressurized air.","Once cool, a worker builds up the gun and inserts the completed gun assembly into the bulb.","Next he positions the bulb on a glass-blowing lathe and cuts excess glass from the neck.","Using a graphite paddle and a high-temperature torch, he mates the glass neck to the electron-gun stem.","This ceramic heating coil melts that green glass pellet to keep the bulb under vacuum.","The tube is heated to 750 degrees fahrenheit for two hours, and once again a vacuum is drawn.","To minimize image flicker over the tube's life-span, workers condition the bulb using a high-voltage coil.","It smoothes any rough surfaces that might remain on the electron gun.","Finally, workers apply electrical connections to the electron gun to bring the cathode-ray tube to life."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Jaws of Life","Artificial Christmas Trees","Soda Crackers","Ratchets"]},"text":["The jaws of life were first used in 1963 to free racecar drivers from car crashes.","It was so big, it had to be suspended from the back of a pickup truck.","Today it weighs as little as 33 pounds and is small enough for one person to operate.","It can free an accident victim from a car in minutes.","In an emergency situation, timing is everything.","A rescue tool has to pry open a vehicle as easily as a tin can or cut through solid steel like butter, because a few seconds can make all the difference.","What gives the cutting blades and the spreading arms their power is hydraulic fluid.","The jaws of life begin with a milling machine that shapes the spreader arms from a bar of solid aircraft-grade aluminum.","The spreader arms then get a protective coating.","A lathe now makes the cap that fits on the end of the tool.","A high-speed carbide tip shapes the solid aluminum into a finished endcap that is then drilled and treated to a coat of rust-resistant protection.","Arms that both cut and spread are made from tool steel.","A surface grinder ensures that the two arms are perfectly flat.","A worker installs a seal that prevents the hydraulic fluid from leaking out of the cylinder.","He lubricates a piston with hydraulic fluid so it slides into the cylinder without damaging the interior.","Then he taps it in so it will connect with the link assembly.","He attaches a link assembly to the piston and secures it in place.","The link assembly relays power to the cutting blades or spreader arms.","He then attaches an assembled end cap to the cylinder and bolts it in place.","He connects the two hoses that lead to the tool's hydraulic cylinder.","He puts on a handgrip that protects the hoses and makes it easier to work the thumbwheel.","He tightens the bolts and completes the control valve.","He then attaches the front handle that allows the operator to hold the tool safely.","This protective guard will keep all the moving components away from a rescuer's hands.","Then he aligns the holes in the blades to the tool and inserts a steel pivot pin.","He puts on a locknut, and, as with all fasteners on the rescue tool, he tightens it to a precise engineering specification.","After mounting the blades, he secures them to the link assembly with a steel-alloy pin and a snap ring.","Then he folds the protective guard back and finishes assembling the tool.","A worker then tests the tool, which has been filled with fire-resistant hydraulic fluid.","The fixture he uses is designed to measure the pressure at the strongest point in the cutting.","The tool passes the pressure test.","Whether it's a rescue tool that cuts through metal or pries it open, emergency-response teams arriving on an accident scene will have what it takes to help save lives.","The quest for the perfect tree is a rite of the holiday season.","And ever since the late 19th century, people have been trying to come up with an artificial version.","First, there were feather trees and, later, trees made of animal bristles.","But by the 1960s, the use of synthetics finally gave us the perfect fake fir.","Today's faux firs can be several stories tall-- big enough for your town square.","You can get them with many of the trimmings so decorating isn't such a stretch.","These big artificial trees start with a steel skeleton.","Rollers bend steel tubing into arcs.","They'll be joined to form the base of the framework.","Workers weld vertical supports to the arcs, building the structure in sections.","A spray of polyester powder gives the welded metal a smooth finish that's actually tougher than paint.","They bake the parts to set the coating.","After a quick cooling, it's time to assemble all the pieces.","They fasten the structure together with u-bolts and a ratchet.","Meanwhile, a roll of green pvc plastic winds its way towards a roller equipped with many circular cutters.","They slice it into 4-inch-wide strips.","Each of the narrow plastic strips then goes under a roller with even more blades.","They shred it into a needlelike configuration, leaving a solid spine at the center to hold the simulated needles together.","An automated spool then winds up the fringed green pvc.","These artificial needles come in an assortment of colors, so if you want glitz, you can really go out on a limb.","Here, streams of the fringed green and a strip of brown pvc travel over tension-control guides.","Steel wire unwinds and merges with the green and brown pvc.","This machine twists them together.","The brown strip lands at the core of the twisted fringe, creating the illusion of a stem among the needles.","This twisting technology churns out a continuous supply of artificial greenery.","Giant scissors slice it to the correct length.","To make branches that appear snow-tipped, this machine twists and then frosts the pvc needles with a spray of white latex paint.","They use this ring fastener to crimp the artificial foliage together, branch by branch.","This creates a tightly knit mass of greenery that will be used to cover the tree's framework.","They apply single garlands on key parts of the tree grid first, using a handheld pneumatic fastener.","They fill in the sections between them with the assembled branches.","This is easier than attaching them to the framework branch by branch.","They string the lights and then plug them in to check each bulb.","After all, it's easier to change one now than after the tree has been erected, especially since this one will be a story and a half tall.","They also wire the ornaments to the branches.","It's one less job for the customer to do.","And now it's time to put up the tree.","They bolt the cone of wired greenery to the lower framework...","And then hook the panels of artificial greenery onto the rest of the structure.","It has taken just one day for this artificial tree to come together, where growing a real one this size would take many years.","And the convenience is unreal.","Soda crackers are also called saltines, originally a brand name that over time became a generic term.","You can eat them plain or spread something on them or crumble them into soup.","Doctors even recommend eating soda crackers when you're nauseous, because they're dry and easy to digest.","They're flat and bumpy on the outside, with a tasty texture resulting from some interesting chemical reactions.","Workers first dump ice into a trough to prevent the dough from overheating during fermentation.","The first ingredient is a specific amount of finished dough to kick-start the fermentation of this new batch.","To that, they add water, wheat flour, yeast, and enzymes to help the fermentation.","A mixer blends the ingredients for about 5 minutes.","They let the dough sit for 16 hours while the enzymes break down the starch and the wheat into simple sugars.","The yeast then reacts with those sugars, producing carbon-dioxide gas, which makes the dough rise.","Then they adjust the fermented dough's ph level with sodium bicarbonate to produce the right flavor, color, and shelf life.","Then, for additional flavoring, some salt...","Malted barley flour...","And vegetable oil.","Then the mixer remixes the dough for about 5 minutes to blend in these new ingredients.","Now they let the dough ferment for another 6 hours.","The sodium bicarbonate counteracts the acidity this produces and relaxes the gluten so that the dough now breaks easily when stretched-- the perfect consistency for soda crackers.","A machine then extrudes the massive dough into a sheet that's 2 inches thick and folds the sheet over itself 3 times.","This folding creates the light and flaky layers inside the cracker.","The dough sheet then goes through a series of rollers that reduce it to its final thickness, about a millimeter.","A revolving die cuts the cracker shapes, perforations and all.","The little pins puncture the dough and push it firmly onto the conveyor belt.","This keeps the dough from deforming when moisture and gases escape during the baking process.","From there, the sheet passes under a shower of salt.","The sheet now takes a three-minute trip through a long oven with different temperature zones.","Gas flames bake the dough from above and below.","The heat transforms the sodium bicarbonate in the dough into carbon-dioxide gas, which then breaks through and escapes.","This drives out trapped moisture and forms blisters in the crackers.","As the sheet of baked crackers exits the oven, a roller breaks it into rows.","The rows then run from one conveyor belt to the next, stacking like roof shingles.","Alignment wheels keep them straight until the next set of wheels gently breaks the rows into individual crackers.","Each row makes its way through a series of gates that guide it onto a track that leads to the packaging equipment.","The crackers are upright now, and the machine begins dividing them according to the number of crackers per package-- in this case, those little 2-cracker packs you often get with soup.","The cracker pairs enter the wrapping machine, which sandwiches them between a sheet of printed plastic film.","A wheel then simultaneously seals and cuts the wrapper between each pair.","This all happens at an astonishing rate of 525 packages per minute.","And that's the way the cracker crumbles.","Ratchets come in many shapes and sizes and can tackle almost any job.","Ratchets with socket attachments deliver more power and speed without slipping or damaging the bolt or nut.","Just snap an interchangeable socket onto the ratchet, and you're ready to get the job done quickly and properly.","Versatile and easy to use, a ratchet tightens or loosens nuts and bolts in a continuous motion.","It uses removable sockets that fit many different sizes of fittings and fasteners.","To start, a steel bar travels into a shearing machine that cuts it into specific lengths.","These pieces, called billets, will be used to make the ratchet.","A machine feeds the billets into an induction coil, which heats them to about 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","A forge press then shapes the soft billets into ratchets.","The first die creates the ratchet's general form.","The second die gives it its finished shape.","And the third die cuts off excess metal.","The ratchets exit the forge press and fall into a collection box, where they cool.","Then a vertical milling machine prepares the body cavity to receive the internal working parts of the ratchet, called the gear assembly.","A worker then places the ratchet on a hydraulic press, which stamps the brand name and the on-and-off indicator on the ratchet's face.","A lathe cuts away the rough forged metal from the handle and trims off the end, making it ready to receive the handgrip.","A worker then grinds any rough edges off the machined ratchet.","Then he crimps each side of the smooth handle so it will hold a rubber handgrip in place.","The ratchets now undergo a 3-stage tempering process that hardens and strengthens the metal.","Ceramic stones and a chemical solution prepare the ratchets for nickel and chrome plating.","A plating machine cleans the ratchets, then treats them to a nickel and a trivalent chrome plating.","The two platings make the ratchets corrosion-resistant and give them a bright cosmetic finish.","A worker then lubricates the ratchet cavity, puts in an on-and-off switch and a spacer to support additional components.","A worker sets a retention ball onto a ratchet gear, then a punch press locks it in place.","Next they fit a gear mechanism into the cavity, then attach all the internal components that control the movements of the ratchet.","Once completed, the gear assembly allows or restricts movement.","So, putting the assembly into either the on or off position is all it takes to tighten or loosen a nut or bolt.","She then puts a rubber seal onto a cover plate and closes up the ratchet.","She makes sure the gear assembly works properly.","Finally, this machine friction-fits a handle on the ratchet's shaft.","Evolving from a steel bar to a finished product in 10 steps, the ratchets must undergo a final test of strength to prove they meet the highest quality standards.","Ratchet sets are available in a variety of sizes.","They're used for big and small jobs by handymen and professional mechanics alike."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Powder Horns","Handcrafted Molds","Pierogi","Inner Tubes"]},"text":["On the battlegrounds of american history, powder horns were everywhere.","These modified cow horns served as carrying cases for gunpowder in 18th century colonial battles and the american revolution.","For soldiers engaged in heated battle, the containers were a good way to keep their powder dry.","With the invention of ammunition cartridges in the 19th century, muzzle-loading firearms and powder horns became a thing of the past.","But today, they're back.","Powder horns are in demand for historical re-enactments and among some sportsmen and collectors.","The concept of using a cow horn to make a gunpowder container demonstrates the resourcefulness of people in an earlier time.","Cow horns were accessible.","They're naturally hollow, lightweight, and waterproof.","To start, the craftsman selects the cow horn and evaluates it for structural flaws.","Finding no cracks or weaknesses in this one, he proceeds.","He scrapes off the scale to clean it and get a better look at its condition.","Next, he identifies the depth of the cavity with a thin wire.","This tells him where the hollow section ends and the horn becomes solid.","He marks the spot then draws another line 1 1/2 inches down.","These markings serve as guides as he now turns the tip of the horn into a spout.","He cuts off the pointed end along the second line.","He drills into the horn all the way through to the horn cavity.","He lays out the design of the spout with rubber rings.","He traces around them and then scores the horn at the pencil marks.","He files the horn around the score marks to give the spout end the desired contours and builds up a ringed ridge for the powder-horn strap to rest against.","Next, he gouges the horn to create ornamental notches above the spout.","This is known an engrailing.","He pencils lettering onto the side of the powder horn.","He scratches the horn along the penciled lines to engrave the letters into it.","Historically, powder horns were a soldier's canvas upon which he etched maps, designs, and personal information.","He rubs ink onto the lettering, and it seeps into the fine cuts.","When he wipes off the ink, it remains in the engravings to make them really stand out.","He slices the other end of the cow horn to create an even edge.","Then, he boils butternut hulls and wood chips in water to make a dye.","He immerses the powder horn in the dye for about an hour to give it a look that would take decades to achieve naturally.","It gives the powder horn a yellowed, more aged patina.","He now carves a base plug from pinewood.","He trims the rough shape to the exact curvature of the horn.","He inserts the plug and ensures it's a snug fit.","He drills six holes into the horn and through to the plug.","With a tack hammer, he drives wooden pegs into the holes, securing the plug permanently.","He slices off the end of the wood to make it flush to the horn.","He stains the wood plug with shoe dye to make it blend in with the color of the horn.","Once the stain has dried, he creates a hook for a shoulder strap.","He drills holes that are a little smaller than the hook so that when he pounds it into the holes, the hook is firmly installed.","He loops the strap through the hook and stitches it up.","He inserts a wooden stopper into the spout, and this powder horn is now ready for containment.","But mostly, it will just hang around as a reminder of another time.","Mass-produced glass items are typically shaped by automated machines, which insert molten glass into an assembly line of molds.","Specialty items are usually cast individually with the artist manually planting the molten glass in a mold crafted by skilled mold-makers.","These molds for making specialty glass items are entirely handcrafted.","This one, comprised of three sections, produces the ornate shade of a glass candle lamp.","This one, comprised of two sections, produces the lamp's base.","The glass manufacturer submits the design sketch of the item to the mold shop.","The shop, using computer software, converts the sketch into technical drawings.","Then following the drawings, workers prepare a wooden pattern of the mold.","They first make a cardboard template for each mold section, then trace the template on a piece of wood, saw along the pencil line, then finalize the shape with a sander.","They send the patterns for the mold sections to a foundry, which casts copies in iron.","These iron castings are rough, so when they return from the foundry, the mold-makers refine each section with a series of milling machines.","This takes a tremendous degree of expertise, as these are not computer-guided automated machines.","These skilled tradesmen maneuver the mills manually, following the technical drawings.","Once they finalize the shape, they use a drill press to bore holes for the hefty pins on which the mold sections will pivot open and closed.","Iron is the ideal material for glass molds because it withstands a temperature of over 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for molten glass.","Iron does expand with such heat.","However, once cool, it contracts and resumes its original shape without any distortion.","They mount the mold section on a lathe to begin forming the cavity.","Using a tool called a boring bar, a mold-maker shapes the cavity as per the technical drawings.","Then he takes the mold section off the lathe and paints the cavity yellow to give him a bright background against which to sketch out the fine details of the design.","This particular pattern features circles, which he sketches with compasses.","Using an arsenal of chisels with different size and shape tips, he chips the metal to carve out what he sketched.","Again, he follows the technical drawings meticulously, giving the carved lines the specified depth and profile.","Once he finishes the pattern, he mounts the mold section on one side of a mechanical copying machine called a pantograph.","On the other side, he mounts another section of the mold which doesn't yet have the carved pattern.","The pantograph stylus traces the pattern on the carved section and simultaneously moves an engraving tool through the identical motions on the uncarved section, transferring the pattern.","Because this is a three-sectioned mold, they make two copies on the pantograph.","The carving tools leave marks on the surface of the cavity, so the next step is to polish them away with emery paper.","On the right, you can see the marks.","And on the left, the smooth, polished surface.","The sections are now ready to be assembled with pins into a complete mold.","When it's time to pour in the molten glass, the pins enable the sections to close and interlock.","Once the glass cools and solidifies, the pins make it easier to open the mold to extract the casing.","Glass artisans and glass manufacturers alike use handcrafted molds to produce a wide variety of glass items from functional to fancy.","The perogi is a pillowy pastry stuffed with mashed potato or other fillings.","Popular for centuries in eastern europe, perogies were initially peasant food.","But today, their appeal crosses class and cultural boundaries, and worldwide there's a growing appetite for perogies.","Perogies are comfort food, traditionally made from scratch by generations of polish grandmothers.","But today, few people have time for all that work, and the job of making perogies has moved from the kitchen to the factory.","All you have to do is add the sour cream and chives.","Production starts with the potato and cheese filling.","They boil potatoes until tender.","Then, still piping hot, they transfer the potatoes to a mixer grinder.","They add a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese along with some salt and spices.","A spiraling blade mashes and mixes the ingredients.","The blade misses a few chunks of potato, so the machine forces the ingredients through a perforated metal plate.","It gets rid of the chunks and leaves the mix smooth and creamy.","With the filling done, it's over to the dough department.","They pour measured amounts of flour into a mixer.","They add oil for texture and flavor and some salt to further enhance the taste.","They open an overhead tap, and a measured amount of water flows directly into the mixer.","The mixer's roller bars blend and knead the dough to a fairly thick consistency.","After leaving the dough to soften a bit, they feed it to a special perogi-making machine.","The potato and cheese filling flows into the same machine.","It forces both the filling and the dough into a forming device.","It's enclosed for safety reasons, so you can't see it here.","Inside, the machine shapes the filling into a cylindrical form and the dough around it into a sleeve.","Here, the machine pumps out a roll of potato filling, the dough surrounds it, creating sausage-like form.","As the filled dough exits, a roller shapes it into individual perogies.","It also cuts and crimps the edges.","This produces uniformly plump perogies at an incredible speed.","This machinery churns out 50,000 perogies an hour.","The freshly formed perogies ride by a divider mechanism that separates them, preventing clumping as they transfer to another conveyor.","An inspector rejects any defective dumplings so that only perfect perogies head into a freezer.","The temperature inside is an icy negative-50 degrees.","It's a winding journey on spiraling tiers, where they chill for about 14 minutes.","When they exit, they're frozen solid and ready for packaging.","The dumplings ride a series of conveyors towards the packaging line.","It's a quick journey, giving them no time to thaw.","The perogies funnel into weigh stations.","Below, mechanical fingers open bags.","The scale releases 22 ounces of perogies into each bag.","That's about 23 perogies per bag.","Hot jaws seal the plastic.","The bags of perogies travel through an x-ray station on their way to the warehouse freezer.","It scans them for bits of metal or glass that may have contaminated the perogies during production.","Today, perogies have many different fillings.","There are even fruit-filled ones for dessert, the recipe may be centuries old, but there are a few new tricks.","The earliest tires were bands of steel fitted to wooden wheels, hardly a comfortable ride.","Air-filled inner tubes were part of the first successful car tire in 1911, and inner tubes are still used today in most bicycle tires and many motorcycle tires.","These motorcycle inner tubes are made with a combination of synthetic and pure, natural rubber.","They come in a variety of sizes and offer superior quality because no recycled or reclaimed rubber is used during the manufacturing process.","A worker selects a slab of synthetic rubber, a package of chemically enhanced rubber, chemicals used as antioxidants, accelerators and curing agents, and finally a package of pure, natural rubber.","A worker pulls the materials from an internal mixer and guides them into a two-roll mill, where they're squeezed together.","He trims off the rubber sheet.","Ideally, the texture of the rubber sheet is smooth.","Carbon black provides pigmentation to the process and reinforces the rubber.","The rubber is now sent for cooling.","It soaks in a mixture of calcium carbonate, which, once dry, will prevent the rubber from sticking to itself.","Workers carefully fold the continuous sheet of rubber in a stack to dry.","The next day, the rubber is cool and hard, and the calcium carbonate has dried into a powder.","A worker places the small strip coming out of the two-roll mill onto an overhead conveyor belt, which takes it to the next phase of production.","The strip falls into a extruding machine, where a turning screw forces the raw rubber through a strainer.","A worker uses a wire to cut the rubber strands as they emerge.","He places the rubber wad in the two-roll mill once again.","The rubber will gradually be shaped in preparation for the next phase of extrusion.","Squeezed into a strip, the rubber falls into a tube extruder machine.","As it passes through the die, it emerges in a cylindrical shape.","The rubber tube is hot.","Water cools it down and cleans away any remaining residue.","The rubber tube now enters a cutting machine.","Calcium carbonate powder helps prevent sticking.","After being cut, a hole is punched in the tube and a valve inserted.","The first cone punches the hole.","The second inserts the valve.","A worker replaces each valve after it's been inserted into the rubber tube.","This machine can process 22 tubes per minute.","Here is the rubber tube with the hole punched and with the incomplete valve inserted.","A worker now connects the two ends of the cut tube.","He places both ends into the machine, which, using different steps, cuts and fuses them together.","By the time the machine completes the process, the worker has two more loose ends in place.","First, the knife cuts both ends of the tube.","By clearing away the calcium carbonate powder, the two heated ends can stick together.","No glue is needed.","The cut is clean and straight.","Heat, combined with the rubber's natural stickiness, firmly holds the seam together.","A worker now pumps air into the circular tube.","He hammers wax into the incomplete valve in order to temporarily seal the air inside.","Another worker places the tube in a mold.","It will be heated for a few minutes, part of the vulcanization process.","The wax that held the air inside has melted, but after being vulcanized in the mold, the tube retains its cylindrical shape.","To flatten the shaped tube, any air remaining inside is removed using a vacuum.","These workers give the inner tube its finishing touches.","They complete the valve by adding a core, followed by a ring, a nut, and a valve cap.","They fold the finished inner tube and circle it with two elastic bands.","The folded inner tubes are inserted in packaging that is then heat sealed.","Ready to hit the open road, these motorcycle inner tubes are sure to get riders pumped."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Conga Drums","Metal Plating","Buttons"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Conga drums...",".metal plating...","And buttons.","The conga drum may be a staple of latin-american music, but it was developed from an ancient african drum made from an animal skin stretched over a hollow tree trunk.","Today, they stretch the hide over a wood or fiberglass cylinder.","As you're about to see, making congas takes plenty of hands-on skill.","these congas are made of ash, a wood that has good acoustics.","That means sound resonates off of it rather than being absorbed into it.","First, the drum maker cuts the curved slats that will form the drum's body, called the shell.","He traces a slat-shaped template on a rectangular piece of wood.","Then, using a band saw, he cuts along the trace line, creating a curve on the outside and inside surfaces.","Then he moves to a bench saw, a saw whose blade can be adjusted to different angles.","He clamps the piece onto a template and angles the edge.","He flips the piece over...","And angles the other edge.","The drum maker applies carpenter's glue to both edges and clamps the slats together in a circle on a specially designed form.","The number of slats per drum varies, depending on the diameter of the shell.","The larger the diameter, the lower the conga's sound.","The glue dries in 24 hours.","It comes off the form looking like this bongo shell, but taller.","The drum maker now mounts the dried shell on a wood lathe.","Using a tool called a wood gouge, he shears off about .","2 of an inch, rounding the outside of the shell.","Then he uses a series of woodworking tools to add decorative detailing.","Once that's done, he smoothes the shell's surface, using three progressively finer grains of sandpaper.","Then he either leaves the wood its natural color or stains it.","A thick coat of oil-based lacquer protects the wood from both dryness and humidity.","Now for the essential hardware.","First, side plates made of chrome-plated steel.","Their job is to anchor the drum's animal-skin head.","They're bolted to the shell.","Next, the drum maker feeds a steel strip through a bending machine.","Its high-pressure rollers curve the strip, forming the drum's rim.","Then he rivets v-shaped steel pieces onto the rim.","Elsewhere in the workshop, they prepare the cowhide that will become the drum's head.","First they soak it in a corrosive bath of cold water and lime.","This literally burns the hair off the hide.","After two or three days, they remove the skin and scrape off any stubborn hairs.","Then they stretch it over a circular frame, leaving it to dry at room temperature for a couple of days.","After chrome-plating the rim, it's time for the final assembly.","They stretch the head over the shell and clasp it in place with the rim.","They hook the v's to the side plates, then adjust the tension to tune the instrument.","The last step is to trim off the excess skin.","Now the musical handiwork can begin.","Plating is a layer of metal coating an object made of a different type of metal.","The purpose can be decorative, as in silver plating, or practical.","With industrial parts, for instance, zinc or cadmium plating prevents the underlying metal from rusting, while nickel or chrome plating protects against wear.","You can plate almost any type of metal.","Let's follow some steel aerospace parts as they're about to be plated with cadmium to make them corrosion-resistant.","For the plating metal to bond properly, the steel surface must be free of contaminants such as oil and grease.","Workers suspend the parts over a vat of boiling chemical solvents.","As the hot vapor comes in contact with the colder metal, it condenses, dripping down into the vat and taking any contaminants along with it.","The remaining solvent residues evaporate, leaving the parts squeaky-clean and dry.","Next, a worker wearing protective clothing sandblasts the parts with aluminum oxide powder, a strong abrasive.","This roughens up the surface so that the plating metal will adhere better.","The most common plating metals for industrial purposes are zinc, chrome, and nickel.","Think motorcycle parts or sink faucets.","Decorative items, on the other hand, are most likely to be plated in tin, brass, gold, or silver.","Traditional tea sets, for instance, are often made of silver-plated copper or zinc.","The plating process is called electroplating because the key is electricity.","They start by tying strands of copper wire to a copper support frame.","Copper is the best metal for conducting electricity.","Then they attach the steel parts they'll be plating.","When they hook up the support to an electric current, electricity will run from the support through these wires right to the pieces.","They do the electroplating in a tank.","After filling it with water, they add a handful of chemicals to help conduct electricity, because water alone won't conduct it sufficiently.","Along the sides of the tank, in bags, are metal baskets.","They contain bars or balls of the plating metal-- in this case, cadmium.","Workers connect the support frame with the steel parts to the negative terminal of an electric source-- the baskets of cadmium to the positive terminal.","Then, they switch on a steady d.c. current no stronger than six volts.","The electricity dissolves the cadmium, placing the particles with a positive charge.","They travel through the water and attach themselves to the negative-charged steel parts.","This creates a smooth and even layer of cadmium.","Thin plating requires just a few minutes in the tank.","Thick plating, several hours.","Then workers rinse the parts in water for about a minute to remove the chemical residues.","To make the parts even more rust-resistant, workers immerse them in a series of compounds.","This triggers a chemical reaction in the plating, enhancing its ability to withstand corrosion.","This reaction, however, changes the color.","A final rinse in hot water, and this cadmium-plated steel aerospace part is finally ready.","From start to finish, the process has taken about 90 minutes.","To plate with chrome or gold, they have to use a chemical compound containing gold or chromium.","That's because electricity can't dissolve solid chromium well enough, and it can't dissolve solid gold at all.","The compound dissolves in the bath like salt, but then solidifies once it reaches the object being plated.","Metal plating is very durable, but if subjected to a lot of wear and tear, the object will eventually have to be replated.","Have you ever wondered why men's buttons are traditionally on the right side of a garment and women's on the left?","Legend has it that this enabled a man to unbutton his coat with his left hand while drawing a sword with his right.","Wealthy women, meanwhile, had their buttons sewn on the left side to make it easier for their right-handed maids to dress them.","One way to make plastic buttons uses a multilayer sheet of synthetic resin-- hence the industry term, sheet buttons.","Workers start by mixing liquid polyester resin with a catalyst to gel it.","They pour the material into a revolving drum, which disperses it evenly.","They spray a solution containing an ultraviolet pigment on this first layer only.","You'll see why later on.","For this particular model, they make grooves in the resin while it's still malleable.","This will create a design.","After about five minutes, the resin gels and they can mix and add a second layer in a different color.","Besides building up the thickness of the sheet, the resin flows into the first layer's grooves, creating a design of contrasting lines.","Once this second layer gels, they mix and pour in a third color.","The drum spins for another 10 to 15 minutes until all layers cure.","A resin sheet can be comprised of up to 4 different color layers.","Workers can now remove the sheet.","It's hardened enough to be cut into buttons, but it's still flexible enough not to crack when cut.","They feed each sheet into a press that's outfitted with the die for that particular button model.","The press punches out circles in the diameter of the button.","These circles are called blanks.","Here, you can see the different color layers.","The blanks move on to the machining center, where they'll be transformed into buttons.","Automated equipment loads them onto carousels with the back of the blank facing outward.","How does the loader know which side is which?","Remember that ultraviolet solution the workers sprayed onto the first layer of resin?","A u.v. detector scans each blank to make sure the first layer is facing upward.","If it isn't, the machine rejects the blank, then flips and reloads it.","The carousels first run the back of the blank against a series of cutting heads.","The heads are changed according to the model being produced.","For this one, the heads gradually carve a curved back.","The equipment then transfers the blank onto a second carousel, exposing the front side this time.","Again, a series of cutting heads gradually carve the front of the button.","The shape of this model exposes the different color layers underneath, creating a veined effect.","The last cutting head drills the holes.","Here, you can see the full progression from blank to button.","Now they polish the buttons for several hours in drums containing abrasive ceramic stones and pumice.","Then workers flush the drums with water.","The heavy polishing stones sink to the bottom while the lightweight buttons float to the surface and spill out.","The buttons then go into drums that contain silicon wax and thousands of tiny wooden pegs.","While the drums spin, the pegs act as a carrier, distributing an even coat of wax.","As the buttons exit the drums, the pegs are screened out.","From here, plain buttons are often custom-dyed to match fabric swatches provided by clothing manufacturers.","You've seen how they manufacture some types of plastic buttons, just a few of the many styles on the market.","There are several different ways to produce these handy little fasteners.","So, forgive us if we buttonhole you to stay tuned and watch some more.","Archeologists have unearthed bone buttons dating back to prehistoric times.","The ancient greeks and romans used buttons to fasten and decorate their clothing.","Europeans wore buttons strictly for adornment until about the 1200s.","That's when fitted garments became the trend, fastened by a long row of buttons down the front.","The rich wore buttons made of silver or gold, sometimes set with precious gemstones.","Ordinary people wore buttons made of bronze or wood.","This is another way to make plastic buttons using polyester resin.","Only instead of turning it into sheets, they pour the resin into long metal tubes.","Here, they're mixing two different colors to create a design in the plastic.","The tubes go into an oven, where they bake at 212 degrees fahrenheit for about an hour until the liquid resin hardens.","Once the tubes cool off, workers remove the contents.","These long resin rods will become what the industry calls rod buttons.","The rods go into a machine called the slicer.","Its sharp carbide blade chops the long rods into button-sized blanks.","Here's what that looks like in slow motion.","It's no use showing you this at regular speed.","It would be but a blur.","This machine cuts up to 700 blanks per minute.","Blanks cut from resin rods run through the same machining center as those cut from resin sheets.","In the last segment, we showed you the machining steps in slow motion.","Here's what they look like at actual speed.","Any type of button can be engraved with a company name or logo.","They do this using a computer-programmed laser machine.","The laser beam burns the lettering into the plastic.","Workers visually inspect the finished buttons to make sure that none have defects.","A third way to make plastic buttons is a method called thermoset compression, a technique that combines both heat and pressure to mold the button's shape.","As we see here in slow motion, the raw material isn't liquid resin, but rather melamine powder.","A pill-making machine-- the kind pharmaceutical companies use-- compresses the powder into pill-shaped blanks.","Here's what that pill-making action looks like at actual speed.","To transform these pills into buttons, workers load them onto a press.","The press uses high pressure to force each pill into a button mold for a period of 40 to 60 seconds, depending on the size of the button.","At the same time, it heats the mold to 325 degrees fahrenheit.","This bakes the melamine into hard plastic.","They cool the molded buttons in a basin of cold water.","Some specialty buttons will be gold-plated, but not before soaking in a chemical bath to clean their surface so that the plating will bond well.","As a rule, only materials that conduct electricity can be metal-plated.","Plastic, of course, is nonconductive.","This company has managed to devise a way to gold-plate plastic buttons.","Exactly how is a closely guarded secret it's not willing to divulge.","After plating the buttons in copper, a 12-hour process, they plate them in nickel, which takes just a couple of minutes, and finally, in 24-karat gold, which takes just a few seconds.","A mere one ounce of gold is enough to plate 180 pounds of buttons.","Thermoset compression buttons are a lower-end product used primarily for uniforms.","Sheet buttons and rod buttons are higher quality, the standard choice for everyday and higher-end clothing."]}
{"meta":{"things":["U"]},"text":["The best way to protect your bicycle against theft is a heavy-duty lock.","A u-lock is the most secure option.","Unlike a cable or chain lock, you can't quickly sever a u-lock with a pair of bolt cutters.","It takes large conspicuous tools-- not something a thief can likely get away with unobserved.","U-locks come in various sizes so that you can lock your bike to different structures from thin bike racks to thicker tree trunks.","The shackle and lock are made of hardened high-alloy steel, which is resistant to cutting, sawing, and twisting.","To shape the shackle, workers load steel bars into a computer-guided bending machine.","The machine applies more than 25 tons of force to bend the bar in the shape of a \"u\".","The machine also notches each end of the shackle.","These notches are what receive the locking bolts.","To make the steel hard enough to be tamper-proof, they send the shackle to an outside facility for heat treatment.","This demonstration re-creates a small part of that complex process, which is to heat the shackle to almost 1,500 degrees fahrenheit to rearrange the molecular structure, cool it in oil to set the hardness of that rearrangement, then reheat at moderate temperature to restore the flexibility the steel lost due to the previous steps.","When the shackle returns to the factory, a laser machine precision measures and, if necessary, corrects the dimensions as per specifications.","Then the shackle is dipped in durable anti-corrosion paint.","Once the paint dries, and automated machine slips a pvc tube over the shackle.","Next, they screw a plastic bracket to one end of the shackle.","This connects to a corresponding bracket you screw to your bike frame to mount the lock on the bike when you're cycling.","The rectangular block that houses the locking system is called the lock body.","It, too, is made of hardened steel.","An automated press punches holes on the ends for the shackle and in the middle for the lock cylinder.","The locking system has a housing in the center for the cylinder.","Workers mount two metal plates over it.","When you insert the security-coded key in the cylinder and turn, the cylinder rotates within the housing and the plates move apart, triggering other components to lock the inserted shackle.","The cylinder is made of brass, a relatively soft metal, so there's an impenetrable steel plate on top to prevent a thief from drilling into it.","Workers give the cylinder grooves a squirt of grease-- the housing, as well-- then insert pins into the grooves.","These act as blockers, preventing the wrong key from opening the lock.","With the correct key, they give way, enabling the cylinder to rotate within the housing.","This spring applies tension to the cylinder's steel and drilling plate, keeping it in position so that the key inserts easily into the cylinder.","On each side, workers insert a lever and bolt.","When you turn the key to the locked position, the lever pushes the bolt into the shackle's notch, immobilizing the shackle.","This component spring-loads the bolt to prevent the inserted shackle from popping out prior to being locked.","A pneumatic machine inserts the locking system into the steel lock body.","A two-tone plastic cover gives the u-lock a snazzy appearance and makes the surface easier for the cyclist to grip.","Here's how the lock works.","When you turn the key, the cylinder rotates.","This moves the two plates over it outward, triggering the levers on each side to hold the bolt in the shackle notch, locking the shackle in place.","Every lock undergoes an opening and closing check.","Random samples are subjected to more extensive quality-control testing.","It takes 13 tons of cutting force to break the steel-- far more than even this larger-than-typical bolt cutter can apply.","This torsioning machine measures how much twisting the u-lock can withstand.","A bike-robber would have to apply more than 350 pounds of force with a crowbar.","The bike owner, on the other hand, needs only the coded key.","The native north american tepee was designed to be a home where the buffalo roamed.","Centuries ago, tribes were constantly on the move hunting the buffalo, which was their main source of food.","Easy to pack up and reassemble, the tepee served as a portable shelter for this nomadic lifestyle.","Today, people are rediscovering the appeal of a cone-shaped tent with a cook fire inside, and that's put the tepee on the comeback trail.","No need to hand-stitch tepees anymore.","Today, they produce them at a factory using industrial sewing machines.","They start with the front panel.","It's three layers of canvas and vinyl.","They sew details like pockets for poles to open smoke flaps and rectangular patterns to prevent stretching and tearing from holes for lacing the front of the tepee together when pitched.","The sewer now chops through the three layers of fabric with a chisel to make those holes.","Another sewer stitches strips of buffalo hide to the door opening to make it more rugged.","Using a pattern as a guide, the next worker cuts another panel on a slight curve.","He then pieces together panel after panel to construct the rest of the tepee cone.","He reinforces the hem with heavy nylon webbing.","He tucks loops between the webbing and the fabric and secures them with more stitching.","The loops will be used to stake the tepee to the ground.","The team stretches out the completed tepee cover.","An artist maps out some lines for painting on the fabric.","There's 73 yards of it.","It becomes a huge canvas for traditional artistry.","The designs are southwest american in style and highly symbolic.","Circles can represent phases of the moon or the sun.","A sample of the artwork has been drawn up beforehand for the client, and the artist refers to it as she works.","She brushes exterior latex paint thinned with water around the perimeter of the designs.","Then she soaks up paint onto a pad and presses it to the fabric within the painted lines.","This avoids brushstrokes and produces a flat finish that almost looks like dye.","With the artwork complete, the tepee cover now makes a colorful statement.","Outside, an employee shaves the bark off young trees to prepare the poles.","There are 17 per tepee.","Each one is 27 feet tall-- the height of a two-story building.","A two-person team now arranges three of the poles in a specific sequence to build the tripod that is the basic framework of the tepee.","The assembler lashes the poles near the top with thick rope and a tight knot.","He leaves a length of rope to dangle as they raise the tripod.","The rope will come in handy later on.","The arrangement situates the door pole east towards the rising sun and away from westward winds that could interfere with the cook fire.","The team props up the remaining poles between the main tripod poles.","The first two groups of poles form the front of the tepee, and a third group forms the back.","The assembler grabs the rope that still dangles from the central tripod, and, from the ground, winds it around all the poles where they meet at the top.","The last pole is called the lifting pole.","It's used to lift the painted tepee cover to the wood frame.","They unbundle the cover and wrap it around the poles like a blanket around a person's shoulders.","Once the fit is nice and snug, he laces the front panels together using willow branches for lacing pins.","There are 18 pins in total fastened above and below the doorway.","He pegs the canvas to the ground and then installs two last poles for opening and closing the smoke flaps from the ground.","Traditional in design with modern-day materials and construction, the tepee is still an idea worth pitching.","\"croissant\" is the french word for \"crescent\".","This flaky, curved roll is generally associated with france even though many food historians believe its origins are austrian.","Regardless of where it came from, the croissant is a popular breakfast pastry in many parts of the world.","Plain, with jam, or dipped in a cup of coffee, there's nothing like the light, flaky texture and buttery flavor of a croissant.","This commercial bakery makes its croissants with soft-spread margarine in lieu of butter.","The other ingredients are yeast, very cold water-- because warm water would trigger the yeast to react prematurely-- sugar, a touch of salt, and white all-purpose flour.","All the ingredients go inside an industrial mixer for 10 minutes-- first at slow speed to blend everything and form the dough, then faster to knead it.","Next, the sticky, elastic dough enters the multi-roller machine.","As an automated dispenser lightly dusts the dough with flour to prevent it from sticking to the equipment, a series of 16 rollers progressively flattens the dough into a thinner and thinner sheet.","The next process, lamination, is what creates the croissant's flaky layers.","The first station on this line extrudes 44-pound blocks of margarine into a 2/10-of-an-inch-thin sheet.","The next station lays the margarine sheet on top of the thin dough sheet then folds the ends of the dough upward, enveloping the margarine.","Then rollers compress the overlapped dough ends to seal the margarine inside and flatten the whole thing down to about 4/10-of-an-inch thick.","The next station repeatedly folds the dough over itself, then, with rollers again, presses the layers into a thin sheet.","This laminating cycle repeats over and over again until each dough block coming off the line comprises 243 layers.","Plastic wrap keeps the dough moist as it now undergoes eight hours of refrigeration.","The cold re-hardens the by-now softened margarine and lessens the dough's elasticity.","The dough is now ready for the automated machine that forms the croissants.","The first rollers progressively flatten the connected blocks into a thin sheet.","Then another roller runs over the dough horizontally to expand the sheet to the required width.","Next, cutters divide the sheet into seven thin bands, each one four inches wide.","Then a roller surfaced in triangular blades cuts each band of dough into triangles.","A robot separates the triangles and turns them all in the same direction with the flat side forward.","A stopper running the width of the conveyor belt aligns the triangles in straight rows for the next station, inside which a device rolls each triangle into the shape of the croissant.","The bakery's two forming machines output 50,000 raw-dough croissants per hour.","Next stop-- the proofer, a steam chamber inside which the heat and high humidity activate the yeast.","The dough rises, and by the time the croissants exit an hour later, they've doubled in size.","They now bake for 14 minutes in a tunnel oven at a temperature of 350 degrees fahrenheit.","The moisture in the dough evaporates, the resulting steam, along with the melting margarine, producing air bubbles which separate the layers, creating that signature flakiness.","The croissants are now fully baked, golden brown, and fragile.","Soft rubber suction cups delicately transfer them to a conveyor belt.","The belt leads to a spiral tower.","By the time the croissants descend to the bottom, they've completely cooled.","As they travel to packaging, a quality inspector pulls any misshapen croissant.","A multi-tasking robot slaps an adhesive label on plastic bags, counts out and drops in two dozen croissants, then securely seals the bags to lock in the freshness until the croissants reach your breakfast table.","Thousands of years ago, someone invented the wheel.","In 1970, this fundamental invention was applied to luggage thanks to an american luggage executive who came up with the concept while carrying heavy bags on a trip.","By the 1980s, virtually all luggage had wheels.","Today, we take rolling luggage with us everywhere we travel.","They take the heavy lifting out of a trip so it feels more like a vacation.","These hard-shell rolling bags start with polypropylene pellets.","It's a synthetic material.","They add a small amount of colored polypropylene pellets to the uncolored ones.","They'll act as a dye for the batch.","They allow the mix to dry for an hour, getting rid of humidity that would freeze in icy temperatures and cause the luggage to fracture.","They mix and melt the polypropylene pellets into a thick blue liquid.","Then it's over to the injection molding system.","The molds close and a nozzle injects the liquid polypropylene.","The molds are equipped with a cooling system so that the polypropylene hardens almost instantly into a lightweight yet durable material.","A pile of pellets becomes half of a luggage shell in mere seconds.","A robot transfers the molded shell to the next station.","An employee glues the company logo into a slot.","To ensure it really sticks, it's over to the logo machine.","It uses hydraulic energy to press the logo firmly into position.","He now screws a service handle into its molded slot.","This handle is for those times when the traveler has to lift the bag by hand, up stairs, or onto a baggage belt.","These triangular molded parts are the side feet.","They'll keep the luggage upright.","He fastens them onto the base of the shell.","It's time to close this bag.","He adds the other half.","He threads a steel rod into hinge holes to hold the two shells together.","Next, they mold wheels from nylon.","A robot transfers the wheels to another part of the mold.","The mold closes and a nozzle pipes in hot liquid rubber to apply it to the rolling surface of the wheels.","The rubber adheres to the nylon and solidifies.","They attach two wheels to a polypropylene hub for stable swiveling action.","A factory worker now inserts an extendable handle.","Then, working from the inside, she screws the handle to the luggage shell.","She reinforces the connection with a metal bracket, ensuring that the extendable handle will hold fast even when the load is heavy.","She plugs the wheels into their slots in the base of the luggage.","She secures them with screws.","This bag is now mobile with 360-degree swiveling action.","The next employee installs this water-resistant rubber piping.","It will seal the bag and keep the rain out.","She presses it onto the edge of one of the shells.","She attaches brackets for hanging dividers to the other shell.","She snaps three side-locks and one central combination lock onto the bag.","She screws down the hanging divider brackets.","The fabric liner, with its zippered pockets, goes in next.","The elastic dividers extend from it to attach to the brackets.","It's time for the tumble test.","A technician places the luggage in a rolling steel drum, and it bounces around.","They conduct this test on a random bag every now and then to confirm that the luggage will bear up to rough handling.","And with that, these bags are ready for a vacation."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mountain Bike Suspensions","Surgical Sutures","Grain Dryers","Frying Pans"]},"text":["Mountain bike suspension forks were developed in the early 1990s.","Like shock absorbers on a car, these forks expand and contract, absorbing the impact of rough terrain.","They also provide traction, which adds both comfort and control to an offroad ride.","There are plenty of jumps and bumps on an offroad trail.","A suspension fork ensures a cushioned landing.","They start by making the adjustment knob for the compression mechanism.","Computerized tools carve an aluminum bar into a round shape with grooves for better gripping.","Then, they add a protective black coating.","A worker inserts a tension bar into a quick-release lever.","The lever allows the rider to detach the wheel from the suspension fork.","He presses a fastener into the lever to secure it to the bar.","He lubricates the tension bar with grease.","Then, he inserts the bar into the wheel axle, joining it to the lever.","A steel pin holds them together.","An employee places the inner fork upside-down in a hydraulic press.","He inserts the steering tube in the center hole and activates the press.","Then, he lubricates one of the tubular legs and the upper part of an air spring.","He pushes the part through the bottom of the leg.","It slides to the top, where he installs an adjustment knob.","He inserts the lower part of the air spring into the leg.","The air spring allows the suspension to move up and down.","He snaps a collar on the end to lock the air spring in place.","The damper is next.","It's a piston and oil-compression mechanism that absorbs energy.","He pushes it into the second leg of the fork.","He screws a threaded collar and valve into the top of the damper leg.","He adjusts the damper's position.","He adds oil to the damper, using a fill sleeve to prevent spills.","He pushes a rod through the damper to get rid of any air.","Once the damper is full of oil and air-free, he installs the top cap and seals it with a gasket.","He screws a base ring onto the gasket.","Then, he installs the compression knob we saw machined earlier.","The knob allows the rider to adjust the compression of the oil.","With the inner fork complete, they now move on to the outer fork.","An employee inserts bushings in the tubular legs and activates a two-pronged press.","The press pushes bushings securely into the cavities.","He secures the inner fork in a jig upside-down and slides the outer fork onto it.","He lubricates the spaces between the inner and outer forks.","After bolting the suspension forks together, he increases the air pressure in the spring and caps the air-fill valve.","Now, for testing.","A motor moves the fork up and down, simulating a bumpy ride.","A computer monitors the suspension fork's performance.","After passing the test, a worker applies brand decals to the fork.","Finally, he slides the axle into the lower part of the fork and secures it.","This mountain bike suspension fork is complete.","Now, a technician fits it to the front of a bike.","He attaches the handlebar to the steering tube with a nut and a long screw.","Next, he attaches the wheel to the fork with the axle.","It takes just two hours to make a mountain bike suspension fork...","But they're strong enough to last through many more hours on long, bumpy mountain trails.","Humans have been performing surgery for over 7,000 years, but the use of surgical sutures is fairly recent.","Ancient greek surgeons were thought to be the first.","They used gut strings to mend the wounds of gladiators over 2,000 years ago.","Today's medical sutures come in different forms, such as synthetic monofilament threads, natural collagen fibers, or braided synthetic threads.","A technician sets a tension meter to check the quality of the raw materials.","The machine applies tension on the knot to measure the force needed to break it.","A worker tests the material's absorption process in a heated bath.","This simulates the temperature and moisture of the human body.","A technician enters the product's medical specifications and prints out a batch of labels.","Then, a supervisor selects needles and places them on a table.","He retrieves spools of thread from a refrigerated room.","To preserve the thread, it's been stored in sealed containers.","The supervisor gathers all the materials and brings them to the material preparation department.","The supplies are passed through an air lock to maintain the department's positive-pressure environment.","On the other side, a technician opens the airtight foil and removes the thread spool.","She threads the spool in a custom-made winding and cutting machine.","The technician sets the mechanical thread counter back to zero and starts the winder.","It can wind threads that are up to 100 inches.","The counter tracks the number of windings as the machine unspools the thread.","The machine stops automatically once the winding is complete.","The technician applies medical-grade glue to stiffen the ends of the braided threads before cutting them.","She places a guide to hold the threads in place while she cuts them along the glue line.","Sutures use needles of various shapes and sizes, the smallest ones being 10 millimeters in length.","On the main production floor, dozens of workers attach needles to the threads.","They make sure the attachment meets the suture's requirements.","The operator inserts the glue-hardened end of the thread into the back of the needle and crimps it tight with a mechanical swaging machine.","Then, she hooks the needle into a pull tester to check the strength of each attachment.","Finally, workers wind the assembled sutures into folded holding cards, tucking the needles in for protection.","A worker inserts the holding card in a labeled foil pouch.","Then, he slips it in a second package made of medical paper and polypropylene film and feeds it into a continuous rotary sealer.","The sealed packages drop into a production holding basket.","The finished product is sent for terminal sterilizing.","A worker places the basket into an ethylene oxide, or eo, gas sterilization bag.","She attaches a biological indicator vial and a control strip on a sterilization control card and puts the card inside the bag.","She adds an eo gas delayed- release canister in the bag and places the sealed bag into the sterilizer.","Sutures can be used for a variety of procedures, but each product has a very precise application.","Harvested grains must be dried before they can be stored.","Otherwise, they'll spoil.","Farmers can outsource this work to someone else for a hefty fee, or they can choose to keep everything on the farm by investing in a grain dryer.","To use a grain dryer, the farmer simply dumps their harvest into a fold-down loading hopper.","Once the bin is full, he or she starts the dryer's power unit.","A central auger circulates the grain inside the bin as a fan blows in hot air, drying the grain.","Most of the grain dryer's components are made out of steel tubing.","Workers cut the tubes to the various required lengths.","Once all the pieces are cut, workers position them on an assembly jig.","Here, they're assembling the dryer's mainframe.","Once all the parts are laid out, workers lock the pieces in place and weld them together.","They assemble what's called the spider on a different assembly jig.","The spider supports the dryer's plenum chamber, the component at the center of the bin that distributes the hot air.","Workers bolt the spider to the mainframe and move the unit to the paint area.","They clean and prime the steel, then, coat it with corrosion-resistant paint.","It takes 24 to 32 hours for the paint to dry.","At that point, workers mount the agitator to the spider.","The agitator prevents wet grain from sticking to the bin wall.","They mount the agitator's main drive chain to the main gear and gearbox drive.","Meanwhile, a plasma torch cuts sheets of perforated galvanized steel for the bin.","These pieces will form the circular bottom.","A press punches holes along the edges of each sheet.","Workers connect the sheets together and bolt them onto a ring called the transition band at the top of the mainframe.","Then, they lower the spider and bolt it to the transition band.","They bolt the plenum chamber to the spider.","The chamber is made of perforated galvanized steel sheets.","Hot air blown into the chamber by the power unit exits through the perforations, drying the circulating grain.","Next, they assemble the bin's outside wall.","They bolt perforated galvanized steel sheets together, as well as to the transition band on the mainframe.","The sheets enclose the plenum chamber at the center and vent the dry air through the perforations.","Workers mount the power unit to the mainframe.","The unit, consisting of a burner and fan, blows hot air into the plenum chamber.","In another part of the factory, they build the loading hopper on an assembly jig.","After welding the parts together, they clean, prime, and paint the steel; install the auger that moves the grain; then, a cover the farmer can adjust to regulate the flow.","He also adds a protective screen, for safety.","Then, they attach the finished loading hopper to the dryer's mainframe.","It connects via a pivoting hinge on the front of the loading tube.","The hinge lets the farmer fold the hopper up and out of the way when it's not in use.","Workers install springs to make it easier to lower and raise the 60-pound hopper.","They also install a latch, which secures the hopper against the bin during storage or transport.","The grain dryer rolls on wheels attached to axles bolted to the mainframe.","The last step is installing a ladder on the outside of the bin.","This provides access to the top of the grain dryer for monitoring operation and maintenance.","Frying pans were first used by the ancient greeks and romans over 2,000 years ago.","These wide and shallow pans can be used to sauté, sear, or fry food.","Water released from the food during cooking creates that sizzling sound.","The shape of the pan allows steam to dissipate, giving food a crispy finish.","A good nonstick frying pan is a must in the kitchen.","A frying pan can be made of any heat-conductive metal.","In this case, aluminum alloy ingots.","They melt the ingots.","A robotic ladle scoops up molten aluminum to be used for casting.","They use this two-part die to transform liquid aluminum into a frying pan.","The robotic ladle pours the aluminum into the die through a cylindrical port.","This high-pressure casting produces a very precise shape.","After about a minute, an operator takes it out.","They cut off the excess using a computerized tool.","The table moves as the tool cuts the edge of the pan to specifications.","A worker sands the edges and rounds the rim of the pan a little more.","They cast pans in several sizes and thicknesses.","An employee keeps a detailed inventory of the pans.","Next, they put the pans in a sand-blasting chamber.","The sand blaster cleans off oil and residue.","It also roughens up the surface of the pans to prepare them for coating.","An employee scrubs off the sand using an abrasive pad.","Next, the pans receive their ceramic coating.","Each pan spins on a pod as a plasma flame melts three different powders onto it.","The coating protects the pan from corrosion.","An employee scrubs each pan with an abrasive pad to remove the residue.","This time, the frying pan spins slowly as torches heat them to approximately 175°.","This preheat preps the pans for the final coatings.","They prepare up to five proprietary coating formulations for each frying pan model.","Each one contains dozens of chemicals and thousands of tiny diamond particles.","The diamonds increase durability and heat conductivity.","They also make food less likely to stick to the surface of the pan.","The final coating contains a nonstick chemical known as ptfe.","They spray the different coatings onto the surface.","The spinning ensures even coverage as the coatings adhere to the hot pans.","Now, a primer is applied.","It allows the final nonstick coating to bond to the frying pan.","At the end of the line, an employee inspects the finish and sprays a little more of the nonstick formula onto the handle fitting.","Then, the frying pans go through a furnace to bake the coatings onto the pans.","An employee checks the finish for bubbles, scratches, or color inconsistencies.","Once the pans have cooled, a robot transfers them to a lathe.","The lathe spins the pan as a tool shaves off a thin layer of aluminum.","This leaves a clean, level surface on the bottom of the pan.","A suctioning robot moves the frying pan to the next station, where a worker attaches a handle to the pan.","An automatic screwdriver secures it.","A technician heats one of the frying pans on a cooktop as a mechanical arm rubs the pan thousands of times with a coarse piece of sandpaper.","There are no scratches, so the entire batch of pans is approved.","Thousands of nonstick frying pans are ready to leave the factory and cook up a tasty meal."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Crayons","Wooden Kayaks","Lawnmowers","Gold Chains"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Crayons...","Wooden kayaks...","Lawn mowers...","And gold chains.","Crayons are a popular drawing tool for today's young artists.","The average north american kid uses 730 of them by the age of 10.","An american chemical company invented crayons in 1903.","It took the basic wax crayon it already made for marking crates and barrels and came up with a nontoxic version in different colors.","These crayons are made from a combination of waxes-- primarily paraffin, which is ideal for making crayons because it's inexpensive and easy to melt.","It also has what's called a nice rub-off, meaning it leaves enough wax on the paper.","They melt the wax at 143 degrees fahrenheit.","Then add a secret powder to strengthen the crayon and act as a filler, boosting the number of crayons the wax will produce.","They also add various synthetic chemicals-- there's one to keep the wax from sticking to the mold...","And a fatty acid, called stearic acid, to improve the rub-off.","Now they tint the wax-- in this case, yellow and red to produce orange crayons.","This factory can produce 127 different colors.","Every ingredient in the crayons is nontoxic.","After adding more wax, they blend the mixture for about 45 minutes.","Now they pump the wax into this device called a rotary machine.","It first injects the wax into crayon-shaped molds.","Then it envelops the molds in cool water, hardening the wax within roughly a minute.","As the molds continue along the circuit, a blade scrapes off the excess, which gets recycled.","Just one rotary machine molds more than 2,700 crayons per cycle.","With several machines operating simultaneously, this factory churns out 30,000 crayons per hour.","The machine ejects the crayons, and a conveyor transports them to the labeling machine.","One by one, they drop into the grooves of a revolving drum.","At the bottom left, a gluer coats the surface in between the grooves just before the crayons go in.","The machine then slaps a label onto each crayon.","A roller presses the label against the adhesive, then a little arm wraps it around the crayon.","This machine labels 8,500 crayons per hour.","The crayons exit the labeling machine and land in a bulk box.","Workers sort the crayons by color into the appropriate hoppers of the packing machine.","The packaging line is entirely automated.","The factory programs the machine to collect a certain number of crayons in specific colors according to the type of pack in production.","Their best sellers are packs of 16 and 24.","The packing machine is designed to handle the crayons gently.","Occasionally, though, a crayon does crack or a label comes loose.","When that happens, a sensor automatically stops the machine and a light goes on above the problem hopper.","Workers clear the jam, then production resumes.","Once the count is complete, the crayon line and the box line meet.","A pushing device slides each set of crayons into a box.","A built-in scale weighs every box.","Should one be underweight, the machine automatically blows it off the conveyor belt.","A worker then manually adds the missing crayon, ensuring a full complement of colors for every budding artist.","For thousands of years, aboriginal people in the arctic have used kayaks to hunt and for good reason.","These slender vessels glide swiftly in the water and are light enough to carry.","High-tech materials make today's wooden kayaks more durable than ever, but its shape and performance in the water are basically the same.","It starts with plywood made from okoume-- a rugged type of mahogany.","A computer-guided routing machine cuts out the boat's various parts.","One has finger joints that interlock with another piece to make one long strip.","These panels will cover the sides of the vessel and most of the top.","The planks are so thin-- just a little over an eighth of an inch-- that the entire kayak will weigh only 37 1/2 pounds.","Then there are bulkheads, end panels, footrests, and curved pieces to support the deck and sides.","After applying two coats of epoxy resin, a craftsman assembles the parts and secures them in a jig for six hours until the glue sets.","The side panels will span the entire length of the boat, at just over 16 1/2 feet.","Assembling the kayak is pretty straightforward, so if you want to save money and do it yourself, you can buy this kayak cheaper as a kit.","He planes and sands the end panels to create a curved tip.","He drills small holes spaced 4 3/4 inches apart along the edges of the bottom panels.","Then he threads copper wire through the holes.","This stitches the panels together temporarily, keeping them flexible and thereby easy to assemble for gluing.","He places wooden pegs between the side panels to pry them open...","Then joins those panels with two screws in the front and two in the back.","At this stage, the kayak is upside down, so they add the bottom panels.","He attaches them with copper wire because it won't stick to the resin he'll use to glue these parts together.","After flipping the boat, he attaches a bulkhead with more wire.","It's one of two separators that create stowage compartments.","Using a putty knife as a gauge, he ensures the gaps at the seams are even, then he flips the boat and coats the seams in resin.","He lets it dry for 6 hours, just part of the 40 hours it takes to build the kayak.","Before the glue hardens, he makes sure the top of the boat is level.","This way, he can adjust the pieces if he needs to.","After removing the wire from the seams, he applies more resin to these areas.","Over this, strips of fiberglass cloth to form a watertight seal.","He'll also apply three more coats of resin throughout the inside of the kayak.","Once it dries, and he sands and varnishes the entire surface, the craftsman adds the footrest assembly.","This one's got pivot pads with cables that control a rudder to help steer the boat.","This is an optional feature.","Otherwise, there's a simple foot brace, and you just use your paddle.","Next, craftsmen apply resin along the kayak's upper rim.","They add the top panel to form the deck, then they wrap the entire boat in packing tape, which compresses the panels as the resin sets for 12 hours.","These pieces form a raised rim around where the kayaker sits.","A waterproof skirt fits under this rim, keeping the area dry in the water.","The deck gets two coats of resin.","An hour later, they spread fiberglass over the bottom to seal and protect the wood.","The bottom then gets three coats of resin.","Next, they spray on up to six coats of varnish, depending on the type of finish the boat will have.","This protects the wood from sun damage.","They add a foam backrest and a seat for your comfort on the trek.","And finally, flexible rubber straps-- they're for securing your paddle to the kayak.","Now it's off to the water.","Gardeners' jobs got much easier in 1830 with the invention of the first mechanical lawn mower.","Nowadays, most lawn mowers have electric motors or gas engines.","They turn blades that are either on a reel and cut like scissors or rotate like a propeller to chop the grass.","These gas mowers have rotary blades that spin horizontally on a vertical crankshaft.","To make the blade housing, which is called the deck, a machine first applies a lubricating chemical to sheet steel, which was coiled when it came to the factory.","The chemical helps flatten it so it's easier to cut.","A press then perforates the sheet every 2 feet.","After the press separates the segments and rounds off the corners, a robotic arm moves each segment onto a die.","A 500-ton press bends the steel like tinfoil between two molds to give the deck its basic shape.","A robot lifts the oily decks with suction cups and moves them to another press.","This machine trims away the excess around the deck's edges.","Another machine bends the sharp bottom lip inward to make the deck safer to handle.","The factory uses robots because they work faster than humans, processing 500 decks an hour.","After a thorough cleaning, the decks move into an electrostatic-paint booth.","They lace the powder paint with a negative electric charge, the decks with a positive one.","This draws the paint particles onto the decks, creating a thorough and even coat.","The factory's six paint booths are on tracks so when it's time to change color, workers can easily switch the entire chamber for a clean one.","The paint cures at 374 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes.","This press bends 8-foot-long tubing to form the mower's upper handle.","Another press bends 6-foot-long tubes to make a shorter, lower handle.","Workers will later attach the two handles to form one folding handle.","By folding, it takes up less space in the shipping box and, later, in your garage.","Here's the mower's 5-horsepower engine.","A worker attaches it to the deck with three bolts.","He uses a powerful torque gun so the bolts won't loosen because of vibrations.","Later, workers will mount the blades to the engine's crankshaft that protrudes through an opening in the deck.","Next, workers install a plastic rear door, through which the grass clippings eject.","This door attaches to brackets, which have levers that adjust the mower to nine different height positions.","It's time to mount the plastic rear wheels.","Next an adaptor to stabilize the blade on the crankshaft, then the blade.","It's wider at each end to create the proper airflow inside the deck.","They secure the blade tightly with a powerful wrench because it's going to spin at 3,300 rpm.","The front wheels are 1/3 smaller than the back ones.","This makes the mower easier to maneuver over uneven terrain.","They put rubber covers on the height-adjustment levers so they're softer on the fingers.","The mower adjusts from 1 inch to nearly 3 1/2 inches off the ground.","They secure the lower handle, then loosely attach the upper handle to the lower one.","The consumer can tighten this after shipping.","They add a safety handle that turns the engine off if you're not squeezing it against the upper handle.","It attaches to a caliper system, much like what you'd find on a bicycle.","Finally, workers apply labels to indicate the mower's horsepower and width.","Fill it up with gas, and it's ready to give your lawn a trim.","Some of the first gold chains date back to the ancient cultures of iraq and greece.","They were symbols of wealth, royalty, and the divine.","Lucky for us, jewelers now make these personal treasures more affordable and more durable than ever.","But you may be surprised to learn what they put in the gold to make it better.","Pure gold is fairly soft and bright yellow, so it's common to create an alloy to strengthen it and alter its color.","Copper lends a reddish hue.","And brass helps the alloy melt more quickly than gold and copper would alone.","Depending on the ratio, adding these metals produces 14- or 18-karat gold.","They melt the mix in a crucible at 1,850 degrees fahrenheit.","Just three of these scoops are enough to make about 5,000 14-karat-gold chains.","A worker pours the molten alloy into a casting machine.","Water cools the metal to around 700 degrees fahrenheit, solidifying it.","The metal passes through a round die which shapes it into a golden rod that's nearly 6 1/2 feet long.","After cutting the rod in half, workers pass it through what's called a breakdown mill.","The machine reshapes the rod from round to square so it will be easier to stretch.","Next stop-- a tandem mill.","It's got 12 rollers that stretch the rod until it's about as thin as a piece of spaghetti.","As it emerges, rollers shape the rod into a coil that's nearly 78 feet long.","Workers soften the coiled metal in an oven.","Then they uncoil and continue stretching what's now a wire by passing it through a die lined with industrial diamonds.","To prevent overheating, the machine sprays lubricant to cool the wire while reducing it to the width of a human hair-- its final size.","The wire then winds into a spool that's over 1 1/2 miles long.","Next, they unwind 32 of the spools and run the wires through another oven to soften them even more.","Just in case you're thinking about walking off with some of them, you should know that security is very tight.","Employees must pass through metal detectors before going home, and wearing jewelry to work is strictly forbidden.","This machine makes what's called cable chain.","It passes wire through a link and closes it to make another link.","The machine makes 600 links per minute.","Here, a worker does a random quality check.","This machine makes a chain in what's called a venetian style.","The wire passes through a channel where mechanical jaws bend it over a die to make a link with the preceding segment.","To make what's called a spider style, this machine passes a wire through up to five loops before closing the link.","For a figaro-style chain, this machine makes three short links before a mechanical arm moves the chain to another area to add one longer link.","The arm then moves it back to add three more short links.","The simplest style is what's called a rope chain.","To make it, this machine threads a wire through as many as two loops then closes it to make another loop.","They coat the finished chains with a lubricating powder that prevents the links from sticking to each other during the next step, when they heat the chains to 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","This activates a soldering agent added to the metals earlier.","It fuses the ends of the links to each other.","This machine welds a link to a clasp on the chain.","A tag indicating the gold quality goes onto the clasp.","Finally, the chains go through four chemical baths, which thoroughly clean them, then workers plate them with a layer of 14- or 18-karat gold.","Plating gold with gold creates a more vibrant finish.","After one last quality check, these chains are ready to dazzle their way to a neckline near you."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Burning Stoves","Orthoses","Ballet Slippers","Buses"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Wood-burning stoves...","Orthoses...","Ballet slippers...","And buses.","Wood-burning stoves do more than create a cozy ambience.","They're also powerful enough to heat an entire house.","More and more people are installing a woodstove as an additional heat source in their home.","It's economical, and the new low-emission models are more environmentally friendly.","Every woodstove has a fire baffle-- a stainless-steel barrier above the burning wood that shields the top from the intense heat.","The baffle also slows down the smoke exiting by the chimney, which reduces the upward draft that the rising heat creates.","Production begins with large steel sheets that are 1/4 of an inch thick.","A computer-guided laser cuts out pieces that workers will shape into the various parts of the stove.","The laser slices through the metal quickly and with extreme precision.","And because it cuts with intense light rather than punching force, the pieces have neat, smooth edges.","Workers use a strong magnet to lift and transfer the pieces to the next production area.","The largest piece becomes the surround-- the part that forms the sides and back of the woodstove.","Workers use a machine called a press brake to shape it.","A computer guides this large hydraulic press to bend the flat steel in exactly the right spots.","Now they position the surround in an assembly jig to keep it steady during welding.","After welding the front of the stove to the surround, they weld the air intake, which allows oxygen to enter the stove to feed the fire.","Next they weld the top--  the fire baffle-- and air channels near the top, which are also designed to feed the fire with oxygen.","The quality of welding in a woodstove is critical because the joints have to be able to withstand extreme heat.","Now they weld the bottom of the stove.","It has a hole in the middle through which you sweep the embers to an ash pan below.","Now they weld the flue collar, the steel ring that attaches the stove to the flue pipe that leads to the chimney.","Workers now bolt the stove to a pedestal.","The pedestal is also made of welded steel.","Meanwhile, the door takes shape.","They glue a fiberglass rope to the perimeter of the doorframe using a silicone-based glue that's resistant to extreme temperatures.","This cord prevents air from seeping in through the door and fueling the fire out of control.","After installing the locking door handle, they weld the door hinges.","The stove's interior, where the wood burns, is known as the combustion chamber.","They line it with bricks to protect the walls from warping in the intense heat.","Bricks do deteriorate over time, but it's easy to replace them.","The last steel part they install is the cap for the ash pan.","Now an automated conveyer transfers the stove to the paint station, where a robotic arm sprays on a coat of heat-resistant paint.","Once the paint air-dries, a worker removes the door to install its glass panel.","This isn't your run-of-the-mill window glass.","It contains ceramic, which enables it to withstand temperatures up to almost 2,000 degrees fahrenheit.","With the glass panel in place, workers can apply decorative features and information stickers.","Then they put the door back on and lock it shut.","They rivet on the company logo...","Then install a fan in the back.","The fan blows out the heat that the stove generates.","When the wood-burning stove leaves the factory, its coat of paint is dry, but not yet cured.","The heat cures it when you fire up your stove for the first time.","Orthoses are devices such as arch supports and braces that address a joint or muscle problem in the back or extremities.","An orthosis can provide artificial support, prevent or correct a deformity, or improve how a weak or painful area functions.","You can buy an orthosis off the shelf or have one custom-made.","Producing a custom-made orthosis starts with a thorough examination.","A certified professional, called an orthotist, analyzes the problem area-- in the case of this patient, the feet.","After a few manual manipulations to test the range of motion and pinpoint weakness or pain, the orthotist uses various instruments to measure the angles of the different parts of the feet.","Then it's on to specialized devices that analyze foot position and movement during standing and walking and how body weight is distributed onto the feet.","In this scan, the red areas show that more weight is landing on the left foot than on the right.","Next, a 3-d impression in foam.","It goes to the production department, where technicians fill it with plaster.","Once it dries, they extract an exact model of both feet.","Now they can construct the orthosis piece by piece.","Most of the components are made of different types of polyurethane, a lightweight thermoplastic.","Each type is designed to produce a specific effect at a different phase of the patient's footstep.","For example, the blue base is made of rigid polyurethane that holds the foot in the correct position.","At the front, dense, black polyurethane helps propulsion and reduces stress on that side of the foot.","They cover the assembled orthosis with a sheet of glue and put it in a vacuum press.","The press applies heat to activate the adhesive.","It sucks out the air between the components and compresses them tightly together.","When the orthosis comes out, they place it on the model of the corresponding foot.","Then it goes into a different vacuum press to mold it to the shape.","They add made-to-measure corrective parts with latex foam.","Then, using hypoallergenic glue, line the orthosis with a soft polyurethane.","All that's left to do now is buff the orthosis.","This smoothes all the surfaces.","To ensure the orthosis fits correctly, the patient redoes the key tests while wearing it.","Remember that scan showing red areas?","They're gone now because the patient's feet now bear his body weight equally.","This patient has arrived with a doctor's prescription for a knee brace.","The orthotist analyzes his mobility, flection, and balance, then sends the technical specifications to the production department.","There, technicians make a model of the leg.","They begin by positioning the leg at a 12-degree angle and wrapping it in plaster bandages.","While waiting for the fast-set plaster to harden, the patient chooses a decorative pattern for the outside of the brace.","The hardened cast serves as a mold.","Technicians pour in plaster, let it harden, then remove the cast.","After smoothing the surface, they draw technical markings, then install the lightweight aluminum joints that will enable the orthosis to bend.","Now they run a sheet of plastic through an oven.","This is high-memory plastic, meaning that when you form it, it remembers the shape and maintains it.","The design the patient chose comes printed on transfer paper.","They use a laser thermometer to ensure the plastic is at the perfect temperature for the pigments to penetrate properly.","They carefully position the hot decorative plastic on the model.","Using a vacuum bag, they remove the air and press the plastic on tightly.","The plastic sets in about two minutes, maintaining the form.","They cut the required shape, line the inside, and sand the edges smooth.","Finally, they attach straps to fasten the orthosis to the leg.","The orthotist checks the fit on the patient, then runs various tests to make sure the orthosis is doing exactly what it's designed to do.","Ever wonder how ballerinas manage to dance on the tips of their toes?","It takes years of training, remarkable skill, and special ballet slippers.","These toe shoes are handmade in what's truly a manufacturing pas de deux-- a graceful pairing of traditional methods and modern materials.","They sew the toe shoe's exterior with three pieces of satin.","They cut those pieces using a press equipped with a metal die.","It slices through enough fabric at a time to make four pairs of shoes.","They also cut a pure cotton lining for each piece to protect the dancer's feet from irritation.","This v-shaped piece is called the vamp.","It'll become the front half of the shoe.","The seamstress extends the \"v\" by attaching the two other satin pieces, called the quarter panels.","They'll form the back half of the shoe.","She sews the ends of the \"v\" together, making a heel seam, which she reinforces with a rayon ribbon.","Then she feeds the same type of ribbon through a special machine that folds it in half over a drawstring.","She stitches it to the top perimeter of the shoe.","This encased drawstring will enable the dancer to pull the shoe tightly around her foot.","Now they put the satin upper onto a wooden form to check the sizing.","It's absolutely critical that the height of the vamp be correct to within 1/8 of an inch.","If it's even slightly off, the top of the shoe will cut into the dancer's foot.","The shoemaker nails the cotton lining to an insole on the bottom of the form.","The insole is made of rigid cardboard for support, imbued with plastic for flexibility.","After trimming off the excess, he glues the lining onto the insole, making neat little pleats.","Once the glue dries, he removes the nail and trims the excess pleating to eliminate any bumps that would irritate the foot.","Now they sculpt the toe box, the hard encasing inside the tip of the shoe.","It's made of papier-mâché, only instead of paper and paste, they use fabric and paste.","Then they soften up a piece of resin-coated cotton in water and apply it on top.","Next they saturate two pieces of burlap with paste and apply them, one after the other, over the cotton.","The paste is made of flour, water, starches, and a rubber-and-plastic-based resin that hardens to a semi-flexible state.","That's key, because the toe box has to be stiff enough to bear the dancer's full weight, yet flexible enough so that the ballerina can move fluidly.","Now the final layer of fabric--  a piece of pure cotton.","They wrap the toe box in plastic to keep the hammer clean as they square off the front, creating what's known as the platform.","Then they press the toe box onto a piece of marble to make it completely flat.","They verify that the platform is perfectly square.","If not, the ballerina will topple over.","After letting the toe box dry for 24 hours, they glue the lining over it with contact cement.","They trim off the excess, then glue the satin over the lining, forming delicate pleats.","They use lighter glue this time, because contact cement would stain the fabric.","They apply a foam filler to even out the shoe's underside, then coat it with high-strength vinyl glue.","They apply the same glue to a sole, then leave both to air dry.","24 hours later, they put them on a heater set to 200 degrees fahrenheit.","This reactivates the dried glue in about half a minute.","They apply the sole then put the shoe in a press for 15 seconds to solidify the bond.","Now they can remove the shoe from the form.","The sole is made of suede, a material that has just the right amount of grip.","It's nonslip, yet still enables the dancer to glide smoothly across the floor.","The last step is to glue in a white suede sockliner.","It cushions the ballerina's foot and keeps it from slipping forward when she's dancing on her toes.","A city's fleet of public transit vehicles might include standard buses, low-floor buses, or both.","Low-floor buses have a special kneeling feature.","When they pull up to the bus stop, they can mechanically lower themselves to curb height to make boarding easier for children, senior citizens, and handicapped people.","This low-floor bus is 40 feet long and can carry more than 80 passengers.","To build the bus's internal structure, workers put stainless-steel bars into a press.","It applies between 90 and 110 tons of pressure, bending them to the required shape.","Workers assemble the structural pieces on a support frame called an assembly jig.","They use an electronic inspection arm to verify their work.","Once they've assembled the roof structure and the side structures, they bring them together for welding.","Everything goes on a rotating jig.","It turns like a giant rotisserie, giving workers easy access to whatever part of the bus they need to weld.","When the welding is finished, they turn the bus right side up.","They put the structure on a dolly and release it from the jig so that they can move it down the production line.","Meanwhile, the stainless-steel structure for the floor of the bus takes shape.","Once that's complete, it's back onto the rotating assembly jig to weld it to the rest of the structure.","This bus factory uses stainless steel because it stands up well to corrosion.","Transit systems need to keep these buses running full-time for up to 20 years.","Less rusting means fewer expensive and time-consuming repairs.","Workers now move the completed structure to another part of the factory where they spray the underframe and lower section with a black, anti-abrasion coating.","This protects against the noise and damage that stones and other road debris cause when they hit the bottom of the bus.","Next, workers apply high-strength glue to the floor structure and lay down a subfloor.","Then they drive in screws for reinforcement.","Now they turn the bus upside down to install four tanks of compressed air under the roof.","Three are for the brake systems, the fourth for the doors and other mechanisms.","Melamine ceiling panels hide everything that's under the roof.","Next, the engine's radiator goes in at the rear of the bus.","Then workers turn the bus right side up again and lay down a waterproof vinyl floor covering that's specially designed to withstand heavy-duty transit use.","They cover the sides and roof with fiberglass panels.","To prevent corrosion, workers use glue rather than screws or rivets.","Then they attach the fiberglass front of the bus to the rest.","The bus's low-emission diesel engine arrives at the factory already assembled.","Workers attach it to the transmission and drive shaft in the engine compartment.","Buses without air-conditioning have sliding windows that open widely.","On air-conditioned buses, just a small top section opens.","The upholstery on the molded fiberglass seats is a velour-like fabric woven onto a strong canvas, then glued onto a fiberglass insert.","This construction makes it impossible for vandals to slash the seat with a knife.","Workers install the driver's seat, the steering wheel, and all the controls, including the toggle switch that activates the kneeling feature.","This bus also has a ramp for wheelchairs.","A safety system locks the accelerator pedal and applies the brakes to prevent the bus from moving when the ramp or kneeling feature are in operation.","The finished bus undergoes a half-hour water-infiltration test with all of the systems running.","This ensures there are no leaks.","At every phase of production, the factory does a quality-control inspection, checking everything from mechanical safety to finishings, right down to the tiniest of details."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Basque Pelota Balls","Pallet Trucks","Dumplings","Brass Faucets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pelota is a ball game that originated in the basque region of france and spain.","Most versions are played against a wall, in which the player throws the ball either by hand, racket, bat, or basket.","Occasionally the game is played in teams, where players are separated by a net or a line on the ground.","Basque pelota balls come in different diameters and weights, according to the type of play for which they're designed.","But all of them have had the same basic construction for hundreds of years-- a core wrapped in rubber, wool, and leather.","To make the rubber wrapping, this machine deposits a line of natural rubber onto a paper strip.","Next a heating lamp softens the rubber to a formable consistency, while the machine applies a second paper strip on top.","This process sandwiches the rubber together.","Then two rollers compress the encased rubber into a flat strip.","Today, a pelota ball's core is typically made of plastic.","The size of the core varies according to the final diameter and weight of the ball.","The second machine removes the paper and wraps the rubber strip around the core, maintaining its perfectly round shape.","The machine stops wrapping when the ball reaches a specific diameter and weight.","Manufacturers place the rubber-wrapped core on a third machine, which wraps it in wool yarn, carefully maintaining a perfectly round shape.","The ball continues wrapping until the ball reaches a specific diameter and weight.","Now they prepare the ball's outer layer.","They take a piece of goatskin and trace a figure-8 pattern around it repeatedly.","Then the shapes are cut out with a utility knife.","The goatskins are soaked in water for a few minutes to make them supple.","Then they coat the yarn with liquid synthetic rubber...","Take two goatskins per ball...","And wrap them in opposite directions.","The skins are held in place temporarily with about a dozen tiny nails.","With strong synthetic thread, they sew the hides to each other.","The key is to pull the stitches tightly so that the ball inside is immobilized.","Once the sewing is complete, they remove the nails.","They apply their maker's mark with a felt pen.","Next the ball undergoes a size test, using the gauge that corresponds to the ball's intended diameter.","If the ball does not pass through the first hole but passes through the second, the diameter is correct.","The final step is to grease the leather with tallow-- purified fat from cows' kidneys.","One small glob evenly coats 20 or so balls after about 10 minutes in this specially designed machine.","The tallow nourishes and protects the leather.","No finished ball leaves the manufacturer without undergoing a bounce test.","Pelota balls used in regulation play must have a plastic core, whereas balls used strictly for recreation may have a core made of boxwood.","White pelota balls are designed for playing against a colored wall.","Balls designed for play against a white wall are dyed black prior to applying tallow.","Pelota is also played across a net or a line on the ground, the size of the ball varying with the version of the sport.","A pallet truck is a workhorse in the warehouse.","This electrically powered vehicle loads and unloads products from tractor-trailers and travels up and down aisles to deliver and retrieve products on low racks.","The driver stands on the truck's platform to steer and operate the forks.","Need a lift?","A pallet truck is small but mighty.","It can lift loads that weigh up to 8,000 pounds.","This computerized laser cuts out many of the pallet-truck parts from a sheet of steel, and the software ensures that there's minimal waste.","A technician inserts one of the parts in a brake press.","It folds the edges, creating flaps to form it into part of the vehicle battery box.","This is the part before and after bending.","At the next station, an operator clamps fork frames in a welding fixture.","He adds multiple steel supports at the base of the fork frames and along the sides.","They'll strengthen the structure and add balance to allow the forks to carry heavy loads.","As the fixture rotates, the robotic welder moves in and fuses the supports to the frames.","At the next station, the fully assembled battery box is lowered into place and positioned upside down.","Operators place the fork frames on top and lock them into place.","The fixture slants the parts towards the robot so that it can get into tight spots and weld them together.","They also weld together the structure that will house the transmission.","The parts plunge into a series of solutions.","The first baths remove grease and residue.","The final one preps the metal for a powder-coat finish.","Then a worker applies an electrostatic charge to powder particles.","The particles gravitate to the parts and form a powder coat on the surface.","The powder coat gives the parts a protective skin and a uniform sheen.","Next, technicians install a metal rack on the fork frames to help contain the truck cargo.","They clamp the assembly in a fixture that holds it sideways so that technicians can install pull rods in the base of the forks.","Powered by hydraulics, the rods will move the forks up and down when needed.","Powder-coated bright red, the truck structure is ready for the components.","A worker bolts swiveling caster wheels to the base.","Another worker then installs the steel arms that will link hydraulics to the pull rods.","Moving around to the back of the structure, she connects the arms to the hydraulic pistons.","She runs hoses from the hydraulic fluid reservoir to the pistons and torques the fittings.","Each structure is marked to indicate it's been torqued correctly.","A probe gauges the measurements of parts like this transmission bracket.","If the measurements are off, the part can't be properly assembled.","At another station, a technician bolts the drive tire to the transmission and motor assembly.","A crane lowers the drive assembly into the center hole of the pallet truck structure.","The worker secures the parts together with bolts.","Another worker then wires the motor to a controller.","He makes other connections to prepare the motor to be coupled to the battery.","Now it's time to marry the truck structure to the battery and fork assembly.","The worker links the pull rods to the hydraulic lift system using two bell cranks with thick pins.","Next a technician attaches metal blocks, leveling the forks to a specific height.","Thick cushioning at the back will give the future operator a comfortable surface to stand on.","A cover protects the transmission, motor, and the hydraulics.","This pallet truck is ready to get to work.","An l.e.d. light system guides the operator to place items on the pallet.","It both carries the load and tells you how to load.","Dumplings are a popular cuisine made by a variety of flavors from around the world.","They can be sweet or savory, steamed, boiled, baked, or fried.","In chinese cuisine, dumplings have been refined to an art form and are often eaten on special occasions like chinese new year.","To make a dumpling, you first wrap a thin layer of dough around a filling.","Dumplings can come in many different shapes.","These are filled with shrimp and pork.","Food-prep technicians at this facility peel, devein, and sort shrimp for different kinds of dumplings.","As they work, they double-check each shrimp for freshness and quality.","The 30 people working at this station can peel 10,000 shrimp per hour.","To make the dumpling dough, technicians begin the process by pouring all-purpose flour into this large mixing bowl.","They add water at a ratio of two parts flour to one part water.","A large dough hook mixes the two ingredients together.","Periodically, the technicians stop the machine to manually test the dough for consistency.","It's not ready yet.","After more mixing, they test it again.","This time, it's just right--  soft and still elastic.","To strengthen the dough structure, a worker begins folding and rolling it into lengths.","At the next station, food-prep technicians rip small chunks off the rolls.","Then they weigh the chunks to ensure they meet the parameter of just 0.28 ounces apiece.","Two additional technicians collect the chunks and follow a two-step process in which they stand each piece on its round end before flattening it.","They sprinkle the round disks with flour to keep them from sticking to each other when moved to the next station.","The next step uses traditional cooking tools to transform each disk into a wrapper for a dumpling known as shao mai.","The food-prep technicians wear protective clothing to prevent contamination.","In-house quality control inspectors test the airborne bacteria levels in the facility every month to ensure that it meets the necessary standards.","Creating the shao mai wrapper requires high levels of skill.","This worker's right hand rolls the dough while his left hand rotates the wrapper in perfectly coordinated movements, turning out wafer-thin rounds at high speed.","A second worker uses a different style of rolling pin to crimp the edges of the wrapping.","The technicians on the left use a wooden spatula to scoop a portion of filling into each wrapper before placing them on a scale to ensure the weight is correct.","Technicians on the right top off each dumpling with a shrimp.","Inserting the shrimp is another step that requires carefully orchestrated hand movements to accomplish the task with speed and elegance.","The worker is able to carefully tuck the shrimp into place with effortless movements of one hand.","Dumplings come in all shapes and sizes.","At another table, workers assemble a delicacy in the shape of a half-moon.","These dumplings start out with the same disk-shaped wrapper and the same shao mai filling.","Next, a worker uses a special crimping technique, pinching a series of small creases in the dough to seal them in a completely different way.","By carefully arranging each dumpling, technicians can fit nearly 88 of them in one pan.","Thanks to an amazing artisanal assembly line of skilled workers, the final product is almost too beautiful to eat.","Water faucets date back to at least 1700 bc.","Archaeologists discovered that the minoan palace at knossos, on the greek island of crete, had a plumbing system consisting of terra-cotta pipes, providing water to faucets made of gold and silver.","Today's water faucets are typically made of cast brass plated with another type of metal.","This single-handle faucet is most commonly seen in a bathroom and is chrome-plated.","This factory uses steel molds to produce sand molds for casting the brass components.","The sand mold is actually a sand model of the brass part, only slightly smaller.","Workers file off the excess sand, which hardened inside the channels consuming the entirety of the steel mold cavity.","In the casting area, technicians load brass ingots into the furnace, which stands next to an automated casting machine.","The furnace heats the solid metal at a temperature of nearly 2,000 degrees fahrenheit, causing the metal to melt.","Technicians place the sand mold inside a two-part steel mold.","The inner cavity is in the shape of the faucet part, only slightly larger.","The molten brass will flow into the gap between the sand mold and the steel mold cavity.","The casting machine positions the mold over the furnace and lowers the mold into a tube, which injects molten brass into the cavity.","20 seconds later, the steel mold opens, and technicians extract the castings and set them aside to cool.","Then the parts are placed into a shotblasting machine, which removes all the sand.","Next, a worker saws off the excess brass that solidified in the channels of the steel mold.","This separates two faucet bodies that were cast together.","At the next station, a press forces the part into another machine, trimming off seams and jagged edges.","Each faucet body is placed on three consecutive computer-guided machines.","One machine cuts threads in the spout hole for the screw-in aerator.","The other cuts threads in the hole on top for the screw-in cap that retains the cartridge.","The third cuts threads in the installation hole on the bottom.","A robotic machine polishes the entire surface of the part against three separate sanding belts.","The first belt is a course grit-- the second, a medium grit--  the third, a fine grit.","This preps the brass for plating.","These large automated electroplating tanks coat the parts with two layers of nickel, then a layer of chrome.","In the assembly area, engineers press a nylon-and-ceramic disk through the top hole of the faucet body.","The disk has brass threads for the screw-in hot and cold water hoses.","They attach an anti-leak seal on the bottom and screw the aerator into the threaded spout hold.","The aerator separates the water flow into tiny streams mixed with air, reducing the flow, which prevents splashing.","They insert a nylon-ceramic cartridge in the top hole, securing it with a retaining cap hidden by a chrome ring.","The cartridge is the valve which opens and closes the faucet and mixes the hot and cold water.","They thread the screw for installing the faucet on the sink.","Then they screw the rubber-and-steel water hoses into the brass threads of the disk.","The factory runs every single faucet it produces through a water test.","Engineers manipulate the still-exposed cartridge to check all functions-- turn on, hot/cold water mixing, and shut off.","If the faucet passes inspection, they attach the handle with a small screw.","They hide the screw with a cover, then apply a sticker reminding the consumer to periodically clean the aerator.","They package the faucet with a pop-up drain stopper and a p-trap set.","The pvc piping retains a small amount of water as a barrier to prevent sewer gases from backing up into the bathroom."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Surgical Instruments","Ketchup","Double"]},"text":["Surgical instruments have evolved with the science of medicine.","They actually date back thousands of years, when primitive man used crude implements to cut holes in skulls to release evil spirits.","Medical science has come a long way since then, and today's surgical tools are among its advancements.","In the hands of a skilled surgeon, the right tool can be a lifesaver.","There are now hundreds to choose from, each designed for a specific task or operation.","Made of surgical-grade steel-- which is extremely corrosion-resistant-- they can withstand frequent cleaning and sterilizing.","One of the more useful tools is a self-retaining retractor, which is used to pull back tissues or organs during surgery.","Using a circular cutter, they round the profile of the tool's joint.","This round joint allows the tool to open when the shanks are shut, the opposite of a pair of scissors.","Next, cutters carve slots in two parts to create the retractor's intermeshing jaws.","These jaws will be used to grasp and retract body tissue so the surgeon can operate.","A technician sands the teeth down to a precise size.","He must be accurate within a quarter of a millimeter.","He then smoothes the jaw's teeth against a fine-grit wheel so they'll easily intermesh when needed.","He rounds the tips of the teeth to make them blunt so they won't damage human tissue.","He hammers back the tips of the teeth, giving them a claw-like profile.","With the teeth now complete, attention returns to the round joint of the instrument.","The carved slots and counter-sync allow the two sides to fit together perfectly.","They install a part called the rack, below the joint, and file teeth into it.","It will be used to lock the tool in an open position.","After heat treatment, a worker sands all the tool components to smooth sharp edges.","Vibrating porcelain chips and polishing compound scrub them clean and remove burrs caused by machining.","Next, they install the pivot screw and trigger for the rack.","By pressing it, the surgeon can open the prongs to the desired width and lock the tool in position.","Production now moves to the surgical clamp.","It's used to block the flow of blood during operations and has a more scissors-like joint-- rectangular instead of round.","Mechanized cutters carve the joint and catches.","A worker forces the finger bows against a spinning grinding wheel to remove surface imperfections.","Precision is again critical, as the worker grinds each of the tool's shanks to the correct thickness.","He measures to confirm that the size is consistent along the length of the part.","He then files the joints so they mate perfectly.","He places the joint part of one of the shanks over hot coals to soften the metal and make it malleable.","Then he forces a spike through a slit in the joint, and the now-compliant steel stretches to open the slit.","The other shank now slides easily into the opening.","He hammers the joint to close the opening, and the two arms of this surgical clamp are now hinged together.","Next he files the teeth of the clamp so they'll interlock when the tool is closed.","He bends the two ends around a tool to form the jaws of the clamp.","These curved jaws will come in handy when the surgeon needs to reach around organs or bone.","Next, using a variety of tools, he adjusts the shanks and the finger bows to give them a more ergonomic feel.","This is called soft-setting because at this point, the metal is still soft enough to be manipulated.","He tweaks the bend of the jaws until he's satisfied with the curvature.","He smoothes the inside of the finger bows with a fine abrasive belt.","After heat treatment to strengthen the metal, they blast it with fine glass particles to give it a satin finish.","They laser-etch the company name and identifying numbers onto the surgical clamp.","The numbers will allow the tool to be traced back to a particular production run.","And now it's ready to take its place on the front lines of healthcare.","Ketchup has a questionable past.","According to one theory, it comes from the chinese \"kê-chiap,\" a type of sauce.","Another theory traces it to european pickling sauces, and yet another claims arabic origins.","But there's widespread agreement on where it ends up-- on hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries.","Tomato ketchup recipes vary only slightly, as consumers expect a certain familiar tomatoey taste.","This u.s. company produces all-natural ketchup made entirely of certified organic ingredients-- tomato paste, agave nectar--  a natural sweetener-- onion powder, spices, salt, and white vinegar.","The tomato paste, not surprisingly, is the base ingredient.","It arrives at the plant in huge bins, which have been vacuum-packed to preserve freshness.","After unsealing each bin, the factory's quality-control technician scoops a sample for testing.","This is to make sure that the thickness is just right.","If the sample gets the okay, workers slide the bin under a powerful air-driven pump.","Then they flip a switch, and the pump begins moving the tomato paste to a large holding tank, transferring nearly 310 pounds of this ketchup base in less than 10 minutes.","At production time, an intricate system of piping transfers a specific amount of tomato paste from the holding tank into a cooking kettle.","As the paste cooks, a mixer continuously revolves to keep it from sticking to the sides and to blend in the onion powder workers add next.","This and the upcoming ingredients have been pre-measured to be in correct proportion to the batch size.","The next ingredients are salt, then, as a sugar replacement, nectar from the agave plant.","They pour in an initial amount, mix a bit, then pump in the remainder.","The last ingredient is white vinegar.","For competitive reasons, the company won't divulge the mixing time, cooking time, or cooking temperature, all of which are key elements of this top-secret recipe.","On the packaging line, an alignment machine stands the plastic bottles upright as they make their way to the filling machine.","The finished ketchup, meanwhile, is passing through an elaborate system of cooling pipes en route to the filler.","And let the bottling begin.","The machine fills eight bottles at a time...","150 bottles per minute.","The factory tests every batch of ketchup it produces to ensure the correct consistency in every bottle.","The next machine, appropriately called the capper, places a plastic flip-cap on each bottle, then, with spinning circular belts, twists it on securely.","The next machine cuts a decorative neck band made of plastic film and slips it over the cap.","Each bottle then passes under an air jet.","The air blows the neck band downward until it's positioned under the cap.","Then a quick blast of hot steam shrinks the band to a tight fit.","The next machine presses on two adhesive labels-- one on the front of the bottle, the other on the back.","Then it's off to the packing-and-shipping area.","A sealed bottle of ketchup stays fresh for at least a year because the vinegar in it acts as a natural preservative.","Ketchup also has health benefits because it's chock full of tomatoes, which are high in lycopene--  a powerful antioxidant believed to protect against many types of cancer.","Double-decker buses have long been a fixture on the streets of london, england.","A typical double-decker carries 60% more riders than a regular bus.","And though quintessentially british, nowadays you'll find london style double-deckers on the streets of several major cities throughout the world.","Every bus design undergoes rigorous stability testing.","They fill the prototype with lead weights to simulate a full passenger load, then tips the bus to a 28-degree angle, the side wheels lifting about shoulder height off the ground.","If the vehicle doesn't keel over, the design passes the test.","The bus's underframe--  the chassis-- is made of welded steel.","They construct it in three separate modules-- front, center, and rear-- then set the three modules in an alignment jig to be welded together.","Once that's done, welders add a steel structure that'll support the floors, seats, and body panels.","Then they clean the chassis and paint it with anti-rust epoxy.","After baking on the paint, they seal the gaps between the welded parts with polyurethane.","This prevents water penetration, which would cause internal corrosion.","Meanwhile, technicians bolt the 6-cylinder, 250-horsepower engine to the automatic transmission and connect the hydraulic lines and other piping.","Then they wheel this engine pack over to the assembly line and bolt it to a bar at the rear of the chassis.","By suspending the engine, they shield it from impact damage in the event of a rear-end collision.","They also install the radiator, battery, and other components.","At the front of the chassis, they install the driver's binnacle-- on which all the controls are located.","Unlike a stationary car dashboard, for driver comfort, the binnacle tilts with the steering column.","After installing the front and rear axles, technicians mount the wheels.","Each one is more than a yard in diameter and weighs 100 pounds.","The engineering specs require the wheel nuts to be turned to a specific tightness.","Workers also install the driver's seat and the vehicle's 73-gallon gas tank.","The complete chassis goes onto a test-drive machine which simulates varying passenger loads and road conditions.","A camera pointed at the binnacle records the accuracy of the speedometer and whether any warning lights illuminate.","Then it's in to the body shop, where workers mount fiberglass boxes over the wheels.","Another team builds the inter-deck floor, the aluminum-frame structure that separates the bus's two levels.","They affix the lower level's melamine ceiling to one side and the upper deck's plywood floor to the other.","To make the roof, they construct an aluminum frame then glue an aluminum sheet onto it.","Most of the bus's body is made of aluminum because, compared to other metals, it's lightweight, durable, and easy to repair.","Next, they paint the roof and install components integrated within it, such as the aerial antenna and wires for lighting.","As this computer animation illustrates, step by step, the bus is slowly taking shape.","Workers insert the pegs underneath the roof into aluminum pillars running the perimeter of the upper deck.","Along the sides, workers sandwich the structural frame between inner and outer aluminum body panels.","First, they affix the inner ones, then they fill the spaces in between with blocks of foam insulation.","Finally, they glue on the outer side panels, pressing out the excess adhesive with a roller so that the panel lays flat.","The front and back of the bus are made of molded fiberglass.","They have openings for windows, and in the back, a cut-out beneath the top window for the upper-deck air-conditioner.","As one crew glues all the window glass into place, others install the doors and, inside, the upholstered seats and a durable non-slip floor covering.","Once the bus comes back from the paint shop, the factory's quality-control department inspects the interior.","The seat fabric is dark and patterned to discourage graffiti.","The bus also has 12 cameras hidden in various locations to deter vandalism.","The typical double-decker is 11 yards long and nearly 15 feet high.","It carries up to 92 passengers.","When you need something to lean on, a walking stick can provide the necessary support.","Wooden walking sticks have been coming in handy since primitive times.","The first versions were likely crude branches, but they've evolved into something much finer.","Today's wooden walking sticks are designed to support the user in style.","There are rustic versions for the outdoor adventurer and distinguished-looking ones for getting around town.","But, whatever the style, a walking stick adds stability to the human journey.","It all begins with these 3-year-old saplings.","These are chestnut--  a lightweight and durable wood.","Once the sticks have been peeled and dried, it's into the washing machine to scrub off any dirt or mold that may have accumulated.","And it's not your usual washing machine-- this one is a long tank sized specifically for these sticks.","A worker closes the lid tightly so no sticks will spill out as the tank rotates in a trough of soapy water.","After a few minutes of tossing about, these sticks come out squeaky-clean, and they're ready for the steamer.","The sticks are steamed for 20 minutes, and this makes them soft enough to bend.","So next, he secures the stick and activates a spring-loaded arm.","It wraps one end around a form to curl it into a crook.","He ties it so it holds the crook shape and retracts the bending arm.","This crook will serve as the walking stick's handle.","A century ago, crooks were formed entirely by hand, which took brute strength.","But with the invention of this nifty machine, the job became a whole lot easier.","Next, it's over to a device called the straightening horse, because it's used to straighten the stick's shaft.","This job does take a bit of muscle, as the worker wrenches the shaft between posts to set it straight.","With the shaft now quite linear and the end curled into a crook and still tied, it's time to set the shape of this walking stick.","And so it's in to the drying room for a couple of days.","The temperature in here is around 175 degrees fahrenheit.","And as the sticks dry, the shape solidifies.","A worker then cuts the stick to the correct length, and he also pares down the end to prepare it for capping later.","He also sands down the knots in the wood, creating a smoother surface.","From a simple sapling to a cane shape, it's quite a transformation.","And it's not over.","The next worker exposes the wood to a flame, just long enough to blacken it.","This is staining without the chemicals, and the finish is distinctive.","He now turns the walking stick against a very sharp circular blade to carve spirals on the crook and down the shaft.","It's a candy-cane look, and achieving it is a bit tricky.","This is where on-the-job experience counts.","Another worker then trims the end of the handle crook.","The cutoffs won't go to waste-- they'll help fire the factory furnace.","Next, a worker inserts the crook in a machine that works like a pencil sharpener, except the blade inside rounds the end.","This process is called \"nosing the stick\".","The stick that started out as a peeled sapling now looks dramatically different.","Next, a dip in water-based lacquer gives this walking stick a high gloss.","They hang it to drip-dry for an hour, after which the walking stick is ready for the end cap, or ferrule.","Ferrules come in a variety of styles.","There are blunt ones, for a good grip on indoor surfaces, and there are pointed ferrules, for navigating rougher, outdoor terrain.","After hammering the ferrule onto the stick, he drives a nail through it to secure it.","And these walking sticks are now complete.","All that's left is to hang around until the orders come in.","And those orders are usually very specific.","Customers get to choose the length of stick that's appropriate for their height, as well as the style and finish they prefer.","From a simple stick to a dignified-looking cane, it's been quite a journey.","The path ahead may be uncertain, but with one of these walking sticks in hand, a person is well-equipped to make his or her way in the world."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Skeletal Replicas","Ice Buckets & Servers","Dining Chairs","Inground Pools"]},"text":["Skeletal replicas are excellent educational tools.","While real bones are fragile, these reproductions are made of a synthetic resin, which is very tough.","These models are scientifically accurate and can withstand repeated handling in classrooms or museums.","This facility is dedicated to producing skeletal replicas...","Everything from ancient humans to prehistoric animals.","Cast from real skeletons, these models are virtually indistinguishable from the original.","The process starts with a real skull.","This one is of a prehistoric sabertooth cat.","Using a wire cutter, a worker slices up blocks of clay, placing the pieces on the skull.","He presses the clay evenly around the skull.","He soaks a sponge and uses it to moisten and smooth the clay.","He inserts a plastic tube that will come in handy later.","Now, he saturates strips of fiberglass with a polyester resin and drapes them around the clay.","Left overnight, the fiberglass and resin cure into a rigid shell around the clay.","He repeats this process to create a second, identical fiberglass shell.","With the skull and clay in the bottom half, he bolts the second shell on top.","He pours silicone into the plastic tube, filling the space between the skull and the top fiberglass shell.","After repeating this process on the other side, he opens the shell.","He removes the skull and examines the two-part silicone mold.","He places the two-part mold back into the fiberglass shell and straps it to a spinner.","He pours polyurethane resin into the mold.","At just over a pound, the weight matches the original skull.","The spinner spirals at a controlled speed, evenly distributing the resin throughout the mold.","After the resin has solidified, he removes a replica skull from the mold.","The specially formulated resin has the look and texture of bone.","The craftsman scrapes away the ragged bits.","This part is the jaw.","Using a special grinding tool, he cleans up the surface and does a bit of contour work.","With a sharper tool, he better defines the area around the teeth.","Then he grinds the rough bits away from the cheekbone.","This is the jaw before and after the improvements.","Now it's over to the paint department, where a worker airbrushes the skull using acrylic paint.","He layers shades of brown, black, and red to make this replica look more authentic.","He inserts the saber teeth in the upper part of the skull and drills little holes in both of them.","He pushes nails into the holes to secure the teeth in the sockets.","An inspector now scrutinizes the skull and compares it to the original one on the left.","Just like the real sabertooth cat skull, it looks ancient.","It's difficult to tell the difference between the 12,000-year-old skull and the new one.","The skull is now ready for the rest of the skeleton body.","It takes five people three weeks to build a skeletal replica like this one.","The roman emperor nero is believed to have been the first to chill wine in containers of ice.","Despite the convenience of modern refrigerators, ice buckets and servers are still used today.","They add presentation value to any occasion, whether the host is on a champagne or a beer budget.","This ice server's simple design drains melted ice, so food stays cold without getting wet.","An automatic guillotine blade chops large sheets of high-grade stainless steel into rectangles.","A worker takes each rectangle to a punch press.","The press cuts a pattern of holes into the steel.","The pattern is geometric and will drain melting ice efficiently.","Next, it's over to a deep-drawing press.","It uses 110 tons of force to transform the rectangle into a pie-style plate.","A punch cutter removes the excess steel from the rim.","The worker now has a perforated ice tray.","He transfers it to another punch press, which cuts finger holes for lifting it from the base.","The next worker places a larger steel rectangle into a different press.","This will shape the bowl the ice tray rests in.","He returns to the tray and buffs the rim to a mirror finish.","After polishing the outside of the bowl to a high gloss, he welds two screws to the bottom.","With the screws firmly in place, he connects the two steel legs to the bowl.","He attaches a steel platform to the other end of the legs.","This ice server is complete and ready to chill.","But before they uncork the champagne, they need an ice bucket.","The bucket starts with a pre-cut steel disk.","An employee places the disk in a more powerful press.","It uses 165 tons of force to transform the disk into a basic bucket shape.","Next, another press applies over 175 tons of force to deepen the bucket and reduce the diameter.","Stretching the flat disk twice has made the metal fragile, so it's exposed to induction coils that are heated to over 1,800 degrees.","After cooling, the steel's strength is restored, and it's ready to be shaped again.","The final press gives the ice bucket a cone-like shape.","The ice bucket spins on a table that moves through six different polishing stations.","The brushes at each stop are progressively thinner, and this gradual polishing gives the stainless steel bucket a high sheen.","With the help of a template, the worker welds handles to the steel bucket.","Then the bucket is set upside-down on a revolving table.","A pressurized sprayer shoots fine mineral particles to give the interior a smooth finish.","This is the result.","A filler head now dispenses acid and then plunges into it and applies an electrical current.","This removes the surface metal, resulting in a brilliant finish.","After the acid has washed off, a worker inserts a perforated plate for drainage.","This ice bucket is now ready for a party.","It's not enough for a dining chair to look inviting.","It also has to be comfortable and sturdy.","The secret to manufacturing a quality dining chair is to use hardwood and traditional furniture construction techniques.","This company makes dining chairs out of hardwoods, such as birch, walnut, oak, and ash.","They dry the wood until its moisture content is 7%, so the chair size stays consistent after construction.","First, workers stand planks of wood on a conveyor belt to apply glue.","Then they align the planks' glued edges...","And clamp them tightly together in a heated press.","After a few hours of heat and pressure, the glue is dry, and they release the press.","The planks now form a large panel from which to cut the chair parts.","A computer-guided band saw cuts the preliminary shape.","These are chair legs.","The next machine, the profiler, finalizes the shape and sands the wood surface on all sides.","Workers now mount the parts on another computer-guided machine.","This one drills slots called mortises.","These mortises will receive pins called tenons protruding from adjoining parts.","Before assembly, workers sand all the parts so they can be stained later.","To make a curved chair back, they have to bend the wood.","They need the wood to have a 15% to 22% moisture content.","Any drier, and the fibers would snap when bent.","They steam the wood for an hour to soften it and make it more flexible.","They place the steamed wood in a curved mold on a press.","Then they dry it with a device that generates heat using radio frequencies.","After about an hour, they release the press and remove the wood.","The moisture content is now 7%, which maintains the curve shape.","Parts that need tenons go into this automated machine.","Its rotary knife shapes the tenon in about one second.","Workers glue the mortises in the two vertical sides of the chair back, then brush glue onto the tenons of the chair back's horizontal pieces.","They align the tenons and the mortises and secure them in place with a mallet.","They put the chair back into a press to force the tenons in place.","They reinforce each mortise-and-tenon joint with staples designed for wood.","They continue to assemble the chair parts with mortise and tenon joints.","This method is key to the chair's strength and stability.","Now for the final stage of construction.","They attach the front-leg assembly to the chair back.","The chair is placed in a press to completely secure the tenons.","Then they attach a support piece in each corner.","In the finishing department, they spray a light coat of stain, wipe off the excess so that the color is even, spray on a sealant, lightly re-sand the wood, and apply a coat of protective finish.","Finally, they add a seat cushion, which screws into the chair from underneath.","Now you're sitting pretty.","The first pools were built by the ancient greeks and romans in the 19th century.","Large cities like london started building indoor pools for sports and recreation.","Backyard residential pools became popular in the 1950s.","Today, residential in-ground pools are available in a variety of shapes and sizes.","Their parts are made to order in the factory.","The first step is to design the pool according to the client's specifications.","Computer software then determines exactly which components must be built.","The side panels of the pool are made with galvanized steel plated with zinc to prevent rusting.","They die-cut \"v\"-shaped notches on the top and will cut similar ones on the bottom later.","These little dimples in the metal will hide the heads of bolts.","They punch out holes on the remaining ends of the panel.","These will serve to join multiple panels to create the perimeter of the pool.","They insert each panel in a powerful metal folder.","It firmly clamps the sheet of metal and pushes up the edge to create a 90-degree angle.","Taking a flat, metal sheet and turning it into a three-dimensional object makes it stronger.","They fold the notches at the top and bottom ends of the panel.","They also die-cut a large hole for the clean-water inlet.","To make a curved panel, they place it on a fixed-radius jig.","They insert a metal profile called a stiffener and bolt it in place.","They use a custom flat head bolt and nut that will lodge themselves in the metal dimples.","Next, an automated clamp bends the panel to fit the jig's curve.","The \"v\"-shaped notches allow the panel to bend easily, but workers must install radius belts to maintain this shape.","They fasten the radius belts permanently using hydraulic rivet guns.","All in-ground pool panels are made to order and shipped as soon as they are ready.","In the thermoforming department, they use a fixed sheet of a.b.s. plastic to make the in-ground pool steps.","The sheet is firmly clamped in a frame and goes into an oven.","The oven heats the plastic to around 350 degrees for five minutes until it gets soft and pliable.","As the plastic comes out of the oven, a fiberglass mold is pushed up, forming the main shape of the steps.","A rigid cage seals the sides, and a powerful vacuum sucks out the air, forcing the plastic against the mold.","A series of fans cool down the plastic.","When it has hardened enough, it's removed from the mold.","They prepare the vinyl liner for the inside of the pool.","There are about 30 designs to choose from.","Workers unroll the vinyl on a cutting table, where a conveyor will keep pulling on it.","A computer-controlled rotary knife zips over the moving vinyl...","Cutting effortlessly to create all the required sections.","The cutting process generates little waste, and the materials are fully recyclable.","Workers carefully fold each section of the liner.","All sections will be assembled in another department, according to the assembly plan.","On-site, they assemble the steps, the side panels, and the piping for the filter and heater.","They pour concrete around the pool to form a foundation.","Then they pour some inside the pool to create the bottom.","They smooth the surface and let the concrete set for two days.","A worker unfolds the vinyl liner.","It has a semi-rigid pvc edge that hooks into the top of the pool.","They fill the space around the pool with gravel and pour a concrete sidewalk on top.","All that's left to do is add paving stones or a deck, some plants and furniture, and you'll have your own, personal paradise."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plant Oil Extractors","Custom"]},"text":["In glass extractors, solvents capture liquids from solid or semisolid materials.","For example, oils can be extracted from plants to obtain the essence of their fragrance and flavor.","The plant oil can then be bottled for use or incorporated into products.","Inside this glass apparatus, extraction happens.","Solvent continuously treats a solid material to extract an oil or other component of interest.","Making an extractor starts with glass tubing of various lengths and diameters.","A glass worker uses this one to form a standard taper joint in one end of the extractor tube.","He heats the end to soften it and places a forming tool over it.","In its softened state, the glass conforms to the profile.","After controlled heating removes internal stresses, he grinds the joint to the final dimension.","The grinding gives the joint a frosted appearance.","Another worker widens one end of the main extractor body and forms it into an outer joint.","This end will connect to the condenser.","The other end connects to the lower extractor body.","A worker joins them together.","Then, using a glass support tool, he inserts an inner siphon tube.","He melts a hole in the lower extractor body and attaches the inner siphon tube to it.","He makes another hole in the extractor's main chamber.","He then fuses another siphoning tube to the outside of the main extractor body and bends it into a \"u\" shape.","He connects the other end of the \"u\" to the inner siphon tube and melts the connecting point all the way around to seal the glass.","He burns another hole in the lower end of the extractor and installs a tube for solvent overflow.","He bends it into a vertical position.","He forms another hole near the top of the main extractor body and connects the overflow tube to it.","Moving on to the condenser now, a worker shapes the end into a joint that will fit into the top of the extractor.","He pumps air into the condenser tube to expand the heated glass within a forming tool.","Another member of the team applies an aggregate compound.","He inserts in it a spinner that grinds the compound against the glass to refine the profile.","He tests the fit of this inner joint against a standard outer one.","Blowing air into one end, he heats the condenser tube in three locations.","The air gravitates to the heat and forms bulbs in the part, increasing the surface area inside to improve efficiency.","He opens up one end of the condenser tube.","Continuing to heat the end, he inserts a reamer tool to widen the opening.","He carefully slides the condenser into the outer body using a piece of cardboard.","The worker burns a hole in the bottom of the outer body and fuses the end of the condenser to it.","He then connects the stem that will eventually carry the condensed solvent to the extraction chamber.","Next, he makes a hole in the top of the condenser and seals a stem to it.","This top stem opens the system to the atmosphere to prevent pressure buildup.","He also equips the condenser with connectors for cooling fluid hoses.","A worker moistens a decal of the company logo and places it on the condenser unit.","Then he places the unit into an annealing oven to gradually ramp up the temperature to 1,040 degrees fahrenheit, and then slowly brings it down.","The process both strengthens the glass and bakes the decal into it.","Heated, evaporated and then condensed, the solvent in the extractor will separate liquids from solids.","After more than a century of use, it's still a neat trick.","The perfect chandelier can be the cherry on the decor sundae.","There's no shortage of fabulous fixtures in lighting stores and online, but when customers have a unique design in mind, or want someone to design something special, they have to go to a lighting manufacturer that does custom work.","This striking chandelier is a unique custom design.","A rustic faux-wood-finish exterior contrasts against a shimmering gold-leaf interior and has handblown, ribbed glass globes suspended like colored jewels.","A worker constructs the frame for the chandelier's drum shade out of flat bars of cold-rolled steel, steel whose composition makes it flexible enough to be bent without heating.","After bending two bars into rings, the welder connects them with four vertical ribs made of the same type of steel bars.","He tack welds the pieces at first, then verifies with a level to make sure the ribs are straight.","Then, he fully welds the frame and grinds every weld flat to make the joints invisible.","The manufacturers laser cut and weld sheets of cold-rolled steel to make the light kit that contains the lights and wiring and supports the shade with four crossbars.","Turning the kit upside-down, the bottom is spray painted gold.","The workshop's custom painter applies adhesive and begins gently laying down delicate sheets of gold leaf.","He flattens the leaf with a soft-bristled brush, working the entire surface.","Once he's sure the gold leaf has adhered everywhere, he brushes away the excess.","Once the gold-leaf adhesive is dry, he sprays on a coat of clear, high-gloss lacquer, then removes the masking tape covering the side and top.","The painter also gold leafs the inside and rim of the light housings.","An assembler now installs them in the light kit, then installs an led bulb in each housing.","To make the shade, manufacturers mold two half drums of acrylic and paint them black on one side and gold on the other.","Another painter brushes white lacquer-based paint on the black side.","Once the paint dries, he applies a coat of diluted brown paint in uneven striations to create the look of wood grain.","He doesn't let this coat dry because he wants overlapping colors to bleed into each other, so he quickly applies the third coat.","He immediately applies the fourth and final coat, diluted gray.","He spreads it with a cloth using small gentle strokes.","He compares his work to the design sample to make sure it matches.","Then, he lets the paint dry thoroughly overnight.","The next day, the first painter applies gold leaf to the reverse side of the painted drum halves.","Again, he coats the gold leaf in clear lacquer and lets it dry overnight.","The next day, an assembler takes the drum-shade frame, which has since been painted black, and installs the two half shades, locking them into a lip on the top and bottom rings.","A worker completes the light kit by splicing the nine wires coming from the led lights to a central wire coming out from the center of the kit's top cover.","Then, workers line up the kit's four crossbars with the shade's four ribs and insert each crossbar through a notch at the top of the shade.","They screw the top ring to the crossbar.","Globes are crafted by a local glassblower.","The assembler strings each one on a stainless-steel braided cable with a brass check ring on top.","He sets spring-loaded ball grippers above and below the globe to lock it on the cable.","The grippers make the globe vertically adjustable.","This chandelier has seven cables, each one suspending one to three globes.","A brass connecter at the top of the cable screws securely into a small threaded hole in the light kit.","With its creative trio of faux-wood, gold and glass, this custom-designed chandelier makes an illuminating statement.","Strength training is an important component of a fitness regimen.","One way to build strength is to lift weights or exercise on machines that provide resistance when users pull, push or lift.","Typically, weights produce that resistance, but some machines use a completely different system.","This exercise machine doesn't have the typical stack of weights.","Instead, the handles are connected by a rope-and-pulley system to a pneumatic cylinder which creates resistance.","This computer-guided laser cuts many of the parts out of sheet steel.","It can make complex cuts, which are accurate within 100 microns, the width of two human hairs.","The parts go into a vibrating tumbler filled with ceramic stones and water.","The stones rub against the parts, removing what's called scale, a flaky substance produced on the surface of the steel by the heat of the laser and oxygen in the air.","A worker clamps the parts for the trainer's power module onto a welding fixture.","The fixture is on a robotic cell.","The cell rotates, delivering the parts to the robot, which proceeds to weld them together.","Welding the power module takes 14 minutes.","When the robot completes the welding, the cell returns the fixture to the worker, who inspects the module thoroughly, then transfers it to the finishing area.","A worker grinds the welds flat, then, with a finer grinding disc, smoothes them out so that they won't show once the steel is painted.","After washing the module in iron phosphate, a worker applies a positive electrical charge to the module and a negative one to the powder paint.","Opposite charges attract, drawing the paint particles onto the surface in an even coat.","Then the worker bakes the paint onto the steel in an oven.","Elsewhere in the factory, another worker drills a 12-inch-deep hole into a cylinder rod.","The rod is steel, the piston on its end, aluminum.","He inserts the cylinder rod into the cylinder, also made of aluminum, then carefully inserts a sensor rod into the cylinder rod's hole.","The sensor relays the cylinder's position to the machine's computer.","Snap rings hold the parts together.","After a paint-job inspection, the trainer is ready for assembly.","First comes the decals.","The assembler wets the surface with soapy water, then applies them.","Once the decals are partially dry, he gingerly removes the transfer tape and inspects for bubbles or gaps.","Next, he installs the machine's computer.","It calculates the power produced with each pull on the handles.","Then, he installs what's called the accumulator tank, which stores the air for the return stroke of the handles.","He installs the cylinder.","The bottom is assembled to a central pulley that connects to both handles.","The top connects to the accumulator tank with an air hose.","The amount of force is determined by how much air pressure the user lets in when pushing the yellow resistance-control buttons.","The buttons are attached to air hoses and wired to the computer.","The assembler routes a 26-foot-long rope through the central pulley and through the machine's 12 additional pulleys.","The configuration is designed to enable a wide range of exercises.","After closing up the power module with a cover panel and installing the two height-adjustable arms, the assembler installs a swiveling pulley on each arm and ties what's called a clevis to the end of each rope.","The clevis holds a wide range of other attachments.","Once assembly is complete, an inspector checks for any aesthetic or functional defects.","He sets a resistance level, then pulls on the handles to make sure the cylinder sensor is reading correctly.","Pulling a handle pushes the rod into the cylinder, forcing the piston against the incoming air pressure supplied by a compressor.","Because this power trainer uses air, rather than weights, to produce resistance, users can work out at faster speeds, which producers higher power.","Single-serving coffee pods provide almost instant gratification.","The concept has changed the way coffee is prepared, no need to wait around for a whole pot of coffee to brew.","By simply inserting the pod in a compatible machine, it brews the coffee in seconds.","These coffee pods are designed to be composted after use.","They offer the convenience of a quick coffee without long-term landfill consequences.","The process of making coffee pods starts with bags of unroasted beans from different parts of the world.","These beans will be combined to create specific blends, but first, they must be thoroughly tested and graded.","A technician inhales the aroma to sniff out defects.","He examines the physical condition of the beans.","He's looking for insect damage or fragmentation.","If he finds too many defects, the lot will be rejected.","Too much moisture would be another indication that the coffee beans are substandard, so he measures the water content using an electronic analyzer.","He roasts samples of the beans in these mini roasters.","This unlocks the flavors and aromas in the green coffee beans.","The color deepens.","The beans harden and double in size due to the release of gases and water vaporization.","For lighter, milder beans, he does a shorter roast.","For darker, more intensely flavored beans, he roasts them a little longer.","He inspects the color frequently, and when satisfied, he empties the beans into receiving trays.","Fans underneath cool the beans and stop the cooking.","Roasting has transformed the bitter green beans into something entirely more flavorful.","The technician grinds small amounts into different glasses in order to prepare for a flavor analysis known as cupping.","The q grader takes over.","He's a certified coffee taster.","He inhales the bouquet of the coffee and assesses it.","He then pours hot water onto the coffee and lets it steep.","The grounds float to the surface and form a thick crust.","He breaks the crust with a spoon and inhales again.","Then, after skimming off the grounds, he slurps the coffee and ponders its flavor, body and acidity.","He grades the samples accordingly.","The highest-grade beans will now be made into coffee pods.","Big batches tumble in a computer-controlled roaster.","The computer slowly increases, and then drops, the temperature for the desired result.","The roaster ejects the beans onto a perforated pan, and rotating paddles mix them to dissipate the heat.","In this industrial grinder, rollers pulverize the coffee beans to a specific granulation.","Too fine, and the coffee will taste bitter.","Too coarse, and the full flavor won't be extracted.","To test the granulation and density, a technician dispenses some of the coffee into a 1-pint container and then weighs it.","If the coffee is too heavy and compressed, water won't flow easily through the coffee pod.","Once it passes the density test, the coffee is packed into pods.","The filter material unwinds through tensioning rollers towards the assembly machine.","The pod rings, made from plant-based plastic, head in the same direction.","A pusher moves the rings into slots on a revolving drum.","The system pulls the mesh filler material over the pod rings.","Heated devices descend as the drum turns and seal the mesh to the rings.","Formers stretch the mesh to shape it into filter cups.","As the drum continues to turn, depositors fill rows of the mesh filter cups with coffee.","Paper lid material unwinds from the other side, and heat sealers fuse it to the pods.","At the same time, the ceiling heads punch out the pods, separating them from the mesh and the excess lid paper.","The coffee is now encased in pods.","Exiting the drum, an overhead system moves the pods forward to be weighed.","This mechanized system produces 220 coffee pods a minute.","Each will provide a quick, caffeinated pick-me-up."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Technological Corks","Zinc Gutters","Traditional Basque Ham","Chisteras"]},"text":["Many wine makers these days are opting to seal their bottles with technological corks.","These are stoppers made of molded particles of natural cork which have undergone a purification treatment to remove the t.c.a. molecule and other contaminants, which can give wine a musty odor.","Technological corks look very much like the traditional stoppers that are cut and shaped from a solid piece of cork.","These two are made of natural cork, only very differently.","Cork is the bark of the cork oak tree.","Once the tree reaches the age of 25, it can be harvested for its bark once every decade or so.","A specialized worker makes cuts in the bark with an ax using a very specific technique that doesn't harm the tree.","Using the handle of the ax, he gently pries off the bark.","A cork oak typically lives for 300 years and can be harvested up to 15 times.","Upon receiving planks of cork from the supplier, the technological cork factory breaks them into small pieces...","Then grinds those pieces into granules, and then stores them in huge bags.","The first step is to empty the bags into silos that feed the purification equipment.","The machines, which purify the cork granules, are giant autoclaves.","Workers fill each one with a ton of granules.","Then they start up a compressor, which simultaneously heats and pressurizes carbon dioxide that then transforms into a semiliquid gas called supercritical co2, which is an environmentally friendly solvent.","They inject the supercritical co2 into the autoclave and wash the granules in it for 3 hours.","The factory's in-house laboratory then analyzes and compares pre- and postpurification samples drawn from each batch to ensure there are no offending molecules remaining after treatment.","A technician uses the technique of gas chromatography to separate molecules by their size and structure, then the technique of mass spectrometry to measure the electrical signal that each molecule emits.","The type of signal identifies the type of molecule.","The signal strength indicates its quantity.","Once the batch gets the green light from the lab, the manufacturer mixes it with a food-safe binding agent and transfers the batch to the molding line.","The molding machine is computer-controlled to automatically adjust the molds to the dimensions of the stopper being produced.","The machine pours the cork mix into the molds, which then go into an oven for a few minutes.","The ingredients bake into a solid stopper with just the right degree of elasticity.","Every stopper made in the same mold shape is identical, but no two stoppers cut from the whole pieces of cork are ever the same because cork has natural variations.","This is merely the cork's preliminary shape.","A computer-guided machining center refines them to exactly the shape ordered.","After finalizing the dimensions, the machine chamfers one or both ends.","A chamfer is a beveled edge that makes it easier to insert the cork into the bottle.","Every cork then passes in front of a camera, which detects any defects.","This machine conducts a permeability test on a few samples from each batch to measure how much oxygen flows past the cork when it's in position in the bottle.","The corks are usually custom-marked for a specific winery.","Some wineries order a model that looks more like a traditional stopper cut from a solid piece of cork.","That type requires a couple of extra production steps.","A branding stamp burns lines on the top.","Then a computer-guided laser burns a pattern around the side of the stopper to mimic the texture of natural cork.","The last step is to brand the winery-specific words and images.","The cork goes from ground cork bark to a finished stopper and then to a final visual inspection before being shipped out to the winery.","The cork granules are stabilized by a binding agent and molded to a custom shape to block more or less oxygen according to the winemaker's specifications.","Some wines require a completely airtight seal while others require a certain degree of air penetration to mature further after bottling.","Zinc gutters drain rainwater and, in the process, develop a natural resistance to corrosion.","When zinc is exposed to wet and dry cycles, a chemical reaction occurs, forming a protective patina on its surface, no paint or special treatment needed.","You can't stop the rain, but you can stop it from damaging buildings and their foundations.","These u-shaped zinc gutters funnel water away from the structures to keep them dry.","The process starts with the production of these 46-ton coils of zinc.","The zinc arrives at the factory in the form of thick plates.","These plates are almost 100% zinc.","The plates drop into a furnace.","Inside, the temperature reaches 750 degrees fahrenheit.","Workers add a bit of copper and titanium to reinforce the zinc, and it melts into a homogeneous liquid.","The molten zinc then flows into a trough-style conveyor system.","Residues, like ashes, float to the top of the metal soup, and a worker skims them off.","A floating puck monitors the speed and depth of the zinc blend to prevent overflow.","The molten zinc now arrives at the casting machine.","Here, 3-foot-wide steel unwinds, and once linear, the zinc flows onto it.","The steel acts as a mold to form the zinc into a long rigid sheet.","Water flows onto the zinc to accelerate cooling and solidification.","Since water and liquid zinc don't mix, the water simply runs off the surface.","Now solid, the zinc plate is almost 1/3 of an inch thick, far too thick for making lightweight rain gutters.","The next operation will thin the plate down dramatically.","This is a powerful rolling mill.","The pressure on its rollers is so great that they often must be replaced.","Once the new rollers have been loaded, the mill heats them up.","The operator activates the rollers.","As they revolve, the hot rollers exert 770 tons of pressure to iron the zinc much thinner.","Meanwhile, just ahead, a steel belt tensioning system swings into action.","This system prevents slackening in the zinc sheet as it exits the rolling mill and moves forward.","You can see the difference the rolling has made.","It has reduced the thickness of the zinc sheet to about 3/4 of a millimeter.","The steel-belt system maintains the tension in the zinc sheet as it's wound around a core.","This produces the 46-ton coil of zinc.","It's known as the mother coil.","Approximately 25 miles of rain gutters can be made from this coil.","Workers slit the mother coil into three.","Each coil is a foot wide.","It is now the correct width to be formed into rain gutters.","A crane lifts one of the narrower coils over the factory floor.","Its journey is guided by the operator below.","This puts it in position to be mounted to the next machine, one that will cut it into uniform 13-foot-long strips.","That's the standard length for the rain gutters.","As the zinc uncoils, an overhead mirror provides a top view for the operator.","In quick swoops, the blade slices the zinc sheeting to the correct length.","The zinc strips then travel through a progressively narrow channel and over a cylinder.","This rounds the profile.","More rollers improve on the u-shape and also curl the edges of the gutters to reinforce them.","This gives the zinc rain gutters their final shape.","The automated profiler ejects the 13-foot-long gutters onto a rounded rack.","Then it tips to stack the gutters neatly on top of each other.","These zinc rain gutters are ready to hang.","On site, they'll be welded together and attached to the roof with special hooks.","They should come in handy on a rainy day.","The french basque country is, culturally, quite distinct from the rest of france.","Located in the southwest, bordering spain, the region is known, among other things, for its ham, which is salted and air-cured in an old tradition, passed down through generations of basque farmers.","There are several types of traditional basque ham.","This one, called kintoa, is marbled with fat and has a deep, strong, fruity flavor.","Its distinct taste and composition begin with a specific breed of pig, the basque country piebald, referring to the animal's skin.","This pig breed is native to the basque region where livestock are raised on small farms in the valleys of the pyrenees mountains.","Unlike commercially farmed animals, the female pigs have small litters of six to nine piglets, which grow up roaming and grazing along the vast mountainsides on an average of 2 acres of land per 30 piglets.","As a result of this free-range rearing, the pigs grow more slowly and become heavier than commercially farmed pigs.","Once the animals reach a weight of about 330 pounds, which usually takes a year to 15 months, they go to the slaughterhouse.","Each carcass is stamped with an identification number.","Traditional ham is made from the hind legs.","After tagging the leg, a worker places it in a machine, which brands the kintoa symbol into the flesh.","Then another worker spreads dry salt on the exposed portion.","The salt comes from salies-de-béarn, a saltwater spring in a basin bordered by the pyrenees mountains, the adour river, and the atlantic ocean.","Workers leave the salted ham in a cold, damp room for 1 day per every 2 pounds, typically about 15 days per ham.","The salt preserves the meat.","Next, the ham undergoes a first dry curing.","It hangs on a stainless-steel rack in a temperature and humidity controlled room for 7 months.","When the ham comes out of the room, it has lost about 20% of its original weight because most of the moisture has evaporated.","A worker brushes off the surface...","And coats the exposed part of the ham with a special grease that's made out of pig's kidneys, rice flour, and water.","This grease prevents the surface from drying out and crusting during the second dry curing.","The ham now goes into a second drying room, which dries the ham in the open air, taking advantage of this particular geographic location.","A warm southern wind from spain and humid air from the atlantic ocean to the west blow into the room through windows.","Nature does all the work.","Humans merely regulate the airflow and humidity by lifting or lowering the blinds.","In this room, the ham hangs from a wooden rather than stainless-steel rack.","That's because the wood absorbs excess humidity and transfers moisture to the meat if the air gets too dry.","As the ham dries, its flavor concentrates.","The charcutier, an artisanal pork butcher, inspects every ham carefully.","The wind that dries the ham carries pollen and other natural particles, which give this ham a distinct flavor and fragrance.","The secret is slow curing until the ham reaches optimal maturity.","That takes approximately 1 month per 2 pounds, so the ham remains in the second drying room for more than a year.","When the cured ham is ready, workers sprinkle it with espelette pepper, a mildly hot pepper from the northern basque country.","This gives the ham a fragrance that's as appetizing as its taste.","The ancient basque sport of pelota, or jai alai, can be played with a paddle, a racket, just your hands, or with a specially made wicker scoop called a chistera, which helps propel a ball at lightning speeds, making the sport one of the fastest ball games in the world.","The chistera was an innovation of the mid-19th century.","Ever since then, making chisteras has been the domain of a few specialized artisans.","The family-owned workshop and all the tools it contains for making chisteras has been passed on from father to son since 1887.","In use for more than 100 years, these tools still work.","The great grandson of the workshop's founder uses an old plane and clamping bench to shape a curved piece of chestnut.","He clamps one end in a vice and uses a modern drill to round the tip before rubbing on a little wax to help fit a crosspiece.","To prepare for the next phase, he smoothes the surfaces with some fine-grit sandpaper.","It's now time for him to create the substructure of the chistera.","He starts by clamping the frame onto a mold.","He gauges the curve of the side ribs and uses steam to adjust them.","He's used plaster to patch the mold where it's been worn down by more than 100 years of constant use.","Then he moves on to the bottom ribs, which he carefully shapes and trims to length.","Each chistera is completely bespoke-- that is, made to order for the individual pelota players.","This means each chistera will differ slightly to meet the needs of its owner.","That's why the artisan must take care to ensure all the dimensions are correct.","He attaches lengths of elastic strapping to the mold to hold the ribs in place as he works.","Ribs give a chistera its shape, but they're not strong enough by themselves.","They need to be woven with wicker made from willow heartwood.","The artisan prepares the wicker with tools designed to shave it down to the required dimensions.","He then turns the chistera over to his uncle, a specialist in wicker wood.","There are two different sizes of chistera.","For a small one, it takes a specialist roughly 9 hours to weave.","For a big one like this, it takes about 14 hours.","In the game of pelota, the small hard ball travels at incredible speeds.","In fact, the guinness book of world records reports a pelota ball clocked at 188 miles per hour.","Speeds like that could cause some serious damage.","Here, the artisan rolls and sews leather padding designed to protect the player's hands from injury.","Once he's made the padding components, he sews them onto the chistera, positioning them where needed.","This leatherwork phase alone takes about 2 hours to complete.","He now cuts out the shape required for the glove portion of the chistera, then slices the outlines for the individual fingers.","True to form, even the sewing machine is an antique original.","It may be old, but this well-built machine can still do the job of sewing the leather to a layer of cloth, which is specially formulated to wick away sweat.","To attach the glove to the wicker scoop, the artisan must set aside the sewing machine and complete this step the old-fashioned way by carefully sewing the components together by hand.","He then trims off any excess material with a pair of scissors and inserts his hand into the glove.","This makes it easier for him to complete the final step of attaching a handy loop.","Preserving a tradition of handcrafted excellence, the finished chistera is a work of artisanal art.","That helps make pelota one of the fastest games in the world."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Diamond Cuttings","Wood Doors","Paintballs","Newspapers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Diamond cutting...","Wood doors...","Paintballs...","And newspapers.","Diamonds are rare crystals composed mostly of carbon.","They're the hardest natural substance on earth.","A superb cut manipulates light to maximize a stone's brilliance.","That enhances the diamond's beauty and increases its value.","Diamonds come in a variety of colors, the most common of which for jewelry is white.","They begin as a larger, rough stone.","The goal is to cut as big a diamond as possible from it while cutting away any imperfections that lessen the value.","To do this precision work, master diamond cutters use a magnifying glass that enlarges the stone 10 times.","They carefully examine and re-examine the rough diamond, trying to determine the best way to divide the stone.","They must saw the diamond in the direction of its grain, then, using hot glue, secure the rough diamond into a holder positioned over the saw.","The saw has a very fine bronze blade, but it can't cut through the diamond on its own.","Only diamond can cut diamond, so they coat the blade in a mixture of diamond dust and oil.","Sawing an average-size rough diamond in two can take up to four hours.","The second stage of diamond cutting is called polishing.","It's the process of forming the diamond.","A special machine first tailors the basic shape.","Then the diamond cutter puts glue in a mounting tool called a dop.","This will hold the diamond firmly in place.","He presses the diamond against a spinning cast-iron wheel coated with a mixture of diamond dust and oil.","First, he removes any marks that were left by the saw.","Then, to give the stone its brilliance, he forms facets-- a particular pattern of tiny, flat sides of various shapes.","The facets are designed to reflect light off each other.","Each one must be exactly the right size and shape and cut at precisely the right angle in relation to the other facets to create maximum brilliance.","Here he starts with the table facet, which is the flat top of the diamond.","How he proceeds depends on the size and condition of the stone.","Then come the pavilions-- the angled facets that end in a point at the bottom of the diamond.","If they're cut too deep or too shallow, light will leak out the bottom, making the diamond dark in the center and dull overall.","The ideal slope is approximately 42 degrees.","The diamond cutter uses specialized tools to measure the angle.","Next, the diamond cutter fashions crown facets-- the ones circling the diamond directly under the table.","Using another type of dop, the diamond cutter fashions what's called the girdle-- the faceted rim that separates the crown facets around the top half of the diamond and the pavilion facets below.","Diamonds are weighed using a measurement called karats.","One karat weighs 0.007 ounces.","Polishing a one-karat diamond can take three or four hours.","When it's done, they boil it in acid to remove any debris.","This finished diamond has 58 facets.","It's called a brilliant cut.","It's by far the most common style of cut, dating back to the 1600s.","The quality of the cut is a key factor in grading diamonds.","Experts also rate what's called the clarity-- the degree of imperfections in the stone.","Then there's color.","The finest white diamonds are completely colorless, and the rarest colors are the most valuable.","Coming soon to a supermarket near you-- food that tells you when it's gone bad.","Researchers are developing electronic devices that monitor food freshness and detect potentially fatal bacteria like e. coli.","These devices on the packaging would give off a signal when the food inside spoils.","We open and close them several times a day, day in and day out and seldom give them a second thought, but imagine your home without doors.","For one thing, you'd have absolutely no privacy.","And what would you slam when you get angry?","The first factory makes the door's plywood facing.","They start by loading logs into steaming basins for three days.","This deices them in the winter and softens the wood fiber.","Inside the factory, the steamed logs line up for the debarker-- a machine that removes the bark.","The operator projects concentric circles and uses a laser to carefully center the log on the debarker.","Positioning is crucial for two reasons-- so that as little wood as possible comes off with the bark and to ensure the debarked log ends up perfectly cylindrical.","That maximizes the amount of wood veneer a log will yield.","The next step is called rotary cutting.","As the log spins, a lathe skims off a sheet of wood veneer just 2/100 of an inch thick.","The average log yields 440 linear feet of veneer.","Next, they unroll the veneer and cut it into sheets.","Then they stack the sheets by identical grain patterns.","Using a laser to position the blade, they cut through the stack to take out visual defects.","Then they glue the pieces together.","To make veneer sheets for the front of the plywood facing, the side that will show, they line up the wood's grain and other features in mirror image.","For the back, the side that won't show, they assemble the defective parts they cut out earlier.","They use three veneer sheets to make up the plywood door facing.","They apply glue to both sides of one sheet, then sandwich it between two other sheets.","They feed the three sheets through a hot press at more than 212 degrees fahrenheit.","In a minute and a half, the glue cures, and those three sheets of veneer become a 3-ply panel of plywood.","Then they sand the panel.","Plywood door facings can be made from more than 15 different species of wood from birch and oak to maple and mahogany.","At the second factory, they make the core of the door.","They glue together strips of wood to form the middle, then frame them with pieces of white pine.","A press pushes the core pieces together, then activates the glue, not by heat as most presses do, but by microwaves.","Next, they sand and calibrate the core.","After the glue machine coats the core, they stick a plywood door facing on each side.","They stack a few doors at a time into a cold press for a half-hour.","Until the glue dries, then set them aside while the glue cures for another eight hours.","Next, they size the width and length to the final dimension, bevel the edges, and cut the exact height of the door.","Then they inspect the door on both sides.","A machine prepares the door for hinges.","Then another machine cuts the hole for the knob.","The finishing process takes just 70 seconds per door.","One side is sanded, stained, and sealed, then sanded again and varnished.","The machine then flips the door over and does the same thing to the other side.","The game of paintball is a cross between tag, hide-and-seek, and capture the flag.","You try to steal the other team's flag and eliminate your opponents with an air gun that shoots an exploding paint capsule called a paintball.","Paintballs are made entirely of nontoxic food-grade ingredients.","To make the hollow shell, they first pour water into a giant, heated mixing bowl.","They add a sweetener and a secret combination of food ingredients the company won't divulge.","Then, finally, the key ingredient that gives the shell its shape-- gelatin-- the kind used to make gummy bears.","They melt and mix everything for a half an hour...","Then line it up for what they call the drop-- transferring the gel from the mixer into a heated vat called the gel tote.","They filter out any globs that didn't melt.","Once the gel is securely in the tote, they lower in a giant blender.","They pour in food dye and blend for about 20 minutes.","Elsewhere in the factory, they use the same method to dye what's called the fill-- the paint that goes inside the shell of the paintball.","It's made of polyethylene glycol-- the inert liquid in cough syrup.","They thicken it with crayon wax.","The gel and fill meet their maker in what's known as the feed room.","Here, the vats of gel and fill feed a capsulation machine one floor below.","This machine is the same kind used to make bath beads and gelcap medicine.","First, the machine spreads out the gel onto a cool drum.","This creates a continuous thin sheet of gel called a gel ribbon.","This cooling cures the gelatin to the point where it can now be molded into the hollow shell of the ball.","The machine presses the gel ribbon into a dye with half-circle pockets, each forming one half of a ball shell.","The machine does the next three steps in one shot.","It aligns the two half shells together to form a hollow ball, injects the fill, then seals the two half shells together.","These newly minted paintballs are still quite soft, though.","If they're not dried out, they'll lose their shape, so they fall down onto a conveyor...","Then roll into a tumble dryer.","From here, they'll go onto a bakery-style rack until they dry out completely.","To make dual-colored paintballs, they use the exact same process but feed two colors of gel ribbon into the capsulation machine-- one color for each half of the shell.","The finished paintballs go through an automatic counting machine.","This one is set to count out and package 200 balls at a time.","Manufacturing this messy ammunition is a painstaking process, but well worth the effort to the millions who love the game of paintball.","Invented just 15 years ago, it's caught on in more than 40 countries worldwide, and it's not just for kids.","More and more companies are booking paintball outings for their employees to help build teamwork.","There was a time when our only source of news was the newspaper.","Today, though, newspapers have to compete with radio, television, and the internet.","Still, to get context and analysis of news events, most still turn to the newspaper.","In medieval times, people got the news of the kingdom from the town crier and from official notices posted in public places.","By the late 1400s, the first printed news pamphlets appeared in germany.","The first english-language newspaper hit the stands in london in 1622.","By the 1800s, new printing technology brought the price of newspapers down.","This finally made them affordable to the masses, who were becoming more literate.","The news editor selects the stories and photographs.","They come from the newspaper's own reporters and photographers and from wire services.","The news editor accesses the wire services via the internet.","Local reporters file their stories to the newsroom computer system.","The photo lab scans the photographers' pictures into the system as well.","That puts everything at the news editor's fingertips.","It's just a matter of moving the various items into the page layout.","Once the layout's complete, they group the pages in sets of four called flats.","The manager checks each flat for errors, paying special attention to the advertisements, the newspaper's main source of revenue.","Next, they prepare the printing plates for each page.","A plate is a plastic-coated sheet of aluminum, just 1/100 of an inch thick.","It goes into the cylinder of a machine called the imager.","The imager's laser beam scans the plate, hardening the plastic coating wherever the computer tells it there will be text or pictures.","The coating in the blank areas that don't harden then washes away in a series of chemical baths.","It takes about a minute for a plate to pass through those processing basins.","Next, a machine punches registration marks on each side of the plate.","The press operators will use those marks as a guide to correctly position the plate on the printing press.","After they oil the press cylinder, they attach the plates.","There's one plate per page per color to a maximum of four colors.","The newsprint comes in jumbo rolls weighing about 1,900 pounds apiece.","Workers feed several rolls into the reeling machine under the printing press.","2-sided tape connects one roll to the next, ensuring a continuous, uninterrupted run.","This is a 4-color printing process.","There's a station for each color of ink.","The paper passes through each color one at a time like a car going through an automatic car wash.","The printing starts out slowly, but within a few seconds revs up to 25 miles per hour.","Press operators adjust the colors as needed.","Each line of the press prints a 4-page flat.","Then it cuts the sheet in half lengthwise, separating two and two.","Then it cuts the continuous lengths widthwise into a 2-page spread.","Machines automatically assemble the pages in order, then send them off to the shipping department.","The stacker makes piles of 50 copies for delivery.","Then workers hand-stuff the inserts one by one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Angle Grinders","Berry Baskets","Omnidirectional Speakers"]},"text":["The angle grinder created a major buzz in the workplace when it was developed in the middle of the 20th century.","This power tool could do it all-- cut, grind, and polish metal or stone.","Just change the disk or brush attachment to match the job, and work gets done automatically.","With numerous attachments available, the angle grinder could be equipped for many different jobs.","That makes it one of the most useful things on any job site.","Making angle grinders starts with these blocks of pure aluminum.","Fired in a furnace, the aluminum melts into a liquid form.","The factory casts the molten aluminum to create gear housings.","A robot transfers one of the gear housings to a milling station and then retrieves a finished part.","The door of the machine closes, and a computerized cutter carves threads into the center bearing seat and generally improves the profile of the part.","Next up is the rotor for the electric motor.","An automated system pushes special cardboard end disks onto the rotor shaft.","The part on the right is equipped with end disks.","The system now installs a part called the collector on one end.","Made of copper and plastic, the collector will transmit power to the rotor and ensure that the grinding or polishing attachment can turn.","The part on the right has had the collector installed.","Spinning arms wind copper wire into grooves in the rotor at both ends.","The wire will serve as an electromagnet and maximize power output.","Moving forward, the system inserts covers into slots in the rotor wall.","They both insulate the rotor and stabilize the copper coil.","Spinning devices wrap copper wire around each half of the stater.","This stater creates the electromagnetic field around the rotor.","A robot puts the two halves of the stater together in a fixture, and welds make the assembly permanent.","Over to an injection molding machine now, it forms plastic into outer casings for the grinder.","A robot transfers the casing to a platform for printing.","This stamp adds silver ink to the embossed company logo, giving it greater visual appeal.","A worker then slides the plastic housing over the stater, and a pneumatic machine press-fits the two together.","The worker then wires the on/off switch for the angle grinder.","The gear housing has, by now, been equipped with a drive gear and brake.","He installs the gear system on one end of the rotor.","He then inserts the rotor assembly in the stater.","An automated system screws everything together to complete the angle grinder motor.","Next, a nozzle fills the gear head with grease.","A worker places the spindle and safety clutch over the gear head, and a mechanized system screws it in place.","She then wires the electrical plug to the angle grinder motor.","She encloses the electrical wiring with a plastic cover.","She locks the cover in places with screws, using a metal template to aid in their placement.","This angle grinder is now ready to undergo quality control tests.","This one depresses the angle grinder switch, while a computerized system analyzes the motor's performance.","If it passes all the tests, the angle grinder is ready to take a chunk out of someone's workload.","Long before the development of pottery, people looked to the forest for containment materials.","They made berry baskets from the bark of birch trees.","The baskets were lightweight and waterproof, due to natural resins in the bark.","The making of these baskets is a tradition that carries on.","For containing nature's bounty, birch bark is a natural choice.","This berry basket is made entirely from materials found in nature.","Making one starts with birch bark that's been carefully pried off the tree to avoid damage to the inner layer of bark.","This cardboard pattern will be used as a template.","The basket maker examines the bark for any holes or serious flaws.","He flips the bark over.","He'll use the inner side for the outside of the basket.","He traces around the pattern, using a scribe that lightly scores the bark.","This light scoring creates a visible outline on the bark.","Using scissors for cutting leather, he follows the pattern lines to cut the bark to the pattern shape.","The contours are harder to follow, so he switches to scissors with curved blades to cut them out.","He punches holes in the basket corners.","This will stop the bark from splitting in these spots when it's folded.","Using a pointed instrument known as a divider, he now etches stitch lines around the perimeter.","He maps out the location for the stitch holes by lightly piercing the bark along the etched lines.","Using a ruler for support, he bends the flaps of the pattern up, creating creases that will become permanent folds later.","He punches out stitch holes where he had lightly pierced the bark.","He drapes a damp towel over the birch bark and irons it.","This softens the bark so that it doesn't split as he now forms the final bends along the crease lines.","He overlaps the ends of the basket.","He clips the structure to hold it together while he inserts wooden dowels in some of the stitch holes.","Once the dowels are in, he removes the clips.","The dowels will keep the basket together for stitching.","But first, he tapers the stem from a willow shrub using a wood plane.","He inserts the stem in a cylindrical container and fills the cylinder with hot water.","The tapered stem soaks overnight.","It softens and becomes extremely flexible.","Using a wooden form, he shapes the stem into a ring.","The tapered ends overlap for a consistent thickness all the way around.","He clips the ring to the inner rim of the basket and also tacks it in place with a few stitches.","This willow ring will add support to the lip of the berry basket.","Next, he stitches the seams together using the root of a spruce tree for thread.","Its tapered tip serves as a needle.","He does precise backstitches and ensures all the seams are tight.","Moving back to the rim of the basket, he punctures the bark just below the willow ring, creating a row of holes to loop the root around the rim.","This spruce root wrap protects the rim ring, and gives the basket a more finished look at the top.","He slices a piece of cedar bark into long, narrow strips.","He'll use these strips to make a handle for the basket.","He weaves the cedar into a five-strand braid.","He loops the cedar braid at the ends and uses the loops to stitch the handle to the berry basket.","It takes this artisan about a day to craft a birch bark berry basket.","His efforts will no doubt bear fruit for many years to come.","Choosing the right speakers for your sound system depends on how you prefer to hear music.","Unidirectional speakers radiate sound in a single direction.","Omnidirectional speakers radiate in all directions, so the sound bounces off the ceiling and walls.","This omnidirectional speaker system has four towers-- two main system towers and two subwoofer towers.","The towers contain the drivers that radiate sound frequencies out of the speaker.","This computer-guided mill shapes brass sheets into mounting plates for the main system towers.","Each of the main system towers contains six drivers-- two tweeters, two mid-ranges, and two woofers.","Each subwoofer tower contains six drivers for the lowest human audible frequencies.","After the brass mounting plate comes off the mill, workers grind the top surface smooth to prepare it for polishing and chrome plating.","The mill then shapes brass rings.","These are bases for the woofers, which fit an opening in the mounting plate.","Brass is the metal of choice for these parts, due to its acoustical properties.","For aesthetics, the rings are painted black, and the mounting plates are electro-plated with galvanized chrome.","In this part of the plant, they build tweeters for the main system towers.","The first step is to lay strips of resin-impregnated carbon fiber in semi-circular molds.","After removing the protective film that covers the carbon fiber, they lay foil strips at each end.","These will direct heat from the oven to the carbon fiber strips and prevent the resin from flowing out.","They assemble the molds and clamp them shut.","They place the molds in an oven for 45 minutes at a programmed series of temperatures.","This heats the resin in the carbon fiber, stiffening and forming the strips to the mold shape.","Using a punch press, workers slice each carbon fiber strip into several thinner strips.","They construct each tweeter by gluing 24 of those thin strips to the tweeter's voice coil, a ring made of wound copper wire.","They brush silicone in between the strips, coat the entire surface with more silicone, then place an aluminum cover plate on top.","They construct each mid-range driver the same way, but with carbon fiber strips that are thicker and stiffer and therefore radiate lower frequencies better than the thinner, more flexible tweeter strips.","Placing the strips with tweezers and aligning them properly with a toothpick requires a good eye, excellent dexterity, and a lot of experience.","Like the tweeter, the mid-range driver goes into an oven for 45 minutes through a specific cycle of temperatures.","Once the driver comes out of the oven and cools, they glue strips of sound-dampening foam to the inside, sealing the gaps between the carbon fiber strips.","This prevents sound from radiating inward rather than out the speaker.","They solder the cables that bring the incoming electrical signal that carries the sound frequencies.","That signal moves the voice coil up while the driver's magnet moves it back down.","The repeated up and down motion flexes the carbon fiber strips, radiating the sound frequencies.","After installing a center rod made of carbon, workers stuff the hollow space inside the driver with sound-dampening wool.","They pour lubricating oil into a narrow gap in the driver's magnet, then insert the voice coil into the gap.","The oil contains iron, so it conducts the electrical signal to the coil.","They screw an aluminum mounting plate to the magnet's posts...","Then apply a disk of a stiff sound-dampening material.","They install the tweeter's magnet on the mounting plate, feeding the tweeter's electrical cables, not yet soldered to the tweeter, through the center rod.","Next they'll make the woofers.","The sound system's amplifier delivers the electrical signal that carries all the sound frequencies.","Inside each main system speaker, an electronic component called the crossover separates the frequency ranges and sends them, via designated cables, to the appropriate driver.","They make each melon-shaped woofer out of 12 aluminum segments.","They glue acoustic foam to each segment, then trim the foam to the shape of the aluminum.","Workers assemble the woofer upside-down in an assembly fixture.","They glue the segments vertically between this woofer's voice coil, which has two cables attached to it and a mounting plate.","The structural rod through which they'll feed the other driver's cables is in the center.","Once all the segments are aligned and fixed in place, they coat the edges with glue.","Then they adhere rubber gaskets in between the segments to block the gaps and prevent air from exiting.","They seat copper strips in the segment's grooves, hooking the ends into holes at the top and bottom.","Brass, aluminum, copper--  every type of material used in these speakers has specific acoustical properties.","The combination produces a natural sound balance.","They fill the hollow interior space around the center rod with sound-dampening material.","First, synthetic insulating wool with long, coarse fibers.","Then, on top of that, a barrier of cotton-insulating wool to prevent those coarse fibers from touching the voice coil.","Next, they install the painted brass ring they milled earlier, which now has the woofer's magnet fixed to it.","They place a spacer, thread a screw, pull the voice coil's two cables through the center, then solder those cables, together with the cables from the other drivers, to a main cable that will plug into the crossover.","They flip the woofer right side up and pour a liquid sound-dampening compound into the center rod.","The cables inside are too delicate to be shoving in insulating wool.","Workers now begin assembling the speaker, first soldering the two remaining crossover cables, mid-range and high frequency, to the respective driver cables.","The tweeter connection cables are attached to the tweeter magnet, installed earlier on top of the mid-range driver.","They now mount this unit on top of the woofer.","They install the connectors in the crossover.","Its electrical components separate the frequency ranges and send each one to a designated connector, which sends it to the cable leading to the appropriate driver.","After sliding the crossover onto the speaker's base, made of milled brass, they close up the top with the mounting plates, between which they've since sandwiched a thick piece of wood.","Screw-in stainless steel support posts hold everything together and direct all the weight down to the floor, rather than into the speaker structure.","They install an aluminum crossbar for structural support, then a second set of posts.","They fit the ring at the base of the woofer into the mounting plate hole, securing it with screws.","They insert the tweeter's voice coil into the tweeter magnet that's mounted on top of the mid-range driver that's mounted on top of the woofer.","They solder the tweeter cables to the two connectors on the tweeter cover plate.","This completes the lower trio of drivers.","Now they install an identical upper trio, but upside-down so that the two tweeters face each other in the middle of the tower.","They mount the crossover for the upper trio and plug in the connector that joins the three cables.","That brings the correct frequencies to the three drivers.","They run test tones through every completed speaker.","A microphone positioned just over three feet away picks up the emitted frequencies, which a computer analyzes for accuracy.","Once the speaker passes inspection, they install a decorative grill over each woofer voice coil.","The subwoofer tower radiates the lowest frequencies, with six huge drivers and a built-in amplifier."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Microphones","Hot Tubs","Artificial Turf","Beer Steins"]},"text":["People have been doing mike checks since 1876, when the microphone was invented as part of the telephone.","Microphones convert sound to a signal that can be transmitted through televisions, radios, and many other things.","If you have something to say, you'll need a microphone to broadcast it.","From the glory days of radio to stage and screen and the digital age, the microphone has been at the center of it all.","To make a broadcast-quality microphone, they start with the support piece for it.","Automated tools carve a brass cylinder to the desired dimensions.","They also make a retainer ring for the microphone grille that will anchor the grille's metal mesh.","They layer three sheets of mesh and align them.","Then they solder the three sheets together.","A punch press forms the soldered mesh into a concave shape.","They lower a blade to slice the shaped mesh in half.","The two pieces will be used to make one microphone grille.","An assembler squeezes solder paste into a groove in the brass ring.","Then he presses the grille halves, which have been joined by a bracket into the solder-coated ring.","On a carousel, a torch heats the rings, and the solder paste melts to bond the grilles to the rings.","A drill punctures a brass disk up to 90 times to make ventilation holes.","Another tool levels the surface and shaves off unwanted bits.","This disk will be the backplate for one of the microphone's capsules.","An assembler brushes away any remaining shavings and then fixes the backplate in a holding device.","This plastic membrane has been coated with real gold to conduct electricity.","She places the membrane and a plastic ring on the backplate and then attaches an electrical lead.","She screws the plastic ring down to secure the assembly...","And then trims away the excess plastic membrane.","This microphone capsule is now complete.","Next, she'll join two capsules to create the unit that's the heart of the microphone.","It converts sound into an electrical signal.","An aluminum spacer goes between the capsules, which face back-to-back.","Two capsules instead of one means this microphone can be switched to pick up audio from various directions.","A plastic bracket reinforces assembly.","A technician then wires the brass support piece that we saw being made earlier to the electronic system, and then he secures it with screws.","After installing switches, he inserts the microphone capsules in the grille.","He screws the capsule assembly to the grille and joins it to the electronics.","He slides the metal casing over the electronics and secures the microphone with a big screw cap.","He checks the switch that changes the directionality of the mike.","And now it's ready for a sound check.","The mike goes into a special anechoic chamber.","A computer measures its response to various audio frequencies and directions.","Once a microphone has passed this test and some other checks, it's time to pack it up with great care, because this mike is delicate and worth several thousand dollars.","Treated properly, this microphone should last several decades.","In showbiz, that's longevity.","Like natural hot springs that are heated by the earth's crust, a hot tub can give your aching muscles that healing feeling.","In fact, the hot tub is a high-tech version of the hot-springs phenomenon, and its invention in the middle of the 20th century made the backyard steam part of the suburban dream.","There are up to a hundred jets in a modern hot tub.","Each churns up the water, making waves that have a calming effect on tense and tired muscles.","To make a hot tub, they start with a sheet of rigid acrylic.","They rest it briefly over a mold of a hot tub.","Then a framelike clamp grips it along the edges and transfers it to an oven.","The oven has heating elements on the top and bottom.","They bake the acrylic sheet until it's so soft, it sags.","They transfer the sagging sheet back to the mold.","And now they turn on a vacuum system underneath.","It sucks the acrylic sheet into the crevices of the mold so that it takes its shape.","Then fans cool the molded acrylic, and it hardens in just a couple of minutes.","Operators then stack the tub shell.","They mold swim spa shelves using the same technique.","Swim spas are longer and deeper than hot tubs.","They're for working out, not unwinding, so there aren't many ledges for sitting around.","Back in the hot-tub department, it's time for a base coat.","They spray resin on the shell and then unwind fiberglass twine into a special spray gun.","It chops up the twine and mixes it with more resin to give the shelf a fiberglass coating that reinforces the acrylic.","They press out any air pockets in the fiberglass.","Now they aim another spray gun at the underside of the tub.","This one contains insulating foam.","Then they trim the lip of the tub with a circular saw, so it will sit properly in the frame later.","They sand the edges and then drill holes for the numerous jets.","Working from inside of the tub, an assembler tucks plastic jets into the holes, while a worker on the other side pulls the jets through.","They apply silicone sealant around each jet, then equip it with a plastic ring for aligning the jet to the hot-tub frame.","Using a special tool, the assembler drives a nut into the assembly to secure it.","Next, they dip pvc tubing in adhesive and attach it to the jets, weaving an elaborate web of hoses.","The narrower tubing will pipe air to the jets, while the wider hoses will supply water.","To prevent leaks, they equip them with self-tensioning clamps.","They connect the intake pipe to the pump, which will force water into the tubing.","A suction system will return the water to this pump.","They wire the tub to provide mood lighting, then test all the wiring and plumbing.","They spray more insulating foam on the outside of the tub.","It expands drastically in closing the labyrinth of pipes and hoses.","And for some extra insulation, they wrap foil-backed plastic around the tub.","The foil will reflect any escaping heat back onto the tub.","They mount the exterior paneling and drill through the insulation to vent the pumps.","Corner molding gives the paneling a nice finish.","This hot tub is now ready to make waves in the neighborhood.","Some versions even come with tvs, so you can watch \"how it's made\" without leaving the hot tub.","It takes about 20 person-hours to make a hot tub or one of these swim spas.","And after that, it's time to take a break and relax.","The invention of artificial turf in the 1960s led to a whole new field-- one that never needs mowing, watering, or weeding.","Faux grass was developed by the carpet industry and made possible by technological advances, and the concept has really taken root.","Synthetic turf has changed the landscape of professional sports.","You see it in stadiums, arenas, and training fields around the world.","It all starts with bags of white plastic pellets.","This is the base material for the turf.","They add green pellets for color, along with chemical stabilizers and additives.","Equipment melts and extrudes the plastic through a steel plate with holes in it.","This creates strands of green.","The strands exit through a trough of water, which cools and solidifies them.","Machinery pulls the strands through an enormous comb to keep them separated as they head to the next station.","Here, rollers stretch the strands until they become as thin as real grass.","The stretching also strengthens them.","Spools now roll up the synthetic strands.","Once a spool is full, they remove it.","Next, they unwind several spools at a time.","The strands come together to form a multi-ply synthetic yarn.","The yarn travels over guides.","This keeps it from slackening as a big spool winds it up.","Further down the production line, mesh fabric merges with synthetic sheeting, while the multi-ply synthetic yarn travels through tubing to a tufting machine.","The tufting machine is a giant sewing machine.","It has up to 250 needles.","These needles hook the yarn through the mesh synthetic sheeting.","They make hundreds of rows of stitches per minute.","Underneath, small knives cut the looped yarn, so it looks like spikes of grass.","As you can see, this process is a whole lot faster than waiting for grass to grow.","An inspector examines the turf to make sure the yarns are even.","Then machinery moves it forward to a coating roller.","The roller picks up adhesive from a trough below and applies it to the backing of the turf as it moves across.","This binds the looped web of artificial grass to the backing.","The adhesive is a bit gooey at this point and needs to be dried.","The dryer is partly open-air and partly enclosed.","The enclosed section is about 55 yards low.","The temperature is carefully controlled.","Too hot, and the synthetic grass might melt.","As it exits, hot pins burn holes into the turf to make it water-permeable.","Now they check to make sure this grass looks good on the surface.","They pull out loose bits and measure the fibers.","Then it's over to a device that simulates the effect of football cleats to confirm this turf is tough.","To install artificial turf, they lay a rubber base and add the turf.","They distribute sand throughout spikes of grass to give the turf weight.","Then they spread rubber granules for a softening effect.","But some turf is more carpetlike-- no fillers needed.","You're more likely to see that in floor-hockey arenas.","It's time to wrap up this turf job and toss a few balls around.","And when it comes to looking like the real thing, artificial turf is definitely in the ballpark.","A stein is a beer mug with a hinged lid you open and close.","According to some historians, it's a product of the bubonic plague.","After the plague swept europe in the 1300s, municipalities enacted sanitation laws.","In germany, one law required food and beverage containers to have covers in order to keep out insects.","These traditional german beer steins, with their ornate ceramic bodies and pewter lids are functional works of art.","The word \"stein\" is short for a german word meaning \"stoneware jug\".","Production begins in the casting department with a plaster mold-- its cavity the shape and design of the stein's body.","They pour in liquid clay, wait about two hours until it thickens, then pour out whatever liquid remains.","After testing the consistency of what's still inside, they gingerly disassemble the mold, revealing the stein's body.","The mold has transferred all the intricate detail to the clay's surface.","For certain stein shapes, they get better results using solid clay.","They cut off the amount they need, then drop it inside a plaster mold.","A machine pushes the clay into every crevice of the mold cavity.","A worker trims away any excess that oozes out.","Then the mold goes into a drying machine for 20 minutes.","When it comes out, they disassemble the sections to extract the casting.","Whether made from liquid or solid clay, each stein body goes on a potter's wheel for some refining.","The potter removes seams that formed where the mold sections met.","He also trims and smoothes out the rim.","Then, using some wet clay as an adhesive, he attaches an ornate handle.","It, too, is made entirely of clay.","The factory shapes it either in a mold or with a dye in a press.","Finally, they stamp the bottom with two marks-- \"made in germany\" and the company brand.","Now the coloring process begins.","They coat the stein body with special paint for ceramics-- first, a watery coat of the background color all over, then a thicker coat around the reliefs to highlight them.","They rub most of the paint off the reliefs to accentuate the contrast.","Next, workers spray a milky glaze over the stein body inside and out.","This glaze is made mainly of sodium and silicon, minerals that turn into transparent glass under high heat.","This will strengthen and waterproof the stoneware beneath it.","Workers load dozens of stein bodies into an oven, where they bake at more than 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for 12 hours.","This hardens the clay, turns the colors vibrant, and transforms the glaze into a protective glass coating.","After a 12-hour cooling period, the true artistry begins.","A skilled painter embellishes the design with colorful enamel paints.","A second firing, this time for just 5 to 6 hours, bakes the paint onto the glass surface.","Now, to top it all off, the stein's ornate lid.","It's made of pewter cast in a mold.","The thumb lift pivots the lid on a hinge.","To attach the lid to the stein body, they position the thumb lift on the handle, then assemble a small mounting tool over it.","They pour in molten pewter...","Then, after a minute or so, remove the device.","The pewter has hardened into a ring attaching the thumb lift to the handle.","They clip off the excess, then buff the metal to a shine.","With their traditional scenes or more contemporary themes, these beer steins are the toast of the town."]}
{"meta":{"things":["CO2 Cartridges","Pretzels","Scissor Lifts","Skating Rinks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Co2 cartridges...","Pretzels...","Scissor lifts...","And skating rinks.","Sports like paintball are a pressure release in more ways than one.","Paintball guns contain pressurized co2 cartridges, and when the gas is released, the force propels the ammunition towards its target.","The cartridges are used also for things like inflating bike tires and life preservers, as they target new uses for these pressure-filled devices.","A co2 cartridge packs a lot of punch into a little package.","This one can propel dozens of shots.","To make one, they unroll some steel and straighten it out.","Then, a punch press descends with 110 tons of force, cutting the steel into disks.","Simultaneously, a machine moves up from below to shape the disks into cups.","The cups move down a vibrating lane.","They're delivered to a series of cylindrical punches, each one with a smaller diameter than the last.","Each successive punch lengthens and narrows the cups as nozzles flush them with lubricant.","The process is called redrawing, and at the end of it, the cups look more like test tubes.","In just a few minutes, that piece of steel has undergone several transformations.","To continue shaping the tubes, they heat the ends by dropping them through an induction coil.","Intense magnetic fields excite the molecules in the metal, causing it to heat up sharply.","This machine is called a necker.","As it revolves, it delivers the tubes to a series of dies that pinch their ends.","With each pinch, the ends get progressively smaller.","This creates necks in the tubes.","As the diameter of the neck narrows, the tube takes the shape of a bottle.","Now each cartridge goes on a lathe.","A cutting tool plunge-cuts the neck to shorten it.","Then it carves out a lip, the same kind of lip that's on any beverage bottle.","The cartridges now head through a washing station, where soap and water get rid of the oily lubricant.","A trip under some gas burners dries them off, and they head to the filling station.","Here there's a tankful of carbon dioxide.","The filling head pumps liquid co2 into the cartridges and then caps them.","Inside these cartridges, the gaseous form of co2 is under great pressure.","Releasing even just a little through a gun will be enough to propel things like bbs, pellets, and paintballs.","They do spot checks to make sure the cartridges are tightly sealed.","Now it's on to the next station, where they'll be made to look shiny and new.","The cartridges are inside this revolving drum, which delivers an electrical charge, attracting zinc from the tank to plate the cartridges.","The smooth zinc plating doesn't just look good.","It's a better surface to print information on.","At this rotary silk-screening station, the brand name and cautionary information are printed onto the sides of the cartridges.","A quick bake under an ultraviolet light cures the ink.","And the co2 cartridges are now ready to demonstrate the power of compression.","How and when the first pretzel came to be depends on whom you ask.","One story tells of a monk baking rewards for children who were pious.","Today's bakeries still fold the dough to resemble arms crossed in prayer, but they do it much faster, granting tasty wishes to a lot more snackers.","Although hard pretzels are more common, this company makes the more traditional soft-baked ones.","To make enough dough for 4,870 pretzels, a workers first blends shortening, sugar, and salt in a huge mixer.","The machine automatically adds yeast...","Corn syrup...","1,630 gallons of cold water..","And 760 pounds of flour.","The cold water helps make the dough elastic so workers can shape it before it hardens.","A worker then opens the mixer and slows the blades to help the dough fall out.","He splits the batch on a table, then creates chunks that go into a tank called a hopper.","It feeds an auger that challenges the dough chunks through little guillotines.","The blades chop the chunks into 2 1/2 ounce balls to make small pretzels or 5 ounce balls for large pretzels.","Two conveyer belts squeeze them into 15 1/2 inch long segments called noodles.","Another machine now grabs the ends of each noodle and twists the ends over each other to create the pretzel's three signature holes.","To keep this knot from unraveling, the plate then gently flips the pretzel dough onto another plate below.","That plate carefully flips the doughy creations onto a 118-foot long conveyer belt.","The raw pretzels now travel on the conveyer for 14 minutes, the time it takes for the dough to rise.","Next, they move through showers of liquid sodium hydroxide, heated to 180 degrees fahrenheit.","That seals in the moisture so the pretzel will be chewy when you eat it.","They go into an oven that's about the length of a city bus.","As they enter, flames sear and harden the outside.","This prevents the bottoms from sticking to the mesh conveyer belt during baking.","After about 3 1/2 minutes at 560 degrees fahrenheit, the pretzels are piping hot and golden brown.","They drop onto a long conveyer, where they gradually cool on their way to the next step--  a trip through a freezer that's longer than seven olympic-size swimming pools.","After 30 minutes at minus-28 degrees celsius, the pretzels are rock solid and ready for packaging, but first, a camera scans them so that a computer can track each pretzel and guide a robotic arm to pick it up.","This arm is one of five operating at separate points on the line.","The robots process one pretzel per second and clean up after each other until the belt is picked clean.","The pretzels then fall through a sliding gate, landing on a conveyer that whisks them off to the next step.","There, a machine drops a packet of coarse salt into each bin of six pretzels.","A mechanical arm nudges the pretzels over to make room for it.","The salt packet lets you season your pretzel the traditional way before warming it up at home.","The machine blows open plastic bags with compressed air.","Mechanical arms push the pretzels and salt packet inside.","A robot arm then places each bag into a cardboard box.","The printing on this package displays the company logo, the nutritional content, the production date, and the heating instructions.","So, next time you're looking for a salty snack, don't tie yourself up in knots.","Just have a pretzel instead.","A scissor lift is a mobile work platform that rises.","The elevating mechanism consists of arms that connect in the middle like scissors, hence the name.","Scissor lifts are common sight on construction sites, in big warehouses, and at buildings where workers need a safe way to reach heights to carry out repairs or maintenance.","The number of arms in the scissor mechanism varies according to the height of each particular model.","The factory constructs the scissor arms from steel tubes.","The first step is to cut them to the right length for the model in production.","A worker uses an air gun to blow off tiny shards of metal the cutting leaves behind.","The arms go into a press that punches a hole for a hollow steel cylinder called a boss.","The boss is the housing for a pin that will connect one arm to the other, yet still allow them to pivot like a pair of scissors.","Workers now use a magnetic crane to move the arm to the welding area.","They insert the boss into the hole, then tack it in place.","This piece will go on the end of each scissor arm, but first, they weld on another boss.","Now fully assembled, this piece is called the male scissor end.","They tack it to one end of the scissor arm and tack a female scissor end to the arm's other end.","Robots now weld the two endpieces simultaneously, then the boss in the middle.","Now workers stack the scissor arms, putting a pin in each middle boss.","They also install the hydraulic lift cylinder that will raise and lower the scissor stack.","This manifold activates the lift cylinder by increasing and decreasing hydraulic pressure.","Workers fasten the connected scissor ends to each other by driving a pin through the boss.","They secure it with a locking mechanism called a cotter pin.","Meanwhile, other workers assemble the base of the scissor lift.","At this stage, it's upside down.","At the rear, workers bolt in a hydraulic wheel motor.","Hydraulic pressure turns the motor, enabling the operator to move the scissor lift forward or backward.","They slide a wheel onto the hub and bolt it securely.","This is the wheel hub onto which the front wheel bolts.","It attaches with a pin locked by a cotter pin.","They install the hydraulic steering cylinder.","This steel tie rod links the front wheels to each other so that they turn together.","Now workers hook up the hydraulic hoses.","They pump a bit of grease in to lubricate the cylinder.","Next, they assemble and install the hydraulic tray.","It contains the electrical panel that controls all machine functions, as well as the hydraulic tank and pump.","The pump forces hydraulic fluid to the wheel motor, steering cylinder, and lift cylinder.","The hydraulic tray swings closed under the base for protection.","On the other side, they install the battery tray.","It houses the four six-volt batteries that power the scissor lift, along with the battery charger.","The scissor stack, meanwhile, is in the paint booth getting a coat of primer, then a coat of urethane paint.","This finish prevents the steel from rusting.","After curing the paint in an oven, they install the scissor stack onto the base.","Now they connect the two hoses that run between the lift cylinder and the hydraulic pump.","Through one hose, fluid goes to the cylinder to raise the scissor.","Through the other, fluid withdraws to lower the scissor.","They run cables from the electrical panel up through the scissor stack.","After installing a platform made of painted steel, they connect the cables to a control box on the platform rail.","These controls enable a worker to operate the scissor lift from the platform.","After a test drive, it's time to apply the decals, up to 75 of them depending on the model.","Some are decorative, but most specify safety information, such as the scissor lift's load capacity.","For the nhl, a regulation skating rink is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide.","The rink is basic construction, but making the ice is an art.","You have to get the thickness just right.","If the ice is too thick, it will tax the refrigeration system and soften on top, but if the ice is too thin, skate blades will cut right through it.","The rink floor is a concrete slab.","Covering it with ice begins in the arena's refrigeration room.","There, a powerful compressor pumps refrigeration fluid, usually methanol or saline, through pipes running underneath the rink's floor.","The concrete chills to between minus-15.8 and 18 degrees fahrenheit, the temperature range required for water to freeze on concrete.","This company made its own ice-making machine by retrofitting an ice resurfacer.","Its onboard water tank feeds 20 sprayers that mist a 13-foot span.","The water freezes within seconds.","To make a quality ice surface, you have to build up the ice in layers, each about .","07 inch thick.","Driving in the standard outside-inside oval pattern, each layer takes just eight minutes.","With two layers down, they paint the ice white.","You'd think it would be simpler to just paint directly on the concrete, but the paint would chip off when they remove the ice at the end of the season.","They would have to scrape and clean the slab before repainting it--  a messy, expensive job.","So, instead, the ice maker mixes water and powdered paint in the onboard tank and sprays three layers onto the ice.","This paint doesn't dry.","Just like the water the machine sprayed before, it freezes into white ice.","This metal dioxide-based paint is specially formulated for skating rinks, designed to cling to a base coat of ice.","And unlike concrete paint, it's nontoxic and biodegradable, so that at the end of the season, the arena can melt the ice and let the water drain without contaminating the environment.","Now a crew comes in to paint the hockey markings.","Workers lay down string to mark the borders of the red line, the blue lines, and the goal lines.","They elevate intersecting lines so that the paintbrush can pass.","To paint the face-off circles, workers use an anchor, cable, and what's called a paint stick.","It takes just 20 minutes or so to paint them.","The paint is in a portable tank.","It flows down the paint-stick tube to a rectangular pad on the end.","Now the goal crease at each net.","First, they trace a template, then fill in with a shade of blue you see in swimming pools.","They use the same technique to paint the eight red face-off spots.","Back to the blue line.","First, they spray water to freeze the strings in place.","Then, using a brush on the same type of paint stick they use for the circles, they fill in the foot-wide space between the strings.","Now for the home team's logo at center ice.","After dabbing a mop in blue chalk, they run it over a computer-generated paper stencil of the logo.","This transfers the design outline to the ice.","They spray water on the chalk lines to freeze them in place, then paint the logo.","Finally, with a garden hose, they spray water over all the markings to seal the paint.","Then they slowly flood the ice with the larger hose for about a day and a half.","This adds the final 1.1 inches of ice.","The now-skateable ice surface is about 1.6 inches thick, containing over 13,000 gallons of water, about 300 bathtubs full."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carbon Fibre","Antique Frame Restoration","Railcar Movers","Hood Ornaments"]},"text":["Carbon fiber is an engineer's dream-- lightweight yet incredibly strong.","It's a string with thousands of parallel filaments.","Multiple strings can be twisted into yarns, woven into fabrics, or molded with resin to produce materials called carbon-fiber composites.","Carbon fiber is five times stronger than steel yet less than half the weight.","To make it, they take a plastic fiber composed of thousands of filaments far thinner than human hair.","They then chemically alter it to form a perfect chain of carbon atoms for the final product.","This mammoth machine lines up dozens of those fibers which then travel through an oxidation oven for a couple of minutes.","The oven temperature, about 480 degrees fahrenheit, prompts the fibers to pick up oxygen molecules from the air.","This rearranges the fibers' atomic structure, rendering them resistant to high heat.","As the fibers oxidize, they change color to eventually turn black.","They're now primed for the next process, carbonization.","Furnaces heat the fibers in an oxygen-free gas mixture.","This expels the non-carbon atoms and transforms the remaining carbon atoms into tightly bonded crystals running parallel to the length of the fiber.","This gives the fiber its strength.","The exiting fibers travel through a bath of electrically charged water that etches the fibers' surface so they'll better absorb resin.","The next station applies a light preliminary coat of resin.","This will strengthen the fibers' chemical bond to the molding resin.","A spooling machine winds each fiber, now referred to as a carbon-fiber tow, onto a bobbin which buyers either weave into a carbon-fiber fabric or mix with resin to mold a product.","Another form of carbon fiber is prepreg-- sheets of resin-impregnated carbon fiber ready for molding.","It's like ready-to-bake cake mix.","The resin is a formula of epoxy and various powdered hardeners and accelerators.","Workers pour the resin into a filming machine which spreads it in a thin, wet layer onto paper.","The paper is pre-treated with a release agent to prevent the final product from sticking, like spraying a baking pan with non-stick coating.","Another machine, meanwhile, groups 200 to 300 carbon-fiber tows into a giant band of fibers called a web.","The width and thickness of the web determines the width and thickness of the prepreg sheet.","Workers mount two rolls of resin-coated paper onto the resin-impregnation machine.","A heating element warms up the web as it enters to facilitate resin absorption.","Then the heated carbon-fiber web is sandwiched between two sheets of resin-coated paper.","High-pressure heated rollers thin out the resin so it penetrates the millions of carbon-fiber filaments.","Cooling plates then turn the liquid resin to gel so that the next station can remove the paper, which pulls off easily thanks to the release agent.","The next station covers the top of the prepreg sheet with polyester film.","This prevents the prepreg sheet from sticking to itself at the end of the line when it's wound into a roll like a fruit roll-up.","In the factory's lab, technicians run quality control tests on prepreg samples.","First they weigh the sample.","Then they wash off the resin with chemicals and weigh the sample again.","This verifies whether the ratio of carbon fiber to resin is correct.","The lab also analyzes samples of composite-- carbon-fiber reinforced resin-- in this tensile strength test.","The computer measures how much strain the sample withstands before breaking.","Such testing ensures the carbon fiber delivers optimum strength, durability, and heat resistance, whether it's used to make an auto part, a wind-turbine blade, or a golf club.","Antique gilded frames have spent many years protecting paintings and enhancing them.","But over time, grime can obscure the gold-leaf shine and the frame can suffer damage and deterioration.","But these frames are highly collectible, and restoring them preserves their value.","With elaborate cast ornamentation and gold-leaf work, this 19th-century gilded frame is itself a work of art.","But it's in need of renewal.","Restoration work done many years ago has cracked, and gold leaf is deteriorating elsewhere on the frame.","The technician carefully pries the cracked acorn casting loose and removes it from the frame.","He'll make a new one from scratch.","It will need to completely fill the empty space and look exactly like the others on the frame.","He starts by making a mold with dental impression rubber.","He kneads the two putty-like components together to activate the ingredients.","When the color's uniform and there are no streaks, the rubber is ready for molding.","He must act quickly because in just three minutes the rubber will cure.","He presses it around the acorn ornament on the frame to capture the detail.","He now has a mold he can use to cast a new ornament for the frame.","He'll use this wood epoxy for that.","Like the dental impression rubber, it must be mixed thoroughly to activate it.","He presses the epoxy into the contours of the mold, pushing it from one end to the other.","This will prevent air from becoming trapped in the casting and compromising its integrity.","After a 10-minute cure, the epoxy casting is ready, and he extracts it from the mold.","He examines the detail and confirms that it is an exact reproduction.","Then, using a scoop chisel, he sculpts the edges and the inside of the casting to shape it to the picture frame.","In this comparison shot, the shaped part is the one on the left.","He places the cast epoxy ornament on the frame and nails it down.","The epoxy is still soft enough that he can drive the nail into it without breaking it.","He fills the gap between the casting and the frame with more epoxy, providing a seamless transition from new to old.","After the epoxy solidifies, he brushes something called bole onto it.","Bole is a mix of clay and rabbit-skin glue.","It provides a surface that the gold can adhere to, and the rabbit-skin glue will give it flex as the wood expands and contracts.","He then transfers the 23-karat gold leaf to the casting.","Before he lays each piece of gold leaf, he wets the surface of the ornament with a gilder's liqueur-- a mix of water, alcohol, and rabbit-skin glue.","This causes the gold leaf to conform to the contours of the ornament and adhere.","After the golf leaf sets for an hour or two, he burnishes it to a very high shine using a tool made from agate, a very hard, semiprecious stone.","Hundreds of years ago, craftsman used dogs' teeth for this job.","He rubs the shiny, new gold surface with very fine-grade steel wool.","This removes some of the gold to simulate natural wear so that it matches the patina of the rest of the frame.","And what a transformation this plain epoxy casting has undergone.","Newly gilded, and it looks like it's always been part of the antique frame.","Other sections of the frame require regilding.","He rubs alcohol onto those areas to get rid of atmospheric residue that would prevent the adhesion of the new gold.","And after applying gilder's liqueur, he lays sheets of the new gold leaf over the old, working with a steady rhythm to give the area complete coverage.","He's aiming for more of a matte finish on this section, so he doesn't polish it.","He brushes a protective coat of shellac onto it.","He's used a combination of old materials and new to restore this antique gilt frame, and it's picture-perfect.","Pushing and pulling railcars at the train yard is the job of a large motorized vehicle appropriately called a railcar mover.","It switches the cars from one track to another, shuttles them in and out of the cargo loading area, and positions them in line behind the locomotive.","A railcar mover has to drive both on and off the train track, so it has two types of wheels-- four steel rail wheels for guiding it on the track and four wheels with rubber tires for driving on the ground.","When building a railcar mover, they start with the frame.","A computer-guided plasma cutter cuts out all the frame parts from a 4-inch-thick steel plate.","Once all the frame parts are ready, workers begin welding them together.","They position the deck plate, the mover's floor, upside down and weld on the frame rails.","These will hold the axles for the rubber wheels.","Then, to those frame rails, they weld the rail arm mounts.","These will hold the rail arms which hold the rail wheels.","After welding several additional components to the frame, workers bolt the axles for the rubber wheels to the frame rails...","Then the rail arms to the rail mounts.","Now the frame goes to the paint shop for a coat of primer followed by a coat of automotive paint.","Workers also roll on a textured floor coating to create a non-slip surface for the driver to safely walk to and from the cab.","When the paint dries, the frame returns to the assembly line where workers begin mounting the 4.5-foot-wide rail wheels onto the rail arms.","After mounting each wheel on the spindle, they install a bearing, then a large nut.","They must tighten the nut to the correct torque yet not over-tighten it, or the wheel won't turn freely.","Once they've got just the correct torque, they secure the nut with a retaining lock nut.","They finish off this installation with the rail-wheel equivalent of a hubcap.","This steel cover holds in the grease that lubricates the wheel and bearing while keeping out dust and dirt.","Next they mount the four rubber wheels, securing each one with a dozen bolts.","These steel wheels with rubber tires are about 6 1/2 feet in diameter.","Workers mount several other components, including a pair of air tanks with gauges for the railcar's pneumatic brake system.","These are the brakes the driver uses when the mover is coupled to railcars.","When it's not, the mover has its own separate hydraulic brake system, the components of which workers also install at this stage.","They attach a hydraulic cylinder to the steer axle.","This controls the steering of the rubber wheels when the mover is off the train track.","The rail wheels, of course, don't require any steering, as they simply follow the track.","Now workers install the 300-horsepower diesel engine.","It's already bolted to the transmission.","Then they hook up the electrical wiring, which connects the engine and transmission to the computer controlling them.","They lower the hood over the engine and transmission.","The hood has three components already installed-- the engine air intake, air cleaner, and muffler.","Finally, they install the cab.","It has a steering wheel for driving off-rail and a control console that rotates 180 degrees to let the driver operate at whichever side of the cab provides the best view of all the railcars the mover is pulling or pushing.","The finished railcar mover doesn't leave the factory before a burn-in period in the test pit.","The test is so intense, the rubber tires have to be cooled with water.","Pulling as many as 40 railcars at a time is no job for a lightweight.","That's why a railcar mover weighs in at up to 45 tons.","At first, hood ornaments were used to beautify external temperature gauges and radiator caps.","They then evolved into signature pieces that embodied the car brand.","And when the radiator caps were moved under the hood, the ornaments stayed on top.","A hood ornament is a little piece of automotive art.","Popular mainly on luxury cars now, these ornaments symbolize the spirit of the car and can make quite a statement on the street.","Each ornament starts with an aluminum mold that consists of many parts in order to achieve a complex shape.","An injector pumps specially formulated wax into the mold cavity.","The wax solidifies quickly.","The operator dismantles the mold and removes the cast wax model.","The detail is impressive.","He examines it for flaws.","He cools the model in water until the wax firms.","This wax model will be used to make a mold to cast the metal ornament using a technique that dates back thousands of years.","He attaches numerous cast models to a wax riser by melting the wax a little so they adhere.","The next worker then dips the models and riser into specially formulated ceramic slurry.","He makes sure that the liquid covers every detail.","Still wet, the models then go into the rain sander, so named because it actually rains grit.","The grit sticks to the models for a stucco effect.","He repeats the ceramic dip and grit process three times to build up substantial shells around the wax models.","These shells will serve as molds to cast the hood ornament.","In this case, the casting material is steel.","They melt rejected hood ornaments with steel chunks to transform them into a white-hot liquid.","The ceramic models have by now been cured and the wax melted out.","Workers ladle the molten steel into the riser feeder cup.","The steel flows into all of the ceramic molds.","They top it off with a manganese mixture that catches fire and keeps the steel hot and liquid a little longer, ensuring that it feeds into all of the molds.","The steel cools for several hours and solidifies.","An employee then breaks open the network of molds to reveal the cast hood ornaments.","He inserts a pneumatic hammer into the feeder cup, and it shakes off most of the remaining ceramic shards.","This machine blasts off the rest using very fine stainless-steel particles.","They're ready to cut the cast ornaments free from the main base.","With the riser on its side, the worker slices off one hood ornament at a time using an aluminum-oxide cutting wheel.","At this angle, he can't make a clean cut.","He leaves a fairly thick chunk on the base.","He grinds off that chunk using an abrasive belt.","The base of the hood ornament is now smooth and level.","Next he refines the shape of the hood ornament.","He grinds away excess material to improve the profile of the piece and generally clean it up.","This process also adds shine to the stainless steel.","To give the hood ornaments a real polish, they plunge them into a sulfuric-acid solution.","The solution eats away impurities to expose the nickel.","A worker buffs each hood ornament against a cloth wheel until it gleams.","He examines his work under a magnifying glass.","Defects won't be tolerated, and even at this stage, the statuette could be rejected and melted into a new one.","It passes inspection.","Made of steel, silver, or gold, a hood ornament on a luxury car is a great way to say you've arrived."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plastic Bags","Solar Panels","Plastic Gasoline Containers","Hockey Sticks"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Plastic bags--  it's trash and carry.","Solar panels--  reflecting on energy efficiency.","Plastic gas containers--  fuel to go.","And hockey sticks-- mind if we take a shot at this one?","You can use them for groceries, for shopping, for taking out the trash.","Chances are there's a growing pile of them somewhere in your kitchen.","With so many everyday uses, it's easy to see how people can get \"carried away\" with plastic bags.","The plastic bags we use every day are made from granules of linear polyethylene resin that will be melted.","They combine the linear polyethylene with another low-density one in this mixer.","The granules are perfectly blended into a homogenous material.","Granules melt in the extruder, which heats them to a temperature varying between 356 and 465 degrees.","This produces a film of polyethylene in the form of a tube.","It is several hundred feet long, has a minimum thickness of .","0002 of an inch and a circumference of 20 inches.","The plastic tube gradually cools down.","Rollers then flatten out the plastic tube.","The polyethylene film is now easy to work.","And now they cut the tube on two sides to obtain different rolls.","This knife then cuts the film to the required width.","The excess strip is salvaged in this tube.","Several hundred of feet of film are produced and rolled up.","This particular roll contains the required quantity of film.","When the roll is full, the film is cut.","This roll moves forward and can be transported to another department.","An empty roll begins to fill up automatically.","A full roll weighs 348 pounds and can produce 35,000 bags.","The next step--  printing on the bags.","This alcohol-based ink circulates continuously to retain its viscosity.","Impressions are made by inking rollers.","Here another color is being applied on the bags.","Once printing is over, the plastic film is rolled up again.","The roll is now full, and the cutting of bags can get started.","This machine makes 150 bags per minute.","A sealer bonds the edges of the bag together with heat.","The wheel picks up the bag and puts them on 2 spindles that can hold 250 each.","Here, they're making bags with a hermetic zipper.","The zipper is made from a plastic pad which inserts into a slot.","The zipper is made in advance and is unrolled progressively.","The zipper strip is cut and heat-bonded to the bag at 356 degrees.","And here's the zippered bag, all finished.","In this other department of the plant, they make plastic bags with handles.","Printed bags circulate on these rollers.","The machine that welds the sides gives the bags the desired shape.","Then another machine, with a punch, cuts the handle holes.","Bags are heat-sealed and cut at 302 degrees.","Here, they fabricate another product-- packaging bags.","One end of the bag is heat-sealed.","This machine makes holes that let air out of the bag when it is being filled, to allow them to be generously filled with items.","At this stage, a stamper cuts the handle holes.","Bags are cut to the required size, automatically sealing the other side of it.","This plant makes eight types of bags, for an overall total of over one million a day.","Not so long ago, solar energy was a concept that seemed to be torn from the pages of a science-fiction novel.","But the time has come for this non-polluting energy source to step into the limelight--  or should we say the sunlight?","The future of solar panels is bright.","The sun is able to produce electricity.","Panels covered with photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity.","This blue plate is a module made of crystalline silicon.","The grooves are the conductors, and the silicon crystals glisten at its surface.","To make a solar panel, several modules have to be connected together.","Then they apply a soldering flux on each module.","The soldering wire is heated with an iron.","The modules are placed on a special support.","Once the soldering is done, the modules are cleaned by ultrasound, in water, at 140 degrees.","When dried, the perfectly clean modules are ready to be assembled.","Now they can proceed with soldering the modules by groups.","First, a flux is applied which improves the quality of the soldering.","With great dexterity, they assemble four groups composed of nine modules each.","In this way, 36 modules are soldered and connected in series.","Modules are assembled end to end.","They have to be handled with great care.","Using a voltmeter, the voltage of each module is verified.","At this stage, it's easy to remake a solder connection if there's a problem.","If the voltage is adequate, they use suction grips to make handling of the nine rows of modules easier and to keep them clean.","The modules are placed into position.","Then this metallic strip is inserted.","It is a conductor that will link the four groups of nine modules.","Solder connections are made to link the modules to the metallic strip.","Then they put on this transparent sheet of layered glass.","It serves as a rigid transparent form which will support the modules.","The superposing of parts forms a laminate, that increases the rigidity and solidity of the panel.","Finally, a sealing film is applied to protect the module.","To laminate and stiffen the solar panel, it's placed in a heated oven from which air has been vacuumed out.","The panel will cook at 176 degrees for 15 minutes.","The oven hermetically reseals to proceed with the vacuuming out of air.","And here's the finished panel.","All the components are bonded together.","They now proceed with a test.","The panel is placed in a solar simulator.","Negative and positive contacts of the solar panel are connected to a voltmeter.","The panel is inserted into the simulator, and a powerful lamp will illuminate it.","The voltmeter is read to make sure that panels supply the electric current required.","Here now is the assembly of another kind of solar panel called the amorphous silicon type.","Its components were made in europe and asia.","These are the positive and negative connecting wires of the solar panel.","The panel is placed into a plastic frame and glued in place.","Then the frame is screwed tight so that it won't move.","The solar panel, made up of crystalline silicon modules, is put onto an a.b.s. plastic frame.","It is now finished.","Fabricating this panel will have required about one hour of work.","Six of them are made here every day.","Your needle's dipping past empty, but you're gambling you'll have enough gas in the tank to make it just a little further.","Well, when you're on that long walk to the nearest gas station, you'll be glad someone had the bright idea of manufacturing these handy plastic gas containers.","Plastic gas containers are made from these granules composed of a concentrated colorant and a u.v.-resistant additive.","They're mixed with white granules, which is the primary material, called high-density polyethylene, and recycled plastic, which has been ground up on a granulator.","It's all dumped into this milling machine.","These granules are all mixed together and melted.","The melted plastic will be blown in and will take shape within this mold, made of very high-quality dense aluminum, called aviation type.","Blow-molding continues and produces a soft plastic tube.","This is cut and placed in the mold.","Then this nozzle pumps the plastic into the mold shell.","The container is unmolded and moves along on a conveyor.","There's another way to mold plastic-- by rotation.","This previously colored powder has a 35 mesh size, which is just a little larger than flour.","Low-density linear polyethylene is poured into the bottom of the mold.","The mold has a cover that will be closed, then placed on a steel support.","This support is articulated by an arm on two rotation axes simultaneously.","This action allows the plastic powder to distribute itself thoroughly throughout the mold.","The mold is placed in an oven which generates a temperature of 590 degrees.","About 15 minutes is needed for the polyethylene powder to melt and another 15 minutes to allow the piece to adequately cool before unmolding it.","The mold cover is lifted off, and the plastic piece is unmolded.","Gloves must be worn, since the piece and the mold are still very hot.","Here they fabricate a mechanism cover for a stationary bicycle.","It's held in place by a cutting pattern, and openings are cut with a pneumatic tool.","Holes are made with a drill.","The casing is now completed.","Now we get back to the previous blow-molding process.","This type of molding produces residues that have to be eliminated.","These surplus pieces are cut with this small saw.","The now-hardened scraps are sent to the granulator to be reduced into granules, which will be newly added into the mixer to make other plastic containers.","This small pneumatic drill pierces the container's vent hole.","The container circulates from one step to another on the conveyor.","The next steps will be accomplished by robotic arms.","And then the final elements are attached, such as the pouring spout.","Then a sealing stopper, equipped with a rubber washer, prevents leaks.","And finally, the cap of the neck is automatically screwed into place.","Depending on the thickness of the mold, the blowing procedure allows the production of between 30 and 120 containers an hour.","The rotation process takes between 45 and 60 minutes to make a unit.","Finished containers are now ready for packing and delivery.","Few things are as elegant as curved, polished wood...","Especially at 100 miles an hour and driving a slap shot right past the goalie.","A lot of engineering goes into packing that punch.","Call it the science behind \"he shoots, he scores\".","The irish, some 1,200 years ago, were playing hurling, a form of hockey on grass with simple goal zones.","In the 17th century, american indians used curved sticks in a game they called \"battagaway\".","The sport we play today was developed by british soldiers in 1855 in ontario, canada, as a pastime during long northern winters.","Making a hockey stick requires the assembly of several pieces of wood and fiberglass.","These sticks are all replicas of those of great hockey professionals.","The shaft is made of a piece of poplar onto which they glue two thin strips of birch.","This is placed on a circular conveyor equipped with a press that holds the pieces together while the glue dries.","Then this multibladed saw cuts the wood into three identical stick-shaft pieces.","The shafts are moved to a precision sander.","The shaft has to be reinforced with fiberglass.","With a roller, they apply a coat of epoxy resin, a kind of glue, onto which they place carbon-reinforced fiberglass.","The resin has to dry and harden.","The stick shaft is placed in an individual mold and cooked in this press, heated to 176 degrees for 12 minutes.","The shaft then goes to a milling machine equipped with diamond-headed knives that round the edges.","A finish is applied to the shaft for a second sanding, which brings out the grain of the wood.","Now they glue small blocks to the end of the shaft in order to attach the blade.","Urethane glue is used.","It resists water and humidity and is specially made for hockey sticks.","This glue dries in 15 minutes at 100 degrees.","This slitter cuts the shaft and wood blocks in order to slide in the blade.","This machine inserts the glue and the blade into the stick shaft.","The stick is placed on a conveyor leading it to the next step and giving the glue a chance to dry well.","Then both sides of the blade are sanded to thin them.","The sticks are replicas of those used by hockey professionals.","This computer-controlled digital lathe cuts the blade.","Data on all the cuts are in the computer's memory.","The blade now has to be curved.","It's steamed for a minute, allowing humidity to penetrate the wood and make it flexible.","Then the blade is placed in this curved mold, where it is heated for 50 seconds at 131 degrees.","The blade is then worked by hand.","The new blade is compared with the pattern of a hockey player's stick to obtain precisely the same curvature.","This is why the company keeps 6,000 blades on hand.","Now the blade is sanded down to the desired thickness.","The blade must also be reinforced.","Fiberglass cloth is soaked with epoxy resin.","Then they place the cloth on the blade and leave a good margin around it.","They get rid of air bubbles, then put it into an oven to dry at 90 degrees over 24 hours.","The surplus fiberglass hardens and is cut with a band saw.","This step requires quite a degree of manual dexterity.","Finishing is done with this circular sander.","Finally, the blade is dipped into this epoxy resin to give it a nice luster.","All that remains is to paint the stick.","Here, the company logos are applied via silk-screening.","Besides the 6,000 personal models of professional hockey players, this company produces 65 other models of hockey sticks.","Each week, they make about 40,000 sticks, for an annual total of 1,600,000."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Boomerangs","Barbeques","Pinball Machines","Strobe Lights"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" boomerangs...","Barbecues...","Pinball machines...","And strobe lights.","Boomerang is a throwback to primitive times.","Back then, people threw sticks to hunt and that's likely how they discovered that certain bent sticks would circle back.","Boomerangs have come a long way since then and are now finely crafted works of art.","Boomerangs come in many shapes, but fundamentally, they are all single-wing aircraft.","Construction begins with a solid piece of wood.","This tree's growth rings have been highlighted to demonstrate how compressed the outer rings become.","Because the wood from this section is denser than the inner rings, it's easier to work with.","A woodworker takes 16 strips of that dense wood and places them in a steam box for 20 minutes.","The steam makes the strips much more flexible.","In fact, they're so elastic, they can be bent by hand.","Watch how he arcs all 16 layers at once with little effort.","The basic form of a boomerang has taken shape.","To improve the contour, the strips into a boomerang-shaped mold.","They'll stay in this mold for a day or two, long enough to dry and harden into the bent form.","Now it's time to laminate the wood.","Glue is spread onto each bent strip.","Then the strips are clamped together again back into the mold.","This time, the mold has been coated with wax to prevent the glue from sticking to it.","The strips are left to set overnight.","The next day, the laminated piece of wood is removed.","It's solid but far too chunky to take flight.","A woodworker slices it into pieces 8 to 12 millimeters thick.","One piece of laminated wood yields about six thinner pieces, each of which will become a boomerang in its own right.","But it needs more form, and those rough edges have to go.","So a more refined design is traced onto the wood and cut out.","But there's an easier way to make a boomerang-- with sturdy aircraft plywood.","With plywood, there's no need to laminate and then physically bend the wood.","A woodworker simply cuts out the pattern...","Then sculpts the tops of the wings with a drum sander.","He's made the tops of the wings curve upwards but in opposite directions.","It's this contouring that will make the boomerang fly in a circle.","On some models, embedded lead weights are added for improved balance.","That laminated boomerang gets the same contouring but files are used instead of a drum sander.","Laminated wood responds better to this technique, but it's much more labor intensive and requires specialized skill.","One mistake in the shape and size and the boomerang's aerodynamics will be thrown off kilter.","But our woodworker has the job down to a fine art.","To fine-tune the boomerang, he first softens it over a steaming kettle while twisting the wings into an upward flip.","This blower dries the wood to ensure it stays flipped.","Then the woodworker sets it on a flat surface to check the curve.","A sealant is sprayed onto the boomerang, and finally, it gets several coats of lacquer for a high-gloss finish.","And now these boomerangs are ready to fly.","Up next, it's time to get grilling.","The barbecue's origins are clouded in a bit of a smoky haze, but it's believed that native caribbeans were the first to cook this way.","Of course, back then, they didn't have charcoal grills.","They roasted meat over a smoky pit.","Today, people still love a good cookout, but now we have better equipment.","Basic charcoal grills begin with big steel disks.","Rollers coat each one with soapy lubricant.","Then they're fed into a press that shapes each one into a big bowl.","Molding steel can be tricky.","If it's not lubricated enough, it could tear instead of bend, so workers need to make sure each disk gets a generous application of the soapy solution before it goes into the press.","This is a back view of the press.","With each powerful thrust, the ram delivers 500 tons of pressure.","A similar type of press makes the barbecues' lids.","An operator inspects each part for splits and cracks.","Then it's over to a press that trims the rim.","The scrap is tossed into a bin for recycling.","Next, the barbecue bowl spins around while an automated roller flanges the rim.","After that, holes are punched into the bowl for ventilation.","Now it's time to bring in the welding guns.","The guns fuse metal couplings to the bowls to serve as attachments for the barbecue's legs.","Here handles are lowed into an assembly machine.","Below, a turntable swings the barbecue bowls into position, then the handles are welded to each side.","At another station, the barbecue lids get a handle of their own.","No chef can check the progress of a burger without this essential part.","This one will allow the chef to lower the lid, to control the cooking temperature, and then lift it again when it's time to flip the burgers.","The barbecue parts now travel on an overhead rail to the wash station.","They're hosed down with soapy water, then rinsed clean.","Once they're dry, it's off to the finishing department.","Here the parts are dusted with a glass powder.","Then it's into a red-hot furnace set to 1,500 degrees.","The furnace bakes the glass dust into an enamel finish that protects the barbecue from rust and stains so they'll last for years.","Next, they go under intense lights that expose any defects in what should be a mirror-like finish.","An inspector examines each part inside and out.","A punch machine now makes dampers from aluminum.","It simultaneously cuts the shapes and embosses the company's logo onto them.","This handy attachment enables the chef to control the flow of air to the grill.","Nylon grips go onto the handle.","And the damper is installed over the lid's ventilation holes.","It's up to the consumer to complete the final assembly, and in just a few minutes, the burgers could be grilling.","Coming up, a high wire at a pinball factory.","Before video games, the pinball machine reigned supreme.","You pull a plunger to get the ball rolling, and as your flippers send the silver sphere flying, the machine comes to life with flashing lights and clanging bells.","No wonder it's not yet game over for pinball.","The game of pinball is unprogrammed and unpredictable.","It all starts with reams of wiring for the game's electronic system.","There's almost half a mile of wiring in one machine alone.","The color-coded wire is wound around pins and attached to connectors on the circuit board.","Technicians follow a detailed set of instructions, and an engineering diagram keeps things from getting in a tangle.","Once the wires are all laid out, they're removed in loosely tied bunches and dipped into a hot metal soup to solder them together.","But not all wires are soldered.","Some get attachments called lugs.","These connectors are crimped onto the ends of the wires with a hydraulic machine.","Eventually, the lugs will be used to connect wires to attachments on the play field.","But first, the cable is hooked up to a testing board where technicians check every circuit.","Meanwhile, the play field is placed on a bed of nails and foam strips.","As the nail bed rises and presses against the header, the nails prick the back of the play board, but the foam strips stop them from going all the way through.","These nail holes will serve as markers for installing pinball targets and tactical features on the play field.","Technicians drill a few holes, then cover the play field with a metal template and drill some more.","These holes will be used to mount the pinball gadgetry onto the play field.","Next, anchors are hammered into place.","They'll secure the metal railings that keep the silver balls from rolling off the play field.","A lamppost is fitted into place...","Followed by some plastic bumpers and 115 flashing lights.","Now it's time to permanently attach all that wiring.","Some are soldered directly onto the board.","Others are attached to switches.","A speaker is bolted into the cabinet for some major sound effects.","Then it's time for that essential tool-- the spring-powered plunger.","Workers attach a toy villain...","And add a ramp in the shape of a sword, along with a few other characters.","Finally, it's time for the inaugural run.","The pinball is rolled into every target and mechanism to test the game's electronic switches.","There can be 70 switches in a game.","As technicians press all the buttons, a computerized system diagnoses any malfunctions.","They rigorously test all of the game's features.","If everything works, the play field is inserted into its console.","A shatterproof window slides into place to protect the play field from overenthusiastic gamers.","A metal bar locks the window into place.","Finally, the header is attached, and this pinball machine is wired and ready for action.","Coming up, little lights with lots of flash.","Strobe lights often conjure up images of '70s discos.","But you'll also find strobe lamps-- the proper term, by the way-- on aircraft wings, in police lights, and on towers and tall buildings to warn low-flying aircraft.","Strobe lights even play a role in photography and on factory production lines.","A strobe lamp emits repeated flashes of high-intensity light.","At this factory, production begins with glass blowers.","Using a ribbon burner, they heat glass tubes to almost 3,000 degrees.","This softens the glass for bending.","But if it's too soft, the tubes will collapse, so the glassworkers blow air into it through a rubber hose to build counterpressure.","The size and shape of the glass tubes varies by model, but its job is always the same-- to house a strobe lamp's essential components-- electrodes, lead wires, and xenon gas.","The electrodes conduct the current, which charges the gas with electricity, making it illuminate.","This factory makes several strobe-lamp models, some in large quantities for the mass market, others in small quantities, custom-designed for specific clients.","With mass-produced models, automated machines take over after the glassblowing.","Custom orders are handmade from start to finish.","Workers even make the electrodes manually.","They weigh a precise amount of metal powder and pour it into the cavity of a press similar to what pharmaceutical factories use to make pills.","This powder is a blend of several different materials, but the company won't divulge the ingredients.","The press applies 4 tons of pressure, compressing the powder into a pellet.","The factory inspects every pellet to ensure it meets quality standards.","The pellets then undergo a hardening process called centering.","They bake for nine minutes in a hydrogen-fueled oven.","Hydrogen is one of the hottest types of fuel, and the 3,000-degree heat fuses the powder particles into a solid mass that won't crumble apart.","Next, workers weld a lead wire to each electrode.","Then they insert two electrodes, one for the positive current, one for the negative, into each glass tube.","Then they melt the end of the tube closed.","Then they attach a wire called a trigger lead.","It prompts a transformer to send a high-voltage electric pulse to the electrodes, illuminating the gas.","This automated machine assembles the factory's mass-produced models.","Before starting it up, workers load the components-- a pair of electrodes followed by a glass tube on top.","Now the machine takes over.","It vacuums out the air in the tube, injects xenon gas, melts the tube closed, then cuts off the excess glass.","The tube's interior must be completely free of contaminants for the gas to illuminate.","So, just before the vacuum fill-and-seal operation, a hot coil encircles each tube to burn away any impurities.","On custom-made models, all of these steps are done manually.","With the strobe lamp complete, it's installation time.","This model is for the warning lights you see on tow trucks and road-construction vehicles.","It goes into a glass reflector lined with metallic film.","A transformer regulates the voltage.","Its three wires connect to the positive, negative, and trigger leads protruding from the lamp.","A glass lens covers seals and protects the lamp within the reflector, and then this product is good to go.","Strobe lamps are also used in stroboscopes-- industrial devices that help factories perform quality-control inspections on high-speed production lines.","Calibrate the light pulses to the right interval and they appear to stop the action so that cameras or workers can examine the goods.","It's the size, shape, and configuration of a strobe lamp's components, along with voltage and other electrical specs, that determines how long, how often, and how quickly the light flashes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Paving Asphalt","Marshmallow Cookies","Loudspeakers","Electronic Door Locks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Paving asphalt...","Marshmallow cookies...","Loudspeakers...","And electronic door locks.","Asphalt is a black, liquid substance that's a by-product of processing crude petroleum.","Asphalt is a key component of waterproofing and insulation materials and roofing shingles.","But its best-known use is for paving roads.","Asphalt cement is a by-product of crude oil-- the key ingredient they mix with crushed rocks and other minerals to make paving asphalt.","So, production begins at the paving plant's quarry, where some 50 feet below ground, workers driving heavy machinery collect boulders of granite that have been blasted off the rock walls.","Trucks transport the rocks to the paving plant, which is right on the quarry site.","They dump their cargo into the primary crusher-- a machine whose steel jaws crush these big rocks into pieces smaller than 8 inches.","It takes mammoth force to crush solid rock.","The fly wheels that amplify the motor's energy weigh more than 6 tons.","The primary crusher empties onto a mobile conveyor belt, which transports the crushed rocks to an outdoor storage area.","When it's time to make the asphalt, the rocks travel, via conveyer belt, from the storage area to a screening building to be classified by size.","There, the rocks tumble downward over a series of inclined screens whose largest holes are 4 inches wide.","What's too large to drop through goes to a secondary crusher, that reduces the rocks to 4 inches or smaller, then sends them to a third, or tertiary, crusher that further reduces them to 1 inch or smaller.","What's small enough to pass through the screens bypasses the secondary crusher and goes directly to the tertiary crusher.","After this last crushing stage, the largest stones are 1 inch in size.","Everything smaller than 1/4 inch goes in one pile-- that includes stone dust created by the crushing process.","Stones that are 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch go into another pile...","Stones 1/4 to 1/2 inch into another.","Trucks transfer material from each pile to separate compartments called feed bins.","Exactly what goes into the paving asphalt depends on what's being paved.","But, generally, these are the four ingredients...","Sand...","Stone dust...","1/4- to 1/2-inch stone...","And 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch stone.","The ingredient proportions vary according to what the paving asphalt will be used for.","Stones, along with sand and stone dust as fillers, usually make up about 95% of the mix.","The remainder, added later, will be liquid asphalt cement.","Each bin releases a specific amount of material onto a conveyor belt running under it.","The belts lead to a main collecting belt that dumps the ingredients, combined, onto yet another belt that leads to a drier.","The drying process, which takes about a minute, removes all traces of humidity.","This will enable the materials to bond better with the asphalt cement.","Screening equipment then reseparates the dried ingredients, making it possible to precisely weigh out the required amount of each one.","Everything then goes into a mixer.","As this demonstration shows, the mixer blends everything thoroughly.","Then it's time to pump in hot asphalt cement.","Oil refineries make asphalt cement from what's left over after they've processed crude oil.","The paving mix contains about 5% asphalt cement.","This is what happens inside the mixer.","The hot asphalt cement binds the ingredients in about 30 seconds.","The result is ready-to-lay paving asphalt.","The mixer empties directly into trucks destined for the paving site.","There, a paving machine will spread the hot asphalt on the road bed.","Then a compactor roller will pack it down.","The asphalt cools and hardens in about one hour, depending on the weather.","The next time you bite into a marshmallow cookie, you can thank the ancient egyptians.","They invented marshmallow candy by thickening honey with sap from the root of the marshmallow plant-- a herb that grows in salt marshes and along large bodies of water.","Modern marshmallow contains gelatin instead of sap from the mallow root.","The snap test-- to make sure the coating is hard and thick enough.","Then, the taste test.","If you've got a sweet tooth, doing quality control in the marshmallow cookie factory is your dream job.","To make a batch of dough for the cookie base, they mix wheat flour, salt, baking soda and powder, cornstarch, whey powder, and potassium sorbate.","Then they add several liquid ingredients.","This one causes a chemical reaction, making the biscuit lighter.","This cream-colored liquid is vegetable oil shortening.","This transparent liquid is glucose fructose, a sweetener.","The ingredient proportions are also a company secret.","From the mixer, the dough goes into a machine called the chipper.","It shreds the big blob into pieces about the size of the cap on a highlighter pen.","This makes the dough more manageable for the next machine, called a rotary mold.","Inside that machine, a large roller flattens the dough pieces, forming them into a dense sheet about 1/2 inch thick.","It then presses the sheet against another roller whose surface is a cookie mold.","The factory uses the rotary mold machine for many different types of cookies.","It simply installs the appropriate roller for the cookie in production.","For marshmallow cookie bases, the mold cavities are round.","The bases exit the rotary mold and make their way onto a moving baking sheet.","That transports them to an oven.","The baking time and temperature are, once again, top secret.","The baked cookie bases exit the oven and move onto a conveyer belt that transports them to a cooling area.","Once they cool to room temperature, the bases go into a machine called the base feeder.","It lines them up like marching soldiers to receive their marshmallow filling and chocolate coating.","The process does require military precision.","Factory technicians have to adjust this machine daily to ensure accuracy to 1/32 of an inch.","A portion of filling has to land perfectly centered on each base, finishing off in a curled peak, this brand's trademark.","The company won't divulge how much marshmallow filling goes into each cookie, nor will it reveal its marshmallow recipe.","But marshmallow is usually made from either corn syrup or sugar and gelatin.","And now for the final layer-- the chocolate coating.","Not only are the marshmallow and base covered in hot, melted chocolate, the base floats in it, which coats the underside, as well.","Built-in air jets blow off the excess.","The chocolate hardens inside a cooling tunnel.","How long that takes in the tunnel temperature are-- you guessed it-- classified information.","As the cookies exit the cooling tunnel, a quality-control worker does spot-checks to ensure the coating is thorough, hard enough, and thick enough.","On the packaging line, the cookies go into plastic trays.","To keep up to speed, the workers have to grab four cookies in each hand without breaking the coating.","The trays pass through a machine that wraps them in plastic film.","This keeps the cookies fresh and also prevents them from falling out of the tray.","Meanwhile, another machine assembles the boxes-- first folding and gluing one end shut.","Once workers load the trays, the machine glues the open end closed, as well.","Then with the go-ahead from quality control, the box's next stop is the cookie aisle of your local supermarket.","Loudspeakers take an electrical signal and turn it into sound.","The key to it all is a magnetic wire voice coil and a permanent magnet that attract and repel each other.","As the coil moves back and forth, it rapidly vibrates a flexible cone.","This vibrates the air in front of the speaker, creating sound waves.","Loudspeakers contain at least two magnet-and-cone assemblies known as drivers.","They're typically housed in a box called a speaker enclosure.","To build the internal magnetic structure, the factory begins by cutting two plates of iron, each about 1/2 inch thick.","They go one at a time onto a lathe.","First, the machining tool smoothes and evens out the surfaces, getting rid of the marks the saw made.","Then it cuts out a small hole in the center of one plate and a larger hole in the center of the other.","Next, they cut a smaller and thicker round piece of iron called the core.","A reamer bores a large hole through it.","They apply superhigh-strength epoxy glue to the core and to the back plate-- the plate with the smaller hole.","They glue and screw the pieces together because the bond has to be strong enough to withstand intense magnetic pull.","They glue a foam filter in the hole to ensure the vibrating cone doesn't draw in dust and cause internal damage.","Now they spread the glue on the narrow end of what's called the metal basket, a die-cast aluminum frame that will hold the magnetic structure and cone.","They screw the front plate, the plate with the bigger hole, onto the glued surface.","Then they glue the underside of the front plate and one side of a ferrite, a ceramic ring made from the iron powder.","After adhering the ferrite to the front plate, they apply glue to the other side of the ferrite, then flip the basket over to attach the back plate.","The core fits through the large hole in the front plate.","They insert shims to center it while the glue dries.","After screwing terminals to the basket, they put the entire structure they've just assembled into a magnetizing machine with 600 volts of direct current.","The machine creates positive and negative poles, transforming the magnetic structure into a permanent magnet, meaning it has a constant magnetic field around it.","Now they wind the voice coil-- the electronic magnet that will interact with the permanent magnet.","An electromagnet is an object that generates a magnetic field only when there's a current running through it.","They wind enamel-insulated copper wire, gluing it to a rigid plastic sheet.","The positive pole of this voice coil will be attracted to the negative pole of the permanent magnet.","The negative poles will repel each other.","The key is that the voice coil's poles are constantly reversing position because the electrical current running to the speaker is an alternating current, meaning it switches between a positive and negative charge several times per second.","This makes the magnets attract and repel each other continuously, causing the voice coil to move back and forth rapidly.","This vibrates the cone, which creates sound waves.","After slipping the voice coil between the front plate and the core, they glue on the bottom suspension-- flexible fabric rings that move with the voice coil and prevent it from rubbing on the magnetic structure.","Next, they glue the cone.","It's usually made of cardboard, plastic, or metal.","Then solder the electrical connections.","The current coming from the amplifier travels by wire to the two terminals.","The terminal wires connect to the voice coil wires.","After making sure the cone moves freely without rubbing, they glue on a rigid cardboard cap to keep out dust.","The last step is to take the speaker for an audio test drive.","They connect it to a machine that transmits different frequencies.","They make sure the movement of the voice coil and cone isn't obstructed in any way.","Then a computer device analyzes the sound wave the driver sends out.","Two-way speaker systems have two drivers in each enclosure-- a woofer and tweeter.","A woofer has a large cone that vibrates more slowly for low frequencies.","A tweeter has a small cone that vibrates quickly for high frequencies.","Three-way systems have a third driver with a medium-sized cone for the midranges.","At most hotels, room keys are a thing of the past.","You're more likely these days to be given a key card.","When you arrive at the door to your room, you swipe or insert it to unlock the handle and get in.","Because the room number doesn't appear on the card, this system is far more secure than door locks with a keyhole.","The metal case that houses the door lock's mechanical and electronic components is called the housing.","To make it, they begin by melting zinc ingots.","To melt zinc, you have to heat it to about 734 degrees fahrenheit.","Die-cast machinery then injects the molten zinc into molds.","Between injections, sprayers coat the empty mold cavities with a release agent, the industrial equivalent of greasing a baking pan.","A built-in cooling system hardens the metal.","Then a trimming die cuts off excess zinc around each piece and in the openings.","Meanwhile, the electronic circuit board, the brain of the lock, takes shape.","They call this the \"pick and place\" machine.","It picks up the 60-odd electronic components and places them in the right position on each board.","This computer-guided machine installs 15,000 components per hour.","Next, the boards undergo what's called wave soldering.","A mix of molten lead and tin surges up from underneath, fusing components in place and creating electrical bonds.","Then, both sides of each circuit board get a coat of silicon-based sealant.","This protects the components against the elements.","Back to the housings now.","Workers lubricate them with grease and apply what's called a sleeve bearing-- a nylon bearing that enables the handle to turn smoothly.","Next comes the drive tube onto which the lever will be assembled on the other side.","There are several clutch components that link the lever to the latch.","Swipe the right card, and they permit the latch to retract.","After applying more lubricant, they install an override that enables the hotel to open the door with a key, if, for some reason, the electronics malfunction.","They install the circuit board and connect it to the various parts it controls, such as the clutch motor, which they install next.","Now they close up the completed housing with the steel back plate.","This protects the components inside from rusting.","The last step is to insert a battery pack.","It holds three standard double-a batteries.","The factory tests the lock using a test key card because the lock isn't yet programmed to work with a specific card.","That's done after installation.","Elsewhere in the factory, they assemble the mortise-- the part of the lock that goes inside the door.","When you lock up, the mortise's bolt comes out of the door's edge and fits into the hole of a receiving piece, called a strike plate, in the door frame.","They close up the mortise with the back plate.","This demonstration shows how they install the mortise in the door.","Once it's in, they screw a decorative plate on top.","This is what the finished electronic door looks like.","Key cards have instructions on one side, a magnetic data stripe on the other.","They use a generic card to test every lock that comes off the production line.","In the quality-control lab, they subject every new design to several rigorous tests.","They open and close 1 million times.","They subject the lever, latch, and lock to repeated impacts.","They also test lock function in extreme temperatures.","These electronic door locks come in several metal finishes plated over the zinc and even in a painted finish that simulates wood."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pressure Cookers","Mechanical Singing Birds","Oceanographic Buoys","Tank Trailers"]},"text":["When the pressure is on, the juices start flowing for quick results.","The pressure cooker traps steam inside to raise the cooking temperature and produce a meal in minutes.","The technology has been around for centuries but was only adapted for household use in the 1930s, when the concept really picked up steam.","Modern pressure cookers have new lid-locking technology and safety features, keeping it on the front burner in the kitchen-gadget department.","A pressure cooker starts with a stainless-steel disk.","A dip of some lubricant will aid the forming process, as equipment pushes the disk over a pot-shaped die.","That flat disk is now a nicely rounded pot.","Next, this punch cutter moves in to make notches in the pot's rim.","These notches will interlock with the pressure-cooker lid, allowing it to hold up tight against steam pressure.","Next, they submerge aluminum disks in a liquid mix of aluminum and silicon to give them an even coating.","While the disk is still damp, they arrange it on the bottom of the pot, then set a stainless-steel disk on top of it.","A turntable delivers the pot to an element that's heated to more than 1,100 degrees fahrenheit.","This intense heat activates the aluminum and silicon solution to fuse the disk to the bottom of the pot.","Then it's into a cooling tank, where the pots float towards the next station.","There, two blades shave away the ragged edges of the fused layers on the bottom of the pot.","It creates a cosmetic beveled effect.","That layer of aluminum sandwiched between the steel will improve the pot's heat conductivity.","And now it's time for some grit and polish.","In this special chamber, sanding and buffing tools add luster to the pots.","The pressure-cooker pot then takes a trip through a washing station to clean off the sanding residue.","And now it's ready for the crowning touch-- the lid.","It takes six pressing operations to shape it completely.","The holes at the center are for the pressure cooker's two safety valves.","To install the main valve, they align a retaining ring with the lid's larger hole, then pop the spring valve into that hole.","An automated device underneath tightly screws it into place.","The backup valve goes in the smaller hole.","These two valves are crucial.","They'll release excess steam to avert an explosion.","A rubber ring creates an airtight seal with the pot.","They test the valves and check the sealing ring, along with the lid's closing mechanism.","This plastic cooking guide encircles the main safety valve, but doesn't impede its function.","They weld several bolts into the pot on either side.","They leave a bit of space between the bolt heads and the pot.","This allows them to install the brackets for the handles.","They torque the bolts to tightly secure the bracketed handles.","After all, a pressure cooker is one thing you don't want to lose your grip on.","And now this pressure cooker is in the home stretch.","There's one last test, which they perform on randomly selected pots.","They pump the pot full of air to simulate the effect of steam and confirm that this pot can handle the pressure.","Pressure cookers with double walls are another innovation.","They'll keep that stew warm longer to ease the pressure on the chef.","Mechanical singing birdsfirst appeared in 1780, adorning snuffboxes.","The swiss-made novelty soon became the rage among classy europeans.","A few decades later, a french watchmaker perfected the sound mechanism, making the birdsong virtually indiscernible from the real thing.","switzerland is home to the last remaining company making these singing automatons.","The workshop crafts large ones that go in birdcages and small ones that pop out of boxes and clock cases.","the first step is to adjust the bird's two spring-loaded steel rods.","One pivots the bird's head and the other its beak and tail.","Then it's time to dress the bird's body.","It's illegal to harvest real bird feathers, so the artist uses real antique feathers in a couple of key spots and realistic-looking synthetic feathers everywhere else.","To craft the tail, she glues feathers onto stiff paper, then folds it over and adheres it to the bird.","Then she adds more feathers, meticulously creating colorful layers.","The plumage alone takes about four hours' work.","No two birds are alike.","Each is a unique piece of art.","In the technical department, they screw the windup key to the mechanical movement that animates the birds.","The movement is made up of 250 brass and steel components assembled manually.","They connect leather bellows.","The movement pumps the bellows, which sends air through a tiny whistle, producing the birdsong.","Now for the birdie.","This one's the small pop-up kind that goes in a box or clock case.","They screw him to a lever in the movement, then, using a brass template, position him correctly.","This rack gear moves the bird from side to side while he's up and singing.","This pin attaches that gear to the movement.","This lever pops the bird out of his nest, moves the rack gear, and pumps the bellows.","A push button on the movement triggers the lever, setting all this in motion.","now they install the movement into its decorative box.","Birdcage models require an identical but larger movement.","The base of the cage sits on top of it.","The rods that manipulate the birds connect to the movement through tubes in brass perches.","workers construct the top of the cage over a curved form.","First, they slide on two brass rings and position a brass disk at the top.","Then, they feed thick brass wire through holes in the rings.","They lock each wire onto the disk temporarily, then, with a bit of acid to help the process, solder the wires to the disk permanently.","After making sure everything's well-positioned, they solder the wires to the rings, as well.","Once the structure is soldered, the cage can safely come off the form.","Decorative brass rings cover the structural ones.","They, too, have to be soldered in place.","This requires a light brush of acid...","Lead pellets...","And a torch to melt the lead, binding the outer and inner rings.","Every mechanical singing bird this company produces is a work of artistic and technical craftsmanship that delivers a performance on command.","oceanographic buoys enable scientists to study the sea, help meteorologists predict weather, and rescue teams better to find a search area.","The top part of the buoy houses instrumentation that tracks temperature, surface currents, and other conditions.","Its antenna transmits the data via satellite to a base station.","This model has a ball-shaped surface float with a tether cable connecting a long fabric tube called a drogue.","The drogue detects water movements several yards below the surface.","The component that connects the surface float to the cable is called the stress relief.","The factory makes this part in a mold, casting 10 at a time.","Workers inject liquid urethane into the mold cavities.","It's the same material from which in-line skate wheels are made.","After three hours, they extract the castings, which then cure for a full week.","The surface float contains a barometer sensor that collects air-pressure data, as well as a temperature sensor and a locating system.","A 13.5-volt battery pack powers all these instruments.","Workers build it by arranging 36 standard d-cell batteries.","Using nickel strips, they make pairs, linking the negative end to a positive end.","Then, they spot-weld the strips, creating circuit pathways along which electricity will flow.","Next, they immobilize the batteries by filling the spaces between them with hot glue.","Then, they weld the final connections and solder on the leads that will connect the battery pack to the instrumentation.","Now they apply special insulating paper to prevent the battery pack from shorting, should it come into contact with a metal object.","A wide band of electrical tape safely seals this 13-pound battery pack.","The nylon/polypropylene drogue is too lightweight to hang vertically in the water, so it needs something to weigh it down.","That something is a heavy, plastic hoop.","They make the hoop by blowing sand into a plastic garden hose.","The sand makes it heavy.","After capping the hose, they insert it in a pocket at the bottom of the drogue.","So now the drogue, all 26 feet of it, will dangle straight down into the water.","Now for that stress relief they molded earlier on.","It attaches underneath the bottom half of the surface float.","Inside the bottom half, they install the battery pack...","Then a control board...","A transmitter...","And an antenna.","The surface float is made of a.b.s. plastic, the top surface coated for u.v. protection, because it will be exposed to direct sunlight.","They attach one end of the tether cable to the stress relief and the other end to the drogue.","They reinforce the connection with epoxy.","This type of buoy is designed to monitor only the top yard of water, so it doesn't have a long vertical drogue like the other one.","What it doeshave is a parachute, because it's designed to be dropped by aircraft in a search-and-rescue operation, to mark the location of an incident.","As the demonstration shows, the buoy opens on impact.","All the components are spring-loaded-- floats made of foam, drogues around the central cylinder housing the instrumentation, and on top an antenna.","The buoy packaging is water-soluble and biodegradable, so, over time, it simply disintegrates.","No need to retrieve them.","Stainless-steel tank trailers carry all kinds of products, from milk, sugar, and animal feed to fertilizer, shampoo, or even wine.","Some tank trailers only haul chemicals like methanol.","Made of stainless steel inside and out, they keep all the products they're transporting contaminant-free.","Stainless-steel tank trailers carry as much as 12,000 gallons of product.","They start with a laser cutting machine which cuts pieces like this manhole opening from the stainless-steel sheet used to make the tank.","The laser that cuts the steel is as precise as the pen you use to sign your name.","Next, they make the larger pieces of the tank by putting two sheets of stainless steel into a machine called a plasma seam welder.","Using stainless-steel wire as a filler metal, the computer-controlled machine welds the two sheets of steel together.","A worker then uses a belt sander that rides on a track to smooth out the weld evenly and in a straight line.","The sheet then goes through a rolling machine that shapes it into a cylinder.","It takes two to four cylinders to make a tank, depending on the size.","Meanwhile, a ring-rolling machine makes what's called channel rings that will strengthen the cylinders and help them keep their round shape.","The rings are also made of corrosion-resistant stainless steel.","Some tanks need up to 12 of these reinforcement rings.","A worker then welds the channel rings onto the tank, stopping periodically to inspect the weld.","Next, they weld tank heads to the cylinder.","Welding parts on the outside of the tank causes heat discoloration to the steel on the inside.","That's why a worker then polishes the stainless steel, giving the full interior of the tank a noticeably clean and bright finish.","Then, they attach polyurethane spacer bands to the tank.","These create the sections they need to mount fiberglass insulation around the tank, which keeps the product either warm or cold.","Workers then install thin sections of stainless steel around the tank to protect the insulation.","This steel is shiny for cosmetic reasons only.","They hold the sections in place temporarily using leather belts.","They secure this entire outer wrapper so it fits properly.","Then, they weld each section of steel to the frame of the tank.","Next, they prepare the outer wrapper heads using what's called a lock-seam flanger.","That makes a lip in the edge of the heads.","They attach the front and rear heads to the outer wrapper by fitting the lip into the outer wrapper's grooved edge and crimping them together using a hammer.","Next, they install the aluminum fenders over the rear tires.","After that, they attach a stainless-steel tube ladder that gives access to the manhole at the top of the tank, where they load the product.","They put the mudguards on next, followed by the reflective conspicuity tape that goes on both sides of the tank and on the two rear bumpers.","They install the stoplights and taillights into a light box at the rear of the trailer.","After that, they install the turn indicators on the sides of the trailer and test them to ensure they function properly.","Finally, they check all the connections used to operate the tank trailer, so when it leaves the plant, it works perfectly and the customer can transport their product safely."]}
{"meta":{"things":["All"]},"text":["For this invention, the path to success has been bumpy and rocky, and that's the whole idea.","The all-terrain vehicle was developed for off-road driving back in the 1970s.","The first machines were three-wheelers, and then the safer four-wheelers came along, improving on a concept that was truly trailblazing.","If you're looking for adventure, an all-terrain vehicle will get you out of a rut.","All that bouncing around won't hurt a bit because the independent rear suspension takes some of the shock out of that bumpy ride.","To make an all-terrain vehicle, they clamp pieces of the steel framework to a worktable.","The table flips and lands in a precise position for welding robots to go to work.","These computerized robots do all the big welds.","Humans take over for the more intricate work.","Once the vehicle mainframe is complete, they hang it on an overhead rail, which takes it through a painting station.","When the paint is dry, they lock it onto rails that will move it down the assembly line.","They tie the radiator to it with hose.","It will be attached more securely later.","The steering axle for the front wheels goes in next.","At the next station, they bolt the steel handlebars to the front of the vehicle.","They hoist a 300cc engine into the chassis.","It's suitable for beginners or smaller riders.","They fit the carburetor into the engine manifold.","Moving down the line, they install the suspension system for the front wheels and run the brake lines to the brake disks.","They brace the suspension with a steel bracket.","The extra support will come in handy when this atv is on rough terrain.","They push the outer exhaust pipe onto one that extends from the engine and hook them together with springs.","They then slide the front and rear clutches onto grooved shafts and connect them with a rubber belt to transmit power from the engine to the transmission.","The radiator has been permanently mounted to the chassis, and they bolt the coolant tank to the framework above it.","The 4 1/2-gallon fuel tank goes between the handlebars and seat.","They insert the air-filter box in an opening behind the tank.","This much bigger lid goes on the storage box in the front.","And after a little trademark artwork, they push the instrumentation panel into place between the handlebars.","Footwells made of rigid plastic flank each side of the atv.","At the next station, they mount the front grille and headlights.","They screw a rack onto the back.","It can be used to tie down anything from camping gear to game.","Workers then press a comfy vinyl seat onto the center of the vehicle, snapping it into place.","Now this all-terrain vehicle is ready for its wheels.","The back ones are larger to provide that cushioning effect over the bumps, while the smaller wheels in the front provide traction and maneuverability.","They apply reflector decals to the sides and back, so the atv can be seen more easily when daylight dims.","The tank has been fueled, and this atv is ready to take a ride on the drum tester.","The operator parks the wheels on a set of drums.","He activates the computer, and those drums are ready to roll.","The gate closes, and the atv rides on the spinning drums, reaching high speeds without actually moving.","It's the perfect opportunity to test the gears, brakes, and exhaust system.","The operator then gives the brakes a workout because good brakes are critical in backwoods conditions.","And it passes.","From the three-wheel machine of the '70s to the flashy four-wheeler of today, the atv continues to be popular off the beaten track.","Thousands of years ago, scandinavians strapped wooden planks on their feet to glide across snow.","Those first skis enabled them to hunt and trap in the winter.","Essentially, they skied to live.","Today, however, some of us live to ski, and cutting-edge equipment is part of the appeal.","In the past century, downhill skis have become shorter and curvier for peak performance.","They start with a squared-off ash log.","A band saw slices it into several planks.","Ash is supple, but strong, which makes it the ideal wood for the core of a ski.","A second blade thins each plank at the end and widens it where the skier's foot sits.","Sanding establishes subtle angles on the edges.","Then the planks move along to a machine that cuts teeth into them.","A ridged applicator applies epoxy glue to the toothy ends of two boards.","Machinery presses them together for a tight fit.","As the glue dries, it creates a permanent bond.","The two planks are now one ski core.","It still needs some fine-tuning, so a robot positions it on a conveyor, which takes it under a sanding belt.","It smooths the interlocked section and grinds deep cuts into the core.","This defines the parabolic shape that helps skiers carve through powder in short, clean turns.","They silk-screen graphic artwork and logos onto plastic.","It's a bit of corporate p.r., but the flashy designs can also inspire the skier.","An operator then brushes a release agent into a mold, as she prepares to build and shape several skis at a time.","A little vacuuming gets rid of any dust that would sully the work.","Then she tucks pieces of graphite-fortified polyethylene into the mold.","It will form the base of the skis.","She places rubber on the ends to minimize vibrations while skiing.","Next come layers of special fiberglass that run the length of each ski.","This material is both flexible and durable.","It's been formulated specifically for skis.","The weave varies from layer to layer, depending on the type of ski.","Strips of rubber reinforce the back ends, followed by pieces of heavy-duty polyurethane.","The assembler places the curved wooden cores on top of the synthetic layers.","She installs melamine to build up the ski's sidewalls.","This improves gripping in hard snow.","To provide a firm base for bindings, she covers the narrow waist of the ski with more fiberglass, followed by an aluminum plate to hold the binding screws in the ski.","More layers of fiberglass follow, imbued with epoxy glue, which is about to be activated.","Once the colorful top sheet is secured, they close the mold.","Inside, the temperature reaches 212 degrees fahrenheit.","This causes the glue impregnated in the fiberglass to liquefy, while the mold squeezes the layers into the shape of the ski.","When the glue hardens, the many layers become one solid ski.","It's a fusion of synthetic, wood, and metal.","But it's still a bit rough around the edges, so this robot smooths the tip and tail of the ski against a sanding belt.","The ski then travels over several grinding wheels.","This cleans it up and creates angles for precision carving on the slopes.","Then, like a powerful fist, this machine tests its flexibility and strength.","Finally, a worker screws a rail system to the waist of the ski to make it easier for the ski shop to install bindings.","Then it's all downhill from here, which, of course, is the whole idea.","A laser cutter is a high-tech machine that factories use to cut parts out of metal.","The traditional way to cut metal is with a stamping press, a slower process that requires a separate tool for each type of cut.","A laser cutter's computer-guided beam can precision-cut virtually any shape.","A laser cutter is made up of a laser resonator, which produces the beam, and a mechanical system that moves the laser over the metal in a computer-controlled pattern.","To build the laser resonator, they mill two blocks of aluminum.","Each will hold a mirror on opposite ends of the resonator.","They will reflect light back and forth inside the chamber to form the laser beam.","All the parts go into a cleaning solution because any contaminants would shorten the laser's life.","Assembly takes place in a clean room.","After mounting the aluminum blocks onto separate aluminum tubes, they slide one tube inside the other.","This forms the resonator's main structure.","They install an electrical connector on one of the blocks.","Then they mount a mirror onto each aluminum block.","A generator pumps electrical energy into a pressurized mixture of gasses, producing particles of light called photons.","The mirrors at both ends of the resonator direct the photons back and forth, creating the laser beam.","They now fill the resonator with that pressurized gas.","It's a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium.","For the laser beam to cut well, it has to be the right shape, but the beam is invisible.","So, to see its shape, they have to shoot it into a plastic cube and observe the formation it makes.","They gradually fine-tune the beam's shape by adjusting the mirrors on the resonator.","They keep at it until the laser cuts a cone formation in the plastic.","On top of the tubes, they install a square housing containing a series of mirrors, which further refine the beam.","Meanwhile, a robotic welder fuses sheets of steel to construct the laser resonator's housing.","On the main machine, these large suction cups move the sheet of metal to the cutting area.","The sheet remains stationary, while a motion unit moves the laser beam over it.","A rack-and-pinion system propels the motion unit.","The system's racks must be perfectly aligned for the machine to cut accurately, so a technician uses precision measuring equipment to check the racks, then various tools to make adjustments.","Once that's done, they set up the guide rails on which the motion unit rides, then mount the motion unit onto them.","They bolt the motion unit to the front of the machine and the housing that contains the laser resonator to the back of the machine.","The resonator creates the laser beam.","Mirrors deliver it to the motion unit's cutting head.","Lenses inside the head focus the beam on the metal that's underneath.","They run a series of tests to ensure the machine cuts with ultimate precision.","It all boils down to whether the motion unit moves accurately, which means the drive-system racks must be perfectly aligned.","After testing, they enclose the cutting head with a safety cover made of sheet metal and plexiglas.","The cutting head's copper-tipped nozzle emits the laser beam, while a curtain of brass pins confines that beam to a restricted area.","The motion unit moves in three axes, enabling the laser beam to cut different thicknesses in two dimensions.","A stamping machine leaves rough edges that workers must grind smooth afterward, but a laser cutter leaves a smooth edge that needs no further work.","This saves on time and labor cost, making this technology a cut above.","It was michelangelo who once said, \"every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it\".","Centuries later, sculptors still chisel by those words, using techniques similar to those used by the brilliant michelangelo so many years ago.","A lifelike image emerges from stone, and that well-chiseled look is the result of a lot of planning and posing.","The artist first molds the subject in clay, which allows him to capture his impressions quickly.","His clay model is the sculpture equivalent of a painter's sketch.","Clay also allows him to make changes that would be impossible once carved in stone.","When the prototype is complete, the artist is ready to choose a stone.","The search leads to this quarry in the hills of northern italy, where they've been extracting white carrara marble for centuries.","A long saw on a track makes a horizontal incision in the bottom of the rock face.","Once this undercut is complete, the operation moves to the top of the stone.","A machine pulls a loop of diamond cable down through the rock to cut the back of the slab.","A constant spray of water cools the cable and flushes the cut.","When the two cuts intersect, this marble slab is ready to be extracted.","Equipment gently tips it onto a soft pile of dirt intact.","The supervisor gives the slab a production number and draws lines to indicate how it should be cut to prepare it for sculpting.","Once cut down to size, it's into the studio, where it's positioned beside a plaster version of a clay model.","With calipers, an artisan measures the proportions of the plaster cast and transfers them to the marble slab.","His pencil marks define the main mass and outer limits of the form that's to be sculpted.","This artist chips away big chunks of the stone to give the rough size and shape of the plaster model.","The penciled measurements ensure that he doesn't chip away too much and destroy the slab.","Once the general shape has been achieved, it's time for the detail work.","The sculptor measures the plaster prototype with a tool called a pointing machine.","He transfers the measurements to the marble sculpture, ensuring that all the details will be to the correct scale.","Of course, pointing tools can only show the artist whereto carve-- there's no substitute for skill.","With a pneumatic chisel, the artist shapes the foot of the figure.","Next, the artist switches to a series of rasps and files, so he can shape the smaller details and eliminate any chisel marks.","The fingers require a gentle approach.","They're delicate and could be broken easily.","It takes about four months for a sculpture to go from the rough form to the finished.","And now for the final touches-- he rubs oxalic acid into the marble.","This seals it and protects it from stains, but also gives the sculpture a polished look.","The result is a translucent effect that gives the sculpture visual depth.","Like ghosts in the attic, there's an incredible array of plaster casts on this studio's upper floor.","Many of them are replicas of famous classical works.","They're all on standby to serve as prototypes for sculptural reproductions.","And once these images are carved in stone, they should live on forever."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bowling Balls","Barber Poles","Felt","Radar Guns"]},"text":["The bowling bowl has undergone a lot of changes over several centuries to become such a striking success.","From a crude stone to carved wood to rubber to molded polyester, it's been reinvented numerous times.","But the latest version has turned out to be a real winner.","Technological advances have reshaped the bowling ball at its very core.","No longer round, the nucleus is asymmetrical, which causes the ball to curve towards the pins as it rolls down the lane.","They make the cores from polyester resin, blending in minerals like barites, silica powder, and limestone.","The result looks like chocolate milk, or make that hot chocolate, because a catalyst triggers a chemical reaction that heats it up.","As they pipe it into the molds, it quickly starts to cure and solidify.","In just two minutes, it's ready to extract.","This core is oblong--  flat on one side with a knob.","There are different versions of this core design, each one carefully calculated to manipulate the bowling ball's performance at a specific skill level.","They now drill toward the center of the core to make a pinhole.","This allows the core to be suspended in just the right position in a second mold.","This asymmetrical core is about to be encased in a more uniform sphere.","They tamp the core into the bottom part of the mold and then lock down the top half.","After all, they don't want any leaks as they pump it full of plastic.","It's a liquid-polymer blend.","A special chemical in it causes the mix to solidify slowly.","It can take days for it to harden around the core, depending on the formulation and type of bowling ball being made.","When they knock it out of the mold, all is revealed.","That asymmetrical core is now sealed in a very symmetrical polymer shell.","Next, it's into a third mold.","This one will seal the bowling ball in an outer skin called the veneer.","This veneer has been scientifically formulated to enhance the ball's traction as it hooks towards the bowling pins.","It's made of colorant, plasticizer, a chemical called i.s.o., and urethane.","Blending these ingredients produces high-performance polyurethane.","As the mix flows into the molds, a chemical reaction causes it to heat up and solidify in just seconds.","Then it's into an oven to boost the chemical reaction.","Next, a spinning grinder shaves off the bump, which was formed by overflow at the mold's intake tube.","The removal of this bump rounds off the shape of the bowling ball.","With its three layers, this bowling ball looks a bit like a big bonbon when it's sliced in two.","And while it may look sweet, it needs a bit more work before it's ready to take on the competition.","A lift system delivers the bowling ball to a sanding operation, which roughs up the surface.","The coarseness of the sanding varies, depending on the performance goals of the particular ball.","This machine heat-stamps trademark information onto the ball.","They do one last sanding, as a constant flow of water removes the powdery residue.","The more polished the surface, the less pronounced the ball's hooking action will be.","Even this last sanding is geared to a certain performance standard.","Once they buff the surface, all that's left is to custom-drill the finger holes.","With this bowling ball in hand, success should be within striking distance.","Barber poles go back to a time when barbers also performed surgery, tooth extractions, and bloodletting.","Some believe that the idea for the red and white strips came about because of bloody and clean bandages that twisted together in the wind as the customer held onto a pole during a procedure.","Over time, barber poles have come to lose their gruesome connotation but not their place as an historic symbol.","There's only one company left in north america that makes them.","They begin by rolling a printed liner onto a wooden mandrel.","The mandrel they use depends on the size of the pole they're making.","Using a knife, they score the liner at both ends.","The liner is made of paper and vinyl treated with u.v. protection to prevent it from fading.","Scoring the liner helps guide the worker as he trims the familiar red-white-and-blue material to the required length.","Next, he rivets the company logo to a support frame.","Then with bolts, he attaches a top and bottom support casting.","The frame and castings are made of aluminum, so they're virtually rustproof, which is a big plus since barber poles have to weather the elements.","After ensuring the assembly is level, they install the glass cylinder, which can be made out of extruded or handblown glass.","After a final tightening, they double-check that everything fits snugly.","Next, they add water to a special caulking powder and mix it to a smooth consistency.","The caulking must be just the right thickness to properly fill the cavity between the aluminum casting and the glass cylinder.","Five minutes later when the caulking is dry, they carefully trim off the excess on both ends of the cylinder, leaving behind a smooth, watertight seal that helps secure the glass cylinder in place.","Cleaning the glass by hand is just another example of all the artisanal handiwork that goes into making these time-honored barber poles.","Next, they mount the assembly on a hook and paint the caulking with a colored sealer that matches the casting and makes the caulking waterproof.","After that, a worker puts in a motor mechanism.","The motor will rotate the printed liner inside the glass cylinder.","Once the motor is hooked up, he takes an inner cylinder, which has the printed liner mounted on it, and installs it on top of the mechanism that makes it rotate.","He then installs a two-socket light fixture with a bulb that illuminates the liner.","To keep the printed liner straight as it turns, he then attaches what's called a top-cylinder bushing.","All that's left to complete the pole is to attach a rustproof aluminum cover and the second light bulb that lights up the white glass globe.","Finally, he hooks up the pole to electricity and makes sure the motor, both lights, and the inner liner are working properly, creating the illusion of movement.","Modern barber poles come in various sizes and styles, with or without illuminating globes, but they always keep their link to the past.","When production hits a snarl at the felt factory, things are going well.","That's because felt is made by entangling fibers into a matted material.","Felt has actually been around for thousands of years and may be the first fabric ever produced.","These days, mechanization puts a new twist on felt.","Boot liners are an example of the way felt layers our lives.","They begin with bales of polyester fibers.","Sometimes they add wool or synthetic fiber.","This machine is about to sink its teeth into those fibers.","It's a rotating bed with hundreds of fierce-looking spikes protruding from it.","An operator loads the bales of fibers onto a feeder conveyor.","It shuffles the clumps toward that spiked conveyor, which snags the fibers and takes them up to another spiked rotating belt.","But this one moves in a different direction to grab and pull the short, springy fibers apart.","The process fluffs and blends the fibers, transforming the dense clumps into something that's the consistency of cotton wool.","Now that the fibers have been loosened up, it will be easier to extract any metal bits that may have contaminated the bales early on.","A magnet pulls out these contaminants, which would otherwise cause damage to equipment down the line.","With the metal bits removed, the fibers move into another machine.","This one has a series of pinned rollers that are close enough to almost touch.","They rotate in different directions to align the fibers.","This creates a uniform web of fluff.","Then it's over to the cross lapper-- a system of conveyors that move back and forth to neatly fold it up.","They then travel between rollers, which squeeze several layers down to a thickness of a little more than a centimeter.","10,000 long needles repeatedly stab the compressed web to entangle the fibers.","Each needle is equipped with nine barbs to snare the polyester fibers.","This process is how they become enmeshed.","It transforms the compacted fluff into felt.","Rollers pull the matted material out of the machine...","As they wind it onto a big roll.","You can see that the fibers are now a solid mass.","Next, they layer two piles of felt onto a metalized nylon film.","This shiny film will reflect the outside cold, and the three layers combined will provide extra thermal protection that will even insulate against arctic temperatures if need be.","More long needles punch into the three layers and entangle the fibers to create one sheet of material.","It's a form of laminating without glue.","The needles leave little holes in the reflective film that improve the breathability of the fabric.","Next, a worker uses a 25-ton press to punch boot-liner patterns out of the felt.","The press bears down on dyes that cut out various-sized insoles and boot-liner sidepieces.","This felt is now ready to add a little warmth to someone's life.","All they have to do is sew the parts together.","The seamstress stitches the two sidepieces, using an industrial machine with needles that easily penetrate the thick, stiff felt.","The top of the boot liner is finished.","But without its sole, it's incomplete.","They sew the felt sole onto it with a neat loop stitch-- the only stitch that would hold this configuration together.","From a pile of synthetic fibers to a rigid liner that's ready to protect you against the elements, it's been quite a journey, and it's far from over, as felt continues to keep its foothold in the world of layers and liners.","If you see one of these, it's likely connected to the long arm of the law.","Police have been using radar guns to nab speeders ever since the 1950s.","They bounce radar off your vehicle and analyze the returning signal to get a reading, and that's when sirens wail and the officer says, \"do you know how fast you were going\"?","If you're a speeder, the police have probably got your number, thanks to the radar gun.","When operated properly, radar guns boast an accuracy rate of plus or minus half a mile per hour.","But of course, you can always try arguing with the officer.","Making a radar gun starts with cable wire-- lots of it.","Rollers straighten it, then automated blades cut it to length and strip the plastic casing at both ends.","With the wires now exposed, they're ready for the metal contacts that will allow wiring interconnections.","A technician places the exposed wire in the contact, and a machine crimps them together.","They then assemble wires in various harnesses.","These connect to a power cable and communications port.","The technician inserts wires into a plastic connector to allow them to easily hook into a circuit board later.","This little gadget is a microwave transmitter and receiver.","It sends radio-frequency energy to moving vehicles and then receives it when it bounces back.","The red wires being soldered to its post will deliver power to it.","The white ones will return the radar signals.","This special plastic lens will focus the radar beam.","She attaches the transmitter-receiver unit to the funnel-shaped antenna at the back of the lens.","Next, she solders wires to a circuit board.","Some will carry power to it.","Others will deliver the returning radar signals for analysis.","This second smaller circuit board will process power from the police vehicle to operate the radar gun.","And an insulated metal plate shields the unit from interference from things like the police radio.","The technician secures it with cable ties, and this radar module is now complete.","She moves on to the display and control panel and snaps the keypad onto a little circuit board just below a light-diffusing display window.","She inserts the control-panel hardware into a plastic faceplate and secures it with screws.","As another safeguard against electrical interference, this plastic faceplate has been infused with metal.","He wires the control panel to the power board to run a test.","He checks all the digits and icons to confirm they display correctly.","This machine presses melted plastic into the shape of casing for the radar gun.","A static discharger worn on the wrist dissipates any static electricity from the technician's body.","This prevents damage to sensitive electrical components, so it's worn throughout the assembly process.","She links the two computer boards, ensuring a good connection, because one will power the other.","Then she installs the radar gun in the molded casing.","She plugs the display assembly into connectors on one of the computer boards.","Then she slides it into grooves in the casing.","Now she hooks up this radar gun to a power source for a trial run.","She taps the lens with a tuning fork.","The gun responds to it as it would to a moving vehicle.","If it functions properly, she installs the trigger switch.","She closes the radar gun, securing the two-part casing with screws.","A serial number and other identifying information goes on the side.","In a final test, she connects the radar gun to a computer and aims the lens into a chamber.","The chamber sends signals to simulate the effect of a moving vehicle, and the computer analyzes the gun's performance.","You only have to look at a 35-year-old radar gun to see that this technology has come a long way.","So it's ready if you try to pull a fast one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Brushes and Push Brooms","Blackboards","Smoked Salmon","Zippers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Brushes and push brooms...","Blackboards...","Smoked salmon...","And zippers.","Nothing scrubs or sweeps quite like a good, sturdy brush.","Cleaning brushes in north america date back to about the 1830s.","Their bristles were usually made of wire twisted into wood.","Today we have many different bristle materials, both natural and synthetic.","The first factory manufactures the brush block-- the hardwood base that holds the bristles.","It's usually made of maple, but sometimes oak or beech.","After cutting the planks to the required width, they use a special wax crayon to mark lines on both sides of any cracks or knots in the wood.","A laser then reads the marks, guiding a saw to cut out the faults.","At the same time, the saw chops the planks into block-size lengths.","The next step is called \"molding\".","A series of saws trims the blocks to the required thickness.","Now they contour the pieces, using a machine appropriately called a shaper.","The machine revolves, running the block's outside edge against a cutting head.","This profiles half the block.","Workers then turn it around and line it up for a second pass to profile the other half.","There's a different shaper machine for each model.","This type is known as a dauber-- a brush for waxing shoes.","For the cuts to be accurate and smooth, it's essential that the machine's cutting heads remain sharp despite repeated use.","That's why they're made of carbide, a material stronger than steel.","Workers run certain models against an extra cutting head to carve a groove in the block's edges.","The groove gives your hand a better grip on the brush.","These 2 1/2x24\" blocks will become push brooms-- those wide, rectangular brooms janitors use to sweep floors.","The blocks go to an automated machine that drills a hole through the middle and carves two grooves in the underside.","These are for the steel adapter that will hold the broom's wooden handle.","Rounded push brooms sweep more easily in corners.","To produce those, workers take the rectangular push broom blocks and round the corners against a cutting head.","At another factory, the blocks go onto a machine that pierces holes for the bristles, using a computer-guided drill.","This particular model of push broom needs 240 holes.","It takes barely a minute to drill them all.","Next, the blocks go to the bristle-installation machine.","Bristles can be made of horsehair, vinyl, plants or tree leaves, or synthetics such as polypropylene.","The bristle-installation machine is fully automated, as we see here in slow motion.","It takes about 40 strands at a time, folds them in half, then inserts and staples them into a hole.","Here's what that bristling action looks like at actual speed.","The machine fills four holes per second.","The factory uses this same process regardless of the style of brush block or type of bristle.","Computer software guides the machinery to follow the correct pattern, making possible a sweeping array of brushes and brooms.","Chalk one up for the blackboard.","This trusted teaching tool goes back centuries, yet still remains the focal point of the classroom.","Today's blackboard-- or chalkboard, as it's also called-- hasn't changed that much in appearance, but the materials used to make it have changed.","Our lesson begins at the blackboard factory, with thin sheets of galvanized steel.","These will eventually form the front and back surfaces of the blackboard.","They arrive at the factory already precut to standard sizes-- 6, 8, 10, or 12 feet.","First stop is a machine that blasts the sheets with acid.","This removes any dirt that would prevent paint from adhering to the surface.","As the sheets exit the cleaner, powerful fans dry them off.","The paint is a type of acrylic enamel designed especially for blackboards.","The factory adds a powdered mineral formulation to make it dry to a rougher texture.","This helps chalk adhere better.","Traditional slate blackboards were naturally black.","Today's steel-surface boards come in several colors.","The most popular, though, are black and green.","Some companies use colored porcelain instead of paint.","Here, spray guns apply three coats of paint, one after another, with no drying time in between.","For the paint to harden properly, it has to be heat-set, so the sheets go into an oven at 420 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes.","A strong fan cools them off as they exit the oven.","Next, a worker sprays contact cement on the backs of two painted sheets.","One sheet will form the front of the board, the other, the back.","Sandwiched in between will be what's known as the blackboard's core.","It can be made of materials such as particleboard or, as we see here, 1/2-inch-thick fiberboard.","Workers feed the three assembled layers through a high-pressure roller.","It forces out any trapped air and bonds the layers tightly.","They make the blackboard's frame out of one long strip of aluminum molding.","It has a stainproof satin finish.","They make a series of 45-degree-angle cuts.","This enables them to bend the strip around the board's perimeter, creating neat corner seams.","Workers file down and polish any sharp edges left by the cutting.","After verifying that it's perfectly square, they fasten the frame, using either rivets or screws, depending on the model.","Then, they attach an aluminum rail along the bottom to hold the chalk and erasers.","This model happens to be a reversible mobile blackboard-- the type typically rolled into conference rooms.","It has a few extra components--  a pivot mechanism, enabling the board to be flipped to the other side...","And a latch system for tilting the board to different angles.","The blackboard stand is made of painted steel tubing.","It rolls on rubber- and chrome-plated steel castors.","The factory takes samples from the production line and subjects them to rigorous quality-control testing.","These tests ensure that the painted surface is glare-free and can withstand everything from chemical solvents and extreme humidity to heavy impact and hard scratches.","The company has even designed this special machine to conduct a killer durability test.","It applies 100,000 chalk and brush strokes, using the typical amount of pressure a person would use.","For the production batch to make it to market, surface wear on the sample has to amount to less than 1/100 of a millimeter.","And that's not all.","The paint finish must still be matte.","A writing test has to produce chalk lines that are clear and dark enough, and the writing has to erase cleanly and easily.","For thousands of years, smoked fish was a survival food.","People would cure their catches by salting them and hanging them to dry or by smoking them over an open fire.","This enabled people in cold climates to stockpile nutrient-rich fish for those long winter months.","Today we smoke fish primarily to enhance its flavor.","This is wild sockeye salmon that was gutted and frozen on board the fishing trawler to preserve maximum freshness.","The smokehouse defrosts the fish for over 15 hours in running water that's just 2 degrees above freezing.","This slow, cold water thaw helps prevent bacteria from forming.","Next step, filleting.","First, they slice off what's known as the collar-- the fish version of a neck.","Then, they cut each fish in half lengthwise, separating two fillets from what's called the control bone-- the fish equivalent of a spinal column.","The tail is attached to it.","They feed the control bones into a machine that strips off any remaining scraps of flesh.","The machine grinds these bits into minced salmon, which is used to make salmon pie.","They trim the fillets using a razor-sharp knife, slicing off the fins, any excess fat, and any control-bone fragments left behind.","After this, the fish will be ready for curing-- a preservation process that also enhances taste.","Workers coat the fillets in a mixture of salt and 26 spices, then let them sit for roughly an hour and a half.","This short cure time will limit the salmon's salt content to less than 1%.","To stop the curing process, they rinse off the coating with cold water, then glaze the fillets with maple syrup to neutralize any remaining salt residue.","Some companies use a less costly mix of boiled water and brown sugar.","The fillets go into a huge smoke oven.","Workers load its combustion chamber with sawdust-- maple-tree sawdust for the first 8 hours of smoking, cherry-tree sawdust for the next 8 hours, and apple-tree sawdust for the last 8 hours.","This particular sequence is a major factor in flavoring the fish.","They douse the fire with water to generate smoke.","This process is called \"cold smoking,\" because the oven temperature is 50 degrees fahrenheit-- significantly lower than the industry norm of 77 degrees.","Smoking at this lower temperature takes at least 24 hours--  3 times longer than the norm-- but the company says it produces a moister product.","When the fillets come out of the smoke oven, they're thoroughly cooked but still have the consistency of raw fish.","Workers remove the fin bones--  40 fin bones per fillet-- located between the head and fin.","The fillets then go through a skinning machine, which neatly slices off the skin without removing any flesh.","Then, it's into a freezer at 27 degrees fahrenheit.","This firms up the fillets, making them easier to slice.","The manual slicing machines cut them into pieces about 1/10 of an inch thick.","Workers weigh out the amount they're packaging-- in this case, 2 1/2 ounces.","They place each portion on a tray made of aluminum-coated cardboard.","Aluminum blocks the fat from seeping through.","To kill off any remaining bacterial, they vacuum-pack the wrappers, then deep-freeze them for about an hour at negative-31 degrees fahrenheit.","They store and ship at a milder zero degrees-- the temperature of your home freezer-- where this preservative-free smoked salmon stays fresh for a full year.","Zippers can be found on clothing, on bags, even on footwear.","The zipper started out as a closure mechanism for boots and tobacco pouches.","The fashion industry didn't put them on clothing until the 1930s-- some 80 years after the invention of this fabulous fastener.","An american, elias howe, was the first to patent a zipperlike clothing fastener in 1851, but he never ended up marketing it.","It wasn't until 1893 that another american, whitcomb judson, designed a similar device, called a clasp locker.","He eventually hired a canadian engineer, gideon sundback, to simplify the original complex design, which had never really taken off.","In 1917, judson and sundback patented the modern zipper.","Zipper teeth are made of metal, plastic, or nylon.","The fabric part of the zipper is called the tape.","It's usually polyester, but sometimes cotton or fireproof fabric.","To make metal zippers, the factory feeds a long, continuous roll of tape into what's called the teeth machine, along with a long roll of metal ribbon known as \"flat wire\".","As we see here in slow motion, the machine cuts off a tiny piece of flat wire, forces it through a die that forms into a tooth shape, then clamps it onto the edge of one side of the tape.","The machine does all this at a rate of 45 teeth per second.","These zipper teeth are aluminum.","Sturdier zippers are made of stronger metals like brass and nickel.","Depending on the model, teeth can range in width from about 1/10 of an inch to 4/10 of an inch.","The wider the teeth, the thicker they have to be.","Workers now feed two tapes with metal teeth into what's called the joining machine.","The teeth interlock, meshing the two halves of what's now a continuous zipper.","From there, it's into a cleaning machine, which washes the zipper, removing any shards of metal left behind by the tooth-cutting process.","After drying the zipper, the machine applies a coat of hot wax.","This lubricates the teeth so the slider will glide over them smoothly.","Next stop is the gapping machine.","It removes a 2-inch-long section of teeth at regular intervals.","They'll later cut the tape at these gaps, dividing the continuous zipper into several shorter zippers.","There are two main types of zippers.","Closed-end zippers are the kind whose two halves don't separate at the bottom when opened-- purse zippers, for example.","These need a part called a bottom stop-- a thick piece of flat wire positioned at the base of the zipper.","When you unzip, it stops the slider and prevents the two halves from separating.","Open-end zippers are the kind whose two halves doseparate at the bottom when opened-- jacket zippers, for instance.","At the bottom of these zippers, a machine applies a clear reinforcement strip.","This stiffens the tape so that the next machine can apply the pin and box.","The pin is that vertical piece of metal on one half of the zipper that you have to align in the box on the other half before you can pull the slider to zip up.","The next machine installs the slider.","Watch in slow motion as it opens each gap and hooks a slider onto the track of teeth.","The next machine inserts what's called the top stop-- a thick piece of flat wire that stops the slider at the top of the track when you zip up all the way.","The machine then slices the tape at each gap, separating the finished zippers.","Plastic zippers are made quite differently than metal ones.","The tape is the same, but the teeth are made from plastic pellets.","A machine melts them, then injects the liquid plastic into a mold that's the shape of a strip of zipper teeth.","The mold cools almost instantly, hardening the plastic.","The machine then stamps the teeth onto the tape, automatically gapping the desired zipper length at the same time.","The excess plastic in the middle is remelted.","There's no joining machine to mesh the two halves of plastic zippers.","Workers do this manually so that they can inspect the plastic teeth to make sure they're well formed.","Then, automated machines install the remaining components."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pressed Glass","Pickup Truck Caps","Alpaca Yarn","Utility Knives"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pressed glass originated in 19th century america and england, and it revolutionized glassware.","It offered the look of crystal on a budget, adding elegance to a humble meal.","It became known as \"poor man's crystal\".","Today, this affordable glass still has class.","Pressed glass or cut crystal...","Invented in the 18th century, pressed glass can still impress company and keep them guessing.","Pressed-glass ingredients include lime, sodium nitrate, soda ash, silica sand, mineral or chemical colorants, and leftover or rejected glass from the factory.","They melt the ingredients in a furnace heated at over 2,900 degrees fahrenheit.","A worker twirls a rod with a ceramic bowl on the end into it, and the hot liquid glass clings to it.","Then it's ready for transfer to the iron mold.","When the mold is partly full, a worker snips the liquid glass with scissors to cut the flow.","He places a ring with pegs on the rim to align the mold with a plunger.","He lowers the plunger and applies physical pressure to a lever to squeeze the glass into every crevice.","This transforms the glass blob into a berry bowl with elaborate impressions on the outside.","As it cools, the bowl hardens just enough to be extracted, but it's still quite soft.","Careful to not distort the shape, he transfers the bowl to two bricks.","A hose below the bricks pumps air to cool the glass further.","Over a period of four hours, the team makes 250 berry bowls.","Some of the bowls will be flattened to turn them into dessert plates, while others will be worked into the shape of candy baskets.","Once the glass has firmed up enough, the bowls take a couple of trips through the glazer, first upside down, and then right side up.","A gas flame melts the outer layer of the glass to make it shine both inside and out.","He clamps the bowl onto the end of a rod called a snap, and places into a second smaller furnace briefly.","This softens the glass to prepare it for another transformation.","Still clamped on the rod, a worker spins the bowl.","With a stick of wood, he applies pressure to the upper part to flatten and flare it out.","He then draws the piece between two pipes to bend the sides upward.","The pressed-glass berry bowl has now become a candy basket, but baskets need handles, so it's back to the furnace to gather more glass.","He collects a little less this time.","He moves the molten glass around on a metal table to roll it longer.","He inserts it in a mold that gives the glass a rib pattern.","He heats the glass in the furnace one more time.","Soft and sticky, the glass handle adheres to the basket.","He pulls the handle longer as he twirls the basket, and then attaches the other end of the handle to it.","The handle is a bit saggy, so before it cools, he improves the shape using an iron roller.","As he works the glass, he pulls the handle up and makes it more well-rounded.","Unclamped from the gathering rod now, he smoothes the outer surface of the handle and tweaks its shape until satisfied.","Using a torch, he melts the glass a bit where the handle meets the basket to improve the adhesion.","And now it's over to the oven.","Here, the pressed glass is heated and then cooled to room temperature over a period of three and a half hours.","This gradual heating and cooling is critical.","It releases stress in the pressed glass to make it less likely to shatter.","For generations, molds have been used to mass produce pressed-glass pieces that can look like expensive crystal.","With all that practice, they have this down to a fine art.","Some works are reproductions of vintage pieces, others are new patterns.","The appeal is timeless.","Pickup trucks are ideal for transporting tools and materials, but often these items have to be covered and locked away to protect them from the elements and theft.","That's why many pickup owners install caps, hard top covers typically made of fiberglass or aluminum with optional built-in storage.","This truck cap is made of durable fiberglass and is designed to fit every full-sized pickup on the market.","A truck cap has to be both practical and attractive, so it first takes shape on a car designer's sketch pad.","Engineers use computer software to translate the design sketches into technical drawings for producing several molds, one for each of the various parts of the truck cap.","The first step is to wax the mold's surface, so that the truck cap part will extra easily.","The mold is made of colored fiber glass to contrast the white materials they'll apply to it.","The first of those materials is gel coat, a polyester resin that produces a smooth and shiny finish on fiberglass.","They spray on a half millimeter thick coat.","The beauty of gel coat is that a nick or crack can be easily repaired with a bit of grinding and filling.","So the truck cap's surface can always be restored to an impeccable state.","The gel coat cures in about 45 minutes, at which point they begin shooting chopped up fiberglass that's impregnated with resin.","They compress this new layer with rollers to about five millimeters thick.","Roughly two hours later, the resin has hardened and it's time to use special extraction jacks to remove the now solid roof from the mold.","They repeat this same molding process for all the other parts.","Because this particular truck cap model has double doors on both the back and side, there are 10 different parts to mold.","A robotic circular saw trims each molded part.","This is the truck cap's air deflector.","The saw blade has diamond particles affixed to its edge, enabling it to cut the fiberglass without shredding it.","By the time the robot finishes trimming, the part meets exact specifications and has neat, smooth edges.","With all the parts ready now, it's time to assemble the truck cap.","First, they unite the roof and the universal fit base.","Both slide into an aluminum trim.","Workers clamp them in position from the inside.","Next, as required by motor vehicle regulations, they install brake lights at the top of the rear doors.","Then, on the right-side rear door, they mount a chrome-plated door handle.","The plating has been treated with an anti-corrosion coating.","For the sake of convenience, the door handle lock is designed to work with the truck's ignition key so the driver doesn't have to carry around a separate key for the cap.","The doors mount with sturdy hinges is made of stainless steel, which is rust resistant.","Next, using a template to get the positioning just right, they glue the company and model name logos to the right rear door.","For aesthetics, these plastic logos are chrome plated to match the door handle.","After mounting the doors, they install gas struts on each door to provide resistance to control the door swing.","Workers also install a pair of three-foot-long l.e.d. lights.","They're on a magnetic switch, turning them on and off when the doors open and close.","Once it's fully assembled, it undergoes a thorough inspection.","A truck cap weighs about 660 pounds, so you need a mechanical lift to mount it on a pickup.","It affixes with four tie-down levers that hook under the rails, running down the interior sides of the truck so there's no chance of the cap lifting off.","Before shipping out to the customer, every truck cap goes through a water test, subjected to a torrent for three minutes straight to make sure no water leaks inside.","Truck caps can be ordered with a pull-out cargo bed, shelving, storage bins, and other features, transforming an ordinary pickup truck into a workshop on wheels.","What's warm, soft, water repellent, and, as an added bonus, hypoallergenic?","Something made of alpaca yarn.","Similar to sheep's wool, it's smoother due to the scale structure of the individual fibers.","And it doesn't contain lanolin, a natural wax in sheep's wool to which some people are allergic.","Alpacas come in 22 different colors, ranging from pure white through various shades of beiges, browns, and grays, to pure black.","Breeders shear their alpacas and sell the fleece or send it to mills for processing into yarn.","White fleece is in greatest demand, and it can be dyed any number of colors.","Before sending out the fleece, the breeders pull off hay, leaves, and other stuck-on vegetation.","When the fleece arrives at the mill, it undergoes repeated washes with natural soaps until it's pristine.","After the fleece air dries, a conveyer belt feeds it into the picker.","The machine's tooth drum pulls apart the clumps, a process called \"opening the fibers\".","The drum then shoots those fibers into a compartment called the picker closet.","Once all the fleece has been opened, they turn off the machine and spray the fluffy fibers thoroughly with a blend of conditioners.","These conditioners are left to absorb overnight to reduce static electricity the next step generates.","The fiber separator combs the fibers with a series of fine tooth rollers.","This simultaneously straightens the fibers and separates them by grade.","The first set of rollers removes any remaining bits of vegetation, while the second set removes coarse fibers so that only very fine fibers exit the machine.","The next step is to divide these fine fibers into bundles of equal weight.","The set weight varies according to the grade of fiber that the next machine, the carder, will be processing.","A fine fiber requires heavier bundles.","The conveyer belt feeding the carder is marked in sections.","They place one bundle in each section.","This steady, even input ensures that the machine produces a consistent output.","Inside the carder, a series of combs spreads the fibers over a drum, aligning them parallel to each other.","This produces a thin, flat layer of fine fiber called web.","Web can be stacked in several layers to make batting, the stuffing material in quilts and duvets.","Batting can be further processed into felt.","Web can also be processed into roving, a long thick stream of fiber which crafts people hand spin into yarn, or which high-speed machines here at the mill spin into store-bought yarn.","The roving deck on the carder compresses the web into a stream while rotating it to hold the aligned fibers in a snake like shape.","To make what's known as woolen yarn, the roving goes directly to the spinner.","However, to make what's called semi-worsted yarn, this machine, called a draw frame, must first combine two or more rovings into a consistent stream called a sliver.","The thinner the yarn, the more often the rovings pass through the draw frame.","Finally, several slivers simultaneously enter the spinner, which twists each one separately through a combination of pressure and speed.","The next machine, called the plyer, then forms the yarn by twisting multiple singles together in the opposite direction.","Twisting two singles, for example, makes a two-ply yarn.","The mill produces different weights of yarn from lace to bulky, by varying the volume of fiber per ply, as well as the spinning speed.","They mount the spools of finished yarn on the skein winder.","A skein is a bundle of yarn that's first wound then twisted.","They set the machine to wind a specific length of yarn.","When it stops, they tie the skein on two ends and remove it.","Then they dye the yarn or leave it its natural color.","Some mills dye their fleece after washing, prior to processing it into yarn.","The final step is to hand-twist the skein.","They also wind yarn into balls and cones.","Warm and water repellent, this silky, smooth alpaca yarn is all set to be knit or woven into a cozy woolen.","The utility knife is known by many other names-- carpet knife, box cutter, sheet-rock knife, and craft knife are just a few.","All those names reflect the many uses for this retractable knife and its incredible versatility.","It comes in handy every time.","In 70 years, the design of this retractable utility knife hasn't really changed much.","Why mess with a concept that works?","A hollow case with an interlocking nose for the blade, held together by a single screw.","It can be easily unscrewed to access spare blades inside.","To make the blades, carbon steel uncoils into a die press.","A roller takes up the slack as the steel inches forward for each forming.","The press scores the steel to rough out the shape of the blades, punches notches for attaching them to the handle, and stamps product information onto them.","At this point, the steel is just a little stiffer than tin foil.","A trip through a 25-foot-long furnace toughens it up.","Exposed to scorching heat and then quenched by water, the steel hardens significantly.","After the brand name has been printed on the steel, the ribbon of blades rides through a grinding station with different stone-grinding wheels.","They sharpen the steel edge.","The steel now passes under an induction coil that radiates heat to further harden the cutting edge.","A machine called the breaker snaps the steel along the score lines.","It spits out the unwanted triangular bits between the blades for recycling.","The blades flow out of the breaker and into a steel channel.","A pusher moves them down the channel into a tray.","This system snaps and packs 250 blades a minute.","They insert one blade from every production run into this tester.","The tester moves the blade back and forth repeatedly to slice through thick stacks of paper strips.","This gives them a measure of the blade's sharpness and durability.","The transformation from blunt metal to razor sharp blade is complete, and the utility knife blades are ready for the gripping part-- the zinc case.","They cast the back and front of the case in a die.","The parts then bounce around in a vibratory bowl along with pyramid-shaped ceramic rocks.","The friction smoothes the rough edges.","After about a half hour in the vibratory bowl, the casing parts are blemish free.","They head into the next station.","Here, workers collect them and examine them for defects as they hang them on moving racks.","The racks will take the utility knife parts through a wash station to get rid of a dusting of zinc and ceramic residue.","It's kind of a power wash for the knife case parts.","They ride by a high-pressure sprayer for a thorough cleaning.","After that, they take a trip through a dryer to prepare them for a powder coat finish.","Once the powder coat is baked on, it will protect the zinc utility knife from corrosion.","The powder coat gives the utility knives a finish that's tougher than conventional paint.","Heading into the unload station now, a blast from an air gun knocks the parts off the rack.","Thanks to the tough finish, they land without a scratch.","The utility-knife parts are ready for assembly, and the worker uses a special fixture for that.","She places the bottom half of the knife in a recess in the fixture.","Handling the blunt side of the blades, she inserts three of them into the case's storage compartment.","She also tucks the tab of an information card into it.","Next, she installs the retractable mechanism for the utility knife blades.","She places the other half of the case on the assembly and then actuates an auto-screw gun to close the knife.","They assemble over 40,000 utility knives per day at this factory.","Now, that's cutting edge."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Deep Cycle Batteries","Tins","Optical Lenses"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Deep-cycle batteries...","Tins...","And optical lenses.","A deep-cycle battery is what you find in such vehicles as trains, boats, r.v.s, and forklift trucks.","Whereas a car battery provides a quick surge of current to start the engine, a deep-cycle battery provides a steady amount of current over a long period of time.","Deep-cycle batteries range from 2 to 48 volts.","Their power is generated by cells, a group of lead plates coated in lead oxide and acid.","This casting machine produces lead grids that will become the plates in the power cells.","The machine pours molten lead into grid-shaped molds.","Water circulating through the mold hardens the metal in just five seconds.","The machine casts two types of grids-- negatives and positives.","The next machine coats the grids with a chemical paste that contains lead oxide and acid.","The positives get one paste formulation.","The negatives, a different one.","The grids are now called plates.","Workers stack them in cases, alternating positive and negative, then drop them in tanks of sulfuric acid to charge.","The lead oxide and acid in the paste store the power.","After charging for 24 to 72 hours, depending on the model, the plates go into a machine that washes them three times to remove acid residue, which, if left, would corrode the metal.","The charging process blackens the plates, which are now called dry-charge plates.","A machine wraps each positive in glass-strand matting, an insulation material similar to fiberglass, then in a plastic envelope.","These coverings protect the plates from short circuits.","Workers stack the plates again-- positive, negative, positive, negative.","This time, though, each stack contains a specific number-- from 5 to 33 plates, depending on the battery model.","Each stack will become one cell.","A cell provides 2 volts of electricity.","Each plate has a tab.","A robotic machine cleans the tabs with a wire brush and a chemical solution called flux.","Then it dips the tabs in molten tin.","This tin coating will improve the bond when they solder the tabs together.","The robot wipes the tabs on a flux-imbued sponge to clean their surface once again...","Then drops the cells into a mold containing molten lead.","This solders the tabs together, bonding the plates within each cell.","The process casts two lead posts on the cell's positive side and two on its negative side.","These posts will connect the cells and build the required voltage.","Next, each cell goes into a polypropylene casing called a jar.","They test each cell to make sure it functions.","This also shows if the cell is positioned correctly in the jar so that the positive and negative signs on the cell cover will be on the corresponding posts.","They heat-seal the cover and seal the protruding posts with lead.","To test the seals, they pump air into the cell, then brush soapy water over the cover.","Any bubbles indicate a gap to be resealed.","In another part of the factory, workers manually mold various small components from molten lead.","Among those parts-- the connectors that link one cell to another.","Workers weld them to the posts.","These are 8-volt batteries, so for each one, they connect four cells inside a polyethylene case.","Now that assembly is complete, the case cover goes on.","These rubber grommets keep water from seeping inside and shorting the battery.","Now they fill the inside with sulfuric acid, which functions as an electrolyte, the medium that helps the lead in the plates conduct electricity.","The tin can was invented back in the 1800s to preserve and protect.","We still rely on this trusty container to keep a range of perishables fresh-- everything from food to blood plasma to military supplies.","And after all these years of use, the tin can still has an airtight reputation.","It's time to lift the lid on this traditional container and get the inside story from the factory.","To make a tin, they take a strip of tin steel and weld it to join the ends.","The resulting cylindrical shape is the body of the tin, and it's about to be hermetically sealed.","The rotating tools on this machine stretch out the edges of the cylinder, forming a flange.","They top off the tins at this station, where a spinning head presses the cylinder into these lids.","It simultaneously rolls the flanged edges together to make an airtight seal.","This container is for classified military use, but over on another production line, they're making a more standard tin-- the kind you would put coffee in-- so this assembly is more mechanized.","In a fraction of a second, an automated welder rounds and joins metal to create the body of a tin.","The tins travel forward and upward on a magnetic conveyor system.","They're going to the other side of the plant, where they'll get tops and bottoms.","This kind of tin has a reusable slipcover lid and gets some decorative work.","Like a big cookie cutter, a punch press cuts out designs that have been preprinted on metal.","At the same time, it pushes the cut design onto a die to form the lid shape.","A magnetic conveyor pulls them forward and flips the lids to stack them for packing.","Elsewhere in the plant, they're making cans to go with some other lids.","A lineup of circular blades slices through tin sheets.","The cut pieces accumulate in stacks.","They load the flat pieces of tin into a cylinder, where they're curled into tubes.","As they exit, robotic arms make seams in the rolled tins, and a press applies force to lock them.","This lock seam is an alternative to the welded one we saw earlier.","Now, another magnetic conveyor pulls the tin tubes forward, and they go for a spin while rollers flange the edges so that the bottoms can be attached.","Then a punch cutter makes the bottoms, making sure to recycle the scraps.","The can bottoms spin out of the punch cutter before landing on the next magnetized conveyor.","They get a squirt of liquid rubber, which will harden into a gasket to prevent leaks in the can.","A folding machine now locks the bottoms to the tubes as they spin.","More than 12,000 cans per hour can be made on this high-speed line...","From a blank piece of steel to a very useful container.","Whatever their contents, these tins are destined for a full life-- that is, until someone decides to empty them.","It's time to turn our camera's eye on the camera's eye.","Optical lenses are really several lenses combined into a single unit.","Together, they re-create an image by bending light rays, so they converge into a common point called the focal point.","These television lenses start with a very precise design.","A diamond blade slices up a block of specially selected optical glass, while coolant prevents the blade from burning it.","The slices then go under a diamond drill, which cuts several puck-sized disks from one glass slice.","The operator is careful to keep waste to a minimum.","Optical glass costs up to $1,000 for 2.2 pounds.","During the drilling, the optical glass sits on a thinner piece of glass covered with wax.","As the wax is melted, the disks are easily pulled away.","Next, a device spins one of the disks, while a wheel overhead sculpts it into a lens.","The operator checks each lens for chips, and this one looks smooth.","This tarlike substance is called pitch.","The edges of the lens have been built up with tape to contain the pitch.","They completely coat the underside of the lens with it.","Several pitch-covered lenses are now in a metal shell.","A worker picks up a hot aluminum dome called a blocking body.","He presses it onto the pitch-covered lenses, and the pitch melts onto it.","Dousing it with water causes the pitch to harden, sealing the lenses to the blocking body.","The blocking body is now upside down and acting as a holding device as it oscillates on a spinning grinding shell.","The grinding makes the surface of the lenses uniform and smooth.","They place a polisher on the lenses.","It's lubricated with a very fine abrasive.","For about an hour, the polisher oscillates while the block spins.","Polishing makes the lenses smooth and transparent.","It also gives them an even more curved profile.","The lenses have been removed from the block, and it's time to cut the diameter down to size.","Using a microscope, a technician centers a lens between two brass chucks.","A diamond blade at the back cuts the lens as a technician monitors it.","He's making sure the diameter and axis of the lens have a common center.","Next, they group some lenses on round racks called planets.","Their universe is a vacuum chamber.","The technician closes the door, and the planets continue their orbit.","Inside this vacuum, an electron beam evaporates coating materials.","The vapor rises to give the lenses a protective coat.","A computer monitors the rate of evaporation and the coating.","But there's much more to come.","Up next, this process really gets visual as all the pieces of a camera lens come together.","The optical lens is the ultimate image maker.","Along with cameras, you'll find them in projectors, microscopes, laser scanners, and x-ray equipment.","They give us a closeup view of so many things.","It seems only appropriate that we take a closeup look at the optical lens itself.","The lenses have just spent three hours getting a protective finish.","It's time to wipe any residue and make sure they're perfect.","This particular lens is concave.","She covers it to protect it while she cleans and inspects the lens with the opposite profile--  convex.","Then the convex lens goes to another technician, who places it in a holding device.","He looks into a microscope and adjusts the position of the lens until it's optically centered.","He uses wax to keep the lens from shifting in the holding device.","They give the lens another cleaning.","Each one must be absolutely spotless before they proceed to the next step.","Otherwise, dust particles could become trapped within the optical system and affect image quality.","Now that the surface of the convex lens is immaculate, she dabs optical cement onto the center of it.","She gives the other concave lens a little more scrutiny before she cements it onto the convex lens.","She applies pressure to spread the cement between the two lenses.","Cementing them together means they'll be less likely to shift around in the lens barrel.","She checks for dust one more time.","Then it's under the microscope for an optical alignment of this double lens.","Because the cement isn't yet dry, he can push the top lens around and adjust its position.","Next, they prep the barrel that will hold the lenses.","A technician traces out lettering using a stylus attached to a sharp tool that engraves information onto the lens barrel.","It prints technical details that will tell the photographer just what the lens will do-- things like focal length, the f-number, and the size of the aperture opening.","These reference points allow the user to pull a picture into focus at the desired magnification.","Now they double-check the design for this complex optical system and begin to pull all the pieces together.","This singlet, or single lens, goes into the metal barrel first.","Other lenses with various curvatures and dimensions follow.","She places metal spacers between the lenses to separate them.","Proper spacing will prevent aberrations in the image, such as blurring.","Between installations, she covers the barrel with a piece of lint-free plastic because eliminating dust continues to be a necessity.","One fleck could ruin this entire assembly.","Using tweezers, she coaxes the last lens into the barrel.","She installs a retaining ring to hold the stack of lenses down.","Then she locks it into place.","There's one final inspection.","She examines the assembled optical lens from all angles.","It takes a total of six weeks to make one of these optical lenses, and in the end, it's picture-perfect."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Precast Concrete Walls","3D Printers","Telescopic Cranes","Kerosene Lamp Burners"]},"text":["Precast concrete walls are made in a controlled plant environment, where weather can't interfere with the curing process.","They're cast with insulation before they arrive at the construction site.","All that's needed is a crane to do the heavy lifting.","Precast concrete walls have a tough exterior that holds up to all kinds of weather, but making these structural wall panels is an inside job.","By manufacturing them indoors, they can better prepare them for the outdoors.","Production starts with a mix of crushed rock and sand.","This collection is limestone-based.","The mineral mix can be altered for different strengths and finishes.","A conveyor delivers the collection of minerals to a huge mixer.","They inject cement, water, and additives to improve the flow of the concrete, accelerate the cure, and give it a brownish hue.","Beaters whip the ingredients into a thick, gritty mix.","They cast some of the concrete into cylindrical shapes for testing.","After a one-day cure, they crush the cylinders with a ram.","The amount of force it takes to crush the cylinders is a measure of the concrete batch's strength.","Before they cast the wall, a crew arranges giant foam letters to make an imprint in the mold.","They position the letters in the center of the casting form and secure them with silicone.","A release agent is sprayed onto the casting form and letters.","High-strength steel cables are strung throughout the form.","With a hydraulic device, they pull each cable to a specific tension.","Then, they bend a rebar rod into a loop.","The rebar loops are linked, creating long cages.","They place one cage at the top of the form and one at the bottom.","Then, the team inserts a sheet of welded wire mesh.","It's been cut to fit the size of the form.","They're now ready to pour concrete.","A truck dispenses the concrete directly into the form.","The concrete flows around the steel reinforcement.","The steel will keep the wall strong when the concrete expands and contracts as the weather changes.","The team spreads the concrete and levels it with a tool called a screed.","This first layer of the wall panel is essentially one side of a sandwich.","It will be the exterior part of the wall.","At the center of the sandwich is this rigid foam insulation.","It's studded with protrusions to secure to the concrete.","More steel-reinforced concrete completes the wall sandwich.","This final layer will face the inside of the building...","So the crew takes extra care to ensure that there are no pits or crevices.","After about 12 hours, the wall is solid enough to be handled.","They take it outdoors, where a worker sandblasts a small section of the exterior side.","This removes the surface cement to expose the aggregate, creating a decorative band next to the embossed lettering.","After a three-day cure, the precast concrete wall is ready for the construction site.","A crew guides it onto footings.","They align its design to the one on the next wall.","When the two walls match up perfectly, they bolt it down.","The concrete continues to cure over time, so these precast walls will stand strong for many years.","Would you like to print a toy, a circuit board, or a replica of a famous work of art?","Thanks to the development of the 3d printer, what used to be the stuff of science fiction is now a reality.","These objects were produced by 3d printers, proof that, for printing technology, the world is no longer flat.","To make 3d printers, this company actually uses 3d printers.","A technician starts by loading a reel of plastic filament into a printer.","The printer melts the plastic into a thick goo.","The 3d printer layers the plastic, following a pattern from a digital file.","This particular part is the extruder body.","In real time, it takes about an hour to print the extruder.","Even complex patterns, like this octopus, can be made with a 3d printer.","40 different components of this 3d printer are produced using 3d printers.","At this facility, 135 printers run nonstop, producing gears, brackets, and mechanism housings.","This technology is truly self-replicating.","Now, a worker drills a hole in the extruder body.","It serves as a conduit for the plastic filament during printing.","He bolts a gear to the extruder body.","He screws the motor to the extruder body and installs a second, smaller gear on the drive shaft.","A part called the hot end is installed next.","It contains a heater for melting the plastic filament.","The worker attaches the hot end to a 3d-printed plastic mount and extruder.","This completes the 3d printer tool head.","Another worker feeds glass to rubber rollers.","The rollers gently apply adhesive-backed polyester film to the glass.","The glass will serve as the printer bed, and the film will protect it from scratches during use.","To build the printer's aluminum frame, the worker secures the joints with 3d-printed plastic parts.","He installs two rods horizontally.","They'll serve as rails for the printer tool head to move across.","He clips the tool head to the rails.","Then, he loops a rubber belt around the motor on the side of the frame and links it to the tool head.","The belt will drive the tool head along the carriage.","He confirms the tension is good and that the tool head moves freely.","Next, he attaches the print bed and its sliding support structure to the base of the frame.","He connects a cord to the power supply and links it to the tool head.","It will power both the motor and the hot end.","He clips the glass to the print bed and tightens the clips with screws.","He connects the print bed to the electronics and confirms that it slides freely.","In the testing department, a technician pushes the end of a plastic filament reel into a drilled channel in the tool head.","He snaps a retainer around the feed point.","Now, he is ready to activate the 3d printer.","He prints a test pattern to confirm that the printer bed is level and the tool head prints consistently.","For two-tone printing, they use two filament reels that feed into a double extruder tool head.","The tool head layers the plastic, one color at a time.","This process takes about an hour, but that's not too long when you consider that it's printing a 3d object.","Talk about generating solid results.","Tower cranes can be found at most large construction sites, but they're usually secured in a concrete slab that can take days to set up.","If you need a crane for some quick maintenance work, a truck-mounted telescopic crane might be a better solution.","Telescopic cranes can support loads of up to 6 tons and lift objects over 30 feet in the air.","The steel cable or wire rope winds and unwinds on a hydraulic winch.","The crane operator can extend or retract the boom extensions and adjust the angle of the main boom.","Stowing the crane in the travel position takes just a few minutes.","Assembly begins when a carbon steel sheet is loaded into a cnc laser cutter.","A high-energy light beam cuts through the steel plate to make several parts of the crane assembly.","A computer program maximizes the number of pieces cut out of a single sheet of steel.","A welder places parts on a position fixture.","Then, a cnc weld robot bonds the side plates to the winch mounting plate and base plate.","The welded crane mast goes to the machining center.","A machinist positions it on the horizontal mill jig.","The cnc mill drills holes around the base plate with a carbide drill bit and sprays coolant to prevent the piece from overheating.","Then, the machine levels the surface under the base plate with an end mill to fit it to the crane mast bearing.","Another worker bends tubes with a hydraulic press brake.","He makes boom segments by forming high-strength carbon steel plates into open c shapes.","Grounded electrostatic paint racks carry the parts into the painting department.","A worker applies a coating of anti-rust, low-friction electrostatic paint.","The paint eases the movement of the crane parts.","As the boom extensions come out of the paint shop, the painted mast is ready to go to the assembly department.","A worker positions the mast on the base bearing assembly.","He attaches the mast to the bearing with high-strength steel bolts and uses a pneumatic torque wrench to tighten the bolts.","These bolts bear most of the load of the crane.","A worker positions the winch on the mount plate and tightens the bolts.","He rotates the mast to check its movement on the base bearing.","He inserts a bushing and fits it with an arbor.","He applies lubricant inside the bushing before he brings in the main cylinder.","The worker positions the cylinder between the side plates and pins it to the mast.","The pin allows the cylinder to move vertically when elevating the boom.","Hydraulic actuators are now installed inside the mast.","The actuators direct oil flow to the cylinders and motors, controlling the movement of the crane.","A worker installs the boom extensions into the main boom.","He pushes them all the way in before assembling the main boom to the crane base.","The main boom fits right between the mast side plates.","Workers insert a pin to connect the mast to the main boom.","They gently tap it in place with a soft mallet and bolt it on with a pneumatic wrench.","A worker threads the wire rope along the boom and around the top pulley, then pulls the cable down and runs it through the snatch block.","He closes a safety pin on the snatch block and pins the eye of the cable under the top pulley.","Another worker activates the winch motor to roll the cable in.","The main cylinder elevates the crane into operating position.","The extension cylinder extends the boom, and stabilizers support the back of the truck for safe operation of the crane.","In a world lit by incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, and l.e.d.s, there are some people who still like their lighting the old-fashioned way.","Nothing quite matches the warm glow of a kerosene lamp.","Kerosene lamps date back centuries.","They're fueled by kerosene, with a wick as the light source.","To light the lamp, you remove the glass chimney, light the wick, then turn a key attached to the burner to raise or lower the wick.","The height of the wick adjusts the height of the flame.","This burner's components are made of brass.","Many of them are stamped by a press.","The press rams the lubricated brass sheet against the die, forming the metal to the required shape.","The component passes through a second stamping press, this time receiving five successive strikes.","This component is the midsection of the burner's gallery, the ornate support fixture that holds the glass chimney over the flame.","After the component passes through the first two presses, workers mount it on a third press.","This one punches ventilation holes around the perimeter, allowing air to feed the flame.","Workers mount the gallery's bottom section onto another punch press.","It cuts an intricate design along the perimeter.","This machine cuts out the bottom so the part can fit around the burner mechanism.","The next machine carves threads into it.","The threads enable the gallery to screw onto the burner mechanism.","Now it's time to assemble the gallery sections.","It has grips to hold the bottom of the chimney.","Next, they fasten the bottom section to the middle section.","This method of joining parts by compressing one against the other is known as a press fit.","They also stamp the brass adjustment key that raises and lowers the wick.","The die stamps the manufacturer's name and cuts teeth along the perimeter, making the key easier to grip.","To build the burner mechanism, they solder a notch plate, called a shutter, to a component they refer to as the candle.","It's called the candle because the wick will run through it.","They attach the adjustment key to a pair of gears...","And solder that to the shutter.","They turn the key to make sure the gears rotate freely.","They place a base into an assembly tool and insert the candle containing the adjustment key assembly.","Then, they solder on a wick guide.","They check the gears again to make sure they rotate freely.","The burner mechanism is finished.","Now, they dip it into a chemical degreaser to remove any lubricant or soldering residue.","Next, they submerge it in a vat of acids to brighten the brass.","Then, they rinse it in water three times.","Now, they assemble all of the burner parts.","They insert a cotton wick into the guide at the bottom of the mechanism and turn the key to feed it up through the burner.","They screw on the gallery and complete the burner by inserting a disk that will help shape the flame.","To install the burner in a lamp, the insert the wick into the font and screw the burner to the font's threaded collar.","The glass chimney is the finishing touch.","To fill the lamp with fuel, remove the chimney, unscrew the burner, pour kerosene into the font, then screw the burner back on.","This lamp is now ready to light."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Magnets","Cooked Ham","Silver Teapots","Crash Test Dummies"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Magnets...","Cooked ham.","Silver-plated teapots.","And crash-test dummies.","You can't see or feel the force causing this globe to levitate, but it's not magic, it's magnetic.","An essential part of our daily lives, magnets are used for a lot more than just sticking stuff to the fridge.","They help run motors and generators and are also found in computers, televisions, and microphones.","Magnets occur in nature.","But only two centuries ago, scientists figured out how to make them using metal and electricity.","Production at the magnet foundry begins with a creation of a mold.","A tray containing four magnet shapes is loaded into a machine that fills it with sand.","A worker removes the pattern and smoothes the surface dimpled by the machine's lid.","Then it's back inside.","This time the machine pumps in gases that chemically alter the sand, hardening it in a matter of seconds.","The sand slab is now a durable mold.","And these molds are made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.","Now it's time to mix together the ingredients for the magnets themselves.","They include copper, cobalt, sulfur, nickel, pure iron, aluminum, and titanium.","All of these metals are loaded into an electrical induction furnace.","It generates a pulsating electromagnetic field that heats the metal to almost 3,000 degrees fahrenheit, melting everything into a molten soup.","The metal is poured into the molds.","Because the gases that harden the sand are highly flammable, the molds burst into flames.","Still ablaze, they slide to another part of the foundry where workers knock them to the floor and bust them open with sledgehammers.","This lets the air in, cooling the molds and allowing the gases to burn off.","All of the pieces are shoveled into a bin, and workers separate the metal from the sand chunks using what else?","A magnet.","But these metal pieces aren't yet magnetized themselves.","That will come later.","A set of rings designed for use in electric motors is threaded onto a copper pipe.","The ring-covered pipe is placed in a tube.","Then, silica sand is packed in to hold the rings in position.","Both ends of the tube are sealed with concrete.","Then, it's into an electrical furnace.","It heats the tube until it's red-hot.","This superheating primes the rings inside to accept an electromagnetic field which will be delivered by this metal rod.","The rod slides down the center of the copper pipe and is clamped into place.","Water keeps the pipe from melting as a low-voltage, high-current charge is delivered to the rings inside.","Workers break open the seal.","The process has left the rings mildly magnetized.","Any rough edges are smoothed away.","At this point, the magnets are pretty useless.","But this machine empowers them with a strong electromagnetic charge.","The establishment of that weak magnetic field earlier ensures that the magnetization is now properly oriented.","Now, that's some serious magnetic muscle.","The wide array of magnets manufactured today are critical to our daily lives because their invisible power helps keep so many things running.","Up next-- turning raw pork into a succulent smoked ham.","Ham comes from the hind leg of a pig.","You can buy it raw and cook it yourself, or you can buy it already cured and smoked.","You can buy your ham boneless or with the bone still intact.","Bone-in ham has more natural flavor.","The process starts with raw hams fresh from the slaughterhouse.","The factory's automated sorting system weighs each one, then knocks it into the appropriate vat.","By grouping hams of similar size together, the factory can better control the quality of the curing and cooking processes.","Each vat empties into a tumbler which spins the hams for about five minutes.","This loosens the skins so that workers can quickly remove them.","They use an automatic trimming machine to skin the back portion, called the butt.","In keeping with traditional style, the machine leaves just a small amount of skin on the thin part of the leg, called the shank.","Now the circular wizard knife does its magic, removing all but a thin layer of fat.","Finally, the base of the shank, called the hock, is chopped off.","Now a curing solution is prepared, made of water, sugar, salt, and a few secret ingredients.","This mixture gives the ham its trademark flavor and pink color.","Without it, the meat would end up looking and tasting like a pork roast.","Pipes feed the curing solution to an injection machine armed with 138 needles.","As the hams pass below, they're thoroughly and evenly injected with solution.","And all that piercing tenderizes the meat.","Next, workers load a machine called the stuffing horn, which fires each ham into a heat-resistant cotton net.","Workers seal each one with an aluminum clip, then cut off the excess netting.","Cooking hams on trays would flatten the underside.","But hanging them by nets keeps them nice and round.","The cooking racks are transferred to a food-processing oven, the industrial equivalent of a traditional smokehouse.","Hickory wood chips go into the oven smoker.","Then a worker starts her up.","For the next 12 hours, the hams slow cook at temperatures ranging between 150 and 180 degrees fahrenheit.","This tenderizes the meat and gives the smoke ample time to seep in.","After cooking, the hams get a cold ten-minute shower.","This rinses away the drippings that fall from the higher hams onto the lower ones.","Then it's on to the chill area, where over the next 36 hours, the hams cool to around 30 degrees fahrenheit.","Next, the nets come off and packaging begins.","The factory sells hams whole, or, using a band saw, slices them into halves or smaller sizes such as single-portion ham steaks.","Workers bag the ham in plastic, then position a soft, plastic pad over the bone to prevent any sharp edges from ripping through the airtight seal.","Each bag is positioned for sealing.","Then, an automated vacuum chamber descends over each bag, sucking out the air and sealing the plastic.","A robotic arm transfers the hams to a conveyor belt leading to a hot-water bath.","Just five seconds in hot water is enough to shrink the plastic tightly around the ham.","This airtight seal will keep the ham fresh in your refrigerator for three months, and up to nine months in your freezer.","Coming up-- the artistry behind some of the world's finest teapots.","The mayans started using pots like these 2,600 years ago, probably for hot chocolate.","They've evolved since then.","And today, aficionados consider them essential for that perfect cup of tea.","Silver-plated teapots come in many different styles, and making them requires the talent and skill of an old-world master.","A century-old hand-circling machine cuts a perfect circle out of a brass sheet that's 6/100 of an inch thick.","Then the disk heads to the press.","After lubricating the press surface with vegetable oil, the disk is positioned and covered with a polyurethane stopper.","As the press applies its three tons of pressure, the die moves upward, shaping the disk from underneath.","The stopper, meanwhile, provides a counterpressure to keep the die from breaking the brass as it thins and stretches.","They call this the draft shape.","It then goes into another die that produces the final shape of the teapot's base.","Next, they solder on the teapot rim, which was made the same way.","A craftsman then hammers the metal to remove any imperfections left by the pressings and punches in the maker's mark.","Spinning is another technique used to form metal teapot parts.","Here, a craftsman shapes a copper teapot mounted on a lathe.","The metal is decorated using a technique called hand chasing.","With a paper stencil, he applies the design in white powder.","He pencil traces the pattern, then hammers in the design with a variety of tools.","This intricate process requires the talented hands of an expert artisan.","For the teapot spout, workers press brass plates into left- and right-side dies.","A quarter-ton press produces the final spout shape.","Soldering paste is brushed onto the halves.","They're wired together, then fired to 600 degrees fahrenheit.","The spout gets an acid bath to remove all of the impurities left behind from the soldering process.","Workers polish the teapot with three progressively finer grades of pumice, which is crushed volcanic rock.","One final buffing ensures the surface is perfectly smooth.","With diamond-tipped hand tools, engravers can etch anything onto the teapot from custom designs to company logos.","Workers now screw on the lid, wire up the teapot, and immerse it in cleaning chemicals followed by a silver-plating bath.","Just before shipping, they attach hardware and perform a final cleaning.","Finally, the teapots are wrapped in acid-free cellulose to prevent the silver from tarnishing.","It takes a highly skilled team of craftspeople to create these unique teapot designs in styles ranging from elizabethan to ultra modern, beautiful and functional.","When we return-- bringing crash-test dummies to life.","Crash-test dummies may look human, but they're actually high-tech guinea pigs for a wide range of impact tests.","So, how do they make dummies whose form and structure mimic the human body?","You're about to find out.","Crash-test dummies are designed to take some serious hits.","Automakers use the data they provide to build safer cars, vans, and trucks.","A dummy's anatomy is pretty simple.","Beneath its vinyl skin, there's a metal skeleton made of steel and aluminum bones.","Those bones contain load cells, electronic devices that measure crash force.","Production of the load cells begins with a machine that shapes steel bars using a solid carbide end mill.","Lubricant cools the intense heat and washes away the metal particles.","Using a precision tool called the dial indicator, workers verify the load cell's dimensions to within 2/1,000 of an inch.","Next comes the strain gauge-- the component within the load cell that measured crash force.","The hair-width wires that connect the strain gauges are so delicate that soldering them requires a microscope.","The vertebra in the dummy's neck also contains a load cell.","The strain gage soldered inside it measures not just lateral and vertical forces, but also twist, or torsional force.","The completed bones and corresponding load cells are laid out, but they can't be connected until the dummy's rib cage is complete.","To make the rib cage, steel bands are bonded to a flexible damping material.","This material was originally designed to deaden sound in nuclear submarines.","It allows the dummy's rib cage to compress just like the real thing.","A technician bolts the entire rib assembly to the spinal column and covers it with a plastic chest plate called a bib.","The long bones and load-cell forms are inserted into aluminum molds.","Workers then bolt the molds shut and pour in liquid vinyl.","The molds bake at around 350 degrees fahrenheit for 10 to 20 minutes.","When they come out, workers cut away any flash-- the excess vinyl that oozes out during the baking process.","Then, a technician inspects the components to ensure an accurate fit.","This is no ordinary vinyl.","It's specially designed to resemble human flesh in consistency and density.","This gives researchers realistic crash data.","Now, it's time to install the bones into their respective vinyl compartments, starting with this tibia or shin bone.","Zippers allow the engineers to easily remove the components after performing a crash test.","A technician bolts all the dummy's joints in place and ensures they have a human-like range of motion.","Using a neck-compression tool, a technician lines up a load sensor with the neck vertebrae and fashions the completed neck assembly to the dummy's head.","Next, the upper body is completed.","The thorax is bolted onto the pelvis, the head and neck assembly onto the thorax.","Then, the vinyl jacket is fitted over the chest.","Finally, the technician bolts on the limbs.","Crash-test dummies range in size from newborns all the way up to 225-pound adults so that auto manufacturers can be sure their seat belts and air bags protect everyone equally well.","It took a full 12 weeks to make this dummy, and now he's ready for a life of hard knocks to make traveling safer for all of us."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steel Wool","Ranges","Carved Candles","Slot Machines"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Steel wool...","Ranges...","Carved candles...","And slot machines.","With so many rough edges, steel wool is very abrasive.","That's what makes it so useful for heavy-duty cleaning and other chores.","Mechanics were the first to use steel shavings for cleaning and polishing parts.","By the early part of the 20th century, equipment was invented to mass produce the stuff.","Then steel wool became a household name.","There are thousands of metal threads in each steel-wool pad.","Manufacturers start with a coiled steel rod that unwinds through metal guides into a 16-foot-long die machine.","As the rods travel through six progressively smaller dies, it gets narrower and more uniformly shaped.","Spools wind up the rod after it passes through each die to prevent any snarls in production.","The progression through the dies reworks the steel's basic structure, doubling its tensile strength.","When it reaches the end of the die machine, the steel rod has been narrowed by a little more than half.","The slimmer, stronger wire will be easier to process.","To check its tensile strength, a technician places a wire sample in a testing device.","Clamps pull from both directions.","It takes over half a ton of force to snap it, an indication that it's tough enough to be machined.","So, it's over to the steel-wool cutting machine, which spans 50 feet.","Here, the wire travels over a series of drums, while 29 blades shave it.","Each blade produces shavings thinner than a human hair.","Streams of the shavings exit the machine and join the river of steel threads flowing through the factory.","Each of these steel threads has been cut in a pyramid configuration, making it razor-sharp.","The shaved steel winds onto large rolls.","Workers align several of these rolls onto racks, then secure them in place.","The ends of each roll are bunched together...","And threaded through a series of bobbins.","Finally, the ends are fed into a needle-punch machine.","Here, hundreds of fish-hook shaped needles weave the steel threads together.","This very basic crochet job produces a long mat of wool that's of suitable density for woodworking.","To make household cleaning pads, workers bulk up the steel wool even more.","They insert layers of needle mat into the streams of steel fibers.","This gives the pads extra strength for big scouring jobs.","This multilayered stream then heads over to the needle-punch machine to be woven together.","Once the steel wool goes onto a final roll, it's ready to be turned into pads for cleaning, sanding, or polishing.","Next, see what's cooking with today's high-end ranges.","The range is where the action is in the kitchen.","It's where we whip together meals-- baked, broiled, roasted or sautéed.","High-end ranges like this one are hot, and not just in the obvious way.","They're an upmarket trend that make home cooks feel like the chef of their very own restaurant.","The construction of one of these double-oven ranges starts with a big sheet of galvanized steel.","A machine flips it and feeds it to a press.","The press folds the sheet twice to make the oven walls, closing it around the framework.","The oven bottom is placed into position, and automated welders fuse everything together.","The back section goes on next.","Those holes are for the oven's fan.","The oven shell gets a porcelain finish on the inside, and then the heating element goes in.","Fans are fitted into those precut holes.","More heating elements run along their perimeters.","The oven is then wrapped with synthetic insulation to keep it from scorching nearby cabinetry.","Side panels cover the insulation and help support the oven's structure.","This piece of steel will reinforce the range bottom.","Several feet are attached.","The front ones have wheels so the range can be moved without tearing up the floor.","Workers cushion it with packing foam, flip it, and hoist the oven onto it, next to a smaller second oven that's part of this double-oven range.","Next, a technician hooks up the microprocessor board that controls everything from the oven's fans to their timers.","And all of that wiring needs to be double-checked.","On this range, the burners are fueled by gas.","This electrical board will sense gas-flow problems.","Workers assemble the igniter boxes that will spark the burner's flames...","Then mount them on the cooktop.","After installing the gas valves on the framework...","They slide connectors onto some gas lines and attach them to the valves.","On this upscale cooktop, there are two gas lines for every knob-- one for a low flame, and the other for a high flame.","With the installation of the burners and the porcelain drip pan...","The cooktop is now ready to be lowered onto the oven.","This is where the knobs fit.","It's called a bullnose, and it's a bit of a showpiece.","So, workers grind and polish it to give it a gleaming finish with no sharp edges.","For handling purposes, the bullnose is protected with plastic.","This machine punches and bends the edges of panels so they can be attached to the sides of the range.","At another station, the oven doors get a good buffing so they'll match the shiny bullnose.","With the side panels and doors attached, all that's left are a few more finishing touches, and the final product is ready to be fired up.","Coming up, an art form where every second counts.","Carving candles is an old german craft still practiced by artisans.","It involves layering different-colored wax...","Then carving designs to expose those luminous colors.","It's hard to beat the radiant beauty of a carved candle.","Carved candles are known for their swirls and curls, a look so elaborate that lighting one is an occasion in itself.","The process starts with vats of hot wax in various colors.","The candlemaker stirs them to circulate the specially formulated dyes.","She dips a star-shaped wax core into clear wax and then yellow.","The clear wax dilutes whatever color wax follows it.","The layers are hardened in cool water.","She repeats this process between 30 and 35 times, building up different-colored layers on the candle core.","As the dipping continues, the candle becomes warmer and softer, which will allow it to be carved.","The quick water dips only cool the outer layers.","Partway into the dipping, the candlemaker deepens the candle's grooves.","And she resumes dipping, she has to keep a close watch on the candle's temperature.","If it absorbs too much heat, it will be too soft to carve.","But if it's too cool, the wax can splinter.","Achieving the right consistency is crucial.","It's almost time to get carving.","But first, the candlemaker squeezes the drippings together....","And slices them off.","They're too attractive to waste, so she quickly shapes them into a mushroom candle.","She pokes a hole in the center for the wick, and, within moments, the candle is complete.","With the big candle at the perfect temperature, the clock is ticking.","It has to be carved in just 15 minutes, or it will be too hard to work with.","The candlemaker slivers the bottom and curls the pieces back.","She dunks the row of curls into water to harden them a bit so they don't sag.","On the second row, she curls each row in the opposite direction to the one before.","She carves a total of four rows, with the last curls fixed upright.","Using the square-edged gouging tool, she cuts a windmill design into the upper section of the candle.","Then she shapes the wax cutout into a base for the windmill.","Tulips and other designs decorate the top of the candle.","She must work with a quick but steady hand.","It takes at least a year of training to learn to carve with such confidence.","This one is a neat trick.","She jiggles the straight-bladed knife to cut the fluted edge of a hummingbird wing.","One last character, and this carving job is complete.","Now she presses a cookie-cutter-like device around the wick.","This forms a well that will allow the wax to burn down the center instead of dripping down the sides, which would ruin the carving.","She spins the candle in a hot pan to melt the bottom so that it's level.","And while it's still hot, she attaches the company sticker.","Finally, an acrylic glaze seals the candle's decorations and protects the finish.","Once lit, the light from the clear core shines through the design for a real glowing beauty.","When we return, a gambler's dream come true-- peeking inside a slot machine.","A san francisco car mechanic invented the first slot machine in 1895.","Its heavy cast-iron cabinet housed three spinning reels.","Each one had 20 playing-card symbols and an image of philadelphia's famous liberty bell.","If you were lucky enough to line up three bells in a row, you won the big jackpot-- 50 cents.","Today's slot machines have come a long way.","They've got computers for brains and endless themes and configurations all packaged in a light-weight sheet-metal cabinet.","Workers first assemble what's called the bulkhead, the upper part of the cabinet that contains all the game-playing components, such as the audio amplifier...","The circuit boards...","The speakers...","And what's known as the meter, the electromagnetical counter that keeps track of the coins and credit going in and out of the machine.","At the base of the cabinet, the machine gets a serial number, as required by law.","Workers install the machine's bill acceptor, then the ticket printer.","When there's a win, it spits out a voucher that the players can redeem for cash, or insert in any machine's bill-collector slot.","Next comes the arm mechanism players pull to spin the reels, then the upper door that frames the reels and the lower door that frames the button panel.","Slot machines have several illuminated buttons for different types of bets.","Workers plug a tiny l.e.d. behind each button, then wire up the panel.","A plastic insert labels each button.","Once the panel is assembled, it's installed in the lower door.","Workers now turn their attention to the metal panel that accommodates the spinning reels.","On the back, they install two circuit boards-- one to operate the machine's digital scoreboard, the other to illuminate the reels.","Then they cover the panel with special glass.","It's been treated with a chemical that conducts electricity.","Should a cheater try to rig the reels using an electronic gadget, this glass will ground the charge.","A decorative window goes over the anti-tampering glass.","Then workers place the whole unit into the upper door.","In the lower door, they install a touch-screen video monitor to display the payout information.","Casino technicians also use it to configure the machine.","Then workers install panels with slots for receiving tickets and for inserting either money or debit cards.","And now for the slot machine's most famous feature-- the reels.","After a machine tests the spinning motion and lights, a worker attaches a plastic strip with printed symbols-- 18 to 22 symbols per reel.","The reels easily snap into a waiting electrical connection.","Next comes what's called the top box.","Workers mount it onto the bulkhead, then install fluorescent bulbs.","These will light up the eye-catching artwork on the glass front of the box.","Nearing completion, the slot machine is finally ready to receive its brain-- an internal computer with its operating system on a programmable microchip.","The software that runs the game is installed on a memory card.","It randomly determines the course of play within defined parameters.","Essentially, it's preprogrammed to pay out a certain amount at random intervals over a given period of time.","But less money, of course, than the machine takes in overall.","Before embarking on its spinning spree, each slot machine undergoes extensive quality-control testing.","Casinos demand that these one-armed bandits are durable and reliable because slots generate more than two-thirds of casino revenues."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Endoscopes","Megaphones","Uranium"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Endoscopes...","Megaphones...","And uranium.","An endoscope is a tube with optical glass fibers and lenses inside attached to a video camera.","Doctors feed the endoscope through the patient's mouth or other opening or insert it through a tiny incision then watch what the camera captures on a video monitor.","An endoscope lets the surgeon see inside the patient during an examination or surgical procedure.","Its light-transmitting optical fibers work like a flashlight inside the body.","The optical fiber manufacturer suspends glass rods from the top of a tall oven, which heats them to a melting temperature of 1,652 degrees fahrenheit.","Each rod drips downward in the form of a thin strand.","A guide wheel turns this glass fiber in a horizontal direction.","The fiber then winds on to a drum, whose rotation speed stretches it to a specific hair-thin diameter.","A worker combines several single fiber spools on to a large winding wheel to make a bundle containing thousands of fibers.","To make the cable that connects a light source in the operating room to the endoscope, a worker inserts an optical fiber bundle into a silicon cable sheathing.","This one has nearly 9,000 fibers.","She screws a stainless steel fastener, called a ferrule on to each threaded end of the sheathing.","After saturating the ferrules and optical fibers inside with glue and curing the adhesive with heat, the worker trims off excess fibers and hands off the cable to the next station, where a work polishes both ends.","Polishing finalizes the dimensions and enables light to shine through.","This quality control test, one of several, ensures the fibers can withstand a prescribed amount of pressure without cracking.","The optical fiber manufacturer also supplies fiber spools to the endoscope manufacturer for the light transmission system inside the endoscope.","Workers cut the bundle of optical fibers to the length required for the endoscope model they're making.","Endoscopes vary in length and diameter, depending on the part of the body they're designed for.","After verifying that the diameter of the bundle is correct, they tie the optical fibers with string to hold them together during insertion.","Then workers insert the fiber bundle between the inner and outer stainless steel sheathes that make up the main body of the endoscope, pushing the fibers down the length of the inner sheath.","They attach a stainless steel adaptor.","This will connect the light cable from the operating room light source to the endoscope, transferring light to the optical fibers inside the endoscope.","A worker inspects those fibers under magnification for black spots.","Black spots indicate broken fibers, which would interrupt the transmission of light.","An endoscope transmits an image much like a telescope does.","Optical lenses send reflected light, which produces the image, from inside the patient all the way up to your eye peering through the top.","The lenses in the endoscope are glass rods.","After cleaning them with chemical solution, workers line them up in a fixture with brass spacers of various lengths in between.","Depending on the length of the endoscope, there are five to seven lenses.","The spacers create specific distances between them.","Once workers have assembled the image transmission system, they gently slide it off the fixture into the inner sheath of the endoscope.","Then, they screw on an ocular cap to hold it all in place.","A worker cleans the cap's glass top, then attaches an eyepiece.","This gives the surgeon the option of either looking directly into the endoscope or looking at an operating room video monitor which receives the image via a small camera attached to the eyepiece.","This demonstration shows how it all comes together in the operating room.","After securing the endoscope in a holding fixture, the surgeon attaches the light cable coming from the nearby light source.","The light travels down and out the endoscope, illuminating the area that surgeon's working on.","The lenses reflect the image to the top of the endoscope, where a camera transmits it to a video monitor that's mounted in front of the surgeon.","In the beginning, megaphones were simply cone-shaped devices that focused sound forward so it went further and could be heard more clearly.","In the 20th century microphones, an amplifier and a speaker were added to the cone, and that really ramped up the volume.","With a megaphone, there's no need to shout.","Just speak, and you will be heard.","This waterproof version is designed for coaching, law enforcement, and military uses.","Production starts with a panel of four digital circuit boards that have little gold pads on them.","An assembler places a stencil over the panel and aligns the stencil holes with the gold pads.","He then squeegee's solder paste down the stencil, and it flows on to the exposed gold pads.","This is before and after the solder past application.","Robotic arms install electrical components on the solder-coated pads, creating circuitry.","Various reels unwind to deliver these little parts.","The robotic arms suction them off liners and transfer them to precise locations on the boards.","The parts will run the megaphone's sirens, horns, and microphones.","A technician clamps one of the completed circuit boards in a tester.","Spring-loaded pins underneath make electrical contacts with the components and probe their performance.","The system runs a full test of the circuitry.","At the next station, an assembler attaches a part known as the front can to the end of a flared speaker cone.","He then turns his attention to the speaker.","The assembler inserts screws in the base.","He threads wires from the speaker through a hole in the cone and through the front can.","The assembler then places the speaker in the cone, and he screws it in place.","He attaches a connector to the protruding speaker wires.","The worker places a mesh metal screen over a hole in the rear can.","The assembler taps a nut driver with a hammer to force the mesh into the hole, and this shapes the mesh into a microphone cover.","He removes the newly-formed mic cover and fits it to the mic, manually crimping it around the sides for a snug fit.","He now tucks the microphone into a tube that has a sliding inner sleeve.","The assembler inserts the tube into the microphone hole in the rear can.","He slides the inside tube down to push the microphone in the hole.","He secures the knob for turning the megaphone on and for adjusting the volume.","The assembler installs a mini-circuit board that's linked to the siren and horn button.","These small spring pins will mate to a battery to power the megaphone's circuitry.","He tucks the pins into molded protrusions inside the rear can and waterproofs them with rubber o-rings.","This megaphone subassembly is now ready for the main circuit board.","The assembler threads wires for this switch trigger, microphone, siren, and horn through holes in the board.","He then screws the board to the rear housing.","He fits a silicon o-ring around the rim of the rear can to seal it.","The assembler then joins the rear can with all the working parts to the front can and cone assembly.","He connects the speaker wires to the circuit board.","This megaphone is now ready for a sound test.","The technician connects it to a temporary battery and powers it up.","Check, one, two.","One, two.","Check, testing, testing.","One, two, test.","More sensitive testing is needed.","He encloses the megaphone in an insulated chamber to shut out background noises.","A computer runs the megaphone at different frequencies and analyzes its performance.","Once the megaphone passes these tests, they install handles.","And now it's ready for anything you have to say.","Uranium is a metallic element that was discovered by a german chemist in 1789.","The significance of this discovery wasn't understood for a century and a half.","In 1938, scientists figured out that uranium atoms could be split to produce energy.","The size of a fireplace log, this nuclear fuel bundle generates a lot more heat.","It's packed with enough uranium to power 100 homes for a year.","To obtain the uranium, the tunnel 1,640 feet underground at this site in northern saskatchewan.","This mine is the largest source of high-grade uranium in the world.","The uranium ore lies beneath a bed of water-saturated sandstone.","To reach it, they use drill bits studded with tungsten carbide buttons.","Like knuckles on a fist, the button bits punch into the rock face.","These first holes are for pipes that will pull heat out of the ground and freeze it around the ore.","The miner operates the equipment by remote control.","It transfers a new piece of pipe to the end of the drill roughly every five feet to penetrate 426 feet into the sandstone bed.","It takes up to eight days to install just one length of pipe, and there are 200 of them.","Workers configure the pipes so they surround the ore deposit.","These freeze pipes will stabilize the ground, and they'll also turn high-pressure ground water to ice, so it won't interfere with the actual mining.","A freeze plant above ground chills calcium chloride brine to minus-22 degrees fahrenheit and sends it through the freeze pipes.","The brine absorbs heat as it freezes the ground and loops back to be chilled again.","Above the uranium deposits, workers now gear up to mine the ore.","They'll use this bit to chew into the ore body in order to make an initial small-diameter hole known as a pilot hole.","The pilot hole maps out the drill route to ore, and it creates an entry point for larger mining equipment.","From a raised position, the bit bores vertically into the rock to drill the pilot hole and reach a specific level below the ore body.","They're now ready for the reamer bit.","The reamer has numerous button-encrusted wheel tentacles.","As this animation shows, the drill pulls the reamer up the pilot hole, widening it.","And the broken ore falls into what's known as an extraction chamber.","Here, a tram operated by remote control scoops up the rock.","This remote control system keeps miners a safe distance away from falling rock hazards.","It also minimizes their exposure to the radioactive uranium in the ore.","As another precaution, workers continuously ventilate the mine, introducing fresh air every 20 minutes.","Steered by the operator's joystick, the tram delivers the ore to a scanner.","By measuring the amount of radioactivity in the ore, the scanner determines the uranium content is about 15%.","In much of the ore, the uranium content is even greater-- on average, around 18%, and that's considered to be very high-grade.","The train now empties the ore into a chute.","Cameras follow the rocks' journey to the next station.","Then from a control room, an operator manipulates a hydraulic hammer to smash the ore to bits.","The broken ore then migrates to a mill that grinds it into a fine sand.","They add water, and it becomes slurry, which they then pump to the surface.","Trucks then transport the uranium ore slurry to a mill nearly 50 miles away.","They pull into a special off-loading facility.","The support for a vacuum system aligns with the tote that encases the slurry tank.","Once in position, a vacuum pipe drops into the tank and suctions up the slurry.","Cameras provide a live feed of the unloading progress to a control room almost 23 feet away.","After a wash and a radiation check, the truck leaves.","Stay tuned for the transformation of uranium into nuclear fuel.","Just one fuel bundle of uranium contains the same amount of energy as just over 71,000 gallons of oil.","But uranium can't simply be chipped away from the rock it resides in.","It must be chemically separated and processed to make it into usable fuel for a nuclear reactor.","Acid dissolves the uranium, but not the rest of the rock.","It settles to the bottom of these tanks.","The uranium-acid solution flows forward, leaving the unwanted minerals behind.","Using a series of chemical reactions, they further purify the uranium.","They then roast it at 1,562 degrees fahrenheit.","This concentrates it into a jet-black powder.","The uranium powder flows into 55-gallon steel drums.","A worker taps the lip of the drum to remove residual powder.","He then puts the lid on and activates a press that secures it tightly to the drum.","As an extra precaution, he seals it with a steel ring.","He labels it to indicate the drum's contents, weight, and radioactivity.","Workers stack the drums in a warehouse to await shipment to the next processing plant.","There, the uranium goes from black to yellow as they convert it to uranium trioxide, an interim chemical form in the processing chain.","They ship the uranium trioxide in specially designed inverted cones.","Upon arrival at the next facility, a valve opens at the bottom and the powder flows into conveyor tubes that take it into the plant.","Inside, workers dissolve the uranium trioxide powder in acid.","A worker takes a sample to test the density and the chemistry and confirms that both are acceptable.","They then add a chemical to turn the dissolved uranium back into a solid.","After more processing, the uranium trioxide becomes uranium dioxide, the chemical form required for nuclear fuel.","Spinning the uranium dioxide mixes the different sized particles to make it a more homogenous blend.","The chemical processing has also caused the uranium to change color again.","It is now a fine black powder.","Using several tons of pressure, tools shape the uranium dioxide into pellets.","A revolving wheel with protrusions guides the pellets into a channel conveyor.","The conveyor takes the pellets into a furnace.","Over 24 hours, the heat removes pores in the pellets.","The pellets shrink, increasing the density of the uranium.","The particles fuse together and harden into a ceramic.","Here's a pellet before and after baking.","A robot arm now loads the pellets on to a tray and levels them.","A conveyor moves the tray forward.","Ahead, another robot places zirconium fuel tubes on a rack.","Zirconium is a metal that's highly resistant to both heat and corrosion, but neutrons will pass freely through it during the fission reaction.","The rack of tubes meet up with a tray of incoming pellets.","A robotic loader pushes the stack of 30 pellets into the tube.","Another robot delivers the rods one at a time to an automated welder that caps the ends.","The next robot retrieves the completed uranium fuel rods and transfers it to an assembly fixture.","It arranges a total of 37 rods in an upright position within the fixture.","After the rods have been welded and the bundle capped at both ends, a robot transfers it to a scale.","This weigh-in confirms that there is the correct amount of uranium in the bundle.","Prior to burn up in a reactor, the amount of radioactivity emitted by nuclear fuel bundles is very low, and they're safe to handle as workers prepare them for shipping.","They're now on their way to the power plant, where they'll be sure to generate a reaction."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Alligator Bags","Lockers","Bench Planes","Deployable Flight Recorders"]},"text":["Alligator bags enjoyed their first wave of popularity at the end of the 19th century.","The material was chosen for its exotic look, rich texture, high pliability, and durability.","Since then, many legendary designer handbags have been made with alligator skin.","For some women, a handbag is more than a practical accessory.","It's also a way to express their personal style.","Depending on the bag's size, shape, and desired look, many exotic animal skins can be used-- alligator, lizard, python, or ostrich.","This red skin is from the nile alligator.","The cutter maintains the pattern in place with a weight.","He cuts out the shape of the bag, leaving a border, called a turning-in, all along the pattern.","The skiving machine delicately shaves the back of the alligator skin to make it thin and pliable.","A polishing jack creates a sheen.","A plating machine applies heat and pressure to remove creases and make the skin shiny.","Now it is placed on a hot plate for a few seconds to raise the skin and create what is called french bombay.","They brush rubber cement on the back of the skin and apply it to a thin piece of leather called a pliver.","This will keep the bombay from flattening over time.","Then he cuts off the excess skin, creating a turning-in.","This heavy paper and foam will go inside the bag's cover to give it structure and a cushiony feel.","He removes the center part of the paper to help the cover fold easily.","He uses a bone folder to fold the turning-in over the paper...","Then carefully hammers it in place.","Now he's making the sides, called gussets, and the bottom of the bag.","He applies thin muslin and rubs it in place under a protective paper.","Both gussets are sewn to the bag's bottom using a very fine needle.","The stitches must be as discreet as possible.","The bag's lining is made of soft lamb leather called cabretta.","The top half contains a magnetic circle which serves to close the bag.","The brand's nameplate is also attached to the lining.","The nameplate sits inside the bag so it will only be visible when the bag is open.","The pocketbook maker delicately glues the lining to the bottom of the bag.","He folds the leather over with the bone folder and uses the hammer to make the juncture as thin as possible.","Since the covers are glued in place, there are no stitches visible on the front and back of the bag, giving it a more luxurious look.","Now he scratches the border to remove the sheen, which will help the glue adhere to the leather.","He applies the back and front cover to the lining of the bag, making sure all the covers line up perfectly.","This step is only performed by experienced pocketbook makers, as it is crucial to the final look of the bag.","Anything less than perfect would look like a cheap imitation.","Custom-colored paints will fill in any gaps and cover any variation in the leather.","They finish by polishing the bag, using a small amount of shoe polish and a buffing cloth.","They must use very little polish to avoid buildup in the grain of the leather.","This also removes any dirt or cement.","It takes about seven hours to make an alligator bag.","All the time, effort, and materials result in a stylish fashion accessory that's made to last for years.","Lockers are a familiar sight in high-school corridors, gym changing rooms, and many workplaces, and in the world of professional sports, lockers are the backdrop to many a post-game interview.","The latest trend is buying lockers for kids' bedrooms as cool and practical storage furniture.","While they vary in size and design, all lockers have ventilation holes.","These help air circulate, which prevents odors.","Lockers are made of a hard type of steel that's just flexible enough for presses to bend to the required shape.","The steel sheets are 1/10 of an inch thick.","Workers feed one at a time through a cutting tool called a square shear.","It slices from one end of the sheet to the other, cutting pieces with the required width.","Each door piece goes into a 100-ton punch press, which stamps out the ventilation holes.","The next press punches screw and rivet holes around the edges and a hole for the cup that houses the locker's closure.","The first bending press simultaneously folds over the top and bottom edges, forming flanges.","This bend sets the finished height of the door.","The next bend sets the finished widthof the door.","The press folds the side edges over twice, forming a box-shaped rim.","Next, workers position a steel reinforcement panel against the hinge side of the door.","They affix one side of the panel using a welding machine that fuses 12 spots simultaneously.","Then they weld the other side manually.","Now they mount the door in an alignment fixture hinge-side up and clamp a piano hinge to the edge.","They fuse the hinge to the door by welding it to the top row of screw holes.","Meanwhile, they bend pieces of steel to form the locker's top, bottom, back, and sides.","Now they weld those parts together.","Then they weld the hasp, the steel loop through which you hook a padlock to lock the locker.","The hasp goes on the edge of the body and protrudes through a slot in the closure cup in the door.","Next, the locker's interior shelf.","They set four rivets onto a positioning fixture-- two in the center, two on the edge-- then position the shelf on top, aligning the shelf's four holes with the four rivets.","They position a single hook over each edge rivet and weld it on.","Then they take a double hook and position it over the two center rivets...","Then weld that on.","Then they weld the shelf into the locker body.","All the parts now head into the factory's paint shop.","The powder paint they use for this model contains electrically charged silver particles-- a natural disinfectant that kills any bacteria, viruses, and fungi on the locker's surface.","Once coated, the parts go into an oven for a half-hour to bake the paint.","Then final assembly begins.","First, workers mount the closure cup and the door hole with a screw and a retaining washer.","Next, they install magnet catches to hold the door closed...","And apply an adhesive sticker indicating this locker has an antimicrobial paint coating.","Then they attach the door to the body by driving rivets through the lower row of holes on the piano hinge.","They make sure the door moves smoothly and that the hasp aligns with the slot in the cup.","The factory makes lockers of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.","Some models even have built-in combination locks.","Since roman times, woodworking planes have been part of the carpenter's tool kit.","And despite the invention of power tools for wood surfacing, many still prefer the hands-on approach of this simple tool.","Using it is a skill that can take a piece of timber from rough to refined.","If wood needs shaping, it's time to reach for the bench plane.","On the push stroke, it shaves down bumps and high spots on wood to make the surface level and true.","Production begins with bench-plane patterns.","They place several in a box and pour fine sand, mixed with a bonding chemical, over them.","The bonding chemical solidifies the sand.","They poke holes to vent gases later on.","And with the patterns removed, it's clear that the bonding chemical has worked its magic.","The patterns have left a definite impression in the hardened sand.","They apply glue to one half of the mold so it adheres to the half with the impressions in it.","They then glue two square-shaped spouts around holes in the sand mold.","Next, they fire up the foundry furnace and melt iron into a white-hot liquid.","Workers then carefully pour the molten metal down the square spouts and into the sand molds.","Gases are released through the holes poked in the sand earlier, while weights keep the lids from lifting from the pressure.","After a two-hour cooldown, they break the molds and pick out the cast-iron parts.","The planes have a knobby protuberance, formed as metal flowed into the mold.","They slice that off.","And after strengthening the cast iron's physical properties, they mill the bottom of the bench plane to make it reasonably flat.","They also expose a slit formed during molding.","They now lock the bench plane in position to allow the spiked teeth of a cutting wheel to carve into the molded slit.","It enlarges the slit to form the mouth of the bench plane, the opening through which the plane's blade will protrude.","Some precision work is needed, so a tapered and serrated tool is forced through the mouth.","This opens it up a little more to give it the exact dimensions required.","Coolant now flows to prevent overheating, as a grinding wheel machines the base of each bench plane until it's completely flat.","They now try to slip a very thin steel strip between a level bar and the base of the bench plane.","Failure confirms it's perfectly flat.","Next, a cutting tool evens a sloped pad molded onto the front of the bench plane.","This pad, called the frog, will hold the sliding wedge that sets the angle of the plane blade.","Production now focuses on the blade.","They heat a steel rod in a furnace until it's white-hot and malleable.","They then place it under a mechanized hammer which pounds it until it's flat.","They turn the flattened steel sideways, and the pulsating hammer squares the edges.","Then another tool stamps the company's insignia onto one end of the blade.","The steel rod has been flattened, squared, and stamped.","It's then cut to the desired shape and dimensions and given a beveled cutting edge.","The next part is called a lever cap, and it will be used to clamp the blade to the bench-plane frog.","They sand it smooth to improve its look and function.","They then buff each part of the bench plane against a cloth wheel to a mirror-like finish.","It's now time to fit the bench-plane frog into the pad machined especially for it.","They secure it with screws.","The cutting blade, by now reinforced by a part called the cap iron, fits flush to the frog.","They top off the assembly with a lever cap and clamp it all together with a spring system.","They fit a knob made of tropical wood on a threaded rod on the front of the bench plane.","The knob and the back handle will allow the user to firmly grip the bench plane and push it forward.","And with the blade now protruding from the base on an angle, it's ready to level any piece of wood, leaving only shavings in its wake.","A flight data recorder, or a black box, records every detail of an aircraft's operations, from engine speed to cabin pressure.","After a crash, investigators extract the data to determine what went wrong.","Black boxes are actually bright orange so they'll stand out amid the wreckage.","These black boxes are the deployable type, meaning they separate from the aircraft upon impact.","This makes them easier for search-and-rescue crews to recover.","To make the outer shell that houses the components, they use a two-part mold, first waxing it to ease extraction later on.","Then they brush on an orange-tinted gel coat, a liquid that, after four hours, hardens into a durable, waterproof finish.","Over the hardened gel coat, they apply pieces of fiberglass cloth, saturating them with orange-tinted resin.","They apply extra pieces in the corners for reinforcement.","They continue until they've built up three layers of fiberglass.","The rectangular box on this mold half-casts a cavity in the shell that will house the device's key components.","They embed aluminum plates within the fiberglass to reinforce the area where screws will attach the cavity cover.","A computer-guided milling machine contours a piece of foam that will fit the empty space inside the shell.","This foam absorbs the force of impact so the flight data recorder can survive a crash.","They coat one side of the foam core with resin paste, then lay it into the mold.","They fill voids with a temporary retaining block to prevent the foam core from collapsing inward during the vacuum process that comes next.","They wrap the mold in felt to protect the surface, put it in a plastic bag, attach a hose, then start the suction.","Over four hours, the vacuum slowly extracts the air, drawing the fiberglass tightly against the foam core without any wrinkles or puckers.","It takes another four hours for the resin to completely cure.","Then they remove the mold from the vacuum bag, coat the other side of the foam core with resin paste, and embed steel reinforcements.","Besides absorbing the force of impact, the foam core makes the flight data recorder buoyant should the aircraft go down in a body of water.","The device contains two antennas, the first of which gets pasted into a designated spot in the foam core.","One antenna transmits a distress signal, the other a homing signal to help search-and-rescue crews locate the downed aircraft.","Now they mate the two parts of the mold, carefully sliding the antenna that protrudes from one half through and out an opening in the other half.","They bolt the mold closed and leave the paste to air-cure overnight.","The next day, they unbolt the mold and extract the shell, the two halves of which are now bonded with the first antenna inside.","Now they can install the other components, such as this memory module containing the circuit boards that record the flight data and cockpit audio.","All the components, prior to installation, undergo extensive testing to ensure they operate properly when subjected to vibration and extreme temperatures.","The memory module goes into a fireproof box, along with the transmitter that sends out the locating signal via the antennas, the second of which they now install into the component cavity at the top of the box.","Then they install the battery that powers the transmitter for 150 hours.","They connect the battery to the transmitter in the fireproof box...","Connect the transmitter to the antennas, then screw the cover to the aluminum plates embedded around the cavity's perimeter.","The finished device undergoes a series of performance tests.","This one, in a special echo-free chamber, verifies the signal the transmitter sends out via the antennas.","The chamber's receiving antenna is connected to a computer that analyzes the signal's frequency and transmission pattern-- critical factors in recovering the box that provides vital clues for crash investigators."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cement","Caskets","Soft Drinks","Glider Rockers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Cement...","Caskets...","Soft drinks...","And glider rockers.","Many people confuse the terms \"cement\" and \"concrete\".","Cement is a fine, gray powder that's used to make concrete.","It's also an ingredient in the mortar that masons use to lay brick and stone.","Cement also goes into soil cement, a material that's used in paving roads, building dams, and lining reservoirs.","The action begins at the limestone quarry.","The limestone near the surface has a high content of the minerals silica, iron, and aluminum oxide.","Deeper down, the limestone is more pure, containing less of those minerals and more calcium carbonate.","The plant uses both types of rock, altering their proportions to make different types of cement.","Workers drill holes in the rock wall, in which they plant powerful explosives.","For safety, the workers have to position themselves behind the area they're blasting, maintaining a distance of at least 150 feet.","After the explosion, loaders move in.","They transfer the limestone rocks to 50-ton-capacity dump trucks.","The trucks then haul their cargo to the cement plant nearby.","At the plant, the trucks dump the rocks into what's called the primary crusher.","The rocks can be as big as a piano.","The primary crusher reduces them to about the size of softballs.","There's a constant spray of water to keep the dust from billowing up and settling on the chutes.","From there, a conveyor transports the rocks to the secondary crusher.","It reduces them further to about the size of golf balls.","Rock high in calcium carbonate and rock low in calcium carbonate are crushed separately.","Now it's time to mix the two.","The ratio varies according to the type of cement they're making.","This overhead machine, called a tripper, makes piles of the required proportions.","They call this the raw mix.","Then a reclaimer loads the raw mix into a grinding machine called a roller mill.","Depending on what minerals are already naturally in the crushed rock, the factory adds extra minerals such as silica and iron.","Certain types of cement also require aluminum oxide.","The roller mixes and grinds the ingredients uniformly, producing a dry rock powder called the raw meal.","Now the powder goes into a preheater.","The temperature of the powder is 180 degrees fahrenheit upon entering.","Within 40 seconds, it gets more that 10 times hotter.","This begins the process of binding the minerals together so that they'll later harden when hydrated with water.","The preheater is equipped with what's called a flash calciner.","In about 5 seconds, it removes 95% of the carbon dioxide in the powder through a chemical reaction.","This isolates the lime, which is the most important element in cement.","From there, the powder moves into a rotary kiln, a huge, cylindrical furnace.","It's set on an angle so that the powder moves from top to bottom, a distance of 160 feet.","The kiln rotates about 2 turns a minute to ensure the materials travel through at the right speed.","The burner's gas flame at the bottom reaches a scorching 2,900 to 3,000 degrees fahrenheit.","As the powder approaching it reaches the 1,500-degree mark, it fuses into pieces about the size of marbles.","These pieces are called clinker.","As the clinker leaves the kiln, large fans cool it down to between 140 and 180 degrees fahrenheit.","It's important to cool the clinker quickly in order to have quality cement.","From here, the clinker goes to the storage area.","The last stage of cement making is called finish grinding.","They add some gypsum to the clinker.","The precise amount varies with the type of cement they're making.","Gypsum delays the cement's setting time, so it can be worked for up to two hours before hardening.","The cement mills are called ball mills because they contain metal balls, about 150 tons of them, in the largest mill.","As the mill rotates, the balls crush and grind the clinker and gypsum into a fine powder.","The terms \"casket\" and \"coffin\" are often used interchangeably, but there are distinct differences between the two.","Coffins are actually those eight-sided burial boxes that are narrower at the bottom-- think \"dracula\"-- whereas caskets are rectangular.","They can be made of metal, plastic, or wood.","Whether the wood is ash, oak, mahogany, or something else, the casket's construction is generally the same.","First they run wood slats through a machine called a molder.","This profiles the edges, carving a tongue on one side of each slat and a groove on the other.","A worker applies glue to these edges, then positions the slats in a rounded vise that locks the tongues and grooves together.","The glue dries in an hour and a half, bonding the slats permanently into a large, curved piece.","This piece will form the top and long sides of the casket's rectangular cover.","To complete the rectangle, a worker now makes a v-shaped cut on each side and glues in a triangular piece of slatted wood.","While a press clamps the components tightly together, he secures the end pieces in place with joint fasteners, which are like heavy-duty staples.","Now a machine carves a groove into the cover's underside at the midpoint.","A worker glues in a wooden piece, securing it with joint fasteners.","This piece is called the bridge, and it's the point at which the cover will be cut in half later on.","They transfer the casket cover to an automated machine that gives it a rough sanding, then a finer sanding.","The next step is to attach a decorative molding to the base of the casket cover.","This molding has a groove on the inside into which they'll later tuck the edge of the casket's upholstery fabric.","A worker glues a small piece of wood in the groove at the midpoint so the groove won't show when the cover is open.","Now he saws the casket cover in two, right through the bridge.","Meanwhile, another worker assembles the bottom of the casket, called the box.","He glues together the sides and applies a bottom molding, securing everything with joint fasteners.","At this point, the box is upside down.","He attaches the bottom, then flips the box right-side up.","Now it's time to join the cover and box, using four hinges.","They spray the casket with one of countless shades of wood stain, then rub it in equally over the entire surface.","The casket goes into an oven for an hour to dry the stain.","Next a worker sprays on two coats of lacquer, with 40 minutes drying time between applications.","This happens to be a high-gloss finish, but many models have a duller sheen.","Once the lacquer dries, a worker attaches handles.","The more expensive the casket, the fancier the features.","This higher-end oak model with decorative corners has wood and metal swing handles.","Other models have all-metal swing handles or fixed bars made of wood, metal, or both.","The fancier caskets also have an adjustable wooden bed inside, with a mechanism to adjust the height.","A worker covers the bed in fabric.","The base-model bed is made of absorbent paper laid over a product called wood wool, which is simply shredded wood.","The upholsterer lines the inside of the casket with foam, covering it with either velvet, satin, or silk polyester crepe.","By folding, nailing, and stapling this fabric a certain way, she creates pleats, tufting, and other design details.","Generally, the more expensive the casket, the finer the fabric, and the more ornate the upholstery.","A decorative trim hides the staples.","Fabric straps, or metal elbow brackets, hold the cover open.","There's just no limit to how beautiful and elaborate caskets can be.","The soft drink was born at the drugstore soda fountain, where pharmacists would serve up various flavors of carbonated water, initially considered a medicinal drink.","These sodas became so popular that customers wanted to be able to buy them in bottles to take home.","That demand spawned the soft-drink industry.","In 2003, almost 195 billion liters of soft drinks were sold around the world.","That's 30 liters for every person on earth.","These 2-liter plastic bottles have just arrived from the bottle factory.","Even though they're brand-new bottles, the soft-drink plant still has to clean them before filling them.","This rinsing machine turns the bottles upside down, then flushes them with water the plant filters on-site.","Once the water drains out, the machine turns the bottles right-side up again.","And they make their way to the filling station.","Meanwhile, in the mixing room, technicians prepare whatever soft drink they'll be bottling in this production run.","Each recipe begins with filtered water.","It makes up 86% of the drink.","The rest is syrup.","Each syrup recipe is a combination of carefully measured ingredients, natural and artificial coloring and flavoring, and one or more various types of sugar, such as glucose or fructose extracted from beets, corn, or cane.","This machine releases the right proportion of syrup to filtered water, creating the final soft drink minus the bubbles.","The drink now travels to a pressurized tank called the carbonator.","There an injection of carbon dioxide infuses the drink with gas bubbles.","The carbonated soft drink now travels to the reservoir of the bottling machine.","The bottles arrive and travel its carousel.","The machine removes the air in each bottle, then fills it with, in this case, two liters of cola.","Now on to the capping machine.","The caps come down a chute propelled by filtered air.","The machine twists a cap on the part of the bottle called the crimp, intertwining the threads of the cap and crimp tightly to hermetically seal the bottle.","Next stop, labeling.","The machine's roller applies cold glue to one metal plate after another.","Each plate then grabs a label and applies it to a bottle.","Brushes smooth edges down, ensuring the labels adhere well.","Elsewhere in the plant, a machine called the uncaser unloads cases of refillable glass bottles that have come back to the factory.","The cases continue toward a case-washing machine.","The dirty bottles head toward the bottle-washing machine, where devices called cells line them up in rows of 16.","Each bottle tilts and enters the washer neck-first.","Inside, a combination of powerful water jets and soap remove dirt and germs.","Then water jets rinse off all traces of soap.","As they exit, they pass in front of a neon inspection light.","Workers pull any problem bottles off the line.","Now the bottles head to the same bottling machine as before, only now it's been adjusted to fill each bottle with 10 fluid ounces of drink--  in this case, orange soda.","This factory takes a sample from each production run for quality-control testing.","The lab technicians check such things as the dilution ratio of syrup to water, the carbonization level, and the airtight seal.","They also analyze the purity of the drink and container by running the sample through a paper filter.","They put the filter in a petri dish containing the nutrients needed to grow micro-organisms.","Then they incubate at a precise temperature and observe if any bacteria grow.","These glass bottles have old-fashioned bottle caps, not the twist caps the plastic bottles have.","As each cap drops down onto a bottle, the machine squeezes it tightly, creating an airtight seal.","Once the bottles are filled and capped, they go into shipping cases.","A glider rocker combines the back-and-forth movement of a traditional rocking chair with the gliding motion of a swing.","Parents often buy them to rock their infants to sleep or soothe them while feeding.","Other models are designed for people who like to rock and glide while having a conversation, reading a book, or watching tv.","Glider rockers come in a few different styles.","Some are made of solid wood with a variety of cushions.","Others have a metal frame that's partially or fully upholstered.","The first step is to cut the dried wood to the required dimensions using laser- and computer-guided saws.","The species this factory uses for its wooden models are maple, oak, and ash-- hardwoods known for their strength and durability.","Then a computerized, industrial router/shaper forms tenons.","A tenon is a projection on the end of one piece that fits into a cavity, called a mortise, on another piece.","Another shaper profiles the seat-frame pieces four at a time.","Workers glue each tenon and mortise together by hand, then clamp the joint.","Once the glue cures, these joints will be virtually indestructible.","With the glue dry, the seat frame moves on to the next phase.","Another automated router/shaper gives it the final contour.","Next they smooth the surface of the wood using successively finer sandpapers.","Now they bore a series of holes for attaching the armrests and back of the chair.","Precision is critical here.","They assemble those pieces in a custom-made assembly jig to ensure their exact position and angle before screwing them in place.","Now they attach what's called the multiposition mechanism.","This enables the glider-rocker to lock in six different comfort positions.","This part, called a trammel, controls the angle.","Ball bearings located at the top and bottom of the chair's arms are key to a smooth, gliding motion.","Secured solidly, they'll last a lifetime.","Workers assemble the parts that make up the rocking/gliding mechanism.","Finally, they slide it under the seat frame and attach it to the multiposition mechanism.","It's critical that the fit be precise for the chair to operate properly.","Meanwhile, work is under way in the upholstery department.","There are many different styles and colors of fabric available.","Workers stack several layers of seat-cover fabric for a given model in a pile to cut several in one shot.","The pile lies on a textured rubber mat held steady by a vacuum press so it won't move while the computerized cutter does its work.","After the pieces are cut, a seamstress sews the zippered seat cushions.","Another vacuum press temporarily squashes the seat cushions, enabling workers to insert one in each cover.","The cushion isn't a simple block of foam.","Rather, it's a triple-decker sandwich composed of two different densities of foam glued together with a multilayered polyester fiber.","The fiber gives the cushion more depth and smoothness.","The different foams maximize comfort and durability.","The plastic wrapping has no structural role.","It's merely part of the vacuum system.","Relaxing in a glider rocker can be a very soothing experience.","Picture yourself in front of the fireplace, legs resting on a gliding ottoman, relaxing your back after a long day, reading, listening to music, or just daydreaming."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Combination Wrenches","Deli Meats","Golf Carts","Airships"]},"text":["Whether tightening the wheels on your bike or working on your car, a combination wrench can make the toughest jobs safe and easy.","The best combination wrench gives you reach and strength and won't bust your knuckles when you're working in those hard-to-reach places.","A high-quality combination wrench can last you a lifetime.","A combination wrench tightens and loosens nuts and bolts using its u-shaped open end or its enclosed box end with a hexagonal shape.","Combination wrenches come in imperial and metric sizes.","To start, a steel bar travels into a die-cutting machine that cuts it into lengths called billets.","Each billet will become a wrench.","One by one, a machine feeds the billets into an induction heater.","It heats them to more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit, then sends them into a forging press, where the first die creates the wrench's general shape.","The second die gives it its finished shape.","And the third trims off the excess metal.","The wrenches exit the forge press and cool off on their way into a collection box.","Then a worker grinds off the trim line, a thin line of excess metal created when the top and bottom dies come together.","He loads the wrenches into an automatic edge-polishing machine.","Using an 80-grit sanding belt, the machine grinds the trim line on both sides of the handle.","The wrenches leave the edge-polishing machine trim-line-free.","A worker then places each wrench onto a 75-ton hydraulic press, which stamps it with the brand name, size, and part number.","This bend machine gives the box end a 15-degree angle.","A vertical milling machine then drills a hole into the box end, using coolant to keep the drill from overheating.","This is a hydraulic hex broach machine.","The broach tool is what gives the hole a hexagonal shape.","Open-end wrenches also go through a broaching operation.","In this case, the broach tool shapes the open end into the desired size.","A worker then grinds the open end of the wrenches and makes sure they're perfectly smooth.","The wrenches now undergo a three-stage heat-tempering procedure to harden and strengthen the metal.","For some combination wrenches, a sliding machine cuts an opening out of the box end that has the hex shape broached into it.","This turns the wrench into a flare nut wrench that's ideal for working on hard-to-reach bolts, like on a hydraulic line.","Ceramic stones and a chemical solution polish the wrenches for eight hours, giving them a bright luster finish.","A machine then dips the wrenches into a nickel-plating solution that helps make them corrosion-resistant.","This series of baths then plate the wrenches with trivalent chrome, which is a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional plating methods.","After a final rinse in water, the wrenches come out with a bright cosmetic finish.","Combination wrenches are available in a variety of sets, all conveniently organized and neatly stored.","Since the 1920s, this company has been making combination wrenches of all shapes and sizes for jobs of all shapes and sizes.","In a time of health-conscious eating, deli meats remain a mealtime favorite.","Almost everyone loves a great-tasting sandwich or sausage hot off the grill.","Today, the best deli meats are prepared from the leanest cuts.","They have no trans fat, they are low in sodium and saturated fat, and contain no fillers.","Some companies prepare deli meats largely by hand to maintain that old-world tradition.","Sausages begin as cuts of fresh meats in a grinder.","The ground meat falls into a collection tub...","Which then deposits the meats into a mixer.","Adding ice keeps the meats cold and fresh.","A worker then adds salt and all-natural spices and seasonings.","The mixer blends it all together.","A worker feeds a natural sausage casing into a machine called a sausage linker that forms and links the sausages.","A look inside the sausage linker reveals where the meat is pumped into the natural casing and shaped into the desired sausage size.","As the sausages come out of the linker, they hook onto a conveyor system.","They're ready to go into the smokehouse for cooking.","Workers send the cooked sausage into an oven that destroys any possible surface bacteria.","They pack the sausages into plastic bags, which are date-stamped.","Then a machine vacuum-seals the packages, making them ready for the store.","An olive loaf begins with a mixture of olives, pickles, and pimientos.","Again, a worker adds salt and all-natural seasonings, mixing it together with blended fresh beef and pork.","This stuffer machine fills loaf pans with the season-blended meats.","Another worker puts a rack filled with uncooked olive loaves into a smokehouse oven.","After an initial cooking that sets the loaf shape, he removes the loaves from the oven.","At this time, only the exposed part of the loaves is browned.","After he takes them out of the pans, they will go back into the oven to brown all sides.","It takes about 10 hours to cook these special european-style loaves.","Another worker loads pepperoni into a machine called a revolving horn.","It stuffs a casing with a mixture of beef and pork seasoned with italian spices.","The horn stuffs the casing with the precise amount of meat and seals both ends.","The pepperoni is then hung up on a rack and taken into a smokehouse for cooking.","Another worker prepares german bologna by slipping a natural beef casing onto a machine called a stuffing horn.","He stuffs the casing with a mixture of beef and pork and all-natural spices and seasonings.","He seals the end of the casing with aluminum clips.","Another worker, using a paddle with spikes, perforates the casing to allow air to escape during cooking to ensure even cooking and browning.","Now it's the german bologna's turn for a stay in the smokehouse.","About eight hours later, the german bologna is evenly cooked.","Using a guide, a worker slices the sausage into even cuts, which are then packed and date-stamped.","From authentic german bologna to all types of sausages and distinctive deli loaves, deli meats are served around the world.","Scotland is the birthplace both of golf and the motorized golf car, invented in 1946 by a dentist named john \"doc\" keegan.","Since the late 1950s, golf cars have become widely used on courses everywhere.","They're built low to the ground to remain steady, even over the most uneven terrain.","This battery-powered golf car has everything to get you around in comfort and style.","It can't help you with your swing, but it canget you to the next hole in a jiffy.","To make a golf car, the first step is to build the frame with lightweight aluminum i-beams.","They go through two separate machines to bend them into shape.","Metal forms press down into vinyl and stretch it into the shape of the front and back seats.","Workers cut and staple the vinyl over a plywood base covered with a layer of foam padding.","They trim away the excess vinyl and set the finished seats aside.","Now it's time to assemble the power train.","Here, workers place an axle onto the differential, which rotates the wheels.","They cover it with a staff ring...","Then bolt the car's 48-volt electric motor onto the transaxle, the assembled transmission, differential, and drive axle.","They assemble the car's frame on a fixture, starting with the driver side, then the passenger side...","Then the center i-beam that holds the two sides together.","They set the assembled frame onto the power train and bolt the car's front suspension mechanism onto it.","As the car moves on to the next assembly station, a plastic underbody comes down to cover the front part of the frame.","Workers now set in the accelerator and brake pedal.","Then they lower the power compartment that holds the car's battery at the vehicle's rear.","They connect the battery to the motor with four separate wires, then hook them up to the electric control module that commands the engine.","Now they can cover the rear working parts with the plastic underbody.","The underbody provides the support on which to install the car's working parts, like this pedal mechanism or the steering column.","All the electric tools that apply torque are computer-monitored.","If the amount of torque applied at any of the 130 assembly stations is incorrect, the system prevents the car from advancing to the next station until they get it right.","This eliminates any problems that might arise with over-tightened or loose bolts.","Workers now tighten the battery wires, then check the accelerator.","Golf cars may not attain speeds higher than 15 miles per hour in compliance with industry regulations.","Next, they set in the front and back seats that fit snugly into the molded plastic rear body and screw in the front fascia that covers the underbody.","They set the brake rod in place, make sure it moves the brake pedal properly, and tighten it.","The screen located overhead indicates when they've applied just the right amount of torque.","Finally, they hammer in the hubcaps and set in the front beauty panel, also made of molded plastic.","The car's now fully assembled and ready to roll.","The finished golf cars offload automatically from the assembly line thanks to a hydraulic lift.","They get a final inspection from every angle-- even under the seat.","Finally, workers drive them to an outdoor lot.","No worries--  their aluminum chassis ensures they can endure even the harshest weather conditions.","Soon, they'll carry eager golfers across courses throughout the world.","An airship is basically a large helium balloon with an engine for propulsion.","The passengers and crew ride in a gondola suspended underneath.","When there's an inside frame supporting it, the airship is called a rigid type.","When there's no framework, it's called a nonrigid type, or blimp.","The envelope material is made of five polyester-based fabrics bonded together.","It's lightweight, yet resistant to harsh weather and u.v. rays.","The crew inflates the envelope with helium, an inert, nonflammable gas.","At the back of the envelope are a rudder and fins for steering.","The factory constructs each fin's frame out of tough, lightweight carbon fiber.","Workers coat it with adhesive, then apply a polyester aircraft fabric, adding extra adhesive to seal the seams.","Then, using an iron, they heat-shrink the fabric until it's taut.","They repeat this process with two additional layers of fabric, then paint it white.","They mount the fins to the airship envelope with a combination of steel cables and rope.","The steel cables are rigid, but the rope has some give when the envelope flexes in flight.","A system of cables and pulleys connect the rudder and fin to the cockpit.","The pilot manipulates them with yokes.","The flaps control up-and-down movement, the rudder, sideways movement.","Engineers inspect the envelope inside and out for pinholes to ensure no helium can leak out.","To repair a pinhole, technicians first cover it with a piece of tape, then brush on some adhesive in a circular pattern.","They apply a circular patch made of the same five-layer fabric as the envelope.","Using a spatula, they push out air and excess glue to ensure airtight adhesion.","The airship runs on two gasoline-powered engines.","Workers hoist them into the engine bay at the back of the gondola.","The propeller's sharp blades are encased in a duct for safety.","One propeller goes on each side.","The blades of the propeller pivot to move the airship in reverse without having to stop the engine.","The cockpit electrical panel has gas-management gauges because as the airship rises, the helium expands.","So the pilot has to reduce air pressure inside the envelope to keep it from bursting.","In a pinch, the pilot can also open a valve to vent helium.","To test the helium valve, technicians blow in pressurized air while brushing liquid along the edge.","Any bubbles indicate leaks that need sealing.","The valve opens and closes with levers and cables.","Unlike electronic controls, cables can be repaired in midair if something breaks.","Inside the envelope, they install air sacks called ballonets, the gray areas in this diagram.","The pilot deflates the ballonets to rise and inflates them to descend.","Workers attach the envelope and gondola with cables, belts, and braces and fill a ballast tank under the gondola with water.","In an emergency, the crew can dump the water for a boost of buoyancy.","The gondola also has compartments for shot bags, 22-pound bags of lead.","Before takeoff, the pilot checks the weight with passengers, equipment, and fuel on board.","Then the crew loads enough shot bags to balance the airship.","To park the airship, they lock its nose onto a mast.","Just before flight time, a truck tows the mast out of the hangar.","Then it's all hands on deck.","Well, actually, all hands on gondola, until takeoff."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Combination Locks","Pottery","Recreational Vehicles","Erasers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...",".combination locks...","Pottery...","Recreational vehicles...","And erasers.","Combination padlocks are what students depend on to protect their lockers from thieves and pranksters.","Combo locks are functional yet fashionable.","Like everything else marketed to teenagers these days, they come in a variety of trendy colors and designs.","The combination lock's main locking mechanism is called the baseplate, and it's comprised of seven components.","That black piece, called the lock bolt, is what slides open to free the shackle when someone dials the correct combination.","They rivet the baseplate components into place so the lock will stand up to repeated use.","Here are those components before assembly and after.","They secure the assembled baseplate into the casing.","Then they install the trip-lever spring.","It's what automatically scrambles the mechanism every time the lock is closed.","They fit the shackle through holes in the casing, positioning one end against the trip lever.","They fasten the other side with a tiny steel bar called a yoke.","The lock's combination function is made up of three stacked disks called tumblers.","Here, the first two go in.","Next, they grease the shackle so it will slide in and out easily.","Sometimes they customize the face of the lock.","Those numbered dials used to come in just boring standard-issue steel.","Today, they can have colorful designs-- even a school's logo.","The printing machine uses a four-color printing process, applying one color at a time.","The painted dials get two coats of clear varnish to harden and protect the paint.","While that's happening, other workers assemble the dial components.","First they take the indicator button and attach it to the dial.","Then they take the third tumbler and rivet it to the back of the dial.","This tumbler will control the movement of the two other tumblers inside the lock's casing.","All three tumblers have \"v\"-shaped indentations.","The correct combination aligns those v's, allowing the lock bolt to slide over and free of the shackle.","Each tumbler has a code number stamped on the back.","The number corresponds to the location of its indentation.","They program each lock's three tumbler codes into a computer.","The computer then randomly creates a combination that will align the three indentations.","There are more than 50,000 possible combinations.","The system prints the combination on a sticker along with a bar code.","The bar code is programmed into a central computer, where it's recorded with the lock's serial number.","The guts of the combination lock are finished.","Now it's time for the final assembling.","They put the dial onto the casing.","Then a forming tool presses down on the casing's rim, folding it tightly over the dial.","A computer-guided machine then engraves a serial number on each lock.","Some factories do random quality-control checks, but this company verifies each and every combination lock by hand.","That's quite the procedure, considering this plant produces more than 10,000 locks a day.","You can bet somebody's got pretty sore fingers by quitting time.","As early as 11,000 b.c., man was making utensils out of clay.","This was the birth of pottery.","Modern pottery is divided into three categories-- porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware.","What differentiates them is the mixture of clays and the firing process.","This earthenware piece starts with a technical drawing based on an artist's conception.","Following the specs, they use a series of specialized tools to sculpt a plaster model on an electric potter's wheel.","They check the diameter with calipers.","The model is 7% larger than the finished piece will be to compensate for shrinkage that will occur during drying and firing.","They sculpt some parts by hand and glue them on.","Using this model, they cast a master mold, made out of a rigid type of plaster called gypsum.","They now use this master mold to cast a production mold out of rubber or, in this case, plaster.","First they pour in the plaster, using their hands to break up any air bubbles that would cause defects in the casting.","The leave it to air-dry in a warm room overnight.","Once it's ready, they can extract it-- a delicate operation that takes 15 minutes.","This production mold has to cure for 48 hours before going into service.","It will be good for 200 castings.","And it will be identified by the model number on its side.","Earthenware is made of talc, a mineral called nepheline syenite, a dark-beige clay known as ball clay, another mineral called silicon, and a white clay known as kaolin, all mixed with 40% water.","They pour the mix into the production mold with careful, even pressure, again to avoid creating air bubbles.","The plaster mold slowly absorbs the water, leaving behind a moist earthenware lining 2/10 of an inch thick.","After about a half-hour, this lining hardens, and they can dump out the surplus liquid.","They cut off the excess earthenware at the top...","Then, after another 45 minutes or so, extract the piece from the mold.","Workers have to handle the earthenware gingerly with even pressure.","If one finger presses just a bit too hard, it will show up as a dent, but only after the piece is fired.","After a 24-hour drying period, workers then carefully shave off the seam left by the two halves of the mold.","They rub the piece on a wet stone to even out the top and bottom.","Then they smooth the surface with a wet sponge.","Unlike stoneware, which comes out glossy after firing, earthenware remains dull.","So, to make it shiny and colorful, they apply specialized glazes and enamel paints.","Finally, they spray the piece from top to bottom in a transparent glaze to give it an overall sheen.","Then it's off to a room-sized oven called a kiln for an eight-hour firing, during which time the temperature climbs to more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","Then a two-hour cooldown.","The intense heat activates the pigments in the paints and makes the colors come alive, turning what was once a lump of clay into a work of art.","Traveling in a recreational vehicle is like having your own personal motel on wheels.","R.v.s are either motorized or towable.","Towable ones range from folding-tent trailers, known as pop ups, to more elaborate travel trailers complete with fully equipped bathrooms and kitchens.","To make a travel trailer, workers first cut steel bars to build a frame.","The saw has to be drenched in coolant, or it will overheat due to the intense friction.","They drill holes for the bolts and screws they'll later use to attach certain components.","Then they weld the frame parts together.","They run electrical wires through the frame, lining the holes with rubber grommets to keep the wires from rubbing on the sharp metal edge.","Next they install metal brackets to hold the water and septic tanks in place underneath the trailer.","Then they torque the wheels to the axle.","Now they install the gas lines.","The stove, the fridge, and the heating system all run on propane.","Next come the water and septic tanks, made of polyethylene, a heavy-duty plastic.","They cut a hole in each tank and screw on a fitting.","The tank sits directly on the frame.","The white one's for drinking water.","The first black one's for the shower and sinks, and the second black one's for the toilet.","To build the floor, they put down a waterproof membrane, then a spruce frame insulated with fiberglass wool, then 5/8 plywood, cutting vent holes for the forced-air heating system.","After sanding the joints and gluing down linoleum, they install the cabinetry and furniture.","The plumbing fixtures come next.","They connect to water lines coming up from the tanks beneath the floor.","The water system is driven by an electric pump.","While some workers put up the preassembled walls, others run wiring for lights and appliances.","The inside wall surface is vinyl paneling.","Drywall would be far too heavy for an r.v. the paneling's mounted on a pine structure insulated with fiberglass wool.","They cover the outside in aluminum siding, then they complete the electrical wiring for the lights and appliances.","Now it's time to install the roof-- another pine structure with fiberglass-wool insulation covered with a thin wood called lauan that's reinforced to withstand the extra weight of roof cargo.","They cut out the various ventilation holes...","Then apply a layer of glue...","Then lay down a high-performance waterproof rubber membrane...","Nailing it down along the perimeter.","They install vents for the toilet, the refrigerator, and for air circulation.","They caulk all the joints and around all the vents.","Last but not least-- the windows, doors, awnings, and any optional equipment.","Workers check the water, gas, and electrical systems, then do what's called a seal test.","A special machine applies air pressure from the inside out.","Wherever water bubbles, there's a leak to be repaired.","With all the upholstery and other decorative elements in place, this comfortable travel trailer is ready to hit the road.","Make no mistake about it-- an eraser is a student's best friend.","Whether it's attached to the top of a pencil or on its own, only an eraser can quickly rub out an error.","White erasers are made of flexible vinyl, while pink erasers are made of synthetic rubber.","In 1736, a french explorer observed south american native indians using a certain tree resin to make bouncing balls.","He brought this resin back home, and before long, europeans discovered it could rub out lead pencil marks, hence the term \"rubber\".","There was just one problem--  after a while, rubber would rot.","That dilemma was solved a century later by one charles goodyear, who developed a curing process to keep rubber from rotting.","A lot of ingredients go into making a simple pink eraser-- carefully measured fillers, accelerators, curing agents, oils, coloring, and the main ingredient--  synthetic rubber.","They start by putting a batch of rubber into a mill.","The rubber passes repeatedly between large heated rollers.","They throw in any defective erasers from the last production run, recycling them into this new batch.","Then they add sulfur as a curing agent, accelerators to help the sulfur do its job, and red coloring.","They blend everything for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture is the consistency of heavy dough.","Next, vulcanized vegetable oil-- that's vegetable oil treated with sulfur.","Then regular vegetable oil.","Then calcium carbonate as a filler.","When the color and thickness are just right, workers remove the rubber, which, by now, is hot and soft as a result of all that milling.","They leave it to cool and harden at room temperature for about half a day.","When the rubber's ready, they cut out large squares, each weighing between 11 and 18 pounds, depending on the thickness of eraser the client has ordered.","The squares go into a steam-heated press to cure for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees fahrenheit.","The pressure compacts the rubber, while the intense heat hardens it.","They trim off the excess then submerge the hot rubber squares in cold water to stop the curing process.","To make erasers that erase both lead and ink, they cut beveled strips from two batches of rubber, one pink and one blue.","The blue contains pumice, which gives it extra abrasiveness to erase ink.","They pair up each pink with a blue to form a two-color strip.","Then it's into the steam press.","After 12 minutes, workers remove the trays, trim off the excess, and submerge the strips in cold water to stop the curing process.","Then an automated machine chops the strips into pieces the size of erasers.","Now back to the all-pink erasers.","The rubber squares come out of their cold-water bath and go through a machine that cuts strips with beveled edges...","Then chops the strips into erasers.","From there, the erasers drop into a giant barrel.","Workers throw in some talc to prevent them from sticking together.","Then they set the barrel spinning for three to five hours.","As the erasers tumble against each other, the abrasion rounds off their edges.","The last step is printing.","A machine stamps each eraser with the company name and the model number.","It's not the rubber that gives the eraser the ability to erase, but rather the vulcanized vegetable oil that's in it.","That's what makes the eraser crumble when rubbed on paper, taking away the pencil marks with it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steel Shipping Drums","Police Whistles","Miniature Train Wagons","Glass Blocks"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Steel shipping drums...","Police whistles...","Miniature-train cars...","And glass blocks.","The steel shipping drum was invented in the late 19th century for the oil industry, which needed an alternative to leaky wooden barrels.","But those first steel drums also leaked from their soldered seams.","Welding them proved to be the solution, giving this container an airtight reputation.","It's a product that really delivers the goods.","A punch press first cuts and forms the drum's bottoms in one swoop.","A conveyer shuttles the bottoms down the line to a turntable.","As a drum bottom rotates on the turntable, a nozzle sprays sealant onto it, coating it completely.","Then the drum bottoms are stacked up.","Meanwhile, another punch press shapes steel discs into tops for the drums.","Rollers turn up the outer edge to a precise measurement.","Next, steel fittings tumble down a vibratory conveyer to a machine that simultaneously punches threaded openings in the tops and inserts the fittings.","One hole is for opening and closing the drum.","The other is a vent.","At this station, workers check the thickness of sheet steel that will be used for the body of the drum.","The thickness varies depending on what the container is to hold.","A machine called a shear slices the the coiled steel into sheets.","The steel sheets then move on to a forming machine, where rollers curl them into the drum's shell.","Automated pushers then move each shell through an electric-resistance welder.","It generates heat to weld the side seam, bonding it from both the inside and the outside so it won't leak.","The shells roll down to a machine called a flanger.","The flanger stretches and presses on the outer rims at both ends, creating a lip.","Then it's over to the beater.","Its rollers bear down on the shells to make grooves called rolling hoops.","These rolling hoops add rigidity to the shells.","The shells now travel down another conveyer and merge with the drum tops.","Automated pushers deliver a top to the base of a shell.","The shell rotates in a spinning clamp as rollers curl the edges of the top and shell together.","This creates an interlocked seam called a chime, which is then flattened by another roller.","Mechanized arms flip the shells so the bottoms can now be installed.","To join the bottoms to the shells, rollers form another chime.","These interlocking seams are comprised of seven layers of steel, making them leakproof.","That's critical, since the steel drums may be used to transport hazardous goods.","The steel drums now move forward to a testing station.","Here, inspectors inject air into each drum and check the seams for leaks.","The seams have been soaked up, so if bubbles materialize, it signifies a problem.","The steel drums then go for a whirl under the paint gun.","It sprays them with enamel paint for a protective sheen.","Black is the most common color for these shipping containers.","But custom colors can be ordered, too.","The steel drums then journey through an oven that bakes the paint to a hard finish.","The thickness of the paint is gauged with a special tool that makes sure it's thick enough to withstand rusting.","Workers plug both openings and put a temporary seal on the vent to prevent tampering.","After that, these steel shipping drums are ready for the long haul.","Next, get the blow-by-blow at a police-whistle factory.","It was in the late 19th century that london police started using a special whistle to get attention.","It was lightweight and had a piercing sound-- a real improvement over the hand rattles they had been using before.","That same design is still used today.","They may be a blast from the past, but there's nothing better for blowing the whistle on lawbreakers.","The average traffic cop blows his whistle thousands of times a day, so the whistles have to resist a lot of spit.","The whistle's body is made of high-grade brass tubing, in which two slots are punched.","These are sound holes that will allow the noise to escape.","Using hydraulic pressure, the brand name is stamped onto the tube.","Next comes the mouthpiece.","Rollers sculpt a piece of spinning brass into a shape that's a bit like an hourglass.","With the mouthpiece complete, a hydraulic punch is used to bend a piece of brass into a part called the slab.","The slab will be used to create two sound chambers inside the whistle.","A loop is fitted on to an endcap to make the whistle easier to hang on to.","A rotating press bends the loop's tab against the inside of the cap to fasten them together permanently.","Next, an endcap is attached to the slab, and then the slab is forced into the cavity of the whistle, splitting it into two chambers.","A police whistle actually produces two notes at once, giving it that distinctive timbre.","These two separate sound chambers will produce two different pitches.","Now the ends of the whistle are dipped in solder paste and then the looped cap and mouthpiece are hammered onto the pasted the solder paste is a special lead-free compound so the whistle-blower won't be exposed to toxins.","Solder wires are also inserted in the whistle chambers before capping the ends.","These solder wires will act in conjunction with the solder paste to seal the whistle in a process that happens next.","The whistles move through an electromagnetic conduction coil, which heats them to a smoking 425 degrees.","This causes the solder paste and wires inside to melt and flow into the whistle's seams.","Each whistle is then dipped in an acid bath, which hardens the solder, sealing the whistle's seams.","Next, the whistles are lowered into a nickel bath, where positively charged nickel ions migrate to the negatively charged whistles.","Now it's time to make some noise.","Each whistle is tested with compressed air.","The tiniest pinhole will cause a whistle to fail, and that happens in 3% of them.","Failure is a crushing experience.","The rejects get flattened and sent to a company that reclaims the metal.","On both land and sea, whistles are the sound of authority.","Here, workers assemble a boatswain's pipe, used by naval officers to issue commands and salute dignitaries.","There's a tiny hole in the ball at the end of this pipe.","The player opens and closes that hole with his hands to change the whistle's pitch.","And with that, production at this whistle factory comes to a screeching halt.","Up next, all aboard.","You're about to see how raw plastic is transformed into a miniature train car.","Making miniature train cars is all about the details.","Every feature is scaled-down to a fraction of the real thing, and nothing is too small to replicate.","The miniature train car is more than just a toy.","It's a work of art and a collectible.","On a miniature train track, the past comes full circle with replicas of trains from days gone by.","Craftsmen start with historical photos and drawings of actual train cars and scale them down to 1/48th size.","They feed polystyrene pellets like these into an injection-molding machine.","It melts the pellets into a thick paste.","The four sections of the mold close and nozzles pump in the plastic.","It oozes into all the grooves and hardens almost instantly into the shape of a train car.","Then the excess plastic gets clipped off.","Here's a view of how the four parts of the mold come together to shape melted plastic into a boxcar.","They even create holes in the boxcar to attach accessories and they impress details like ridging that mimics the steel ribs of the life-size train car.","More molds are used to replicate door rails, brake wheels, and other accessories.","The assembler clips the parts off the framework and files down the rough sections.","That is the brake wheel she's snapping onto the end of the model.","Using a hobby knife, she trims excess plastic from the train car's step.","She then glues a steel weight to the bottom of the train car to make it 1/48th the weight of the real thing.","Making something to scale is a bit of a balancing act.","Finally, she attaches air-brake tanks to the underframe of the car, and it's time to spray-paint the model train car vivid orange.","It's a color that would have been used on an actual boxcar, combined with white.","For that two-toned look, the model is held in a paint shield, which protects the orange sections as they spray on the white.","This technique ensures the paint job has clean lines.","The car is left to dry overnight.","Not all paint jobs are so flashy.","This car is basic black, the perfect canvas for white lettering.","A pad picks up the ink from letter engravings on a printed plate and transfers the image to the car.","Metal wheels now roll off a revolving conveyer.","They funnel into mechanisms that press-fit them onto each end of metal axles.","The wheel-and-axle assemblies drop into a bin below.","Two sets of wheels are now installed on a plastic framework.","The framework is then attached to a coupler, the device that links train cars.","The wheels-and-coupler assembly are screwed on to one end of the car.","Then the process is repeated on the other end.","The couplers are snapped together to connect two train cars.","In the world of train models, a little grime is just fine.","A misting of paint makes the cars look dusty and aged on purpose.","The painter layers colors to get just the right effect.","This technique adds the element of realism to the model train car.","It's all a matter of preference.","Some hobbyists prefer this weathered look, while others like their model trains shiny and new.","The model train cars have now rolled off the assembly line, and they're ready to hit the tracks for a whistle-stop tour of another era.","Coming up, the hot scoop on one of the world's favorite building blocks.","When it comes to building materials, glass blocks are clearly a classic.","In the 1920s and '30s, they were a cornerstone of the art-deco style of architecture.","Today, glass blocks are still popular for creating walls, windows, and stunning design features, a stylish way to build a privacy barrier that still lets in light.","Glass blocks aren't just decorative.","They insulate from heat, cold, and noise.","Production begins with just four ingredients-- recycled glass pieces called cullet, sand, soda ash, and limestone.","A computerized system portions out each one and feeds them into a melter.","This giant furnace heats the batch of ingredients to a fiery 2,700 degrees, transforming them into molten glass.","The melter pumps out enough molten glass to make one half block at a time.","Automated shears slice just the right amount.","The gob of glass then slides into a waiting mold.","A plunger pushes the gob down, spreading glass throughout the mold cavity.","Its waffled surface imprints that pattern into the glass.","A blast of ambient air cools down the molten glass drastically, from 1,800 degrees to 1,100 in just a few seconds.","This way they don't lose their shape when a retractable arm extracts them from the mold and lays them on a conveyer belt, leading into a sealing machine.","This is where two half blocks join together to form a full block.","Entering the machine, each piece passes over a series of burners that keep the glass temperature constant.","Sudden cooling could crack or shatter the glass.","The machine then slowly reheats the half blocks until their edges start melting.","Next, they enter the part of the machine called the squeeze station.","Here, an automated press forces a top half and bottom half together.","Their melted edges fuse, forming a single block.","The blocks now travel into a leer, an oven that cools the glass at regulated temperatures over several hours.","This annealing process prevents cracking and allows the glass time to set properly.","The glass goes in at about 1,800 degrees.","Coming out, it's down to 175.","The blocks are now ready for inspection.","Workers use digital-alignment gauges to make sure both halves are flush.","Then they run a straight piece of steel along the block's surface to check for any distortion.","Every block must meet precise standards for both size and shape-- a 71/2-inch square that's 4 inches thick.","Building with glass blocks is similar to building with bricks-- you use mortar to stick them together.","To prep the blocks for mortaring, workers now place each one onto a separate station.","As it spins, nozzles spray the edges with liquid vinyl.","This coating will help the mortar stick to the glass surface.","Just one last step.","An ink-jet printer applies the product code along with the manufacturing date and time.","The quality-control department runs samples through an impact test.","A worker drops a weight through a tube onto the side of the block.","This verifies the strength of the sidewall and the seal between the two halves.","Finally, the glass blocks are ready for shipping.","Workers pack them into cardboard boxes that have block-sized sections to keep them safe during transport.","Glass blocks come in so many shapes, sizes, and patterns that the design possibilities are endless.","Both practical and beautiful, it's no wonder they're so popular with builders and decorators alike."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mosquito Coils","Solar"]},"text":["being eaten alive by mosquitos is no picnic...","Well, except to the mosquitos.","Not only are the bugs annoying, but just one bite from an infected mosquito can transmit potentially debilitating or fatal diseases such as the west nile virus, malaria, and dengue fever.","One way to ward off mosquitos is to light a coil that releases mosquito-repelling vapors.","These coils, manufactured in thailand, contain three natural ingredients traditionally used in this country to keep those biting bugs at bay-- eucalyptus, citronella, and turmeric.","The first step is to mix them with certain nonactive natural ingredients which form the coil-- coconut shell powder, sawdust, tapioca starch, and joss powder, an adhesive made from the bark and leaves of the litsea glutinosa tree.","After blending all these powdered ingredients for 10 to 15 minutes, workers bag the mix in an empty ingredient sack, then empty the contents in a kneading tank.","They add fragrance and dye.","The coil comes in four varieties.","This batch of coils will be pink and cherry blossom scented.","Then, they add the coil's only chemical active ingredient, metofluthrin.","Its vapors are toxic to mosquitos' nervous systems, yet harmless to humans in low doses.","Metofluthrin makes up less than 1% of the mosquito coil.","After about 10 to 15 minutes of kneading, the mix exits the tank as a formable paste.","A conveyer belt transports it to an extruder, which squeezes the paste through a slot-shaped die, producing sheets approximately 4 millimeters thick.","A stamping machine then punches out seven coils per sheet.","The leftover paste travels back to the extruder to be reformed into fresh sheets ready for stamping while the stamping machine ejects the paste coils onto a mesh tray.","Workers conduct a visual inspection and remove any coils which are misshapen.","Then they stack the trays onto trolleys.","They roll the trolleys into the drying chamber, which they heat to a temperature of 131 degrees fahrenheit.","After 5 1/2 hours, the coils come out of the drying chamber hard and sturdy.","After conducting another visual inspection, workers transfer the dried coil to the automated packing line.","The machine's first station stacks the coils in piles of five.","Workers place a metal coil stand on each stack.","Then, the machine's next station packages each stack in clear plastic film.","The package holds the five coils tightly together so they don't rattle against each other and get damaged.","It also prevents the scent from dissipating before use.","At the next station, a high-speed robotic arm grabs and opens the retail boxes, aligning them opposite the arriving packages of coils.","The machine inserts a package of coils into each box...","Then closes the box.","Before packaging the mosquito coils, the company lab tests randomly selected samples from the batch.","The chemist lights a piece of coils and places it in the center of a sealed test chamber.","Five minutes after the coil has completely burned, she releases mosquitos into the chamber and clocks how much time elapses until they're debilitated.","The lab also conducts a burn performance test.","This verifies that the coils take between 7 and 8 hours to burn completely.","These mosquito coils also come in lavender, rosemary, and herbal blend scents.","Provided they're kept sealed in their plastic package and stored away from moisture, the active ingredients remain effective for at least 10 years.","The solar-assist tricycle takes urban commuting in a whole new direction.","It's part tricycle and part motorized vehicle.","The motor runs on a lithium-ion battery that gets its juice from the solar panel on the roof.","And it can also be plugged into an electrical outlet for a charge.","The solar-assist tricycle is a vehicle for change.","Propelled by both pedal power and solar energy, it's an alternative way to get around town.","Making a solar-assist tricycle starts with the side panels for the cab.","They've been thermoformed from rugged plastic.","An employee cuts open doorways in the panels using a router.","A fender was molded into the cutout to minimize waste.","He cuts a hole in the panel to assemble that fender.","Another employee then peels off the plastic film that has protected the panel during the cutting process.","She attaches led signal lights and headlights to the tricycle body.","She connects the lights to the wiring harness.","The molded fender completes the tricycle side panel.","She hangs it on a rack to await the next stage of production and writes the order number on it in order to keep track of it.","They build the frame from tempered aircraft-grade aluminum.","An employee mounts crank arms and chain rings to the front and then attaches pedals.","The crankset transmits human pedal power to the drivetrain.","Next up is the antlers, an assembly of metal tubes that includes the suspension mechanisms and steering linkage.","They install steering arms at the ends of the antlers, then mount an aluminum dashboard support to the antlers.","He inserts the steer tube for the handlebars into the slot in the dashboard support.","He connects the steering linkage to the antlers using swiveling joints for precise handling.","He inserts the handlebar into the steer tube.","The team then secures two rugged bicycle wheels to the axle using cap bolts.","They position the 1-horsepower motor and transmission between the tricycle's parallel spines and attach them with brackets and bolts.","They loop a roller chain from the crank to the transmission and another one from the transmission to the rear drive wheel.","They also link the motor to the rear wheel with a roller chain.","They equip all three wheels with disc brakes.","They install aluminum casing over part of the rear wheel and driveline.","This protects these components and also provides structural support.","A computerized tool now carves into corrugated polypropylene to create a box for the vehicle battery.","An assembler then rivets the battery box to the front of the solar-assist tricycle.","The team attaches metal struts to serve as supports for the vehicle body.","They're now ready to assemble the body parts to the chassis.","They align each panel to the frame and bolt it in nine locations.","The fenders frame the wheels to keep road spray down.","They fasten side mirrors to the vehicle, drilling the bolts through the body to the dashboard support.","The employee then applies decals that identify the product.","He protects the motor and transmission with a rugged plastic bonnet.","And he screws the adjustable seat to the tricycle's aluminum spine.","The team curves the flexible solar panel to the top.","They attach the windshield to the front using high-strength double-sided tape.","The windshield is made of polycarbonate that's optically clear and shatterproof.","After the installation, he peels off the protective liner.","The next worker inserts the battery in its compartment.","He clips it shut, and the solar-assist tricycle is ready for the road.","With its egg-shaped cab, it's certainly unusual-looking.","And that's fitting because this hybrid vehicle is something entirely different.","Most people use palm oil daily and don't realize it because it just blends in.","It's a component of half of packaged food products.","And it's also used in cosmetics, detergents, and even biofuels.","It has a smooth texture, a natural taste.","And it's a natural preservative.","Brought to southeast asia from africa a century ago, oil palms have thrived here.","Today, this region generates 85% of the world's palm oil supply.","At the heart of this palm oil boom are breeding programs that ensure high yields.","Technicians start by dissecting the fruit bunches.","They analyze the quality of the fruit fibers, kernels, and nuts.","They also assess their oil content.","This identifies the most productive palms, as well as the trees best suited to particular growing environments.","Next, the research team climbs the selected mother palms and pollinates the female flowers with pollen from high-quality male palms.","They cover the flowers with thick fabric that allow light in but shields them from accidental pollination by insects and from other flowers.","This ensures that hybrid seed will be the product of the selected parents only.","It takes 6 months for the new hybrid seeds to be produced.","Then it's into a heat chamber for 3 months to break the seeds' dormancy.","They soak the awakened seeds in water.","Along with the heat treatment, this rehydrating accelerates germination-- a process that takes many years in nature.","They place the seeds in drawers and regularly mist them with water.","After a few days, the seeds begin to sprout.","Skilled staff sort through the sprouted seeds.","They reject any that haven't germinated completely or that have crooked shoots.","The seed on the left is the ideal specimen.","They plant the selected seeds in small bags of soil outside.","They shade them during this initial period of growth, protecting them from harsh sunlight.","After 3 months, the seedlings develop roots and leaves.","They transfer them to larger bags of soil, and 6 to 9 months later, they're 3 feet tall and ready for planting in farmers' fields.","After 3 years of growth, the young palms bear fruit.","The time is now ripe to tap into the oil-generating potential of these huge fruit bunches.","The farmer loads the oil palm fruit onto a tractor cart.","And it's on its way to the palm oil factory.","Here, fruit from many farms accumulates in the receiving area.","When the factory is ready to process the next batch, they open a gate.","The fruit spills onto a conveyer.","And it delivers it to giant pressure cookers.","Cooking the fruit sterilizes it.","It stops enzyme activity that would degrade the quality of the oil that's to be extracted.","It also loosens the fruit from the stalks, and some break away.","A spiraling blade moves them onto a grid screen that sorts the fruit from the stalks.","The loose fruit drops into a bin below.","And the stalks with remaining fruit go for further separating.","Next, presses crush the fruit to squeeze out the crude palm oil.","The oil flows into a vat.","Impurities will now be spun out in a centrifuge and also filtered out.","Meanwhile, the fibers and palm nuts toss in a drum.","This knocks off fibers that are stuck to the nuts.","A fan sucks up the lighter fibers, which will be used as factory fuel.","They crack the nuts, and then a vibrating system separates the shells from the actual kernels.","The shells will also be used as factory fuel.","And the kernels will be crushed into palm kernel oil.","In the lab, they now test samples to determine the oil extraction rate and confirm that the yield is good.","They also analyze the oil's purity and the amount of free fatty acids.","They confirm that the batch is of good quality.","This crude palm oil has gone through many stages of purification.","And although tests confirm it, the difference is also plain to see.","Today, everything from boats to outdoor furniture to shower stalls are molded out of fiberglass-reinforced plastic resin.","This wouldn't be possible without a tool called a chopper gun.","It shreds the fiberglass into thin, loose fibers and impregnates them with resin while shooting them into the mold.","A fiberglass chopper gun has a chopper that shreds and shoots the fibers, a nozzle that sprays those fibers with resin, and a catalyst to harden it, an air cylinder that drives the entire system, and separate pumps for the resin and catalyst.","The make the resin pump, they first cut a stainless steel tube to a length of about 10 inches.","All the pump's key components are made of stainless steel, which is very durable and doesn't rust.","This tube will become the cylinder for the resin pump.","They turn it on a computer-guided lathe.","The first machining tool reduces the tube to the required diameter.","The second machining tool cuts a groove in the cylinder for an assembly pin.","They manually file the edges of the cylinder smooth, then polish the entire surface with sandpaper to remove marks left by the machining.","Once all the components are ready, they begin assembling the resin pump.","It has a ball valve at the top and another at the bottom, which open with suction and close with pressure to enable or block the flow of resin.","Workers fit a rubber o-ring seal around the seat for the bottom ball, then insert the seat into the bottom of the pump.","This retaining clip holds the seat in position.","They fit another o-ring seal on top, then place the ball, about 10 inches in diameter, in the seat.","This spring retainer limits how high the ball can rise when it's lifting to open the valve.","Next, they attach the pump cylinder.","They take a preassembled upper ball valve, attach a thermoplastic piston seal, then a retainer that holds the seal in position as the pump's piston, which they now screw on, moves up and down with the pumping action.","They insert the piston into the cylinder.","The tight fit creates a vacuum when the piston moves upward, drawing resin into the pump and pressure when the piston moves downward, pushing the resin out.","Next, they add the top of the pump, then assemble the top seal, which contains a guide held in place by a retaining clip that aligns the vertical movement of the piston.","They screw the top seal to the pump top.","They secure the top by inserting a pin into the cylinder groove.","The chopper's main components are the cutting head, the anvil sleeve, and a hard rubber roller, which the chopper's air-driven motor spins, rotating the cutting head at 4,000 revolutions per minute.","This bearing pulls the woven fiberglass yarn, called roving, into the cutting head, which has slots for up to eight supersharp stainless steel blades.","The more blades you use, the shorter the chopped fibers.","This safety cover prevents fingers from accidentally getting chopped in the process.","They mount the chopper to this spray gun.","The lines from the resin and catalyst pumps connect to the back of the gun.","At the front of the gun, dual nozzles simultaneously spray these chemicals onto the fibers right after they exit the chopper.","Workers mount the resin pump on a stand along with a filter that prevents the nozzle from clogging.","They install the air cylinder, then mount the catalyst pump and hook up lines from both pumps to the spray gun.","To operate the machine, you hook up an air compressor to the machine's air input, connect the pumps to the resin and catalyst reservoirs, and set how much catalyst to deliver.","Then you insert a strand of fiberglass roving into the chopper and let her rip.","No resin and catalyst in this demonstration, but normally, they hit the fibers about 4 inches in front of the chopper gun, which shoots a stream of fiberglass-reinforced resin into your mold."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plastic Bottles and Jars","Mail","Eggs","Handcrafted Wooden Pens"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Plastic bottles and jars...","Mail...","Eggs...","And handcrafted wooden pens.","Whether you're buying apple juice or peanut butter, you've probably noticed that fewer products come in glass containers these days.","Plastic packaging is becoming more common.","Plastic bottles and jars are lighter to carry and leave no shards of glass to clean up if you drop your grocery bag.","Many transparent bottles and jars are made from a type of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, or p.e.t. an automated mixer combines p.e.t. pellets with flakes of recycled p.e.t. reprocessed plastic loses some of its physical properties, so the recycled content can't exceed 10%.","The p.e.t. drops from the mixer into a plastic injection machine that heats it to a piping 600 degrees fahrenheit.","The dry raw material melts into thick and gooey liquid plastic.","The machine then shoots it at high pressure into a mold.","This plastic injection molding process casts pieces of plastic called preforms, starter shapes that subsequent machines will transform into bottles or jars.","The molded preforms harden almost instantly, thanks to a built-in cooling system.","These preforms are now on their way to becoming single-serving juice bottles.","This is another plastic injection molding machine.","It uses the same method to make preforms for a different model--  1 1/2- to 2-liter bottles.","The preform's next stop is a machine called a reheat stretch-blow molder.","In a matter of seconds, it heats each preform just enough to make the plastic malleable, then inserts a rod to stretch the preform lengthwise while at the same time blowing in air at extremely high pressure.","This forces the preform into a bottle-shaped mold.","Cold water circulates within the mold to cool and set the plastic almost instantly.","This lightning-fast machine churns out 10,600 bottles per hour.","No wonder we've had to show it to you in slow motion.","A conveyor belt transports the finished bottles to the packaging area.","Before blow molding, the preforms for certain models first pass through an oven.","A technician sets the heat level of each infrared oven lamp individually, applying more or less heat at various points to influence the thickness and shaping of the plastic.","From the oven, the preforms go into another reheat stretch-blow molder that transforms them into peanut jars.","It's the same process for this peanut butter jar.","After molding, the machine instantly cools the plastic, locking in the shape.","The factory pulls samples off the line at regular intervals for quality-control testing.","Technicians measure the thickness of the plastic and perform a compression test to gauge its strength.","They verify the sample's dimensions and capacity.","They also evaluate resistance to vacuum pressure because containers are often vacuum sealed after filling.","Some models must also be strong enough to resist the pressure of their contents-- carbonated soft drinks, for instance.","The recycled material used in making these bottles and jars doesn't come from used plastic containers.","For hygienic reasons, the factory recycles only new plastic left over from its manufacturing process.","The finished containers, of course, are fully recyclable.","They're typically reprocessed into other plastic products or into products that contain some plastic.","What do the letters \"f,\" \"d,\" \"i,\" \"o,\" and \"u\" have in common?","They're all part of postal codes used in abbreviations for state names.","These letters and numbers are read by high-tech machines that sort our mail.","The trucks unload the containers picked up from postal outlets...","And bags of mail that were collected from public mailboxes.","The containers go straight to automated sorting.","Their contents have already been classified by size.","Not so for the bags.","Postal workers empty them and put standard-size envelopes on a conveyor belt leading to one sorting machine...","And large envelopes into a bin destined for another.","The standard-sized letters travel to a high-speed, high-tech machine that checks for postage.","Stamps contain an invisible fluorescent material that illuminates under ultraviolet light.","The machine's u.v. sensor scans both sides of every envelope.","No glow, no go.","Letters with postage are canceled with a postmark so the stamps can't be reused.","The postal mark contains the date, the state, and the sorting plant's postal code.","Next stop, a machine called the multiline optical character reader...","An impressive piece of equipment that processes up to 30,000 letters per hour.","It reads and digitally photographs each destination address, matching it to the computer's address database.","Then it prints the postal code in barcode format on the front of the envelope.","A scanner now reads the barcodes and does a preliminary sorting.","Local and regional mail stays here and moves on to the next sorting machine for a more detailed breakdown.","Letters addressed to other regions go to the postal plants there, where a thorough sorting will take place.","But what happens when all this sophisticated technology just can't make out the address due to, say, sloppy handwriting or smudged ink?","The optical character reader machine puts the letter on hold and sends the address photo to the video encoding system.","A postal worker deciphers the writing and types in the postal code, sending the letter back into the sorting system.","Now the local and regional mail goes through what's called the bcs-- the barcode sorter.","This performs a more detailed sorting by postal route.","The machine scans the barcodes at a rate of 30,000 letters per hour, sending the mail to the corresponding letter carrier's bin.","A worker preps the mail for each route, grouping and labeling it by sector.","Meanwhile, the large envelopes go through what's called the flat sorting machine.","It does what three machines did for the standard-sized letters-- postmarks the stamp, reads the address, applies a barcode sticker, reads the barcode, sorts the mail, and drops it into the corresponding letter carrier's bin.","If the machine can't make out an address, the envelope goes for manual sorting.","In manual sorting, postal workers handle more than just illegible addresses.","They also hand sort mail going out of country and envelopes that are too thick or bulky to go through the automated machines.","At all stages of mail processing and delivery, workers are on the lookout for envelopes bearing insufficient postage.","Those letters are returned to sender.","Letter carriers sort the mail for the routes by street and house number.","If they have a walking route, they load up their first bagful and head off.","A truck delivers the rest to a locked box along the route called a relay box.","Carriers pick up the rest of their mail when they pass by it.","Some letter carriers have what's called a motorized route.","They deliver all their customers' mail by truck, which sure beats walking door-to-door in a blizzard.","Hens don't have to mate to lay eggs, and as long as there's no rooster in the vicinity, the eggs will remain unfertilized and edible.","The color of the shell is determined by the breed of hen, but there's no pecking order when it comes to shell color.","White or brown, all eggs are the same inside.","The action begins in the hen house, where female chickens start laying eggs when they're 19 weeks old.","The building is well-ventilated, and the temperature and humidity are strictly controlled.","To stimulate laying, fluorescent lighting simulates 15 hours of daylight.","The hens eat a measured amount of food three times a day.","Their feed is made up of various grains mixed with soybeans for protein.","It's fortified with vitamins and minerals and contain calcium to strengthen the eggshells.","The hens drink water from nipple-ended tubes attached to their cages.","All these carefully monitored conditions are designed to maximize the yield.","The average hen lays about 300 eggs a year.","The cage floor is sloped so the eggs automatically roll onto a conveyor belt.","Then it's onto a larger conveyor belt, which transports the eggs to the packing room.","The hens' manure drops through the bottom of their cages onto a conveyor below.","Even so, some eggs get dirty.","They'll be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected later on.","Automated equipment transfers the eggs onto plastic flats.","It places them wide-end up to keep the yolks properly centered.","The flats go into a cold room until a refrigerated truck ships them to the grading station, whose job is to classify the eggs by quality.","The best, grade \"a,\" end up on supermarket shelves.","Lesser grades go to processing plants to be turned into ingredients used in foods, pharmaceuticals, and products such as shampoos.","This automated station is high-tech and high-speed, processing 144,000 eggs per hour.","First, a suction machine lifts the eggs off the flats and transfers them onto a moving track leading to the cleaning station.","There, a washer gently scrubs the eggs with soap and disinfectant.","The water is just over 100 degrees fahrenheit.","Anything hotter would cook the eggs.","Then, it's into a dryer for five seconds, where a fan sucks up the moisture.","The eggs then pass over a bright light, which highlights the condition of the shells.","Workers do a preliminary visual inspection, removing any that are cracked.","A grading camera above assesses the condition and quality of the shell's exterior.","Further down the line, other cameras will inspect the interior for blood.","To check the strength of the eggshells, acoustic sensors tap on the eggs.","They detect brittle shells by the different sound of the tap.","The inspection machines mark and reject any egg that doesn't make the grade--  grade \"a,\" that is.","The approved eggs move on to electronic scales, which register their weight class from peewee to jumbo.","Pressure-controlled claws then transport them to the corresponding packaging line.","On the way, every egg gets stamped with a lot number for quality-control tracking.","The packing machine stamps the egg cartons with a \"best before\" date.","The eggs have a shelf life of 35 days.","As for the hens, their expiration date comes at 72 weeks, when the eggs they lay are no longer consumption-quality.","For all their hard work, they win an all-expenses-paid trip to the slaughterhouse.","A pen set is a classic gift for any occasion, be it a birthday, graduation, or promotion.","We're not talking pens of the inexpensive, ball-point variety...","But rather those cadillac models in sleek metal or sumptuous wood.","The quill dates back to about 700 a.d. made from a bird feather, it's tip had to be repeatedly dipped in ink.","Messy and inefficient, the quill remained the norm for more than 1,000 years.","In 1884, an american invented the fountain pen, with its built-in refillable ink barrel.","But the true revolution came with the no-fuss ball-point pen patented by two hungarian brothers in 1938.","Handcrafted wooden pens can be made from just one type of wood or from a combination of woods.","This artisan uses some 50 different kinds, ranging from domestic maple and oak to imported rosewood, ebony, olive wood, and purpleheart.","When using just one type of wood, he runs the block through a band saw, cutting a strip 6/10 of an inch wide.","Then, with a radial saw, he cuts that strip into two pieces, each about two inches long.","These will become the pen's top and bottom casings.","Using a tool called a drill press, he bores a hole roughly 3/10 of an inch in diameter right through each piece.","Making a pen from a combination of woods takes a little more work.","Instead of using a block of solid wood, he constructs a block by gluing together thin planks of contrasting woods.","Once the glue dries, he uses a wood planer to remove the excess and smooth out the sides.","Then, just as he did for the single-wood pen, he cuts the block into strips 6/10 of an inch wide.","This time, he slices diagonally so that each strip showcases the multiple woods.","Again, he cuts pieces for the top and bottom casings, then drills a hole through them.","From this point on, whether he's using one or more woods, the process is the same.","He coats two brass tubes with glue and inserts one in each casing.","A few drops of water are added to expand the adhesive into any gaps between the tube and surrounding wood.","These brass tubes will house the pen's mechanism.","The glue takes about an hour to dry.","Then he uses what's called a hand mill to square all the angles and remove the excess glue.","Now for the artistic part.","He turns the casings on a lathe to shape them.","First, he rounds them out.","Then, using a series of tools, he gives each casing unique detailing.","He highlights the grooves by using the heat that friction generates to burn them dark.","When the design work's done, he runs sanding cord inside the grooves.","Then he sands the surface three times with progressively finer sandpaper.","To protect the wood, he varnishes the casings with four coats of hardwood-floor varnish, sanding between each application.","When the last coat dries, he can assemble the pen, starting with the tip.","He glues it to the bottom casing, tapping it with a mallet to ensure it's fully inserted.","The tip is made of titanium, a very resilient metal.","Next comes the clip, also made of titanium.","He glues it into the top casing.","Finally, using a vise, he forces in the pen's mechanism.","The mechanism houses a replaceable ink cartridge.","A titanium ring joins the two casings.","As an added touch, the pen can be personalized with an engraved clip.","And the gift box can bear the recipient's name or a corporate logo."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Vibrating Mining Screens","Whoopie Pies","Wood Utility Poles","Roller Conveyors"]},"text":["Mines and quarries use crushers to break down raw material.","Those raw materials go through a vibrating screen to separate the particles by size.","The vibrations cause the smaller pieces to fall through the screen while the larger pieces remain on top.","This limestone quarry uses a vibrating screen with three decks.","The top deck filters out the largest stones, which will be used to make concrete.","The second deck collects half-inch rocks.","They'll be used to make asphalt.","The final deck gathers the smallest materials to product limestone sand.","The screen mesh is made from steel wire.","This steel contains carbon, making it more durable than regular steel.","A pair of wheel dyes crimp it into a wave pattern.","The diameter of the wire and crimp pattern determine the shape and size of the screen mesh openings.","Workers can change the dyes to crimp different patterns.","The machine cuts the crimped wire to a specific length.","Then, workers take the pieces over to a loom.","It weaves screens the same way a textile loom weaves cloth.","They lay the crimped wires vertically, playing one in between each of the loom's heddles.","They line up the crimped wire so that the bottom of one crimp faces the top of the next.","Then they weave a straight wire horizontally across the vertically crimped wires.","They continue to feed straight wires across.","Then use the loom to secure each one in position.","The vertical and horizontal wires interlock to form the mesh.","Once they've woven a section to the required length, a sheer cuts it off the loom.","Another sheet cuts the section to the customer's requested dimensions.","This is the final size of the screen mesh section.","Next, workers insert one set of the screen into an electromagnetic induction heater.","The device evenly generates heat inside the steel.","This is critical because heating unevenly can weaken the steel.","They inset the heated edge in a steel strip mounted in a press.","The press clamps the strip over the edge then vents it into a hook strip.","They repeat the process on the opposite site side.","The two hook strips attach the mesh section to the vibrating screen.","The loom can weave many different types of screen mesh.","This one is made of finer wire that's crimped in a different pattern.","The openings of the screen mesh are larger and more rectangular.","It's designed for a less precise sorting process.","For both screens, the weaving and cutting processes are the same.","They even use the same technique to attach the hook strips.","The only thing that changes is the crimping pattern.","Next, they connect the hook strips to the vibrating screen.","Installers lay the sections end-to-end on each of the machine's decks.","Then they fashion the hook strips to the machine with tension rails and secure those rails with large bolts.","When the mine or quarry needs to change the screening parameters, they simply replace these screens with different ones.","Whoopie pies are not pies at all.","This all-american treat is made of vanilla cream frosting sandwiched between two pieces of round chocolate cake.","The whoopie pie was invented in new england.","And today, it is the official state treat of maine.","This company adds a modern twist to the classic whoopie pie recipe.","In addition to traditional chocolate and vanilla, the company makes four other all-natural flavors.","The ingredients are certified vegan, non-gmo, gluten-free, kosher and free of many common food allergens.","Workers begin by making the chocolate cakes.","The first ingredient is water followed by apple cider vinegar.","Then, they add either canola or sunflower oil.","They mix the liquid ingredients in a large bowl.","Then they add the dry ingredients, starting with tapioca starch, bean flour, and sorghum, a gluten-free grain.","Next, they mix in cocoa powder, granulated cane sugar, and light brown sugar.","They run the mixer at a very high speed to incorporate air in the batter.","This will make the cake lighter and fluffier.","After about 4 minutes of mixing, the batter is ready.","They test a sample using a viscometer, a device that measures the thickness.","If the batter is the right consistency, they pump it through a hopper into a multi-head depositer.","Each of its five nozzles shoot one ounce of batter onto a moving baking sheet.","A finished sheet contains seven rows of batter.","Workers load multiple sheets of batter into an oven.","The sheets rotate for 15 minutes at 75 degree fahrenheit, evenly baking the cakes.","The precise combination of ingredients allows the acids in the apple cider vinegar to react with the cocoa powder.","The result is a perfect little chocolate cake that's rich in flavor and moist in texture.","The main ingredient for the filling is shortening.","It's made from sustainable palm oil.","This means the palm tress were responsibly harvested.","They mix the shortening well, incorporating enough air to make it light and fluffy.","Then they add powdered cane sugar and organic rice milk as a dairy-free substitute.","The rice milk makes the frosting creamy.","For vanilla frosting, they simply add pure vanilla extract.","This is a batch of raspberry frosting, so they add pure raspberry extract and beet juice for color.","When they make mint frosting, they use pure mint extract and alfalfa extract for green color.","Lemon frosting is made from pure lemon extract and turmeric for color.","They check the shade against a color chart to ensure the correct flavor.","The multi-head depositer drops frosting on the baking sheets in the same configuration as the batter.","Then they assemble the final pie.","Workers start by placing a piece of cake on top of the frosting.","They press down hard enough to spread the frosting just shy of the cake's edge.","They cover the top with a sheet of parchment paper then place a baking sheet on top and flip it over.","They remove the top baking sheet and the parchment paper.","Then, they carefully place the second cake onto the frosting.","Workers roll the trays of whoopie pies into a cooler where the desserts chill for about 15 minutes.","This hardens them so they won't get squished during packaging.","Workers place the whoopie pies on a conveyer belt that leads to an automated wrapping machine.","It wraps double-printed packaging around each pie and seals them underneath.","Then the machine cuts the film between each pie.","The next machine packages four sealed whoopie pies per retail box.","There are zero preservatives in these whoopie pies.","They're shipped frozen to the grocery store and sold in the freezer section.","When it's time for a treat, simply let them thaw to room temperature and enjoy.","Wooden utility poles are a constant presence in our lives.","They were originally built in the mid-19th century to suspend telegraph lines.","Now, they hold up power and phone lines as well as fiber-optic and coaxial cables for television and computer networking.","Builders use many different types of pine or fir trees to make utility poles.","In the us, southern yellow pine is the most popular choice.","Foresters select trees that are 10 to 20 inches in diameter and at least 30 feet high.","They look for a straight, healthy trunk with few limbs.","The foresters mark the selected tress with spray paint.","Then, the tree harvester saws them down at the base.","After the loggers saw off the limbs and cut the trees to a specified length, a log truck delivers the poles to the mill.","There, a truck scale weighs the load.","Then, workers ticket it with a tracking number.","The truck enters the yard and the poles are unloaded into piles.","A loader feeds the poles to a debarking machine.","The machine's razor-sharp cutters shave of the bark and the layer of tissue beneath the bark called the cambium.","Next, a saw trims one inch off the bottom of the log to make it square.","At the same time, nozzles spray lines of red food coloring at set intervals along the pole.","These mark indicate different lengths.","Another worker inspects the quality and measures the circumference.","This assessment determines the wood's class.","He marks the length and class on the bottom of the pole.","The bark and shavings removed from the poles don't go to waste-- a grinding mill reduces them to small fibers.","The factory uses those fibers to power the boiler.","The fire in the boiler will product heat, which dries the poles.","After the poles have been sorted by length and class, loaders stack them on large trams.","They place spacer sticks in between each pole to allow air to flow around them.","Then, the loaders push the trams into a large kiln.","The steam from the boiler flows through the trams, heating the inside of the kiln to 200 degree fahrenheit.","Large fans blow the hot air around the poles for 3 days until the wood is dry.","When the poles come out of the kiln, workers brand them with product information.","Next, they cut a flat surface on one side of the pole.","Then, they drill holes to attach a crossarm.","After they drill the holes, they stack the poles in another tram.","This one takes them to a 125-foot-long treatment cylinder.","They lock the door and vacuum all the air out of the cylinder.","They fill the cylinder with a liquid that's 98% water and 2% chemical preservative.","The preservative is a mixture of chrome, copper and arsenic.","Once the cylinder is full, the pumps start running to pressurize the liquid, infusing the wood with the chemical solution.","The 2-hour process leaves the wood resistant to rot, fungus and termites.","Next, inspectors bore 3-inch holes into each pole to collect a sample.","The inspectors check to make sure the preservative saturated the wood to the target depth.","Then, they send the samples to the on-site laboratory, where they're dried in a microwave oven and ground up.","They also put the sample in an x-ray machine to analyze the chrome, copper and arsenic levels.","These quality control steps ensure that every utility pole contains the right amount of chemical preservatives.","These finished poles will assist for at least 45 to 60 years.","Humans have been using roller conveyors for thousands of years.","The ancient egyptians used wood rollers to move the large stones needed to build the pyramids.","Today's conveyors are more complex.","But the basic concept is still the same.","Many factories use roller conveyors to transfer materials from one station to another during assembly.","They can move heavy loads up to 65 feet in a minute.","To make the conveyer rollers, this factory starts with hollow steel tubes.","They deliver to the factory in batches.","After they arrive, a band saw cuts the tubes to length.","The diameter can vary from batch to batch.","So an employee obtains the exact measurements.","He inputs the measurements into a computer that controls this laser.","The laser etches the company logo onto a sheet of thick steel and cuts out support disks for the roller axles.","The support disks fit perfectly into the hollow rollers.","An employee feeds a flat sheet of steel to a computerized break press.","It bends the sheet into a vertical rail for the conveyer frame.","Here's the steel before and after bending.","A worker joins two vertical rails with steel supports called crossmembers.","He welds them where they meet.","This creates the frame for the roller conveyer.","Then, they paint the frame.","The paint isn't just for decoration.","It also protects against rust.","Next, they install the chain-driven axle that will spin the roller.","An employee measures it and confirms its dimensions.","Another worker slides three support disks on to the axle.","He welds the disks in place.","The disks on the end fit snugly to the roller rims.","This is why premeasuring is so important.","He welds the disks to the ends of the tubes.","He slides roller chain sprockets onto the end of the axle and welds them in place.","He uses a dial indicator to measure the circumference of the roller and confirm that it's sufficiently round.","Using a forklift, the team lifts the motor and places it in the conveyer frame.","They slide the motor's threaded rods into holes drilled in the frame.","An employee places metal washers on the threaded rods.","Then he screws nuts to them, securing the motor to the frame.","He installs a bearing on the end of the roller axle.","Next, workers arrange the rollers on the conveyer frame.","They place the bearings on the flange of one of the vertical rails.","They attach the bearings to the rail with socket screws.","One of the workers attaches the welded steel chain to the teeth of sprocket wheels.","He joins the sections of the roller chain with links.","Then he drops the ends of the chains down to the motor.","The worker loops the chains around the motor sprockets...","And connects the ends with the joiner plate and retaining clip.","Now, they're ready to put this roller conveyer to the test.","An employee measures the rotational speed of the rollers with an instrument called a tachometer.","He also tests the conveyor's ability to move heavy objects.","Once approved, the roller conveyer will be shipped to another factory, where it will be an important part of the manufacturing process."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Metal Detectors","Rum","Tiffany Reproductions","Aircraft Engines"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Metal detectors...","Rum...","Tiffany reproductions...","And aircraft engines.","Airports use handheld metal detectors to safeguard flights.","Treasure hunters use hobby metal detectors to find buried loot.","Vastly different purposes.","Yet the technology behind them is identical-- a principle called magnetic induction.","It all hinges on tiny electrical currents creating magnetic fields.","A tiny electrical current runs through a wire coil inside the detector, creating a magnetic field.","When the detector passes over a metal object, the field is disturbed, producing a small voltage variation that triggers the alarm.","To make the coil, they use copper wire that's coated with nylon insulation.","They wind it around the two ends of a plastic bobbin a specific number of times.","Polyester tape keeps it from unraveling.","Security metal detectors need pure iron glued into the bobbin to increase the magnetic-field strength the coil produces.","Without it, the coil would have to be several times larger and wouldn't fit inside a handheld wand.","The next step is to solder the coil leads to a circuit board, then solder a vibrator motor to enable the detector to vibrate as well as beep when it finds metal.","The board contains a microprocessor, the detector's alarm, and other components that react to the signals coming from the coil.","The coil and circuit board now go into the wand's plastic housing.","A retaining clip holds the vibrator motor in place.","They temporarily hook up power to the battery compartment and push a button on the circuit board.","This calibrates the board to the coil.","They install a sliding cap on the detector's on-off switch.","Now they can close her up and stick on the manufacturer's label.","The last step is to install the 9-volt battery.","No metal detector leaves the factory before undergoing extensive quality-control testing.","Metal detectors for treasure hunting have larger coils so they don't need iron inserts to boost the magnetic field.","In fact, hobby detectors have two coils-- one to transmit and one to receive.","This configuration lets you set the device to detect only the types of metal you want to find.","Like before, polyester tape prevents the wound wire from unraveling.","The leads go into a device called a stripper, which bares the copper wire inside.","A testing machine ensures the coil meet the engineering specifications.","Next, they place a circuit board in the coil housing.","A cable runs from this housing to the detector head, where components interpret the coil's signals.","After installing the coils, they solder the coil leads to the board.","They immobilize everything with hot glue, then seal the components inside the housing with epoxy.","Next, they install a circuit board inside the metal detector's control pad.","They plug the cable coming from the coils into the board and power up.","This calibrates the coils to the circuit board.","Now they test the calibration with three different types of material the metal detector might find in the ground-- iron, silver, and nickel.","If everything works perfectly, assembly continues.","They install a small speaker for the alarm.","Then they attach the control pad to the head and apply the decals.","They attach a handle and arm support, then a long stem.","The cable from the coil winds upward around the stem and plugs into the detector head.","Signals from the coil travel up the cable to the electronics in the head.","A small computer analyzes these signals to determine whether the detector has found metal.","If it has, the computer activates a circuit to set off the alarm and display a message.","But the ground's by no means the limit.","There are even metal detectors designed for scuba diving that are completely submersible.","Rum comes from by-products of the sugar industry, like molasses.","The caribbean and latin america produce much of the world's rum.","Light rums are the base for cocktails like the minty mojito.","Amber rums are medium-bodied and aged for flavor.","They're often drunk straight, as is dark rum, the strongest-tasting of all.","This fine amber rum is the product of a long and complex process that begins with the harvest of mature sugarcane plants.","The cut cane goes to a sugar mill where they wash it then crush it to extract its sweet juice.","They boil it down.","This produces a kind of molasses that then goes on to a centrifuge machine that draws out excess moisture.","Rum making really beings here in these distillation towers.","This is where ferment made from molasses distills into raw rum.","To make ferment, molasses mixed with water and yeast heats in open tanks for about 30 hours.","This converts sugar into alcohol.","Here's a sample straight from one of these tanks.","Notice that foamy top layer?","That's fermentation in action.","Before distilling the contents of the tank, technicians first test a sample.","In this glass still, steam heats the ferment and releases alcohol vapors that condense at the top of the column.","As they travel down the still's spiral, the vapors cool and condense even more.","The liquid that collects in the beaker is 80% alcohol.","It's the same process inside the distillation towers on a much larger scale.","The ferment must reach 176 degrees fahrenheit to distill into raw rum.","Then it's stored in these 13,000-gallon containers until they test it for quality.","These gas-powered boilers provide the steam heat for the distillation towers.","Workers monitor the distilling towers day and night.","This facility can produce more than 10,000 gallons of raw rum a day, all stored in these gigantic silos.","From there, the raw rum goes into charred oak barrels.","It's mixed with water and left to age anywhere from 1 to 12 years.","The charred wood produces asters that give the rum color, flavor, and aroma.","The longer it ages, the more intense the flavor.","Technicians perform tests on a sample at the distillery's laboratory, closely monitoring the aging process.","First, using a hydrometer, they measure the amount of alcohol in the samples to make sure it's in the standard 50% range.","Next, they smell each sample to make sure the aromas are in balance.","They keep a journal of all their observations.","Quality control is the key to producing a consistent, flavorful product.","Once it has aged, the rum is bottled.","It's a fully automated process.","First, they sterilize new bottles in a sodium-carbonate solution.","Then a conveyer moves them to a filling station that can process 150 bottles a minute.","Rotating wheels deliver the bottles to a lever system that raises them up to the nozzles on pneumatic pumps.","They fill up with rum-- more than 72,000 of them each day.","Next, aluminum bottle caps come down a chute right onto the bottle tops.","A piston valve pushes down on the caps and tightly seals each bottle.","Next stop-- labeling.","First, a spinning roller applies glue to panels set on a rotating wheel.","The panels pass a dispenser, and a label glues onto them.","Another rotating wheel grabs the labels from the panel and transfers them onto the bottles.","Sponges press them neatly into place.","As the bottles convey out of the labeling station, brushes smooth out each label.","Finally, the bottles lower into boxes 12 at a time to ship to customers all over the world.","Tiffany lamps were invented and produced by designer louis comfort tiffany starting in the late 19th century.","They were renowned for their elaborate stained-glass shades, crafted entirely by hand.","The term tiffany has come to be used as a generic term for any lamp or hanging light fixture with a stained-glass shade.","This lighting company produces original stained-glass lamps, as well as reproductions of renown tiffany designs.","There's nothing machine-made here.","Each and every creation is meticulously handcrafted.","The lamp designer first draws a pencil sketch of the shade, then prepares a color rendition.","He produces a pattern in the lamp's actual size and assigns a number to each pattern piece, then records by code number the specific glass they'll use for each piece.","Next, they cut out the numbered pattern pieces, lay them on the corresponding glass, and trace them with a marker.","Using a glass cutter, they score the trace lines and snap them.","When a piece is too small to get enough snapping leverage, they grip the glass with special pliers called groziers.","Next, they sand-smooth the rough edges of the cut pieces so they won't puncture the adhesive copper foil that goes on next.","After wrapping each piece, they crimp the foil tightly, first with their fingers, then with a flat object.","This design, like many, incorporates glass jewels.","These come from glass suppliers ready-made.","The next step is to coat the foil with flux, a chemical that enables solder to stick.","Now with a soldering iron, they melt tin and lead solder onto the copper foil.","Initially, they just tack all the pieces together, completing one section of the shade at a time.","Then they lay the sections side by side in a curved plaster mold.","This bends them to the correct shape.","More flux.","Then with a soldering iron, they tack the sections to each other, then solder the whole interior.","Once that's done, they remove the shape from the mold and solder the whole exterior.","Now they top the shade with a brass cap and solder that on.","This lampshade design features dragonflies with brass filigree wings.","After soldering the wings in place, it's time for what's called the final beading-- a final soldering over the existing solder lines to make them even and rounded.","Now they wash the shade in an antiquing solution, which dulls the shine of both the solder and the brass cap, giving the lampshade an aged look.","In another department, they install what's called the light cluster, a rod with light sockets and a pull chain, into a lamp base.","They fish the power cord up the base and out the top, then connect the cord to the wires coming from the sockets.","They tuck in the wiring...","Apply thread-locking solution...","Then screw the base closed.","For the time being, they attach the finial that goes on top of the shade.","And now a light-bulb moment.","If everything works perfectly, the tags go on and the base gets its shade.","The bases of the original tiffanies were made of bronze.","These, both for tabletop lamps and hanging fixtures, are cast from zinc-- the same look at a fraction of the price.","For safety reasons, aircraft engines have built-in redundancy features, like dual spark plugs and dual ignition systems so that vital components have a backup.","Rising gas prices and eco awareness are compelling manufacturers to build aircraft engines that are more efficient and less polluting.","Aircraft engines are remarkable pieces of engineering.","To build a four-cylinder engine, a worker wraps abrasive tape around what's called a bearing journal on a crankshaft.","Using a polishing jack, he polishes the journal to the correct diameter, which he verifies with a digital snap gage.","An operator then oils the journal and attaches a connecting rod.","These link the pistons to the crankshaft, which turns to generate power.","Then he applies gasket sealant on the edge of the crankcase and silk thread that acts like a gasket so when the two halves of the crankcase are joined, the engine won't leak oil.","He places a camshaft into one side of the crankcase and measures the clearance to make sure it's a tight fit.","Then he oils it to ensure there is no friction.","They place the crankshaft and rod assembly into the crankcase, then join the two halves together.","To prevent the connecting rods from hitting the sides of the housing, they put on what are called torque plates.","He adds a little sealant to hold a gasket in place then attaches an accessory housing, which holds all the gears and hoses that are mounted on the back of the engine.","He installs the sump that holds the oil supply, then attaches a piston to each connecting rod.","Now he mounts a cylinder onto a piston and connects the parts to the engine.","He'll mount and secure all four cylinders this way.","He inserts hydraulic tappets and then shroud tubes.","He attaches them to the cylinder using a retainer.","He inserts a pushrod into each tube and fits a rocker arm onto each rod, completing the cylinder-and-valve-action assembly.","He steam-cleans the engine.","Then he paints it with rustproofing enamel paint.","Next come the spark plugs-- one on the top and one on the bottom of each cylinder.","He grounds and then installs two magnetos.","These devices generate the electricity for the spark plugs, which ignite the fuel in the cylinder.","He attaches the spark-plug wires from the magneto to the spark plugs, then verifies the engine timing.","Next come the heat shields...","The intake pipes...","All the spark-plug connections and drain tubes, and finally, a fuel injector.","An operator then attaches a testing propeller to the engine to keep it cool during testing.","He runs the engine using controls like a pilot would use and certifies everything from engine speed and temperature to fuel pressure and airflow.","Hours later, he checks the oil filter for signs of foreign material or contamination.","And this engine passes the test.","A worker then puts preservative oil into the cylinders.","This special oil safeguards the engine en route to the customer, whether they be general aviation manufacturers or individual owners.","Once installed in the airplane and after the standard preflight checks are done, the four-cylinder engine allows the pilot to take to the clear-blue skies in total confidence."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Horse Bits","Oat Cereal","Turquoise Jewellery","Electric Scooters"]},"text":["For thousands of years, riders have communicated with horses by inserting a bit in the sensitive area of the animal's mouth and manipulating it to steer him in the desired direction.","The first bits were made of rope, wood, and even bone.","Over time, bits have become far more elaborate.","With silver and gold embellishments, these western-style bits are definitely an extravagance.","But serious riders don't mind putting their money where their horse's mouth is.","To make a bit, the maker first pounds his name onto a curved steel piece.","This is the part of the bit that the reins attach to.","He stamps one letter at a time to make the lettering fit the curvature of this part.","He aims a torch at the center of a steel bar to soften it so it can be bent entirely by hand.","He bends the steel around fixtures to shape it into the bit mouthpiece.","The mouthpiece will rest on the horse's tongue and the toothless sections of the mouth between the front and back teeth.","The size and contours must be exact in order for it to sit properly in the horse's mouth.","He pounds the part that will lie on the tongue to give it a downward curve.","He trims and shapes the mouthpiece a little more and polishes it until it gleams.","He inserts steel balls in both ends and tack-welds them to the mouthpiece.","The balls are part of a hinge mechanism.","He now permanently welds the balls to the mouthpiece.","Next, he installs a copper roller on the mouthpiece.","The roller will act as a kind of soother, providing an outlet for nervous tongue action.","He sands the end of a curved steel rod to bevel the edge.","It will be part of one of the bit's shanks.","He places the top part of the bit shank in a fixture, followed by three curved rods and a ring for the reins.","Now, perfectly aligned, he welds all the parts together.","This bit shank is now ready for some decorative touches.","He welds tiny beads of stainless steel to the shank, making it look like a row of pearls.","He gives the bit's second shank the same beaded look.","He assembles the shank to the two ends of the mouthpiece.","The two shanks are ornamental, yet functional, connecting the bit mouthpiece to the bridle and reins.","He welds the hinge pins to the shanks.","Next, an engraver cuts decorative shapes in sterling silver, wriggling the tool for a zigzag effect around the edges.","He carves swirls onto it.","It takes years of practice to perfect this artistry.","One false move and he'd ruin the part.","Once the engraving is complete, he brushes an acid cleaning solution on the back.","He then melts a tin-and-silver alloy and applies it to the back of the engraved piece, spreading it for maximum coverage.","This molten metal will serve as a solder to fuse the engraved part to the shank.","To prepare the shank, he heats it from the bottom and cleans it with more of the acid solution.","He applies more solder and transfers the engraved silver to the bit shank.","He reheats the shank to ensure the solder is completely molten before cooling and fusing the parts together.","The engraving is now one with the shank, and he washes it with clear tap water.","After he solders more engravings to the bit, he polishes the silver until it gleams.","Now, the bit just needs the headstall.","That's the leather harness that holds the bit in the horse's mouth.","He slips the headstall tabs into rings on the bit's shanks and screws the ends of each tab very tightly together.","Crafted entirely by hand, it takes a couple of days to make one of these bits.","After that, it's time to take it for a test trot.","Breakfast cereal is most commonly made from such grains as wheat, corn, rice, and oats.","Oats are a popular choice for health reasons.","They contain a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which, when consumed regularly, helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.","These tasty little oat \"o\"s come ready to eat in a bowl with milk or dry as an easy and portable crunchy snack.","At the cereal factory, production begins with the bulk ingredients, mainly oat flour and wheat starch.","After the mixer blends these ingredients thoroughly, an air-driven tubular conveyer transfers them to the next station, which blends in the lesser-quantity ingredients, primarily salt and fortifying minerals such as calcium.","The entire dry mix is sifted, then transferred to the next station, which adds water to transform it into dough.","Then the machine cooks the dough by heating it with steam for approximately a minute.","An extrusion machine now compresses the dough and forces it through a stainless-steel forming die.","The forming die is a large disc with hundreds of little \"o\"-shaped holes.","The dough exits the die holes as long \"o\"-shaped tubes, which knives then cut into individual \"o\"s.","At this point, the cereal's moisture content is about 30%.","In order for the \"o\"s to be crunchy, that has to be reduced to about 3%.","So the next station spreads them out on a conveyer, which travels through a warm-air drying tunnel for about an hour.","When the cereal exits the dryer, the moisture content is down to about 11%.","The next operation is so top-secret, the company won't let us show it.","It's called expansion.","A heating process turns the moisture in the \"o\"s to steam.","This expanding steam puffs the \"o\"s much the way hot air pops popcorn.","This is what the \"o\"s look like prior to expansion...","And after.","They lighten in color due to the air inside.","Next, the cereal travels over screens.","The mesh is just the right size to let the \"o\"s remain on top, and any smaller, broken pieces fall through.","Now the cereal enters the coating station.","The coating is a combination of sugar and water, with water boiled out to reduce the mixture to a concentrated syrup.","The cereal enters a coating drum.","Inside, two nozzles spray the syrup on the \"o\"s.","Continual rotation ensures the application is thorough and even.","To dry the coating and further dry the cereal, the \"o\"s now travel on a belt through another warm-air dryer for about 20 minutes.","This reduces the cereal's moisture content to the target level of 3%.","For quality control, the factory regularly tests samples of the finished product.","First measuring the moisture content...","Then checking the density, which is calculated by weighing a specific quantity of cereal.","Assuming everything checks out, the cereal proceeds to packaging.","The packaging machine feeds plastic film around a fill tube, which drops in 20 ounces of cereal.","Heat seals the top of the bag as well as the bottom of what will be the next bag, then cuts the filled bag loose to the conveyer belt below.","It passes the bags through a metal detector to ensure no foreign object fell in accidentally during production.","The next machine slides each bag into a cereal carton, stamps on the eight-month \"best before\" date, then seals the carton flap shut with food-grade hot glue.","As each box of cereal exits the production line, it passes over what's called a check weigher, a scale which ensures the package contains the correct quantity of oat cereal.","Turquois jewelry has adorned the human form for thousands of years.","Worn by egyptian pharaohs and aztec kings, turquois was one of the first gemstones to be crafted into jewelry.","Fast forward to today and turquois hasn't lost its luster.","In the american southwest, native people have long mined the earth for a stone that is as blue as the sky.","Turning it into jewelry is a tribal tradition.","There are many shades of turquois, and some are more greenish than blue.","The artist rinses off the dirt and debris to reveal the true color of each stone.","He evaluates them and selects one.","He cuts it with a circular saw.","As he cuts, he lubricates the stone with water to keep it cool, because too much heat could cause discoloration.","He cuts the stone thinner again, with an eye to fitting the turquois in a silver pendant setting.","He sands the surface flat and smooth so it will sit well in the setting.","He selects coordinating pieces for a mosaic work and sands them to create an equally flat surface.","He now etches a line on a sheet of silver and then saws along this line to produce a silver strip.","This silver strip will now be used to make the pendant setting.","He wraps it around a steel mandrel to shape it into a loop.","Then, using a leather mallet, he gently pounds the silver to the mandrel to perfect the shape.","He pinches the ends with pliers to close the loop.","Next, he saws a silver square.","He stamps the maker's insignia onto it, as well as the hallmark indicating the silver's purity.","He seals the silver loop with solder.","He places the loop on the front of the silver square that he's covered with a flux.","This paste facilitates the soldering process as he now joins the loop to the square.","He cuts the square to round it to the loop using metal shears.","The pendant setting has now taken shape.","Using a fine abrasive file, he gets rid of the excess silver around the rim, and he smoothes the edges.","He solders a loop for the chain to the pendant setting.","The chain loop is known as the bail.","The artist is now ready to create a turquois mosaic in this setting.","The initial cuts were just approximate, so the stones don't exactly fit together in the setting.","He grinds each one a little at a time until they do.","He's careful to not grind too much.","That would leave gaps in the mosaic.","Each stone must sit snugly against the next in the silver setting.","He handles the turquois gently because it's a soft stone and breaks easily.","In the event of a fracture, he improvises and treats it as an artistic opportunity.","He cuts a tiny bit of another stone to complete the mosaic.","It serves as an accent piece, enhancing this stone mosaic pattern.","The turquois stones now all fit together like pieces of a puzzle.","He removes the stones from the setting and mixes a two-part epoxy.","He applies a generous amount to the setting.","He places the turquois stones back in the pendant in their original configuration.","The epoxy dries quickly and the stones bond to the silver in minutes.","The turquois mosaic now undergoes an intensive sanding, beginning with a rough-grit sandpaper and ending with a fine one.","The sanding makes the seams almost disappear.","He applies a sapphire grit and water solution to a leather buffing wheel and polishes the pendant until it takes on a nice patina.","Crafted using techniques handed down through the generations, native turquois jewelry still makes a statement.","That's why it never seems to go out of style.","An electric scooter is a motorized version of the traditional foot-powered kick scooter.","While the kick scooter is designed primarily for children, the battery-powered electric scooter is decidedly an adult vehicle, popular with urban commuters looking for a simple and inexpensive set of wheels.","This isn't your kid's scooter.","Lightweight, battery-powered, and foldable, it reaches speeds of up to 20 miles per hour and can carry a passenger weighing up to a hefty 250 pounds.","Most of the components, like this sprocket, which goes on the rear wheel, are made of aircraft-grade aluminum-- a high-strength, yet lightweight metal.","After cutting the shape, the computer-guided milling machine cuts decorative holes that further lighten the weight.","A punch press cuts the shape of the brake disc, made of aircraft-grade stainless steel, also a strong, yet lightweight metal.","The scooter chassis is made of high-strength steel.","To one end, they weld on a bushing for the real axle.","To the other end, a large tube to house the scooter's electric motor.","To that support tube, they weld the front part of the chassis to which they'll later connect the handlebar.","They also weld on a support for the rear wheel.","They paint the chassis with what's known in the industry as powder coat-- dry paint particles applied with an electrostatic charge, an application technique which ensures full, even coverage.","The chassis goes through an oven for about five minutes at 403° fahrenheit to bake on the finish.","The brake disc, meanwhile, has gone through a heat-treatment process for strengthening, and has acquired aluminum spacers to properly position the first magnesium wheel rim, which goes on next, followed by the rubber tire, then the second wheel rim.","To hold this front wheel assembly together, they thread a lug nut into the bolt protruding from each spacer.","These lug nuts are self-locking, meaning their threads are shaped in such a way that they won't loosen during normal use.","This is an important safety feature.","Next, workers insert the battery-powered electric motor into the support tube on the chassis.","After securing the motor in place with screws, they install the drive-chain adjuster.","The drive chain links the motor to the rear wheel.","This adjuster maintains the appropriate chain tension under all conditions.","Now they mount the rear axle and rear wheel with its large sprocket.","They install a small sprocket on the drive shaft, which protrudes from the motor.","Then they take the drive chain, made of high-strength steel, and hook it around the two sprockets.","They mount the rear fender and chain guard, both made of high-strength plastic, then tighten the axle to hold everything together securely.","Now for the scooter's handlebar.","An automated welding machine fuses two aluminum tubes into a \"t\".","After chemically treating the handlebar to prevent corrosion and wear, they install a catch that holds the handle to the base when the scooter's folded.","Next, the lever for the disc brake on the front wheel and the control for the motor.","Last but not least, rubber handlebar grips, embossed with a snazzy design.","The motor control has a push-button ignition, a thumb throttle for regulating speed, and a battery-life indicator.","With the motor control and brake lines taped in their proper position, workers mount the handlebar on the chassis with the hinge pin, enabling it to fold down onto the base.","They mount the front wheel with its disc brake.","When you activate the handlebar brake lever, this caliper and pad grab the disc, which stops the rotating wheel.","An aluminum pan in the base holds the battery, battery charger, and all the electronics.","They cover it with a birchwood platform on which the rider stands.","The wood has a weatherproof coating and features the company logo in nonskid material to prevent the rider's feet from slipping.","The mechanics are simple.","The motor turns the drive shaft, which turns the small sprocket, which turns the chain, which turns the large sprocket mounted on the rear wheel, propelling the scooter."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Photographs","Fur Tanning","Welding Electrodes","Electric Violins"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Photographs...","Fur tanning...","Welding electrodes...","And electric violins.","In the 1830s, the first photographers used light-sensitive chemicals to capture images on paper.","Today, machines do much the same but with amazing speed, accuracy, and versatility.","It's a tried and true method many people still prefer to make their memories into pictures.","The photo lab receives envelopes containing rolls of film for developing.","Processing will turn each exposure into a negative image and then a positive.","That positive is what we know as a photograph.","A scanner takes a digital photo of the order detail specified on the packages.","It tracks things such as print size and finish and the number of copies you ordered.","A conveyer then sorts the envelopes into bins, grouping them with similar orders.","Next, a machine extracts the film rolls from the metal capsules in total darkness.","Exposing the film to light would ruin the photos.","The envelopes go into bundles so they can later be re-matched with the right pictures and negatives.","Here's what the machine looks like inside.","A blade cuts open the metal capsule, and another slices off the leader.","The machine unravels and lines up as many as 60 films end-to-end.","The films are just over three feet long.","A sticker joins the ends and identifies each film with a bar code.","The machine measures the assembled strip, then winds it onto a reel inside a metal box.","Another machine unwinds the reel and runs it under a nondamaging infrared light so that a technician can check for tears.","Just one tiny tear could jam the machine and ruin all the photos.","If the tech does find a tear, he repairs it by hand.","He puts his arms in the machine's little dark room so as not to expose the film to regular light.","First, he applies tape to reattach the area.","Blades then cut the tape evenly on both sides.","The worker is able to see what he's doing on a tv monitor hooked up to an infrared camera inside.","Developing the exposures requires four chemical baths still in the dark.","In the first, sulfates make the image appear as a negative.","The second includes acetic acid to halt the effect of the sulfates.","The last two baths preserve the image and rinse away chemical traces.","To print the pictures, workers load the negatives into yet another machine.","This one contains light-sensitive paper.","All it takes is a flash to transfer the image.","But that light is powerful, almost as bright as the sun.","A sensor instantly adjusts the intensity to correct any improper exposure by the photographer.","To develop the prints, the paper goes through four chemical baths similar to those used for the negatives.","One bath reveals the image, another stops that process, and two more preserve the image and rinse off the chemicals.","What's different this time is that the paper then heads into an oven to dry for two minutes at 160 degrees fahrenheit.","Now a technician marks the pictures that are too bright, too dim, or out of focus, and then removes them for redevelopment.","Next, a machine unwinds the strip, scans the bar codes, and cuts out the pictures that belong together.","It also cuts the negatives into numbered strips of four.","A worker now slips the proper photos and negatives into an envelope.","The computer shows her what to include, and a machine provides the original package the film came in.","When you get your photos, you can check them against your original order.","That way, you can ensure that everything's picture-perfect.","Fur has been in style since prehistoric times.","Talk about a fashion original.","In those early days, fur garments were pretty basic.","Their main purpose was to keep people warm, a primary need.","These days, fur is often a fashion choice, but it still provides old-fashioned warmth.","At the tanning plant, a worker sorts through raw beaver pelts purchased at auction.","He inspects the quality of the hair, then determines the type of garment they're suitable for.","He hammers a lot number into the underside of the pelt.","It perforates the skin.","This technique is used so that the number stays on the pelt during processing.","Using a pneumatic punch, he cuts out the ear cartilage.","It's a crucial step.","They need to get rid of the cartilage early on so the pelts can go through certain machines during tanning.","The pelts are a bit dried out because of preservation techniques used before they were delivered to the tanning plant.","To rehydrate them, they put them through various chemical washes.","The final bath contains tanning chemicals.","They convert the underside of the animal skins to leather.","The supple leather texture will allow the pelts to eventually be shaped into garments.","Between each wash, the furs go into a ringer.","It spins out the excess liquid.","All that moisture has caused the pelt to thicken, so they thin it down with a spinning blade called a flesher's knife.","You need to be an expert to wield this tool.","One false move, and you'll cut into the follicles and lose fur.","Next, a worker shovels sawdust into a big drum.","He gathers up the pelts and places them in the drum along with the sawdust and adds a mineral solution.","The drum turns, tossing it all for about half an hour.","This cleans and conditions the leather side of the pelts.","The furs emerge still damp, so they hang them over wooden dowels leather side up.","The rest of the sawdust will fall away in subsequent operations.","Now a worker scrapes off the pelt's long hair to expose the downy undercoat.","This undercoat has a more desirable look and texture.","He rubs a generous amount of oil into the leather of the pelt to lubricate it.","Then he tosses the pelts into a kicker box, so named for the automated kickers.","The kicking action causes the oils to penetrate the skin.","Next, a spinning metal wheel tugs at the pelt to stretch it.","A worker cuts away the edges...","And it's into the hot-press.","This irons and adds luster to the fur.","After a quick brush, the pelts get one more press.","Then a shearing machine cuts the hairs to an even length.","Finally, they bundle up the pelts for a trip to the garment factory, where they'll be great design material.","More than a century ago, welders first fused two metal surfaces by melting a metal stick over them using an electric current.","That stick is now called a welding electrode.","It's the simplest and most popular way to weld.","Farmers and mechanics often use this tool to repair heavy machinery.","This company's electrodes are coated with powdered metals and minerals.","During welding, the metals melt, and the minerals protect the area from oxygen, which would weaken the bond.","The electrode transmits an electric current that heats and melts both the electrode and the metal surfaces, welding them together.","Thin metal wire forms the electrode's core.","The kind of wire depends on what the electrode is designed to weld.","But most often, the core's made of carbon or stainless steel.","A machine simultaneously spins and bends it, evenly reshaping the wire until it's completely straight.","Four metal rollers then push and guide the wire into a guillotine.","The blade chops the wire into segments that will become the electrode cores.","These segments range from 10 to 17 1/2 inches long.","The factory puts a variety of metals and minerals in the coating.","The metals are often nickel, manganese...","And iron.","The minerals-- alumina, magnesia, and limestone.","They also add a colorant to differentiate the models.","Workers mix the ingredients with a bit of glue until they turn to the consistency of wet sand.","A worker then packs the mix into a machine that forms it into slugs with a hole down the middle.","He adds a plastic cap.","Then a metal cover slides on, and the machine takes over.","It takes only a minute for the machine's piston to compress the powder into a solid.","Now to put the powder coating on the core wires.","A worker loads four slugs into an extrusion press.","It will apply 120 tons of pressure on the slugs to shoot the powder through nozzles that will coat the wires as they pass through the slug's hole.","To load the wires into the press, they first stack them in this feeder.","The opening at the bottom is adjustable for different diameters because core wires range from spaghetti-thin to pencil-thick.","These rollers pass them through the press one at a time.","Four wheels then pull the wires from the feeder into the extrusion press for coating at a rate of up to 1,000 electrodes a minute.","When the coated electrodes emerge, they hit a metal wheel that positions them on a conveyer.","A sander removes up to 2 1/2 inches of coating from the bottom where you grip the electrode, and it bevels the tip so it conducts electricity even better.","A worker now checks for uneven coating and to see if the wire's well centered.","The coating dries at room temperature for up to 72 hours.","To cure the coating, workers put the electrodes in an oven heated to 905 degrees fahrenheit for up to 5 hours.","Once they've cooled, the electrodes head into a printing press.","An ink wheel first prints the model and type of current that's required.","Another ink wheel then applies a color to the gripping end.","It's another way to differentiate the model in case the lettering on the side rubs off in storage.","From there, it's off to packaging.","An optical scanner counts the electrodes.","Then a stacking machine separates them into 7.7- to 11-pound bundles.","Finally, a worker inserts them into cardboard canisters.","He adds a piece of cardboard to compress them tightly for the trip.","A sticker marks the contents, and tape keeps the package tightly sealed.","The invention of the electric violin was all about turning up the volume.","It was back in the big-band era, and the sound of the traditional violin was overpowered by the horns and drums.","Amplifying the violin changed everything.","Suddenly, the violin wasn't just a background sound.","It was part of the show.","The wired violin comes in different shapes because it doesn't rely on the body to resonate sound.","This craftsman builds his electric violins one piece at a time, starting with the neck.","He traces the shape onto a piece of maple.","Then, he outlines the top plate.","He uses walnut for the lower bout, or bottom part, as well as for the backbone of the violin.","Next, he cuts out the shapes using a band saw.","His goal here is to be very precise because the closer he gets to the outline, the less sanding he'll have to do later.","The dimensions for the top and neck are exactly the same as a traditional violin, so there won't be any difference in the reference points the violinist relies on.","The lower bout is very stylized...","And the head is more streamlined than a traditional violin.","There's no decorative scroll.","Next, he chisels out a cavity in the head of the violin to create the pegbox.","He carves parallel grooves onto the back to give it a snazzy look.","Using a rasp, he shaves the wood to the correct thickness.","He drills holes for the tuning pegs into the side of the pegbox, one for each of the four strings.","He files down the grooves on the back a little more.","Then he scrapes the rest of the neck to give it a final finish.","Using a reamer, he tapers the peg holes.","The ebony pegs have matching tapers, so they fit snugly into the holes.","He checks to make sure everything measures up.","Now he brushes wood glue onto the next section and presses the ebony fingerboard onto it.","He wraps them with surgical tubing to hold them together while the glue dries.","He drills two assembly holes in the top piece and makes corresponding holes in the other parts.","He smoothes the edges of the backbone with an oscillating sander.","Then, using a high-speed router, he bevels the lower bout piece to give it a clean edge.","He rubs teal-colored stain into the wood because loud colors seem appropriate for these high-volume instruments.","A crystal has been glued into the violin's wooden bridge to generate electricity from the string's vibrations and create sound.","He pulls the wire from the bridge through the backbone...","And then mounts the bout to the backbone.","He bolts an ebony chin rest on top.","Next, he attaches the neck to the rest of the assembly.","He loops on the ebony tailpiece.","He pulls a string from the tailpiece to a peg.","The act of tightening the first string raises the bridge, which will be held in place only by tension.","Now it's time to hook up the violin to the amplifier and let the music tell the rest of the story."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Electric Stand"]},"text":["In the 21st century, there's more than one way to chase down a perpetrator.","The electric stand-up vehicle goes where traditional police and security cars can't-- sidewalks, parks, shopping malls, even airports.","The officer stands for better visibility.","For a suspect, there may be nowhere to run.","This electric three-wheeler is the latest thing on the police beat.","Not only can it travel in areas that are inaccessible to cars, but its environmental footprint is lighter than a regular police cruiser.","It's energy efficient and it generates no local pollutants.","Production starts with the vehicle's frame.","An employee assembles the tube steel parts and welds them together.","The next worker attaches the vehicle's control-board panel to the welded frame.","He inserts the steering shaft into the column and slides a plastic collar onto the bottom of the shaft.","He secures the collar with screws and tightens the adjustment mechanism.","He installs the second collar on the upper part of the steering shaft.","The two collars will stabilize the shaft to keep the front wheel of the vehicle straight.","He plugs the electric motor cable into the control panel.","Next, another member of the team sprays a uniform layer of a gel coat onto a two-part mold of the vehicle chassis.","The gel will act as a release agent for the finished chassis.","They make the chassis from fiberglass.","He sprays it evenly into the crevices of the molds.","He presses out air bubbles using a rubber roller.","The fiberglass dries and solidifies, taking the shape of the mold.","The surface is smooth, but there are some ragged bits around the edges.","Those are sanded.","He cuts out a slot in the upper part of the chassis for a police warning light.","Finally, the chassis gets a coat of automotive-grade white paint.","He paints the wheel wells black, and with that, the outer chassis is complete.","There's an interior panel and it's made of fiberglass, too.","A member of the team mounts it to the inside of the steel-frame assembly.","He then secures the outer panel to the vehicle frame.","This electric three-wheel vehicle is ready for the rear-wheel hubs and brake rotors.","He clamps brake calipers to the rotors.","The wheels are next.","The rear ones are motorcycle wheels.","For the front, they use a golf-cart wheel.","He equips the wheel with a pulley system to transfer energy from the motor.","He installs the 1-horsepower motor and attaches the pulley to it.","The motor is the size of a lunch bucket, but can pull up to 450 pounds and reach 20 miles per hour.","He hooks up the front wheel to testing equipment and powers up.","It evaluates the motor speed and noise.","It also detects any undue strain or wheel wobbling.","Satisfied with the front-wheel assembly, he installs it on the vehicle.","He wires, and then attaches the throttle and brake control to the handlebar.","They carpet the floor with non-slip rubberized foam and then slide the two rechargeable batteries into their respective compartments.","The charge time is three to four hours.","Next, this grab handle gives the driver something extra to hang on to.","They equip the vehicle with warning lights and a high-beam headlight.","This electric patrol vehicle has been six hours in the making, and it's now ready for a spin.","Nowadays, you don't have to wait for your favorite fruit to be in season.","You can buy it year-round in the freezer section of your local supermarket.","Frozen fruit is useful to have on hand for baking, for making fruit salads or smoothies, to use as a topping, or to eat as a healthy snack.","Timing is everything.","For example, strawberries, when sold fresh, are picked well before they're ripe so they won't spoil before reaching store shelves as much as a week later.","But if the berries are for the freezer section, they're harvested when fully ripe.","That state of perfection will be frozen in time within 36 hours.","Farm workers pick the berries by hand and trim them right in the field with one swipe over a sharp stainless-steel blade.","Within 90 minutes of harvesting, the strawberries are on their way by refrigerated truck to the nearby processing plant for cleaning, sorting, and quick freezing.","First stop on the processing line, a bath in fresh water to remove field dirt.","This wheel gently submerges every last strawberry.","Then, a shower of clean rinse water.","Followed by a spray rinse with highly-chlorinated water to sanitize the berries.","Next, eagle-eyed workers pick out and discard any bruised or under-ripe berries.","The rest receive a final rinse en route to the freezing tunnel.","Temperature--  -34 degrees fahrenheit.","The cooling coils contain liquid ammonia-- a refrigerant commonly used for industrial-scale freezing.","Inside the tunnel, where the frigid air circulates at high speed, the berries freeze in about 20 minutes.","Upon exiting, they ride through a sorting machine.","The smaller berries drop through narrower gaps between the rollers near the top, the medium-size ones through wider gaps partway down, while the larger ones continue to the bottom.","These peaches, also handpicked when ripe, go through the same cleaning process as the strawberries.","First a bath, then a shower.","Then a sanitizing rinse with chlorinated water.","After workers pick out leaves, twigs, and any less-than-perfect fruit, a sorting machine sorts the peaches by size-- small, medium, and large-- sending each size to a separate conveyor belt.","Each belt leads to a different line of stainless-steel pitting machines, adjusted for the size of the incoming fruit.","First, the machine places the peaches stem-down.","Next, a knife cuts the peach in half along its natural line.","Then mechanical jaws grab the stone inside and dislodge it by twisting the two halves of the peach in opposite directions.","Each machine can pit 90 peaches per minute, so the only way to see that action is in slow motion.","All the peach halves and stones coming out of the pitters tumble onto a vibrating conveyor.","The stones fall through the holes while the peaches, larger than the holes, continue on.","A conveyor flips them cut-side up so that workers can inspect and remove any stone fragments.","The next conveyor gradually lines them up in single file to enter the slicing machines.","The slicer blades cut each half into four to six pieces, depending on what format the customer ordered.","Then the slices go into the freezing tunnel.","Peach slices take slightly longer than strawberries to freeze--  about 25 minutes.","To prevent the frozen fruit from defrosting, the air temperature in the packaging area is a frigid 39 degrees fahrenheit.","An automated scales weighs out the per-package quantity, then drops the berries into a retail bag.","The machine then heat seals the bag and deposits it on the final conveyor, which goes to the pre-shipping freezer.","Only 15 minutes have passed since the fruit was frozen, and just 24 hours since it was field picked.","Liquid refreshment can leave its mark on the table.","Coasters come between the glass and that.","But two centuries ago, coasters were mainly placed on the rim of the glass to keep out flies.","Made of felt, they unfortunately spread germs, so the cardboard coaster was invented to improve hygiene on the pub scene.","Beverage coasters protect the table and are also a marketing tool.","Raise the glass, and you'll see advertising catchphrases and promotional graphics.","In fact, some bar hoppers consider coasters pub art and accumulate vast collections.","Production at this facility in germany starts with spruce wood.","In this case, it's from the black forest nearby.","They spray the wood with water to moisten the bark.","Then it's into a tumbler that tosses the wood logs.","As they knock against each other, the bark peels off.","The de-barked wood exits onto a conveyor with slots to correctly orient it for entry into a massive grinder.","Inside, chains press the wood logs against the grinding stone, shredding them into chips.","Water flows over the grinding stone to cool it and carry away the chips, which are then mixed into a mash that has a porridge-like consistency.","It's pure wood pulp.","They now add leftover product from previous beer-coaster production to the pulp.","This will be used to make the middle layer of the beer coasters.","Finally, they mix residual paper from the manufacturer of magazines and envelopes with water.","This creates a lighter-colored pulp.","It will be used for the printable surfaces of the beer coaster.","They spray the pulp onto a mesh that drains water from it.","The fibrous wood core goes between the layers of the lighter pulp.","Spigots apply a mix of wheat starch and water that acts as a glue between the layers.","Off the mesh conveyors now, the pulp board travels between cylinders that squeeze out the moisture.","More heated cylinders dry it.","Knives now cut the board into large rectangles sized for the coaster-printing and cutting machinery.","This specialty cardboard is known as wood-pulp board.","It's lightweight yet highly absorbent.","Next it's over to the printing department to put the beer-coaster artwork on the wood-pulp board.","They use offset printing-- a process that involves more revolving cylinders.","Color cylinders pick up ink and transfer it to the printing cylinders.","From there, the image goes to a rubber-wrapped cylinder that then prints it onto the sheets.","A print specialist scrutinizes the print job close up with a magnifying glass.","He checks the color and clarity of the images and confirms that they're correctly positioned on the sheet.","The borders of the images must line up with the grid of blades on the die-cutting machinery.","If the alignment is even slightly off, every coaster on the sheet would be ruined as the die cutter punches out the coasters, dozens of them in one swoop.","The coasters end up over little chutes, and pushers give them a nudge.","They fall down the chutes and land neatly on a pallet below.","The coasters stack up, and when there are 100 or so in each pile, they're ready for packaging.","Machinery shrink wraps the stacks, and they're ready for the thirsty masses.","This factory can produce and package 10 million offset-printed beer coasters every day, so there should be no shortage at cocktail hour.","They also print coasters using a centuries-old technology known as letterpress.","Blank coasters drop down into the machine.","A rolling wheel presses each coaster against an ink plate.","It's a system that both prints the image and embosses it on the cardboard.","It's a difference you can both see and feel.","Letterpress production is lower volume than offset, generating 100,000 coasters per day.","For coasters, the design possibilities are endless.","Just raise a glass and enjoy.","A door handle is a decorative detail that delivers tremendous bang for the buck.","It's quite inexpensive, yet through its design, material, and finish, contributes immensely to defining the style of a space, from traditional to ultra modern.","These hand-forged iron handles open the door to a rustic english country decor.","While the handle itself is iron, the backplate behind it is steel.","A computer-guided water machine cuts the backplate out of a 3-millimeter-thick steel sheet.","The machine slices through the steel not with a blade or saw, but with a concentrated high-pressure jet of water.","The water contains a tiny amount of a super-fine abrasive and cuts through the steel with 2,000 times the pressure of a car tire.","The jet cuts the contour of the backplate, then holes for the key, the mechanism, and the screws, which affix the plate to the door.","Next, with a beveling machine, they cut a neat angle on all four sides of the backplate.","This smooths the sharp edges and gives the backplate a finished look.","Meanwhile, on a computer-guided lave, a knife progressively shapes a round steel bar into the main component of the door-handle mechanism-- the inner barrel.","The next tool bores a hole in it to receive the spindle-- a bolt that runs through the door, connecting the handles on either side.","To make the handle, a blacksmith heats up an iron bar in the 1,600-degree heat of a forge and hammers it to a tapered point.","Then he repeatedly reheats and works the iron, hammering it some more and bending it against a steel forming jig.","With each bend, the handle comes closer to the final shape.","Once the blacksmith has completed his work and the iron handle has cooled, they drill a hole to receive the mechanism.","Then with another tool, they angle the edges of the hole.","This increases the surface area to which they now weld the mechanism's inner barrel.","The larger the welded area, the stronger the weld.","The welder places both components in a positioning jig to get the proper alignment, then welds them together.","He removes the assembly from the jig, flips it, and welds from the other side.","They grind the weld lines flat, rendering them unnoticeable.","If the handle is supposed to have a hammered finish, this is when they create that texture with, you guessed it, a hammer.","Now they heat the handle assembly and the steel backplate in the forge, then dip them in a vat of beeswax.","This protects against rust when used indoors.","With the main components now ready, final assembly can begin, starting with the mechanism.","They slip a nylon washer, then a steel spring over the inner barrel.","Next, they grease the outer barrel made of forged iron and place it over the inner barrel.","The washer in between the barrels eliminates friction when they move against each other.","This prevents the barrel from wearing out and squeaking.","They install a tab washer made of nickel-plated steel.","This tab restricts the barrel's rotation so that it doesn't simply spin around and around.","This high-strength steel locking clip holds the inner and outer barrels and that important tab washer in place.","Now that the handle and mechanism are complete, all that remains is to align backplate to handle and secure it in position with screws.","Each retail package contains two handles and two backplates-- one for each side of the door.","Also in the box, the steel spindle that goes through the door, connecting the barrels so that the handles turn in unison to retract the latch and open the door.","While their mechanics are hidden from view, these hand-forged handles are certainly a sight to be seen."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cars","Grocery Carts","Rapid Tooling and Prototyping","Collectible Coins"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Cars...","Grocery carts...","Rapid tooling and prototyping...","And collectible coins.","The automotive industry has seen a lot of changes in recent years.","More and more robots are replacing workers on the assembly line, and it isn't just cars and trucks coming off the line anymore.","Today's hot wheels are sport-utility vehicles and vans.","In the plant's body shop, they begin by putting together the front structure of the van.","It's made up of the radiator support, two side rails, and clips on the front of those side rails for the bumper structure.","Then they put this front structure onto the automated production line.","Meanwhile, robots weld what's known as the ladder assembly.","It's the backbone that supports the floor and sides of the van.","It contains, among other things, the pockets that will hold the seats.","Now the robots take the front-end structure and the ladder assembly and weld them together.","Elsewhere, robots work on the body panel for the passenger side of the van.","The entire panel is made of one piece of galvanized steel.","The robots weld reinforcements onto the panel so they can later attach interior finishing and other components.","A transfer device swoops down and transfers the panel to the next station.","The driver's side body panel, coming off another welding line, is headed there, too.","At the next station, robots have already installed an underbody with a floor panel on top of the ladder-assembly unit we saw earlier.","Now the robots weld the body side panels to the underbody.","They also weld inner wheel wells to the body's side panels.","Then they weld on a roof.","The van then rolls into the area of the body shop called closures.","That's where they install the lift gate, the hood, and the doors.","An inspector checks the gaps around the hood, looks for dents and dings in the body, and makes sure the doors are flush with the side panels.","He marks any areas that need repair or adjustments with removable ink.","The engines arrive at the plant already assembled.","Workers just have to install and adjust a few components.","Meanwhile, the van is off at the paint shop, followed by the trim shop for glass, handles, and interior components.","In the chassis department, the engine, transmission, rear suspension, and brake assembly are installed from underneath.","This part of the assembly line has two tiers.","The van goes on top, the components on the bottom.","The machines that install the components have long pins that fit into holes in the van's underbody.","This positions the components with precision.","Workers hook up the gas tank manually.","The seats arrive ready-made from a nearby factory.","They simply clamp into place in the seat pockets that were welded onto the ladder assembly earlier.","An automated machine attaches the tire to the wheel rim.","Then it inflates and balances the tire.","Workers mount the tires, starting the nuts by hand, then tightening them with tools.","Now the van comes off the carrier and goes full weight on its wheels for the first time.","Workers start up the ignition and run the van through a series of tests.","It's taken the plant about 24 hours to produce this vehicle, which will soon be on its way to a car dealership.","Geomatics is a high-tech science whose objective is to gather geographic information, then study and use it.","The tools of geomatics range from cartography to remote sensing to satellite imaging.","We wouldn't be able to study the environment or monitor and develop our natural resources without geomatic data.","An oklahoma grocer invented the first shopping cart back in 1937.","He noticed his customers stopped shopping once their hand baskets became too heavy to carry.","His basket on wheels became a rollaway success.","This factory makes about 50 different models of shopping carts.","They're built with heavy-duty steel and carbon wire.","A single cart is made up of more than 150 wire pieces of various lengths and diameters.","Automated machines bend the wires to form the carts' numerous components.","To make the cart's basket, a worker uses a guide called a jig loader to line up the wires in a mesh formation.","Then a machine automatically spot-welds them together.","The next machine applies 20 tons of pressure to bend the wires into a basket shape.","A robot welds the sides of the basket.","A worker then trims off the excess wire.","An automated machine bends a piece of wire to form the handle of the shopping cart.","They make the frame for the base of the cart, called the chassis, out of one thick tube that's 13 feet long.","A robot welds the chassis using wire melted by an electrical current.","This creates a very strong joint.","A die machine punches out casters that'll hold the wheels.","They're made of thick steel for extra strength and durability.","They spot-weld the casters to the chassis.","They clean the cart's metal components in a bath of soap and acid.","They electroplate the metal with nickel, then with chrome as a finishing coat.","It's finally time for the cart to take shape.","They rivet the wheels to the chassis...","Then install the bottom rack.","The basket comes next.","They print the warnings on the plastic panel for the collapsible baby seat.","Then the seat goes on along with the plastic corner bumpers.","They print the store's name on the handle inserts.","The handle goes on last.","After some final adjustments and a quality control check, the newly minted shopping cart is ready to roll.","Every machine, from your vacuum cleaner to your car, is made up of a series of parts.","Those parts are designed by specialized companies.","They first build a prototype, then make the molds or tools needed to manufacture the parts.","They design the part in 3-d on a computer.","The computer then guides the machines that construct the prototype.","One method divides the 3-d drawing into cross-sectional layers just a few thousandths of an inch thick.","It feeds this information to a laser that's directed at a tray filled with a light-sensitive liquid resin.","The laser's light hardens the resin in the shape of the part layer by layer, eventually constructing the prototype.","They rotate the prototype under ultraviolet light for a few hours to cure the resin.","Then they polish or paint the prototype according to the requirements of the design.","Another prototyping method works much the same way but uses a fine, powdered plastic instead of resin.","The computer guides the laser to melt the powder in the shape of the part, again layer by layer.","They extract the hardened prototype from the unmelted powder.","A third method of prototyping doesn't use a laser at all.","The computer simply guides machinery to carve the prototype out of a hard material such as a wood composite.","Once a prototype is ready, they use it to construct a model of the part out of a very durable resin.","They'll use that model to make a mold, then they'll use that mold to cast the part out of metal.","The resin model dries at room temperature in 24 hours.","Its surface must be smooth or else the mold will have defects.","They attach channels that will guide the molten metal into the mold.","Next, they fill the model with a mix of sand and a binding agent.","They smooth out the surface, then number it for tracking purposes.","The sand mix takes about 15 minutes to harden into a mold.","Now they can finally cast the part.","They carefully pour in the molten medal, in this case, magnesium, heat it to about 1,300-degrees fahrenheit.","They block the hole with sand to prevent the metal from reacting to the air.","The metal takes about 10 to 20 minutes to harden, depending on the size of the mold.","They crack the mold open on a vibrating conveyer.","They use a plaster mold to cast parts that require a better surface finish.","Workers position a box around the prototype to contain the plaster.","The mold goes into an oven at about 570-degrees fahrenheit.","It takes 48 to 72 hours to cure, but it's not ready for casting just yet.","Workers first have to pierce some holes in it to let all the air escape or the metal won't flow into all the crevices.","And they have to put in filters to keep out impurities.","They strap the two halves of the plaster mold together, securing them with metal screws.","Workers carefully pour in molten magnesium, using a special gas to prevent the metal from catching fire.","Again, they seal the opening with sand.","It takes the metal anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to cool.","Then they break open the plaster to remove the metal part.","They cut off the channels through which they poured in the metal and polish the part using grinders and sanders.","Then they paint it using special spray paint that adheres to magnesium.","The part is finally finished.","It takes several weeks to prototype and tool metal machine parts.","When you think about it, even the machine that make these parts are made of parts that were created with this method.","The first people to make coins were the lydians in asia minor in 640 b.c. about 40 years later, the concept spread to ancient greece, where coins often featured an owl-- the symbol of the goddess athena.","Around 500 b.c., the chinese invented coins made of cheap metals like copper, instead of gold and silver.","Today's currency coins are still made of copper, nickel, and other inexpensive materials.","The mint manufactures collector coins using sterling silver as well as sterling scraps left over from making other coins.","The silver goes into a casting furnace at 2,100 degrees fahrenheit.","The melted silver is cast into a continuous bar about 1 1/2 inches high by 5 inches wide.","A machine cuts the continuous bar into individual bars about 30 inches long.","Each bar goes into what's called the roughing mill.","The mill's two rollers squash the bar flat, using up to 9 tons of force.","It takes up to a dozen passes to flatten the bar into a strip just half an inch thick.","A machine called the finishing mill thins the strip out even more to what will be the final thickness of the coin, anywhere from 3/100ths of an inch to 2/10ths of an inch, depending on the denomination.","Next, the blanking machine stamps out blank coins.","The silver that's left over, called sisel, goes back into the casting furnace, where it's melted down into fresh bars of silver.","The next stop for the blanks is the rimming machine, whose spinning wheel presses a raised edge, or rim, on each one.","The blanks then go into a tub filled with water, cleaning solutions, and steel beads.","The beads act as an abrasive agent, smoothing and polishing the blanks.","After a 20-minute cycle, they empty the tub's contents into a sifter to separate the blanks from the beads.","Workers then towel dry the blanks by hand.","This ensures there will be no water stains on the coins.","Throughout the coin-making process, as the silver is worked, it becomes brittle-- so brittle that it could easily break when struck.","That's why at several stages the metal goes through an oven called an annealing furnace.","The coin design comprises artwork or a photograph or a combination of both.","This coin will feature a photograph of queen elizabeth provided by buckingham palace.","The artist uses a computer program to design a collage of various elements.","Once mint officials approve the final design, the process of engraving can begin.","They take a plaster disk that's 10 1/2 inches in diameter.","The computer guides the engraving machine to turn the one-dimensional computer design into a three-dimensional version in rough detail.","This creates a plaster model of the design in the negative.","They now use this negative to cast a plaster positive.","An artist then enhances the detail by hand.","Once that's done, they cast a negative plaster mold.","From that, they then cast a positive mold, this time in rubber.","From the rubber, they cast a negative mold out of hard, black epoxy.","They mount the epoxy model on a machine called a pantograph, which is essentially a reducing machine.","It traces the model and cuts a version 1 1/2 times smaller in brass.","This reduction process takes 36 hours.","Then an engraver takes the brass model and fine-tunes the design under a microscope.","At this stage, the engraver also adds the lettering, noting the year, the denomination, and the country of issue.","Then comes another 36-hour reduction process.","They reduce this brass model to 1 1/2 half times its size to create what's called a matrix-- a negative model made of high-grade steel that's the final size of the coin.","Then they strike the matrix onto a block of steel which creates a positive called a punch.","Then they strike the punch onto another steel block to create a negative called a die.","The coins are made one at a time in the coin press.","There are two dies per coin, one for each side, positioned above and below the blank.","They strike simultaneously, not once but twice, to create a high-quality impression.","In contrast, circulation coins are struck just once on high-speed machines that make several hundred coins per minute."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bicycle Helmets","Aluminum","Car Brakes","Lithium Batteries"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Bicycle helmets-- letting safety go to your head...","Aluminum-- probably the most versatile metal around...","Car brakes--  we bring you breaking news about how they're manufactured...","And lithium batteries-- you'll get a charge out of this one.","If you're serious about bike-riding, you should also be serious about safety, and it all starts with your head.","Today's bike helmets meet all the required safety standards and come in a wide range of colors and styles, which means you can protect your head and look great doing it.","A bicycle helmet is constructed of an exterior shell and an interior one of polystyrene foam designed to absorb shocks.","Some designs for bicycle helmets are drawn by hand and with computer-aided graphics.","The design has to take into account that it is not on a flat surface, but on a rounded one.","This creates optical deformities that have to be corrected.","Fabrication begins with the exterior shell.","This polymer sheet is heated in a heat former at a temperature of 65 degrees centigrade.","The mold lifts the sheet and suctions it to fill all the cavities of the mold.","This operation lasts about one minute and produces four shells.","Then, when cooled down and hardened, the four shells are cut by hand.","Ventilation openings are cut with a heated wire apparatus.","These openings have been preformed during molding of the shell.","The heated wire easily and neatly cuts the polymer.","Next up, trimming the helmet to eliminate excess polymer.","The circumference is manually cut using a router.","The edges are then sanded to even them.","It is also possible to cut the circumference of the shell with a heated wire.","This operation takes more time, but is more precise because of the resulting cleaner cut.","Now they're going to fabricate the foam interior that will be placed inside the shell.","It's made of polystyrene beads that will expand and bond together.","This expander increases the volume of the granules that fall into it.","Steam and an agitator let the polystyrene beads expand uniformly.","The granules are now ready.","The contents of this bin will be able to produce about 20 foam pieces, which will take shape on these molds.","The press closes up for the six minutes that it takes to mold four foam pieces.","The particles fuse with steam before being cooled with water.","The foam is removed from the mold.","Forms are produced for different helmets.","Fusing of the particles has welded the granules to one another.","Depending on the helmet model, openings have to be made with this heat iron to allow for installation of an air-vent accessory.","All that remains is to make the adjustment pads, cut with this press-powered stamper.","The adjustment pads are held in with velcro to allow easy adjustment of the helmet.","This allows the cyclist to change the foam pads for greater comfort.","Inserting the straps calls for good manual dexterity and takes only a minute.","The shell and the polystyrene foam liner have to be joined.","They're adjusted one inside the other, then solidly secured with adhesive tape.","The helmet is now completed.","And now it's ready for packaging.","The safety helmets have to be certified, guaranteeing their safety, and conformity tests are done.","At least one helmet in 500 will undergo this destructive test.","Here, it drops vertically onto a piece of steel.","This facility can produce up to 4,000 helmets daily in hundreds of models and over 500 variations.","Take a look around, and you'll find this wonder metal everywhere, in everything from screen doors to jet planes.","Aluminum has so many applications because it's light and strong, and it's corrosion- and crack-resistant.","Producing aluminum is costly, but it saves money over time.","Aluminum--  so widely used today, and the world's most abundant metallic element, does not occur in a natural state.","The most available source of aluminum is actually bauxite.","Bauxite is mainly mined in tropical countries.","The aluminum atom in bauxite is bonded to oxygen molecules.","These bonds have to be broken by electrolysis to produce pure aluminum.","Bauxite is carried by rail to the plant, where it will be crushed.","Then, through a chemical transformation called the bayer process, alumina is extracted.","This is then roasted in calciners to eliminate all moisture.","This is the reduction facility.","This plant has 432 pots through which a powerful electric current will be passed to produce electrolysis.","An overhead crane dumps alumina into the pots.","Then the electric current from the anode passes through the alumina that we see here at the bottom of the pot.","Via the process of alumina reduction at 1,742 degrees, the anodes lose volume and will have to be replaced.","It's a continuous operation.","Each anode has a life-span of about 20 days.","Spent anodes are recovered from the pot with this overhead crane and carried off to be recycled.","They clean the aluminum rods, which will then be reused.","Here we see the crust formed atop the anode.","When the anodes are replaced, the accumulated impurities have to be recovered from the top of the pots.","This is accomplished with these pincers.","Then a new anode is inserted into the alumina, and electrolysis continues.","The electric current breaks the molecular bonds.","The heavier aluminum collects at the bottom of the pot, while the oxygen bound to fluorine is released as a gas, which is drawn off and treated.","The liquefied aluminum remains at the bottom of the pot.","It has to be recovered in this huge crucible with a tube.","The tube is dipped into the bottom of the pot, and a vacuum system draws the molten aluminum from the crucible.","The aluminum is recovered in a short time.","Air is vacuumed from the crucible by a flexible pipe held by an operator.","The tube is finally withdrawn, and the overhead crane dumps another quantity of alumina into the pot.","Thus, the aluminum-fabrication process continues uninterrupted.","The crucibles filled with molten aluminum are transported to the casting house.","Their contents are poured into holding furnaces, that have a capacity of 60 tons.","In these very hot furnaces, the molten aluminum is stored to await casting.","Finally, casting begins.","The aluminum can be semicontinuously vertically cast, producing ingots, sheets, or billets, or it can be directly cast into semifinished products.","The cooling of aluminum pieces is accelerated by water sprays.","The large, rectangular ingots, which can weigh up to 25 tons, will head for hot-rolling, and eventually will be fabricated into products like aluminum foil.","From four to five tons of bauxite have produced two tons of alumina, which in turn produces one ton of aluminum.","This particular plant produces 200,000 tons of aluminum annually.","Some other facilities can turn out as much as 400,000 tons.","If you've ever had to stop suddenly while driving at high speed, you know that once you hit the brakes, they can easily lock up, making you skid.","But with the sophisticated computer technology behind today's antilock brakes, skidding is becoming a thing of the past.","Brakes are absolutely essential equipment for every vehicle to slow down and stop.","And brakes have remained practically unchanged for the past 40 years.","Conventional disk brakes have pads that press against the brake disk attached to the wheel.","These pads grip the disk on only 15 to 30 degrees of its circumference.","This develops high heat, wheel skidding, and results in premature wear.","The new floating disk brakes have two pads of friction material on 360 degrees of the disk.","When the brake is applied, hydraulic pressure activates the diaphragm, which applies pressure on the inboard pad, which is then pressed against the disk.","In this animation, the diaphragm movement is exaggerated.","However simple, the design of this brake calls for some complex development steps.","It all starts on the monitor screen with computer-aided design.","This powerful software creates objects in three dimensions, which can be virtually manipulated.","They then proceed to digital analysis.","Here, digital models are submitted to repeated braking to verify that the parts conform to design objectives.","The software verifies changes in heat, the effects of vibration, and resistance to breakage.","The right choice of materials is critical.","The electrical components also have to be created.","Here, we see the delicate construction of tiny sensors, that measure the force exerted by the braking system.","The sensor is the main component of the intelligent a.b.s. braking system, which functions more efficiently than traditional antiskid systems and reduces braking distance.","Next, it's the fabrication stage of prototype parts, which will be tested.","The machining of these parts must take into account the requirements of mass production.","This high-precision, robotized machining is done by computer-controlled digital machines.","A liquid sprinkled on the machine part cools it during the process.","The finished parts are precisely measured, then fitted and assembled to form the total braking system, which will be first tested in the laboratory.","Brakes in full contact have a friction surface six times superior to traditional brakes.","The use of aluminum and composite materials allow for a weight savings of 5.5 pounds per wheel.","This affects roadholding and reduces fuel consumption by .","05 gallons per 100 miles.","They proceed to power and endurance tests on this dynamometer, in which a brake and wheel assembly act against a large rotating drum.","These lab tests are critical, since they can detect any defect in a braking system before it's installed on an actual vehicle.","In order to evaluate the power and endurance of the brakes in full application under extreme conditions, they were installed on this porsche 911 turbo entered in the motorola cup.","They proved completely satisfactory, and the porsche went on to record many wins.","Once all validation tests are done, we move on to the next step.","Brakes are installed on a production-model vehicle.","With data systems, engineers can observe the performance of brakes under all conditions thousands of times a second.","Finally, engineers proceed with actual braking trials with test vehicles.","All that remains is to produce brakes on a large scale to supply auto manufacturers' production lines.","And that's the story of brakes, from original idea to final product.","There's nothing like the sound of a car engine starting, especially when it's 15 below on a winter morning.","Today's automotive batteries are smaller, more powerful, and more efficient, even at extreme temperatures.","It's all thanks to the power of lithium-ion-cell technology.","While dissecting a frog in 1786, the italian researcher galvani noted that when his scalpel touched a leg muscle, it contracted from an electric current produced.","Later, volta believed the current was produced by the metal instruments, the animal being only a conductor.","To prove it, he stacked disks of zinc and copper connected by conductors and fabric impregnated with an acid solution.","And so, in 1800, the electric battery was born.","Batteries power all kinds of electric motors.","A new lithium-metal-polymer battery pack such as this one could soon power an electric automobile, as well as a hybrid vehicle.","This battery will be made up of four components.","It all starts with this lithium ingot, which weighs about 11 pounds.","It's transformed into a thin sheet by this extrusion press that applies 440 tons of pressure.","The press creates a sheet that's only about 1/100 of an inch thick.","The whole extrusion sequence is closely computer-controlled.","Extrusion is now completed.","The metallic lithium sheet is the required 1/100 inch in thickness, or 1/4 of a millimeter.","The sheet has to be further thinned.","Placed on a roller, it is carried to the laminator.","At room temperature, it's thinned once again.","In just 20 minutes, the 11-pound ingot will have been transformed into a thin sheet .","01 inches wide and some 655 feet in length.","This laminator completes the thinning of the sheet.","The resulting 1 1/4 mile-long sheet will allow for the fabrication of 210 battery units.","Lithium is a soft, sticky metal.","For this reason, a polypropylene film has to be fixed onto the lithium sheet.","Without this protection, the sheet would adhere to itself and become unusable.","The sheet will be used to make individual battery cells.","Then these cells will be assembled, in series and in parallel, and inserted into modules of different shapes.","To make an individual battery cell, the sheet has to be rolled up.","This automated spooling machine winds up the lithium film in 26 revolutions.","The wound-up sheet is put into a vacuum oven, where the various layers adhere firmly to one another.","This step lasts for about 90 minutes at 176 degrees.","Here, a test is made.","Using a voltmeter, the battery is checked to see that it produces the required 3.56 volts.","Any problem can be detected here and corrected.","A final quality check is made with this caliper.","It precisely measures the thickness of the battery cell.","The battery cells are then stored.","Metallic plates are placed between them for the entire storage period.","One more step remains, and that's the metallizing of the contacts.","The battery cells are sent off to a fabrication facility in this container.","The container is robotically handled.","First, it's put into a protective tank.","Then the metallizing of the contacts is done by spraying on molten metal.","This takes just a few seconds, since the metal cools very quickly.","The battery is now finished.","It comprises four elements-- lithium, which acts as the anode, a metallic oxide cathode, a dry solid polymer electrolyte, and a metallic current collector.","All that remains to be done is the assembling of the individual battery cells into a module.","It begins with the placing of individual cells onto one another and isolating them with foam so that they do not touch each other.","These red sheets are actually heating elements, since the lithium-metal-polymer cells function at temperatures of between 104 and 176 degrees.","Here, we see these modules of a battery pack for a hybrid vehicle, an automobile that works with a gasoline-powered motor and an electric motor.","This prototype battery was created for a totally electric vehicle.","It surpasses heavy traditional lead-acid batteries that can't develop the same amount of electrical energy and have much shorter life-spans."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rawhide Lampshades","Chocolate Chip Cookies","MRI Scanners"]},"text":["You doesn't need to have antlers over the fireplace to bring a touch of wildlife to your decor.","A more subtle approach can be a lamp with a shade made of rawhide.","Rawhide is untanned animal skin.","The hide typically comes from livestock, so you get the decorative \"bang\" without firing a shot.","You typically see rawhide lampshades in rustic settings, but they've also been known to add an eclectic twist to a modern decor.","This company has been using the same techniques to hand-craft rawhide lampshades since 1929.","The first step is to construct the shade's frame out of 3-millimeter-thick steel wire.","They begin by cutting the various lengths of wire to make the component's first shade of a particular size.","Every frame has one top ring, one bottom ring, and several vertical ribs connecting the two.","After clamping the wires alongside a measuring gauge, they position the blade where required and cut.","They curve the pieces for the rings with crank-operated rollers, which apply pressure to bend the wire.","It takes a few passes to work the steel wire into a full circle.","Then they spot-weld the ends together to complete each ring.","They cool the hot weld in cold water.","Now it's time to assemble the frame.","They use a jig to correctly position all the parts.","This one is for a slanted shade with an 18-inch bottom diameter.","After laying in the bottom ring, they position one rib at a time and spot-weld it to the ring.","They assemble the spider-- the inner structure of the top ring.","They take a brass washer with four holes in it and insert a steel wire arm into each one.","A single strike of a 1-ton press locks each arm in the washer.","They spot-weld the spider to the top ring...","Then the ring to each rib of the frame.","The frame is now fully constructed and ready to be coated with baked-on paint.","This not only makes the frame more attractive, it prevents the steel from rusting as it comes in contact with the wet rawhide.","The freshly-washed sheepskin is the highest grade of hide available, so the color is an even butterscotch-- rarely any color variations or spots.","They center the frame upside-down on the skin, then work their way around, folding the skin upward and over, clamping it in place with clothespins.","Then, they flip the shade right side up and slit the skin at the top with a razor blade to release some tension.","Now they sew the skin to the top and bottom of the frame with rawhide lace.","However, this rawhide is cow skin.","Once the sewing is complete, they cut off the excess skin.","The rawhide is still quite wet, so they dry the lampshade in a heated closet for about five hours.","When it comes out, they bathe the rawhide in a moisturizing agent then a finishing solution, the specifics of which are a closely-guarded company secret.","These treatments bring out the butterscotch color and seal the hide to prevent it from drying out and cracking.","The lampshade then goes back into the heated closet for 24 hours.","Lampshades are often hands-painted before this, in which case the finishing solution seals the oil paint as well as the hide.","Each design is original and signed by the artist-- a unique work of art designed to light up a room.","Legend has it that chocolate-chip cookies were invented in 1930 by an american innkeeper who ran out of baker's chocolate.","She improved by breaking a semi-sweet chocolate bar into small pieces.","Instead of melting, the chocolate merely softened, dotting the cookie with chocolate chips.","They look homemade, and they taste homemade, but this home is a factory.","Each ingredient goes into an industrial-size mixer, starting with white sugar.","Then brown sugar.","Then butter.","The mixer thoroughly blends these first ingredients until the butter becomes soft and creamy and the sugars are evenly dispersed.","Then it's time for the headliner-- chocolate chips.","They're semi-sweet, which is a mixture of bitter and sweet chocolate.","Next, flour, followed by baking soda to make the dough rise and salt to add flavor.","The final ingredients are whole eggs, beaten, combined with vanilla, made from beans harvested in madagascar, africa.","Mixing resume until everything's well-blended, which usually takes about five minutes.","The company closely guards recipe specifics, but if you're curious, you could probably figure them out by multiplying the ingredients of a home recipe to the yield of a production batch.","Workers transfer the cookie dough to a machine called the former.","It pushes the dough through round dies, producing row upon row of round pieces weighing 1.4 ounces each, one of several sizes the factory produces.","The factory then flash-freezes the dough rounds for sale to food-service customers such as restaurants and hotels, which bake the cookies in their own kitchens.","The freeze tunnel uses liquid nitrogen to create the frigid temperature.","The passing dough rounds solidify in approximately five minutes.","Exiting the freeze tunnel, the dough rounds pass under a metal detector to ensure they don't contain any metal particles.","This safety measure is standard practice in the food industry.","The packaging system is entirely automated.","The first station erects the box.","The second station lines it with plastic.","A conveyer belt, meanwhile, feeds the frozen, unbaked cookies onto automated scales.","Once a scale hits the per-box weight, feeding pauses.","The bottom swings open, and the cookies drop into the box awaiting directly underneath.","The next stations seal and label the boxes, which workers then load onto pallets.","The pallets go into a storage freezer, where they stay until it's time to ship them out, by freezer truck, to the customer.","This company also sells gift tins of cookies online and by catalog.","For that market, they bake the cookies in-house.","Workers lay out the dough rounds 2 inches apart on trays lined with parchment paper.","This prevents sticking, making it easy to remove the baked cookies without breaking them.","The dough rounds are nearly 1½ inches wide by 1 inch high.","As they bake, they flatten out and double in diameter.","The trays remain in the oven for seven minutes at 300 degrees fahrenheit.","A turntable inside rotates them so that the cookies bake evenly throughout the tray.","A few cookies per batch go to the quality control tester, who, unfortunately, doesn't get to conduct the assessment by eating the samples.","Rather, the tester measures the diameter and height to ensure consistency in size and chip content.","In the online and catalogue order assembly area, workers line the bottom part of the gift tin with a decorative cellophane bag.","Then, they carefully layer the correct number of fresh cookies inside in a staggered configuration.","This not only creates a nice presentation, it also prevents damage in transit.","They close the bag with a gold twist tie to seal in the freshness...","Close up the tin, then pack it for shipping.","This is how to give a gift of homemade chocolate chip cookies without ever setting foot in the kitchen.","The mri scanner was invented in 1977, and it has revolutionized medical diagnostics.","Short for magnetic resonance imaging, an mri offers an inside look at the human body without surgery or x-rays.","When investigation health problems, it's a great way to get the picture.","Using magnetic fields and radio-wave pulses, an mri can look right through you to determine what's going on under the skin.","The magnet is incredibly powerful.","It's up to 30,000 times stronger than the earth's magnetic field.","To make an mri scanner, they weld aluminum casing around the magnet, creating a tunnel in the center for the patient.","The seams must be extremely tight because the tube will also contain the super-cold liquid helium which will make the magnet so incredibly powerful.","Once the welds are complete, they cap the magnet and transfer it to a test chamber.","They pump helium gas into the tube and activate a vacuum system that sucks out the air in the chamber.","A sensor confirms there are no leaks and the welds are tight.","They now construct a second aluminum tube around the magnet.","This will act as an insulating shield.","They wrap and aluminized mylar blanket tightly around the magnet.","Aluminized mylar was first developed as an insulating material for space suits.","In this case, it will be used to deflect heat to keep the magnet cold.","They now insert the magnet into a steel shell.","This is know as the vacuum vessel.","The air will be pulled from the space between it and the magnet, creating a vacuum which will serve as another insulator.","They mask the mri tunnel with plastic and spray paint the exterior white.","The paint will protect the steel from rust.","Next, they install a refrigeration unit knows as the cold head.","The cold head will maintain the helium around the mri's primary magnet at the incredibly chilly temperature of -452 degrees fahrenheit.","This will keep the helium in a liquid state.","Without the cold head, significant amounts would vaporize and be lost.","They now pump the liquid helium into the magnet.","It's one of the coldest things on the planet, and the fill nozzles turn frosty.","Exposed to this extreme cold, the magnet loses all electrical resistance and becomes a super conductor, generating intense magnetic fields.","With the mri magnet complete, they move on to the gradient coil, which will control the orientation of the image with electrical pulses.","It starts with a fiberglass epoxy tube cut to the correct length.","A worker carves grooves in the tube and fills those grooves with epoxy.","He then winds copper wire into the epoxy-filled grooves, and it adheres, forming the gradient coil.","The team slathers epoxy onto the entire tube.","The epoxy seals the wire, preventing vibrations of the coil when it's in operation.","They layer etched copper plates onto the epoxy, and they adhere.","They wrap the coil tightly with teflon cloth.","A worker pours epoxy resin onto the fabric.","He then winds tubing around the gradient coil, which adheres to the epoxy-coated cloth.","These are cooling lines.","They'll disperse heat generated by the gradient coil.","Another worker now preps the next fiberglass tube.","This one is for the mri's radio-frequency coil.","There's much more to come before this mri scanner is ready to provide an inside look at the human body, so stay tuned.","An mri scanner produces detailed images of bones, organs, and other structures inside the human body.","It does this by generating a strong magnetic field that causes the body's hydrogen atoms to align and send a signal.","The result is a picture that could lead to a diagnosis.","Work on the mri's radio-frequency coil is under way.","A technician attaches plastic risers and pads to the fiberglass core.","The risers and pads will hold the circuitry parts at a uniform level.","She applies adhesive-backed strips of copper from one band of risers to the other.","These copper strips are the antenna.","They'll send and receive signals from the body and relay them to a computer to produce the mri image.","She presses the copper with round-tipped tool for better adhesion to the core.","She then dabs epoxy glue into the riser compartments.","She inserts capacitors into the glue-filled compartments.","These little capacitors will store energy and change the frequency of the coil to match the magnets.","The technician solders the ends of the capacitors to the copper antenna as she builds the circuitry.","She transfers numerous high-voltage inductor boards to the pads and screws them in place.","Next up are cable-splitter units.","Another technician installs one near an inductor board.","She routes some of the cables from the splitter to the several of the inductors.","And she solders the cables to the inductors.","She places a plastic cable track on the side of the radio-frequency coil and snakes the main power cable through it.","She solders the cable to the antenna.","The technician stiffens the copper antenna with composite boards to dampen vibrations when the mri is in operation.","She applies epoxy around all the cables.","The epoxy secures the cables to keep them from moving around and making noise.","The mri's radio-frequency coil is complete and ready to be put to the test.","The next worker caps the ends with metal domes and bolts them tightly together.","She pumps highly pressurized air into the capped radio-frequency coil.","She spray soapy water over the exterior of the coil and looks for air bubbles.","Bubbles in the soapy residue would indicate a leak, which would disrupt airflow in the mri.","With the radio-frequency coil leak-free, they now slide it into the gradient coil, which has gained an outer fiberglass shell since we last saw it.","The worker connects exterior tubing to the network of cooling lines inside the gradient coil.","With those connections made, they're ready to assemble the coils to the magnet.","The worker slides the assembly off the cart and into the mri magnet.","He installs a bracket that centers the coils, maintaining a small gap between them and the magnet.","He equips the mri with microphones and speakers, to communicate with the patient.","There's also a signaling system here for the patient to activate in the event of an emergency.","Now for the ultimate test.","They energize the magnet and send standard test objects into the mri.","They scan the objects and confirm the picture is clear.","They add a metal and plastic outer casing.","This mri scanner is now ready to focus on diagnosis.","The next picture it takes could be a life saver."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Windshields","English Saddles","Butter","Post Clocks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fiberglass insulation...","Wooden ducks...","Gumball machines...","And exhaust systems.","It's pink and fluffy, and it keeps us warm.","Fiberglass insulation is a great way to prevent heat loss from our buildings.","It has a woolly texture, but it is, as the name suggests, made of very fine threads of glass.","That's why it's sometimes referred to as glass wool.","Fiberglass insulation will reduce energy consumption, but it also reduces waste because it's made from at least 35% recycled glass.","The recipe also includes what's called the batch-- a lot of sand and smaller portions of soda ash, limestone, and other minerals.","The glass, called cullet, used to be bottles and windows.","This will be its second recycling.","The cullet and batch ingredients spill onto a conveyer-belt system, which transports it all to an electric furnace.","The conveyer moves back and forth to evenly distribute the cullet and batch ingredients.","They seep down and melt into a previous mix, which is now a pool of glass at the bottom of the furnace.","The glass liquid now flows out of the furnace and into sloped channels.","Inside these channels, the temperature is kept red-hot by natural-gas burners.","This keeps the glass mix in a liquid form, as it oozes out of the holes in the bottoms of the channels.","The melted glass falls about 3 feet into a spinning bowl.","It's called a fiberizer.","The spinning action flings the glass through thousands of holes in the bowl, creating thousands of feathery glass fibers.","Gas and compressed air pull the fibers, stretching them thinner.","The process is a lot like making cotton candy, and the spun glass even has a similar texture.","But the fibers will soon become even more like cotton candy.","Nozzles spray them with a polymer glue tinted pink.","The now-pink and sticky fibers drop into a hole in the ground and amass.","Then a conveyer belt takes the mounds of sticky glass to an oven.","Steel plates compress the pack as it enters the oven that's heated to 500 degrees fahrenheit.","Hot air blows through it, setting the glue.","As the pack exits the oven, circular saws cut through it, making 15- to 24-inch-wide strips that are called lanes.","The lanes pass by a series of poles that push them apart.","Next, an ink jet brands each lane with a number that conveys the \"r\" value.","\"r\" stands for \"resistance to heat flow\".","It's a measure of how well the insulation will stop heat from going through the roof and your energy bill along with it.","A chopper with big steel teeth now cuts the lanes, making chunks that could easily be installed in an attic or wall.","After chopping, the conveyer belt accelerates, transporting the fiberglass batts to the next station.","A few at a time, the batts plunge down a chute, to a mechanical arm which slides the batts into a compression chamber.","There, a hydraulic ram squishes the batts down, reducing their bulk 5 to 10 times.","This compaction will make them easier to transport.","Now another ram comes from the side and pushes the stack of compressed batts forward into a spout.","The spout is a hollow batt-shaped frame.","A worker pulls a plastic bag over it.","Then the ram pushes the fiberglass-insulation batt into the plastic bag, and the process begins again.","A conveyer belt transports the batt-filled bags to a machine that heat-seals them.","Then they're sent off to be installed.","For centuries, hunters have used wooden ducks to lure live ones to within shooting range.","Stringing together decoys and floating them in the water, hunters trick the birds down from the sky with duck calls.","Nowadays, hunters generally prefer cheaper, plastic decoys.","Wooden ducks are mostly decorative items for the home.","This company's flock includes males, females, and androgynous models like this one.","This more elaborate male is inspired by another aquatic bird, the loon.","To make them, these craftsmen use eastern white pine because it's easy to carve and has a nice grain.","First, a machine shapes a 2-inch-thick slab.","They cut the slab lengthwise.","They'll use four to six of these smaller pieces to make most of the duck's body.","The birds range in size from baby ducks just 4 inches long to geese at more than 19 inches long.","A craftsman now applies a generous amount of carpenter's glue to one side of the wood.","Using a lot ensures a strong bond and prevents splitting later on.","The pieces then go into what's called a wood clamp.","He tightens a vice, squeezing them together.","It takes about two hours for the pieces to bond properly.","Then he'll shave away the excess glue and even up the surfaces.","Once that's done, they run the block over what's called a joiner.","A roller with 3 blades shaves about 3/4 of an inch from what will become the top and bottom of the duck.","Each model has three wooden patterns for the top, the bottom, and the profile.","Here, a worker traces the outline of the bird's profile in pencil on the wood.","Since this is a small model, he'll make two birds with one block.","Using a band saw, he trims along the trace line.","This company recycles the cutoffs into fireplace kindling and shavings for farm stables.","Next, he uses another pattern to create the top of the bird.","These patterns provide only the general shape of a particular model.","The craftsman will later carve the details using smaller electric tools and by hand.","Now he sands the wood with a pneumatic drum sander-- a tube of pressurized air with sandpaper stretched over it.","He uses higher pressure for sharper curves, lower pressure for softer edges.","To sculpt the bird's plumage, the craftsman uses this band sander whose rounded edge presses sandpaper into the wood.","Here, he makes three long grooves-- one on top, and one on each side of the duck.","The head's made from a different piece of wood than the body.","Here, he sands down the piece to smooth out the curves.","Using various shaping tools and the band sander, he sculpts the bird's head and bill area, then the underside and rear end of this waddling duck.","He also carves depressions for eye sockets to come later.","Here, he puts glue on the neck to attach it to the rest of the body.","Using a nail gun, he reinforces the area with two nails on each side.","To hide the nails and smooth out the neck, the craftsman uses wood putty.","Once it dries, he'll sand it smooth.","Next, he tints the duck bill using an orange wood stain...","Then a forest-green stain to tint the head and neck areas.","Males have colorful feathers to better attract mates.","Females have more neutral colors to blend into their surroundings and protect their ducklings.","The craftsman covers the duck's lower body with a clear wood stain.","This way, the natural grain of the wood shows through.","The front gets a clear but darker stain to mark the chest.","And darker stain also highlights the plumage in the long grooves.","Then, some green accents for the feathers on the sides in the back.","Next, two coats of white paint to mark the duck's collar.","Then he glues plastic eyes in the eye sockets.","The irises are black, brown, or red, depending on the model.","He then sprays on a protective, water-based varnish, and elevates the duck on nails so that the underside will dry along with the rest.","Finally, the craftsman rubs the entire carving in wood wax.","This makes the varnish appear uneven in places, giving the duck a worn, antique finish, like he's been around the pond a few times.","The prices of wooden ducks vary according to size and detail.","$500 will buy you this magnificent canada goose with wings stretched and ready for a graceful landing.","For a century, there have been machines to give us gumballs.","Vending machines that dispensed gumballs were introduced in 1907 on a new york city subway platform.","Today's machines are more modern versions of the originals, but they still perform, basically, the same function.","The gumball machine is all about instant gratification.","Insert a coin, turn a handle, and out comes the merchandise.","To make a gumball machine, a designer first sketches out the exact proportions.","Then, a worker ladles molten zinc into a holding furnace, where a steel plunger pushes the metal through a die that forms a gumball machine base.","A mechanical claw removes the newly shaped base from the die and places it on a conveyor belt to cool.","A similar die shapes the coin mechanism handle and drive gears.","A worker places a braided hose with a natural-gas flame under a mold that will shape the gumball-dispensing chute.","He pours piping-hot liquid aluminum into the mold.","The flame below warms the mold enough to prevent condensation, which would ruin the shape.","But the mold is still cooler than the aluminum, and that allows it to solidify into a chute shape in seconds.","Now, using a punch press, a worker trims the waste away from the lid for the gumball machine.","They also trim the front plate of the coin mechanism, using a similar press.","A computerized cutter mills out a hole in the top of the globe that will hold the gumballs.","The globe is made of shatterproof plastic.","At another station, they press the base of the gumball machine against a cloth-covered buffing wheel to give it a shine.","A worker now assembles the coin mechanism, layering the front plate, the coin carrier, the back plate, and ending with a cam, the part that ensures the coin mechanism moves clockwise.","She screws it tightly together, then inserts the handle on the front plate.","The handle will turn the coins that pay for the gumballs.","She places a little spacer and drive gear on the handle stem that protrudes through the back of the assembly and then screws the drive gear onto the handle stem.","Now it's time to put the money up front.","They insert a coin in the slot and turn the handle to make sure the system works.","People in many countries like gumballs, and so these coin mechanisms can be made to accept currencies from around the world.","They can also be used in other types of vending machines.","Now they spray powder paint onto the lids, giving them a coating that's almost 1/16 of an inch thick.","They bake the paint onto the lids at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 25 minutes.","Now it's time to put all the pieces together.","They place the dispensing wheels in hoppers, then cover them with a part that stops free gumballs from spilling out.","The next part is the adaptor ring, and the plastic globes fit on top of them.","They place aluminum rings on top of the globes.","Then they slide two side rods through the top rings, down into the bottom of the globes.","They screw them down very tightly, and then they set the assembly aside.","Now they place plastic bodies on bases and install the chute doors on the front.","They place the chute covers in the plastic body...","And mount the coin mechanism just above the chute.","Next, they slide the globe assemblies over center rods and onto the plastic foundations.","They put a lid on every globe...","And then lock them on.","And now we're at the vending part of the story.","Gumball, anyone?","The job it does is exhausting.","The exhaust system on your vehicle gets rid of harmful gases that could damage the engine.","It also cleans up the gases a bit before venting them into the air.","A properly functioning exhaust system does another big job-- muffling the airborne noise of the engine.","It's a system of metal tubes and plates we only seem to notice when it breaks down.","And when it does, everyone can hear it.","To make an exhaust system, a mechanical puller draws a stainless-steel strip up into a punch press, shuffling it back and forth to allow for a precise cut with little waste.","The press brings 60 tons of force to bear as it pushes the steel into a die.","It punches out a baffle shape with holes in it, which will form the skeleton for the muffler box.","The finished baffles fall onto a conveyor and go into a storage cage.","Now a long steel tube tumbles to automated blades which score the tube crosswise to prevent denting and then cut it to produce smaller tubes that go inside a muffler.","A circular saw descends on another tube to make a tail pipe.","Its length depends on the type of muffler being made.","A louver machine spins and punctures one of the inside tubes.","The holes will regulate airflow in the muffler.","A cnc bending machine grips and bends a pipe in several spots.","This is how they make inlet, intermediate, and outlet tubes.","These tubes run the length of the exhaust system.","Then they place a tube in a circular hydraulic vice, which pinches the end down to a prescribed diameter to allow for further assembly.","A worker now places two baffles in a jig.","He fits the tubes through the holes in the baffles so that the tubes connect the baffles.","Three mandrels slide into the tubes.","The mandrels expand, locking the tubes to the baffles.","Then they contract and slide out.","Now the baffles and tubes are one piece.","Next, a robotic arm picks up metal sheets, which will become the outer skin of the muffler box.","It pushes them under an oval mold.","Another arm with numerous rollers on it moves up and wraps the steel around the oval form.","Then a metal block moves over the ends, double-folding them.","This locks them together, and it completes the assembly of the muffler's outside skin.","Magnets pick up the new skin, and, sliding on rails, they relay it to a mechanical claw which, in turn, feeds it to a flanger.","The flanger bends the edges, creating a lip on either end of the muffler skin.","A carousel turns, and a mechanical claw transfers the newly flanged muffler skin to the stuffing position.","Hydraulic pushers press the pre-assembled baffles and tubes inside the skin.","After the muffler is stuffed, the robotic claw transfers it to a conveyor belt.","Next, a worker presses each end of the muffler against a set of steel expansion fingers.","The fingers move forward into holes in the muffler.","They expand and lock the baffles and tubes inside to form one solid, internal unit.","Grippers place the muffler on a spinning machine that will fasten the caps on.","Rollers press against the flared edges of the revolving muffler, tightly locking the end cap to the rest of the body.","Here, you see the rolling in slow motion.","It takes only a few revolutions to do the job.","Then the roller backs away, and a mechanical arm grabs the muffler and transfers it to a conveyor belt.","Now these mufflers are ready to help keep the traffic noise at a minimum."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Toys","Retro Toasters","Laboratory Furnaces","Aerogel"]},"text":["a rubber tree's life-span for natural rubber production is limited to about 25 years.","But making toys out of their wood gives unproductive trees a second life.","This idea comes from southeastern asia, home to most of the rubber and latex production worldwide.","This company, based in thailand, manufactures toys such as this series of animal-shaped racers made of locally farmed rubberwood.","They buy old trees that have exceeded their productive life.","A worker feeds lumber through a wood-rounding machine.","The machine drives the log through a mill and turns it into a rod.","The worker places the rod on a tray alongside other pieces ready for cutting.","A cutting machine automatically matches the length of the rods while a round saw cuts out blanks, which accumulate in a crate.","A router removes the sharp edges on the blanks.","Stacked in a feeder tube, the blanks drop down one by one on the router table.","An automated feeding mechanism pushes each blank against the router head.","The router blade bites into the blank and trims off the edge, leaving the pieces ready for sanding.","At another station, a lathe turns spherical shapes out of the wood.","Several blades move in sequence to form the piece.","When a new length of wood comes through, the front blade moves in.","Once it backs away, another set of blades shapes the piece laterally before a cutter blade separates it from the rod.","A worker now pours a nontoxic, water-based paint over the sanded blanks.","He transfers the batch into a tumbling machine.","The tumbling process will even out the color and drain the extra paint to accelerate drying.","The worker closes and secures the lid of the tumbler before he starts the machine.","The facility can simultaneously process 40 batches of painted parts in 30 minutes.","The painted parts now go to a pad printer.","An automated arm feeds the parts to the printer, which stamps each piece with a nontoxic paint.","A worker uses a table saw to groove another set of painted parts.","The custom-made jig ensures that the cut is straight and even and that the blade makes only a narrow and shallow groove in the wood.","The worker places the grooved part on a jig and bores a hole into the piece with a drill.","The machined piece goes to another pad printer.","The pad picks up paint from a tray and transfers it to the wood.","This process, called tampography, allows the printer to reproduce a design on an irregular surface, such as this wood piece.","The printed parts dry at room temperature.","As a last pad printer paints two dots on the wood, the face of the animal racer slowly takes shape.","This red-colored powder is processed rubberwood sawdust entirely recycled from the machining operations.","A worker fills molds with the reprocessed sawdust and prepares them for casting.","The machine compresses the sawdust in a die and turns it into a solid and compact material called planwood.","A worker starts assembling the planwood pieces to form the body of the racers.","She applies a thin coat of nontoxic, formaldehyde-free glue and presses two corresponding planwood pieces together.","She removes the excess glue with her finger before she hammers a dowel into the assembled planwood body.","To finish the head of the racer, she inserts a felt piece into the groove machined on top and presses the head into the racer's body using a pneumatic press.","The worker then drives the axles through holes in the planwood assembly.","She takes painted and pad-printed wheels and applies a drop of fast-hardening glue inside each wheel hub.","She then hammers the wheels into the axles and takes the assembled toy to a customized machine designed to press the wheels firmly into the axles.","This finished chicken racer is one of a wide variety of rubberwood toys manufactured with environment-friendly processes and materials.","Whether your preferred shade is light, medium, or dark, owning a reliable electric toaster that evenly heats and browns both sides of your bread just the way you like it is one of life's small pleasures.","And if that toaster adds some style to your kitchen, all the better.","Making retro-style toasters is this british company's bread and butter.","While some of its models are new designs in a vintage style, this one is authentically retro, in continuous production since the 1960s.","The manufacturing equipment, however, is modern.","A computer-guided laser cutter cuts out many components from sheet steel coated with zinc for corrosion resistance.","They stamp the company logo and then use the same press to begin forming a rectangular box.","They bend three sides on this press...","Then bend the fourth on a machine called a box folder.","They rivet the body closed, then spray on a thick layer of paint powder known as powder coat.","Then, they run the body through a tunnel oven for 10 minutes to bake the finish.","The computer-guided laser cutter also cuts out several toaster tops from a sheet of stainless steel.","This model is a four-slice toaster, so the machine cuts four slots per top.","To make the manual bread ejector that pops up the hot toast, they weld steel strips to a round steel bar.","Moving the toaster's ejector knob lifts this bar, raising the top of the toast out of the slot.","They bend the strips, creating a cradle to stabilize the bread so that it doesn't wobble and get caught while moving up and down within the slot.","This machine makes the toaster's guard wires out of copper-coated steel.","The guard wires are barriers that prevent the bread from touching the toaster's heating elements.","The machine first welds cut horizontal wires to four continuous vertical ones.","Then, a blade chops the vertical wires every 12 inches, producing two side-by-side guard wires.","Workers cut them apart on a guillotine, then, with a hand press, fold over the top of each one.","This prevents the bread from catching on the top of the guard wires.","Now they take the toasting compartment and insert the eight guard wires, one for each side of the four bread slots.","Then, they install the bread ejector.","Next, the heating elements.","Being a high-end toaster, the elements are sheets of pure mica, a mineral that's heat-resistant up to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","They connect them with electrically conductive copper links.","They mount the switch that selects the number of bread slices to toast.","Then, they install a red neon light that illuminates when you start the toaster and turns off when the toast time has elapsed.","The timer switch has a bell that sounds when the toast time is up, at which point the switch cuts the current to the elements.","They attach the dials for the slice selector and timer switches and connect their wires to the main power cord.","Then, they place the toaster compartment into the body and screw on the toaster's stainless steel top, the protective film now removed.","They flip the toaster upside down and wire up the elements.","They install the ejector knob, positioning its spring against the bread ejector.","When the bell rings, indicating your toast is ready, you move the knob to raise and retrieve your slices.","A technician tests the toaster thoroughly, ensuring that all of the elements heat to the correct temperature, that only the selected slots heat up, that the timer is accurate, and that the bell rings when the selected time elapses.","they install the removable crumb tray, then close up the bottom of the toaster with a ventilated base plate.","Nylon feet elevate the toaster for ventilation and to prevent the screws attaching the base from scratching your kitchen counter.","The style may be retro, but this 1960s-design toaster was ahead of its time with its energy-saving slice-selector feature that stops the toaster's empty slots from heating up unnecessarily.","Laboratory furnaces are small but powerful appliances.","They can reach temperatures of 3,000 degrees fahrenheit or more.","These incredible furnaces are often used to test the quality of things like fuel oil, greases, coal, and to confirm the strength of structural materials.","Exposed to the red-hot intensity of a laboratory furnace, this piece of steel should endure and even be strengthened by the exposure.","It's the ultimate test of the steel's integrity.","Making a laboratory furnace starts with this laser cutter.","It carves out steel panels for the lower cabinet.","A press brake folds the panels with precision to make three-sided pieces of cabinetry.","A worker stacks them up.","The next worker applies a powder coat to the metal parts using a compressed-air sprayer.","When baked on, the powder forms a tough thermoplastic skin.","At the next station, a worker tucks the end of an iron alloy wire into a lathe.","As the lathe spins, it winds the wire around a mandrel, producing a tight coil.","This coiled wire will serve as one of the furnace's two heating elements.","After stretching the coil to widen the gaps and bending it to create parallel rows, the technician attaches electrical clips.","He flips a switch.","And electricity surges through the coil.","This relieves stresses in the metal caused by the winding and bending.","He now inserts two coils into the ridges of the mold.","He transfers it to a vat filled with a ceramic fiber mixture.","A powerful vacuum pump pulls the mixture into the mold, filling all the crevices.","The vacuum then draws out the moisture.","The coils are now embedded in a ceramic cake.","This cake bakes in an oven overnight and solidifies, encasing and insulating the heating coils.","A worker cuts the solid ceramic-fiber block in two, creating two separate heating modules.","He trims them so they fit neatly in the furnace chamber.","A computerized router cuts out other insulation pieces to fit the rest of the furnace chamber.","This ceramic brick is a threshold insulator.","This piece is a surround for the furnace door.","A team now puts all the ceramic fiber pieces together in a metal framework.","The heating element blocks form the sides of the furnace chamber.","They thread the wires from the coils through the back panel.","They insert the side and back panels in the framework.","They assemble the other ceramic fiber parts to form an insulated chamber.","They screw the framework tight, and this nestles the ceramic-fiber walls more closely together.","They tuck the threshold insulator into place, completing the laboratory furnace's heated chamber.","A technician now places the furnace's electric heating control panel in the lower cabinet.","He fastens it to the metal cabinet with screws.","He wires the temperature-control board to a touch screen and connects the power supply for the touch screen.","He installs a stainless steel shelf on top, towards the front.","He screws the front panel that houses the touch screen to the cabinet.","He adds the top panel that the furnace chamber will sit on.","He assembles the metal surround for the furnace chamber to the control cabinet, then slides the furnace chamber into place.","Moving to the open back, he wires the heating elements for power and inserts a temperature sensor into a hole in the center of the chamber.","He assembles a connector block, which will relay the sensor signal to the controller.","He encloses the back with another metal panel.","The next technician hinges the door to the metal surround.","The door is a metal structure that's filled with many layers of ceramic-fiber insulation.","He lowers and raises the door to confirm that it operates smoothly.","This metal cover is the finishing touch.","He snaps it onto the door and secures it with screws.","The laboratory furnace's thick, insulated chamber is ready to contain the extreme heat and maintain it.","And these torrid conditions are ideal for quality-control testing.","Aerogels are the lightest solid materials on earth.","They have nanosized pores that make it difficult for cold or hot air to penetrate.","Used to insulate the electronics of the mars rovers and to capture comet dust, aerogels are among the most fascinating materials.","Aerogels in shaped forms look almost like holograms.","Yet they feel like hard foam.","It's why they are often called frozen smoke or solid smoke.","Making them starts with four ingredients-- a chemical called tmos, methanol, concentrated ammonia, and water.","The technician adds measured amounts of tmos and methanol to a beaker that has a magnetic stir bead at the bottom.","He transfers the beaker to a device that generates a rotating magnetic field.","This causes the bead in the bottle to evenly mix the ingredients.","He pours the mixture into a larger beaker and adds specific amounts of water, additional methanol, and ammonia hydroxide.","As the ingredients are blended, a chemical reaction occurs.","The tmos and water react to form silica.","The chemical reaction will also cause the mixture to become a gel.","But before that happens, he quickly prepares the molds.","He pours pure methanol over a plastic grid and arranges rectangular molds over the grid.","He injects precise amounts of the silica gel mix into the molds and leaves them to gel.","During this process, the methanol under the grid evaporates, preventing excessive drying of the gels.","The mixture coagulates in just minutes, but it takes about a day for the gels to fully strengthen.","He then soaks the silica gels in methanol baths repeatedly over a period of several days.","The methanol seeps in the gel's pores to flush out impurities.","The gel pores are so minuscule they can't be seen with the naked eye.","The technician decants the used methanol into a container.","He'll send it to a recycler to remove impurities, and this will allow it to be used again in the aerogel production process.","After several days of soaking in methanol, the silica gels are purified.","They're ready for a process known as supercritical drying.","It's a process that will convert these silica gels into aerogels.","A technician places the gels in a pressure vessel.","He locks the heavy steel lid with 12 large bolts and nuts so it will hold tight against a pressure that's 100 times greater than that of the normal atmosphere.","He connects the hose that delivers liquid and carbon dioxide to the vessel.","The liquid carbon dioxide replaces the methanol in the gel's pores.","They then heat and pressurize the gels until the carbon dioxide in them becomes supercritical.","It's semiliquid, semigas.","The supercritical carbon dioxide diffuses out without collapsing the gels' solid skeletons.","This transforms the silica gels into transparent solids that are mostly air.","To demonstrate the insulating properties of the nanosized pores, they aim a blowtorch under an aerogel with a peanut butter cup on the top.","It doesn't melt.","A technician then places the aerogel on a scale to confirm its incredible low density.","This aerogel weighs less than a nickel.","Next, using a scoopula, which is a tool with a v-shaped dent, she breaks an aerogel into little pieces.","She inserts the bits into a glass tube with a bulb at the base.","She transfers the tube to a machine that measures how much nitrogen gas the aerogel bits take up at different pressures to determine the size of the pores and the surface area.","Aerogels can have other magical properties.","To demonstrate, she rubs specially treated aerogel particles on her hands.","She then plunges her hands into water.","The aerogel particles act like waterproof gloves and repel the water.","This water resistance makes aerogels useful for a variety of applications.","They can be added to paint or other things to make them waterproof and add insulating properties.","Scientists continue to explore the potential of aerogels.","A gossamer synthetic material that weighs almost nothing, there's a lot more to them than it may seem."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Prepared Mustard","Violins","Nuts and Bolts","Toilet Paper"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Prepared mustard...","Violins...","Nuts and bolts...","And toilet paper.","We eat it on hot dogs and hamburgers, on sausages and sandwiches.","No condiment cuts the mustard quite like mustard.","The ancient romans took the mustard seed to what is now france, and by the 9th century, big-time mustard production was under way.","Yellow mustard and dijon mustard have a few ingredients in common, but that's where the similarity ends.","Not only are they prepared quite differently-- they're derived from different varieties of mustard seed.","Yellow mustard is made from the seeds of the white mustard plant.","Turmeric and paprika provide the yellow color and sharp flavor.","The other ingredients are salt, water, and white vinegar.","The powdered ingredients go down a shaft to a mixing tank containing the water and vinegar.","Yellow mustard's proportions are roughly 60% water, 20% vinegar, 15% seeds, and 5% salt and spices.","The last ingredient to go in is the mustard seed-- hull, bran, and all.","The tank's rotating mixers blends the ingredients for about an hour at seed-crushing speeds reaching 165 miles per hour.","The tank's contents empty into several stainless-steel mills.","Inside each one, a pair of synthetic stones grinds the seeds, a process known as stone milling.","That grinding action heats the mixture to about 140 degrees fahrenheit.","The liquid thickens into creamy, bright yellow mustard.","Before bottling, they perform what is called a finesse test.","This ensures the mustard is smooth enough.","If its particles are larger than 9/1000 of an inch, the factory adjusts the milling stones closer together to produce a finer grind.","They make dijon mustard from brown mustard seeds, sometimes mixed with other varieties, and they usually use two types of vinegar-- cider and white.","The ingredients ferment in a tank for 12 hours before mixing.","That's what gives dijon mustard its strong flavor.","After mixing, it's the same stone-milling process we saw before.","Here's what the inside of those mills look like-- a rotating stone rubbing seeds against a stationary stone-- the same principle as an old-fashioned mortar and pestle.","Dijon is made with twice as many seeds as yellow mustard and 20% less water, which is why it comes out thicker and denser and needs the occasional stir.","Filters screen out any particles larger than 9/100 of an inch.","The factory saves these coarse pieces to put into specialty mustards.","Now the creamy, smooth dijon mustard goes into a stainless-steel tank.","A slow-speed revolving mixer removes the air, which would otherwise turn it brown and dull its flavor.","The yellow mustard tanks also have mixers to remove air and to keep the condiment well-blended.","Both dijon and yellow mustard have to cool overnight before bottling.","From start to finish, it takes about 20 hours to produce yellow mustard, and about 32 hours for dijon because of its fermentation period.","Yellow mustard has a 15-month shelf life, while dijon stays fresh for a year.","Both should be refrigerated after opening to preserve their flavor.","Mustard is a condiment that even health-conscious eaters can enjoy.","It packs a lot of flavor in just a few calories.","Mustard contains a small amount of fat, somewhat more if the manufacturer uses oil in the recipe, but it's still a cholesterol-free food.","The violin was developed in the 1500s, evolving from a series of guitar-like instruments that musicians played with a bow.","While the violin is best known for classical and gypsy music, today you hear it in pop, country, bluegrass, even jazz.","First they cut a piece of maple, then split it in half to expose the grain in mirror image.","They melt down glue flakes made from animal hide, then bond the pieces together.","Violin makers only use glue, never nails or screws.","These pieces of wood will form the back of the violin.","After four hours, the glue is dry, and they can remove the clamps.","Using a small plane, they even out the surface.","Then they trace the violin's shape and cut it out.","They shave the surface sculpting a downward slope from the middle using an even smaller plane.","Then they carve a groove along the circumference.","After dabbing it with glue, they insert what's known as purfling, a reinforcement made from a thin strip of hardwood, usually maple.","Finally, they carve the reverse side to the right form and thickness.","Next they make the sides of the violin, known as the ribs.","First they soak thin strips of maple or sycamore and press them against a heated bending iron to curve them.","Then they glue the strips around a form, connecting them at the top and bottom, and at the corners with small blocks of wood.","They clamp everything together and let the glue dry for four hours.","Next they glue thin strips of wood called counter-ribs onto the edge of the ribs.","This enlarges the surface so that it's easier to glue the ribs and the back together.","They make the violin's front, or belly, from a solid piece of spruce.","To the underside, they glue a spruce support bar called the base bar.","Sound escapes through the two curved slots called f-holes.","They cut out and carve the violin's neck and scrolled head from a piece of maple.","Then they glue it to the body.","They sculpt the fingerboard from ebony, a hardwood durable enough to withstand centuries of a violinist's fingering.","Using a tool called a peghole reamer, they make the holes for the ebony or rosewood pegs around which the strings are wound.","They coat the wood with four or five coats of varnish, depending on the color, then polish it with several coats of oil over several days until the finish is shiny and silky-smooth.","Next they insert the sound post.","This little cylinder conducts sounds and supports the belly against bowing pressure, so it's critical to position it in precisely the right spot between the belly and the back.","It's not glued, but rather wedged into place.","The bridge isn't glued either.","It's held in place by the pressure of the four strings, which they feed through the ebony tailpiece and wind onto the pegs.","The bridge has little notches in which the strings sit.","The violin is finished.","They make the bow from horsehair and a high-quality brazilian wood called pernambuco.","They bind the hairs at one end with strong sewing thread, then burn them and seal them with wax to prevent fraying.","This end goes into the frog, the wooden box at the bottom, or heel, of the bow.","They cover the frog with the mother-of-pearl lining, then slip on a ring made of nickel, silver, or gold to prevent the hairs from tangling.","Next comes the screw that controls the tension of the hairs.","They comb the hairs to make them parallel, then insert them into the tip of the bow, known as the head.","They tighten the screw until the hairs are taut.","Finally they rub on rosin, a sticky pine-tree resin that keeps the bow from slipping off the strings.","At \"how it's made,\" we pride ourselves in showing you the nuts and bolts of how everyday items are made, so it's about time we visited a real nuts-and-bolts operation.","We sure couldn't do without these tiny but essential pieces of hardware.","If only they weren't so darn easy to lose.","Nuts and bolts are made from what's called steel wire rod.","After spending up to 30 hours in a furnace to make it pliable, the wire rod goes into a bath of sulfuric acid to remove any rust particles.","It's rinsed in water then coated with phosphate, a chemical compound.","This prevents the steel from rusting before the bolt forming begins and lubricates the steel to make forming easier.","They form the bolts by cold forging, shaping the steel at room temperature by forcing it through various dies at high pressure.","The forming machine first straightens the wire rod, then cuts it into pieces slightly longer than the bolt length.","The extra will become the bolt head.","Each piece goes through a die that makes it perfectly round, then through a series of dies that progressively shape the head of the bolt on one end.","The machine heads up to 300 bolts per minute.","Here's what the heading stages look like in slow motion.","This die creates a slight collar.","The next one turns it into a round head.","Then the last one transforms that into a hexagonal head-- the most common shape.","Next the machine forms the opposite end of the bolt.","A tool called the pointer shapes the bottom of each bolt, creating what's called the chamfer, the part the nut catches on to.","Here's the bullet before and after the chamfer.","The bolt needs threads to enable the nut to screw onto it.","Once again, they use the cold forging method.","High-pressure rollers press in the thread pattern...","As we see here in slow motion.","This is the actual speed, up to 300 bolts per minute.","During each production run, they take several samples to verify dimensions.","They use various measuring devices-- a micrometer to check the bolt's length, calipers to measure the width of the head, and a ring gauge to check the threads.","To make the nuts, they use a process called hot forging.","They cut steel bars into small pieces known as slugs, then heat them to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit to make them malleable.","As we see here in slow motion, hydraulic cameras punch the slugs into hexagons, while a die pierces the hole.","Then a tool called a tapper drives into the hole to cut the threads.","That black liquid is a lubricant oil to minimize wear and tear on the tappers.","The nuts and bolts now go into an oven at 1,600 degrees fahrenheit for about an hour.","This gives them the required strength.","Then a rapid cooling in oil for five minutes to solidify the steel's internal structure.","By now the steel is hard, but brittle, so they heat the nuts and bolts for another hour.","This removes their brittleness yet maintains their strength.","The quality-control team pulls samples off the line, measuring how much force it takes to break them.","If a bolt meets its minimum strength requirement, it passes inspection, provided the break occurred in the threading-- the weakest part.","Finally packaging-- labeled, among other things, by size and grade.","Toilet paper is probably the most indispensable item in your home.","After all, it's not something you want to run out of at the wrong time.","Most of us probably take our rolls of toilet paper for granted.","So you may be surprised to learn that bathroom tissue, as it's properly called, is a relatively new invention.","The vikings used wool.","The ancient romans employed sponges, and french royalty wiped with lace.","Then in 1857, an american entrepreneur figured that people had had enough of using leaves, corncobs, newspapers, and mail-order catalogs, so he invented therapeutic paper, as he so tastefully named it.","Toilet paper only came in piles of pre-cut sheets until 1890.","That's when one company introduced bathroom tissue on a roll.","Ever wonder where all that recycled paper goes?","Well, look no further than your bathroom.","Many brands of toilet paper begin as recycled paper.","The bales of paper drop down into the pulper, a giant tank with an agitator, similar to a washing machine.","It mixes the paper in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes, transforming it into what's known as pulp and screening out all the bits of metal and plastic.","Now they have to take out the ink.","The ink-removal system injects the pulp with air.","Ink particles attach to the air bubbles, which rise to the top.","The system then skims off the foam, leaving the pulp ink-free.","Next the pulp passes through a series of rollers, which squeeze out the water.","This dries out the soggy pulp, enabling it to absorb the chemicals they'll use to bleach it.","Revolving knives now chop up the pulp to prepare it for the bleaching process, the details of which are a closely guarded trade secret.","The bleach turns the gray pulp a pure white.","The company says it does this without using chlorine or other toxic chemicals.","They spread the wet pulp onto a flat screen that runs through a hot dryer.","In less than a second, the pulp dries into a delicate paper 4/1000 of an inch thick.","Each spool holds close to 47 miles of paper.","That spool now feeds a machine with rollers that emboss a pattern, in this case a waffle print.","The pattern isn't just aesthetic.","It also makes the paper thicker and therefore more absorbent.","Elsewhere in the factory, production is rolling, so to speak, with two strips of cardboard, each 3 inches wide.","The machine coats the underside of the top strip with glue, then winds the two strips diagonally to create a continuous cardboard tube.","The machine then cuts the tube in 65-inch lengths.","The tubes ride an elevator to the toilet paper zone.","There, two giant spools of paper feed what's called the winding machine.","The two sheets come together to form a two-ply toilet paper.","The paper then winds onto a cardboard tube, creating a super-wide roll of toilet paper.","When the roll is full, a blade automatically cuts the paper, and winding resumes on the next tube.","The machine automatically seals the end of the roll with glue to prevent unraveling.","A circular saw slices the super-wide toilet paper roll into 16 standard rolls, 4 inches wide.","The toilet paper is finished and ready for packaging.","This batch is for commercial use.","Each roll is individually wrapped in paper.","Check out this slow-motion wrapping action.","Toilet paper destined for residential use gets wrapped in transparent plastic, 4 to 30 rolls per package."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Heated Skate Blades","Gliders","Hand Bells","Fire Hoses"]},"text":["Hockey skates are not all created equal.","That's why professional hockey players are always looking for ways to get that cutting edge.","They know championships are won or lost in fractions of a second, and that's when heated skate blades can make all the difference.","With a simple touch, heated skate blades are revolutionizing the game of hockey.","They give much more control and speed on the ice.","They do this using a smart board, the brain of these performance-enhancing blades.","It all starts with custom-made, stainless-steel blades.","A technician places them inside an injection-molding machine.","Liquid plastic is injected into a cavity, creating a plastic overmold.","Once bonded with the overmold, the blades are ready to receive the electronic smart board.","The smart board fits into the plastic overmold that runs along the top edge of the blade.","After removing excess plastic from the mold, the technician places the prepared blades onto a mounting tray.","He uses thermoconductive glue to ensure contact between the heating wire, the temperature-controlling smart board, and the blade overmold.","After that, the technician inserts insulating material along the entire length of the overmold so the heating wires make perfect contact with the steel.","Once the smart board is secure, the technical places the blades into a low-density injection machine that encapsulates the smart board with impact- and moisture-resistant resin.","The smart board is now waterproof.","Meanwhile, another high-pressure injection-molding machine makes the blade holders that support the finished blades.","These blade holders will be given an actual power supply-- a high-performance lithium-polymer rechargeable battery that makes heating the blades possible.","The battery will be cleverly concealed inside the heel of that molded chassis.","To do this, a technician first attaches rivets into the heels of the blade holders, then mounts the blade holders onto an automatic rivet press.","This machine pressure-punches the rivets so they will make a proper connection to the battery for recharging.","A printer heat-presses the brand name and logo on the heel.","The logo sits over the flexible proximity sensor, or the on-and-off button that a technician wraps around the battery.","Then she buries the combined unit into the heel of the blade holder to protect it from moisture and impact.","She then locks it into place.","Next, the technician attaches a threaded insert bolt to the blade overmold.","This special bolt hold the blade in place and allows for quick and easy blade changing.","The technician then connects the blade to the blade holder and presses the blade firmly into the chassis.","Then she locks all electronic and mechanical components into place.","A charging unit powers up the battery for testing.","Then the technician seals off the heel chamber to further protect the battery.","She turns on the smart board to make sure all systems are go.","An l.e.d. confirms the blades are heating properly.","In the meantime, another technician assembles the molded charging unit for the blades.","The technician hand-trims the motherboard that controls the charger so it will fit flawlessly into the charging unit.","She inserts the finished motherboard into the back of the unit and checks to make sure it works properly.","Then she snaps on an airtight cover that seals the unit, fully protecting the motherboard against wetness and shock.","Finally, she plugs in the charging unit to confirm it works.","A rechargeable battery, a manual, a convenient charging unit, and a pair of performance-enhancing skate blades complete the kit.","They heated skate blades are now ready to ship around the world.","They're quick and easy to mount on the boot, with the built-in smarts to help create the next champion.","Gliding involves flying unpowered aircraft, though some models are fitted with a small engine and propeller so they have the power to launch into the air on their own.","No matter what the model, the sport of gliding is all about the joy of using the forces of the atmosphere to fly higher, faster, and longer.","Gliders, like this model version, have three main parts--  wings, fuselage, and tail.","Workers build each part of the glider in two pieces, using resin and steel molds.","They begin with the fuselage mold.","They lay down strips of kevlar, a strong, heat-resistant material.","Then they apply epoxy resin to the kevlar fiber to reinforce it.","They leave the epoxy to dry and the next day apply strips of carbon fiber to reinforce the fuselage.","The direction in which workers lay down the fiber layers is key.","In flight, gliders are subject to strong forces that can bend and twist the structure.","They must be sturdy yet as light as possible.","The glider's tail boom gets the same treatment, except where the antenna will go, as radio signals don't penetrate the carbon fiber very well.","Workers apply a thin coat of white gel paint to the 30-foot wing mold.","Gliders are always white so they don't absorb the sun's rays and overheat.","They roll a sheet of carbon fiber over the painted mold.","Then the entire assembly team skillfully applies an even coat of resin.","They've got to be quick.","The resin cures in just 30 minutes.","They add a final layer of carbon fiber to strengthen a portion of the wing that's subject to strong wind currents.","After laying a white fleece over the layers of carbon fiber, they seal it between two sheets of plastic.","A vacuum compresses the layers, which draws excess resin to the surface where workers can remove it.","The two wing parts are glued together using the same epoxy resin that bonds and seals the carbon fibers.","Mixing in some cotton flakes helps thicken the resin, which they apply to the main spar, the wing's backbone, then to the front, back, and center portions.","Using a crane, workers carefully fit the two wing molds together.","The molds' weight forces out any excess glue.","They tightly clamp the two molds together and leave them to harden overnight in an oven heated to 140 degrees fahrenheit.","The next day, there's a loud pop when workers separate the two molds.","They carry the completed wing structure, which weighs only 132 pounds, over to another area to trim the resin overflow and sand down the seams.","Using a diamond-tip cutter, they cut the wing in two for transport, revealing its inner structure.","Then they make sure they can easily put it back together before going on to the paint shop where they reassemble it.","Workers scan the surface and mark the areas they will sand by hand.","They mount the glider's fuselage on a rotating stand so they can easily access the entire surface.","They sand it and then polish it to a mirror finish.","As workers assemble the glider, they inspect every system.","They check the engine command that lowers the glider's launch propeller and retracts it into the fuselage.","The landing gear must lower and retract smoothly out of the glider's undercarriage.","Now they reassemble the wings.","They check the air brake located in the wing.","And, finally, they install the canopy.","The glider is complete.","Sturdy yet light, this midsize model can reach speeds of nearly 186 miles per hour thanks to its sleek design.","Hand bells can be seen in church choirs, schools, and ring concerts.","There, skilled ringers read music similar to a piano score, playing all the notes found on a modern musical keyboard.","Finely crafted and tuned, hand bells will continue to entertain generations to come.","hand bells have a long tradition of making beautiful music, from church hymns to the music of beethoven.","It all starts with a casting mold that a worker encloses in a two-part container, or flask.","He fills the bottom half of the flask with special, coarse sand that's ideal for making sand molds.","He compacts the sand, and then he turns the metal flask over.","He places guide rods onto the bell shapes and fills the top part of the flask with sand.","He puts a ramming board on again, and he compacts the sand that fills the top part of the flask.","Now he removes the guide rods.","Then he removes the top half of the flask and takes out the casting mold.","He reconnects the top of the flask and then frees it completely from the sand mold.","A worker places bronze ingots into a crucible to melt them down.","He places heat-sensitive material onto the sand mold, and then heavy weights to hold the mold together safely.","When the melted bronze reaches about 2,200 degrees fahrenheit, a worker guides the crucible over to the sand mold and pours the molten metal into the cavity of the mold.","He stops pouring when he sees the heat-sensitive material smoking.","This indicates the mold cavity is filled.","Workers then use a vibrating bed and small hammers to free the finished castings from the sand mold.","Rotoblasting cleans the dirty castings.","A worker trims off the excess pieces that feed the molten metal into the bell cavity.","He sands the sharp edges of the bell and then drills the center hole for the assembly screw.","The bell casting then goes on a lathe.","Here, a carbide cutting tool, working with a stylus that follows a template of the bell, removes the coarse casting surface and makes the bell shiny.","This turning operation also shapes the bell to give it the right tone.","Another carbide cutting tool shapes the inside of the bell casting, giving it shine and the desired tuning, as well.","Using a custom-made tracing device, a worker reproduces the outside shape of the bell on paper.","He then traces the inside of the bell casting until he completes an exact replica of the inside and the outside shape.","And this must match a master template.","A worker polishes the bell using fine sandpaper.","He also puts a jeweler's finish on the inside.","Then he tests the bell's sound quality using a stroboscopic tuner and the human ear.","He re-sands the bell to make a slight tonal adjustment.","Then he tests it again to make sure it strikes the perfect musical note.","A worker gives the bell that final polish, and another craftsman engraves the bell for the customer.","Finally, a worker puts the ringer and bell together.","She puts a washer, a hand disc, and a handle onto the assembly screw and screws it all into place.","Hand bells make wonderful music in the hands of skilled ringers, whether the musical compositions are performed by an intimate gathering of friends or by a concert bell choir of 13 ringers or more.","The music made by traditional hand bells is timeless.","firefighting used to consist of passing water buckets hand to hand.","The first fire hoses of the 1600s were made of leather.","But these hoses were heavy, would crack when dry, and often break open under pressure.","Modern firefighting began with the lightweight, cotton fire hose, lined with rubber to keep the cotton dry and flexible.","Fire hoses come in a range of sizes to fulfill a range of functions-- from small, lightweight ones for fighting forest fires to large, heavy-duty hoses for industrial fires.","Production begins with hundreds of bobbins of polyester yarn, feeding automated looms a floor above.","A series of spring rods keeps the yarns under uniform tension.","This is essential to create a tight weave.","The factory programs each loom to weave specific patterns, which incorporate identifier stripes.","This is a visual guide to help workers assemble the fire hose later on.","This woven fabric will form the fire hose's exterior called the jacket.","It's got to weather some nasty conditions, so they soak it in a plastic polymer solution with dye for color.","The liquid encapsulates the fibers, making them durable and water-resistant.","At another station, they mix granules of polyurethane, a form of plastic, with white colorant and adhesive pellets.","This mixture is for making the waterproof tubing that forms the inside of the fire hose.","When they activate the adhesive in the mixture with heat, this tubing will bond to the hose-jacket fabric.","The mixer fees the ingredients to an extruder, which melts the mixture and forms it into a hollow tube.","The tube then passes through a basin of cool water to set the plastic.","Next, the tube goes to the inspection table where an automated printer prints code numbers on it for tracking purposes.","To assemble the fire hose, they first pull out an outer hose jacket over a 33-yard-long cable.","Then with another cable, they feed a second untreated hose jacket inside the first one.","Finally, they attach a cable to the third and innermost layer, the tube, and pull it along the entire length of the double jacket.","Once it's all the way through, they trim both ends.","The three layers-- outer jacket, inner jacket, and tube-- are now ready to become one.","They begin the fusing process by clamping one end of the assembled hose to a steam nozzle.","As the clamp holds the hose steady, the nozzle blasts pressurized steam into the tube.","At the same time, it moves backward, pulling out any kinks.","The hot steam melts the adhesive in the tube material, and it penetrates the inner jacket around it.","Once everything's perfectly straight, they pump in cold air to solidify the adhesive.","This permanently bonds the layers.","They roll up the finished hose into a coil, controlling the winder with a foot pedal.","Then they lay the coiled hose on a table to install the couplings.","Those are the components that attach the hose to the water supply on one end and to the spray nozzle on the other.","They trim each end and then insert a brass expansion ring and then an aluminum coupling on top.","An expansion machine does the rest.","They attack the end securely to the machine's protruding bar.","Then the bar retracts and expands, pushing the brass ring outward.","The force wedges the brass into the aluminum coupling permanently.","This company tests every fire house it produces under high pressure on this table.","After marking the type of hose with a stencil in indelible ink, they fill the hose with water.","They check for holes and kinks and verify that the couplings stay in place.","After the test, they drain the water.","They insert a giant sponge to get rid of any water left behind.","And now these new hoses are ready for their baptism by fire."]}
{"meta":{"things":["3"]},"text":["In 1895, ogden bolton jr.","Registered one of the first patents for an electric bicycle in the u.s. a century later, they've become one of the most popular electric vehicles in the world.","Using electricity to enhance performance, the e-bike is definitely in the current.","These electric three-wheel trikes combine ergonomic design with cutting-edge mechanical engineering.","A rechargeable battery powers the electric engine.","The rider sits comfortably in the ergonomic seat, places his feet on the pedals, releases the parking brake, and takes off.","The process begins with a water jet cutter.","It uses ultra-high-pressure water and sand to cut parts out of a thin aluminum sheet.","The cutter significantly enhances productivity without sacrificing precision.","It can make several parts out of a single sheet of aluminum.","Parts that are ready for assembly go to the cnc brake press for folding.","A stopper positions the piece on the v die, where a punch comes down to fold it.","A worker inspects the folded part to make sure it's ready for assembly.","A cnc bender curves aluminum extrusion tubes for the frame.","This machine has multidirectional bending capabilities and can make multiple bends to a single extrusion tube.","The trike frame assembly process starts on a jig.","Once all the tubes are in place, a welder spot-welds the aluminum brackets.","He welds about 20 spots, bonding the brackets to the tubes.","The tubes bear most of the load while the brackets keep the frame aligned.","The worker uses an electric tig-welding torch to complete the welding.","He welds at a low temperature to avoid heat deformation in the metal.","A mechanic installs thermoformed recyclable abs plastic over the back frame tubes.","He assembles the rear wheels, which have a seven-degree negative camber angle for better grip and handling.","The mechanic mounts brake levers, gear shifters, and handle grips onto the steering bar and tightens the six-point socket nuts with an allen wrench.","He applies a structural adhesive on the drop-out poles and in slots located on the front frame tubes.","The adhesive provides the flexibility and strength needed to keep the drop-out poles in position.","Now, the mechanic assembles the front and back frames together.","The two frames connect under the seat through an integrated direction pivot and suspension system.","The mechanic slips the front wheel into the drop-out poles on the frame.","He uses a calibrated torque wrench to tight the wheel nut.","He assembles the three-cog front cassette to the bottom bracket, then bolts on the pedal crank arm using a threaded taper pin system.","Next he installs the derailleur for the nine-gear cassette and bolts it on with a lock-tight bolt.","The compact drivetrain makes the trike 15% more energy-efficient than regular bicycles or tricycles.","A mechanic installs the disc brake system on the front wheel electric hub and verifies that it is functioning properly.","The seats are made of woven synthetic fabric wrapped around the frame and tightened with bungee elastics.","He locks the removable battery pack in place with a key.","A console indicates levels of electrical assistance and battery regeneration.","This trike's wheel base allows it to ride on bike paths.","When on the road, its width takes up more space.","The design of this electric trike combines stability and safety for a secure and pleasant ride.","The easiest way to treat dry skin is to spread on some skin cream.","It rejuvenates the skin cells and acts as a protective barrier.","This is particularly important in the winter, when cold outdoor air and indoor heating suck the moisture out of your skin.","If you have dry skin, it's wise to keep a good supply of skin cream on hand.","It's not just dry air that makes skin flaky and itchy.","Cancer treatments can also dry out the skin, along with other medical conditions, like diabetes.","The first ingredient is stearic acid.","It's a wax derived from palm tree oil.","The next ingredient is refined lanolin.","It's blended with isopropyl myristate, a natural oil that helps soften the stearic acid.","These ingredients make up what's called the oil-soluble phase of the recipe.","Workers heat the stearic acid until it liquefies, then add the blend of lanolin and isopropyl myristate and keep heating.","While the oil phase is heating, they prepare the water-soluble phase of the recipe.","The first ingredient is glycerin derived from a vegetable source, such as corn.","They heat and mix it, then add purified water.","They continue heating the mixture to just below the boiling point, add a floral fragrance, then pump the oil phase into the bottom of the tank.","It blends in with the water phase while naturally rising to the top.","They gradually lower the temperature.","This makes the mixture creamy and bright white.","After an hour of mixing, the skin cream is ready.","They pump it out of the mixing tank to supply tanks that feed the filling line.","This company packages its skin cream in jars for body cream and tubes for hand cream.","Workers unpack boxes of plastic jars and line them up on a conveyer belt that feeds the labeling machine.","Each jar passes a photo-eye sensor.","This sensor triggers the machines to spin the jar at the same speed as the adhesive label coming off the roll.","Workers place the labeled jars onto a turntable that feeds the filling machine.","Two single-file lanes each lead to three nozzles.","The machine fills up to 125 jars per minute, depositing 12 ounces of skin cream into each jar.","The two lanes of filled jars merge as they approach the capping machine.","The caps come down a chute to the machine's carousel.","A device called a timing screw correctly positions each jar to receive a lid.","The lower part of the machine holds the jar steady as an arm secures the lid in place.","The next station on the line applies an adhesive label onto the cap.","The jars of body cream are ready for sale.","This factory also packages hand cream in a tube that you can keep in your purse or pocket.","A mechanical arm places the tubes on a turntable, cap side down.","The bottom of each tube is open and ready for filling.","A nozzle squirts two ounces of skin cream into the tube.","Then the machine heats the open end to soften the plastic, clamps it shut, then cools the plastic to a solid state.","When you rub the cream on your skin, the key ingredients, glycerin and lanolin, pack a one-two punch.","Glycerin is hydroscopic, meaning it draws water from the air to the skin.","Lanolin smoothes the skin, forming a protective film to lock in the moisture.","Patio heaters make it possible to dine outside even when it's cold.","When this outdoor space heater is turned on, it creates a circle of warmth.","The heater can take the chill out of a cold summer evening and extend patio season well into the fall.","It's a chill day, but not on this patio.","It has its own microclimate, one that's warm and toasty.","It's all thanks to the infrared heater overhead.","To make a patio heater, an engineer first maps out the design on a computer.","He transfers the design to cutting equipment, like this laser.","It cuts screw holes and vents into steel that's covered by a protective plastic film.","The laser also cuts a part that will be shaped into the patio heater's housing.","After removing the plastic film, a worker places the steel between the jaws of a press brake.","It bends the part to form a rim around the edges.","Additional bends give the part a rounded profile.","A laser probe checks that the worker's fingers are not getting too close to the jaws.","Once all the parts have been cut and shaped, the patio heater is ready to be assembled.","A worker creates a reflector that will direct heat down and out of the unit.","Then he attaches an insulator to the reflector.","It will protect the roof and walls that the heater will be mounted to.","He inserts the insulator and reflector assembly.","The legs of the reflector assembly fit into the laser-cut holes in the housing.","He temporarily places the control box cover at the end of the housing.","Then he aligns and welds a side panel to the housing.","He welds a second panel to the other side.","After covering the assembly with protective plastic again, he grinds down the welded seam.","This gives the patio heater unit cleaner edges.","He buffs the seams to a low sheen using a cloth wheel and polishing paste.","This makes the seams blend in with the steel.","The burner is next.","It's made of steel but has a ceramic grill with hundreds of tiny holes.","This contoured pattern allows heat to radiate in all directions.","He tucks insulation into the heater body to protect it from the hot burner.","Then he installs the burner on top of the insulation.","It fits snugly to the reflector and insulator framework.","He places a separator at one end of the burner, leaving a space for a control box and gas line.","He inserts the control box and connects the gas line to the burner.","He attaches the spark igniter and temperature sensor to the separator.","He secures the burner to the main assembly with screws.","He tucks the electronic controls into the control box and connects all of the wiring.","He seals the control box with a metal plate and rubber gasket.","This makes the electronics watertight.","Finally, he adds a vented panel to the top of the controls and a metal grill to the rest of the heater.","Over at a test station, a technician powers up the heater using a remote-control system.","He checks for gas leaks or blockages and confirms that the temperature rises in response to the remote control's commands.","This patio heater has passed all of the tests and is now ready for the outside world, where people are sure to be attracted to its warm glow.","In the early days of the automobile, wheels had wood spokes and rims.","But by the 1920s, manufacturers began using more durable materials, like iron and steel.","Today, wood-spoke wheels are used in classic-car restoration.","In the early 1900s, cars had wood-spoke wheels.","When those antique vehicles need new wheels, collectors turn to wheelwrights.","They can build wood-spoke wheels just as it was done a century ago.","Production starts with the steel rim that wraps around the wood wheel.","The steel spins in a lathe as stationary tools cut it to the correct profile and create a lip for gripping the rubber tire.","A worker measures the rim to confirm it's the same as the original.","You can see the difference the machining has made.","Another member of the team measures the moisture content of hickory wood and selects boards that are sufficiently dried.","He traces a rough pattern of a wheel spoke and cuts along the penciled lines.","This gives him a basic shape to work with.","Next he selects a more exact pattern.","He clamps this pattern in a wood carving duplicator alongside four of the rough spokes.","He follows the contours of the pattern with a tracing wheel.","The tracing wheel moves cutting tools that carve the hickory.","This duplicates the profile of the wheel spoke pattern.","He sands off marks left by the cutting tools and smoothes the surface of the newly formed spokes.","Then he secures the spokes one at a time in a jig.","This steadies the spokes as he cuts the wider ends into a wedge shape.","Together, two wheelwrights arrange the spokes in a wheel formation.","The wedges fit together at the center like pieces of a pie.","They tighten clamps to bring the spokes into perfect alignment.","One of the wheelwrights inserts a steel hub in the center hole.","He drills holes into the wood and inserts bolts to secure the steel hub.","Using a tool that's like a big pencil sharpener, he carves the ends of the spokes, creating dowels.","Dowels are peg-like fasteners.","He sands the dowels on an angle to create a gentle slope in each one.","These slopes make it easier to slide the spokes into the two-part wood rim.","Using a special tool, the team stretches the rim and pulls the spokes into position.","Then they insert the doweled ends of the spokes into the holes.","This process is difficult.","One wrong move, and they could damage the spokes or rim.","But thanks to their skill, the wood-spoke wheel comes together.","All of the parts are intact, and the spokes are firmly secured in the rim.","A wheelwright measures the circumference of the wood rim and calculates how much will need to be trimmed off.","He shaves down the wheel, adjusting the circumference to the desired dimension.","The wheel must be slightly larger than the outer steel rim.","You'll see why next.","They place the steel rim over an intense gas flame and cover it with a piece of metal.","The heat causes the steel rim to expand.","After about 15 minutes, the wheelwright removes the cover.","He grips the hot rim with tongs and transfers it to the wood wheel.","The enlarged steel rim fits loosely around the outside of the wooden wheel.","They now spray the steel with cold water.","As the rim cools, it shrinks to the hickory wood, creating a permanent bond.","The wheelwright shaves the spokes down to make them look more streamlined.","He sands the wood to enhance the grain.","It took 16 hours to make this wood-spoke wheel.","It's brand-new, but looks like a thing of the past."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carbon Fibre Car Parts","Hand Dryers","Recycled Polyester Yarn","Fleece"]},"text":["Carbon-fiber car parts, such as bumpers and spoilers, are nearly as strong as steel ones, and yet they're 1/5 the weight.","Of course, a car that weighs less accelerates more quickly and burns less gas, so carbon fiber offers style that actually does go that extra mile.","Custom spoilers, bumpers, and other parts make a vehicle more aerodynamic.","When the parts are made of carbon fiber, they create this effect without the hindrance of extra weight.","It's easy to get carried away with all the extras.","Yes, that is a miniature basketball court in the trunk of this car.","Carbon-fiber parts are made of fabric that's tightly woven with very fine threads of virtually pure carbon.","To transform the material into a rigid car part, they begin with paste wax.","They brush it into the crevices of a fiberglass mold.","This mold is for a car rocker panel.","The wax seals the mold and also serves as a nonstick coating.","They protect the lip of the mold with masking tape.","Then they spray a second nonstick substance, polyvinyl alcohol, into the fiberglass form.","Now they're ready for the carbon-fiber material.","They unroll it and spray it with adhesive.","Despite the nonstick coatings, they'll want this fabric to stick to the mold for a while.","The glue will gradually dissolve into the material.","They press the glued carbon-fiber material onto the lip of mold.","After all, they don't want any wrinkles in this job.","This material has yet to gain its steely strength, so they easily trim the excess.","They layer the fabric seven times, again following the lines of the mold.","They apply a permeable material called flow media to the carbon-fiber layers.","They place plastic mesh on top of the flow media and tuck it into the curves of the mold.","They frame the layers with double-sided tape which sticks because this area was taped off earlier to protect it from the nonstick spray.","This strong double-sided tape is called butyl tape.","They drape a plastic bag over the mold and press the edges to the butyl tape for an airtight seal.","They pleat the bag and close the pleat with more tape.","The pleats give the plastic bag some slack.","They push the folds into every crevice of the mold, then turn on a vacuum.","As the vacuum sucks the air out, the bag compresses the layers in the mold.","Meanwhile, they activate some plastic resin with a chemical catalyst.","They place a hose in the resin.","The other end is attached to the vacuum bag.","As the vacuum continues to draw air out of the bag, it pulls the resin into it.","The resin saturates the seven layers of carbon fiber to laminate them into the shape of the car part.","After the part cures, it's ready to come out of the mold.","Cleaning it up reveals the solid union of epoxy resin and layers of carbon-fiber fabric.","Carbon fiber can be molded into almost any vehicle accessory.","Its versatility is one of its strengths.","Painted to match the vehicle, the parts blend with the steel, adding some aerodynamic flash to this road show.","Public washrooms often have electric hand dryers.","Many prefer them over paper-towel dispensers for environmental reasons-- no trees killed and no waste.","Hand dryers also require less maintenance because there's no garbage bin to empty and no need to restock the machine with clean paper towels.","This new-generation model dries hands in 10 seconds and uses 80% less energy than conventional hand dryers.","A sensor turns the unit on and off automatically.","A circuit board with a microprocessor runs everything.","The assembler builds a strip of eight control boards at a time.","They go into a track that first runs through a chemical cleaning.","This preps them for soldering.","The boards then flow through molten solder.","As it cools and solidifies, it fuses the components in place.","An inspector scrutinizes every board, then, wherever necessary, does soldering touch-ups by hand.","Finally, they separate the eight control boards.","Working a board at a time now, they plug in and test an infrared sensor.","The sensor shoots a continuous beam to the area below the air outlet.","The testing machine uses a strip of metal to represent hands.","When the strip cuts the beam, it triggers the dryer to start.","When it departs, the beam is restored, triggering the dryer to stop.","To produce the air flow, a motor spins a blower wheel at a rate of 20,000 revolutions per minute.","After connecting the blower and motor, they slip them into the unit's plastic inner housing.","They add a rubber gasket to lessen vibration noise then close up the housing.","Next comes this electrical heating element.","Its coils will heat the air as it passes.","After applying mandatory electrical warning stickers, they install the circuit board on a mounting bracket, then connect the bracket to the housing.","Then they connect the wires coming from the heating element and the motor to the control board.","Now they send the unit to the testing area for, quite literally, a dry run.","They make sure it turns on and off properly.","They check the blowing force, the air temperature, the voltage.","Elsewhere in the factory, they work on the hand dryer's outer housing.","It's cast from zinc.","After it comes out of the mold, they polish it with a buffing wheel to prep the surface for painting or chrome plating.","In the plating tank, they run a positive electrical charge to chunks of metal and a negative charge to the zinc cover.","This draws metal particles through the water like a magnet onto the surface of the cover in a thorough and even layer.","For this model, they first plate the cover in copper...","Then nickel...","Then chrome.","The underlay metals are required for the chrome to adhere.","Once the plating's done, they clean the cover...","Apply an arrow sticker pointing to the air outlet...","Then glue on a plate with the name of the manufacturer and model.","The inside unit, attached to a wall plate now, fits right inside.","They fasten the cover using tamper-proof screws, then shine it up with a few squirts of window cleaner.","These hand dryers come in a wide range of finishes, letting you dry your hands in style.","The recycling of plastic bottles is changing the fabric of society because those bottles are being turned into polyester yarn.","The recycled polyester yarn is woven into material that's used to make socks, fleeces, and other things.","It puts a whole new spin on polyester.","Polyester is made from oil, so recycling means we get more mileage from our precious resource.","They convert polyester manufacturing waste on the left and plastic bottles into chip form.","Pulses of hot air toss the chips, giving them hard shells.","They go through a dryer to get rid of moisture that would weaken the final product.","The shells keep them from sticking together, aiding the drying process.","A worm screw moves the chips through heated pipes, which melt them into a thick liquid.","This molten recycled polyester is now ready to be turned into yarn.","It will be pressed through this die plate that looks as lot like a shower head.","It's part of a device called the spin pack, which also includes a mesh filter...","A metal distribution plate...","And bits of shattered metal for extra filtration.","It's important to screen out impurities that might compromise the recycled product.","They screw the cap onto the spin pack and insert a metal connector piece.","They preheat the pack so the polyester won't harden as it flows through it.","Then they transfer it to one of the openings from which the liquid polyester flows.","There are dozens of these openings, all capped by a spin pack.","68 tiny holes in each disk shape the recycled polyester into filaments.","They cool and harden as they exit.","Each one is five times finer than a single human hair.","Some of it breaks during equipment stops and starts, and that goes into a big box to be recycled again.","The rest converges and funnels into a guide, which bundles all the strands into one yarn.","The yarn travels around rollers into a compartment where air buffets the yarn to entangle the filaments.","This holds them together.","A spool then racks up the yarn at a speed of 125 miles per hour.","Next, an autonomous vehicle pulls up, the spools move into position, and a long spindle emerges from the automated vehicle to collect them for more processing.","They group a sample from every production run with strands of black yarn which allows the lighter yarn to stand out.","They fray both ends of the yarns with a razor so they'll be easier to examine under a microscope.","The technician projects the magnified image onto a screen and counts the number of filaments.","At this point, the yarn is stiff like dental floss, but that's about to change.","This machinery pulls the polyester yarn over heated rubber rollers.","The process stretches it and realigns the molecules.","More equipment twists it, and then it's taken up by automated spools.","Now this recycled polyester yarn is less like dental floss and more like wool.","From plastic bottles and manufacturing waste, to polyester yarn, this transformation has taken just a couple of weeks.","This recycled yarn is now ready for the material world, making consumerism a less wasteful thing.","The invention of polyester fleece in the 1980s changed the way we dress for the cold.","Instead of heavy and constricting clothing, we can now layer with lightweight fleece.","Its texture gives us that warm, fuzzy feeling, and so does the philosophy behind it because it's often woven with recycled yarn.","From trash to textile, today's fleece offers warmth from waste because it's partly knit with yarn made from soda bottles and other discarded plastic.","The recycled yarn looks and feels exactly the same as the virgin kind.","They both unwind into a huge, circular knitting machine.","It knits a lot faster than grandma, so we've slowed down the video to given you a good look at the knitting action.","Hundreds of tiny needles grab and stitch the recycled and virgin yarns together to create a perpetual tube of material.","This machine generates three feet of polyester every two minutes.","Big metal brackets flatten the knitted tube so it can be taken up by a spool.","Inspectors check for any major flaws.","If necessary, they'll halt production until the problem can be fixed.","Then it's over to the laundry department, where a cylindrical machine washes and dries the material.","It then dyes the fabric under pressure and adds a water-repellent chemical to the fabric.","After another wash and dry, equipment funnels the polyester into a holding bin.","They feed the long polyester tubing through a device that twists it to wring out the rest of the water.","As the knitted tube exits the twister, a circular cutter slits it, turning it into a sheet.","The sheet of fabric is thin and not fleecy at all at this point.","One side is a smooth knit, while the other is rougher.","It has thousands of tiny loops.","Cylindrical wire brushes will transform this polyester into fleece in a process called napping.","Each brush spins at a different speed.","It's all carefully calculated to break the knitted loops without tearing the fabric.","The napped side of the material is now fuzzy and fleecy.","The smooth side of the fabric winds around a second set of spinning brushes.","They pull fibers through from the fleecy side to evenly distribute them on both sides.","The double brushing increases the fabric's thickness fivefold and builds air pockets into the fleecy pile for insulation, all this without adding weight.","A spiraling blade then shears the fibers to a uniform length to prevent pilling, which looks bad and can compromise those insulating air pockets.","Each production run undergoes a battery of tests, like this one for water repellents.","If the water doesn't soak into the fleece, it's a pass.","In another test, they insert scratchy nylon strips in the head of the tool.","As it spins, it rubs the fabric the wrong way.","The test simulates wear and tear and determines whether the fleece will resist pilling.","They try to set fire to a swatch that has flame-resistant fibers woven into it.","The fleece smolders and then extinguishes the flame.","Once the fleece has passed all the tests, production resumes.","Grippers pull it along the edges to stretch it to the desired width.","Steam rises to heat-set the fabric to its new measurement.","And now this batch of fleece is ready to sew.","They fold is for transport to the clothing factory.","In its various colors and textures, this high-tech fabric will help protect you against the forces of nature.","And with its recycled content, it also gives nature a bit of a break."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Scuba Diving Lights","Interchangeable Sandals","Race Car Simulators","Fibreglass Doors"]},"text":["A dive light is essential when scuba diving at night, but can also be used for daytime dives to explore underwater caves and shipwrecks.","The deeper you dive, the more water absorbs certain colors in the light spectrum.","When you use an artificial light, you can see the underwater world in true color.","The dive light is waterproof to a depth of 295 feet.","It's brighter than a car headlight, with six outer l.e.d. lights for floodlighting and three inner l.e.d.s for alternate spotlighting.","The dive light begins as a conceptual drawing.","The mechanical designer sketches out its basic features and a few proposed shapes.","Then the company creates foam models.","Scuba divers test these models and provide feedback on the comfort of each shape.","This market research results in the final design-- a compact, hand-mounted dive-light with a user-friendly operating switch and three l.e.d. battery-life indicators.","The housing's components are made of durable plastic pellets, reinforced with glass fiber.","Workers load the pellets into an injection molding machine.","The machine melts them and shoots the molten plastic into the proper mold for the component they are making.","The machine then cools the plastic to a solid state and injects the newly formed part.","This is the reflector.","It combines the light from the six outer l.e.d.s into a single beam.","It's coated in aluminum to increase the amount of light it reflects.","A 3-d printer produces prototypes for all of the parts before they are manufactured.","Guided by a computer, the printer shoots out plastic to build the part in three dimensions from the bottom up.","Once the prototype is approved, they make a mold for mass production.","This part is called the light pipe.","It has oval covers for the three l.e.d. battery-life indicators and a waterproof seal.","Once all the housing parts are molded, assembly can begin.","They insert the light pipe into the main body of the housing.","Then they attach a switch, which turns the light on and off.","It also toggles the light between spotlight and floodlight modes.","They don't need to pierce the housing to connect the switch.","The switch slides a magnet over the outside of the housing.","The magnetic field communicates through the housing to sensors inside.","Next they insert and connect the circuit board...","Then the lithium-ion rechargeable battery.","They plug its connector into the circuit board.","This cover holds the internal parts in correct alignment.","A silicone o ring forms a watertight seal between the main body and the light head.","They snap the reflector over the nine l.e.d.s, which are attached to a round circuit board.","The circuit board is metal so that it will absorb the heat the l.e.d. lights generate.","The screw-on aluminum bezel makes contact with the circuit board, transferring the heat out of the housing and into the water.","They conduct the first quality-control test in water.","The dive light is turned on to verify that it will run for 65 minutes on a full charge.","In the second quality-control test, they submerge the dive light in a pressurized tank.","This simulates the pressure the light would be subjected to at an underwater depth of about 300 feet.","That's over twice the diving depth of a typical recreational dive.","If the light doesn't spring a leak, it passes the test.","They fully recharge the battery, which takes two and a half hours.","At full charge, all three indicators light up green.","As the charge drains, the indicators change from green to orange to red, then to flashing red, so scuba divers are never in the dark about how much juice is left in their light.","Interchangeable sandals come with numerous ties that can be used to customize the look of a pair of heels.","The mix-and-match possibilities are endless.","The wearer can try out many different styles on a small budget.","With interchangeable footwear, you can change the look without actually changing your shoes.","With a variety of cloth and leather strappings to choose from, a pair of sandals can be made to look different each time you wear them.","To make a pair of interchangeable sandals, they start with a piece of hardwood, like cherry, walnut, or maple.","The employee cuts the wood to a workable size.","Then computer-driven routers carve the rough shape of the sandals' heels, making two heels from a single block.","The router sculpts a cup for the wearer's heel and carves a supportive structure for the arch of the foot.","The router then shaves the sides of the heels and exposes the grain of the wood.","Then a worker takes over, cutting away excess wood with a band saw.","She rounds the back of the heels and further refines the structure.","She now has a pair of heels.","Another team member brushes rubber cement onto the soles.","They are made of both natural and synthetic rubber.","She applies glue to the heels, too.","She presses the heels to the rubber soles.","The glue takes 40 minutes to dry.","Faux leather, backed by cushy padding, is used to make the footbed.","This material is similar to what is used to make flip-flops.","The worker transfers the footbeds to a silk-screen work station.","She lowers a stencil with the company's logo on it.","She applies acrylic ink and squeegees the ink across the stencil to transfer the imagine to the faux-leather footbeds.","Another employee threads strong nylon cording through the holes in the footbeds to create loops for the interchangeable ties.","He presses rivets into the footbed to hold the loops in place.","Then he attaches the second part of the rivets to the protruding shafts.","Using the special press, he flattens the rivets to secure them to the footbed.","The loops are now firmly attached and should hold up to frequent tying.","Another worker now glues the footbeds to the soles and heels.","Next, she glues the rubber heel caps to the bottoms of the shoes.","The caps provide tread and make the shoe more durable.","A worker then sands the sides of the sandals, blending all the layers together.","He buffs the sides against a fine grit abrasive to give the surface a nice sheen.","Then he rubs an oil-based sealer into the wooden heels.","This protects the wood from moisture and also accentuates the grain.","It's time to test the ties.","She threads the ribbons through the loops.","They're good to go.","With many colorful ties to choose from, these interchangeable sandals are many shoes in one.","Racecar simulators help train racecar drivers off the track.","They provide realistic visuals and sensations-- bumps, jolts, swerves-- whatever movement you'd feel if you were sitting in the driver's seat of a real racecar.","This racecar simulator can be programmed to produce a range of racing scenarios and weather conditions.","It can replicate any car on any track.","First, a computer-guided laser cuts many of the simulator's parts from steel sheets.","After workers sand the rough areas, a machine reads the final shape with a laser to make sure the part meets specifications.","If a part requires bending, it is done with a press.","This is one of the side brackets for the driver's seat.","The simulator's main structure is made primarily of steel tubing.","They saw the lengths required.","Then a computer-guided mill drills holes for the bolts that will later be used to attach the simulator's components.","Once all the steel tubes are ready, a welder puts them in a jig to align them correctly for assembly.","The structure's tubular parts are welded together.","Then the worker adds the simulator's sheet-steel parts and sprays the structure with industrial-grade paint.","Now they mount an audio speaker and amplifier for the vibration system.","Motion controllers that move the steering wheel and driver's seat are also added.","They install the power distribution block and a sub-controller for each of the two actuators.","They install the cables required for the simulator's components and plug them into a usb hub.","Then they install the computer and plug it into the usb hub, as well.","They cover the top of the structure with a textured aluminum panel.","They bolt the bottom of the actuators to the structure and plug them into the sub-controllers inside.","Then they mount the driver's seat and bolt the top of the actuators to the back of it.","A worker installs the seat belt, along with the spring mechanism that yanks the belt back when you hit the brakes.","They close in the sides of the main structure with aluminum panels.","Next they assemble the simulator's three pedals-- gas, brakes, and clutch-- and mount the clutch mechanism to it.","The pedal assembly is installed to the base of the steering frame.","They mount the dashboard to the top of the frame.","It's made of carbon fiber and contains the computer and audio controls.","They attach the steering frame to the main structure.","Then they assemble the steering wheel.","Inside its base is a circuit board that controls the buttons on the wheel and gear shift.","It's called the shift paddle.","They mount the shift paddle to the base...","Then flip it over to attach the wheel.","Next workers assemble the display frame.","It holds the simulator's three monitors and three front speakers.","Then they roll in the rest of the simulator and plug the monitors and speakers into the computer.","Finally, the steering wheel is mounted to the dash.","It snaps in and out, allowing the driver to easily switch between steering wheel models.","The simulator is run through several days of test drives before it ships out.","Amusement parks also purchase these simulators to offer visitors a racecar driving experience.","They can even link multiple simulators together to race against each other in virtual replicas of the world's most famous racetracks.","In the 1980s, fiberglass doors came on the market.","They were well-insulated and didn't warp in humid conditions like wood doors.","However, they lacked the beauty and texture of real wood.","That's now changing with technology that can make fiberglass doors look much more inviting.","Fiberglass doors trick the eye and fool visitors.","Even up close, they look like real wood.","It's an illusion made possible with the help of technology.","A wood-grain fiberglass door starts with a real wood door.","A computerized cutter carves various panels.","An employee sands away any marks left by the cutter.","He gently scrapes the wood with a wire brush to expose the grain.","He then assembles the panels of the door within a special fixture.","Another team member scans the wood door with a laser to confirm its dimensional accuracy.","With that confirmation, they're ready to use this wood door to make a fiberglass one.","Next the worker pours a special silicone mixture onto the wood and leaves it to cure overnight.","This step was demonstrated using a smaller section of the door.","The silicone picks up all the definition of the wood grain, creating an exact copy of the door.","Next an employee injects a different silicone mixture into a thin gap between the recently created silicone copy and a sheet of steel.","The second silicone door copy is thinner, allowing for a better transfer of heat during the next process.","They load the door copy, still on the steel sheet, into a chemical deposition chamber.","The chemical heats the steel and the silicone, causing a nickel-vapor shell to form.","The nickel shell has all the detail of the original wood door.","An employee files the edges and adds a protective fiberglass cover over the top of the shell.","Workers then lower the nickel shell into a mold base.","They remove the protective cover and are ready to use the nickel shell to mold fiberglass door veneers.","There are many nickel molds and a variety of door styles at this factory.","The fiberglass material now unwinds into a cutting station.","A worker slices it into uniform strips.","The fiberglass has a dough-like consistency at this stage.","He places a stack of fiberglass strips on the nickel door mold and lowers a hot press.","The press squeezes and melts the fiberglass.","It flows into the crevices of the mold.","The fiberglass solidifies quickly.","An employee removes it from the press and sands the ragged edges.","Another member of the team confirms that the width and thickness of the panel are on target.","They stain every first-run fiberglass panel to expose the transferred wood grain.","This is a test.","If the grain is good, it means there are no defects in the nickel door mold.","It's time to assemble the fiberglass door.","Rollers apply glue to external framing wood.","The team builds a frame around the fiberglass door skin.","They join the wood to plastic casing at the top and bottom of the door.","They place a second fiberglass door skin on the top.","Then they feed the door through rollers that squeeze it together.","This activates the glue for a strong assembly.","The glue takes over 24 hours to dry.","Next they load the hollow fiberglass doors into an insulating press.","The press closes, holding the doors tightly in place.","A worker fills the hollow doors with polyurethane insulating foam.","When foam begins to overflow through the vent holes, the worker knows the doors are full.","He caps the fill hole...","And runs a finger along the doors to remove any excess foam.","Energy-efficient and stable, fiberglass doors are a great alternative to wood.","With eye-catching wood grain, they're convincing imitations."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Glass Faucets","Fire Truck Ladders","Antique Clock Restoration","Barbecue Utensils"]},"text":["Glass faucets elevate indoor plumbing to an art form.","The glass is hand-crafted in a range of shapes and patterns for visual effect.","Metal components are fused into the glass to deliver one of the necessities of modern life, running water.","Glass faucets are about both form and function.","Glass faucets have a delicate beauty, but they're stronger than they look.","The glass is very thick, allowing the faucets to hold up to heavy use.","Making a glass faucet starts with chunks of clear glass.","A glass worker loads the glass into an oven at 2,190 degrees fahrenheit.","Another worker selects black and white billets of glass to add stripes and patterns to the clear glass.","He preheats them so the glass won't shock and fracture when exposed to higher temperatures.","With a metal rod, he gathers a clump of the clear glass from the main oven.","With the chunk of glass, he picks up the preheated white cylinder, simultaneously exposing both to the flames.","This process makes the glass flexible.","Using a curved wood tool, the glass worker gathers the clear glass at the base and wraps it around the white billet, encapsulating it.","He attaches the other end of the glass to a second metal rod.","This allows the glass to stretch as he pulls it across the room.","The glass is now over 35 feet long and pencil-thin.","It starts to cool and solidify immediately as it's set down.","The glass workers tap the glass against a piece of metal to break it into 8-inch pieces called canes.","They shape another piece of clear glass by rolling it on a metal table called a marver.","The glass worker blows through the metal rod, causing the glass on the end to bubble.","It will eventually become the faucet and two handles.","He adds a layer of black molten glass to the bubble.","Another glass technician arranges the striped canes on a grooved iron plate and heats them with a torch.","Meanwhile, a glass worker rolls the hot glass bubble onto the canes, which stick together.","Then it's back into the furnace, and the white-striped canes melt into the black bubble.","Next, the craftsman rolls the glass across the marver repeatedly.","He pinches the canes at the top, closing them around the bubble.","The glass is reheated to keep it pliable as the craftsman continues to form it.","The craftsman transforms the bubble into a hollow glass tube then elongating the tube to its desired length.","Using a pincer-leg tool, he forms the end into a round handle shape while another glass worker applies heat to the glass with a torch.","This keeps the glass pliable.","He then creates a hole for a piece of metal hardware.","Then he applies molten glass to the metal hardware and inserts the hardware into the round faucet handle.","This cuts the handle free from the rest of the glass.","Using a forming tool, the craftsman refines the shape of the glass.","Next, he preheats a metal mold.","This stops the hot glass tube from fracturing as he bends it around the mold to shape it into the faucet.","Once the faucet has taken shape, it's ready to go into the annealing oven.","The glass is placed in the oven at a low temperature and then cooled.","This process removes stresses and strengthens the glass.","Meanwhile, using high-pressure water that contains fragments of garnet, a craftsman cuts steel trim rings and a display plate for the showroom.","Next, the craftsman installs the glass faucet on the display plate by threading a nut to the faucet valve.","He installs the trim rings at the base of the handles and assembles them to the display plate using the hardware that's been fused to the inside of the glass.","The craftsman uses a rag to clean the faucet of any fingerprints and smudges.","Finally, construction is complete.","This unique glass faucet is ready to make a statement.","Short fire trucks can easily access tight spaces around the scene of a fire.","That's because they're lighter and can carry more water and equipment.","However, it's difficult for smaller fire trucks to support the weight of long ladders.","To compensate, manufacturers have built longer ladders on shorter trucks.","This 108-foot-long ladder can be mounted on a single rear-axle fire truck.","Typically, a ladder longer than 75 feet requires a tandem-axle truck to support its weight.","The secret to the design of this ladder is that it's lighter, stronger, and durable.","The components are cut from sheets and tubes of high-strength steel.","Using a press brake, the machinist bends the parts, verifying the accuracy of each bend.","Once all the components are prepped, the parts are welded together, then smoothed.","This welded part is the turntable base.","It rotates the ladder 360 degrees and provides a platform for the firefighter at the controls.","This is the torque box.","It supports the aerial pedestal to which both the ladder and turntable are bolted.","To construct the ladder, technicians weld tubular rungs to vertical side rails called base beams.","They reinforce the rungs with diagonal tubes called k-braces, which provide lateral structural strength.","Welders fuse steel tubes between the base beam and the handrail to provide structural support.","Next, an inspector from an independent testing company examines the integrity of the welding.","Once the ladder passes inspection, it's put through a shot-blasting chamber, which pummels the surface with steel pellets.","This process removes metal impurities and preps the surface for painting.","Craftsmen apply two coats of primer, one top coat of color, then two clear coats of paint, sanding by hand between each application.","Next, a three-part anti-skid treatment is applied to the turntable surface-- first, a coat of glue, then an abrasive material, then a coat of sealant, which is baked in an oven for 90 minutes.","The ladder rungs are covered with snap-on non-slip covers made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic.","The ladders are stacked in four or five compact sections.","Technicians install a cable that enables the sections to extend and retract.","The cable is attached to a hydraulic cylinder.","Three telescopic sections of the aerial waterway are attached.","This tube transfers water up to the top of the ladder so when the ladder extends, so does the waterway.","This valve at the top of the waterway allows firefighters to hook up a hose to bring inside the building.","The water monitor, driven by an electric motor, directs the water flow in all directions when the aerial waterway is being used without a hose.","Next, the machinists install the turntable controls, which run the electrical power and the hydraulics that move the ladder.","Then they attach the ladder to the aerial pedestal with a huge pin.","A large bolt is inserted, which prevents the pin from sliding out of place.","This is what's referred to as a rear-mount ladder, meaning it's installed on the back of the fire truck.","When a ladder is installed behind the cab, it's called a mid-mount ladder.","Assembly of the ladder is almost complete.","Technicians bolt the turntable to the truck, then hook up the hydraulic line that operates the ladder.","They install a swivel mechanism which enables the aerial waterway to move with the ladder and turntable.","Before it leaves the factory, the ladder is put through a test run to ensure it meets the highest standards.","An antique clock can only be repaired by an expert.","This person would have either apprenticed under a clockmaker or studied timekeeping at a horology school.","In today's digital landscape, horologists are becoming a vanishing breed.","When your grandfather clock is struggling through old age, it's time for a visit to the master clockmaker.","First step-- the dial and the mechanism are placed on a stand for observation.","Two horologists inspect the clock for worn-down parts.","The mechanism contains two gear trains-- one for keeping time, and another to regulate the hammer that strikes a bell on the hour.","After the paperwork is completed, the clockmaker gets to work.","He detaches the hands and dial to gain access to the gear trains and their linked components.","He removes tiny screws to release the hands.","Then he removes pins that release the dial's four feet, located within holes in the front plate.","An artist restores the dial.","The clockmaker unscrews the cast-iron bell and begins disassembling the assortment of parts, starting with the pallets.","The pallets receive power from the clock's suspended weights and connect with the timekeeping gear train, which moves the pendulum.","The shafts of the hour, minute, and second wheels converge at the center of the largest wheel on the front plate of the mechanism.","The clockmaker disassembles these and other components.","He lifts off the front plate to strip down the inner parts.","The cables suspending the weights are made of woven brass.","The craftsman cleans all the metal parts in an ultrasonic machine.","Its high-frequency sound waves force the chemical solution into all the nooks and crannies.","He rinses the parts and dries them in jeweler's sawdust.","Each part is inspected under a magnifying glass to assess their condition.","If a part is worn, the craftsman tries to restore it to its original shape.","If it's too badly worn, he has to make a replacement with a computer-guided milling machine.","The pin at the end of a gear is called a pivot.","After measuring its diameter with a digital caliper, the clockmaker sets the disk of a filing machine to its corresponding measurement.","He places the pivot between the disk and a fine-grinding disk, filing away any rough surfaces.","Next, the craftsman works on the rear plate, hammering in brass sleeves called bushings into multiple gear holes.","He widens the bushing just enough to insert the pivot and smooths out the hole.","He inserts one end of the pivot in the rear-plate bushing, the other end in the front-plate bushing, and checks that the gear rotates smoothly.","He does the same for each pivot hole.","Then, all the parts are cleaned, and the mechanism is reassembled.","This gear on the front plate is the hour wheel.","The clockmaker attaches the hour rack, which connects to the gear train.","This system regulates the striking of the bell on the hour.","Once the mechanism is reassembled, the horologist attaches the dial to the front plate.","The dial of this clock required no restoration.","Even the original steel hands are still in good condition.","When hands are in bad shape, the clockmaker creates replicas.","When hands are missing, he makes new ones in the style of the period.","During the entire reassembly, the clockmaker wears gloves to protect the steel and brass components from the natural oils in his hands.","Restoring an antique clock can take several weeks of meticulous work.","When it's done, the clockmaker mounts the clock back on the stand, connecting the weights and pendulum, and runs a test.","the job is complete when the clock keeps time and the hammer strikes the bell to announce the hour.","cooking over an open flame calls for a serious set of tools.","Barbecue utensils are durable and designed to withstand the heat.","Built longer than regular kitchen utensils, these tools enable the chef to keep an arm's distance from the flame, making barbecuing a safe and gratifying experience.","When barbecuing, it's important to go big on tools.","These substantial utensils will hold up to the intensity of the flame while also offering precision and control.","Making barbecue utensils starts with a sheet of high-carbon stainless steel.","A laser cuts out several parts, creating turner blades.","Turner blades are broad, enabling the user to flip burgers and fillets without breaking them.","They also have slots for draining grease and juices.","A technician extracts the blades from the matrix and punches out the pre-cut drainage slots.","The turner blades are placed on a rack which lowers the blades between two coarse rollers.","An operator applies polishing compound to the rollers.","As the rollers turn, the friction rubs off stamped information from the steel mill and other blemishes.","Technicians buff the blades to a smooth, matte texture.","This gives the blades a consistent polished finish.","Next, the blade is clamped to a special carriage moving the blade back and forth as a grinding wheel carves a thin beveled edge.","The beveled edge will make it easier to lift meat off the grill.","An operator clamps the turner blade in a fixture.","A hydraulic press bends the neck of the blade.","High-grade walnut is the material used to make the utensil handles.","It's a hard, durable wood with a grain that adds visual interest.","Using a bandsaw, the operator carves the walnut block into smaller chunks.","Each one will become a handle blank.","He places the blanks on a conveyer that takes them through a spinning cutting head.","The cutting head carves a taper into the end of the handle that will hold the blade tang.","To refine the shape, a craftsman locks two handle blanks on a revolving table.","Moving the handles against a router can make the handles smoother for gripping.","It's quite a transformation.","Multiple drill heads carve rivet holes on one side.","The holes have a graduated profile to allow the rivets to sit flush to the wood.","The craftsman drills corresponding holes on the other side.","Using a circular saw, he cuts a slot for the tang-- or stem--  of the barbecue utensil to be inserted and drills one last hole for a piece of rawhide that will hang up the tool.","Next, the craftsman inserts the tang into the slot in the handle and slides a post through one of the holes.","This positions it for a female rivet to be installed from the front.","Male rivets are installed on the other side.","This completes the riveting steps and secures the handle to the turner blade.","Using a coarse sanding belt, the craftsman smooths the rivets to the wood and sands off the metal tang at the protruding sides.","Another technician rubs mineral oil into the wooden handle to give it luster and enhance the grain.","A mixture of ground corn and mineral spirits serves as a gentle abrasive cleaner.","The technician dries off the blade by plunging it into just the ground corn.","With a compressed air gun, she blasts off the corn-cob remnants, examines the tool for defects, and props up the utensil under an engraving laser.","The laser etches the company name into the metal.","This barbecue turner will become part of a set which will act as an extension of the chef's hands, making it possible to cook over an open flame without getting burned."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Accordions","Pineapples","Artificial Joints"]},"text":["The distinctive sound of the accordion appears in almost every kind of music.","The piano-style keyboard on the right-hand side produces the melody, while the buttons on the left produce the chord accompaniment.","In between are bellows that force air through reeds, producing that unmistakable accordion sound.","the accordion is a beautiful and complex instrument.","It contains up to 10 sets of steel reeds with different pitches.","Each reed set goes into a wooden block.","Under every section is an opening called a tone hole.","The bellows drives air through it, vibrating the reed above to produce a musical note.","These leather-and-plastic pads cover the slots on the accordion's aluminum reed plates.","Each plate holds two reeds.","Both reeds produce the same note-- one when you push the bellows, the other when you pull.","They now apply a special wax to secure the reeds to the block.","If they used glue, they wouldn't be able to remove the plate should a reed ever need repair.","Each reed played corresponds to a specific note or chord.","To assemble the keyboard, they begin with a lever made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic.","It has a wooden core to give the keys sufficient weight.","A long metal lever goes into the top.","When the musician presses a key, its mechanism unblocks the corresponding tone hole, allowing air to flow inside and vibrate one of the plate's two reeds.","Next, they drive in the steel axle on which the keys pivot.","Then they apply suction to a keyboard-size tray.","In it, they line up the plastic key tops.","In top-of-the-line models, the white key tops are made of celluloid.","With the suction holding the keys down, it's just a matter of flipping the tray and clamping it onto the keyboard frame.","The tops adhere to the levers, which have since received a coat of glue.","After about an hour, the glue is dry.","They cut the suction, and the keyboard is finger-ready.","Meanwhile, the reed blocks are in the hands of a tuning specialist, who pumps air with a foot pedal to vibrate the reeds one at a time.","He compares each note to a reference tone from a tuning apparatus and files the reeds gradually until their pitches match.","Now for the button keyboard.","Starting with the valves, they install a wooden pallet over each tone hole.","To that, they glue a steel lever.","Then to that, they connect a brass rake.","When the rake moves, it pulls the lever, which opens the valve, unblocking the tone hole.","Air enters and vibrates the reed, producing the note.","Each keyboard button opens three valves.","That's why pushing one button produces a three-note chord.","With the complex connections between buttons and reeds complete, the reed blocks go into a celluloid-on-plywood housing.","It'll attach to the bellows made of strong pleated cardboard reinforced with leather and metal corner protectors.","but before permanently attaching the bellows, all the reeds have to undergo a final and very extensive tuning adjustment.","an accordion can have up to 600 reeds, so this meticulous reed-by-reed tuning can take up to 16 hours.","they now pin the bellows' wood frame ends to the treble and bass housings.","Then they cap each housing with a cloth-covered grille to keep out dust.","After polishing the accordion to a high-gloss finish, it's time for a musical road test in white gloves.","There's no sense in leaving fingerprints on that exquisitely polished surface.","With the test checklist complete, the inspector signs off on it.","You can't say this job's all work and no play.","the pineapple is native to south america, but colonization spread it to other tropical areas.","The latin name for pineapple is \"ananas,\" which comes from nana, what the natives called the plant.","The english word \"pineapple\" came from the european explorers who thought that this strange but delicious fruit looked like a giant pinecone.","Pineapples need temperatures between 73 and 86 degrees fahrenheit and full sun.","It takes seven months for the pineapple plant to produce a bunch of little reddish-purple flowers.","At this first bloom, as it's called, farmers spray the plant with ethylene, a natural gas that stimulates full flowering.","As that happens, the stem of the flower bunch gradually thickens and becomes bulbous.","This is the pineapple.","Five months after first bloom, a year since the last harvest, a fresh crop of pineapples is ripe for the picking.","But not before the farm has tested samples to make sure the sweetness level is just right.","This is prickly business, so the workers have to wear gloves, long sleeves, safety glasses, and rubber boots.","The pineapples travel from the field to the factory upside down.","That way the crown of leaves bears the weight of the fruit during the bumpy ride.","Upon arrival at the factory, the pineapples go through a 10-step cleaning in chlorinated water.","This washes away insects and frog eggs.","Frogs like to lay their eggs in pineapple crowns.","A final rinse with clean water removes any chlorine residue.","Now workers classify the pineapples and cut off misshapen crowns.","A first-class pineapple has a straight crown and no more than three damaged eyes, those diamond shapes on the peel.","If a pineapple passes the first-class test, it's fit for export.","Second-class sells on the domestic market.","Third becomes dried fruit, and fourth, juice.","At the drying plant for third-class pineapples, workers first chop off the crown, and then about two inches from the bottom end.","With a coring machine, they remove the pineapple's hard center called the heart.","Knife-wielding employees work their magic, each peeling five to seven pineapples per minute.","The coarse skin dulls the blades quickly, so they have to keep sharpening their knives about every half-hour.","The peeled pineapples then move on to a slicing machine, which produces slices a little more than a half-inch thick.","The average pineapple yields about seven slices.","Workers place the slices on large trays...","Load the trays on large racks...","Then roll the racks into a gas oven.","The slices bake for 24 hours between 147 and 151 degrees fahrenheit.","This dries them almost completely.","When they come out of the oven, their moisture level is 6%, just enough to ensure the slices are chewy.","From the oven to packaging.","These preservative-free dried pineapple slices stay fresh in the package for 18 months.","Now back to the pineapple factory, where the first-class fruits pass under a shower of hot wax.","Fans cool and harden the wax into a coating that creates an air barrier.","This slows the ripening process, ensuring the pineapples don't overripen by the time they arrive at their export destination.","Last stop is the packaging and labeling department.","Workers box pineapples with and without crowns separately.","Those with crowns are for export.","The crownless ones go to a canning factory to be sliced, diced, or crushed.","From the field to your table, pineapples are the fruit of many people's labors.","Artificial body parts used to be the stuff of science fiction.","Nowadays artificial joints, at least, are routine.","An artificial joint is a prosthesis that surgeons insert to replace diseased or worn-out bone and cartilage.","In nearly all cases, an artificial joint relieves pain and improves the range of motion.","From your knees and hips to your wrists, elbow, and shoulders, if your joints go, you can replace them.","An artificial joint has both metal and plastic components.","The metal acts as bone, the plastic is cartilage.","This factory makes the metal parts three ways.","It either casts them, forges them, or machines them.","Casting is the most complex method.","The first step is to pressure-inject melted wax into an aluminum mold.","This makes a pattern, a wax replica of the metal part.","Now they build the mold for casting the part in metal.","Workers fuse a group of patterns with hot wax to a holder also made of wax.","The patterns will shape the cavity in the molds.","They submerge the patterns in a thick liquid ceramic which soon hardens into a fragile shell around the wax.","Then they sprinkle the shell with a mixture of two minerals-- silica sand and zircon-- to build up a strengthening crust.","The shells now go into a furnace for about two hours.","The intense heat hardens them and incinerates the wax inside, leaving a cavity in the pattern shape.","The shells are now molds strong enough to withstand molten metal.","That metal is cobalt chrome.","In this crucible, the chrome liquefies in about 10 minutes.","They remove the molds from the furnace and lock them to the top of another one above the crucible.","Then they flip it over.","The molten metal flows from the crucible into the molds.","It solidifies within two minutes.","Then they transfer the hot molds to a cooling bin.","Cold air flows around them for about two hours until they're finally cool enough to handle.","Then workers mount each tree on an automated machine that works like a jackhammer.","Each mold disintegrates, freeing the cast-metal part inside.","They use a saw to separate the parts from the tree, then a grinding belt to remove any unnecessary metal that hardened in the channels.","Next, they laser-engrave a unique serial number on each part for tracking purposes.","Every part undergoes a thorough inspection.","They dust the part with fluorescent powder, then rinse it off.","Powder residue settles in any flaw and glows under ultraviolet light.","After inspection, they buff every part until the metal's so shiny, you can see a reflection.","Another method for making metal parts is forging.","They use a titanium alloy, which is more flexible than cobalt chrome, making it better suited for hip joints, in particular.","They clean the metal, then heat it in a 2,200-degree furnace.","This 660-ton press forms one piece at a time into a preliminary shape.","Then they move it to the next die and stamp twice to refine and then finalize the shape.","The last stamping on the third die trims off excess metal and adds detail.","The forged part now goes into a sandblasting chamber which cleans the metal and gives the surface a matte finish.","Here's what the part looks like before sandblasting and after.","Now a computer-guided milling machine smooths away the rough edge that trimming the excess metal left behind.","This removes all but the last bit, so they get rid of that with a sanding belt.","But sanding leaves metal residue behind.","So the parts now go for a bath in a water-based citric solution.","The metal surface has to be perfectly clean in order to stamp on the serial number in ink.","Quite a difference before cleaning and after.","Each and every metal part, whether forged or cast, goes to the quality control department.","There, using digital calipers, an inspector checks all the dimensions, then examines the part under a magnifying glass.","So far we've seen two of the ways they make the metal parts of an artificial joint-- casting and forging.","The third method is coming right up.","The metal portion of an artificial joint plays the role of bone, while the plastic portion mimics cartilage.","However, the plastic isn't your run-of-the-mill plastic.","It's medical-grade polyethylene, meaning it's formulated to be lightweight, but also extremely durable so that it withstands years of wear and tear within the body.","The type of metal they use to make the bone portion of an artificial joint depends on how flexible that joint has to be.","A knee joint requires less elasticity, so they mold it out of cobalt chrome.","A hip joint, on the other hand, needs to be more bendable.","So for that, they use titanium.","They either forge the shape in a press or mount the titanium block on a computer-guided mill.","Under a steady shower of lubricant, the mill's 20-odd machining tools carve the block from all angles.","After a primary rough machining, the mill's precision tools finalize the shape.","From start to finish, machining just one part takes about half an hour.","Now a robot takes over.","It runs the part against a series of sanding belts, their grits progressing from rough to fine.","This removes marks the machining tools left on the metal and polishes the surface to a mirror finish.","The robot can't reach the edges, so a worker sands them manually and verifies the dimensions.","Then the parts go for a thorough cleaning.","The factory puts random samples through wear testing.","The machines simulate joint movement, complete with fake joint fluid.","The factory sprays some parts with titanium powder to help bone tissue to cling to them.","This machine, called an optical comparator, projects an image of the part's coated outline against a technically perfect template.","The technician makes sure the part and the template match.","To become an artificial joint, the metal bone now needs its plastic cartilage.","That requires polyethylene powder.","A technician weighs out a specific amount, puts it in the outer sleeve of a mold, then inserts the mold's inner piece.","The technician loads the mold into a press that applies both pressure and heat-- 374 degrees fahrenheit.","The powder gets squeezed between the mold's two parts and turns into solid plastic.","Using various instruments, they measure the molded part to ensure all its dimensions are exact.","Now a computer-guided machining tool carves the grooves into which the metal part will slide.","These details are far too intricate for a mold to shape.","Then some final measurements to make sure the finished part adheres to the engineering specifications.","Random samples undergo fatigue testing equivalent to 10 years of wear.","Some plastic parts are just too complex to be molded outright, so, instead, the factory molds a block of plastic, then machines it.","The block spins on a lathe as various computer-guided tools shape it.","Samples of these also undergo wear testing.","After a specific number of movements over a specific time period, technicians remove the parts and weigh them.","By comparing to the starting weight, they can calculate how much plastic has worn off.","The packaging room is what they call a clean room, meaning the air runs through a filter system to keep out dust and dirt.","Workers pack the artificial joints against foam to protect the metal surface, because even the tiniest scratch can cause premature wear.","After heat-sealing the packages, the factory ships them off to a sterilization plant.","There, powerful gamma rays penetrate right through the packaging and kill off any bacteria that might be lurking inside.","Make no bones about it, these joints may be artificial, but the movement they restore is as real as it gets."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pipe Cleaners","Blue Stilton Cheese","Smart Electric Meters","Telescopes"]},"text":["The pipe cleaner was invented early in the 20th century.","A wire core with tufts of yarn, it could be bent and twisted in any tight space, making it useful for cleaning a lot of things besides pipes.","Its flexibility also offers a creative opportunity for those with a crafty bent.","Today many pipe cleaners never get dirty.","Instead of cleaning pipes, kids bend them and shape them to create crafts.","The core component of every pipe cleaner is, of course, the wire made of malleable steel.","There are two wires in every pipe cleaner.","The wires will become intertwined with tufts of yarn, and it will all happen on a machine like this.","But first here's a look at the two wires twisting together without the yarn.","This wire core is the heart of the pipe cleaner.","Without the tight twist, the yarn would just slide off.","The spools of yarn unwind at the same time as the wire and head towards the machine.","They'll use cotton yarn for pipe cleaners destined for actual pipe cleaning because it's absorbent.","For the craft market, polyester fibers are more suitable.","The colors are brighter.","This orange yarn and the wire travel over tension disks to prevent slackening that would cause messy entanglements as the pipe-cleaner materials all head toward the forming machine.","The yarn in the wire are totally in sync as they feed into the machine.","The pile yarn rapidly winds around a metal former to coil it.","At this point, the diameter of the pipe cleaner is set by using metal formers of different sizes.","A sharp rotating blade cuts the coils to produce a series of short tufts.","They stop the process briefly to give us a look inside.","At the same time, the wires run in grooves around rotating rollers, and those yarn tufts now become trapped between the two wires.","Together the wire and yarn tufts then travel over other rollers into a device called a flyer.","The flyer was invented for twisting yarn.","Each time the flyer rotates, it inserts one turn into the pipe cleaner.","Bobbins then wind up the pipe cleaner.","It all happens so fast, it's a bit of a blur.","At the next station, numerous bobbins of pipe cleaners unwind simultaneously.","They travel between a series of rollers.","The rollers straighten the pipe cleaners, eliminating the curl created when they were wound onto the bobbins.","A clamp then locks the pipe cleaners in position, and a carriage pulls them forward.","The carriage moves in measured increments so a guillotine-style blade can cut the pipe cleaners to a precise length.","In this case, it's 6 inches, a popular length for the craft market.","The machine ejects the completed pipe cleaners, and a worker packs them up for retail.","Each bag contains all the colors of the rainbow and then some.","For thicker, fluffier pipe cleaners, they use a slightly different machine.","Bobbins of polyester yarn rotate in the carousel to wind the yarn around the former and coil them.","A sharp rotating blade cuts it into tufts.","A carrier wire is used here to keep the pile under tension, after which the two core wires trap the tufts just as before.","Another clamp twists the core wires and tufts as it pulls them forward.","This transforms them into one thick and fuzzy pipe cleaner, which is then cut to any length the client orders.","Production now focuses on pipe cleaners for medical and engineering cleaning jobs.","Heat guns melt the fibers at the ends to seal them, ensuring they won't shed lint or fibers during the cleaning of sensitive equipment.","You can see the difference this makes in the pipe cleaner on the right.","Pipe cleaners today are no longer just for pipes.","They're used to clean all kinds of things like bicycle gears or any gear at all.","They can also be used for paint touch-ups, odd jobs in the garage, cleaning rifle barrels, wrapping electronics cables, and cleaning any long tube.","But, of course, it's not all work and no play.","There's always arts and crafts time.","That's when things take a creative twist and pipe cleaners become anything you want them to.","Stilton is a creamy and crumbly british blue cheese whose roots date back to the early 1700s.","It tastes mellower and less salty than many other varieties of blue cheese.","Always produced in an 18-pound cylinder format, it has veins of blue mold radiating from the center outward.","The production of stilton is strictly regulated.","Only half a dozen dairies in the world located in three specific english counties are licensed to produce it and only from locally produced pasteurized milk.","It takes 20 gallons of milk to make each 18-pound cylinder of stilton.","They begin by pouring milk in a vat.","Next, they add starter culture, laboratory-grown natural organisms.","Then they mix a blue mold culture called penicillium roquefort with distilled water and add this to the milk, as well.","After about three hours, they stir in enzymes that coagulate the milk fat.","After about 90 minutes, workers run a wire knife through the now-gelatinous milk, separating the fat, called curds, from the liquid, called whey.","Then, overnight, they drain the whey out of the bottom of the vat.","The next morning, the firm curds go through a mill, which breaks them up into a crumbly consistency.","Workers weigh out portions of 24 pounds, each of which will become an 18-pound cylinder of cheese.","After adding salt-- the company won't disclose just how much-- two workers gently hand-mix the portion, two different mixing styles blending the ingredients more thoroughly than one.","Then they funnel each portion into a cylindrical plastic cheese mold called a hoop.","The curd still contain whey.","So workers stack the hoops for five days.","Typically, cheeses are pressed to drain the whey-- not stilton.","Here gravity does the job.","The cheese drains under its own weight.","Workers flip the hoop once daily to drain through both the top and bottom.","After five days, they remove the hoop.","The cheese, now drier, stands on its own, while, with a knife, they perform a critical procedure called rubbing up.","They rub the entire surface with a flat blade, sealing all the holes so that air can't penetrate and cause premature internal mold growth.","Now the cheese goes on to a stillage, a type of trolley, and begins its journey through the climate-controlled bluing rooms, named for the color of the internal mold growth which occurs there.","Workers flip the cheese daily to prevent its cylindrical shape from distorting under its own weight.","Within a week to 10 days, grayish white, sometimes orange, naturally occurring mold begins growing on the outside, and from that point on, when the cheese acquires a certain amount of mold, they move it to the next level room, then to the next one, and so on.","At about the five-week mark, they mount the cheese on the turntable of a piercing machine.","With each press of a foot pedal, the turntable rotates slightly, and long, stainless-steel needles pierce the cheese.","These tiny holes permit oxygen to enter and kick-start the penicillium roquefort blue mold culture that the dairy put in the milk earlier on.","Before long, blue mold gradually grows from the center of the cheese outward.","To monitor the extent of the blue-mold growth, the dairy's cheese graters draw samples using a tool called a cheese iron.","The iron reaches all the way to the core of the cylinder.","When the sample shows that the bluing runs right through, the cheese is ready, more or less.","The timing's actually a bit tricky.","Stilton is a relatively young cheese, best eaten between 12 and 14 weeks.","The dairy does its best to coordinate shipping so that the cheese is at its optimum quality when it reaches the customer.","Therefore, it ships 8- or 9-week-old cheese to local stores and 7-week-old cheese to international customers so that the blue stilton will be an ideal 8 or 9 weeks of age when it arrives at its destination.","Smart meters are electricity meters that don't have to be read by a person.","Instead, they wirelessly send your home's electricity use to your utility in real time.","Your bill then shows how much electricity you used and when, making it easier to better control your energy use.","Old technology meters require a human being to take a meter reading once each billing period.","Smart meters can report consumption in real time by wireless transmission.","Inside the smart meter are three different electronic circuit boards, the brains of the unit.","They're built on large, blank fiberglass panels.","One panel yields six or eight identical circuit boards depending on the meter model.","In the first machine, for tracking purposes, a laser etches a serial number for each future circuit board.","The next machine applies a stencil on the pattern of the components to be mounted on the board, then spread solder and paste form across it.","The board now wears solder paste shaped in position exactly to receive the upcoming components.","The next machine's two lasers verify that the solder paste application is perfect.","Depending on the size of a specific circuit-board component, there can be anywhere from 5 to 20,000 of them stored on a tape reel under a transparent, protective strip.","Workers mount the rail for each component on what's known as a pick and place machine.","This computer-controlled high-speed device peels back the protective strip and picks the required parts off each reel, then places them in their designated solder-pasted position on the board.","Bulkier components are stored on a different-sized reel, which workers mount on another type of pick and place machine.","It does the same operation as the previous one, only slower due to the larger-sized components.","The boards now travel through a soldering oven.","The precision-controlled temperature, peaking at 468 degrees fahrenheit, melts, then cools the solder paste, fusing all the components to the board.","Next, each board undergoes testing.","This machine applies electricity to ensure each and every component meets specifications.","When the board gets the all clear, it moves to the next machine, which cuts it into separate circuit boards.","Meanwhile, robots assemble the meter's digital display.","They take a plastic half-circle housing and install a liquid crystal display into its rectangular window.","At the next station, a robot uses a vision system to align snaps to attach a circuit board to the liquid crystal display.","Assembling the meter body begins with a plastic base plate.","The first station prints a serial number on the bottom.","The next station then flips the base plate upright and installs the components of the remote disconnect switch.","This switch enables the electric company to switch power on and off from any location.","A switch cover closes up the base.","The protruding wire will connect to a circuit board.","The next station installs two terminals through the switch cover.","These function as part of the switch operation as well as part of the meter's measurement of electricity consumed.","Once those terminals are in, an automatic screwdriver secures the switch cover.","Now the first of three circuit boards.","This one, the metrology board, measures energy consumption.","The unit comes off the automated line, and a worker completes the assembly.","He attaches a connector to the digital display circuit board, installs the display, then connects the switch wire to the display's board.","The metrology board sends its measurements to the display circuit board, which interprets the data and sends it to a third circuit board, which transmits it by radio frequency to the utility.","Once workers have fully assembled the housing, they install a metal tamper-evidence seal.","Every meter undergoes rigorous final testing.","An automated station verifies the display using a vision system.","It checks that the remote disconnect switch operates properly, that the meter measures electricity accurately, and successfully transmits and receives messages.","The telescope was invented by a dutch optician four centuries ago.","Before that, it was believed the earth was the center of everything.","The theory that it actually revolved around the sun was discounted.","In the hands of italian astronomer galileo, the telescope brought reality into focus.","Modern telescopes are light-years ahead of those early versions, and through their eyepieces, the universe continues to unfold.","A reflecting telescope bounces and concentrates light with mirrors.","Production begins with the machining of cylindrical metal parts.","These are baffles, and when screwed together, they'll block stray light that would interfere with the telescope's operation.","More tools transform a solid aluminum disk into a ring with spokes.","This part, called the spider, is a framework for supporting the telescope's secondary mirror.","After coating the metal parts with a protective oxide, they plunge them into a vat of black dye.","The dye soaks into the oxidized pores and seals the surface of the parts.","Next, this molded disk of thick low-expansion glass will become the telescope's primary mirror.","A diamond-edged tool rotates on a calculated tilt to make the glass slightly concave.","To improve the concave profile, a worker coats the glass with abrasive.","He adds a weight to a precisely curved cast-iron disk and spins it.","The weighted iron disk bears down on the abrasive coated glass to fine-tune its curvature.","A worker then examines the finely ground surface for scratches, and using a calibrated gauge, he measures the radius of the disk to confirm that the concave profile is precisely what it needs to be.","The glass now spins while a cylindrical cutter aims dead center to cut out a hole.","This center hole is sized to accommodate the baffles we saw earlier, and it will also enable the mirror to be held securely in the telescope.","Next, the glass disk oscillates as an automated tool rubs a compound against it to polish it.","A worker then applies some of the compound onto a polishing disk and works the surface of the glass against it repeatedly.","This hand polishing improves the surface considerably.","In the laboratory, a technician compares the primary mirror glass to a grid to verify that the dimensions are accurate.","He aims a laser at the glass.","A computer analyzes the reflected light.","If the angle is off by 1,000th of the width of a hair, the telescope's image could be blurry.","The glass is now ready for its mirror finish.","They lock it facedown in a vacuum chamber.","They add small amounts of titanium oxide, silicon monoxide, and aluminum.","They close the chamber, tightly encasing the contents, and then pump out most of the air, creating a partial vacuum inside.","They activate a 6,000-volt electrode.","This sparks a glowing discharge of ions onto the now rotating glass disk.","These ions blast any lingering contaminants from the glass to give it a serious cleaning.","They heat the aluminum, titanium, and silicon pellets, which evaporate into a cloud of vapor.","Atoms condense landing on the surface of the glass to form a glossy mirror surface.","It takes just minutes for this highly reflective coating to be applied.","This telescope mirror is now ready to reflect light from the stars and planets in the sky.","Next, a technician screws lights into the metal housing for the primary mirror.","He adds a mount mechanism for the eyepiece, complete with knobs for focusing.","He flips over the assembly and slides the precision-made mirror onto the housing.","A cork ring cushions the mirror so a retaining ring can be installed without a scratch.","The telescope's primary mirror is now secure to the housing.","He pieces together the three-part baffle, then screws it to the lens holder protruding from the center of the telescope mirror.","He joins the baffle and mirror assembly to the telescope tube.","The tube has already been equipped with a secondary mirror that will bounce reflected images from the primary mirror back for magnification and viewing.","It's taken about six weeks to build this telescope.","And now it's ready to help unravel the mysteries of the universe."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Yogurt","Candles","Neon Signs","Bookbindings"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Yogurt...","Candles...","Neon signs...","And book bindings.","Your mother probably told you not to put anything with germs in your mouth.","Well, it turns out she was wrong.","Yogurt is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, yet it's chock-full of germs--  bacteria, to be precise, bacteria that are actually good for your digestive system.","The first step in making fruit-flavored yogurt is to inspect the fruit.","Workers discard any skin or pits that slip through and any pieces that are discolored or bruised.","The fruit doesn't go into the yogurt as is.","First, they turn it into jam.","To give the jam just the right texture and taste, they have to weigh all the ingredients carefully before pouring them in the mixer.","The first ingredient is water, followed by artificial and natural flavoring, and stabilizers to give the jam an even consistency.","Certain types of fruit aren't colorful enough on their own, so the factory adds artificial coloring.","Next comes two types of sugar--  fructose and sucrose.","The mixer heats everything to 140 degrees fahrenheit to help dissolve the dry ingredients.","The machine pumps out and refeeds the mixture so that it blends evenly.","Then more coloring, followed by the fruit, followed by another hour or so of heating and mixing.","Then they heat the jam to a minimum of 176 degrees fahrenheit for another hour to kill off any harmful bacteria.","To prepare the yogurt, they mix different powdered milk products with milk and cream.","For low-fat yogurts, they use fat-free milk and skip the cream.","Once they've blended the ingredients, they heat them to 176 degrees fahrenheit or higher for just 30 seconds.","That's all the time that's needed to pasteurize the mixture.","While it's now bacteria-free, there's another problem.","Milk and cream naturally separate because cream is lighter due to its fat content.","So on to the next step, homogenization-- blending the milk and cream together.","The homogenizer's pistons crush the fat globules.","This enables the two liquids to merge.","The mixture then goes into fermentation tanks heated to 113 degrees fahrenheit.","Workers pour in a packet of live bacteria bought from a factory that breeds bacterial cultures for the dairy industry.","Fermentation takes 6 to 20 hours depending on the style of yogurt.","The factory manufactures the yogurt containers right on the packaging line using plastic sheets and paper labels.","The machine heats the plastic and molds it into containers.","A split second later, it wraps the containers in paper labels.","You can view that dual operation best from underneath the machinery.","Now they fill the containers with the combination of yogurt and fruit jam.","To protect the yogurt from contamination, the air in this part of the machine is strictly controlled and filtered.","The bacteria in the yogurt is what's known as good bacteria, the type naturally present in our intestines.","They produce a compound called acetaldehyde.","That's what gives yogurt its distinctive flavor.","The red dots are electronic sensors that verify the fill level.","The container covers are made of thin but strong aluminum.","First, the sheet of covers passes upside down over a printer which stamps on the expiration date.","Unopened, this yogurt will stay fresh for more than 40 days.","Then the sheet of covers turns right side up to be heat sealed onto the containers.","Finally, the machine automatically divides the containers according to whatever pack format the factory is producing.","The invention of the candle can possibly be credited to ancient egyptians, who dipped reeds into animal fat and lit them.","Today's wax candles provide a romantic atmosphere, light when there's power failure, and, when blown out, a grand finale to a rousing rendition of \"happy birthday\".","At the heart of every candle is a wick made from woven or twisted cotton cord.","To stiffen up that limp cord, they run it through a tank of liquid paraffin, a wax derived from petroleum.","The cord then passes over a cooling drum whose cold surface instantly hardens the wax coating.","The now rigid cord winds onto a spool, ready to be cut into wicks.","There are several candle-making methods, all of which work on the simple principle that hot wax turns hard and white when it comes into contact with cold air or a cold surface.","This process is called candle pressing.","The hot paraffin travels from the holding tank to a set of sprinklers inside a 20-foot-high refrigerated chamber.","The sprinklers shoot the wax upwards into the cold air.","Like falling precipitation transforming into snowflakes, the wax droplets transform into wax flakes.","They land at the base of the chamber, then travel to a hydraulic press.","The press forms them into candles, using pressure but no heat, and pierces a hole through the middle for the wick.","The air in this part of the plant has to be less than 77 degrees fahrenheit, or else the flakes will melt and stick together, jamming the machine.","Now the candles travel to the wicking machine, which cuts and inserts a wick into each candle.","Another candle-making method is the dipping process.","They install 96 wicks on each frame of an automated dipping machine.","One after another, the frames dip the wicks into a tank of clear paraffin.","As the frames rise from the tank, gravity pulls the wax downward, creating a conically shaped coat of wax.","By the time a frame has made the circuit and returned to the tank, the wax coat is hard and white.","The wicks go for a second dipping, followed by another go-round.","This continues until 25 dips later.","The tapered candles are .","8 of an inch in diameter.","To turn these white candles into colored candles, they dip them into a vat of dyed paraffin...","Then immediately after into cold water to harden the color coat.","To produce votive candles, the factory uses an automated molding process.","They heat each molding table, flood it with paraffin, then cool the table.","The wax overflow compensates for the shrinking that occurs during the 20-minute hardening phase.","Once the wax hardens, they scrape off the excess and remelt it to use for the next batch.","A pin inside each mold created a channel for the wick.","Now another type of automated wicking machine inserts a wick and secures it in place with the metal clip at the base of the candle.","They make certain specialty candles on a manually operated dipper rather than by automated machine.","These altar candles are made of paraffin and 66% pure beeswax, as required by vatican law.","To create their cylindrical shape, the worker has to flip the frames after every dip to equalize the wax.","It takes 90 dips to build a 3-inch diameter.","The candles still come out slightly tapered, so they go through a heated die to adjust their shape.","No longer just a staple of religion, ritual, or romance, today's candles are a hot decorative item.","Neon signs are made of glass tubes bent into letters or shapes and filled with inert gas.","When the electric current hits the electrodes in the tubes, electrons flow through the gas, making its atoms glow.","The type of gas and glass determine the color of the light.","In a clear glass tube, argon gas gives off blue light while neon gas produces red light.","To create vivid designs, they can parlay those two base colors into more than 80 additional colors by using glass tubes that are colored with fluorescent powders.","For instance, blue glowing argon gas in a yellow tube creates a green light.","To shape the tube, they use a glass-blowing technique.","Following a pattern drawn on a fire-resistant sheet, they mark where they have to bend the tube.","Then they heat each spot on a device called a ribbon burner, whose propane flame is a blazing 1,200 degrees fahrenheit.","Within half a minute, the glass softens enough to be pliable.","They gently bend the tube, then blow into the uncorked end to restore the tube's original diameter.","With each bend, they check the shape against the pattern, every so often pressing a wooden block along the tube to equalize the width.","Argon gas emits steel-blue light, but this blue-colored tube will change that to dark blue.","After shaping, they cut off the excess and rub the coloring powder off the ends.","Now they can attach these glass casings, which contain electrodes.","They fuse an electrode to each end of the tube using a propane hand torch and a flexible latex blowing tube.","They seal the glass around one electrode but leave the other one open.","Then, using what's called a crossfire burner, they create a tubulation, a thin tube with a bubble that will act as a passage way into the open electrode.","They fuse the tubulation to that electrode...","Then carefully inject a drop of mercury into the open end of the tubulation.","Argon gas needs a touch of mercury to brighten the color it emits.","Neon gas doesn't.","Using what's known as an end torch, they fuse the open end of the tubulation to a long glass tube leading to a pumping system.","They connect the electrodes to the system, then power it up.","The pump vacuums out the air, then injects the gas.","The electrical current makes the atoms in the gas glow.","To trap the gas inside the tube, they use the crossfire burner to remove the tubulation and seal off the open electrode, making sure the drop of mercury has descended into it first.","They dip the back of the sign into black paint.","This will make the lettering or design stand out.","They use a brush to spread the coat evenly and remove the excess.","Next, they'll light up the sign at high voltage for a half hour.","This will dry the paint and, more importantly, transform the liquid mercury into vapor that spreads throughout the sign.","Using transparent clips, they mount the sign onto a black plexiglas background to make it stand out even more.","Finally, they connect the protruding electrode wires to a transformer.","This transformer converts the standard 110-volt current from our electrical outlets into high-voltage current, into the 3,000 to 15,000 volts you need to light up a neon sign.","Hardcover books have bindings made of heavy paperboards covered with cloth, leather, or plastic.","Soft-cover books have flimsier paper bindings.","While bookbinding on a commercial scale is all mechanized today, you can still find craftspeople who skillfully bind books by hand.","Book bindings date back to second-century egypt where christian monks sewed sheets of papyrus together, then enclosed them in leather-covered boards connected by strips of hide.","Monks in medieval europe stitched together handwritten parchments, binding them between wooden boards often covered in leather.","Sometimes they were embellished with gold leaf and gems.","The 16th century saw the arrival of cheaper printed books with simple pasteboard bindings.","Today, commercial bookbinding is highly mechanized.","The process starts with large sheets of paper, each containing several consecutive pages of the book.","A worker positions a stack of each sheet into a machine appropriately called the guillotine.","Its sharp blade drops down and chops off excess paper.","After trimming, the stack moves into a machine called the folder which folds each sheet into book size with the pages in the right order.","As we see here in slow motion, the machine starts by perforating the fold line.","Then the sheet moves along the conveyor belt until it hits the stopper to the far right.","That stop position aligns the perforation between two rollers.","Watch in slow motion how those rollers pull the page down, pressing a neat fold.","This process repeats itself for each fold of the sheet.","The result of all that folding is what's called a signature, a unit of pages in the correct order but still attached to each other.","A book is made up of several signatures.","Another machine now assembles them in the right sequence, along with the cover, for binding.","There are many different binding methods.","This one is called wire stitching.","As we see here in slow motion, the machine drives heavy-duty staples right through the spine of the signatures and cover.","The staples are cut from steel wire that's so strong, you have to tear the book apart to remove them.","Here's another slow-motion look at the stapling action.","This is another binding method called perfect binding.","First, a scanner ensures the pages are in order.","Then the covers go on.","With traditional bookbinding, they sew these components together.","In the perfect bind process, they glue them together.","To do that, the machine first feeds the assembled books, spine side down, onto trays.","The trays compress the pages.","Then a saw underneath cuts off the folds, detaching the pages from each other along the spine.","But that cut creates a smooth edge to which glue would have difficulty adhering.","So a second saw notches the spine, creating a rough, glue-friendly surface.","The notched spine now runs over rollers that coat it in hot glue.","Finally, two conveyor belts merge-- one with the book's pages assembled with the notched and glue-coated spine, and the other with the book's cover.","The machine presses the cover onto the spine.","The book now travels along the conveyor belt for another 30 seconds, during which time the glue air dries.","By this stage of the process, with either binding method, most pages on the unbound sides of the book are still attached by folds.","To separate the pages, the books go through a machine called a three-knife trimmer.","It cuts the folds off the three sides simultaneously.","The book is now finished.","Fine-quality books still have some bindings.","But your average book today is wire stitched or perfect bound.","Those newer methods are far less costly, yet still produce books that are sturdy and durable."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aluminum Boats","Alpine Horns","Luxury Watches"]},"text":["The first aluminum boat was launched as a simple skiff in the middle of the last century.","Fishermen loved the lightweight hull because it could be pulled in and out of the water more easily than the wooden boats of the day.","Decades later, aluminum boats have gone high-end, but they still have that lightweight appeal.","Since aluminum hulls aren't as heavy as other types, these boats will go farther on a tank of gas.","They make them from high-grade aluminum that's corrosion-resistant.","Rollers flatten the metal, and a blade called a slitter cuts it to length.","A computer-guided router then makes precise cuts to produce parts that will fit together perfectly, like this bracket to reinforce the stern.","They cut the boat's larger components with a computerized plasma torch.","It can cut a wider path than the router.","They transfer the cut parts to a pallet.","This is the boat's bottom panel.","A long piece of aluminum will be the gunnel, which is the upper edge of the hull.","They bend it around a wooden template to give it the correct curvature.","Next, they reinforce the bow with an extra plate of aluminum to withstand pounding waves.","They brace the other end with numerous stiffeners and screw them into place.","The screws act as a clamping system, until the parts of the boat can be permanently attached.","A line of caulking helps waterproof the seam between the hull and the back of the boat, called the transom.","Again, screws hold everything together, as the painstaking clamping continues.","They join the two sides of the bow and hold the ends together with a vise grip.","This strip of aluminum will act as the spine of the bow.","It's called the brace plate.","More screws tack it into position.","They attach the sides to the rest of the hull.","Now they drill hundreds of holes along the seams and plug them with rivets.","They extract the clamping screws and fill their holes with more rivets.","They install the gunnels on the rim of the hull.","And now it's time for the tank test.","They lower the boat into a tank to confirm that it's watertight.","If they find any leaks in all those rivets, they'll make the necessary adjustments.","They spray foam into the bottoms and sides to keep this boat afloat in the event that something punctures it.","And then they rough up the surface to allow paint to better adhere.","They move to the interior and install felt on the storage panels to give them a more finished look.","Then they lay the carpeting port to starboard.","Next comes the plastic fuel tank.","All they have to do is connect the fuel-line hoses and secure them with a stainless steel collar.","The dash panel fits onto the front.","It's pre-wired, so they simply connect it to the boat's main wiring harness.","Next, they apply lubricant to the motor's propeller shaft.","This allows the propeller to slide on easily.","They tighten it with a pneumatic ratchet.","Then they hoist the motor onto the stern and bolt it into position.","With the luxurious interior now complete, this metal boat bears very little resemblance to its utilitarian predecessors.","This particular model doubles as a fishing boat and a pleasure craft.","And it proves that aluminum boats are no longer just a basic form of transportation.","The alpine horn dates back some 2,000 years to the celtic tribes that inhabited the northern slopes of the alps.","Traditionally, mountain dwellers blew the horn to announced daily activities, such as round-up time for livestock.","As modern communications reached those altitudes, the horn's role became strictly musical.","an alpine horn's sound travels about 5 miles, thanks to the instrument's length and shape.","Following a centuries-old tradition, the horn maker harvests spruce at a specific time in the lunar calendar, when tree wood is supposedly most resonant.","Once the spruce logs dry out, which takes at least nine years, he saws them into planks.","Then he traces and cuts out the shape of the horn's curved bell twice-- once for each half.","He measures and marks how much wood he must hollow out with his drill press.","It's tricky because from top to bottom, the bell's inside cavity progressively widens and deepens.","Next, he runs glue along the perimeter of both bell halves, then joins them with a sheet of newspaper in between to prevent a permanent bond.","He'll have to pry them apart later to finalize their shape.","Once dry, he tears off excess newspaper, traces the circumference of the bell's top and bottom openings, then measures and draws the bell's shape between those two openings.","Once again, following the lines he drew, he cuts out the shape.","To check his work, he uses a series of sizing templates.","He lines them with charcoal, then slips the first template onto its designated position at the top of the bell.","The charcoal marks any wood that he still needs to shave off.","He repeats this procedure with each template, working his way down until the bell is rounded to the proper external dimensions.","Now for the bell's internal dimensions.","The horn maker detaches the halves.","He scores a line running the length of the bell half on each side.","This marks the inner-wall thickness he's going to create.","Using a grinder with a rough grit abrasive, he wears away the wood right up to the score lines.","The holes he made earlier tell him how deep to grind.","Then he switches to a finer grit abrasive to grind the walls down another millimeter.","He checks his work with a measuring gauge, then glues the halves together again, this time permanently.","The horn maker constructs the bell's other section in halves, as well, rounding them off on a lathe.","He coats them in glue and wraps them in rattan.","The rattan solidifies the structure somewhat but is primarily for decoration.","Once the glue dries, he'll glue aluminum connecting dowels to each section.","These will enable the musician to assemble and disassemble the horn parts.","The bell is truly the alpine horn's showpiece.","Horn makers typically embellish it with painted scenes or motifs.","This horn will boast a colorful bouquet of traditional swiss flowers.","Fully assembled, an alpine horn is between 10 and 13 feet long-- the length determining the pitch of the instrument.","Musicians use lip movements to modulate the vibration of the air column inside.","Different vibrations produce different notes.","throughout most of the 19th century, the wristwatch was a piece of jewelry worn by women.","Men carried pocket watches.","It was during the boer war in 1899 that british soldiers decided fumbling around for a pocket watch during battle was a serious waste of time.","The tools of the trade haven't changed much since pocket watches ruled the day.","In this swiss workshop, the mechanisms are meticulously handcrafted, just like they were centuries ago.","The watchmaker starts by polishing parts to a mirror finish.","He mixes his lavender and almond oils with a diamond paste.","He extracts a part called the cage from its storage solution, sets it in the paste, and polishes it against a zinc block.","He brushes the dust off the cage with a soft piece of wood.","Another watchmaker polishes its edges, removing tiny bits of material so other parts can fit to it.","The technician attaches gears to the cage.","These gears are the balance and escape wheels.","He fixes the gears on tiny rubies because they don't wear down easily.","The second half of the cage completes this mechanism, called the tourbillion.","Invented in 1789, these rotating gears in a cage counteract the effect of gravity on timekeeping for more accurate results.","The watchmaker now magnifies the assembly and projects the image onto a screen to confirm that the gears and levers are interacting correctly.","Next, he secures a wound-up spring in a barrel.","This is the main spring that powers the gears of the watch.","He dips a pin in some grease and uses it to lubricate the spring.","Then he caps the mainspring with a cover and tamps it down with a special tool.","He carefully positions the barrel in its slot on the main plate.","The watchmaker now installs another series of gears on the main plate.","They'll transfer power from the spring to the tourbillion.","He attaches the bridge to the gears to act as a pivot as they turn.","Another spot of grease keeps these wheels turning efficiently.","With the spring barrel and its transmission gears assembled, production now reaches a critical moment.","He places the mechanism in a holder that makes it easier to install the tourbillion.","It's a tricky job.","The cage must be precisely positioned for its gears to receive power from the spring.","He now transfers the mechanism to another holder to insert the winding stem.","Next, he engraves the circular pattern onto a bridge plate.","This high-end finish is called perlage.","The technician attaches the textured bridge to the dial side of the watch.","He assembles more gears and a numbered wheel to the bridge.","These gears will provide the date information for this timepiece.","Another bridge secures the gears that lead to the date wheel.","He fastens it with tiny screws.","He slides the second date wheel onto its axle and checks the setting mechanism.","We'll have the up-to-the-minute details as this watch gets a beautiful face.","Even in the age of digital and electronic wristwatches, the mechanical watch has an appeal that's timeless.","Some are among the most complex in the world and can cost in the six-figure range.","At that price, time is truly a luxury.","In a factory nestled in the scenic swiss countryside, a highly-skilled team has assembled the inner workings of a luxurious tourbillion wristwatch.","Now a watchmaker fits the handcrafted face onto the mechanisms.","Using a special tool, he presses the hands onto an axle at the center of the watch.","This enables him to set the time and date.","The watch will be encased with 18-karat red-gold bezels sealed against the elements with rubber rings.","He now fastens the middle casing to the mechanism, then completes the installation of the winding stem and crown.","The watchmaker lubricates the bridge for the auto-winding system, then engraves a parallel-ribbed pattern onto it.","This adds visual interest to the bridge, making this luxury watch look good inside and out.","After the bridge has been set with jewels, it's ready to be installed at the center of the watch, where its jewels will keep parts from rubbing against each other, causing wear and tear.","An artist now engraves the rotor that's to be attached to the bridge.","It's this part that will automatically wind the watch.","It's a signature piece that can reflect the customer's individual taste.","This stylish-looking rotor is now ready to be secured to the bridge.","Once installed, even the slightest movement will cause this rotor to oscillate, and that action winds up the mainspring of the watch.","The watchmaker now shields this timepiece with a glass dome and then vacuums dust from the next gold bezel.","He carefully cleans this clear sapphire window because even the tiniest speck of dirt could cause the watch to fail.","He snaps the front bezel onto the watch, then, using a special device, he presses the bezel to secure it.","This action also squeezes the rubber ring between the bezel and the watch to create waterproof seal.","This watch will now be water-resistant to a depth of nearly 330 feet.","The back casing screws into place so it can be removed for maintenance work during the life of the watch.","Using a special tool, he tightens the casing to just the right tension.","He then inspects the watch to confirm that the rotor moves freely within the case.","Next up is a computer analysis of the mechanism.","A device holds the watch and simulates wrist movements, while the computer evaluates its accuracy.","that's the sound of a minute repeater, which is a feature on some models.","When triggered, it chimes the time.","And now this watch takes the plunge into a container of water.","If bubbles appear, it would signify a leak.","But there are none, so this watch is waterproof.","This incredible watch will set you back $150,000.","But it will be an heirloom piece that stands the test of time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cast Iron Cookware","Biodiesel","Clothes Hangers","Stone Wool Insulation"]},"text":["Cast-iron cookware is renowned for its superior ability to retain heat and diffuse it evenly.","Bare cast iron, however, requires regular oiling to ward off rust-- not so with enameled cast iron.","A glass-enamel coating encases the iron, making the cookware entirely maintenance-free, forever.","Since 1925, this french company has been producing enameled cast-iron cookware.","Its high-end products are renowned for their thin walls, which makes it the most lightweight cast-iron cookware available.","The secret-- the mineral levels in the iron recipe.","At the foundry, they begin with pig iron, which has high carbon content.","Then they melt in a calculated amount of steel to further boost the carbon level.","The melting oven heats the metals to 1,520 degrees celsius, liquefying them in just 45 minutes.","Workers add a powdered chemical to agglomerate the natural impurities in the iron, then scoop those bonded impurities out.","Meanwhile, workers mount a two-part mold template onto a machine which produces the sand molds with which they'll cast the cookware.","The machine injects the sand mix into the templates.","The mix contains clay, water, and proprietary ingredients which makes the sand compact well.","Compaction is critical because just one single grain of sand displacing from the mold would produce a flaw on the cookware.","It's essential that the pouring temperature be precise and consistent, so they transfer the iron from the melting oven to a temperature-maintenance oven.","From there, they pour the molten metal through a mere 1/10th-of-an-inch gap between the mold halves.","The process is entirely automated because the pouring angle and speed are critical.","The molten iron cools and solidifies in 20 minutes.","Then the molds drop onto a vibrating mesh conveyor.","The shaking releases the cast cookware from the mold, along with the metal that solidified in the flow channels leading to the mold cavity.","The cookware moves into a closed chamber where a high-pressure gun blasts the surface with steel balls to remove all remaining grains of sand.","At this stage, the cookware has rough excess metal where the two parts of the mold met.","So now workers smooth away these burrs using a grinding wheel on the outside...","And a grinding pin in the tight spots.","The cookware is now ready to be prepped for enameling.","A machine now blasts the entire piece with steel grits, making the surface texture uniform so the enamel will adhere evenly.","The first coat of enamel is strictly to protect the cast iron and prevent it from rusting.","Enamel is a form of glass.","However, this enamel is engineered to be flexible because metal cookware naturally expands as it heats and contracts as it cools.","After a trip through a dryer, the enamel goes into an oven at more than 1,500 degrees fahrenheit for about 45 minutes.","During this firing, the hair-thin enamel coating becomes translucent.","The second coat of enamel completely seals the porous surface.","It's made of some 20 components, including enamel chips, pieces of clear glass, and pigment powders for color.","An automated spray system coats the inside first.","Workers wipe the edge to prevent the piece from sticking to the conveyor, then the handle because they'll paint that a different color.","They spray the handle manually, then the automated system coats the rest.","The iron recipe contains a high level of the mineral silicate, which helps the enamel adhere well.","Once again, the cookware goes through the dryer, then into the oven at more than 1,500 degrees fahrenheit for about 45 minutes to vitrify the enamel.","Once the cookware cools, it undergoes a final visual inspection, the last of 30 quality-control checks throughout the production process.","Enameled cast-iron cookware lasts for generations because it doesn't warp over time and remains food-safe for life.","Biodiesel is a more eco-friendly diesel fuel that's made from vegetable oil or animal fat.","Unlike regular diesel and gasoline, producing biodiesel doesn't require petroleum.","Instead, the raw materials are locally available and can be recycled from waste.","If your car has a diesel engine, it can run on biodiesel fuel, usually without requiring any modifications.","While biodiesel and petroleum diesel are similar in energy efficiency and fuel economy, biodiesel is more eco-friendly.","For starters, it can be made from what would otherwise have been waste-- for example, from vegetable oil from the kitchen of your local fast-food joint.","The restaurant simply discards its used fryer oil in a receptacle out back.","Every few days, a vacuum truck comes by to collect it.","In its current state, the oil contains water and food particles, making it unusable for biodiesel production, so the truck transports it to a filtering plant.","There, they pump the oil into a holding tank, then heat it up to draw out the water.","Once they drain the water, the oil is ready to enter a multi-stage filtering process.","First, the oil goes through a vibrating sieve which strains out the larger pieces of debris.","After this first filtering, the oil is already visibly cleaner.","Next, it passes through a second vibrating sieve.","This one has a finer mesh.","Therefore, it catches smaller particles of debris.","After this second stage, the oil looks clean but still contains microscopic debris, so it enters the third and final filtering stage-- passing through 20 ultra-fine filter cloths which trap any particle larger than one micron in size.","A micron is about 80 times smaller than the width of a human hair.","The captured debris leaves a muddy residue on the filters.","That vegetable oil, which once deep-fried potatoes, is now ready to cook up some diesel fuel.","Another source of oil for making biodiesel is beef tallow--  oil derived from cow fat.","Biodiesel producers typically buy tallow from facilities like this one, which specialize in cleaning cow hides for leather tanneries.","Sharp, revolving blades shear off the fat from the back of the hide.","The fat drops onto a conveyor, which moves it into a steam-injection cook tank.","The tank heats the fat to a gentle boil, extracting the oil.","Everything else leaves the tank and drops into a waste container.","The oil moves onward, passing through a two-stage filtration process.","Whether the raw material is vegetable oil or beef tallow, the biodiesel producers refer to this main ingredient as feedstock.","When the feedstock arrives at the biodiesel plant, it goes into a holding tank until production time.","This demonstration illustrates the production recipe.","They take the feedstock and combine it with methanol, a type of wood alcohol, as well as with a catalyst, which triggers a chemical reaction.","A processing unit mixes everything thoroughly while applying heat and pressure.","The resulting chemical reaction produces a harmless byproduct, glycerin, a common ingredient in soaps and cosmetics.","Processing consumes much of the methanol.","Then they remove even more, leaving just a tiny percentage of it in the finished biodiesel.","To ensure their fuel meets international regulatory standards, the plant's quality-control lab samples from each production run.","In this flammability test, they heat the fuel to 275 degrees fahrenheit, then apply a flame to see whether the gases ignite.","If they do, they have to remove more methanol to make the fuel safe.","If they don't ignite, the fuel meets international safety standards.","Biodiesel costs more at the pump, but emits significantly less carbon dioxide and monoxide and 85% fewer cancer-causing agents into the air we breathe.","Until the mid-1800s, people folded or laid their clothes flat or hung them on hooks or pegs.","Once it became more common to store clothes in a wardrobe, someone-- historians don't know exactly who-- invented the clothes hanger, a hanging device shaped like human shoulders.","Since the mid 19th century, hundreds of inventors have patented various shaped hangers, many of which are still being produced today.","This czech company makes wooden hangers in several styles.","It uses beech, a hard and durable type of wood.","The damp logs air-dry outdoors for seven months, then go into a kiln for three to four weeks.","Drying the wood is critical.","Otherwise, the hangers would expand and contract with temperature changes and eventually crack.","Workers first use a band saw to slice the logs into 2 1/2-inch-thick planks.","Then they put each plank through a broaching machine.","Inside, a toothed blade planes the wood, rendering the top and bottom surfaces level and smooth.","Next stop is a grinding machine which contains abrasive belts.","Workers feed the planks into the machine one at a time.","As each plank passes through, the belts above it sand the tops silky smooth.","When the plank exits the machine, workers flip and refeed it to smooth the other side.","An automated saw cuts each plank in half...","And trims the halves to a specific dimension.","The now-smaller planks go into another grinding machine which sands the sides smooth.","Now the hanger shaping begins.","Workers stack 10 planks and, using a circular saw, cut them to the same length, the ends at a 60-degree angle.","They mount four planks at a time on a milling machine and cut a tongue-and-groove profile on the edges.","They'll later connect the hanger parts by fitting the tongues into the grooves.","Stacking six planks now, they trace a hanger-shaped template on the top surface, then carefully follow the trace line with a jigsaw.","Each plank is now roughly shaped into a half a hanger, which they call a lamella.","This particular hanger is designed for dresses, so they mill a groove in the shoulder of each lamella for garment straps.","Then an automated milling machine refines and finalizes the hanger's shape, smoothing the roughly cut wood in the process.","Next, with strong cabinetmaker's glue, they coat the tongues and grooves of two lamellas, then fit them together on a press.","They let the glue dry for a day, then saw the point off the top.","This creates a flat area into which to insert the hanger's hook.","There's already a hole for it there, made when they milled the tongue-and-groove profile.","Next, they sand the joint to remove excess glue and smooth out any nicks or tears in the wood.","Then they round the angular joint.","To seal and protect the wood, they now spray the entire surface with varnish.","When it dries, they do a rough sanding, then apply a second coat and let that dry.","Many customers want their logo printed on the hangers they order.","The printing machine coats a logo-embossed rubber pad with ink.","A sponge dabs the pad, then stamps the logo onto the hanger.","Finally, the hanger's iron hook-- it's either nickel-plated for a silver tone or brass-plated for a gold tone.","Workers position the hook.","Then a press rams it into the wood 4/10 of an inch deep.","The hook has screwlike threads at the base which grab and lock into the surrounding wood.","For certain models, the factory stains or paints the wood prior to varnishing it.","After all, many people like their clothes hangers to make a fashion statement, too.","An erupting volcano led to the invention of stone wool insulation a century and a half ago.","It was observed that volcanic lava could be whipped into woolly tufts by prevailing winds.","Soon, this was being replicated in factories to produce stone wool for insulation.","Shaped into batts, stone wool insulation can be tucked snugly between the studs of a framed wall.","It acts as both a thermal and acoustic insulator.","And here's the soundproofing proof.","In this demonstration, an activated alarm goes into a box lined with stone wool.","When the lid is closed, the sound is contained.","And when it's lifted again, the annoying sound is back.","They make stone wool from basalt rock and slag recycled from the steel industry.","The process is fueled by coke, which is a form of coal.","Basalt rock is solidified lava formed when rock melts underground and then quickly cools.","After the rock has been partially crushed at the quarry, a loader scoops it onto a screen to separate the bigger pieces from the fine particles.","The particles will be processed into briquettes, which can be used in the production of stone wool, along with the bigger pieces of rock.","The rock and briquettes, along with the steel slag, melt into lava in a furnace.","Temperatures reach 2,700 degrees fahrenheit-- as hot as a volcano.","A spinning machine whips the lava into thin stands of stone wool in a process that's like making cotton candy.","The strands form tufts, and a little binding solution holds them together.","A spray of oil adds water repellence.","Now a fleecy web, the stone wool rides a conveyor to the factory's upper level, where it spills into a huge pendulum device.","The pendulum swings to and fro to layer the stone wool in a zigzag pattern.","The number of layers varies, depending on the kind of insulation being made.","The now-layered stone wool travels between rollers that compress it substantially, adding density to the wool.","Automated pushers tuck in the pack on each side as the wool enters a long oven.","The heat cures the binder applied earlier, allowing the compressed fibers to hold their shape.","The now-tighter pack exits through a cooling zone and travels under a roller which squeezes it to make the fibers more flexible.","Circular blades then slice the moving mass of stone wool lengthwise.","A branding tool burns the r-value and company name onto the surface of the insulation as it moves forward.","Robotic arms swing back and forth to slice the insulation to its final dimensions.","Instead of sharp, steel blades, these robots use high-pressure water jets to make their cuts.","The jets do a precise job without generating dust or waste, and the stone wool doesn't absorb the water from the jets.","The sheer density of the wool makes it moisture-resistant, along with the oil added to the fibers during spinning.","To demonstrate stone wool's water-repellent qualities, they pour water directly onto the surface.","There's no absorption.","The water just runs off.","In this routine test, a worker torches the wool, and it doesn't catch fire.","Stone wool can withstand temperatures of almost 2,200 degrees fahrenheit due to its natural properties.","It's even cool to the touch on the other side.","Once it's passed several quality-control tests, the insulation heads for the packaging line.","Grippers pull on a roll of plastic tube packaging, and hot jaws cut and seal one end to form an open bag.","Mechanical fingers hold the other end open as machinery slides it over a metal spout.","A compressed stack of insulation is pushed into the spout.","The spout expands, and the insulation is released into the bag.","The spout then retracts, and the process is repeated.","Machinery heat-seals the open end.","From a pile of basalt rock and recycled steel slag to a bag full of insulation, it's been a wild and woolly ride."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Alkaline Batteries","Wheelchairs","Flutes","Cowboy Boots"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Alkaline batteries.","Wheelchairs.","Flutes.","And cowboy boots.","A battery produces an electric current when its positive end, called the cathode, and its negative end, called the anode, connect via a conductive pathway in the battery-operated device.","This pathway conducts electricity when three components-- two electrodes and an electrolyte-- interact.","These alkaline batteries are the rechargeable type.","They last for years, depending on how you use them.","The factory begins production by cutting nickel-plated steel into oval pieces, then gradually shaping each piece into a tube, called a console.","The console houses some important chemical ingredients-- graphite, which conducts electricity...","Silver catalyst, which reduces chemical-pressure buildup...","Manganese dioxide, the main ingredient in the cathode...","Barium sulfate, which binds the cathode ingredients, zinc, the main ingredient in the anode, a gelling agent to keep the zinc particles suspended, and finally, potassium hydroxide, which interacts with electrodes to produce electricity.","This 25-head press shapes the cathode's powdered chemicals into hollow pellets.","The press churns out 25,000 pellets an hour.","A machine called a console press then inserts three pellets into each console-- three because these pellets are so fragile that three smaller ones are easier to manipulate than one big pellet would be.","Here's the insertion in slow motion.","The next machine makes a ridge on one end of the console to help seal it.","Plastic holders, called pucks, hold the consoles still as nozzles apply a sealant to the top, which is the negative end of the console.","Next, they cut a roll of paper into small strips.","These strips are called separators.","They have microscopic holes that permit the flow of ions, electrically-charged molecules, between the cathode and the anode.","A hot-melt glue machine deposits a small amount of glue into the separator, now rolled, and seals the positive end of the paper tube.","The glue cools and hardens over the next minute and a half, as the consoles move along a conveyor.","The next machine injects an electrolyte-- a potassium hydroxide solution.","It takes nine minutes to soak through the separator liner into the cathode pellets.","Nozzles then inject about .","15 ounces of zinc gel into the anode cavity.","Only about 2/3 of the gel weight is actually zinc.","The other 1/3 is this company's closely guarded trade secret.","It's what makes these batteries rechargeable.","The zinc gives the gel its silver-gray color.","A welding machine fuses 1 1/2-inch nails onto the cap of the battery.","This is where the current collects before it's discharged.","The machine ejects the cap when finished, and another machine inserts it into the negative end of the battery.","This cap includes a safety feature crucial to rechargeable batteries-- it can resist high pressure.","But if heat or power surges cause excessive pressure, a tiny vent prevents the battery from exploding.","The machine folds over the console lip to enclose the contents.","A rotating, three-head crimping machine then makes a ridge in the finished battery to reduce the chance of leakage.","An electrical testing machine contacts each battery for 200 milliseconds to ensure it has at least 1.5 volts.","These batteries will be ready to use right away.","No need to charge them first.","The labeling machine uses light sensors to time the labeling of each battery casing.","The plastic label lists technical information and adds additional insulation.","Then three seconds in an oven at 388 degrees fahrenheit shrinks the labels to a tight fit.","Spain's king phillip ii was the first disabled person to get around on wheels.","He ruled from a rolling chair with foot rests in the 1500s.","Today's wheelchairs are widely available, but at a price of a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the features.","This wood, leather, and steel chair is a world war ii antique.","A modern wheelchair literally runs circles around it.","With more than 150 possible design options, today's wheelchair fits the user and the user's lifestyle.","The wheel rim is aluminum.","The spokes-- steel.","It's much like a bicycle, except for these-- six steel brackets that later fasten to a hand rim for propulsion.","Tires are either pneumatic, with an inner-tube of air, or rigid--  just one solid piece of rubber.","A machine stretches the tire to fit the wheel rim.","Workers install 12 washers, called spacers, along the hand-rim.","Six of these 1/2-inch spacers can be removed later to adjust the chair's overall width, if necessary.","The spacers on the hand-rim align with the brackets on the wheel.","Workers join them with industrial-strength, 1 1/2-inch steel screws.","Replacing a wheel and hand-rim like this costs more than $100.","You buy replacement parts much like you do car parts-- through specialized dealerships.","Bearings make the wheels roll with ease.","Installing them is a delicate operation.","Workers use special custom tooling to insert the bearings with extreme precision.","The tires are rigid and have no treads because they're designed for smooth indoor surfaces.","An aluminum cross-frame is what enables the chair to fold.","They assemble it with six or seven screws per side, depending on the depth needed for the seat, which they'll install later on.","The front part of the wheelchair is called the front frame.","Workers lubricate the parts so they'll be easier to install.","This also enables the wheelchair to fold with ease.","They install the rear frame of the wheelchair then make sure the cross-frame folds correctly.","Workers test the height-adjustment lever for the armrest.","Then they install a removable aluminum footrest, setting it to the desired length.","It has a heel loop to prevent the user's foot from slipping off.","The chair has a foldable sling seat.","It's made of nylon and attaches to the frame with six screws on both sides.","You can adjust the armrest height from 8 to 11 inches and the tension in the backrest with 3 velcro straps.","The backrest is made of nylon and comes in nine different heights.","Workers insert the wheel axle into the frame, adjusting it to fit with the optional features of the chair, such as a particular style of armrest.","The axle has a quick release so you can remove the wheel in seconds.","This plastic-and-aluminum hand lever is a parking brake.","It keeps the chair still when transferring to a bed or toilet.","This motorized chair has an electrical controller.","The user commands it with a joystick.","The chair runs on two 12-volt batteries that power up in eight hours from a household socket.","Workers squeeze the inner tube into the rear wheel rim.","The air valve slips through and the front and back parts attach with screws.","Now the rear wheel can go onto the motor.","They attach the seat and the joystick box, which has on/off and speed-control switches.","The battery-pack provides 85 amps an hour.","That's enough power for 16 hours or 25 miles.","The batteries connect to the charger and controller to power up the wheelchair.","A steel bumper and plastic rear hood, called a shroud, protect the back of the wheelchair from the elements and against minor collisions.","This motorized model can glide at a leisurely pace or zoom around at a top speed of just over 7 miles per hour.","The transverse flute has been an orchestral instrument since the 1700s.","You play it in a horizontal position, blowing across an oval hole in the mouthpiece.","The air hits a sharp edge inside, producing sound.","You turn that sound into notes by pressing the keys that open and close the flute's holes.","they begin production by inserting a solid steel bar into a sterling silver tube.","Then, using a press, they lengthen it and taper it, reducing the diameter to just under 3/4 of an inch.","This tube is part of what's called a head joint, one of three sections that make up the flute.","The other sections are the center joint and the foot joint.","Next, on another machine, they insert a second tube for the center joint.","This device drills small holes to mark the position of each tone hole, the raised rim around each of the flute's holes.","Now they insert titanium washers, called spiders, in the holes to help position the tone holes.","They place a tone hole around each spider, securing it temporarily with copper wire.","Once they solder the tone hole, they'll remove the spider.","They solder little posts onto three strips of metal, called ribs.","The ribs and posts will later hold the flute's keys in place.","Next they use what's called a profile cutter to shave the tone holes by minute amounts, to perfect the flute's sound.","Now, using a wax injector and rubber molds, they create wax duplicates of the 120 different parts that make up the flute's 20 keys.","Now they build what's called a tree.","Using tweezers and a heated pen, they fuse the wax duplicates to a wax trunk that's 6 1/2 to 10 inches tall, depending on the type of flute.","Then they place the tree in a perforated steel flask covered in masking tape.","They pour in 1/4 gallon of plaster, which hardens around the tree.","Then they remove the tape and heat the flask.","The wax melts through the holes, leaving plaster cavities in the shape of the key parts.","The keys are made from tiny particles of silver or gold.","These ones have a reddish hue because of their high copper content.","The craftsmen pour a carefully measured amount into the casting machine's upper chamber.","The machine heats the metal for 12 minutes.","The plaster flask goes into the casting machine's lower chamber.","They release molten metal into the cavities.","Once the metal cools, they shatter the plaster under cold water, exposing a tree of silver key parts.","Using a pneumatic cutter, craftsmen snip off the key parts.","They have a dull finish because the silver isn't yet polished.","Now they solder the key parts together and polish each finished key with a soft rotating brush.","They also solder on a riser, which attaches the mouthpiece's lip plate to the head joint tube.","They cut away excess metal from the opening of the lip plate.","Then they use a lathe to cut out a hole in the head joint tube.","A template ensures they position the hole correctly.","Once again, they use copper wire to hold the parts together until soldering.","They solder the lip plate assembly to the head joint tube, using a gas-and-oxygen torch.","Next, they mount the keys using tiny wires called straight springs.","The spring helps open and close each key over the corresponding tone hole.","They test each key's seal, called the pad, for air leaks.","A thin strip of plastic slides out if it's improperly sealed.","The pad is made up of a plastic washer and a felt cushion, surrounded by a synthetic wrapper as thin as tissue paper.","A pad lasts for about five years and is very expensive to replace-- about $75.","It's just one of up to 100 components in a flute, depending on the model.","This company's flutes come in silver, gold, and platinum.","They range in price from $8,000 to $43,000.","Once all the keys are in place, a quick wipe to remove any pesky fingerprints.","An engraver inscribes the serial number and company logo.","After 120 hours of painstaking work, the flute is ready for its musical debut.","cowboy boots have been kicking around since the 1800s.","You can wear them on the ranch or just as a country-style fashion statement.","Most cowboy boots are made of cowhide and sell for about $200.","For something more exotic, though, how about a pair made of ostrich skin for a mere $500?","Production starts with a machine called the clicker that works like a cookie cutter, slicing leather into various sizes of soles from standard to extra wide.","The clicker also cuts the other boot parts, such as the shaft, the section above the ankle.","This programmable, automated stitching machine decorates the shaft with embroidery.","The machine works on a dozen boots at a time, using up to 15 different thread colors.","Workers steam the shaft to soften up the leather.","Synthetics just don't mold to the foot the way animal hides do, so this company uses only the real thing-- python skin, walrus skin, bison skin, even ostrich skin.","Cow- and pig-skin boots make up the bulk of production, though, because they're the most affordable.","Workers perforate the shaft, then layer a different-colored leather underneath to create a design.","This company produces 20 basic patterns, but clients can also order custom designs.","They line the shaft with pig skin because it breathes better than a synthetic lining.","Workers stitch together the shaft sections, including the underlays, from the inside out.","Piping covers the seams.","A roller turns the whole thing right side out, flattening the piping for a more comfortable fit.","The next machine glues a cotton strip to the leather insole.","They'll later attach this strip to the foot section of the boot.","Next, they temporarily attach the sole to a plastic mold, called a boot last.","This makes the sole rigid while they attach other parts of the boot.","They glue a hard, synthetic cup to the heel section to give it the desired shape.","Then they apply a fibrous cotton form between the layers that will shape the toe area.","Now they attach the sole to the shaft.","Using a laser as a centering guide, they stretch the toe section over the boot last, bringing the two largest pieces of the boot together.","They stitch on a leather strip to attach the sections.","This strip, called a welt, is a traditional part of boot-making.","It's what makes the boot very durable.","They attach a steel shank for arch support...","Then apply a mixture of granulated cork and hot glue.","This layer will make the boot conform to the contours of the wearer's foot.","They attach the sole to the shaft with industrial-strength glue.","The fact that it's glued as well as stitched means you can simply rip it out and replace a worn sole.","This feature greatly extends the life of the boot.","A cutting machine trims off the excess leather.","Then they stitch the sole to the welt.","They stitch using interlacing threads.","This binds the pieces even more strongly.","The final layer of the sole can be either leather or rubber.","It all depends on who will be wearing the boots and where.","A rancher in sunny texas may prefer leather.","But in the cold and snow, you're better off with rubber.","Now for the heel...","They load a driving machine with nails.","The pattern varies according to the type of heel.","This company produces eight heel styles.","A laser guide ensures they nail the heel to the boot perfectly centered.","With a brush, they coat both the heel and the edge of the sole in black or mahogany dye.","Finally, they brand the manufacturer's name in gold foil.","Some boots have pull holes at the top for getting your boots on fast, to make it to the rodeo on time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Automatic Transmissions","Silver Miniatures","Hot Air Balloon Baskets","Darts"]},"text":["Today on how it's made...","Automatic transmissions...","Silver miniatures...","Hot-air-balloon baskets...","And darts.","Your car's all-important transmission is a system of gears and levers that transfers power from the engine to the wheels.","With a manual transmission, you have to shift the gears yourself, but with an automatic transmission, the car's computer determines when it's time to shift and sends an electronic signal to activate or deactivate the appropriate gear.","The transmission allows the engine to operate in its most efficient range, or powerband.","It's assembled inside an aluminum housing called the transmission case.","At the heart of the transmission are three sets of planetary gears, so named because there are smaller gears rotating around a larger central gear.","The first gearset is called the final drive.","It harmonizes the engine speed and driving speed.","The final drive is attached to the differential, a component that lets the wheels move at different speeds so the car can turn.","Workers install the steel parts connected to the shift lever, which puts the car into drive, reverse, or park.","First, the manual detent lever.","Then, the forward clutch support.","The piece protruding from it is called the park paw.","The actuator rod connects the detent lever to the park paw.","It locks a gear that immobilizes the car when you shift into park.","Now for the transmission's five clutches.","Depending on what the transmission needs to do, clutches either let gearsets rotate or lock them in place.","This clutch is called the forward clutch.","By moving the input gearset and the reaction gearset, it enables the car to go forward when you shift into drive.","Two clutches installed as one unit go in next.","The coast clutch allows the car to coast in low gear and to brake progressively in higher gears when you take your foot off the gas.","The second clutch is called the direct clutch.","It locks the two gearsets so there's no reduction in speed.","Next, the reverse clutch.","It moves the reaction gearset so the car can back up.","A clutch is made up of layers of metal and friction material, such as resin-impregnated paper.","The transmission's second clutch uses both the input and reaction gearsets to switch the transmission into second, third, and fourth gears.","With all the gearsets and clutches now in place, workers can connect the transmission to the rest of the car's electronics.","These cables are known as the harness.","Next come the drive chain and two sprockets.","This hookup is the critical link between the transmission's gearsets and its torque converter.","The torque converter is the component that transfers power from the engine to the transmission.","The sprockets in the final drive convert the engine speed to the appropriate transmission gear.","The car's computer directs this hydraulic control system to change gears as needed.","The computer triggers an electronic switch called a solenoid to open a specific control valve.","This applies hydraulic pressure, which engages the clutch around the relevant planetary gears.","When the hydraulic pressure is released, it disengages the clutch and locks the gears.","Now the final connection for the shifting mechanism, linking this manual valve to the detent lever.","The shift lever moves the detent lever, which makes the valve direct hydraulic pressure accordingly.","This steel bar, called the output shaft, directs transmission power from the final drive at one end of the transmission to the driver's side front wheel at the other end.","Next, workers install springs and servos, part of the hydraulic control system that helps engage and disengage the clutches smoothly.","This tube assembly goes in next.","The control valves route hydraulic fluid through these tubes to the different clutches.","Now the torque converter.","It spins a shaft that turns the sprockets and drive chain that we saw earlier.","A steel bar called a stub shaft is the final link, sending transmission power from the final drive and differential to the front wheel on the passenger side.","Up next, making silver masterpieces on a miniature scale.","Collecting and displaying miniatures isn't just child's play.","It's become a serious hobby for grown-ups, who even buy fine silver in miniature.","Avid collectors spare no expense because, after all, it's the little details that make the difference.","In the world of miniatures, there's no need to downsize one's expectations.","Here, you can find all the little luxuries.","This silverware is no cheap reproduction.","It's a tiny version of the real thing.","To make it, silversmiths use tools and techniques that have been handed down over generations.","This is a workbench from the 18th century.","Today, they use one that's nearly identical.","To make a miniature mug, workers begin by dividing its measurements by 12 so that the finished product will have the same proportions as the original.","Next, a strip of silver is rolled out to about 0.02 of an inch thick.","Then, small, round disks are punched out.","A blast from a torch softens them so they'll be easier to work with.","A dunking in acid eats away any impurities and leaves a frosty finish.","One of these disks is set on a lathe.","As it spins, a series of tools begin to give the thimble-sized mug its shape.","Any mistake is a big one when you're working in such tiny dimensions, so the silversmiths have to work with great care.","During the machining process, the frosty finish left by the acid is removed.","The mug is buffed to add luster to its finish.","And now it's time to make the mug's base.","It's tapered to make a perfect fit.","Small fragments of silver solder are placed between the two pieces.","Then, the parts are heated to almost 1,500 degrees to fuse them together.","Next, leftover silver pieces are cut up, and the scraps go into a crucible.","A pinch of borax is added.","This mineral will prevent unwanted oxides from forming as the scraps are melted down.","Silver is far too precious, so workers don't want to waste even a single scrap.","The molten silver is poured into a plaster mold.","Then the mold is plunged into cold water.","The temperature change causes the plaster to explode, exposing three tiny silver handles.","One of the handles is soldered onto the little silver mug.","And now all the pieces of the miniature are in place.","Next, the miniatures are placed in a bucket of steel shot and soapy water.","The friction cleans and polishes them.","The soapy water is strained out, and the gleaming miniatures are revealed.","Each silver miniature has to meet the same purity standards as full-sized silver pieces.","In this factory in britain, the regulations have been around for 700 years.","The maker's mark, called the hallmark, is the stamp of authenticity.","Hallmarking a miniature can be a bit awkward, and some articles are just too tiny to mark.","When it comes to replicating silverware, it seems no job is too small, and there are plenty of shining examples in the world of miniatures.","When we return, behind the scenes at a hot-air-balloon factory.","Did you know that some hot-air-balloon baskets are more than 20 feet long and can carry more than 30 people?","This pioneering form of human flight was invented in france in the late 1700s, and ever since then, passengers have been taking to the skies for an unforgettable ride and an awesome view.","It all starts with a little high-tech basket weaving.","First, the frame is constructed.","Workers cut pieces of stainless-steel tubing.","They manually round the corner pieces, then weld all the parts together.","A sheet of plywood is cut for the floor.","Then holes are drilled into it for stainless-steel support cables.","These cables will reinforce the floor against the passengers' weight.","After marking off the area that the basket walls will occupy, workers run the cables under the floor, which is lying upside down, leaving extra cable on both ends to come up the sides of the basket.","Then they notch a groove that is the width of the cables and runners.","Runners are length of ash wood that protect the base of the basket and give it rigidity.","After bolting the runners down, workers use a branding iron to burn the company logo into the floor.","A spray coat of lacquer will prevent moisture from rotting the wood.","Larger baskets need diagonal reinforcement cables for extra support.","The basket walls are made of cane-- the stiff stems of a tropical asian plant.","The cane soaks overnight in a water tank.","By morning, it's supple, and the weavers can begin their craft.","They start by installing uprights, attaching each one to the frame at the top and bottom with a thin piece of cane.","Then they feed the support cables from the floor up through the frame.","The uprights are 18 inches apart along the sides and 4 inches apart around the corners.","The weavers fill the gaps with thinner uprights every two inches.","The uprights are tied to the frame and floor with rope.","Once they're installed, it's time to build the basket walls from the bottom up by interlacing horizontal canes.","A pair of weavers can finish a small basket in a day.","Large baskets can require a 4-person team and take up to three weeks to complete.","Weavers use two techniques-- randing, going in and out with one cane, and waling, weaving three canes at once.","Waling makes a more solid basket but one that's significantly heavier, because it uses triple the amount of cane.","Some models have stainless-steel steps woven into the basket.","These give passengers a better foothold when climbing in.","The weaving ends just below the top of the frame.","Weavers finish off the job by splitting the remainder of each upright down the center with a utility knife, then flattening and wrapping what's left around the frame.","The weavers integrate rope handles at the top of the basket so passengers have something to hold on to during the ride.","They also put handles at the bottom for carrying the basket.","Now they pad the frame with foam, cutting holes to let the support cables through.","The foam provides both comfort and safety, cushioning passengers from the hard metal during a bumpy ride.","After taping the foam pieces together to prevent shifting, workers slip on a leather cover and lace it closed.","Finally, with a few bangs of the hammer, workers expose the short tubing to which the load frame will connect.","The load frame carries the burners high above the basket.","A heating coil surrounds each burner.","To make this piece, workers first wrap a stainless-steel tube around a form, then rivet on a reinforcement band.","The basket carries lightweight fuel tanks containing cold liquid propane.","The propane flows upward into the coil.","When the pilot fires up a burner, the flame heats the coil, transforming the propane flowing inside from liquid to gas.","The gas feeds the flame, which heats the air inside the balloon.","Hot air is lighter than cool air, so the balloon literally rises to the occasion.","Up next, the art of the dart.","The game of darts dates back to the middle ages, when english soldiers looking for fun began pitching arrows at the bottom of an empty barrel.","When winter came, the soldiers moved their game indoors, but they couldn't throw big arrows around inside, so they used shortened versions, and the game was on.","Today's darts are finely crafted little missiles.","Production begins with the flight shaft, the piece that the dart's wings are attached to.","Workers load aluminum rods three yards long into a machine that has several cutting implements.","This army of tools works on the aluminum rod from all angles...","Shaping it into dozens of shafts.","Threads are cut into the shaft's exterior, and one of its ends is hollowed out so it can be screwed onto the dart barrel later.","A cross saw cuts slots into the other end for attaching the wings.","Oil flushes away the shavings.","It also keeps the tooling cool, so it stays sharp enough to cut through metal.","The completed shafts fall into a bin to await further assembly.","Next, brass rods are loaded into a similar machine.","Its tooling carves the brass rod into barrels-- the main part of the dart that you grip.","One end of the barrel is threaded and tapered so the shaft can be screwed onto it.","This tapering also makes the dart aerodynamic.","Next, tools with angled grooves cut ridges on the outside of the barrel to make the dart easier to grip.","The process is called knurling.","Another tool then cuts the brass barrel to the correct length.","Some dart barrels are made from tungsten, which is quite dense, so the barrels can be slimmer.","Slimmer darts can give you an advantage in tight scoring situations.","That's why pros often prefer tungsten darts and have them custom made, even choosing their own knurling grip.","These are knurling wheels-- another way to etch the grip pattern into the dart barrels.","Knurling wheels come in an assortment of patterns, all designed to help you keep a firm hold until the dart takes flight.","Now it's time for the darts to get their sharp points.","A hydraulic press forces steel tips into the hollowed ends of the dart barrels.","With the point now snugly in the barrel, the dart is ready for its wings.","Dart wings are made from polyester film, which first winds through printing rollers.","Some print jobs involve just one basic color while others layer many colors to build up a design.","In the world of darts, the wings are known as flights.","A machine cuts out the flight shapes, and they accumulate in big piles.","Flights are made in various shapes.","This is just one of them.","Workers fold the cutouts together to make a flight.","They check each one for symmetry, because an out-of-proportion flight could wreck a player's game.","Now it's time to screw the shaft to the barrel of the dart.","The polyester flight slides into cross slots on the end of the shaft.","And now this set of darts is ready to take aim.","It takes less than a minute to make a dart...","But less than a second for this flying missile to find its mark."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Filigree Glass","Fish Food","Motor Homes"]},"text":["Filigree glass is a highly advanced form of glassmaking.","The artists first produce threads of colored glass, then weave these threads together in intricate patterns, encasing them within clear crystal.","Then they use complex glassmaking techniques to shape these patterned rods into breathtaking works of art.","The filigree glass technique was invented in the 1500s by master glassmakers in murano, italy.","Their then-secret process incorporated ancient methods from mesopotamia, the birthplace of glassmaking some 2,000 years earlier.","It all begins with a blend of mostly silica sand, soda ash, and lime.","They heat the mix to almost 2,400 degrees fahrenheit, melting it over several hours into lead-free liquid crystal.","With a steel rod called a punty, the glassmakers roll some molten crystal on a metal table as it cools and solidifies-- a shaping technique known as marvering.","Then they use the post they've shaped to pick up a piece of densely colored glass called a color bar.","They melt the color on the end of the crystal post.","At the same time, they heat another color bar into molten a state.","Then they perform a process called overlaying.","They push the molten colored glass over the other color bar, then marver until the colored glass symmetrically encases it.","They encase the color in clear crystal and reheat some more, then prepare a new bit of clear crystal on another punty.","They use it to grab the free end of the color overlay.","The glassmakers pull, stretching the crystal like taffy into what's known as overlaid cane, a thin rod of crystal with a thread rod of colored glass inside.","It takes tremendous expertise to stretch the rapidly cooling glass to a consistent diameter without twisting or breaking it in the process.","They snip the long cane into manageable lengths.","Next, they cut the colored rods into the size required...","Lay out the rods in a precise configuration, heat, then roll them onto a precisely sized piece of molten clear crystal.","Now they repeat the pulling process, but this time, to create the internal pattern they want, they twist both punties.","They use an electric drill to ensure steady, uniform revolutions.","The rod this creates is called a complex cane.","After it cools and stabilizes overnight, they cut it into the lengths they need to create the filigree glass piece.","The colors and pattern inside a complex cane are determined by the choice and layout of the overlaid cane rods rolled onto the molten crystal.","The filigree pattern is now determined by the way in which they lay out the complex cane rods.","After fusing the laid-out rods, they wrap them around a collar of hot crystal at the end of a blow pipe.","While rolling the piece on a glass blowing bench, they use a scissor-like tool called jacks to close off the end.","They snip off the excess with shears.","Then, they roll the hot glass on a wet wood block to smooth and round the bubble.","They blow in some air to produce the shape of a pear, stick a punty to the bottom of the pear, then use cold tweezers to shock the hot glass into breaking along the separation line and transfer off the blow pipe.","Now they take some hot crystal from the furnace and roll it in fine, granulated colored glass.","They reheat to melt the color into the crystal...","Then attach a bit of glass to the top of the pear to form it into a stem.","They smooth the cutoff edge with a small torch.","They take another bit of molten colored crystal to shape a leaf.","This crimping tool imprints the veins.","Every filigree piece these canadian master glassmakers create is signed by way of a piece of cane bearing their initials.","They fuse it to the piece in a discreet location.","Now the finishing touches-- reheating, then some shape-tweaking with tools and wet newspaper.","With the artist's work done, it's time to enjoy the spectacular fruits of their labor.","Flake foods for aquarium fish were invented in the middle of the last century, and what a difference this invention has made.","Before they came along, pet fish were fed live food from rivers and streams-- a food source that wasn't always accessible.","The invention of flake and other dried foods made life in a fish tank a whole lot easier.","Just a few sprinkles and dinner is served.","It's not much like the live water fleas or bloodworms the fish would feed on in their natural environment, but it contains the nutrients and vitamins they need.","These dried tidbits can be supersized to appeal to larger fish that prefer to chow down on something more substantial.","Each formulation consists of up to 40 different ingredients.","The main components are fish meal...","Wheat flour...","Soy and paprika oils.","They also add food colorant because fish are drawn to certain colors.","They follow a precise recipe and measure the ingredients carefully.","They blend the smaller components together first.","They include lecithin-- a blending and thickening agent also found in foods humans consume-- and calcium for bone strength.","The main ingredients-- the fish meal, flours, and oils-- are piped from silos into big tanks and mixed with hot water.","They add the smaller premix and blend everything together to produce a thick slurry.","They spray the slurry onto the surface of a series of rolling heated drums.","As it flows over these drums, the slurry cooks and dries into a thin film that's like a paper sheet.","As the sheet rolls off, a long rotating blade chops it up to produce big flakes.","They're pretty chunky at this point and will need to be broken up into bite-sized versions.","Next, they fall down a chute and into a plastic bag.","A worker transfers them by the bagful to the next conveyer.","The various colors represent the different formulations.","The green are veggie flakes, while the red are protein-based.","They all head into a spiraling device known as the tumbler.","It spins to toss the flakes around.","This mixes then breaks them into smaller flakes.","After several minutes in the tumbler, the flakes fall onto a series of screens to grade them by size-- small, medium, and large.","They land in separate bins, now mixed and sorted by size.","Meanwhile, the production of fish-food sticks is underway.","Machinery presses a food mash through the small holes of an extruder plate to create spaghetti-like strings.","As the strings exit, rotating knives cut them into sticks.","The sticks dry and solidify.","A worker routinely examines them for size and form.","The next worker wheels a hopper full of flakes above a chute and removes the trap door.","The mix falls down one floor onto the packaging line.","At the same time, a column of empty cans heads toward the flakes.","The fish food flakes fall through special openings that funnel them into the cans.","Machinery cuts out aluminum foil caps and slaps them on the tops of the containers.","Hot circular irons then seal the caps to the cans.","This conveyor belt is also a computerized scale which keeps track of the amount of product in the cans.","Then, devices spin by to twist plastic lids onto the threaded rims of the cans.","As the cans pass by on a carousel, applicators press glue-backed product labels onto them.","And these fish food flakes are done.","In its various formulations, dried fish food offers a range of feeding options.","Some contain additives that enhance the growth and color of the fish.","Others are geared to a fish's specific tastes, because even pet fish can be discriminating diners.","A motor home is a fully equipped house on wheels.","The class \"a\" types are shaped like a bus, the largest models more than 40 feet long and spacious enough to sleep up to six people.","When parked, the exterior room walls slide outward, expanding the width by more than a yard.","Motor homes have driver and passenger seats at the front, and in the back, the essentials of a small house-- kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom.","The factory buys a ready-made standard-length steel chassis from an automotive supplier with motor and other components already installed.","They then lengthen the chassis by cutting each side and welding on an extension piece.","They also extend the pre-installed exhaust system and electrical wiring.","Then, they weld on steel plates to reinforce the splices in the chassis.","Next, they lower the steel basement frame, which has compartments for the water supply, waste collection, and storage.","Before installing the frame, they attach three pairs of sliding hydraulic cylinders called rams.","Each pair operates a slideout room at the push of a button.","After bolting the frame to the chassis, they spray each welded joint with an anti-rust coating.","Then, they test the rams to make sure they slide in and out properly.","They lower the preassembled steel cab structure onto the basement frame and weld it to the chassis.","The motor home's front end is made of fiberglass with a bumper and headlights built in.","Workers connect the headlights to the electrical system, then attach the front end to the cab structure.","Then, they install the hood and make any necessary adjustments.","Next, they load up the compartments in the basement structure, starting with the freshwater tank made of durable white plastic.","Water runs from this tank through flexible plastic water lines to the sinks, shower, and toilets.","Next, the drainage line for sewer waste.","It runs to a plastic tank that's gray to differentiate it from the water tank.","Now they run a line of heavy-duty adhesive along the steel grid of the basement structure and set down the motor home's floor.","The floor construction is like a sandwich-- aluminum on the bottom, plywood on top, with a high-density hard foam in the middle to muffle noise and absorb road vibration.","After securing the glued floor with screws, they staple carpet underpadding onto the plywood...","Except in the kitchen and bathroom areas, where they lay down vinyl or ceramic tile flooring and cut holes in it for heat registers and drains.","Then they install carpet over the underpadding.","The pieces are precut to the motor home's layout-- large pieces for the main areas, small ones for closets and the cab.","Now, workers hook up what they've built so far to a chain mechanism that tows down an assembly line.","First, overhead lifts lower the motor home's three slideout rooms-- dinette, living room, bedroom-- onto their respective rams.","Workers bolt the rooms to the rams, then test them.","Next, workers install the bathroom cabinetry, plumbing, and wiring.","Then the motor home gets its three remaining walls.","They're fiberglass on the outside, decorative paneling on the inside, with foam and an aluminum structural frame in between.","The back wall has a luggage compartment accessible from the outside of the vehicle.","Like the headlights on the front end, the vehicle's taillights are integrated.","The roof structure is the same as the walls.","It has electrical wiring built in and cut-outs for ceiling lights and air-conditioning vents.","The inner structural frames of the roof and walls interlock.","A line of screws running the length of the roof secures the connection.","A generous application of sealant, then on goes the roof cap with built-in clearance lights to finish off the front end.","At this point, the outside of the motor home is almost complete.","However, there's still much interior work to come.","Everything on the inside is designed to maximize living space and storage space.","And even though the motor home has just one bedroom, pullout beds in other areas add additional sleep space.","One of the last jobs remaining on the outside is to install the door.","It fits perfectly because they constructed it using the piece they cut out of the side wall to make the door opening.","Next, some decorative detailing on the vehicle body, including an adhesive vinyl decal bearing the model name.","On the inside, workers are busy applying the finishing touches.","They hang cabinet doors...","Install under-cabinet lighting...","And hook up the kitchen appliances.","The stove is a special compact size manufactured specifically for recreational vehicles.","Customers buying motor homes have a choice of window coverings.","This order calls for double-duty roller shades-- one setting filters daylight, the other blacks it out.","The installer uses a gauge to adjust the blinds to the correct drawing tension.","Then, she installs decorative valances to hide the edges and pull cords.","In the cab, workers bolt the base of the driver and passenger seats to the basement frame.","Then, they bolt a seat-belt receiver to each seat base.","The seats, upholstered in high-end synthetic leather, attach into their respective bases.","Workers install the dinette, which sits in one of the slideout rooms.","The bench seats have a storage area underneath, and the seats and table convert into an extra bed.","At the rear of the motor home is the bedroom, which is the second slideout room.","The bed has storage space underneath for blankets and pillows.","Regulations designate certain seats safe to sit in while the vehicle is moving.","Those seats are equipped with safety belts.","The couch in the living room, the third slideout room, has a few hidden features-- an air mattress which inflates and deflates at the push of a button for an extra bed, and a drawer underneath for storing pillows and blankets.","The bathroom has a toilet...","Sink...","Shower stall...","And lots of cabinet space.","Back on the outside, workers install a rear-view camera on each side wall.","When the driver activates the right turn signal, the right side camera automatically turns on.","The left turn signal, the left camera.","The cameras transmit the image to a dashboard monitor.","Every motor home this factory produces undergoes extensive water-infiltration testing.","Hundreds of sprayers shoot several straight minutes of simulated heavy rainfall from all angles, including underneath-- with the slideout rooms both extended and retracted.","Inspectors check everywhere, even inside cabinets.","If they find any leaks, they seal them and run the water test again.","And finally, one last mechanical verification of the slideout rooms, now that they bear the additional weight of the furnishings.","This expansion feature is the secret to the motor home's spacious feel, as it increases the floor-space width by nearly five feet.","The slideouts operate only while the motor home is parked.","With smart design and ingenious use of limited space, a motor home lets you hit the road without leaving the comforts of home behind."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Grinding Wheels","Compost","Window Blinds","Milk"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Grinding wheels...",".compost...","Window blinds...","And milk.","A grinding wheel is a tool used to grind down, polish, or cut materials such as metal or glass.","Like a sander, it uses abrasive grains to wear away the surface in minute particles.","Grinding actually sharpens the wheel by breaking apart the grains and creating new sharp points.","A grinding wheel is made from several chemical and mineral ingredients.","The formula varies according to what the wheel will be intended to grind, polish, or cut.","For metalwork, they use abrasives that are aluminum-oxide based.","For cutting cement, stone, and other nonmetal objects, they use abrasives that are silicon-carbide based.","Even within those two categories, the formulas will differ.","A wheel designed for hard steel will be different than a wheel designed for softer metals.","Computer-programmed scales automatically weigh out the various ingredients, including additives such as iron oxide-- for wheels that cut or grind iron-- and the mineral cryolite, which lubricates the abrasives.","Powdered and liquid resins bond all the ingredients together.","The powdered resin and additives are the first ingredients to go into the mixer.","After about a minute, the abrasives and liquid resin go in.","Another five minutes of churning, and the mixture is the consistency of damp beach sand.","They screen out any globs or chunks so that the mix has a smooth and even texture.","A device called a shuttle spreads the mixture into a wheel-shaped mold.","The diameter and depth of the mold cavity corresponds to the dimensions of the specific grinding-wheel model.","At the base of the mold is a reinforcement disc made of fiberglass.","Next, a galvanized-steel ring goes in the center of each wheel.","Its four small anchors grip the mixture.","This ring is designed to protect the shaft that spins the grinding wheel.","A hydraulic press now compacts the material, applying up to 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.","That's the weight of about 30 cars.","Every single grinding wheel coming off the line is weighed to ensure it meets design specifications.","Next, the wheels go into an oven whose temperature rises gradually from 70 to 390 degrees fahrenheit over a period of 24 hours.","This cures the resin, bonding all the ingredients together.","When the grinding wheels come out, they're hard as a rock.","The last step of the production process is labeling.","The automated machinery moves the wheels from station to station using suction.","It applies eight drops of hot glue around the center, then slaps on the first label.","The label bears the manufacturer's logo and lists the grinding wheel's dimensions, its intended use, and the maximum spin speed.","The equipment then flips each wheel and glues a second label onto the other side.","This label lists the safety information.","The diameter of a grinding wheel can range from 2 inches to more than 20 inches.","It can be just .","04 of an inch thin or up to 1/2 an inch thick.","The smallest wheels are designed for things like auto-body work while the largest ones can cut through railway tracks and thick-metal construction beams.","Many gardeners are relying on nature to nurture their gardens.","They're choosing compost-based soil mixes over chemically fertilized mixes.","Compost is decomposed organic matter.","Not only is it environmentally friendly, it's chock-full of nutrients and useful micro-organisms.","Composting is the ecological alternative to burning or burying organic waste.","It all starts at this composting factory with manure from farms, biodegradable solid waste from paper mills, and grass clippings and leaves from local governments.","Some materials arrive in bulk, others in plastic garbage bags.","Workers carefully inspect the leaves and grass clippings, removing any nonbiodegradable objects that got into the bags-- things like pieces of plastic, rubber, or metal, shards of glass, or even stones.","After combining all the waste ingredients, they add bulking materials such wood chips and bark.","Then they stack the mixture in outdoor piles to decompose.","The mix's makeup is by no means random.","It's scientifically designed to create an ideal environment for live micro-organisms.","Billions of bacteria and fungi grow and reproduce, feeding on the nitrogen and carbon that are naturally present in the organic matter.","They slowly and gradually transform the waste into compost, which, when ready, will look like rich, black earth.","All this microbiological activity heats the waste piles to a steaming 150 degrees fahrenheit, even in the dead of winter.","The factory turns the piles monthly to aerate them.","This stimulates decay and ensures it occurs evenly throughout the pile.","The active-breakdown phase takes 6 to 10 months.","A curing phase follows-- an additional six to eight months, at the end of which the compost stabilizes.","Because the outdoor piles are exposed to precipitation, high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium leech into the runoff water.","Drainage ditches collect and carry this water to holding ponds.","From there it goes through a treatment system consisting mainly of aeration and settling ponds.","As we see in this demonstration, they aerate the water and add certain chemical compounds.","The pollutants bond and settle at the surface to be skimmed off.","The treated water has to meet strict government regulations before it's released to the environment.","Back to the compost now.","Once the curing phase is over, the compost goes through a screening process which removes any lumps or foreign objects such as pebbles or partially decomposed wood chips.","The finished compost comes out silky-smooth.","Before the compost is sent to market, it undergoes strict quality-control testing.","The factory's laboratory conducts detailed chemical analysis to ensure the compost is at precisely the right level of maturity and that it contains the correct balance of nutrients and stabilized organic matter.","Then, a series of growth-chamber tests.","To ensure the product performs well, the lab germinates seeds and grows test plants in compost-based mixes.","Once the quality-control department gives the green light, the compost can be shipped out either in bulk or packaged bags.","Compost is sold as is or added to soil mixes.","It improves the soil structure and actively retains moisture and fertilizers.","Compost is a chemical-free way to nourish plants and stimulate their defense systems.","This gives them extra strength to grow fast and stay healthy.","Today's window blinds come in many styles-- roller shades, roll-up shades, pleated shades, and horizontal blinds, to name just a few.","The advantage of horizontals is that you can leave the blind drawn and simply tilt the slats to let in tons of light, a bit of light, or no light at all.","Most manufacturers make their wood horizontal blinds from basswood.","It's a hardwood, so it's durable.","It's lightweight, so the blind doesn't end up weighing a ton, and it absorbs wood stain evenly.","First they feed the rough wood through a planer.","They cut it down to 2 inches--  the width of the slats.","Then, following a laser guideline, they trim off any excess and square the piece, using a straight-line ripsaw.","Now the piece goes through a machine that's specifically designed to cut thin slats of wood.","Its sharp steel blades slice right through, creating up to 15 slats, each .","2 of an inch thick.","Here's the piece of basswood before slicing and after.","The slats now pass under an oscillating sander to prep them for staining.","After cutting them to the width of the window, workers spray wood stain on both sides of each slat, then a coat of sealer to lock in the color.","Once the sealer dries, they sand the slats manually to prepare them for a final protective coat of lacquer.","Next, using a die, they punch two slots in each slat 6 inches from each end.","These are for the color-coordinated cords that will operate the blind.","Now for the assembly.","They hang ladder-shaped cords called ladder tapes from the blind's headrail, then slide one slat onto each rung.","Then they thread the blind cord through the slots in the slats, hooking it up to the control mechanism hidden in the headrail.","A cord dangles down the front for raising and lowering the blind.","They also mount a wand, or cord, for tilting the slats.","The excess ladder tape is tucked into a bottom rail.","To make aluminum blinds, they start with long strips of preformed steel.","These will be the blind's headrail and bottom rail.","Workers cut them to the required length, which is the width of the window.","They make holes in the headrail for the cord lock-- the device that locks the blind to the desired height-- and the tilter, the mechanism that angles the slats.","Now they install those components.","The cord lock snaps right into the hole-- no hardware required.","That's known as a pressure fit.","They pressure-fit the tilter, as well.","Next come the tape rolls, through which they run the ladder tapes.","They cut the appropriate length and color of blind cord, then thread it through the cord lock.","The tilter turns a rod, which turns the tape roll, which tilts the ladder tapes, angling the slats.","And speaking of slats, they're cut from rolls of 1-inch-wide aluminum.","Workers simply feed a roll into the forming machine.","Then the rest of the process is automated.","First the machine gives the flat metal a semicircular curve.","Then it punches cord holes and then, as you can see on the far left of the screen, cuts it into slats.","But that's not all-- this same machine also assembles the blind, sliding a slat onto each rung of the ladder tapes.","All that's left to do by hand is thread the blind cord and install the bottom rail.","From this point on, it's just window dressing.","Getting milk out of a cow has sure come a long way since the days of sitting on a stool and doing it by hand.","Today's cutting-edge dairy farms are fully automated.","Sophisticated equipment feeds the cows, cleans up their manure, milks them, and even checks the quality of the milk.","Historians aren't sure when humans first began drinking animal milk.","They believe that people in ancient babylon, egypt, and india raised dairy cattle as early as 4000 b.c. for centuries, the family cow was the main source of milk.","But as cities became more populated, keeping your own personal cow became rather impractical, so farmers living outside city limits began to establish dairy businesses.","The key to good milk output is a good diet.","Every day, a dairy cow chows down up to 100 pounds of feed-- a mix of hay, grass, and grains, supplemented with minerals and proteins such as soy.","On a hot day, she can drink the equivalent of a bathtub full of water.","Cows produce milk only during the lactation period that follows the birth of a calf.","Starting at 15 to 17 months of age, they're inseminated yearly for about six years.","The newborn calf suckles for a couple of days, then goes to a separate area to be raised.","But the mother continues to lactate for another 10 to 12 months, producing about 12 gallons of milk per day.","This is the milk that's collected for human consumption.","The barn floor is automatically cleaned around the clock to prevent the cows from walking in their manure, which would spread disease and infection.","Animal welfare is at the core of this state-of-the-art dairy farm.","A happy and stress-free cow produces better milk, so these cows aren't confined to stalls.","They walk around freely inside or outside, eating and drinking as they please.","They scratch themselves against this motion-triggered brush.","It improves their blood circulation and cleans their hides.","Each cow wears an identification tag.","It emits a low frequency-- a different one for each animal.","This enables the computerized milking system to collect data on each cow's milking habits and monitor the quality of her milk.","No traditional twice-a-day milking here-- the cows decide when they feel like being milked.","Just like the pressure in our bladders tells us when it's time to go to the bathroom, when the cows find the pressure in their udders uncomfortable, they just mosey on down to the milking stall.","The stall is designed not to force the cow into an uncomfortable or motionless position.","It sets up in such a way that she's not separated from the herd.","Scientific research shows that separation induces stress.","As it prepares to clean her udder with disinfectant and water, the robotic milking system reads the i.d. tag and records that this cow is number 328, coming in for a milking at 4:41 in the afternoon.","Next, a laser pinpoints the exact location and position of the four teats.","It feeds that information to the computer, which then guides the robot to attach the teat cups one by one.","Once the robot detects the presence of milk, extraction begins, each suction cup simulating the sucking action of a nursing calf.","A sophisticated machine analyzes the milk.","If the quality is not up to par or if the machine detects signs the cow has an infection, milk with elevated temperature, or minute traces of blood, the system automatically rejects the batch and red-flags the problem cow.","As the udder-cleaning brushes get disinfected, the robot tracks the output of each teat separately.","That way, no teat is undermilked or overmilked, which can lead to health problems.","Once the suction cups come off, the robot disinfects each teat.","As bessie goes on her way feeling mighty relieved, the robot disinfects the teat cups for the next cow.","The milk that passes inspection collects in a jar, then gets transferred to a giant refrigerated reservoir.","They wash out that jar between cows.","To keep the milk fresh, they store it at 37 degrees fahrenheit-- about the temperature of your refrigerator."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Goalie Pads","Lapel Pins","Cardboard Boxes","Crystal Wine Glasses"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Goalie pads...","Lapel pins...","Cardboard boxes...","And crystal wineglasses.","In 1896, george merritt of the canadian hockey team winnipeg victorias was the first-ever hockey goaltender to wear pads to protect his legs.","He and those who followed him used pads from another sport-- cricket.","Wider pads specifically for ice hockey didn't come about until the 1920s.","This company spends $40,000 a year on research and development of goalie pads.","It redesigns its pads every two years to upgrade to the latest materials and construction.","Each goalie pad has 100 components.","The factory uses hundreds of metal dies to cut parts to make pads in 15 sizes.","Workers position the appropriate dies on the material.","A hydraulic machine applies roughly the weight of four elephants-- forcing the dies through up to four layers at once.","Here, it's a synthetic, water-repellent material called p.u. leather.","The machine also cuts various types of foam for structure, protection, and comfort.","And it creates holes, called eyelets, for laces or buttons.","Here, the machine cuts soft, low-density foam, which acts as a shock absorber against the force of the puck.","Workers sew the pads using industrial-strength nylon stitching.","To protect the p.u. leather, they sew on a layer of foam that's an eighth of an inch thick, and zippers on openings that will be packed with shredded foam for a snug fit.","They use a half-inch-thick layer of spongy foam to line the player's knee and calf areas for flexibility and comfort.","The stitching is purely decorative.","The factory often embroiders the player's name on the goalie pads to identify the gear if it's lost.","This automated embroidery machine has 12 computer-guided heads.","They use up to 40 different thread colors.","Every year, this factory produces up to 3,500 pairs of goalie pads.","The players wear an array of corporate logos on their pads.","It's all part of the commercial nature of the game and the industry.","Now they sew on a zippered pocket, which, when filled with foam, will protect the calf area.","They use water-resistant fabric to cover the back of the player's leg and line the area with low-density foam to absorb the puck's impact.","Then they attach flaps, called knee raisers, to protect the knee area.","Good thing, given that pucks will slam the goalie at a speed of up to 100 miles per hour.","Next, they sew the front and back parts of the pads together.","Then they hot-glue a sandwich of harder foam for structural support, soft foam for shock absorbency, and an even softer foam for comfort.","This padding forms the guts of the pad.","Using crimpers, workers fasten the pads together temporarily.","Then they use a 7-inch-long needle with a diamond-shaped tip to sew the layers together.","The worker threads the layers, uniting them into one piece.","This process is called lasting.","Workers now pack the outside of the goalie pad with more rigid foam for structure and softer foam for comfort.","They use clamps to fasten the boot area together temporarily, while inserting shredded foam-- shredded because it's easier to squeeze in.","Then, using a specialized sewing machine, they sew the outermost shell of the pad.","This is considered the toughest part of the assembly, since it joins layers as thick as an inch.","They use pliers to hold the pieces tightly together during the 45 minutes or so that it takes to sew just one pad.","After trimming the excess from the ends, workers cover them with a strip of p.u. leather-- a process called capping.","They attach the strip using 13 overlapping stitches-- a durability feature that gives the goalie pads long life.","Next, they insert a removable knee guard, which can be adjusted or replaced later on.","Using a rivet machine, they attach a leather strap to an adjustable nylon buckle.","It's an important component.","This is what fastens the pads to the leg.","And at a price of nearly $1,600 a pair, you, too, can stop those speeding pucks with confidence.","Lapel pins let you proudly show off where you've been or where you stand, from an event you've attended or your political beliefs to your professional affiliation or your favorite sports team.","Lapel pins cost pennies to produce, but some are collectors items worth thousands of dollars.","They may be tiny, but they're out there in huge numbers.","This one company churns out about 5 million lapel pins a year.","It all starts with the sketch of the pin design and from that, the master-- a negative made of magnesium, a type of metal.","They'll make copies of this master to create a production mold.","But first, using what's called a coping saw, they cut out the front and back pieces of the master.","Using a dispenser about the size of a sewing needle, they glue the pieces together with epoxy.","It takes five minutes to dry.","Then they cast enough copies of the master to fill up a rubber disk.","After tracing the outlines, a worker uses a surgical knife to meticulously carve out the cavities.","He softens the rubber with paint thinner, to enable precision cuts.","Then he places a copy of the master in each cavity.","Another disk goes on top, then it's into a machine called a vulcanizer for one hour.","This machine uses heat and pressure to cure the rubber, making it as hard as a car tire.","It also melds the rubber around each master copy, embedding the detail.","This will be the production mold for producing this pin design.","Now, using a surgical knife again for precision, they carve out sprues-- channels that, during the casting process, will direct the flow of molten metal to the cavities.","They also make smaller curved channels, called runners, to filter out any air or dirt particles.","It's crucial to position the sprues and runners correctly because this mold produces an entire line of a particular pin.","Mess up, and they'd have to remake the mold from scratch.","Next, they insert a half-inch-long brass tack, called a post, into each cavity.","It'll later fasten to a clasp, attaching the pin to clothing.","The post goes in now, rather than later, so that it will fuse to the back of the lapel pin during casting.","Now, to close the mold, they align the buttons on one half with the depressions in the other half.","The mold then goes into what's called a spin casting machine.","Using a cast-iron ladle that can withstand the fiery temperature, they pour in molten metal-- either pewter, zinc, or a tin alloy.","As the machine spins, centrifugal force propels the metal into every nook and cranny of the cavities.","After a minute of spinning--  400 rotations-- the mold comes out.","The metal takes about five minutes to cool and harden.","The factory re-melts the excess metal for the next batch.","Next, a brass clasp, called a clutch, goes onto the post.","Now the lapel pins go for an hour-long wash in soap and water and abrasive stones.","The stones smooth out any rough edges.","The pins go into the electroplating tank for a surface coating of metal.","How many coats and the types of metal vary with the design.","An electric current draws the metal particles onto the pins, plating them thoroughly.","These pins first get copper plating, then nickel plating, then gold plating.","Now it's time to paint the lapel pins.","Workers follow a numerical guide, like a paint-by-numbers kit.","They paint each pin individually, using minute quantities of epoxy paint.","They control the paint syringe with a foot pedal.","Once the paint dries, a machine called a pad printer gathers up the ink and stamps on the tiny details, the ones too small to paint by hand.","Pierce the post through fabric, secure it with the clutch, and this lapel pin is now ready to wear.","Like many inventions, the cardboard box was born by sheer accident.","In the 1870s, an american printer by the name of robert gair stumbled upon the idea.","By mistake, he cut a paper seed bag he was creasing with a metal ruler.","Gair concluded he could create a sturdier container with paperboard.","Cardboard boxes come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.","But most share three basic structural components-- one wavysheet of paper, called a flute, sandwiched between two flat sheets, called liners.","Together they form what's called a corrugated board.","Production starts with a massive roll of partially recycled paper.","The width of the paper varies, depending on the size of the boxes they're making.","The roll feeds a machine called a corrugator.","The machine presses the paper between two ridged rollers and blasts it with hot steam.","This shapes the waves of the flute.","Another roller applies glue to one side of the flute.","The glue's main ingredients are water and starch, which won't contaminate fresh produce the boxes may later contain.","Next, the machine adheres one liner sheet...","And then the other.","The waves create an air cushion between the flute and the liners, strengthening the board.","For added strength, some boxes have a double lining-- two flutes and three liners.","The flutes may also vary in thickness for more or less cushioning.","The factory uses partially recycled paper for the flutes because it's more malleable than non-recycled paper.","A razor-thin circular saw trims each side.","The corrugator machine then cuts the board up to nine times, depending on the size of the box they're producing.","The corrugator's final function is to separate the boards into layers, using flexible aluminum tongs called fingers.","Workers do a quality-control check before sending the boards off for printing.","The next machine stacks the boards into piles of between 25 and 80, depending on their thickness.","This machine also feeds one board at a time to the upcoming equipment.","It does this at lightning speed-- at a rate of up to 8,000 boards per hour.","First, a trimmer perforates the boards to create flaps and handles.","Rubber sponges cushion the blades so that they cut only the parts they're supposed to.","During the trimming, a press condenses the boxes' overlapping panels to level out their thickness.","Workers usually cut the sponges by hand to make sure they fit snugly around the blades.","The trimmer runs at a speed of 5 miles an hour, processing up to 90 boxes per minute.","Workers send the cutoffs back to the paper mill to be recycled as many as six times over.","A folding machine now bends them along score lines the corrugator made earlier.","It then applies cold glue to the sections that'll join together to form the box, hot glue if the cardboard is wax-coated.","The next machine folds over the glued sections.","They aren't visible once the box is finished.","Another machine stacks the boxes in piles.","A separator arm moves the bundles to trays, called skids, for shipping.","The printing of the boxes began in the factory's ink kitchen.","A computer-guided dispenser squirts out different shades of ink, following a precise recipe to create a particular color, one of 5,000 in the palette.","One pail holds about 45 pounds of printing ink-- enough for 2,000 boxes, depending on the coverage needed.","The factory uses water-based ink because it dries instantly.","The printing press applies the ink to the boards, one color group at a time, through four consecutive stations.","This factory uses a flexographic printing system, a process that can print drawings and illustrations.","Some companies use a lithographic press, which can also print photographs.","Back on the trimming line, more complicated types of box flaps and handles require what's called a flatbed trimmer.","It holds the boards in place with suction while making intricate perforations.","After removing the trimmed bits, workers give the boxes one last quality check.","Then they stack them and send them off to the warehouse.","The main ingredient in glass is silica sand.","When you heat it along with other chemicals, it turns into a syrupy liquid that you can then mold or blow into a particular shape.","Add lead oxide and you've got lead crystal.","It's much softer than regular glass, making it easier to decorate with intricate cut designs, to enhance its brilliance.","craftsmen start with silica sand, which is a very pure type of sand.","Then they add nickel oxide to help the silica sand melt, lead oxide, potassium carbonate, potassium nitrate, and antimony, to give the finished crystal its smoothness, heft, and sparkle.","They compress the mix into pellets.","They heat the pellets for 18 hours, creating a mass of molten glass that they can call the melt.","To that, they add cullet-- the term for excess, broken, or rejected crystal.","Cullet smoothes out the melt.","A blower now uses a hollow blowing iron made of tempered stainless steel to collect some of the melt.","He constantly rotates the iron so the melt clings together in what's called a gather.","The blower rolls the gather on a heat-resistant table.","This sparks a flame because the table is coated with beeswax to prevent the molten crystal from sticking.","The blower exhales a slow, steady breath of air to create the base of the piece, called the ball.","After letting it cool for 90 seconds, he dips the ball back in the furnace to coat it with another layer of molten crystal.","This fortifies the ball.","Now he begins shaping the ball, using various wooden tools.","This one's called a block.","He uses another tool, a divider, to create grooves so the ball will fit into a mold.","The blower soaks the wooden tools in water so they won't burn.","He now inserts the ball into a steel mold, one of 150 this company uses for its collection.","The craftsmen coat the inside of the mold beforehand with a paste of cork dust, linseed oil, and charcoal dust.","This prevents the ball from sticking, which would cause flaws in the crystal.","The blower releases the ball, now called the bowl, using a foot pedal.","After cooling the bowl for one minute, another craftsman, called a stemmer, adds another gather to create the stem of the wineglass.","He clips the gather with heat-resistant scissors.","He uses a wooden divider to shape the stem area and a metal divider to stretch the gather into the shape of the stem.","The stemmer must be highly skilled.","There's no mold or pattern to follow.","He relies entirely on eyesight, intuition, and patience.","He cools the stem with layers of wet newspaper.","They absorb heat well and don't leave marks or flaws.","Next, another craftsman adds more gather to create the foot of the glass.","He uses a wooden tool, called a pitch, to flatten the foot.","He also shapes the foot by hand with wet newspaper.","This metal template ensures it's generally the right dimensions.","Everything is handmade, so each piece may differ slightly.","This company makes 20 models of glasses, including different styles for red, white, port, and ice wines.","The piece then goes into a kiln at 840 degrees fahrenheit.","At the end of the day, they switch off the kiln to let the glasses gradually cool overnight to room temperature.","The next day, a craftsman uses an acetylene torch to cut the glass and remove the cap.","They use an old record turntable to spin the glass around and make the cut.","For precision, they smooth and bevel the rim with a diamond-coated steel grinder.","Another craftsman, called a cutter, marks out a grid with a waterproof pen.","He uses another type of turntable to steady his hand as he draws.","It's not an exact pattern, just a general guideline to create the design of the piece.","This design's called the titanic.","It's based on a light fixture from the ocean liner.","Water cools, lubricates, and cleans the area during cutting.","There are two types of cutting-- wedge and flat.","Wedge cutting creates the deep, intricate cuts.","Flat cutting creates smoother, less-angled cuts.","Here, they use the wedge method, which can only be done with diamond-tipped wheels.","Here, the cutter creates a diamond-shaped grid, called a karo cut.","Finally, the cutter creates a star-shaped cut spanning the entire foot of the glass.","Once the decorations are complete, an inspector does a detailed quality check, before etching the company logo."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Dinnerware","Air Brake Tanks","Frosted Cereal","Fossils"]},"text":["Restaurant dinnerware brings a lot to the table.","It's known for rugged good looks, it holds up to heavy use and repeated cleaning in commercial dishwashers, and its design reflects the restaurant's theme and adds presentation value to the food.","Most people appreciate the effort that goes into a fine meal, but they may not give much thought to what it takes to make the actual plate the food is served up on.","Making ceramic dinnerware that's restaurant-quality is an intensive process-- one that starts with a master die made of gypsum.","This worker then makes a production version of the master.","To do this, he pours gypsum into a wire-mesh frame above the master.","There's tubing attached to the mesh frame, and he pumps air through it.","This causes the water in the gypsum to bubble out and evaporate.","It dries and solidifies into a mirror image of the master-- in this case, a platter shape.","The tubing inside this production die will be used again later to gently blow off the platter when formed, releasing it from the die.","Another worker adds the ceramic ingredients to water.","They including a plasticizer, silica sand, different clays, and minerals like alumina.","Once the clay mix has been thoroughly blended, they drain it onto a vibrating sieve to screen out large mineral chunks and impurities.","The clay-based liquid flows through the screen into a holding tank.","They pump it through this filter press.","It compresses fabric-covered plastic plates to squeeze out moisture, turning the clay liquid into putty-like slabs.","With this consistency, it can now be shaped.","A worker breaks up the slabs and feeds the pieces to a pug mill.","The mill shapes the clay into a long cylinder, and, in the process, it sucks out air so dinnerware made from it will be less prone to cracking.","He slices the clay cylinder into small wads, using a wire cutter.","Each of these clay wads will be shaped into one plate.","They place each wad onto molds on a revolving platform.","The mold spins up to a metal tool, which presses the clay into the shape of the plate mold below.","The tool also forms the back so the plate will sit evenly on a table.","A nozzle lubricates the metal tool between pressings.","A cutter at the side trims the rims of the plates as they're formed.","Unlike the platter die, these molds don't have tubing inside to blow off the plates.","Instead, the heat from the dryer separates them from the molds.","Once out of the molds, the plates spin on pedestals past a sponge to smooth the edges.","To make coffee mugs, the pug mill presses out a narrower cylinder, and a knife at the exit point slices it into precise wads.","The wads fall into coffee-mug molds, and a tool spins the clay up against the walls of the molds to shape it into mugs.","A blade at the top trims the excess from the lip of the mug.","They pass under a long sponge to smooth the rims.","And now for the handles.","They make them in two-part molds and dry them under an infrared light.","The handles must have precisely the same moisture content as the mugs-- around 16%.","A worker dips the ends of each handle in a clay-and-glue mixture and presses it to the mug.","The mugs go into a dryer, and the moisture content drops to 4%.","Next, they douse the mugs with glaze inside and out and bake them in a super-hot kiln.","This will make the mugs chip-resistant and will strengthen the bond between the handle and the mug.","They paint the dinnerware by hand, using a ceramic stain.","The stain will enable it to hold up to repeated rigorous cleanings in restaurant dishwashers.","For a different look, they apply decals to some dinnerware.","This artwork has been produced using the same hard-wearing ceramic stain.","The plates then head into the oven, and the heat fuses the decorative touches to them.","From a liquid clay mix to tableware you can dine out on.","The process has taken about 24 hours.","It should serve you well.","Air-brake tanks are part of powerful brake systems on tractor trailers and buses.","When the driver depresses the brake pedal, the tank releases the compressed air to activate the brakes so the big wheels slow down and stop turning.","The energy used to stop a big rig comes from air.","It's compressed and stored in the brake tanks so there's always a ready supply.","They make air-brake tanks from industrial-grade steel that's about as thick as a typical magazine.","A press forces the steel around a dome form and shears the edges to produce the tank's end caps.","It also punches a hole in each cap for a fitting.","The cap's dome shape is critical.","It will allow it to withstand the air pressure inside the tank.","The tank caps now ride a conveyor under sprayers that wash away residual oil from the pressing process.","More steel sheeting feeds into another press.","It's twice as thick as the steel used to make the end caps.","This press is punching and forming brackets for attaching the air tank to the trailer undercarriage, so these connecting parts have to be extra-strong.","It takes six punches to shape the flat sheet of steel into the curved brackets.","Here's an example of the six formative stages.","Machinery now flattens and cuts bigger sheets of steel for the tank body.","Mechanized clamps grip the sheet along the edges and position it under another punch press.","It perforates the steel where fittings are to be installed.","It also stamps the company name and other manufacturing information onto it.","They feed the sheet to a roller that curls it into the cylindrical tank shell.","The rolling is precise, and the dimensions of the cylinder don't need any adjusting.","The worker clamps it into a fixture.","A carriage moves a welding torch overhead to join the ends and create an airtight seal.","A worker inspects the weld.","The next worker welds fittings onto the holes punched into the tank shell earlier.","Two of the fittings are for attaching valves that control the flow of compressed air.","The third fitting will be used to connect a line for draining water formed during air compression.","He reinforces the fittings with large collars that help the connections withstand any bumps on the road.","He places the brackets and end caps in an automatic welder and activates it.","It fuses the bracket to the cap-- one for each of the air tank's end caps.","With both bracketed end caps now installed on the cylindrical shell, it's time to seal this air tank.","The tank turns on a welding lathe as automated welders bond them to the shell.","The air-tank structure is now basically complete.","It's time to put it to the test.","After plugging the open fittings, they pump highly compressed air into the tank-- more than it would usually handle.","If it can take all the pressure, it's deemed structurally sound.","They bring the pressure down a bit and check for leaks.","Bubbles in the water around it would indicate air is seeping out, but in this case, there are only a few ripples from the action of placing it in the water.","After a cleaning, the airtight tank heads into a powder-coating station.","Sprayers apply the powdered resin coating to the tanks.","The particles are positively charged, and the tanks are negatively charged for an instant attraction.","The black powder clings to the tanks as they now travel through a gas-fired oven.","The heat melts and bonds the coating to the surface of the air-brake tanks, forming a tough skin that's rust-resistant.","After the tanks cool, a worker inserts a long, thin paint gun through one of the fittings to spray a rustproof coating on the inside.","He then inserts plugs into all the fittings to protect the threads from damage until they're ready to make all the necessary connections.","It's taken about five hours to produce these air-brake tanks, and it's now time to put on the brakes.","Frosted cereal originated in america in the 1950s, and today, you'll find versions of it on breakfast tables around the world.","It's one of the first things some people reach for in the morning.","The sugary coating complements the flavor of the grains.","It's one way to awaken the taste buds.","This particular blend of frosted cereal is a combination of wheat flakes, corn flakes, and granola clusters.","Half the flakes are frosted, and half aren't.","There's honey, rolled oats, and rice in the granola.","The mix of the ingredients means there are still a few surprises in the frosted-cereal box.","To make the corn flakes, they start with corn grits.","They measure out a specific amount and release it into an industrial version of a pressure cooker.","The operator locks the lid, and the system pipes water and flavorings directly into the cooker.","It rotates for an even distribution of heat and an even cooking of the grains.","After about three hours, the kernels have absorbed moisture and softened.","As the corn flows out of the cooker, a screw-conveyor system moves it towards a dryer.","They cook a measured amount of whole-wheat kernels in water and flavorings.","They only need an hour in the rotating pressure cooker.","Like the corn, the whole wheat absorbs a significant amount of water during cooking.","The kernels are about 30% moisture when they exit the cooker.","They now merge with the corn en route to the dryer.","The drying time will bring the moisture content down to about 19%, making the kernels the right consistency to be transformed into flakes.","The grains now flow into a mill.","The mill has two big, heavy rollers, similar to the kind used to pave roads.","The kernels fall between these rollers.","The rollers exert tons of pressure to flatten each individual kernel into a flake.","In the process, the wheat flakes turn whiter and the corn turn more yellow.","At this point, the flakes are still quite soft and not really tasty.","A trip through a long toaster oven will give it that crispy cereal consistency.","It's a high-temperature toasting and reduces the moisture content to 3%.","Here, you can see the flakes before toasting...","And after.","The toasting not only makes the corn and wheat flakes crispy-- it also enhances the color and flavor.","A ride on a conveyor cools them down.","Along the way, they split into two different streams.","One stream of the mixed flakes travel towards the sugar-coating station.","The other heads into a flavoring drum.","The drum revolves to gently toss the cereal as a sprayer applies a granola kind of flavoring.","The other stream of wheat and corn flakes enters the sugar-coating drum.","A sprayer disperses a sugar-and-water mixture as the drum tosses the flakes.","Then they travel through a dryer, and this cures the frosting to the flakes.","The frosted and the flavored flakes flow onto the same conveyor.","It bounces the flakes around to blend them together.","To boost the nutrition content, they add honey-flavored granola.","The granola clusters flow onto a conveyor.","They'll merge with the frosted and flavored flakes.","The feeder pipe showers granola onto the flakes.","This frosted cereal is now ready for store shelves.","Machinery dispenses specific amounts into a plastic sleeve, and a mechanism heat-seals and severs it at both ends.","Mechanical arms then pick up boxes, open them, and deposit them on a conveyor.","Push rods shove the bags of cereal into the boxes.","The \"best before\" date and other information have been printed on the outside of the boxes.","Nozzles apply glue to the ends, and the boxes brush by a side barrier that closes them.","Producing and packaging this frosted-cereal blend has taken about five hours, and if the breakfast crowd is hungry, it won't last long.","Its time on the table could be short and sweet.","A fossil is a remnant of prehistoric life embedded in rock-- either the actual remains of an animal or plant or an impression left by decayed remains.","Most fossils are hundreds of millions of years old and remind us that humans have been around for a small part of the earth's existence.","Fossils are made by nature but collected and preserved by man for display in museums, as well as in private collections.","One of the world's richest fossil deposits is located in the southwestern part of the state of wyoming.","50 million years ago, the area was a freshwater lake.","With climate changes, it gradually dried out, leaving wildlife and flora buried under layers of sediment.","Over time, that sediment hardened into sheets of rock containing fossils of those former life forms.","To find fossils in what were the shallower edges of the prehistoric lake, they drive thin blades about 4/10 of an inch deep to loosen and separate sheets of rock.","In this part of the deposit, the fossil is often split between two layers of rock, which is why they call this particular dig area \"the split-fish quarry\".","They repeat the process, excavating several layers.","They typically find fossils of smaller herring-type fish, plants, and insects.","They carefully separate the large rock sheets into smaller pieces so that it's easier to transport their haul from the quarry to the workshop.","This sedimentary rock is oil shale-- a substitute for conventional crude oil.","Scratch the surface, and it smells, and it'll burn.","However, there's not enough actual oil in this deposit to make extraction viable.","In the company's second quarry, they blow away surface debris to make it easier to spot fossils.","Recovery is more difficult here because this part of the deposit was the deep center of the prehistoric lake.","Wildlife was buried under far more sediment.","It takes a highly trained eye and the low angle of morning sunlight to see the slight shadow which a fossil's ridges cast on the ground.","After outlining their find, they use a saw with a diamond blade to cut around it.","They've removed the surrounding rock to be able to slide their thin blades underneath...","Then gently extract their treasure.","This is a tricky procedure.","One wrong move, and the fossil shatters.","In the workshop, under five-times magnification and using a variety of sharpened tools, they carefully scrape away the surface until the dark color of the fossil shows through.","To fully reveal a fossil this size takes 30 to 40 hours of tedious and meticulous work.","As for the rock sheets from the split quarry, they saw the fossils apart, neatly framing each one within a rectangle.","Layers flake off more easily from split-quarry rock than from the harder rock of the other quarry.","Once a fossil is completely exposed, they seal and protect the surface with a light coat of spray-on acrylic.","When exposing a fossil, it's critical to keep sharpening the tools on a diamond file, and, for visibility, to repeatedly clean the work surface with an eraser or brush.","How many layers of rock have to be scratched off varies.","A fossil can be sitting right on the surface or be buried a fraction of an inch or so beneath it.","This freshwater stingray, a rare find, is about as intricate as a fossil gets.","This fellow took more than a month to prepare.","The detail of this large palm-leaf fossil is astounding.","You can actually see insect bites.","And as this leaf fossilized on the prehistoric lake bed, so did the fish swimming around it, producing an incredible stone snapshot of life 50 million years ago."]}
{"meta":{"things":["LED Tubes","Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars","Robotic Medication Dispensers"]},"text":["L.e.d. tubes are designed so they can easily replace fluorescent tubes that are inside overhead commercial light fixtures.","Unlike traditional incandescent and fluorescent lighting, a light-emitting diode produces light through a microchip.","It lasts twice as long and uses half the electricity.","These l.e.d. tubes come in a selection of lengths.","They're designed to be a modern, energy-saving alternative to fluorescent tube light fixtures.","The manufacturing process begins with a printed circuit board.","\"printed\" means the board has a network of conductive copper lines and rectangular paths.","It's designed to electrically link components.","A technician places the circuit board on a track, which ferries it to the first computer-guided machine on the line.","The machine covers the board with a metal stencil.","The stencil has openings matching the locations where the electronic components will be mounted to the board.","The machine spreads a layer of lead-free tin alloy solder over the stencil.","This applies solder to the board only where the components go.","The next computer-guided machine on the line mounts the first of those components, the light emitting diodes, or l.e.d.s.","They're composed of a microchip coated with a chemical phosphor and come in different sizes, colors, and light outputs.","The factory programs the machine's chip shooter to pick the required l.e.d.s off supply reels and place them on the solder-coated locations on the circuit board.","The chip shooter works at an astonishing speed, placing up to 40,000 l.e.d.s per hour.","A camera trained on the board verifies that every l.e.d.'s position is dead-on.","The circuit board moves to a third computer-guided machine for the next electronic component, the terminals.","They receive the electric current to power the l.e.d. light tube.","The machine picks up one terminal at a time and places it on the circuit board.","The circuit board moves into the final machine on this line, a tunnel oven.","The temperature inside peaks at about 460 degrees fahrenheit.","The heat melts the solder, fusing the components to the board.","Solder is both adhesive and conductive.","The bond connects the components to the board's copper electrical network.","For the high light output tube they're making in this run, each board is comprised of eight strips.","Each strip has dual rows of l.e.d.s.","They snap them into 12-inch strips.","The tube length they're making requires four strips.","A technician slides one with a terminal and three without into an aluminum track.","He gives them a visible inspection, then solders the strips to each other.","Once soldered, the strips are electrically bridged so the terminal on the first one can power all of them.","The aluminum track is called the heat sink.","It's critical to the tube's performance.","It has deep fins on the bottom which dissipate heat, cooling the l.e.d.s.","This keeps the color of the light consistent and extends the tube's life.","Once the technician connects the strips, he plugs power into the terminal to test the l.e.d.s.","Next, he inserts wires into the terminal and locks them in with a compression tool.","The opposite ends of the wires connect to the power supply in the light fixture.","The technician snaps a transparent polycarbonate lens into grooves on the side of the heat sink.","He closes the tube by placing a cap on each end.","He aligns each cap's pins with slots on the press.","Then the press is activated, which forces the caps onto the tube, attaching them permanently.","The end with the terminal has slots enabling the wires to protrude.","The light tube is finished and ready to be shipped.","To install this energy-efficient l.e.d. tube, simply click the pins on the end caps into receiving slots in the light fixture.","Then connect the wires to the power supply and the fixture's wiring.","Thanks to those cooling fins on the heat sink, this l.e.d. tube will last for 100,000 hours and has a guaranteed 10-year life-span.","As any sweet tooth can attest, there's no end to the flavors you can pair with chocolate.","A classic combination is milk chocolate and peanut butter.","The saltiness of the peanut butter is the perfect foil to the sweetness of milk chocolate.","This bar features a thick layer of milk chocolate around a sweet, salty and crunchy peanut butter candy center.","Making that peanut butter candy center is the tricky part.","To make the candy part of it, the factory combines liquid sugar, corn syrup, coconut oil, and molasses.","They mix and heat these ingredients for about 8 minutes.","The cooked candy is poured into a large stainless steel bowl.","Next, they add leftovers from the previous batch of candy.","They call these leftovers \"rework\" because they rework them into this new batch.","Once the rework has mixed with the hot, new candy, they empty the bowl onto a cold stainless steel table.","They blend the candy until the two merge into a sweet, gooey mess.","Once the candy has cooled a bit, workers fold it up and carry it over to the pulling station.","There, they make a pocket in the center and fill it with vanilla extract.","They start up the pulling machine, which stretches the candy nonstop for about 5 minutes.","This infuses the candy with air so that its consistency resembles taffy rather than hard candy.","They transfer the candy to a belt that carries to it to the weaving machine.","The machine's rollers flatten the candy into a thin sheet.","Then a pump draws piping hot peanut butter from this tank...","And deposits it in a generous layer onto the candy sheet.","Workers roll up the sheet until it reaches a specific diameter.","At that point, they fold and place it on a sheet without peanut butter, called a blank sheet.","The next roller presses the folded roll flat onto the blank sheet.","Workers roll up the blank sheet, sealing the peanut butter candy inside.","This complex assembly is what forms the flaky layers in the chocolate bar center.","Workers round the sheet between two rollers and feed it to the rope sizer.","It stretches the peanut butter candy into a rope that's the exact diameter of the chocolate bar center.","The next machine makes a pinch mark every 5 inches, or the length of a chocolate bar.","The linked centers enter a cooling tunnel.","They exit 5 minutes later rigid.","The links separate as they drop to the next conveyor belt.","They pass through a second refrigerated tunnel, which finishes cooling them.","The centers move into lanes that feed the enrober, a machine that coats the centers with chocolate.","Workers make sure the centers are single file and properly spaced.","The enrober is like a confectionery car wash.","Centers pass through a hot rinse of milk chocolate first.","Then, an overhead dryer blows off any excess, leaving behind a 3-milliliter layer of chocolate.","The bars enter a final cooling tunnel to harden the chocolate.","Workers transfer the finished chocolate peanut butter bars to a conveyor belt for packaging.","As the bars approach the wrapping machine, the in-feeder arranges them in single file.","Rolls of printed plastic film unwind into the machine's forming box.","In the blink of an eye, the machine folds, wraps, and heat-seals the film around each passing bar.","A revolving knife slices the wrapper between bars.","Then, it's off to the packaging department, where workers pack them 24 to a box.","These chocolate peanut butter bars are ready to be devoured by anyone in the mood for a crunchy, sweet, and salty chocolate snack.","At some pharmacies, robotic systems are lending a helping hand behind the counter.","These machines can do it all.","They count pills, dispense them into vials, cap the vials and label them.","When it comes to handling a heavy workload, these robotic dispensers are just what the doctor ordered.","Input the prescription data, and this robotic medication dispenser goes to work.","It counts bottles and labels pills in just 30 to 40 seconds.","Making a robot starts with a retainer disk for the vial-capping system.","Computerized tools carve slots for the capping mechanism.","They measure the slots with an electronic probe.","Tools sculpt the rough plastic blank, transforming it into a platform for the pill vial during capping.","The part takes shape in minutes.","An assembler installs two computers in the dispenser frame.","One computer interfaces with the robotic system.","The other operates the drug inventory.","She installs a rack that holds a power strip above the computers.","She lowers a battery into place beside the computers and ties it to the framework.","This battery provides backup power in the event of an outage.","Next come the controls for the robotic arm.","She inserts them in the frame and plugs them in.","Another member of the team assembles plastic brackets to an aluminum manifold.","These brackets hold plastic cells filled with pills.","The manifold itself sends dispensing information to the cells.","It also delivers bursts of air to move the pills through the cells and into prescription vials.","She secures the brackets to the manifold with screws.","Then, she attaches a long row of circuit boards to the manifold.","These circuit boards send data between the cells and the dispensing computer.","She connects ribbon cable to the computer circuit board.","This cable will be linked to 18 other manifolds in the dispensing machine.","They're ready to mount all the manifolds to a large metal frame.","An employee slides the ends of each manifold into slots in the rack.","She stacks up the cell manifolds, creating a bank of 18.","Plastic dividers are attached to the brackets.","This creates compartments to hold the actual pill cells.","The dividers strengthen the entire dispensing machine's structure.","A technician now installs a vertical rail that's equipped with a robotic arm.","He fits the bottom of the rail into the grooves of a horizontal track and attaches the top of the rail to an upper track.","He connects one end of a long pole, called a link shaft, to the robot and the other end to the top track.","This shaft moves the robotic arm horizontally to collect pills in a vial.","The installer tests the shaft to confirm it moves the arm along the track with no obstructions.","He programs the robotic arm to move up, down, need around in order to collect pills during dispensing.","He attaches rubber flaps to the back of all the pill compartments.","They absorb the sound of the equipment to keep the noise level down.","He connects tanks full of compressed air to the grid.","The compressed air will be pumped through the manifolds to move pills through the cells.","A technician now assembles the exception carousel.","It captures medications that haven't been perfectly dispensed.","He inserts the motor assembly in the center cavity and snaps the top into place.","He screws a metal framework to the assembly and confirms that it revolves freely within the framework.","He scans the serial number for tracking purposes.","Stay tuned for more as they prepare this medication dispenser for the workplace.","A technological revolution is happening behind the pharmacy counter.","Robotic systems are proving to be fast and accurate pill counters.","These robotic dispensers bottle and label the medications.","In a busy pharmacy, these machines are a prescription for change.","The carousel that captures any prescriptions that are improperly dispensed is now complete.","A technician mounts it to the center of the machine.","He attaches touch screen controls above the carousel.","It's time to assemble the labeling system for the pill vials.","The first component is the device that spins the vials as the labels are applied.","She wires it to a motor, then places it in the housing.","She connects a sensor that will detect the presence of a vial.","She attaches the printer to a computer circuit board, then tucks the printer into the housing.","It's time for a test.","She loads a vial.","Then, the labeler takes it for a spin.","The system unwinds paper and prints the prescribing information.","Little arms wrap the sticky label around the spinning vial.","She inspects the label for accuracy and clarity.","If it meets standards, they install the labeler in the medication dispenser.","It's attached to the bottom of the robot's frame.","The technician mounts two vial storage units above the labeler.","One is for smaller vials, and the other is for larger ones.","Mechanical levers inside each unit hold vials until they're ready for labeling.","Vials travel down these plastic chutes to the printer.","Beside the vial storage and delivery system, he installs the capper that twists the tops onto the vials.","Next up are drop-off bins for the completed prescriptions.","Another technician encases the control screen and carousel below it with plastic framing.","He fits an emergency stop button to the switch above the control screen.","To protect the sensitive electronics, they attach plastic cabinetry to the front.","A technician now calibrates the cells that hold the pills.","He connects them one at a time to a computer, which communicates with the cell network.","He programs the number of pills to be counted and the amount of air pressure needed to move them through the throat of the cell.","After a pill cell is programmed, a technician places the cell in its slot at the back of the dispenser.","There are up to 228 uniquely programmed cells.","They'll hold the pharmacy's most commonly dispensed medications.","He now scans the bar codes on each cell to log the pill inventory.","The bar code is the serial number for the cell.","This robotic medication dispenser is ready to be put to the test.","He loads pill vials into the storage compartments at the front.","Caps are deposited in the compartment beside the vials.","Then, he stocks some of the cells with pills.","For the purpose of this test, the pills are plastic copies.","Sensors in the cells count the pills that are loaded.","The technician inputs the test prescription.","A vial drops, and the printer labels it.","The robotic arm takes the vial to the correct cell.","The robotic arm rotates and slides sideways, delivering the vial to the capping operation.","A second robotic arm then presses and twists the cap onto the vial.","The prescription is now filled.","From labeling to dispensing to capping, the process has taken mere seconds.","In the pharmacy, this robotic medication dispenser should prove to be indispensable."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Individual Transporters","Canoes","Electric Guitars"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Individual transporters...","Cedar canoes...","And electric guitars.","It's the world's first self-balancing, electrically powered personal transportation device.","Built-in sensors and an onboard computer keep this $6,000 vehicle upright as it zooms around, up to three times faster than walking speed.","Perfect for large warehouses, delivery routes, or anyone who just wants a lift.","Tough, lightweight construction materials enable the transporter to safely take you almost anywhere you'd otherwise walk or run.","This aluminum chassis will house the vehicle's electronics.","It can withstand an impact force equivalent to the weight of three large cars.","Using a press, a worker attaches couplings to two motors.","These couplings will connect the motors to gearboxes later on.","For safety reasons, many of the transporter's components are doubled.","Normally, they'll share tasks equally, but any of the twin parts can do all the work if the other fails.","It's what the industry calls redundancy.","Using three screws on each side, she installs the motors into the chassis.","The worker then installs two controller boards in the top side of the chassis.","Microprocessors in these boards control the motors.","Then she adds what's called the balance-sensor assembly.","This includes five gyroscopes and two components called fluid-tilt sensors.","These instruments gauge the vehicle's position relative to the ground.","The controller boards check these instruments 100 times per second and adjust the vehicle by rolling the wheels forward or backward when the rider leans either way.","Next come wire clusters called harnesses.","They connect the vehicle's batteries to the control shaft.","The chassis cover doubles as a floor plate for the rider to stand on.","When you step on, your weight pushes four rubber buttons.","These disrupt an optical beam on the controller board, telling the transporter it has a rider.","The harnesses fit through holes in the cover, which attaches with eight screws.","Next, she connects the harnesses to a power converter in the base of the control shaft.","The power converter uses household electricity to recharge the batteries.","Inside the gearbox, four gears transfer power from the motor and turn the wheels.","The gears' teeth are cut on an angle so they engage gradually and more smoothly.","This keeps the vehicle's noise to a relatively low hum.","The worker tightly secures the gearboxes to the chassis with a mallet.","Then she opens a waterproof rubber seal and plugs in the machine's power cord.","She tests the electrical system to ensure that it's grounded and that there's no short circuit.","Next, she uses five screws to attach one of two plastic fenders.","A tapered metal hub connects each wheel to its gearbox.","The wheels are about the height of a small bicycle tire but three times wider.","A molded rubber and metal mat covers the floor plate and snaps into place on both fenders.","After flipping the chassis, a worker connects two batteries to the controller boards.","When you plug the batteries into a wall socket, they recharge in about eight hours.","The transporter runs as far as 23 miles on a single charge, depending on the terrain.","This machine tests the rider-detect buttons by applying pressure in a random pattern.","The rider and cargo must weigh at least 99 pounds but no more than 260 pounds.","The machine also tests the wheels and motors.","Next, the handlebar on the control shaft.","To steer, you turn the handgrip left or right.","The motor responds by spinning one wheel faster than the other.","You could also spin the wheels on opposite directions to make the vehicle pivot.","Ignition keys with computer chips in them restrict traveling speeds to either 5 1/2, 10, or 12 1/2 miles per hour.","The keys also instruct the vehicle to make slow, medium, or sharp turns.","Now the fun part-- taking each transporter for a test-drive.","The tester listens for unusual sounds and checks for vibrations coming from the gearboxes.","He feels how quickly and reliably the controls respond.","He runs the transporter up small inclines.","It's designed to conquer slopes of up to 20 degrees, depending on traction with the ground and the weight on board.","It goes down over a sidewalk curb just as easily.","Only after this thorough test-drive is the transporter ready for its first real trip.","Canoes are truly vessels of history, dating back as far as 10,000 years.","Native north americans made them with frames of wooden ribs covered with bark.","They used these boats to fish, travel, and trade.","Today's canoes blend traditional construction with some high-tech materials for even greater durability.","Most of this boat's made of white cedar, which is lightweight and weatherproof.","But for reinforcement, the rim and leading edges are made of ash, a heavier wood.","Construction starts with an upside-down template of the canoe that's 15 1/2 feet long.","A worker clamps two long strips of ash, called gunwales, to create the canoe's inner rim, then adds similar strips curbing along the two extremities.","He'll attach the rest of the skeleton to this rim.","Workers soften what will be the boat's cedar ribs in nearly boiling water for 45 minutes.","The ribs are 2 inches wide and almost a half-inch thick.","The hot water makes them relatively pliable.","Using a hammer for leverage, they simply bend the ribs over the template.","Steel guiding strips ensure the ribs are 1 3/4 of an inch apart.","With a pneumatic staple gun, workers fire two stainless-steel staples through each end of the ribs and into the gunwales.","Cement blocks weigh down some of the 43 ribs that workers secure over the entire canoe.","At this point, the ribs measure between 3 and 5 feet long, depending on the area they're covering.","The workers will later trim the ends to align them.","Next, workers mark the center line along the bottom of the boat with a chalk line.","This is where they'll put the first cedar plank to create the skin of the boat.","They lay 18 rows of planks on the boat and use a box cutter to shape the ends into a curve.","They secure the planks with brass tacks.","Brass because it's rust-resistant and its color blends well with the blond wood.","Since the planks are straight-angled, this process leaves some wedge-like spaces they'll cover separately.","They cut thin wedges of wood to cover the remaining spaces.","It takes 8 hours and 2,500 tacks to fit all the planks on the boat.","In total, it takes one person 30 hours to make one canoe.","Using a circular saw, a worker trims the excess from the ends of the ribs.","Then two workers lift the boat off the template, flip it right-side up, and set it down to rest on two sawhorses.","Here, a worker feels inside the boat for any protruding tacks.","He uses a hammer and metal block to flatten them.","Most were deflected earlier when they hit the metal guide strips on the template.","A worker tightens a nylon string between the gunwales, bringing the boats extremities together in points.","He joins the tips of the gunwales with a screw at both ends of the boat.","Then he installs triangular pieces of mahogany.","This hardwood stands out visually when stained and also reinforces the ends of the boat.","Workers then trim and close off the ends.","Next, they attach two more gunwales with 44 screws to create the outer rim of the boat.","To protect the wood and make its surface watertight, workers cover the bottom of the canoe with fiberglass cloth.","Then they seal it with three coats of clear epoxy resin, which will need up to two hours of drying time between coats.","Workers reinforce the front and back of the boat with more fiberglass and more resin.","They do this because these areas will hit rocks in the shore more often than other parts.","A worker fills holes he drilled through the bottom of the boat with silicone.","This helps attach the keel, the spine of the boat, as well as two long brass components on top of the keel.","Workers complete this step by flipping the canoe and attaching 37 screws through the silicone and into the keel.","After thawing frozen strips of rawhide leather in water, a worker cuts holes in them.","These holes enable her to weave the strips together to cover the canoe's two ash-wood seats.","It takes her about an hour to weave the required 65 feet of rawhide.","The pattern is similar to what you see on traditional snowshoes.","It takes two days for the leather strips to dry out and tighten.","Workers then protect and strengthen them with marine varnish.","Then they install the seats inside the boat with four brass bolts.","Next comes the yoke, a bar running across the width of the boat.","It's designed to fit on your shoulders when you carry the boat upside down.","The other bar is for securing gear safely while you're out paddling on the water.","Bon voyage.","The electric guitar dates back to the 1920s.","The original idea was to amplify the sound of the acoustic guitar.","The first commercially successful model came out in 1932.","By the 1950s, though, the instrument underwent a radical change, its body evolving from the traditional hollow shape to a thin, solid block of wood.","Guitar bodies are usually made of mahogany, poplar, or certain maple species-- lightweight woods that are flexible enough to produce the right balance of treble, midrange, and bass vibrations.","Workers first saw a plank of wood into specific widths.","They plane the pieces to a specific thickness, usually in the range of 2 to 4 inches.","Then they mark them with the same number so they'll end up in the same guitar.","Mixing pieces from different planks would combine different wood densities and make the body vibrate unevenly.","Damp wood tends to warp, so the pieces have to go into a heated room until their moisture content drops to less than 6%.","This takes about two months.","Once the wood dries out, workers glue and clamp the pieces together, setting them in a vise for three hours until the glue dries.","The water-based glue re-wets part of the wood, so the block has to go back into the drying room for another two months.","When it comes out, it goes onto a holding device.","Then a computer-guided cutting machine uses eight different heads, one after another, to gradually carve the body shape.","This is a semi-acoustic model, so the body has some hollowed-out areas.","After a fine sanding to smooth the surface, they trim the contour at a 45-degree angle using a small stainless-steel blade.","Then they sand again.","By this point, they've also inserted round metal fixtures to hold the bolts that will attach the body and neck.","To construct the neck, they slice a piece of mahogany or hard-rock maple in two using a diamond-edged saw for a perfect cut.","Then they glue a .","05-inch-thick sheet of maple veneer onto one piece.","This will be the front surface of the neck.","Now they flip the piece over and glue it to the other one.","Flipping inverts the wood grain.","This strengthens the neck, enabling it to withstand the tension of the guitar strings.","The maple veneer hides and reinforces the joint.","They clamp the components in a vise for three hours until the glue sets.","A computer-guided cutting machine contours the neck shape and cuts a groove down the middle for a steel bar called the truss rod.","When the neck bows from tension created by heavy-gauge strings, you straighten it by adjusting the protruding end of the truss rod.","Next, the fingerboard-- the surface against which you press the strings to produce different notes and chords.","It's made of maple, ebony, or rosewood.","After gluing the fingerboard over the truss rod, they place the neck into a vacuum press.","The press sucks out all the air, compressing the components into one solid unit.","Once the glue dries, the neck goes onto a computer-guided carving machine.","Its 12 different cutting heads finalize the shape.","Next, a 22-blade saw simultaneously cuts very precise slots for 22 fret wires, the metal lines on the fingerboard.","A worker rounds off and smoothes the back of the neck against a belt sander...","Then installs the fret wires.","The wires are made of nickel and lead.","They have teeth on the bottom that grab the wood.","That's why it's essential that the slots be a very precise width and depth.","Finally, they run the sides of the neck against the sanding belt.","This trims off the excess fret wire and rounds off the edges of the fingerboard.","Back to the body now.","A worker puts it in a silk-screen printer to apply the company name.","The ink dries in just seconds under ultraviolet light.","After applying a sealant to block the wood's pores, they spray on up to 22 coats of wood stain and lacquer.","This protects the wood and gives it a semi- or high-gloss finish.","Now onto the mechanics.","An electric guitar works like this.","A magnet-and-coil assembly called a pickup works like a mini-microphone.","It picks up the sound vibrations of the strings and sends them to an amplifier which sends them to a speaker which emits that trademark electric-guitar sound.","Before installing the electronic components, though, a few final steps.","After a 6-week curing period, they wet-sand the painted and lacquered wood, then buff until the surface is so glossy it produces a mirror finish.","Then they polish it with wax.","If the frets aren't level, the guitar will buzz, so workers color the top of each fret with a marker, then run a sheet of fine sandpaper down the fingerboard.","The ink rubs off on any frets that are higher than the rest and have to be filed down.","The filings flatten the fret's edges, so workers round them off using a special curved file.","Then, with very fine sandpaper, they buff away the filing marks.","They clean the fingerboard with mineral oil.","This also nourishes the rosewood so it won't dry out and crack.","Now they turn an allen key in the truss rod to straighten out the neck.","This gauge measures the curve.","When the needle hits zero, the neck is perfectly straight.","Now the six tuning keys-- one for each string.","Depending on the model, these steel keys are plated with either gold or nickel or painted black.","You turn the black acrylic peg to tighten or loosen the string for tuning.","Workers use a digital gauge to measure the height of the nut-- a thin piece of either bone or very hard plastic with six slots to space the strings.","If it isn't in precisely the right position, tuning will be off and the strings will buzz.","Now the neck is ready to join the body, courtesy of four bolts driven from the back of the instrument.","They fit into those round metal fixtures we saw in the previous segment.","And now the electronic components.","Workers begin by soldering control knobs for the volume and tone to the pickup selector switch-- the switch that activates any of the pickups-- sets of magnets with wire coiled around them.","Like miniature microphones, they pick up the sound vibrations entering their magnetic field, transform them into electronic signals, which then go out to the amplifier and speaker.","One pickup will be just above the bridge-- a brass piece that anchors the other end of the strings.","The pickup has one magnet and wire coil for each string.","Standard electric guitars don't have a pickup at the bridge, but this model has one to enable the instrument to also sound like an acoustic guitar.","You can even use the electric and acoustic sounds together.","Workers drill holes in the body for installing the bridge, using a template as a guide.","They attach the bridge with screws...","Then install the bridge pickup just above it and the body and neck pickups above that.","Then they flip it over and hook up what's called the tremolo, a lever-activated set of steel springs that temporarily loosen the guitar strings.","The musician uses the tremolo on select notes and chords to create a quivering effect-- that distinctive electric-guitar sound.","The volume and tone knobs come next, tucked into a cavity in the back, then secured to the front with a nut.","Now the pickup selector switch.","It also comes through the back to the front of the instrument.","Then they add the last electronic component-- a jack for the cable going to the amplifier.","They plug in the cable, and flicking the selector switch, do a tap test on each pick up.","Now it's time to string the guitar.","They pull the steel strings from the back through the bridge in the front, then wind them onto the tuning keys using a drill with a special adaptor.","Then it's into a soundproof booth to tune the guitar with the help of a digital tuner.","And then it's played for the first time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tea","Roof Finials","Artificial Flowers","Alloy Wheels"]},"text":["After water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world.","The different types are determined by the degree to which the producer lets the harvested leaves oxidize before drying them.","Green tea, for example, is barely fermented, whereas black tea is greatly fermented.","Oolong falls somewhere in between.","In chinese, oolong means \"black dragon\".","It's a semi-oxidized tea fermented more than green tea, yet less than black tea.","Its taste, aroma, and color, from light yellow to dark red, vary according to how the tea leaves are processed.","This amber oolong produced in thailand has a rich, smooth roasted taste.","Like most teas, oolong is made from the leaves of a flowering plant species called camellia sinensis.","Harvest time is during the plant's peak growing season, which, in thailand, is from may to november.","Workers handpick what's known as the flush, a grouping of two young leaves and a bud, which grows out the top of the plant.","At this time of year, the plant produces a new flush every 7 to 15 days.","An experienced tea master directs every phase of the processing, the first step of which is called solar withering.","Workers bring the leaves into a glass-roofed building, then spread them out in the sun for 15 to 20 minutes.","This kick-starts the oxidization fermentation process as the chlorophyll enzymes inside the wilting leaves start breaking down.","At the same time, the moisture inside begins evaporating.","Workers keep moving the leaves around to ensure a thorough exposure to the sun.","Then they gather up the leaves for step two-- indoor withering.","The leaves lie on bamboo trays for six to eight hours, where, gently stirred every two hours, they oxidize further.","Step three-- disruption.","The leaves go into a rotating drum.","As they tumble, they bruise and tear.","This breaks down the cell structures, enabling oxygen to penetrate deep inside, greatly accelerating fermentation.","This also releases the leaf juices, which help draw out the taste of the tea.","When the tea master determines the leaves have sufficiently oxidized, they stop the oxidation process by tumbling the leaves in a gas-heated dryer for 10 to 15 minutes.","This fourth step of the process is called fixation because it fixes the oxidization at the desired level, which can be anywhere from 8% to 85%, depending on the variety of oolong in production.","This is the most critical part of the process because it determines the tea's taste, aroma, and color.","The next step forms the tea leaves into tiny pellets.","First, workers shake the leaves on a sieve to filter out the dust-like particles.","Then they bag the leaves in a cotton cloth and place them first in a kneading machine, then afterward in a rolling press.","Kneading and rolling the bag twists the leaves inside into tiny pellets.","Forming these pellet shapes intensifies the flavor of the tea, and, when the tea is steeped in hot water, releases that flavor slowly.","They repeat the sieving, kneading, and rolling cycle up to 35 times until the tea master is satisfied with the result.","Then and only then does the final step begin-- firing.","They transfer the tea to an oven, in which it undergoes three drying cycles of 20 minutes each at a temperature of approximately 210 degrees fahrenheit.","This dries the damp tea, reducing the moisture content to the target level of less than 5%.","The firing also brings out the fragrance.","The traditional way to brew oolong is in a clay teapot, using about 2 teaspoons of tea per cup.","Ideally, the water should be 190 to 210 degrees fahrenheit.","Steeping time is from 3 to 10 minutes, and you can brew the same leaves up to five times.","Originally crafted from stone by the greeks, finials are still on top.","Perched on peaks and gables, these roof ornaments are a crowning touch to any structure.","They can make even an ordinary home look a little more grand, and after all, every home is someone's castle.","On many structures, finials still rule the roof and give people a reason to look up.","The design of these roof ornaments usually reflects the style of the building and the owner's taste.","They're often custom made for the client and entirely hand crafted.","To make a copper finial, the artisan first draws the design on paper.","Like many finials, this one will have a point, a central orb, and skirting.","Once the design has been approved by the client, he draws larger versions of it onto poster board.","They'll serve as templates for the copper parts.","Here, he draws the patterns for the elaborate scroll work.","To execute the design, he gets creative.","He uses copper refrigerator tubing to make the scrollwork.","It's malleable and can easily be shaped.","He positions a pipe cutter device at the cut line.","The device grips the tubing, but can still be turned to cut the pipe cleanly at the desired location.","He flattens one end with a sledgehammer so it can be tucked into a groove in this large pvc plumbing pipe.","With the end secured, he physically bends the copper tubing around this pipe to give it the desired curvature.","He compares the curvature to that of the pattern and makes adjustments.","He continues shaping the pipe, now using only the scrollwork pattern as a guide.","He'll make several of these copper scrollwork parts for one roof ornament.","With an etching tool, he now traces the shape of the skirting pattern onto copper roof sheeting.","He cuts reference points for the bends and removes the pattern.","He then extends the bend lines with the etching tool.","He now cuts out the skirting part with standard hand shears following the etched outline.","One last trim along the edge, and the skirting is ready for the sheet metal bending machine.","He clamps it into place and pulls a handle to apply hydraulic pressure and bend the part along the etched lines.","He repositions the skirting and bends it at the next etched marking point.","He continues until there are six evenly spaced folds in the copper.","This transforms it into a hexagonal pyramid.","To seal it where the ends meet, he prepares the surface.","He applies an acid called flux to clean the copper.","He ignites the torch and melts solder into the seam.","The solder is half-lead and half-tin and provides a good seal.","He sands the soldered seam against a fine, abrasive belt to blend it with the copper.","The finial skirting is now complete.","He now drills holes into a hollow copper orb.","He slides the orb onto a long copper spike that's been installed in the base.","He cleans the copper where the two parts meet and solders them together.","He adds a second smaller orb and the extravagant scrollwork.","He now solders the spiked cap to the finial.","This adds height and drama to the rooftop ornament.","This finial is now complete and ready for high places.","Making one has truly been a pinnacle achievement.","Artificial flowers have been used as decorations for hundreds of years.","Initially, silk flowers made in china were displayed in homes and not commercially sold.","As far back as the 12th century, italian flower makers using dye-colored silkworm cocoons were the first to sell their floral arrangements.","Modern imitations of natural flowering plants are endless in variety, stunning in color, with realism so impressive, they can look and feel like the real thing.","Since the '70s, most are made of polyester fabrics.","A worker places an iron cutter blade on top of non-woven polyester and then applies several tons of hydraulic pressure to complete the cuts.","The result is 20 layers of flower petals.","The worker wraps piles of 100 petals in elastic bands and sets them aside.","Another worker places petals into a heated mold to give the fabric texture.","Using a glue gun, a worker completes the flower's petal structure by assembling two different shapes of non-woven polyester petals.","This is part of the flower head.","In the coloring department, a worker paints the pieces of non-woven polyester using watercolor.","She paints the edges of the flower heads in bundles of 100 at a time.","The painted flower heads go into a microwave for two to five minutes.","The dried flower heads now undergo silk screening one at a time using acrylic paint.","Customers can choose among more than 50 different color patterns.","The flower heads have been pressed to simulate natural curving.","Using a glue gun, a worker connects the flower head to the petals of this phalaenopsis orchid.","The goal is not only to make the flowers look as real as possible.","It's also to make them feel as real as possible, which takes us to the next stage.","An employee puts two flowers together...","Lines them up, then adds a stick, which will be held in the next part of the process.","She encircles them tightly with an elastic band.","Another worker dips the two flowers in polymer, which helps make them feel real to the touch.","She spins the flowers to remove as much excess polymer as possible.","Workers then brush excess polymer from the petals.","A worker attaches flower buds to the stem using green floral tape.","She attaches the petals and flower head and continues to wrap the stem in floral tape until the entire length is covered.","To make the leaves feel real to the touch, a worker dips them in polymer and wipes off any excess with her fingers.","After one hour of drying, the worker dips the same leaves in green polymer.","Again, she removes any excess and sets the leaves aside for another hour of drying.","Once they're dry, another worker gives the leaves a final coat of polymer paint.","She removes the excess and sets the leaves aside for yet another hour of drying.","All the drying is done at room temperature.","Now coated with several layers of polymer, the leaves stick to each other.","To fix that, a worker applies a thin coating of talcum powder with a sponge.","The coating solves the problem of sticky leaves.","With its many components fully assembled, this finished flower is a rather dazzling recreation of the cymbidium orchid.","Shipping these flowers requires careful packaging.","They wrap the glass vase in clear plastic...","And place it securely inside a polystyrene base.","The flower is lowered into the box upside down.","The base is snug enough to keep the flower from moving inside the box, which the worker then seals shut for shipping.","Authentic looking and feeling, these striking flowers are sure to make any decor blossom.","Higher-end cars typically come with alloy wheels rather than basic steel wheels covered with a hubcap.","Called mag wheels, because when they first came out, they were made of an alloy of magnesium.","Today's alloy wheels are made of an aluminum alloy, which is far more durable.","Aluminum alloy wheels are not only more attractive than standard wheels.","They're also a fraction of the weight, and therefore require less energy to rotate.","This contributes to greater fuel efficiency as well as better handling, acceleration, and braking.","Manufacturing them begins with high-grade aluminum alloy containing 97% aluminum.","A furnace heats the ingots to over 1,300 degrees fahrenheit.","They liquify in about 25 minutes.","The molten aluminum then flows directly to a mixer in which they inject argon gas, which enables them to remove the hydrogen.","This increases the density, making the aluminum less porous when solidified.","After adding powdered titanium, magnesium, and other metallic elements to further strengthen the aluminum, they blend in flux, a chemical which draws aluminum oxide to the surface.","They skim off this impurity along with the flux, and the liquid aluminum is ready for casting.","The wheel mold is made of high-strength steel.","It's actually a set of three molds-- the upper mold, which forms the inside face of the wheel, the 4-part side mold, which forms the wheel's edge, and the lower mold, which forms the outer face.","That's the side with the design, so this is the most intricate mold.","It takes three to four weeks to produce a mold.","Computer simulations check the flow and temperature of the liquid aluminum, factors critical for preventing casting defects.","The casting machine is designed to fill the mold from the bottom by pressurized injection.","Injecting upward through the bottom, rather than pouring downward into the top, reduces the risk of air bubbles, which cause defects.","Right before casting, the molten metal flows through a filter sheet made of high-temperature-resistant ceramic.","This traps additional aluminum oxide.","Once cast, the aluminum takes about 7 to 10 minutes to solidify.","Then the mold automatically opens, releasing the newly cast wheel.","Workers submerge it in lukewarm water for a few minutes.","This cools it down enough to be handled.","The wheel undergoes a complex heat treatment process that takes 12 hours from start to finish.","First, they heat the wheel to 900 degrees fahrenheit.","This rearranges the molecular structure, strengthening the metal.","Next, what's known as quenching.","They submerge the wheel in 80-degree water for 30 seconds.","This locks in that new strength.","Then they reheat the wheel, this time to 180 degrees for nine hours to further stabilize the metal.","The wheel doesn't come out of the mold in perfect condition.","The edges are rough, due to some excess metal that has to be trimmed off.","So they mount the wheel on a computer-guided lathe.","It precision-machines the sides, refining them to within 0.05 millimeters of the measurements specified in the technical drawings.","As for the more intricate base of the wheel, a worker manually trims the edges with a blade.","The shape now finalized, it's time to test the wheel to make sure it's airtight.","While pumping air into the wheel, they submerge it in water.","Should any air bubbles appear, it would mean there's a pinhole in the metal or some shrinkage, in which case, the wheel would fail inspection.","No air bubbles.","The wheel proceeds to the automated painting line.","First, a base coat, then a coat of color, which can be anything from classic silver or black to a flashier shade.","Then a clear coat to protect the paint and prevent corrosion.","From every 1,500 or so wheels, the factory randomly selects two or three to test for performance and wear.","Workers install the decorative cap that covers the center hub.","It typically bears the specific brand's logo.","Then a final cosmetic inspection to make sure these aluminum alloy wheels look as good as they perform."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fiberglass Insulation","Wooden Ducks","Gumball Machines","Exhaust Systems"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Chains...","Bagels...","And vinyl records.","Chains are as indispensable today as they were thousands of years ago.","Ancient historians refer to the use of metal chains for jewelry, shackles, and construction.","Today, chains are used for those very same purposes and many more.","Chains are used to tie things down, hold things together, and pull things along, and their many sizes reflect the varied uses.","To make a chain, a turning drum uncoils this wire rod and pulls it through a steel guide ring to a steel draw box.","Grease inside the box lubricates the wire.","On its way out of the box, the wire goes through a die, such as the one being demonstrated here.","The die has a smaller diameter than the wire, and as the turning drum pulls it through, the wire narrows, hardens, and becomes stronger.","Now electrically driven tools move in from all sides.","This is a forming machine.","A tool called a jaw propels the wire forward, while another jaw pushes on the wire, bending it around a steel pin.","It forms a \"c\" shape.","Another forming tool closes the \"c,\" completing one link in the chain, and then another jaw makes the next link.","This machine is making jack chain, which is usually used to hang lights.","Another forming machine makes a chain that can haul a heavier load.","A grip pulls the wire onto rollers that straighten it out.","Steel cutters now make notches on both sides of the wire.","These notches mark the place where the wire is to be sliced into link-sized pieces.","A mechanized knife makes the final cut at the notches.","Next, roller arms loop a cut piece of wire around a steel finger.","The roller arms make it look easy, but they're actually exerting tons of pressure in order to shape this wire.","After the rollers form the link, a pliers-like tool grabs it and turns it around.","This positions the completed link so that it can connect with the next link as it's shaped.","As each link is added, the chain drops into a pile below the machine.","There are dozens of forming machines in most chain factories.","Each machine makes 50 to 60 links per minute.","That's about 250 feet of chain per machine hour.","To put that into perspective, one machine could make a chain as long as the empire state building is high in just under six hours.","After the chain is formed, it will need to be strengthened.","So it's on to the welding machine.","Hammers to the left and right push the link in, then two copper blocks move in from the sides.","They act as electrodes and zap both sides of the link with an electrical current.","The current ripples through the gap in the link, while the hammers push it in.","The link reaches a scorching 1,700 degrees fahrenheit.","The wire melts and the link fuses together.","Now a pulley system drops the freshly welded chain into a heat-treating coil.","An electrical current runs through the copper coil, heating the chain inside until it's orange-hot-- 1,724 degrees fahrenheit.","The pulleys lower the chain into a tub of water to cool.","The extreme temperature change alters the molecular structure of the steel, making it much harder.","But the experience leaves the chain a bit brittle.","So it goes into a second heat coil that's not as hot as the first one and then into another cool bath.","This takes away the brittleness and gives the steel a bit of stretch.","Now the ultimate strength test-- this is the chain calibrator.","Pulleys run the chain into a groove that's been cut into a block of steel.","A clamp on the left holds it in place, while the hydraulically powered block of steel pulls the chain to the right.","Will it break or will it hold?","And can it handle the load?","After all, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link.","The first bagels were created in eastern europe during the 1600s.","Exactly why is debatable, but one account is that they were a tribute to the king of poland.","The king was a military hero and a great horseman, so a baker shaped the dough to resemble a stirrup.","The austrian word for \"stirrup\" sounds like \"bagel\".","You used to get bagels in just two varieties-- sesame seed or poppy seed.","Today they come in a rainbow of flavors, from nine-grain to blueberry to cinnamon-raisin to whole-wheat sesame.","Commercial bakeries make them like this.","The first step is to blend all the ingredients in a huge mixer.","These include molasses, salt, yeast, flour, sugar, malt flour, ascorbic acid, and enzymes.","If needed, workers also add the special flavorings.","Raisins or blueberries go in when the mixing's nearly done to avoid pulverizing them.","One batch of dough weighs 750 pounds and makes about 3,200 bagels.","They slowly add about 26 gallons of water as the ingredients blend for 10 minutes.","They monitor the water and air temperatures so that the dough reaches 78 degrees fahrenheit.","That's when yeast activates, enabling the dough to rise later on.","Worker uses a thermometer to take the dough's temperature.","Too warm, the dough will rise too quickly.","Too cold and the dough won't rise enough.","Here, workers cut large chunks of dough for raisin bagels into smaller blocks.","They'll put these blocks into a machine called a divider.","The machine squeezes the dough through small openings to create doughballs that weigh 3.7 ounces, which will each become one bagel.","The divider also distributes the balls into four single files as they emerge from the machine and move along plastic conveyor belts.","They're plastic so workers can clean them easily and often.","Next, a machine called a bagel former flattens the balls into strips.","This way, the strips can be curved into rings.","The curved conveyor belt guides the dough through a tight circular opening with a stainless-steel rod at its center.","The rod forces the two ends of the strip to join in a circle.","This process happens in less than two seconds, before the dough has a chance to dry out.","It's the moisture in the dough that enables the ends of the strips to stick together.","The bagel rings emerge from the bagel former onto another conveyor.","Workers then visually inspect the rings to ensure they came out right.","After placing the bagels onto ungreased trays, workers put them in a large room called a proofer for 90 minutes to rise.","The proofer is kept at 109 degrees fahrenheit with 80% humidity.","Next a worker places the trays onto a metal conveyor belt.","This conveyor moves the bagels into a huge steam oven about the size of a school bus.","Steam makes the bagels chewy and shiny.","To ensure the dough develops properly, they maintain air temperature in the bakery at a constant 68 degrees fahrenheit.","And there's no air-conditioning to ensure the right humidity level.","After baking for exactly 13 minutes at precisely 450 degrees fahrenheit, the bagels come out of the steam oven.","They lost moisture during the baking process, so they now weigh around a half-ounce less than before.","To cool down, the bagels move along a winding conveyor belt that snakes through 6 floors of this 1.5-square-mile bakery.","Bagel-making ranges from large commercial operations like this one to small neighborhood bakeries that still make them the old-fashioned way-- rolling and shaping the dough by hand and baking them in a brick oven.","During the 50-minute journey, their temperatures drop to about 98 degrees fahrenheit, cool enough to package in plastic bags later on.","Here, a worker inspects the bagels for shape, color, height, and shine.","To help the consumer, a machine preslices the bagels almost in half.","It leaves a portion uncut so the bagel sections stick together and stay fresh.","Next, workers separate the bagels into groups of six, placing them along another conveyor lined with tiny brushes.","These brushes keep the bagels upright as they head off for packaging.","A mechanical arm scoops the bagels along, and another blows open the bags and inserts the bagels.","This bakery prepares up to 3,000 half-dozen packages an hour for shipping, fast enough to have a fresh bagel land on your breakfast plate as soon as 12 hours later.","Vinyl records have an ever-increasing following among audiophiles, collectors, and deejays.","Some say they sound better than digital cds and mp3s.","To cater to this market, some record companies are releasing more music on vinyl, a manufacturing process that's interesting and fun to watch.","The first step is to cut a master record.","This flat disk is made of aluminum, and it will be the core of the master.","The surface has a gritty texture early on, but they sand it down and polish it smooth.","They place the aluminum disks on a conveyor belt, and they ride towards a device that will coat them with a veneer of lacquer.","The disk enters the curtain coater.","Nitrocellulose lacquer-- a similar substance to nail polish-- oozes out of a long, thin opening, forming a veil, or curtain.","As the disk passes through the curtain, it's slathered with the lacquer.","Rollers with scrapers catch the runoff.","The excess lacquer they collect is reused.","The lacquer starts to dry immediately.","The solvents evaporate, and the veneer hardens into a nail-polish-like finish.","But like any manicure job, there are often flaws.","At this inspection station, workers scrutinize each lacquered disk for pits, bumps, or dirt.","Even a minor imperfection won't be tolerated, so the rejection rate is high--  about 50%.","They recycle the rejects.","They rim the good masters with plastic edging.","It will stop the disks from rubbing together during stacking and damaging the finish.","Next, a worker holds the disk under a hydraulic puncher that cuts a hole in the center.","Then, handling it carefully so he doesn't disturb the finish, he places it on a spindle.","A robotic arm slides a plastic ring down the spindle, depositing it around the center hole of the disk.","Like the plastic edging, the ring will also space the disks apart.","Now the master disks are ready to take a trip to the studio.","The lacquer disk is about to be cut.","The engineer places it on the recording machine called a lathe.","He peels the protective ribbing away from the rim.","He places a vacuum line at the center, which suctions to the underside of the disk and holds it in place.","The engineer now moves the cutter and a microscope above the disk.","He lowers the cutter onto the outer edge of the disk and it does a test cut.","He positions a microscope just above the test groove and then peers into it to get a good look at the cut.","He makes adjustments to the cut, and then he's ready to record.","The lathe cuts the lead-in groove and the music begins.","The sapphire-tipped cutter etches the sound into the surface of the disk.","From start to finish, the recording will be one continuous groove in the record.","A computer monitors the cutting and adjusts the spacing between the grooves where needed.","A little vacuum draws up scrap, as the cutter carves the groove.","Some believe this sound is warmer and has more depth than digital recordings.","But making music fit on an analog disk is sometimes challenging.","To reproduce bass, the cutter has to make big, wide grooves that take up a lot of space.","And although the grooves can touch, they can't cut across one another.","At the end of the recording, the cutter lifts and the master disk is ready for inspection.","If it's acceptable, the engineer places a sliding platform on it and scribes a unique serial number into the lacquer.","Soon, this master disk will be used to make more records.","The master disk has just been cut, but the lacquer surface is far too delicate to play.","It's been produced solely to act as a mold.","It will literally be pressed into service to make tougher versions of the recorded grooves.","And this will enable the manufacturers to make many copies from just one.","In the next step, they wash the lacquer disk with soap and water.","They spray it with tin chloride and liquid silver.","The tin chloride is a sensitizer that helps the silver stick to the lacquer.","They wash away little bits of silver that don't stick.","In seconds, one side of the lacquer has become a stunning silver disk with the grooves intact.","But next, they'll add a duller metal to the silvered side in order to really stiffen the disk.","They fasten it to a spindle on the underside of a tank lid.","The disk spins, and they rinse it one more time.","The water in the tank below is green because these nickel nuggets are dissolving into it.","They lower the lid and the spinning disk is immersed in the solution.","An electric charge fuses the nickel to the silver...","And the nickel settles neatly into the grooves.","Now they remove it from the tank and pry the metal layer away from the original lacquer disk.","This metal layer is a stamper that will be used to press vinyl records.","And the lacquer disk, which has served as its mold, is discarded.","Now they look for the exact center of the stamper.","A worker places it under the microscope, which is part of an optical centering punch.","As the stamper disk spins, he aligns the grooves with a guide in the viewfinder.","When he finds the center, he punches a hole there.","Next, they clamp the stamper disk into a trimming machine.","The disk turns and a cutting wheel trims the edge, cutting the stamper disk to a diameter of 12 1/2 inches.","Now the stampers are ready to make their mark.","But first the labels must be prepared.","A punch bores into the center of a stack of them, making holes.","Then they place the labels on a mini-press.","It rises to another cutter, which rounds them out.","They pour black polyvinyl chloride pellets into a hopper.","The pellets fall into an extruder, which turns them into hot rubbery paddies called biscuits.","Hoists above and below push labels to each side of the biscuit.","Suction cups hold them there while a carriage moves the biscuit forward then drops the biscuit and labels in the press.","Two stampers mounted in the press apply 100 tons of pressure.","The stampers are a searing 380 degrees fahrenheit.","They melt and mold the biscuit into a record.","A quick cooling cycle hardens it and bonds the labels to the vinyl.","A carriage then transports it to a trimming table.","The table spins the record against a knife as it cuts away the ragged edges.","Then, the table takes the trimmed record to the finished stack.","And the process begins again.","This is really a well-choreographed musical production.","As one record is lifted out of the press, the next one goes in.","The pressing and trimming of a vinyl record takes just 28 seconds.","But it's sure to get hours of play by enthusiasts who refuse to buy into the digital revolution and still believe that vinyl is a cut above."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Retractable Cords","Wood Frame Sports Cars","Sushi"]},"text":["Retractile cords were invented for telephone handsets in the late 1930s, and ever since, these coiled cords have been making a lot of great connections, from medical equipment to construction tools to industrial machinery.","They keep in a lot of things plugged in, in a very neat way.","Retractile cords stretch when needed and spring back into a tight coil afterwards, and that means no tangled knots and wiring snarl-ups, which saves time that would otherwise be spent straightening things out.","Production begins with thermoplastic coloring.","The color selected indicates the electrical function of each wire in the cord.","It takes just a small amount to tint a batch of white plastic pellets a vivid hue as they melt in an extruder.","Tin-plated copper wire feeds into that extruder, and the colored molten plastic coats the wire to provide an insulating wrap.","As it exits the extruder, the plastic casing is still warm and soft, but cool water solidifies it.","A spool then takes up the insulated wiring.","Next, several wires unwind simultaneously over guide rollers and into a spreader plate.","The plate precisely aligns the wires as they feed into a die.","This die draws them down to the correct diameter, while a mechanism further down the production line twists the wires into one cord.","The cord continues to twist as rollers wrap polyester-backed foil around it.","This foil is a shield to protect the wires from electrical interference and is an optional feature.","The cord then passes through the twisting mechanism and onto a take-up reel.","Next, standard unshielded cord travels through beads of electrodes as thousands of volts of electricity are applied to them.","The energized electrodes detect any faults in the wires.","If they find none, the cord moves forward.","The next machine gives the cord a paper wrap.","That's followed by the final layer, a thermoplastic jacket.","It also takes a trip through a cooling station to solidify.","An ink-jet printer applies technical and other information.","The plastic casings of some cords have been treated with fire-retardant chemicals.","Now they put that treatment to the test.","The cord doesn't catch fire, confirming that it's flame-resistant.","So it's now ready to be coiled.","This worker gets the process started by manually winding it around a rod.","Then he presses a button, and the automated winder does the rest.","This establishes the spiraling profile of the retractile cord.","But at this point, the coil won't hold.","Simply pulling out the rod would cause it to unravel.","The plastic sheathing around the wires has no memory, so it won't retain the shape.","They wheel the cords, still on rods, into an industrial oven and bake them at 200 degrees fahrenheit.","This gives the cord's plastic casing the necessary memory so that when the operator pulls out the rod, the coil is intact.","But it still doesn't have the necessary snap.","That is now achieved by reversing the direction of the coil.","The equipment used for that is proprietary, so this worker demonstrates the basic concept with a drill.","The drill turns the cord counterclockwise for an impressive rewind.","The effect ripples all the way down to the end.","Reversing the direction of the coil transforms it.","The process tightens the spiral so that after the cord is stretched, it retracts to its original shape.","The difference is very apparent.","The top coil in this shot hasn't been reversed, while the bottom one has, and it's clearly much tighter.","So these retractile cords are now ready to be stretched to the max and snap right back again.","Being behind the wheel of a traditional-style british sports car will surely get you noticed.","These vehicles combine modern performance with classic styling that dates back to the turn of the last century.","Even the inner construction is traditional, with the car's body frame handcrafted out of wood.","The first models, in the early 1900s, were three-wheelers with motorcycle engines.","It wasn't until the mid-1930s that these hip sports cars acquired a fourth wheel and a four-cylinder automotive engine.","But one thing hasn't changed in more than a century-- the wood-frame construction.","In the factory's woodshop, workers glue together 2/10\"-thick ash panels to produce a 3-ply lamination with which to make the frame's curved components.","To make each wheel arch, they clamp a lamination into a rounded jig for a couple of hours.","The glue dries, locking the curve in the wood.","They make the frame's front section out of three solid pieces of ash.","Triangular wood jigs align the frame, while workers screw in a solid ash rail on each side.","These rails connect to back framing and form the bottom of the car's door openings.","Two vertical rails form the side of the openings on which the door will hinge.","Using a spoke shave, workers fine-tune each doorframe so that it fits perfectly into the openings they have just constructed.","Then they mount the doorframe with strong steel hinges.","They submerge the finished frame in wood preservative, giving the chemical plenty of time to thoroughly penetrate the pores of the wood.","This will prevent the frame from rotting.","In another part of the factory, workers assemble the engine, transmission, and drive shaft to the car's galvanized-steel chassis, then mount the front and rear axles and wheels.","They'll switch the brass wheel nuts for fancy chrome ones later on.","Back to the bodywork now.","They cut an aluminum panel to the shape of the doorframe, only wider all around, clamp it on to the doorframe, hammer down this door skin, as it's called, over the frame edge all around.","They remove the clamps, then peel off the panel's protective covering.","After paneling the rest of the wood frame in aluminum, they re-install the door, gently tapping the hinge pin in place.","Now they lower the paneled body onto the chassis.","The only wooden parts not covered with metal are the rear wheel wells.","Unlike the rest of the body frame, these are made of water-resistant plywood.","Two bonnets form the car's hood.","To make each one, a craftsman feeds aluminum through rollers to curve it.","Then he massages it over an old log that this factory's been using for this purpose since the 1930s.","They put each panel through a press that cuts louver holes.","In the old days, the purpose of louvers was to ventilate the engine, but now they're mostly for style.","The two finished bonnet panels go on either side of a central hinge, forming a car hood that opens like butterfly wings.","The body gets a paint job.","Then they trim the car's interior with genuine leather, cutting and stitching every piece by hand and affixing it to the wood frame.","They make door seals by wrapping leather around rubber tubing.","And finally they re-fit the wings, now painted, over the front and back wheels.","The front wings have shells which house the car's headlights.","Workers install the radiator at the front and top it with a cover called a cowl.","Then the electronic-dashboard instruments, gearshift, windshield, mirrors, and, of course, the steering wheel.","They also attach the hood-- handcrafted from either vinyl or mohair-- to a tubular frame.","After installing the leather-trimmed seats, they take the vehicle out for a test drive, then, upon return, put it through a meticulous inspection, inside and out.","After a wax polishing, this fancy fusion of technology and tradition finally gets the green light.","Sushi is a meal that appeals to the discriminating palate.","But it had very rudimentary beginnings.","The first sushi was actually a form of food preservation.","Salted fish was covered in cooked rice and left to ferment for months and even years.","The rice was then thrown away and the fish consumed.","A fresh approach came about a century ago, when the japanese began combining raw fish with pressed mounds of cooked rice.","It was a mouth-watering combination and brought something entirely new to the table.","Rice is now an essential part of sushi.","Sushi chefs use short or medium grain because it sticks together better than longer grain.","The rice undergoes a thorough washing.","First the chef swishes it around in water to rinse off impurities.","This also begins to remove the rice bran, which has an undesirable flavor and aroma.","He drains the rice and adds clean water.","Next, he scrubs it with his palm fairly vigorously to remove more of the rice bran.","When the water becomes cloudy from the bran, he changes it again.","By now, the water has softened the rice, which makes the grains prone to breakage.","So he scrubs them more gently this time to keep the rice grains whole.","Finally, he rinses the rice under a running faucet until the water drains clear.","This rice is now thoroughly washed and ready to cook, so he adds an equal amount of water and a splash of sake and plugs in the rice cooker.","The previous day, he seasoned rice vinegar with a strip of dried kombu seaweed and left it to soak up the flavors.","The flavored vinegar is key to making good sushi rice.","It's what makes the rice sticky.","He pours the sushi vinegar into the cooked rice and evenly distributes it with a gentle folding motion to keep each grain intact.","He fans the rice and grains dry, to a nice sheen.","With the rice prepared, it's time for all the raw details.","Each fish must be assessed for spoilage or damage.","The chef lifts the gills to confirm that the flesh underneath is red and translucent--  essentially fresh-looking.","He also examines the eyes of the fish.","They should be bright and clear.","He then prods the skin of this sea bream fish to establish it's firm.","Once he's satisfied, he prepares the fish, first scraping away the unpalatable and messy scale with a rasp.","Next, he uses the thin edge of a one-sided blade to fillet the fish.","Razor-sharp, this knife cuts cleanly through the fragile flesh.","He slices off and discards the head.","He then carves the flesh from the backbone.","Now, firmly grasping the tail of the fillet, he cuts the skin from the flesh, using a zigzag motion to pull it away.","This technique leaves no flesh on the skin at all so that not a morsel goes to waste.","Using fish-bone tweezers, he extracts all the little bones.","He now slices the fish on an angle across the grain, using one long stroke that doesn't tear the fibers the way a sawing motion would.","The result is a shiny, smooth piece of sea bream.","Next he peels away the transparent outer skin of a marinated mackerel to expose the silvery subskin.","The gorgeous subskin is a feature that adds presentation value to the sushi, and it's also tasty.","Next, he carves tuna that's been frozen within hours of being caught.","This locks in freshness so that, when thawed, it's suitable for sushi.","And the freezing also kills any parasites in the fish.","He chops spring onions into thin rings.","They'll be used to offset the strong taste of mackerel sushi.","He then mixes water and wasabi powder to create wasabi paste-- the pungent condiment that adds kick to sushi.","And with all the ingredients prepared, it's time to start rolling, so stay tuned.","Once a simple food sold by japanese street vendors, sushi has gone uptown.","Today, skilled chefs produce bite-sized morsels with gastronomic artistry.","A blend of color, texture, and taste, sushi appeals to the eye as well as the palate.","The chef moistens his hands to keep the rice from adhering to them as he works.","He dabs wasabi and places a ball of rice on one of the tuna slices.","He pokes a hole in the center of the ball to introduce air.","This keeps the rice from compacting as he shapes the fish around it to make a type of sushi called nigiri sushi.","To form nigiri, the chef works swiftly to minimize the fish's exposure to his touch.","Human body temperature is much higher than room temperature, and prolonged exposure to it would compromise the fresh taste of the sushi.","A little pickled ginger to cleanse the palate, and this sushi is ready to serve.","To make cucumber rolls--  or kappamaki-- he carves the outer part of the cucumber into a long, wide ribbon, stopping at the soft core.","He slices the ribbon in two and layers the pieces.","He then chops the cucumber into uniformly thin sticks.","This exposes more of the vegetable's fiber, to maximize the taste.","This is roasted seaweed, called nori.","He places it, shiny side down, on a bamboo rolling mat.","He lightly presses rice into a ball so the grains stick together as he transfers it to the nori.","He spreads the rice evenly, leaving a margin of nori at the top.","And now he's ready for those expertly sliced cucumber sticks.","He groups several in the center of the bed of rice.","Then, gripping the mat on one side, he folds the nori around the fillings.","As he squeezes the pack, some rice spills into the margin of nori at the top.","But there's still enough space to create an overlap and seal the ends of the nori around the fillings.","Using a wet cloth, he tucks in the overflow at both ends.","He slices the roll in half.","He aligns the halves and slices three times to create six pieces, each piece approximately the same height, for an attractive lineup.","Next, he makes uramaki, a kind of sushi with rice on the outside, which is why they're also called inside-out rolls.","He spreads rice evenly over the nori and flips it around to the shiny side.","He dips a finger in wasabi and spreads it on the nori at midpoint.","He arranges tuna on the wasabi-coated section.","The raw red fish is then paired with slices of avocado for a tantalizing contrast.","He folds the rice-coated nori over the fillings and tucks it around them.","He continues rolling until he reaches the edge.","He garnishes the rice with toasted sesame seeds for visual interest and tasty crunch.","He covers the roll with plastic to protect it from the grooves of the sushi mat as he shapes it into a tighter pack.","He then removes the mat and carves the inside-out roll into bite-sized pieces.","Inside-out sushi was invented in the 20th century to appeal to westerners who preferred not to see the nori.","The final thing on the menu is the hand roll, also known as temaki sushi.","He presses soft rice into the crispy nori and layers the next ingredients diagonally over the rice-- wasabi, a japanese herb called shiso, and two pieces of tuna.","He folds the nori around the fillings to contain them in a seaweed cone.","Now all that's left is the presentation, and when it comes to sushi, less is more.","Overgarnishing can detract from the main event-- the fish.","A simple, artful arrangement puts the focus on its raw appeal."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Escalators","Kevlar Canoes","Goat Cheese","Disc Music Boxes"]},"text":["Every day, millions of people around the world use escalators in places like shopping malls and airports.","Escalators can move 100 or more people just as easily as 1.","Driven by a motor, these moving stairways make it very convenient for people to get around.","Riding an escalator is easy, but building the smoothest and most quiet ride possible takes expertise.","It starts with workers welding together the structural framework of the escalator.","Like the chassis of a car, the track system and all other components will be bolted to this frame.","A worker puts together the main drive gear, which hooks up to a motor with a chain.","It will pull the steps and the handrails.","He puts on an emergency-brake device and uses bolts to secure it in place.","He attaches side frames to the gear to make what is called the transition assembly.","This assembly includes a drive gear for the handrail and allows the steps to loop back at both ends of the escalator.","He then lowers the completed transition assembly into the truss-- the hollow structure of the escalator.","With the transition assembly in place, workers then install a comb plate-- the last part of the escalator a person steps on before getting onto the moving steps.","A worker makes the steps using aluminum ingots, which he puts into a crucible.","They then apply a release agent to the mold used to make the steps.","Spraying more lubricant on the mold ensures the aluminum stair will release properly from the die-cast machine, which automatically receives the exact amount of molten aluminum needed to make one step.","A robot then takes the one-piece step from the die-cast machine and carries it to the trimming department.","Here, a trim press removes some residual aluminum.","The excess material goes back to the crucible to be recycled.","Once the robot finishes a general trimming of the step, it sends it to the finishing department.","There, finishing robots then file off the sharp edges.","The robot also files in between the teeth that go across the step.","Then it passes the step over a belt sander, making it smooth to the touch.","Transformed from solid aluminum to a casting that is painted and assembled, the step is now ready to be installed.","A worker rolls out a chain of rollers called a step chain.","He greases all the pins.","Then they place all the steps into position.","Workers then connect the axles on the steps to the pins in the step chain and then lock them together using a spring clip.","They feed the required length of chain and steps into the unit.","A worker then attaches a turnaround track.","The turnaround track allows the length of steps to make a continuous loop from one end of the escalator to the other.","The escalator runs for about five hours to ensure it operates quietly and properly.","During this testing period, it goes through up to 250 quality-control checks.","After passing all the tests, workers wrap the unit in heat-shrink plastic.","The escalator is now ready to load on a flatbed truck for delivery to the customer.","Your canoe may well be made of the same material they use to make bulletproof vests.","That's right.","Many canoes today are made of woven aramid fibers, better known by the trade name \"kevlar\".","For canoes, though, they use a lesser density, since, presumably, no one will be shooting at you.","A kevlar canoe weighs about half as much as a wooden or aluminum canoe, and it's virtually maintenance-free.","They build these canoes from several layers of kevlar fabric glued together to create a solid laminate material.","It all begins with a fiberglass mold of the canoe's hull.","The first step is to spread resin over its interior.","Once that's done, they spread a sheet of kevlar over the resin and rub it against the mold to push out any air bubbles.","Then they trim off the excess fabric.","Using a squeegee, they force out any excess resin and stretch the fabric until it's taut.","This step ensures the laminate will turn out strong and smooth.","They repeat this entire process with a second layer of kevlar, then run a roller over everything to expel any excess resin and press the layers tightly together.","Now for some structural components.","Pieces of thin high-density foam go along the bottom of the hull.","Glue bonds them to each other and to the bottom of the hull.","Using a machine called a hot box, they begin heating strips of foam to curve them.","These curved pieces are called ribs.","They reinforce the sides, adhering with resin.","With the structural core of the canoe complete, they now encase it in a third layer of kevlar.","Once that's down, they prepare to bond everything together with vacuum pressure.","They lay down a sheet of white fabric impregnated with a nonstick coating to prevent the vacuum bag from sticking to the surface.","This mesh, called scrim, goes on next.","It helps stimulate airflow during that vacuum process.","Now they tape a plastic vacuum bag around the mold, sealing everything inside.","Then they connect one end of a hose to the bag and the other end to a vacuum machine.","The vacuum steadily draws out the air from within the bag, pulling the layers of kevlar tightly together.","After 8 to 10 hours under vacuum, the bag comes off.","If a canoe flips over, flotation tanks in the corners keep it afloat.","Workers build each tank out of two pieces of low-density foam.","After sanding them to the right shape, they lay a sheet of fiberglass mat over them and coat it with resin.","This strengthens the foam and seals the two pieces into one unit.","After the resin cures for an hour, they extract the canoe from the mold.","The factory's quality-control inspector checks it over and, if everything's okay, applies a protective coat of resin.","Once that's dry, they cap the edges with aluminum strips called gunwales, which keep the hull from folding inward...","Then an aluminum crossbeam and a nylon end cap on each end...","A wooden yoke for carrying the canoe upside down on land and a wooden seat with nylon webbing.","Workers rivet all these components to the gunwales, then rivet the gunwales securely to the kevlar laminate.","This factory puts every canoe it produces on a digital scale to ensure it meets weight specifications.","If all is well, the finishing touch is a decal displaying the manufacturer's name.","Kevlar canoes, like those made of other materials, vary in size, shape, and design.","A canoe intended for fishing or hunting, for example, is quite different than one designed for long expeditions or for a two-person racing team or for a solo canoeist.","Goat cheese tastes tarter than cheese made from cow's milk because goat's milk has a higher proportion of certain fatty acids, which sharpen the flavor.","There are hard and soft varieties of goat cheese.","The soft ones are usually sold in logs or disks and often have a coating of peppercorns, chopped herbs, or other flavorings.","The texture of soft goat cheese makes it ideal for spreading on crackers or crumbling over pasta or salads.","Goat cheese is also called \"chèvre,\" the french word for \"goat\".","Farmers start breeding goats when the animals are a year old.","Their gestation period lasts five months, meaning milk production begins at the age of about a year and a half.","The goats go for a milking every 12 hours or so.","The first step is to manually squirt some milk into a cup to check the quality.","If it looks good, they wipe the teats with disinfectant to remove surface bacteria.","Then they hook up the automated milk extractor.","A milking takes just two or three minutes.","It typically yields 2 to 3 quarts.","At the cheese factory, the goat's milk goes into a steam-heated pasteurization tank.","An agitator stirs the milk nonstop to keep it from cooking.","They heat the milk to 66 degrees celsius, which kills off any bacteria.","With the milk now pasteurized, they add bacterial cultures.","These kick-start the fermentation.","Then they add rennet.","Diluted in water, rennet is an extract from calf stomachs.","It contains enzymes which curdle milk.","With the cultures and rennet in, workers now let the milk ferment for 18 hours.","The result-- cheese curds and a watery liquid called whey.","They ladle out the curds and put them in a cheesecloth bag to strain them.","As they lift the bag, the sheer weight of the curds forces out much of the remaining whey.","They tie up the bag and let the curds sit for another 18 hours, after which time workers strain them again.","The goat cheese is finally ready.","They weigh it and mix in just the right proportion of salt-- 0.6%-- to slow down the aging process.","One of the formats this factory produces is 175-gram packages, so workers weigh out 175-gram blobs of cheese...","Then hand-roll each blob into a ball then flatten each ball into a disk.","The disk goes into refrigeration until packaging time.","The fridge temperature is 3 degrees celsius-- just above freezing.","Some goat cheeses go for a roll in special flavorings.","These are chives.","Then it's into cellophane wrap and a plastic container.","On the product label, they stamp a \"best before\" date.","Unopened, goat cheese has a two-month shelf life...","Once opened, about a week.","Another format is log-shaped.","They roll this particular variety in a five-pepper seasoning.","Workers also hand-roll goat-cheese balls.","They go into a container with spices, sun-dried tomatoes, and olive oil.","Goat cheese is a healthy food.","It has twice the protein of cow's-milk cream cheese yet half the fat and cholesterol and 1/3 fewer calories.","Ipods may rule in this digital age, but there's nothing quite like a melody that's mechanically generated by a music box.","It's why, more than a century after its heyday, the music box still holds a special appeal.","Its musical chimes take us back to another time.","a revolving disk, swirling dolls, and luxurious cabinetry-- the music box is the original home-entertainment system.","Today, they make these authentic replicas with computerized tools.","They contour a gear for this spring-wound motor and then carve teeth into it.","This gear is similar to the type used in clockworks.","It's a windup device.","Next, they coil a 20-foot-long strip of steel into a little cast-iron barrel.","This is called a spring barrel, and it's the device that stores the wound-up mechanical energy.","Once the clutch is installed, it will be ready to spring into action.","This circular blade now sculpts the weights that extend from the base teeth of the musical comb.","The weights are called leads, and they help produce the low notes.","To tune the base, a technician snips the ends of the leads.","She plucks a tooth to produce a note, then measures its pitch with an electronic-tuning machine.","She adjusts it by clipping off a bit more.","This process is critical.","It ensures each of the 76 teeth on the musical comb will hit all the right notes.","There's a damper for each tooth to quell its vibration.","They install these dampers on a rail next to the star wheels-- the part that plucks the teeth of the comb to produce notes.","The technician aligns the dampers to the star wheels and bolts everything to a cast-iron plate called the bedplate.","Using a pincers-like tool, he checks the tension of the dampers and makes adjustments.","Now he secures the upper comb to the bedplate and turns it around to install the lower comb.","Music boxes with two combs instead of one have a richer sound.","The technician makes more adjustments to the dampers to ensure a proper gap between them and the teeth of the musical comb.","He installs the bar that holds down the music disk while it plays, then he bolts the motor frame to the side of the cabinet, followed by the winding and disk-drive gears.","He attaches the spring barrel to the gears.","Here, he installs a speed-control mechanism for the winding gears.","It's called the \"governor\" because it governs the speed.","He winds the motor to power it up for a test run...","And then checks all its parts to confirm the motor operates smoothly.","When he's satisfied that it does, it's time to install the musical components, beginning with the soundboard, which amplifies the notes.","Next, the bedplate, with its double-comb assembly, is mounted onto the soundboard.","He screws support brackets to the box.","They'll prop up the musical disk.","He checks the setup with a dummy disk.","On a real disk, music is printed in the form of perforations.","This master disk serves as a template to punch holes in a copper-plated disk below.","The punctures form curls in the underside of the disk, and it's these metal curls that will set the music in motion.","as the windup motor turns the disk, those curls snag the star wheels.","the star wheels, in turn, pluck the teeth of the musical comb.","The music isn't digital, but it's truly magical.","The music box is one technology that stands the test of time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Classic Car Gauges","Chocolate Marble Cake","Ghillie Kettles","Rubber Gloves"]},"text":["They may have stopped making the car.","But they still manufacture replacement gauges that look just like the originals.","After all, modern digital instruments just wouldn't look right in the dashboard of a classic vehicle.","Technicians give the mechanism a bit of an update, but the look is all retro.","These car gauges are new.","But they have the same old faces.","The old-style dials are built to the original designs as replacement parts for classic and vintage vehicles.","Making a classic car gauge starts with a zinc-coated steel blank.","A worker places the blank on a tool.","A press stretches it around the form to shape it into the gauge case.","After a flange has been formed on the rim and holes punched for assembly purposes, it's on to the next operation.","A worker welds a stud to the back of the case.","The stud will be used to mount the gauge to the dashboard.","Another worker paints the inside of the case white.","Next up is a brass tube for the light bulb.","A worker secures it in a fixture and places the case over it.","A press crimps the top of the light tube around one of the holes in the case, securing the tube to the back.","A mechanized printer pad picks up ink from engravings on a metal plate and transfers them to a dial.","For this gauge, they'll need a hollow, curved spring, known as a bourdon tube.","To shape this flat brass tube into a spring, a worker tucks one end into a forming tool.","He inserts a shim into the other end to keep the tube hollow as he curls it around the form.","This turns the flat tube into a c-shape spring.","He then crimps one end in this press.","He dips the crimped end into a chemical cleaning agent and then into hot solder.","The solder hardens and seals this end of the bourdon spring.","He solders a brass adapter to the opened end of the bourdon tube.","This hollow socket is the part that will receive the fluid pressure.","That pressure will cause the tube to unwind and move gears that turn the pointer on the gauge dial.","A worker places the tube in water and pumps pressurized air into it through the socket.","He checks for bubbles that would indicate there's a leak.","They make the gears that move the pointer using a hobbing machine.","It's a spinning cutter that carves teeth into brass parts, known as racks.","A worker inserts a brass pivot in a holding device.","Using a press, she crimps the pivot to the center of the rack.","She then assembles a hair spring and a pinion between two brass plates.","She positions the rack in the gear sandwich.","She secures the assembly using a hand press.","Now, with tweezers, she pulls the end of the spring through a hole in one of the posts and locks it in place with a pin.","She turns the shaft to confirm that the rack-and-pinion gears engage and work smoothly.","Returning to the bourdon tubes, she transfers one to a fixture and locks it in place.","She places the gears on top of the bourdon tube and screws it to the side of the socket.","She then installs the bourdon tube assembly in the gas gauge casing.","A worker now connects the gauge to a pressurized air source.","She pops the retro-look dial into the device and attaches the pointer to the protruding gear shaft.","She then introduces air at a known pressure to calibrate the gauge.","She tucks a gasket into the top rim and then fits a glass pane on top.","A chrome-plated bezel retains the assembly and frames it.","A press snaps the components together.","Made to measure, this car gauge is now complete, and it looks like a classic.","A chocolate truffle cake has nothing to do with those rare and pricey fungi that are a culinary delicacy, nor is it directly related to the chocolate truffle, a decadent confection consisting of a chocolate ganache center coated in either chocolate, cocoa powder, or toasted, chopped nuts.","A chocolate truffle cake has many variations.","This version features a flourless chocolate truffle cake base under a layer of chocolate marble cheesecake, garnished with fudge ganache.","To make the cheesecake layer, they begin with cream cheese.","They mix for three or four minutes to soften it, then blend in sugar and salt.","Next, they add sour cream to make the cheesecake creamier and fluffier.","The last ingredients are whole eggs blended with vanilla extract.","Another three to four minutes of mixing completes the batter.","To make the chocolate truffle cake base, they combine water, sugar, corn syrup, and cream of tartar, which is a leavening agent that works in flourless cakes like this one.","It also prevents the sugar they just added from crystallizing.","While heating those ingredients to a boil, they soften butter in a mixer, then add melted semisweet chocolate, which contains vanilla extract.","They mix for another five minutes or so until the chocolate is thoroughly blended in.","Then they add the boiled ingredients, then coffee syrup...","Then blended whole eggs.","A final five minutes of mixing, and the chocolate truffle cake batter is ready.","They pump it into the funnel-shaped feeder of a depositor.","Workers meanwhile line aluminum cake pans with silicone and place them on a conveyor belt.","The depositor is set up to squirt exactly 28 ounces of the thick chocolate truffle cake batter into each pan.","They pump the thinner cheesecake batter to the feeder of a second depositor, which squirts an identical amount of cheesecake batter into the pan.","This batter is much lighter than the dense chocolate truffle cake batter.","So rather than blend, the two batters form separate layers.","Using the squeeze bottle, they drizzle on some extra chocolate truffle cake batter and drag a knife back and forth, creating what's known in pastry making as a napoleon-style design.","They put the pans in the oven for 90 minutes at 90 degrees fahrenheit.","The long baking time at a relatively low temperature ensures the heat penetrates the dense truffle batter gradually.","Otherwise, the outside of the cake would burn before the inside is fully baked.","The cakes cool at room temperature, then go into a freezer overnight.","The next day, workers easily pop the rock-solid cakes from the pans thanks to that silicone liner.","They place the cake on a cardboard circle, then, with a pastry bag, garnish the edge with fudge ganache.","The ganache is made of heavy cream, corn syrup and the same melted chocolate they put in the truffle cake batter.","They placed the finished chocolate marble truffle cake into an automatic cake slicer.","The turntable rotates after each strike of the blade until the machine has cut the cake into 12 slices and separated them with paper dividers.","They wrap the cake in a cardboard band printed with the brand name.","Then they put the dessert through a machine, which encases the cake in plastic film, then applies heat to shrink the film taut.","To serve this decadent dessert, you let it defrost at room temperature for four to five hours or in the fridge overnight.","Impatient chocoholics take note-- you can also defrost a slice in the microwave in just 30 seconds.","Invented in the 1890s by irish fishermen, the ghillie kettle is still popular off the beaten path.","Simply stuff twigs, leaves or other scraps in the bottom chamber and ignite.","The water in the surrounding chamber boils in minutes, allowing you to have a quick cuppa in the middle of nowhere.","Roughing it in the wilderness?","With the ghillie kettle, you can still have a civilized cup of tea unplugged.","Making a ghillie kettle starts with a thick aluminum disk.","A metalworker clamps the disk against a form in a lathe.","As the lathe spins, he presses the disk to the form using a blunt tool.","This transforms the disk into a flared vessel, one that looks like a flower pot.","A cutter at the side trims the rim.","They call this flower-pot shape the draft.","The next phase takes the draft from flared to cylindrical.","A worker presses the spinning draft to another form.","This stretches the aluminum shape longer and narrower.","Finally, they taper the cylinder at the top to form a slanted chimney and slice off the bottom.","From flat disk to a tall kettle, it's a dramatic change.","He drills a hole in the gradient of the kettle.","He inserts a screw that's attached to a punch.","Then, using an allen wrench, he turns the screw, forcing the punch into the metal to cut out a hole for the kettle spout.","He now slides the kettle body over a post with a die that fits into the spout hole.","He places the spout over the die and hammers it into the hole.","The die helps form the seam as the metal spreads due to the impact, tightly locking the spout to the kettle body.","A worker transfers the kettle to a jig with a template for drilling.","He drills holes into the kettle body, relying on the template to space them correctly.","These holes are for the handle and chain attachments.","Next, the inner wall of the ghillie kettle takes shape.","Wielding a tool with force, a worker pulls and stretches the aluminum disk into a long cone.","He inserts the cone in the kettle body.","A gap between them will serve as the water chamber.","And smoke will be vented out the center.","He rolls the upper lip of the cone around the kettle's top rim, locking them together.","He also secures them at the base the same way.","He transfers the ghillie kettle to a stand to keep it upright as he rivets steel ears to it.","The ears are for attaching the handle and a chain for the kettle whistle.","He now assembles the whistle.","He aligns a gap in a round plate with one in the whistle body.","This small gap will allow steam to pass through.","He inserts a screw and a ball knob in the center hole to hold the whistle together.","The base of the ghillie is this fire chamber.","For packing purposes, he stacks it upside down and places the kettle over it.","He wraps the entire kettle in british newsprint for shipping.","This protects it and also gives the purchaser something to burn the first time he or she tries it out.","He crimps the ends of the handle to the ears that protrude through the headlines.","He places the whistle over the wrapped spout and then tucks the kettle into a drawstring tote.","This ghillie kettle is ready to provide the convenience of hot water in the backwoods.","The camper removes the whistle from the spout and pours water into it.","This particular model can hold about 51 ounces.","He replaces the whistle and lights the fire in the bottom chamber.","As it burns, smoke comes out of the center.","The cone-shaped cavity creates an upward draft, ensuring rapid boiling even in windy or damp weather.","Within minutes, there's hot water for beverages or soup noodles.","Smoking and whistling in the wilderness, the ghillie kettle offers some of the comforts of home.","It was an american nurse's sensitivity to an antiseptic that led to the development of medical rubber gloves.","The year was 1890, and the hospital was johns hopkins in baltimore.","Sympathetic to the nurse's plight, the chief of surgery asked a rubber company to develop protective gloves.","Around the world, healing hands wear rubber gloves to stop the spread of germs and save lives.","To make them, they need a lot of hands, the kind made from ceramic or aluminum.","They'll serve as molds.","First, they need to remove residue from the last rubber glove production.","So they do a thorough washing in soapy water...","And then in bleach.","They must remove every speck of residue because even the smallest contaminant could lodge in the latex rubber gloves and create holes.","Leaving the bleach, the ceramic hands twirl into round, revolving brushes.","Their bristles scour the surface and the hard-to-reach areas between the ceramic fingers.","After this thorough scrubbing, the hand molds dive into a tub of hot water.","It's the last cleaning before production begins.","As they exit the tub, the hands swivel on the rail carrier to drip-dry.","Still slightly damp and spinning, the hand molds head into a chemical bath, which forms a film on the surface.","It's a critical coating because liquid rubber won't adhere to bare ceramic, but it will to this substance.","The ceramic molds now reach into warm liquid rubber, which has been enhanced for extra strength.","The liquid rubber reacts with the chemical coating on the hands and becomes gel-like.","Coated with the rubber gel, the hands spin to shake off any drops as they head into an oven.","Under intense heat, the rubber dries to the hand form and also undergoes a chemical process, called vulcanization, that makes the rubber stronger and elastic.","After a wash and dry, the gloves spin through brushes which roll up the cuffs.","This cuff roll, called the bead, has a specific purpose-- it makes it easier to pull the rubber glove off the mold.","Workers grab the gloves by the beads to peel them off the ceramic forms.","These particular medical gloves were molded from synthetic rubber for people who can't wear natural latex rubber due to allergies.","These synthetic rubber gloves are a bit stickier than the natural latex ones.","And they must be removed by hand.","However, the natural latex glove come off much more easily.","Bursts of pressurized air blow these gloves off the ceramic forms.","At a test station, a worker now stretches and inflates each medical glove to check for weak spots and holes.","Even a pinhole leak would be cause for rejection.","Next, they take a sample glove from every batch and pump water into it, again checking for leaks.","If the sample glove is watertight, they approve the entire batch for shipment.","They color-code gloves for strength.","These orange cleaning gloves are thick and reusable.","Others, like the medical gloves, are for limited use and disposable.","Each rubber formulation is customized for color, strength, and other characteristics.","It has taken a lot of fake hands and real ones to make rubber gloves.","And it all happens very fast.","They manufacture 200 rubber gloves a minute at this factory.","That's about 12,000 gloves per hour.","They pack them up in batches of 100.","A cornstarch solution applied earlier keeps them from sticking together in the box.","Later, that starch will also act as a lubricant to allow the gloves to slide easily onto hands.","And with that, these rubber gloves are ready to protect the public."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tissues","Travel Trailers","Slippers","Motorcycle Helmets"]},"text":["The origin of facial tissue may be japanese.","A 17th-century historical account describes japanese blowing their noses in small, soft papers, then throwing them on the ground.","Modern-day tissues were first marketed in the early 1920s as a disposable cloth for wiping off cold cream.","While some sneezers still prefer traditional cloth handkerchiefs, the disposable paper tissue is the implement of choice with the sniffling and lens-cleaning masses.","This brand is made entirely of recycled paper-- specifically, used computer-printer paper because its short, flexible fibers produce soft tissue.","The ½-ton bales go into a giant machine called the pulper.","It breaks up the paper into fibers and mixes them with water.","The result is called pulp.","Next, it injects the pulp with air.","This causes the ink to detach from the fibers and cling to the air bubbles, which rise to the top and drain off.","The machine then feeds the now-ink-free pulp through several rollers.","Like an old-fashioned ringer washing machine, the rollers squeeze out the dirty water.","A screw conveyor then breaks up the pulp and moves it to the next station, which rinses it with clean water.","Now the pulp is ready to become tissue.","That transformation begins in the paper machine.","It injects the pulp evenly across the screen conveyor belt.","Then the pulp passes through rollers that press out the water.","The extracted water drains down through the screen.","The pulp then passes through a hot-air dryer and exits the machine as a thin, 10-foot-wide sheet of paper.","Each jumbo roll coming off the machine contains about 37 miles of paper.","The converting machine is the giant contraption that now transforms this paper into tissues.","The first station unwinds two rolls of paper, applying modest tension to remove waves and wrinkles.","The next station mates the two papers, producing a two-ply sheet.","The following station holds the sheets steady with suction as a knife slices across it every 8½ inches.","You can see the cuts in slow motion.","At the next station, these two-ply sheets meet up with two-ply sheets coming from the opposite direction.","Here's what that looks like in slow motion....","And at full speed.","The sheets enter a mechanism that folds them in half in an interlocking fashion.","In slow motion, you can see how they interlock-- each sheet folded in half, one side inserted into the fold of the next sheet.","This happens at a speed of 16 folds per second.","This produces a huge stack of folded tissue 5 feet wide.","The next station separates the big stack into small ones in preparation for the final cutting.","Each smaller stack contains the precise number of tissues the tissue box will contain, from 80 to 250 sheets, depending on the format they're packaging.","The smaller stacks now travel to the next station, where an automated circular saw cuts every 8 inches, producing the final tissue size.","The interlocking folds ensure that when you pull out one tissue, it draws the next out of the box, ready to use.","To produce three-ply tissues, the converting machine processes six rolls into two sheets of three plies each, then folds them in the same interlocking fashion.","The finished tissues travel by conveyor belt to the automated packaging line.","A robot with multiple suction-cupped arms grabs flattened boxes one at a time, opens them, and lines them up on another conveyor belt running alongside the tissue belt.","An automated arm compresses the tissues and slides them into the box.","The next station glues the flaps closed.","The top of the box has a removable tab with clear plastic film underneath.","A tight slot in the film makes grabbing a single tissue a nonissue.","Hitching a travel trailer to your vehicle is the ideal solution if you yearn to travel freely with all the conveniences of home or love camping but want far more comfort than a tent has to offer.","Today's trailers come equipped with beds, mini kitchen, dinette, toilet, and shower.","This 16-foot-long travel trailer is made of aluminum and composite materials.","Unlike traditional fiberglass trailers, there's no steel or wood in the structure, so it's resistant to both rock and corrosion.","It's ultra lightweight and has a pop-up roof with windows.","The trailer's a-shaped chassis is made entirely of aluminum.","The only steel components are the tongue that attaches the trailer to the vehicle's hitch and the axle.","Workers insulate both with duct tape.","They bolt the axle, with brakes installed, to the chassis, then line the chassis with styrofoam insulation.","This prevents the copper propane line from touching the aluminum.","Contact between the two metals can trigger corrosion.","Next, they mount the trailer's plastic freshwater and waste-water tanks, then glue the aluminum floor to the chassis.","Other workers construct the trailer's two side walls as a single piece.","On a large vacuum press, they spread glue onto an aluminum sheet.","Then they lay down the wall's core, a honeycomb-shaped sheet of polypropylene.","They coat it with glue, then top it with another sheet of aluminum.","The honeycomb core makes the wall rigid while adding minimal weight.","They cover this sandwich with a protective fabric sheet, then with an airtight cover.","After sealing the perimeter, they vacuum out the air for about four hours.","This pulls everything tight, compressing the glued layers so that they fully adhere to each other.","When the wall comes out of the press, they lay down templates and, with a router, cut it into two side walls.","They also make openings for windows...","And holes for trailer lights.","After inserting a rubber seal in each hole, they install the lights.","Next, a porthole-style tinted upper window.","They glue it into the round opening just like a car windshield.","The side walls are now ready.","Workers affix them to the floor with an l-shaped aluminum bracket.","Once the walls are up, workers saw out a door opening, then install the door, sliding windows, toilet cabinet, king-size bed, dining table, and kitchen unit, which has a sink and propane stove.","They install a rubber-sealed trapdoor into an opening in one wall.","This gives outside access to a storage area about the size of a large suitcase.","Upholstered cushions hide under-the-seat storage compartments in the dining area.","They construct the roof the same way as the walls, only in a teardrop-shaped vacuum press.","This aerodynamic shape creates 75% less drag than a traditional box-shaped trailer roof.","When the trailer is parked, you can raise the roof to reveal fixed windows on both sides.","Workers glue this tinted, tempered glass to each aluminum window frame, glue the frames to the roof, then install taillights, roof vents, and solar panels to recharge the battery powering the lights, vent, and water pump.","They install the roof, then mount a hinged back wall.","With assembly finally complete, workers apply decals and test all appliances and systems.","Cables connect the roof to the back wall, so when the roof lifts, it pulls up the otherwise-collapsed wall.","The trailer's interior layout is versatile.","The king-size bed converts into two twin beds, and the dining table can be moved to create two distinct dining areas, a two-seat and a five-seat dinette-- all the comforts and amenities of home on wheels.","There's nothing like a pair of slippers to soothe your tired tootsies or warm your frigid feet.","Designed strictly for indoor use, slippers typically have a soft sole and looser fit and are made of supple, often cushy materials so that feet feel comfortable and cozy.","This style of slipper is known as charentaise, named after the region of charente in southwestern france where they originated in the 17th century.","The slippers are made primarily of felt, which is made from layers of compressed wool fibers.","This french slipper factory uses a particularly thick and durable type of felt composed of five wool-fiber layers.","To cut the soles, workers position a cookie-cutter-type die for the specific shoe size in production.","Then a 5-ton press forces it through the thick felt.","After cutting one sole of the pair, they turn the die in the opposite direction to cut the second sole.","Once the batch of soles is cut, they mark the size in ink with a rubber stamp.","For the rest of the slipper, called the upper, they use fabric that's felt on the outside, velvet on the inside.","The cutting process is the same as for the sole, with the die corresponding to the size in production.","Once the uppers are cut, workers lay a stencil of the embroidery pattern on each one and lightly mark the design in pencil.","Seamstresses embroider each slipper individually by a machine.","The yarn is made of hemp.","For this model, the design is applied in a chain stitch.","Felt flowers give the design three-dimensional features.","With the design complete, it's time to stitch the back of the upper closed.","Next, they cushion the opening at the top with velvet binding, bending the wide velvet ribbon over the edge of the felt so that the binding runs along both the inside and outside of the slipper.","They cover the back seam with a backstrap, a felt strip with a loop at the top through which you can put your finger to easily pull the slipper onto your foot.","Next, they turn the back of the upper inside out in order to attach the sole.","They position the sole 3/10 of an inch from the bottom edge, then, with hemp thread, straight-stitch along the entire perimeter of the upper.","They cut the slipper's insole from a fabric that's felt on one side and velvet on the other.","They position the felt side against the felt sole, then sew them together along the perimeter with a particular cross-shaped stitch traditionally used for the charentaise.","The inside felt's underside gives the slipper additional rigidity, while the soft velvet surface cushions the bottom of your foot.","The slipper is now fully constructed.","However, it's inside out.","So the next step is to turn the slipper right side out using this piece of equipment called a goat, perhaps because its shape resembles goat horns.","All that manipulation can slightly deform and crease the upper, so they put the slipper in a steam box for three minutes to soften the fibers, then on a foot-shaped aluminum press heated to 158 degrees fahrenheit.","The press irons out any remaining wrinkles and resets the shape.","This factory's charentaise-style slippers range from conservative to funky.","All are designed to be comfortable, cozy, and as the term \"slippers\" implies, easy to slip on or off.","The development of the motorcycle helmet happened by accident.","In 1935, the british war hero known as lawrence of arabia died from a head injury in a motorcycle crash.","He wasn't wearing a helmet.","That tragedy moved one of his doctors to research the safety potential of motorcycle helmets.","The motorcycle helmet is the most important part of the motorcyclist's safety gear.","Today, wearing one is a rule of the road in many places around the world.","Modern helmets are entirely synthetic.","They design them on a computer.","The software guides milling tools to produce a prototype from polyurethane foam.","The prototype gives them a good look at the helmet's shape and style.","Once they're satisfied with it, they build a metal mold for mass production.","The molding material is a pile of polycarbonate pellets.","It's the same thing used to make astronaut bubble helmets.","An injection molding machine melts the pellets and injects them into the two-part helmet mold.","The polycarbonate cools and solidifies into the shape of the mold.","The result is the outer shell of the helmet, complete with holes for vents and other parts.","Next, a robot grips the helmet's shell and moves it against a sanding belt to smooth the seam left by the mold.","The robot also gives the shell an overall polish.","It then goes for a spin as sprayers coat it with black paint.","A factory employee pulls a sheet of decals through water to lift them from the backing.","She applies the decals to a white, unpainted helmet.","It's a flashier look than basic black.","It takes practice to be able to apply the decals correctly because the helmet surface is complex and curvy.","She smoothes out air bubbles in preparation for the application of a protective clear coat.","The next assembler installs a pivot mechanism on each side of the helmet.","They'll enable the face shield and visor to be raised and lowered.","The hardware fits perfectly into the molded niches.","There's just enough room for the mechanism to operate smoothly.","She attaches the velour-lined chin strap with its quick-release mechanism to the outer shell.","Then these foam polystyrene pellets are transformed into the helmet's cushioning inner shell.","The pellets flow into another injection molding system.","A nozzle injects the melted polystyrene into the mold, and it takes the shape of shock-absorbing helmet liners.","The foam solidifies, and the machine ejects the completed liners.","The density of the polystyrene foam varies throughout the helmet for strategic shock resistance, enabling it to meet international safety requirements.","Padding in the crown and around the chin area makes it more comfortable to wear.","They now join the helmet's inner shell to the outer one.","After a liberal application of glue, she pushes the liner into the shell.","It's a snug fit, and it takes a bit of maneuvering to get it in there.","She attaches a robust chin guard to the helmet.","This molded polycarbonate part is designed to protect the lower half of the rider's face.","The assembler screws it to the helmet on both sides.","With this part in place, the rider should be able to take it on the chin if necessary.","A transparent polycarbonate face shield completes this motorcycle helmet.","And now a test.","They drop a helmet from a height of 10 feet to confirm it can take a fall without falling apart.","It survives, and the entire production batch is approved.","Designed for impact and made to specification, this helmet could just save your skull."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Throttle Bodies","Limestone Fireplace Mantels","Candied Fruit & Fruit Jellies","Linen Ukuleles"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"...","Throttle bodies.","Limestone fireplace mantels.","Candied fruit and fruit jellies.","And linen ukuleles.","the throttle body is a device that allows the engine of a fuel-injected vehicle to breathe.","Pressing on the accelerator pedal opens the throttle body's blades to allow air into the engine.","The greater the airflow, the higher the rpm.","All the driver has to do is step on the gas.","Designed for race cars, the throttle body could make the difference between winning and losing.","That's due to the way it delivers the air the engine needs for speed.","Making a throttle body starts with this solid aluminum disk.","A technician mounts it to a machining fixture and closes the door.","Computer controlled cutters move in.","The cutters reduce the thickness of the disk and contour it.","They also rough out the shape of four air passageways.","Then they flip the part over, and more cutting tools work on it from the other side.","The cutters open up the air passageways completely and create a hole in the center for a bolt.","The technician clamps a square chunk of aluminum in the fixture, and cutters transform it into the main body part.","This is a computer simulation of the process.","The tools carve four holes to match up to the ones on the top piece.","These holes will hold the throttle mechanisms.","The transformation takes just minutes.","With the parts now electrically charged, workers plunge them into a pool of chemicals called an etching bath.","The chemicals gravitate to the electrically charged parts and lightly etch the surface.","A dip in soapy water cleans the parts.","They are now ready for anodizing, a process that will form an anti-corrosion finish on the surface.","In the anodizing bath, an electrical charge causes a protective oxide layer to form on the metal, and black dye seeps into the pores.","Here are the parts before and after anodizing.","A laser then engraves the brand name onto the side of the throttle body part.","The etched aluminum wording stands out against the black anodized coating.","A technician then inserts two stainless steel shafts into sealed bearings in holes on the side.","When turned, the shafts will open and close the round throttle blades.","He installs retaining clips on the shafts.","This keeps them in place and centers them perfectly.","But at the same time, they allow the blades to turn freely.","He then screws round blades to the flat part of each shaft.","As the shafts turn, these blades will move into an open or closed position.","They'll act as valves, allowing air into the engine or shutting it off.","He attaches a mechanical linkage to the end of each shaft.","These linkages will ultimately be connected to a cable that runs to the gas pedal.","When the driver steps on the gas, the linkages will turn the shafts, and the blades will open and close.","He connects the two linkages with a part called a tie bar.","Now that they're connected, the linkages will move together in one action.","The technician tests the linkages to confirm that they operate smoothly.","He now places the top part onto the throttle body.","He applies a thread-lock solution to a bolt, which he then inserts in the center of the assembly.","This is a crucial connection.","It's what holds the two parts of the throttle body together.","He secures the center bolt with a threaded insert.","This insert will also be used to attach an intake air cleaner.","This throttle body is now complete.","Workers measure air flow through the throttle body using smoke so our camera can photograph it.","With this measurement, they give the throttle body a performance rating.","A crew installs the throttle body between the race car's intake manifold and air filter.","Then, they check its function.","This performance throttle body is now ready to compete.","For hundreds of years, stone carvers have skillfully sculpted blocks of solid stone into ornate fireplace mantels.","A work of art with an imposing presence, a stone mantel is the decorative centerpiece of a room.","Whether or not there's a fire burning, it creates a warm ambience.","Modern-day stone carvers carry on a trade passed down through the centuries, crafting limestone fireplace mantels that exude old-world elegance.","Artisans sketch out a creative design, then produce a technical drawing and 3-d model on a computer.","This particular mantel, carved from beige limestone, will feature a medallion of red sandstone.","The red medallion will be set into the keystone, which is the central block of what's called the lintel, the horizontal part of the mantel.","After finalizing the measurements, the artisans lay down a sheet of thick white plastic and draw the mantel's overall shape, as seen from the front, in its actual dimensions.","The mantel will be composed of several parts so they will also mark the joints where those parts meet.","Using this pattern, they cut a clear plastic template for each part.","The artisans use a combination of traditional and modern stone-carving tools.","First, for each part, they use an automated diamond-blade saw to cut a block to size.","They then measure and mark where they need to remove stone to shape the block to the basic profile.","The artisan gradually removes that portion of stone with a hammer and different types of chisels.","Limestone can be hard like marble, or soft like chalk.","There's less margin for error when carving softer limestone, like this, because every strike of the hammer removes more stone than the same strike on a hard limestone would.","This tool, designed for soft limestone, wears away the surface like a plane does to a piece of wood.","Once the artisan has removed all the excess stone, he checks that the surface is level.","Then, in the side of the block, he traces a template for the profile.","This block will become the keystone for the horizontal part of the mantel.","He measures out and marks the center of the keystone...","Then centers the medallion and traces it.","He'll draw the remainder of the keystone's design freehand.","The design is symmetrical, so the artisan draws on one side of the center line, traces his drawing onto the clear plastic to make a template, then flips the template onto the other side of the center line to trace the same design in mirror image.","He begins removing stone with a hammer and roughing tools.","First, he breaks off big chunks with a chipper.","He works his way down to just above the pencil line.","Then, with a finer tooth chisel, he removes the last bit.","Then he switches to finishing tools.","He mounts chisels of varying widths on an air hammer to remove a precise, even layer of stone.","Working on the more complex details, he uses a combination square to mark a consistent height across the keystone.","Every detail of the keystone profile must align with the same profile detail of the lentil pieces on either side of it.","Once he has finished the entire profile of the piece, he sands the surface smooth and brushes away the dust.","Now the artisan turns his attention to the keystone's ornate sculpt design.","With fine, flat, and pointed chisels, he removes the stone around his pencil lines until the design he drew emerges.","By switching to a sculptor's rasp, he smoothes all the rough edges.","He checks the fit of the red sandstone medallion and glues it in.","Once the artisan finishes sculpting all the parts, he lays them on the pattern to make sure all the dimensions are perfect.","On installation day, he mounts the mantel, piece by piece, around the fireplace.","Candied fruit and fruit jellies are middle eastern in origin and spread to europe around the 12th century.","This region of france has been producing them since the 15th century.","When wars blocked access to cane sugar, fruit farmers began planting sugar beets to preserve this confectionery tradition.","This company in france has been catering to people's sweet tooth since 1880 with its gift boxes containing traditional candied fruit and fruit jellies.","To make candied fruit, a master confectioner boils fresh fruit for many hours to soften the fibers.","This process will later help sugar to penetrate the fruit.","He pokes the fruit to see if it's ready.","Boiling time varies from 1 hour for apricots to 8 hours for chestnuts.","Citrus fruits are sliced before boiling.","After boiling, the more fragile types of fruit, such as apricots, pears and clementines, go into large hot-air dehydrators for up to 3 weeks.","Every day, the master confectioner replaces the evaporated water with sugar syrup, which concentrates over time.","For less fragile fruits, the technique is different.","Workers heat them in vats of sugar syrup for about 10 days.","The moisture evaporates, and the syrup concentrates.","The factory sells whole candied fruits like this collection of clementines, apricots, pears, figs, and plums, to gourmet food shops, which sell them by the piece or in elegant, private-label gift boxes.","Whole candied fruit are also popular for designing edible arrangements.","Making fruit jellies is a different process.","The recipe combines fruit pulp, making up more than 50 percent of the mixture, with powdered sugar, liquid glucose, a form of plant sugar, pectin to make the mixture gelatinous, and natural fruit flavoring.","A worker boils down the mix for a half hour to concentrate the sugar, then adds more fruit flavoring.","As the mix continues to cook, she draws samples to measure the sugar content.","She does this until the mix hits its target concentration of 78 percent.","Another worker pours the batch from the pot into a large pitcher, then into a square stainless steel mold.","It takes the jelly a day to set.","Once set, a worker removes it from the mold-- this one's a different flavor-- and coats it with crystallized sugar to preserve it.","The worker then lays the jelly square on cutter the company calls a guitar because its steel wires look like guitar strings.","The wires cut once in each direction to make cubes.","Then, another worker applies a second coating of sugar.","In addition to this small-batch production, the factory has one automated machine, which makes fruit jellies in a variety of geometric or fruit shapes created by templates made of plaster.","This process is much faster than the handmade approach.","First, the machine makes a bed of starch.","Then it presses the plaster form into the bed to create mold cavities.","The next station fills the cavities with hot liquid fruit jelly.","Then, the molds are set aside for a day.","The starch absorbs the residual moisture as the jelly sets.","The next day, workers load the molds on top of the same machine, which flips them to dump out the jellies.","The jellies tumble down a vibrating conveyor belt.","The starch shakes off with each bounce.","Then they pass under a spinning brush, which removes any remaining starch.","The conveyor moves them into a rotating drum, which showers them with sugar.","On the packaging line, a slow conveyor belt moves retail boxes in front of a row of workers.","Each worker is responsible for a single flavor.","While placing the required number of fruit jellies in the box, she also performs a quality control check, removing and replacing any that are misshapen.","This ensures that these traditional fruit jellies look as good as they taste.","Linen is believed to be the oldest of woven textiles.","But for the making of ukuleles, it's definitely a new material.","Infused with resin, linen can actually be molded into a solid ukulele that has a look and sound that's similar to wood.","Linen may seem to be an unlikely material for making ukuleles, but these instruments are proof that the fabric can be used for more than just drapes and tablecloths.","Following a computer-aided design, workers cut pattern pieces from linen fabric, infused with plant resin and with protective liners.","After peeling off the liners, a technician layers the linen pieces in a ukulele mold.","The resin has given the fabric a clay-like consistency, so it can be easily shaped to the mold's curves.","He layers 65 linen pieces in total.","He drapes a nylon fabric over the linen and tucks it into the crevices.","The fabric will ultimately contain the resin when it's heated and liquefied.","Polyester batting in the center will soak up excess resin during baking.","He cooks the linen layers for several hours.","The resin in the fabric subsequently liquifies and finally hardens, fusing the layers together, to create a solid ukulele body, next and head.","After reinforcing the neck, a computerized router trims the entire ukulele body.","Another router trims the sound board, which is the resonant part that serves as the front of the instrument.","It, too, has been molded from linen material.","A technician pipes epoxy glue along the rim of the body to attach the soundboard, which is being reinforced with carbon fiber and a plastic liner applied for the front to protect it during this stage of fabrication.","He glues a front plate to the headstock of the ukulele.","He then places the ukulele in a fixture.","He clamps the fixture together to keep the parts in position as the glue hardens for 24 hours.","He props up the headstock with a block of wood and uses a separate clamp to keep the assembly tight.","A router carves an opening in the soundboard.","This sound hole with allow the instrument to project music more efficiently.","The router also drills tuning holes in the head plate.","Another member of the team now applies a wood stain to the linen composite surface.","This gives it a more uniform finish.","The next part is the finger board, made of a wood fiber and plastic composite.","Another technician hammers nickel silver frets into the fingerboard's slots.","He then clips the ends to make them flush to the fingerboard.","He files the ends to make them smooth to the touch.","He then glues the fingerboard to the ukulele neck.","The technician installs the bridge on the soundboard.","Using a special fixture, he clamps the fingerboard and bridge to the instrument to apply pressure while the glue dries.","It takes another 24 hours for the glue to set.","The next day, a technician applies an adhesive-backed label with the serial number printed on it to the inside of the ukulele.","He inserts tuning pegs into holes drilled into the headstock.","He secures the pegs with bolts at the back of the headstock and tightens the bolts with a nut driver.","Then he runs strings from the bridge to the tuning pegs and knots them to hold them in place.","He turns the tuners to pull the strings to a specific tension, and this linen-composite ukulele is ready for a show."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Automatic Sliding Doors","Gin","Firearms Restoration"]},"text":["And...","Automatic sliding doors are the norm at most supermarkets and large retailers.","Sensors detect your approach and prompt the doors to slide open.","They open when you arrive and close when you depart, which is convenient when your hands are full.","These automatic sliding doors are custom-made to fit the customer's door opening.","The doors are programmed to open in 1 1/2 seconds, but that can be adjusted during installation.","The door structure and frame are made of aluminum that's been heated to a softened state.","It's then forced through a die to give it a specific shape.","A computer-guided saw cuts these aluminum pieces to the length required for this order.","This is one of the pieces that will form the vertical side of the door structure.","Workers insert durable weather stripping into a built-in track.","They collapse the end to lock the strip in place.","On the opposite side, they fasten long, threaded rods.","The rods are used to attach the rails.","The rails fit over the rod and are securely fastened to the doorframe with an alignment clip and nut.","Once workers have assembled the two door structures, they install a pivot at the top of each one.","This top pivot allows the door to swing outward when you push the emergency exit bar.","Then, they assemble the door hanger.","It connects the door to the top of the frame.","The hanger rolls on two wheels.","A urethane rubber one allows the door to move sideways along the track...","And a plastic one, which prevents the door from going off the track.","They attach the door's top pivot to the hanger.","An access control release is needed to open the doors in case of emergency.","Workers install it into sections of the doorframe that meet when the two doors close together.","When you push the emergency bar, this mechanism rotates to let the door swing open.","The hanger detent prevents the door from swinging open during normal operation.","It attaches the access control release to the door hanger.","Workers complete the door structures by applying legally required safety decals.","Meanwhile, at another station, workers install the door's electronics in the header.","This is one of the many infrared sensors that trigger the doors to open.","The sensors detect people approaching by reading the invisible heat energy humans give off.","After loading the nuts, they'll need to fasten the remaining components to the header's track.","They install a pulley, part of the drive system that moves the doors.","Then, they slide the header's cover into a track and continue installing components...","First, the end caps, which attach the header to the doorframe, then, the door controller, the brains of the entire system.","It has built-in operational software.","You can run the doors on the defaults or customize the settings.","Now, for the rest of the drive system.","They install an electric motor and pulley.","The motor has a switch that detects the door's position.","Next, a timing belt is looped around two pulleys.","They adjust the distance between the pulleys to tighten the belt.","The door installers will do a more precise adjustment on-site.","Every header undergoes extensive computerized testing.","This checks the function and safety features.","Then, the doorframe and structure ship out to the building site, where the glass panes go in prior to installation.","Gin is a distilled alcoholic spirit.","It's flavored primarily with juniper berries.","In fact, the word \"gin\" is believed to come from \"jenever,\" the dutch word for \"juniper\".","It's the base for many popular mixed drinks, such as the martini, the singapore sling, and, of course, gin and tonic.","This microdistillery produces gin in small batches using a slower distillation process.","They don't add any sweeteners, artificial flavoring, or coloring.","At this distillery, everything is done by hand, starting with the main ingredient, juniper berries.","Then, spices are added-- dried angelica plant roots...","Coriander seeds...","Lemon peel and cardamom.","All these ingredients go into a 90-gallon copper still.","A spirit distilled from fermented grain is already in the still.","It's completely tasteless but has an alcohol content of 95%.","To lower the alcohol level to 40%, they've diluted it with spring water.","Now they prepare to redistill with the spices.","This gives the spirit its distinct gin flavor.","To do this, they slowly heat the bottom of the still.","In about an hour, the alcohol boils and begins to evaporate.","They continue distilling for about six hours, constantly monitoring the temperature.","If the temperature reaches 212 degrees, the water will also evaporate, ruining the batch.","The alcohol steam rises up and out of the still through pipes leading to a chilled stainless steel tank.","When the hot steam hits the cold, it condenses back to a liquid, creating gin.","Throughout the distillation process, they take samples to measure the density and temperature.","These readings reflect the current alcohol level.","They adjust the distillation speed as required to produce a target alcohol level of 76%.","Only the middle of each batch, known as the heart of the distillation, is collected.","This particular distillery adds another step.","They infuse the gin with raw parsnips.","This gives it an earthy flavor and subtle floral aroma.","They peel and slice the parsnips, place them in a tank, then pump in the gin.","After a couple of days, they pump it through filters on the way to a storage tank.","Then, they dilute the gin with water to lower the alcohol level to 43%.","Before bottling, the distillery draws samples for quality control testing.","They examine the color, the aroma, and, of course, the taste.","There will be slight variations in flavor based on the freshness of the parsnips.","This microdistillery has no automated bottling line.","They fill the bottles by hand only six at a time.","They cork each bottle individually with a hand-operated press.","They apply a plastic sleeve, which they heat-shrink tightly over the neck.","The consumer pulls a small gold tab to remove the seal and uncork the bottle.","This hand-operated machine labels one bottle at a time.","The machine removes the backing to expose the adhesive, then presses the label onto the bottle.","This is a london dry gin, meaning it's made with the traditional ingredients and contains no added sweeteners or colorings.","This distillation process is how gin was made before the age of large, commercial distilleries.","Winchester rifles are known as the guns that won the american wild west.","Many old guns have quite a past, and it shows.","Dents, scratches, and missing parts make a gun look ready for the junkyard.","But old guns can be restored lock, stock, and barrel.","A vintage firearm may have been used in a historic battle or to hunt for food.","Winchester rifles were one of the first repeating rifles, guns that held multiple rounds for a much greater rate of fire.","To restore a century-old winchester, they disassemble it and evaluate every part.","They decide the gun needs a major overhaul, beginning with the shoulder stock.","The master gunsmith assesses pieces of american black walnut for a new stock and decides on one.","He then selects a wooden template of a shoulder stock.","He traces the template's contours onto the blank using a grease pencil.","He leaves a generous margin for error.","He cuts the walnut blank with a band saw, following the pencil profile.","These band saw cuts remove excess wood.","They also give him a basic shape to work with.","Next, he clamps the walnut piece in a duplicator beside the shoulder stock template.","He follows the shape of the template with a stylus.","The stylus controls a router that cuts into the wood.","As he follows the lines of the gunstock template, the router moves in sync to duplicate the shape.","It also reveals the beautiful grain of the black walnut.","The template and walnut copy can be turned simultaneously.","This allows the gunsmith to cover every angle with a stylus.","It takes numerous passes to duplicate the shape.","Next, he brushes black dye onto the receiver, which houses the rifle's operating parts.","He slides the receiver into the new stock.","The black dye transfers to the high spots of the wood, indicating where the fit is too tight.","He scrapes the wood in those locations, so the receiver fits more precisely into the stock.","This process is known as inletting.","He now refines the shape of the shoulder stock using a coarse file.","He also evens any rough patches created by the duplicator.","He switches to a finer file as he continues to shape the stock and smooth it.","Finally, he sands the gunstock to a uniform texture.","He stains both the stock and the fore-end.","The fore-end is used to steady the rifle during firing.","Once the stain has dried, he applies an oil finish.","This both protects the wood and enhances the grain.","The finish can make all the difference.","Here, we see finished stocks in low to high-grade wood.","Next, a craftsman engraves a checkered pattern into the fore-end of the stock.","He etches a series of grooves, creating an outline to work with.","Then he carves parallel grooves on crisscross angles to form the checkered pattern.","This checkering adds visual interest and gives the rifle a better grip.","Stay tuned for more as this vintage gun restoration continues.","Restoring old guns was long considered taboo.","It was believed that tampering with antique firearms would diminish their value.","That view is changing.","Gun restoration can save it from the junkyard, preserving a piece of the past.","Many old guns have a checkered pattern on the stock and fore-end.","To replicate the originals, the gunsmith has etched a checkered pattern into the wood.","He now darkens the checkered sections with black linseed oil.","The oil highlights and protects the design.","The focus then turns to the rifle's metal parts, made of low-carbon steel.","After over a century of use, the finish has worn off, compromising their strength.","Restoration begins with the receiver.","It holds the gun's working parts.","He files off imperfections.","Then, he polishes the receiver using an abrasive cloth wrapped around a block.","He uses progressively finer abrasives.","This greatly improves the surface.","Here is the rifle receiver before it was filed and sanded...","And after.","He also cleans up the trigger, lever, and other parts.","After a hardening treatment, the gunsmith applies varnish.","The varnish enhances the swirl of colors created by the hardening treatment.","This is a classic look.","Here is the rifle receiver in the different stages of restoration.","Next, a gunsmith bolts a roll die into a press.","He then loads the newly polished rifle barrel into the press and activates it.","This press rolls lettering into the metal.","This stamped information is known as the barrel address.","It includes the company name and original date of manufacture.","Another team member boils the barrel in hot, soapy water to remove any dirt or grime.","After a rinse, he slides the barrel onto a fixed rod.","He wipes off the water residue and heats the barrel with a torch.","This preheat prepares the barrel for a rust-proofing treatment called rust bluing.","As he brushes the bluing solution onto the rifle barrel, he maintains a steady heat.","The hot temperature activates the chemicals, and the metal turns a brown hue.","Next, he boils the barrel in hot water.","Its color goes from brown to bluish black.","He repeats the rust bluing treatment six to eight times.","Then, he brushes it against a wire wheel to get rid of excess residue.","This century-old gun barrel is as good as new.","Sometimes, they engrave a gun's receiver with scrollwork or other designs.","The engraver cuts the steel entirely by hand.","He views his work through a microscope to get every detail right.","He also engraves the manufacturer's name and model number into the tang of the rifle receiver.","It's delicate work that he has only one chance to get right.","Elaborate engravings on the rifle receiver aren't necessary, but are a nice addition.","The client decides whether to keep it simple or go fancy.","Restoring a vintage rifle isn't cheap.","It costs thousands of dollars or more if expensive engravings and gold inlay work is added.","But when it comes to extras, some collectors won't hesitate to pull the trigger."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carburetors","Air Conditioners","Sugar"]},"text":["Cars that don't have fuel-injection systems have carburetors.","They're an integral part of the engine that mixes air and fuel in specific proportions, vaporizes them, then sends the mixture to the intake manifold.","The manifold transfers the mixture to the engine cylinders, where combustion occurs.","Filtered air enters the carburetor and mixes with fuel.","When you press the gas, the carburetor opens conduits for the air-and-fuel mixture to flow to the engine.","Two metering blocks control the proportion of fuel to air.","Computer-guided precision tools machine them out of aluminum.","Meanwhile, workers install components called boosters in the carburetor's main body.","These boosters spray the fuel-and-air mixture as a mist into tapered conduits called venturi.","Those lead to the intake manifold, which transfers the mixture to the engine's cylinders.","Another computerized machine makes each throttle shaft from a bar of steel.","These shafts turn when you press on the gas, pivoting the butterfly discs that open those conduits to the intake manifold.","The tooling machine bores screw holes for attaching the butterflies and carves grooves to prevent fuel from leaking out.","Workers install the throttle shafts in the carburetor's baseplate.","One side of this plate will bolt to the main body and the other to the intake manifold.","The butterflies are made of aluminum, steel, or brass, depending on the carburetor model.","He flips the baseplate and flares the bottom of the screws to prevent them from vibrating out and falling into the engine.","After installing an adjustment screw for tuning the carburetor and using thread-locking fluid to ensure the components don't loosen, it's time to assemble the levers that turn the throttle shafts.","A washer and cotter pin hold it all together.","A few pulls on the levers ensure that both throttle shafts move freely and smoothly, turning the butterflies perpendicular to open the conduits and flat to close them.","Next, the accelerator pump arm-- it shoots an initial burst of fuel when you start the car.","The carburetor's cast-metal fuel bowls go into a vibrating tumbler where metal balls smooth their surface.","Then they receive a protective coating.","Now a worker installs a float to control the fuel level inside each bowl.","This is essential because too little fuel would prevent engine start-up, and too much fuel would overflow and cause a shutdown.","A gasket sandwiched between the main body and the baseplate will prevent fuel from leaking out and dirt from seeping in.","As a precaution, they coat the baseplate screws with thread-locking fluid so they won't loosen over time.","Now the baseplate that contains the throttle shafts and butterflies is connected to the main body that contains the boosters.","Next come the metering blocks-- a gasket over each one, and then into a fuel bowl.","Then one block-and-bowl unit goes on each side of the main body.","Just one final adjustment to the accelerator pump lever and arm and the carburetor is finished.","In the quality-control department, every carburetor undergoes testing with fluids similar to gasoline.","They check if the accelerator pump squirts out enough fuel at ignition and during the transition from idling mode to acceleration.","Then, once everything's running at regular speed, they measure the amount of fluid the boosters spray per hour.","Once they pass quality control, these carburetors will really be able to rev you up.","In an air conditioner, liquid refrigerant absorbs heat from inside the building, changes into a gas, then flows outdoors.","It goes through a compressor, then a heat-exchanger coil that transfers the heat to the outside air, turning the refrigerant gas to liquid again.","The refrigerant then circulates back inside the building.","This air-conditioner company makes its coils entirely of aluminum, which is five times more corrosion-resistant than coils made of copper and aluminum.","To make the coil, workers position an aluminum tube called the spine in the middle of this special winding machine.","Then they feed in an aluminum strip.","The machine slits the aluminum strip into thin teeth called fins.","Then it folds and wraps thousands upon thousands of fins around the spine, making the material they call spine fin tubing.","Each tiny fin is a heat-transfer vehicle.","Now to form the coil.","They hook the end of the spine fin tubing to an automated winder.","It spirals the spine fin tubing into a large cylindrical shape.","When they finish winding the coil, they cut the end free from the feeder, then apply hot glue to hold everything together.","The next machine presses the coil on all sides to form it into the shape of the air conditioner.","A worker now cuts into the coil and bears a row of tubing.","These cuts determine the circuits, the term for the path the refrigerant takes as it flows through the coil.","The pipes that feed these circuits are made of copper, but copper doesn't fuse directly to aluminum.","So workers must first solder on transition tubes coated with a zinc/aluminum alloy.","Then they attach the copper manifolds that distribute the refrigerant to the circuits.","Once all the refrigeration components are in place, workers subject the coil unit to an underwater pressure test to make sure there are no leaks.","In another department, workers have assembled the air conditioner's compressor.","They mount the compressor to a weather-resistant plastic base, then cover it with a sound reducer, a vinyl jacket filled with fiberglass insulation.","Now they add the coil.","It sits between posts in the base.","For an air conditioner to work well, it can't have air or moisture in its refrigeration system.","So workers hook up the unit to automated machinery that completely evacuates the lines.","Next, workers connect wiring and install corner supports, then begin assembling the unit's exterior housing.","The top perimeter piece is shaped to direct the airflow out of the unit.","A motorized fan pulls air into the unit.","A plastic grille lets air exit and keeps debris from falling inside.","Finally, they seal the refrigerant lines by brazing shut a pair of tubes.","The housing parts are made of zinc-coated steel.","The factory spray-paints them then bakes the paint for maximum durability.","Air conditioners sit outdoors so they have to withstand all kinds of weather.","The factory sends sample units to a performance-testing laboratory.","It runs them in extreme heat, extreme cold, rain, and snow to see if, under such harsh conditions, they keep their cool.","Next time you reach for the sugar bowl, try to imagine that it was once so rare and expensive it was called white gold.","Producing sugar from the sugarcane first took place in india.","About 300 b.c., alexander the great's army reported seeing a reed that gives honey without bees growing there.","This table sugar has many names-- mill white, plantation white, and crystal sugar.","But it all comes from the sugarcane.","It looks a lot like bamboo with fully grown stalks that can measure up to 20 feet high.","Here in the field, a worker pares away the husk from a stalk of sugarcane, then chews the cane's raw pulp to extract the stalk's sweet juice.","This machine harvests the cane by cutting it at the base.","Rotating scrolls feed the cane to the chopper drums inside.","As they chop the cane, a fan blows the lighter leaves and tops back onto the field.","The heavier lengths of cane drop into the base of a conveyor, which feeds them into the transport bin that follows alongside.","Trucks rapidly transport the cut cane to the sugar mill for processing.","Once cut, sugarcane begins to lose its sugar content, and damage to the cane during harvesting accelerates this decay.","At the mill, trucks empty their load onto a receiving table.","It feeds a belt conveyor that takes the cane through two separate washes.","The cane must be as clean as possible before extracting the juice.","But first, the cane's hard structure is broken down inside this crusher, where rotating hammers break the cane into small pieces.","A conveyor loads it into a milling tandem designed to extract the sweet juice from the crushed cane.","In this milling tandem, the cane passes through a series of five or more consecutive mills.","Large cylinders compress the cane fiber.","The juice pours out of the milling tandem and diverts into a channel away from the bagasse, the dry pulp that remains after extracting the juice.","A worker supervises the operation at each of the mills.","A vat collects the juice that flows from the top and bottom of the mills.","Now that the juice is extracted from the sugarcane, it's time to process it.","However, before turning the juice into sugar crystals, a sample goes through a series of tests at the sugar mill's laboratory.","First, a technician adds a thickener that binds to impurities in the juice and then filters it to obtain a clear, clean juice.","Then he pours it into a polarimeter, a machine that measures the concentration of sugar.","The juice from the mills now falls through this 33-foot-high tower as sulfur-dioxide vapors rise through it.","This process, known as sulfitation, bleaches the juice.","Then the juice flows through a device that measures its p.h. level.","While at a separate vat, workers add powdered lime to water, preparing a solution to which they will then add the juice.","An agitator mixes the cane-juice-and-lime solution for about six hours to complete a process called alkalization.","It regulates the juice's p.h. level and helps clarify it.","In reaction to the lime, the juice's color changes from brown to yellow.","Next, the juice goes into these clarifier tanks.","It takes over two hours for the juice to settle and for the impurities to fall to the bottom of the tank.","A sample taken from the tank shows how the sludge collects at the bottom, while the clarified juice collects at the top.","Next, we'll see how this clarified juice transforms into flowing crystals of white sugar.","Christopher columbus never made it to asia but discovered the caribbean and later brought sugarcane plantings there.","Sugarcane provides sugar but also syrup, molasses, rum, and ethanol.","The many types of sugar available in stores differ in crystal size or color, depending on how they are processed.","Workers filter the residue known as mud from the clarifier tanks to extract any remaining sugar.","There's no waste here.","The mud will fertilize the cane fields, and the bagasse will be burned as fuel.","The clarified juice collected from the clarifier tanks now boils in a series of evaporators.","This brings the concentration of the sugar and the juice up from 15% to 60%.","Then the juice collects in 15-ton tanks to clarify even more.","Any sediment left in the juice floats to the top.","A rotating paddle skims this residue off to the sides of the tank.","These tanks produce a type of syrup that goes on for still more processing.","Workers now pour microscopic sucrose crystals suspended in alcohol into the syrup.","This milky solution binds to the sugar present in the syrup and helps draw it out.","Next, it all boils in large vacuum pans, forming sugar crystals.","As the water in the syrup boils away, workers regularly check to see how the sugar is crystallizing.","The goal-- to produce a thick, crystallized paste known as mesquite.","It then goes into a high-speed centrifugal machine to remove the sugar crystals from the uncrystallized syrup.","Inside, the sugar spins at 1,200 revolutions per minute.","This action draws the molasses to the outer shell of the machine, while the crystals remain in the inner basket.","Sprays of water wash the crystals, then the water is drawn out so that only the crystals remain.","This centrifuge works much the same way as a washing machine set on the spin cycle.","It draws out moisture from the sugar much like you draw out the wash water from a load of laundry.","Next, a conveyor belt carries the sugar crystals out of the centrifuge.","This mill produces raw sugar, which has a higher molasses color and is unbleached, and plantation white sugar, which has less molasses and is bleached a brilliant white.","The sugar on the conveyor now goes into a large dryer.","Hot air blows into this dryer to bring the sugar's humidity level down to .","02%.","That's standard for table sugar.","The dried sugar pours out from the dryer into a bag on a scale.","It's full when it weighs in at 2,200 pounds.","A hoist then carries the bags to a platform at the far end of the packing facility.","At 3.3 tons, that's a heavy load.","It lowers each bag over a chute that leads to the factory's main floor.","Workers carefully open each bag in turn and pour out the sugar directly into the chute.","It feeds an automated packaging machine, which fills a series of 4½-pound plastic bags, seals them, and separates them.","This packing facility produces 200,000 bags a day.","That means processing 400 tons of white sugar daily.","This fine plantation-white sugar is available in a variety of convenient packaging options, and that should sweeten anyone's day."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Chemical Tank Pressure Vents","Candy Wafers","Food Trucks","Traditional Ropes"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","It's common for pressure to build up inside chemical tanker trucks during transport.","Special vents regulate that pressure, preventing any unwanted gas build-up, which could lead to an explosion.","Pressure relief vents are standard equipment on chemical tanker trucks.","They ensure tanks can hold up to the pressures inherent to this industry.","Production starts with a bin of wax pellets.","They use pellets to make models of the vent's parts in a process called lost-wax casting.","Pellets are fed into an injection machine.","The wax melts into a mold of the vent's lower housing.","Four wax models are fused to a single wax tree stand.","The tree stand is left to cure for a couple of hours.","Once cured, a worker dips the wax tree into a slurry of ceramic.","He removes the stand of wax models, then twirls it to drain any excess ceramic.","This is the first of several ceramic coatings.","Between coatings, he applies silica sand to the wet ceramic.","The sand rains down onto the ceramic, creating a stucco effect.","The first layer of stucco is finally granulated.","The next few layers will be coarse.","By building up progressively coarser layers of stucco, he creates a ceramic shell with the desired thickness and strength.","The final layer of sand is very coarse.","Air pumps through the sand as the worker dumps the models.","This process ensures uniform coverage of the heavier sand.","They bake the forms next, melting out the wax and hardening the ceramic into shells.","Next, a team pours blazing liquid steel into a ladle.","The ceramic shells have been heated to around 3,000 degrees in an oven.","Workers pour hot, liquid steel into the hollow tree.","They add a chemical sealer, then top the molten metal with a piece of ceramic-fiber insulation.","After about 3 hours in an oven, the steel castings are solid.","A worker shatters the ceramic, revealing the vent-housing parts.","A powerful circular saw slices the parts off the tree.","Workers clean off any ceramic residue.","Computer-guided tools calibrate the pressure-vent housing part to precise specifications.","After cleaning and polishing, the part is complete.","It's time for assembly.","The worker starts with the top of the pressure vent.","A large spring is inserted to aid pressure relief.","A metal plate is added to seal the top of the vent to the lower part.","The lower vent housing is then seated on the metal plate.","He moves the assembly under a hydraulic ram.","The ram presses the lower housing, the sealer plate, and the spring to a specific tension.","He then screws the lower housing to the top of the vent.","A metal ring inscribed with the vent's model and flow rate is attached at the top.","This chemical tank pressure vent is now ready for testing.","The technician screws it to the test stand.","He activates a system that forces compressed air into the vent.","This confirms whether the vent works at the desired setting.","Once approved, he attaches a cover to shield the vent from rain and snow.","The trackable serial number is etched into the top using a laser.","This vent is now ready to prevent hazardous situations.","The candy wafer is a classic american treat.","Invented in 1847, it's a thin, lightweight disk of sugary candy.","It's softer and dissolves faster than hard candy.","You can bite into it right away or let it melt in your mouth.","These candy wafers come in eight different flavors.","The original roll has a random assortment of 38 pieces.","Part of the fun is seeing how many of your favorite flavors you get.","This factory makes one flavor at a time.","The first step is to add food coloring and flavoring to pulverized sugar.","This pink color and mint flavoring produces a wintergreen taste.","Corn syrup comes next, along with a binding solution of vegetable gums and gelatin dissolved in water.","After mixing for about 8 minutes, the candy dough's consistency is checked.","If it isn't thick, elastic, or sticky enough, more binding solution is added until the dough is just right.","Workers divide the dough into chunks, then feed them into a dough shooter.","This is the first station on the wafer-forming line.","The black dough is licorice flavor.","A conveyor returns leftover dough from the end of the line to be reused for making new wafers.","They're pushed through a slot, forming the dough sheet that's 20 inches wide by about an inch thick.","This yellow dough is lemon flavored.","A steady sprinkle of cornstarch prevents the sheet from sticking to the equipment.","Rollers compress and stretch the dough forward, flattening the sheet to an inch thick.","The next station stamps on the company logo, then cuts out the wafers.","The cutter moves up and down 180 times per minute.","The wafers fall through a gap to a moving conveyor belt below.","The conveyor belt moves the wafers to a multilevel tunnel dryer.","They pass through the dryer 13 times over the course of an hour.","These green wafers are lime flavored.","The dryer temperature is about 150 degrees fahrenheit, warm enough to remove half of the moisture without melting the sugar.","These brown wafers are chocolate flavor.","Once out of the dryer, the wafers pile up in trays without sticking.","Workers stack the trays in a drying room.","It's heated and humidified with steam.","The candy wafers stay here until their moisture level drops to between 0.75% and 1%.","The factory tests a few samples using a device called a penetrometer.","It measures the force required to penetrate the candy wafer to the point of breaking it.","This ensures the candies are the correct consistency.","When the trays come out of the drying room, workers send the candies to the packaging line.","The colors are mixed together, ensuring every roll of candy has a random assortment of flavors.","The wafers flow into channels, which stand them on their sides.","Workers grab about two rolls' worth, then fill two channels of a feeder that takes them to the wrapping station.","Another worker fills in the gaps, ensuring each roll has 38 pieces.","The wrapping machine cuts printed, translucent paper wrapping and applies a bead of glue to one edge.","In a matter of seconds, the machine lifts the roll into the wrapper, seals the edges, and twists the ends closed.","As the sealed rolls move on a conveyor belt, heated blocks iron the twisted ends flat.","Each candy wafer roll weighs 2 ounces.","Workers pack 24 rolls per retail box, then pack the boxes in shipping cases.","In addition to a traditional roll with assorted flavors, the factory also produces chocolate-only rolls.","Production has modernized over the years, but the recipe itself hasn't changed much since the first candy wafer rolled off the production line in 1847.","Food trucks used to only sell sandwiches and other prepackaged food.","Not anymore.","The modern food truck is a mobile restaurant with a full kitchen inside.","Food is cooked fresh and sold to customers through a service window.","Most food trucks are standard panel trucks.","Their cargo area is a fully equipped commercial kitchen with a service window on one side.","They're usually customized by boutique companies, so there's no standard method.","However, certain modifications to the panel trucks are common, like enhancing the truck's suspension system or reinforcing the flooring and walls to support the kitchen's weight.","The lighten the load, this company builds the kitchen's structural components out of aluminum bars rather than heavy steel.","Once the pieces are cut, a worker assembles, then welds them together.","This structure will support a stainless-steel countertop.","Workers cut the countertops and cabinets from thick sheets of stainless steel.","They bend the sheets using a machine called a press break.","For this countertop, they bend a 90-degree angle on the front end to form a 1.5-inch square edge.","To construct walls and ceilings, they rivet thin sheets of stainless steel or aluminum to panels of wood.","Fire-retardant plywood is used for the kitchens.","The boards are installed over styrofoam insulation.","They leave the truck's aluminum floor as is.","Once the walls, ceiling, and flooring are complete, it's time to install the kitchen's cabinets and counters.","Workers screw each counter support to the wooden structure of the wall, then fasten the countertop with rivets.","They peel off the film that was protecting the stainless-steel surface.","Next, they install the major appliances, which include a commercial refrigerator, freezer, and cooking equipment.","Then the electrical box is installed.","They connect wiring for the outlets, lighting, water heater, water pump, and air-conditioning system.","The generator is installed underneath the nearest counter.","It supplies the truck with electricity.","Next to the electrical box is the power-transfer box.","It contains a switch that enables the truck to use an outdoor power source.","The switches for the interior and exterior lighting are underneath the electrical box.","Workers install the light fixtures, cabinetry, sink, and serving window.","They also install the gas lines that power the commercial cooking equipment.","This truck has several gas appliances-- a six-burner gas range with large oven, a deep fryer, a charcoal grill, and a flattop cooking surface.","The kitchen is equipped with a ventilation hood over the cooking area.","Its powerful fan gathers smoke and sends it out a vent on top of the truck.","It's time to outfit the exterior.","Some food trucks are painted, but most use graphics that are digitally printed on adhesive vinyl.","After positioning each panel of the design, they apply heat with a torch.","This removes trapped air, stretching the vinyl over rivets and other protrusions.","This mobile eatery is ready to roll with a kitchen that meets fire-code and food-service regulations.","It may not provide the ambiance of a sit-down restaurant, but when a food truck pulls up, you never need a reservation.","Rope has been made out of plant fibers for centuries.","Stronger synthetic and steel cords are available, but there's still a market for traditional twine.","They have their own unique strengths, and that's why we are still bound by their ties.","Woven from manila, sisal, or flax fibers, traditional ropes are a binding element in our world.","They're easier to grip and stretch less than synthetics.","At this deep and narrow building, they've been twisting fibers into rope for more than two centuries.","They're still producing rope the old-fashioned way.","The process starts with racks of natural-fiber yarns.","The yarns are funneled through separators, which configure them to twist evenly together.","The fibers then travel through tubes that squeeze them into bundles.","Workers tie the ends of the bundles onto a wheeled vehicle called the forming machine.","They roll the machine back until there's no slack in the bundles.","The machine is then sent to the opposite end of the factory, over 1,000 feet away.","As the machine travels backwards, its gears turn hooks, twisting the yarns into a tight configuration.","The formation of the twists ensure an even distribution of tension.","This is what makes rope so strong.","This long, indoor space is called a ropewalk.","There aren't many of them left in the world.","Halfway down, a worker places a trestle underneath the twisting yarns.","This keeps them off the floor and prevents tangling.","When the machine reaches the back wall, it stops, and workers cut both ends of the strands.","They tie them to posts to maintain tension and prevent unraveling.","The twisted fibers stretch from one end of the building to the other.","On one side, they tie three of the strands to a machine that will transform them into a rope.","Halfway down, they bring in a cart that holds a piece of grooved wood known as a top.","They tuck the twisted strands into the grooves of the top.","They then roll the cart down to face the rope-making machine.","A worker ties rope around the strands in the top.","This holds them in place as the rope-making machine twists the three strands into one.","The cart rolls along rails propelled by twisting action.","It leaves newly formed rope in its wake.","The rope machine with twisting hooks remains in the same place.","When the cart arrives at the opposite side of the building, the rope is formed.","A worker removes the ties around the top.","They now have a piece of rope that's over 700 feet long and almost 5 inches in diameter.","They slice the rope at both ends.","Then they wind it onto a big spool, packing it into a tight coil.","This traditional rope is almost ready to be shipped.","The customer requested looped ends for securing the rope with a shackle.","So, the rope-maker unravels the ends and pierces the rope with a hollow tool called a fid.","He makes a loop and slides the unraveled strands through the fid.","He finishes the job by weaving the strands into the rope.","They're ready to test a segment of the rope.","Two hydraulic jaws pull it until it breaks.","The rope must be able to handle 55 tons of force.","Traditional ropes have the strength to carry on, as they have done for a very long time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Armored Vehicles","Tension Fabric Buildings","Rowers","Sculpture Enlargements"]},"text":["The first armored car was developed in the late 19th century.","First used as scouting vehicles, they quickly became a source of protection in modern warfare.","Today, private armored vehicles are made for celebrities, c.e.o.s, and government officials.","This armored s.u.v. looks like an ordinary car, but it's reinforced with bulletproof steel and has transparent armor windows.","A designer integrates armored parts into the original design of the car using a 3d cad system.","A c.n.c. precision laser cutter shapes the armored parts out of a ballistic steel sheet.","A mechanic tests the steel's ballistic resistance using a high-power rifle.","He makes sure the armor meets international ballistic impact standards.","A mechanic starts by removing the inside covers and liners of the car, stripping it down to the chassis frame.","Now the mechanics can install the armor.","They weld bulletproof steel sheets to the chassis frame.","They reinforce the car floor with blast-absorbent steel sheets and install ballistic armored steel to cover the interior cabin walls.","A mechanic now uses an electric grinder to remove the standard-steel panels from the door.","Armored steel plates designed to fit to the chassis are welded in place.","At the end of the process, the vehicle is armored from top to bottom.","The armor adds around two tons of weight to the vehicle, depending on the model, so each vehicle is equipped with an adapted suspension system.","A welder assembles a fuel-tank casing using ballistic steel.","He arranges the metal to form a protective shell around the tank then welds the pieces together.","Another worker applies electrostatic, anti-rust, and flame-retardant paint, designed to prevent the tank from exploding if exposed to open flames.","A welder attaches the fuel pan to the bulletproof casing.","He uses a mig torch to tack-weld the pan onto the armored steel.","The c.n.c.-designed casing fits perfectly around the tank.","Mechanics now reassemble the interior fitting, air-conditioning system, and electrical wiring running through the roof.","Another worker reattaches the original panels to the armored door frame and puts the door-lock and window controls back in place.","They cover the blast-absorbent steel with floor mats, then they bring in the rear bulkhead door, which is upholstered to match the original interior.","The bulletproof door can be used as an emergency escape hatch.","It opens horizontally because the door is too heavy for hatch lifts to support.","Now they install the windshield.","It's made of transparent armored glass.","The thickness of the glass depends on the ballistic standard the car needs to meet.","He installs runflat devices made of composite plastic inside the wheels.","This allows the car to keep rolling on a flat tire for 40 to 50 miles at a speed of up to 50 miles per hour.","A mechanic tightens the device around the rim before a robotic arm attaches the tire to the wheel.","He labels the reinforced wheel with the specifications of the runflat device and mounts it back on the car.","A keen observer may see the overlap between the edge of the doorframe and the main chassis or notice the unusual thickness of the windows, but the design of these cars makes them look perfectly normal to most people, even though they are as protected as armored tanks.","A tension fabric building combines the benefits of a tent and a building into a single structure.","It has a strong, load-resistant roof and a sturdy steel structure but can be quickly dismantled and reconstructed at a new location.","You often see tension fabric buildings on farms or at public works yards.","They're often used to store equipment and bulk materials like gravel or road salt.","Tension fabric buildings can also house small factories.","The fabric cover is high-density polyethylene, a material known for its exceptional strength.","It can withstand strong winds and heavy snow accumulation.","Following the engineer's plan, workers cut the required sheets of fabric.","Then, the assembly process begins.","They flatten and tape down the first sheet to immobilize it then overlap the second sheet by two inches.","They tape down that sheet to keep it in position.","Then, with a hot-air welder, they melt the overlapping edges and press them together with heavy wheels.","This fuses the edges into a strong seam.","Workers use this same process to weld on tension pockets two feet in from the bottom and sides.","Each pocket will contain a steel or pvc tube holding nylon straps.","The straps are spaced 2 to 10 feet apart, depending on the building size.","They apply tension to fasten the fabric down over the steel structure.","The assembled sheets form a single cover that goes over the sides and roof of the building.","Separate covers are made for the front and back walls.","The covers of larger buildings are made differently.","Workers connect multiple covers with a keter system.","Keter is an ultra-strong pvc or nylon rope.","An automated hot-air welder folds the edges of each cover over the keter.","The fabric-sealed rope edge will slide snugly into an aluminum channel in the building's roof structure.","When the cover is finished, workers fan-fold it...","Then roll it up for transport to the installation site.","For the building's steel structure, the factory orders steel tubing and cuts pieces to the required lengths.","The steel is coated with zinc to prevent corrosion.","Works put the tubes into a press to flatten the ends into connectable surfaces.","At the same time, the press punches holes for bolts.","For buildings with a rounded top, works bend tubes for the trusses, a main component of the roof framing.","The operator programs in the required radius, and the machine automatically adjusts the dies to curve the tube accordingly.","Workers then place the parts for each truss segment in an assembly jig to prepare for welding.","They tack-weld the parts together so they come off the jig as a single unit.","At the next station, workers finish the welding.","This truss segment will connect with six others, forming a 200-foot truss running the full width of the building.","To keep up with the high demand, robots do all the welding for this factory's most-popular models.","Welding removes the galvanization, which keeps the steel corrosion-resistant, so the last step is to spray zinc-rich paint on the welds to restore that protection.","A tension fabric building typically takes a team of four just a few days to set up.","It can be customized to attach to different types of foundations and be designed with windows and garage doors.","Rowing machines were invented in the late 1800s.","These early versions were rudimentary but helped competitive rowers train in the off-season.","As technology improved, rowing machines gained a much wider appeal.","Today's machines offer a realistic rowing experience without putting an oar in the water.","When the weather is bad, a rowing machine can bring the workout indoors.","To make a rower, a computerized tool punches assembly holes in high-carbon steel.","Then, a laser carves out the parts around the holes.","These parts will be used to create the housing for the rower's flywheel and brakes.","They fold the edges using a bench press, making neat flaps.","Next up is the main tube for the rower.","All the other components will attach to this part.","A punch cuts assembly holes into the steel tube.","Then, an employee places the tube in a welding fixture.","He positions the stand of the seat frame at one end.","A robot welds the stand to the tube and welds mounts for the seat rail.","They apply a powder-coat finish to the assembly, making it corrosion-resistant.","An employee places the flywheel housing parts in a fixture and activates an automated welder, which fuses them together at the seams.","They powder-coat this assembly, too.","Plastic wheels with metal bearings allow the seat to slide on the rails.","A worker screws four wheels to the carrier plate under the rower seat.","Now an employee applies a decal with the company name to the main tube.","He inserts a pulley in a notch at the end of the tube.","Next, he sets the chrome seat rail on the mounts and secures it with screws.","He attaches the ends of the chrome rail to eyelets on the stand.","He screws plastic feet to the bottom of the stand.","At another station, a worker places a bearing in the center of the flywheel and uses a press to secure it.","Next, he pulls a black, plastic cord through a spool and knots it at the end.","He also pulls a white, rubberized cord through, then mounts the spool to a shaft in the flywheel.","He locks the spool to the shaft with a special steel ring and winds the black cord around the spool.","He puts the flywheel in the steel housing and screws it in place.","Using a hooked tool, he grabs a spring linked to the magnetic braking system.","He fastens this end of the spring to a hole in the flywheel housing.","A team now threads the white pull cord through the main tube and uses the pulley at the end to loop it back.","A piece of metal cable attached the end of the pull cord makes it easier to snake the cord through the tube.","Now a worker unwinds some of the black cord.","He threads it through a guide on the flywheel housing and attaches it to the handlebar, also known as the oar.","He pushes caps into the ends of the handlebar, then rests it on top of the flywheel housing.","Another employee builds a protective outer structure around the flywheel steel housing using molded plastic parts.","He installs a port for the electrical system that powers the workout computer.","The top part of the casing contains the computer.","The computer measures row strokes and calories burned.","After making all the necessary connections, he screws it in place.","A plastic cradle supports the assembly.","It snaps into place.","Once the seat is attached, this rowing machine is ready for a workout.","Until recently, if a sculptor wanted to create a large statue, they had to make their model by hand, but now an artist can make a small-scale replica of their statue and have a large copy made in foam.","The artist can then use this model to make their full-size sculpture, saving them a lot of time and money.","A full-size sculpture starts out as a small clay model.","The artist uses the clay model to make a mold out of wax, plaster, or resin.","The artist then sends the copy, called a maquette to a specialist, who produces a foam enlargement to be used as a model to cast the full-size sculpture.","The specialist places the maquette on a turntable.","He spins it at an event pace while scanning it.","The scanner's five cameras take continuous high-resolution photos and upload them to a computer.","The computer then converts these photos into a 3d image.","He scans the maquette several times to make sure he captures every detail.","Then, he combines the pictures together and divides the sculpture into sections.","He uses another program to calculate the scale of enlargement.","This helps him determine how many and what size blocks of foam he needs to produce each section.","He uses a dense foam with a fine grain called extruded polystyrene.","He secures the foam with tape, then uses a computer-guided router to carve the enlarged sections of the sculpture.","The larger and more detailed the part, the longer this process takes.","For example, this half of the dog's head took 45 minutes, while carving half a leg would take just eight minutes.","He uses a hot-wire machine to slice through the block and free the carved part.","The specialist removes excess foam with a sanding block.","He makes sure adjacent sections line up properly, then tapes them together.","He scrapes off the seam with a horse-grooming comb, then sands it down.","Next, he measures the sections so he can cut a steel pipe to the correct length.","The steel pipe is used as a stiffener to make the sections more rigid.","It also connects adjacent sections together.","He uses a standard pipe bender to match the stiffeners to the sections they're going into.","To embed the stiffener in the dog's leg, he first traces it on one side of the leg, then he carves out a trough to the depth of the stiffener's diameter.","He cleans out the loose foam with a narrow brush.","He checks to make sure the stiffener will fit.","Then, he applies an adhesive designed especially for foam and inserts the stiffener.","He places the other half of the leg on top, encasing the stiffener.","He leaves about six inches sticking out of the leg.","He inserts the protruding steel rod into a hole drilled in the enlargement.","Once he has assembled all the sections, he tapes them together to check their alignment.","The completed sculpture enlargement is about four times bigger than the original maquette.","It's now ready to be sent back to the sculptor, where he or she will cover it with clay and add fine details that can't be reproduced in foam.","Once this is done, the sculptor sends the clay model to a mold maker, who casts a mold and sends it to a metal foundry to create the final sculpture."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cufflinks","Blueberry Turnovers","Dashboards","Earthenware Pottery"]},"text":["Cufflinks are a fashion trend with definite staying power.","They've been holding shirt cuffs together since the 17th century.","Early versions were buttons linked by short chains, an improvement over the ribbons and pins the gentleman of the day had been using to fasten their sleeves.","Clothes may make the man, but a set of cufflinks can make the outfit.","They add a bit of flash to conservative business garb and convey a sense of occasion.","Buttons may be easier, but cufflinks are about taking the trouble to look really spiffy.","A pair of high-end cufflinks starts with sterling silver, gold, or platinum.","A craftsman cuts out blanks.","These blanks will be used for the fronts of the cufflinks.","He places one of the silver blanks on a die engraved with a recessed grid pattern.","A hydraulic press closes and squeezes the silver blank into the die, transferring the pattern onto the silver.","This company has more than 1,000 cufflink patterns, some of which date back to the mid-19th century.","With these dies, they continue to handcraft cufflinks the traditional way.","Pressing the pattern onto the silver has caused the metal to expand, so he trims the excess from the perimeter.","There's another benefit to this.","The trimming works the silver to harden it...","From a plain silver blank to a cufflink face with artistic expression.","A craftsperson now attaches a silver stem to the back of a cufflink face.","He melts silver solder between the two, and, as it cools, it creates a solid bond.","The stem shape is a slightly curved design to allow the cufflink to sit perfectly on a cuff.","The soldering torch oxidizes and darkens the silver slightly, so he dips the parts in a sulfuric-acid bath.","The acid pulls out the black, and the parts become silvery white once again.","Next, the brass bristles of a revolving wheel make tiny scratches on the silver to brighten it substantially.","Each cufflink now undergoes a very intensive enameling using a mix of finely ground colored glass and water.","Here, the enamelist applies blue glass to the cufflink's stamped grid detailing and then paints yellow around the perimeter.","It takes a steady hand and experience to do an even job.","If one color bleeds into the next, it can't be fixed, and she'll have to scrap this cufflink and start anew.","Then it's into a kiln fired to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","The heat melts the glass, and it flows into the detailing to give it definition.","At the same time, the glass fuses to the metal surface.","And then it's back to the artist for another layer of glass.","The enameler will repeat this process between three and seven times to produce a perfect luster and depth of color.","The color deepens with each layer, and the result is a rich, translucent enamel surface.","Leaving the kiln, the enamel is a bit wavy, so the worker files it down until the surface is completely flat and level.","Then the cufflinks go back into the kiln for one last firing.","He polishes the enameled surface against an abrasive wheel, using a mix of volcanic ash and water for a polishing paste.","This takes hours, but it gives the glass enamel a glossy finish.","Now the focus returns to the cufflink stem and the dome spring link fittings that are the closing mechanisms.","He heats a needle-thin wire to make it slightly pliable and then pushes it into the fitting to engage a spring that attaches to the cufflink stem.","With the fitting installed, he clips the excess wire at both ends.","To secure the installation, he hammers the ends of the wire to flare them out, turning them into a kind of rivet.","With the fitting now solidly attached to the cufflink stem, he lightly files the edges with an emery board to give the part a perfectly smooth finish.","He buffs the cufflinks' exposed silver against a cloth wheel and uses a polishing agent to make it really gleam.","After at least six hours of work, these enameled silver cufflinks are now complete.","In the business world, where men usually dress in a suit and tie, a custom set of cufflinks is one way to express individuality but still fit in with the rest of the guys.","A fruit turnover is probably your best bet if you're eating on the go.","It satisfies a sweet tooth, it's portable, and it requires no utensils.","The dough, typically flaky, is folded over, usually into a triangle or rectangle, and the edges are sealed, trapping the fruit filling neatly inside.","These all-natural blueberry turnovers may look and taste like homemade, but, believe it or not, they come frozen in a box.","You just bake them and eat them.","The manufacturer is willing to reveal the ingredients, but the critical proportions, mixing, and heating times are top-secret.","Workers begin making the filling by heating blueberries.","Next, they combine lemon juice and starch in a container...","Then add this mixture to the blueberries.","The starch is white now but will become transparent as it cooks.","They mix some more...","Then add salt.","When the starch is opaque, they add sugar...","And mix some more.","As soon as the temperature of the ingredients reaches 170 degrees fahrenheit, the filling is done.","To make the dough, workers first pour flour into the mixer, then salt.","After a few minutes of mixing, they add butter-- lots of butter.","Once it's well-blended, they add some water.","After a bit more mixing, the dough is ready.","This type of dough is called \"pâte brisée,\" the french term for a butter-based pastry that's extremely light and flaky due to its high ratio of fat to flour.","Now workers weigh out 12-pound portions...","And put them, one at a time, into a dough press with a sprinkling of flour to prevent sticking.","The press compresses the dough into a 10\"x16\" block that's one inch thick.","Then they line up the blocks on a floured conveyor belt, joining them together to form one continuous sheet of dough.","The dough sheet now enters a press.","Inside, rollers compress the sheet to about a quarter of its original thickness.","The next machine layers the thin dough sheet.","This flour press and layer process repeats over and over again until the sheet is just 1/10\" thick yet contains 24 layers.","These layers are what will make the pastry exceptionally light and flaky.","Trimming wheels on the sides make a neat edge.","Diagonally bladed wheels score the dough with small cuts.","And cutting wheels divide the sheet into five strips, each of which will become a row of turnovers.","The next station deposits a line of water droplets along one edge of each strip.","This creates a line of sticky dough.","The preparations are all done, and assembly can begin.","First, with precision spacing, nozzles squirt one ounce of blueberry filling per turnover.","Then a device called a folding plow, because it looks like a farm plow, lifts one edge of the dough and gradually folds it over.","A smooth wheel then presses that edge down onto the sticky line on the other edge.","This seals the open side of the strips.","The culinary choreography ends with a bang, or, rather, a chop, as a guillotine descends, cutting the strips into individual turnovers and simultaneously sealing the front and back ends of each pastry.","The assembled turnovers now go on a 6-minute ride through a nitrogen flash-freezing tunnel.","Temperature--  -183 degrees fahrenheit.","Under a shower of sugar crystals, they exit the tunnel frozen, hard as a rock.","Packaged four to a box, the turnovers remain frozen until you bake them in your oven and serve them up.","A car's dashboard is full of dials and gauges that keep the driver up to speed on everything.","In the time of the horse and buggy, a dashboard was a wooden panel for shielding the driver from mud and water, hence the word \"dash,\" which can mean \"bespatter,\" or \"splash\".","When motorized vehicles came along, instruments were added, making the dashboard an important source of information.","Today's dashboards tell the driver a lot at a glance.","Ignore the indicator dials, and you could run out of fuel or be slapped with a speeding ticket.","A dashboard for a luxury sports car starts with this aluminum skeleton.","It's been bonded at the joints with adhesive that's stronger than conventional welds.","A technician clips the main electrical harness to the aluminum frame.","He then fixes the heating and air-conditioning unit to the center of the dashboard skeleton and connects it to the wiring.","At the next station, the dashboard's composite substructure is coming together.","Working from the back, the technician installs a glove box and a network of ducts for the heating and cooling system.","The substructure is now ready to join the wired aluminum frame.","He rivets the assembly to the metal structure.","He slots the driver's information module, which includes the speedometer, into the housing.","He equips the dashboard with high-end speakers.","The front-passenger airbag, encased in aluminum, comes next.","The technician inserts it in the molded plastic niche.","Using a computerized tool, he installs the airbag with perfect precision.","Next up is the steering column, with its magnesium shifting paddles and wiper controls already attached.","He slides it into place just under the information module.","He then encases the electronics with plastic cowling.","This both protects the wiring and tucks it out of sight.","He tops off this job with more cowling above.","He adds a hand-stitched leather surround to the dashboard's center console.","He inserts the center stack, which contains the radio, other audio equipment, and temperature-control mechanisms.","More leather adds a luxurious look, smell, and feel to the cabin.","The next technician assembles push-button controls for shifting gears.","He installs them in a veneered fascia through the back to avoid damaging the glossy finish on the front.","He inserts vents for air conditioning and heating above the gear-shift controls, again sliding them into place through the back of the unit.","He secures the vents with screws, then adds the starter assembly.","The satellite navigation system gets the top spot, which will put it within easy eye shot once installed in the dashboard.","With the subassembly almost complete, he flips it around.","It needs one finishing touch-- a chrome and glass casing for the starter.","He slides it into place, and the unit is now ready for the dashboard.","He makes all the right connections and installs the gadget-filled fascia just over the center stack.","He now encases the rest of the dashboard in leather paneling.","This particular panel has a built-in split, so it will part if the airbag deploys.","Next, a technician downloads computer software for all the equipment in the dashboard.","He configures the electronics to the appropriate settings.","He then tests each component, confirming that every instrument and control works perfectly.","This dashboard now joins all the others, ready to take their place in the front of a luxury sports car.","A modern dashboard can define a car's interior space and add serious gadget appeal.","For example, this car uses a distinctive steel and crystal key for the engine ignition.","When the key slot glows red, there's power.","It's time to press a few buttons and see what pops up, like this speaker, for example.","With a high-tech, luxury dashboard, a driver can really travel in style.","Pottery is the catch-all term to describe decorative or functional objects formed from clay, then fired in a large oven called a kiln.","The pottery is then usually painted.","There are several different types of pottery, such as porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware.","Earthenware produced on a larger scale is typically cast in molds.","This longtime british manufacturer is famous for its bold floral and fruit designs that feature raised lines.","At the factory, the moldmaker creates a plaster of paris model of the piece on a lathe, verifying the shape and dimensions with a profile.","He uses the model to cast a two-part production mold also out of plaster, the model shaping the mold cavity.","A caster takes that mold and fills it with liquefied clay called \"slip\".","Once a layer hardens along the cavity wall, he tips the mold and pours out the excess.","It takes tremendous skill to know how long to let the clay set before tipping.","In about two hours, the clay inside the mold hardens sufficiently to be safely extracted.","The caster now puts the piece into what they call the damp room.","There, overnight, in 100% humidity, the clay fully hardens.","It can now be safely worked on a lathe.","Using specialized turning tools, a highly skilled craftsman applies just the right degree of light pressure to form the piece to the final shape-- in this case, a ginger jar.","After applying the manufacturer's stamp, he mounts the jar on a potter's wheel and, pressing with a wet sea sponge, smooths the surface.","A designer creates the decoration on paper, then sketches it onto a sample jar.","Then she traces her design onto clear cellophane and indicates with red marker lines where the cellophane bends around the jar.","An artisan now takes that cellophane and traces the design with a specially designed ink.","Using the red contour marks as a guide, another artisan positions and presses the cellophane against the jar to be painted.","This transfers the design onto the surface in ink.","The ink will disappear once the piece is fired.","Next, she creates the design's signature raised lines.","The technique is called \"tube lining\".","She traces the ink lines while squeezing slip through a tiny nozzle.","She uses her artistic judgment to tweak the design if necessary.","Not only does this work require a steady hand, she must also squeeze with even pressure to keep the line thickness consistent.","The jar goes into a controlled drying room overnight and, from there, into the skilled hands of a painter.","With a large artist's brush, she applies just a tiny drop of watery paint.","Then, with another touch of the brush, she soaks up the excess paint.","She uses her finger to gently blend color transitions.","The jar is now ready to be fired in the kiln.","The heating phase lasts eight hours, during which the temperature peaks at 2,000 degrees fahrenheit.","This cures the clay and triggers a chemical reaction in the paint, which produces rich, vibrant colors.","After a 16-hour cooldown, they take the jar out of the kiln and submerge it in glaze, which contains powdered glass.","They coat the painted clay surface thoroughly inside and out.","Once the glaze dries, it's back into the kiln for a second firing, this one overnight at just above 2,000 degrees fahrenheit.","The powdered glass and the glaze melts, forming a solid glass layer over the painted clay surface.","This seals the earthenware so that it's no longer absorbent and therefore capable of containing liquids.","This, of course, is essential for a vase or dinnerware.","Glaze also makes the surface shinier, highlighting the beauty of the artwork."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tapioca Pudding","Snow Ploughs","Paddle Boats","Fibre Cement Siding"]},"text":["Tapioca pudding is a textural fusion of creaminess and chewy tapioca pearls.","The recipe is at least a century old, and there are conflicting theories about when and where it was invented-- britain or the united states.","With its distinctive chewiness, it brings something entirely different to the table.","Today factories whip up tapioca pudding in big batches.","Times have changed, but the appetite for this pearly pudding hasn't waned.","The proof is truly in the pudding.","The tapioca pearls, of course, define this dish.","The opaque, little balls are processed from a vegetable grown in south america called cassava root.","The recipe also calls for more traditional baking ingredients like whole milk, eggs...","Sugar...","And vanilla.","They pipe the whole milk into a giant mixing kettle.","This kettle has steam-heated steel walls to gently cook the ingredients while blending them.","As the milk froths, the cook measures the tapioca pearls.","The pearls arrive at the factory already processed, formed by grinding the root vegetable into powder and tumbling it to shape it into properly sized pearls.","As the pearls cook in the milk, they will soften and swell to double the size, just like rice.","But unlike rice, they'll take on an almost jellylike, chewy consistency.","He adds sugar to sweeten the mix.","The cook then leaves the swirling and foaming mix to cook for over an hour.","Meanwhile, at another station, they add tapioca starch to a different blender full of milk.","This blender is unheated and has higher speed for mixing that's fast and furious.","He adds eggs...","And he flavors the mix with salt.","The tapioca starch acts as a thickening agent for this separate mix, as the blender whips it to a frothy state.","They transfer the starch blend to the main mixing kettle.","The cook adds a natural food coloring to make the pudding beige along with some vanilla flavoring.","The tapioca pearls are just the right consistency.","This pudding is now fully cooked and ready to move on to the filling line.","They pump it while it's still steaming hot into single-serve plastic cups.","Packaging the pudding while it's still hot is an act of food preservation, which, not surprisingly, is called hot fill.","The hot-fill technique locks in nutrients and ensures freshness, giving the product a shelf life of about 70 days.","Suctioning arms swiftly transfer foil lids to cover the cups, giving the pudding no time to cool down.","With the lids in place, the filler moves the cups forward to meet up with heat-sealer heads.","They fuse the foil lids to the plastic cup rims.","It's taken just seconds to fill these cups with hot tapioca pudding and seal them, effectively preserving them.","The pudding-filled cups now funnel into a lane to position them single file.","Then they travel between rubber belts that squeeze them.","If they can take the pressure, it confirms that the cups are tightly sealed.","A printer sprays the expiration date and other pertinent information onto the cup.","After weighing to confirm there's enough pudding inside, an x-ray machine scans the contents to confirm that there are no contaminants.","Then they're on the way to the chilling line.","Inside the tubs, the tapioca pudding is still hot and fluid.","The cups ride a system of spiraling, refrigerated conveyors bringing the pudding's temperature down to about 100-degrees fahrenheit and thickening it substantially.","The pudding-filled containers now pass through gates that separate them into two lanes and then arrange them in groups of three.","Machinery places one group of three onto another, and then all that's left is the packaging.","Mechanical arms place the paperboard sleeve on the top three cups.","Traveling through a narrow lane, guides fold the paperboard down around the bottom three cups as a sprayer applies hot glue to the flaps.","A worker pulls off one pack of six and sends it over to a panel of testers for an inspection and taste.","They examine the pudding for color and consistency.","They also taste a little from each production batch to confirm that it's sweet enough, that the tapioca beads are the desired texture, and that it meets all other quality requirements.","If they like what they taste, the entire batch is declared ready for retail.","Three hours in the making, this tapioca pudding is now ready to add a little sweetness to someone's day.","A snowplow is actually the big blade on a snow-clearing vehicle-- not the vehicle itself.","The first snowplows were wedge-shaped wooden blades drawn by horses.","As cars replaced horses, these gave way to metal plows mounted to the front of trucks and other large machines.","A snowplow is a blade made of either stainless steel, which is rust-proof, or carbon steel, which they coat in plastic-based powder paint to prevent rust.","To begin making the blade, they take a sheet of metal about 1/10 of an inch thick and insert it in a press.","The press punches out holes for the bolts, which attach the blade to the mounting structure.","Next, they feed the sheet through a rolling press.","The rollers apply 35 to 40 tons of pressure, curving the sheet to the required shape.","Workers check that the front radius and top radius of the curve meet the technical specifications.","Next, using a machine called a press break, they bend over the top of the sheet.","This bend will sit on the top bar of the mounting structure.","The mounting structure is made of several parts cut from giant plates of carbon steel.","A computer guides the cutting machine, which uses electrogenerated flames.","Their intense, focused heat slices through the steel literally by melting it.","The steel is too hot to handle when the plasma cutting is done, so workers lift off the parts with magnets.","Then they bend key, load-bearing parts in a press break to increase the structural strength.","They position the parts for one section of the structure in an assembly fixture and weld them together.","In a different assembly fixture, they position the parts for another section of the structure.","A robot welds those together.","Back at the first assembly, they use pins to attach a spring-loaded component called a trip edge.","It protects the vehicle from damage by absorbing the shock through the springs, rather than through the vehicle frame, should the plow hit an obstacle on the road.","After welding the two sections together, workers send the structure to the powder-coating area.","There, workers spray it first with powder primer then with powder paint.","Each coat is baked to activate the plastic base, which produces an ultra-durable shell over the metal.","Once the structure cools, workers install the springs for the trip edge, then they attach the base of the structure called the cutting edge.","It's made of a harder type of steel because it scrapes the ground.","The structure is now finished and ready to receive the blade.","This one's getting a stainless-steel blade.","The bent top fits over the structure's top bar, the bottom into a slot below.","Workers secure the blade with bolts then finish off the plow with a decal.","For this model, they make two plows like this-- mirror images of each other.","They go side-by-side, connected in the middle by a hinge to form a v-shaped snowplow.","Straight plows have a single blade attached to a different type of structure.","All the parts, except stainless-steel blades, are powder-painted and baked.","The v-plow articulates.","The driver can adjust the width of the \"v\" to direct the snow.","Another model combines a straight blade with hinged blades for clearing snow in large areas, such as parking lots.","When it comes to these types of machines, there's clearly no business like snow business.","A paddle boat is a small recreational vessel, perfect for a leisurely ride on a lake.","It gets its name from the rotating paddle wheel that propels it.","You simply sit in the seat and turn the paddle wheel by pedaling, which is why this type of boat is also called a pedal boat or pedalo.","Steered by rudder and gliding on two floaters, a paddle boat delivers a smooth, relaxing ride.","Boat mechanics don't get much simpler than this.","In a typical two-seater, two sets of pedals, each powering a paddle wheel at the rear.","The factory molds the top and bottom halves of each floater separately.","First, workers spray the mold with gelcoat, a type of polyester.","This is the floater's surface finish.","Next, they cover the entire mold with fiberglass cloth then add a second layer in the front and bottom where the floater will be a bit thicker.","Then they lower a cover onto the mold, latching it down securely to make the mold airtight.","They draw a vacuum to extract the air trapped inside, then inject liquid resin.","The resin saturates the fiberglass cloth and, within an hour, hardens, producing solid fiberglass, a lightweight material that's both impact-resistant and waterproof.","After extracting this half, workers mold the other half of this floater and the two halves that make up the other one, then they apply fiberglass glue to the edges...","And carefully align and mate top and bottom.","They position spacers to put pressure on the base of the groove, then clamp the perimeter for about 45 minutes until the glue sets.","When the glue is completely dry, they trim the perimeter to make the edge neat and smooth.","To make each propulsion wheel, workers rivet eight blades to a fiberglass hub.","These strong plastic blades do have some flex in them.","This ensures they won't break, should the wheel hit a rock or other obstacle.","The part of the boat where you sit and pedal is called the bicycle.","The two bike bodies, like the floaters, are made of molded fiberglass, then jazzed up with decals.","Since the bicycle mechanics are routinely exposed to water, they must be rust-resistant.","Therefore, the pedal mechanism is made of chrome-plated steel and the chains of steel that's been treated with an anti-corrosion coating.","Each bike has two chains-- the first linking the pedals to one side of a central gear, the second linking the other side of the central gear to the propulsion wheel.","So, once they're both hooked up, pedaling moves the first chain, which rotates the gear, which moves the second chain, which turns the wheel.","Final assembly is relatively simple.","First, workers connect the floaters with three painted aluminum crossbars.","The paint is baked on to make it extra durable.","Then, on one of the crossbars, they install a pair of aluminum rudders, the boat's steering mechanism.","They link the rudders with an aluminum bar so that they move in unison.","A hitch pin locks the bar securely in place, while this rubber cap prevents paint chipping when the rudders hit the crossbar.","After mounting the first bicycle, workers install a console in the center of the boat.","It contains a waterproof storage compartment and the handle, which directs the rudders.","It connects to the rudders with a long bar called a tiller.","Next they mount the second bike.","Like the first one, it's designed to snap securely onto the crossbars.","The adjustable fiberglass seats slide onto aluminum rails.","The seats have fixed cushions and rugged, waterproof fabric.","The boat's retractable canopy is made of the same fabric on an aluminum structure.","A paddle boat is virtually maintenance-free.","You just have to oil the mechanisms a couple of times per season, and from then on, it's smooth sailing.","Every home needs a tough exterior.","Fiber cement siding is a concrete option.","Made of cement, sand, and wood pulp, it's engineered to be fireproof, insectproof, and weatherproof.","Embossed with various wood-grain patterns, it has a natural look that's big on the street.","Fiber cement cladding is a century-old product that was actually reinvented in the 1980s.","Asbestos was removed due to health concerns and replaced with wood pulp.","The pulp provides the fiber that prevents cracking.","Production begins with silica sand.","A loader shovels it into an underground conveyor.","The sand particles, which are about the size of beach sand, are about to be ground down to a fine powder.","The conveyor takes the sand up to a revolving cylinder grinder called a ball mill-- so named because, inside, steel balls tumble around to smash the sand particles into much smaller bits.","They pipe in water to keep the dust down and eliminate the need for an exhaust system.","This also liquefies the sand, making it easier to pipe it through the plant during the various stages of processing.","But the sandy liquid needs to be thickened substantially, so it's into a tank to drain off much of the water.","What's left is about 80% sand.","The next ingredient is wood pulp, which gives the cement siding bending strength.","Without it, the fiber cement siding would be brittle and crack easily.","They add water and stir to soften and liquefy the pulp so it can be easily pumped around the factory for processing.","At the end of the mixing, the pulp looks like thick oatmeal.","Next, they lower cylindrical sieves into position.","But first they blend together the liquefied sand, cement, and pulp, along with some additives, creating a fiber cement slurry.","They pipe the cement slurry into a trough beneath the sieves.","As the sieves rotate through the slurry, residual water drains through the mesh walls, leaving a fiber cement film on the surface.","The film transfers to a felt belt moving overhead.","Through the felt, a vacuum mechanism sucks more moisture from the film until it forms a solid fiber cement sheet.","Rollers squeeze numerous sheets together.","They're still moist enough to stick together, and they fuse into one thick board.","Another roller then presses a woodlike pattern onto the surface of the cement board.","A spray of high-pressure water then slices the cement sheet into planks.","A robotic suctioning head gently picks up the fiber cement planks and transfers them to a pallet.","The planks are fragile at this point and need to be handled with care.","Loaded into a pallet, the cement planks are now ready for some toughening up.","They bake the fiber cement siding inside steel tubes.","They're autoclaves, high-pressure ovens.","Inside, pressurized steam enhances the chemical reaction between the ingredients to cure the cement clapboard.","They then load the pallets of cement siding onto a railcar, and it's on to the next station.","Here, machinery does something they call stack breaking.","During curing, the siding planks get stuck together, so these hydraulic cylinders lift and jostle them to separate them into individual boards.","They put a siding sample to the test.","With both sides of the board stabilized, a rod bends it at the center to determine the stress point.","If it can take a lot of pressure, the whole production line moves forward.","Spaced apart now, the fiber cement planks ride by sprayers that paint the sides and the ends a nice shade of red.","The siding then enters a curtain of paint of the exact same color.","The paint adheres to the front of the boards.","These mirrors expose any missed spots.","If there are any, they'll do touch-ups.","The transformation from a pile of sand and other ingredients to something that looks a lot like wood siding has taken just three days, and once installed, these wood-look cement planks could fool the neighbors.","After all, it's all about putting up a good facade."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hospital Laundry","Brass Instrument Restoration","Horse Replicas","Excavation Buckets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Hospitals generate a lot of dirty laundry, from patient gowns and sheets to cleaning rags.","Some facilities do the washing in house.","But to free up hospital space, some send theirs out to industrial-size laundry operations that deal in high-volume with bigger and better equipment.","The hospital sends all fabric items to the laundry, including bed linens, towels, patient gowns, bibs, and cleaning rags.","The only exception is surgical linens, which are usually disposable.","The laundry company picks up the order and delivers it to the plant.","Next, workers unload the bags of soiled laundry on large rolling carts.","They weigh each one for internal statistical purposes and scan its bar code to track the laundry for each hospital.","Workers handling the bags wear gloves at all times.","The bags are plastic, which is more suitable than cloth for containing liquid, odor, and bacteria.","Workers rip each one open and, without touching the contents, dump them on the conveyor.","They discard the bag in a suction device that sends it to a baling system.","The bales of bags go to a recycling facility that turns them into garbage bags and other polyethylene products.","From this point on, everything is automated.","The conveyor drops the soiled laundry into a sturdy cloth bag.","Once the bag reaches 120 pounds, the conveyor automatically stops loading.","The filled bag travels to an overhead conveyor system, which leads to one of several stainless steel, tunnel-shaped washing machines.","Inside, a large rotating screw pushes the load through two pre-soaks, then moves on to six chemical wash cycles designed to remove tough stains such as blood and iodine.","Next are five treatment cycles to soften the fabric and normalize the ph level.","Then, three rinses.","The load of now clean laundry exits the tunnel washer and enters a hydraulic press.","The press applies around 12 tons of weight to squeeze out the residual water.","The load comes out compressed into what they call a cake.","A conveyor transfers it to an elevator, which transports it to the drying area.","The conveyor puts two cakes at a time into the dryer.","An infrared sensor inside signals the dryer to stop when the load is dry, about 22 minutes later.","A revolving paddle called a cake breaker separates the stuck-together items to prepare them for sorting.","From this point on, automation ends and manual sorting begins.","Workers pull different categories of items and toss them into designated linen hoppers that are hooked up to scales.","When a bag hits the target weight, it automatically drops down onto a conveyor, which leads to the final processing area.","Here, items are either folded or bulk packaged in plastic bags.","Workers load the bulk items into a vacuum system, which feeds into automated bagging machines.","The machines have either a built-in scale, which weighs the bag as it fills, or a photo cell, which counts the items dropping into the bag.","Once the bag reaches the target weight or count, the machine heat-seals and releases it.","Certain items have to be folded.","Luckily, a machine automatically folds bed pads, bath towels, and patient gowns by flipping over the ends with short blasts of air.","The neatly folded items collect underneath the machine, then travel by conveyor to the shipping preparation area.","Here, workers stack them onto rolling carts.","A different folding machine handles the larger items, such as bed sheets and flannel blankets.","A worker clamps an item to the feeder.","Then, the machine, using rollers and straps, processes the item until it's neatly folded.","The clean laundry goes back onto carts...","Into the truck, and back to the hospital.","Life on the concert circuit can be punishing, not just for the musicians, but also their instruments.","Dents, scuffs, and general wear can ruin the tone of a brass instrument.","But with a professional restoration, a badly damaged horn can once again shine in the spotlight.","They may look ready for the scrap heap, but incredibly, these not-so-gently-used brass instruments can be salvaged.","Technicians will use a combination of techniques to make them look and sound like new.","The restoration work starts with this solid steel ball.","The technician inserts it in the bore of the saxophone, just under some deep dents.","He places a plastic sheet on the dents from the outside.","It protects the finish from scratches as he now moves a powerful magnet over the dents.","The magnet pulls the ball against the inside of the instrument with such force that it pushes out the dents.","After 30 seconds of this magnetic manipulation, the dents are completely gone.","Using a series of engraving tools, another member of the team restores the artwork on the instrument.","He follows the traces that remain, and recreates designs that have completely worn away.","He only has one chance to get this right.","This takes skill and a steady hand.","The next technician reattaches a key cup to the hinge rod, and melts solder into the joint to make the connection permanent.","The brass looks very tarnished, so he buffs the key cup and rod to a mirror finish.","He now attaches the restored key and rod to the saxophone and screws it into position.","He presses the end of the key lever to confirm that it moves as it should.","He now inserts a fluorescent light into the body of the saxophone.","It will help him find air leaks.","But first, he activates an adhesive with a torch and applies it to the back of a leather pad.","He pries an old and deteriorated pad out of one of the key cups.","He transfers the new glue-backed pad to the key cup.","He closes the key against the tone hole, and the escaping light indicates a leak.","So, he heats the pad to reactivate the adhesive, and shifts it a bit in the key cup.","Now, the key completely closes the tone hole when pressed.","The next thing to be repaired is a key guard foot that's broken away from the horn.","This is delicate work.","To resolder it, the technician uses a hydrogen gas torch because its flame is more precise.","At another station, a new part takes shape.","They carve a brass cylinder to transform it into a new spring barrel for a trumpet valve.","He inserts the spring barrel into the top of the piston, and the fit is good.","He then places all the trumpet valve parts in a water-and-solvent solution.","He switches on an ultrasonic device, which sends high frequency sound waves through the solution.","Microscopic bubbles bombard the parts and remove oil and grease.","The trumpet now chills in a cryogenic freezer at minus 301 degrees fahrenheit to relieve it of residual stresses.","Back to room temperature, the technician inserts a tiny camera into the bore of the horn.","It gives him an inside look at the alignment of the piston ports as he presses the valves.","As with any instrument, the proof is in the playing.","this sax is sure to meet the approval of crowds of music lovers.","Displaying a life-size replica of a horse makes a galloping statement at a farm, a racetrack, or a western-themed venue.","Some horse owners even commission a replica in the likeness of their favorite animal.","A life-size fiberglass horse can be an attraction, but before this replica, there was an artist's sculpture in either wood, plaster, or styrofoam.","The sculpture served as the model to produce this three-part mold to cast one or more replicas.","They apply a release agent, so the casting won't stick to the mold.","Then they partially brush on and partially spray a .","4mm-thick layer of gel coat.","Gel coat is an easy-to-repair resin-based material that produces a smooth, shiny finish on fiberglass.","Three hours later, the gel coat is dry.","Next, they apply two layers of resin-saturated fiberglass fabric in the hard-to-access area of the mold.","Then they roll the fiberglass flat against the mold to prevent air bubbles, which would cause defects.","With a tool called a chopper gun, they shoot shredded fiberglass mixed with resin over all the other gel-coated areas of the mold.","They roll out the air bubbles and pack down the fiberglass to a consistent thickness of 3 millimeters.","This ensures the hollow horse will be strong enough to withstand up to 400 pounds of people sitting on it.","The resin-filled fiberglass cures within approximately two hours.","Then they drive in wooden wedges to pry the casting from the mold just enough to grab hold of the edge and pull.","Thanks to the release agent they applied earlier, extraction is effortless and causes no damage to the casting or mold.","Nonetheless, they carefully inspect the surface to be sure it's free of defects.","Next, they pass a grinder along the perimeter to trim off all the excess fiberglass and smooth the edge.","Each part of the mold produces half a horse, so the next step is to join the halves into a whole.","The attachment must be hidden on the inside so it doesn't show.","They first temporarily attach the halves on the outside with galvanized steel brackets and straps around the legs.","Then they cut a large opening towards the front of the horse to be able to access the inside.","They first fill the small space between the two halves with putty that auto body repair shops use on cars.","Then they reinforce the joint with a double layer of resin-saturated fiberglass fabric.","They cut a second opening toward the back of the horse, to repeat the process on a different area.","Then they close up the openings.","They temporarily hold the cutouts in position with galvanized steel brackets and fill all around with putty.","The putty and inside strips dry in an hour, at which point all the brackets can come off.","Now they work on the outside, sealing the space between the parts with more putty.","Once it dries, they flatten the seam with an electric sander.","Then they remove marks left by the sander by manually using a very fine sandpaper.","The seams are now flush with the rest of the surface.","Once painted, they won't show at all.","After cleaning the entire horse with acetone, they spray a coat of primer over the puttied seams.","Then, with fine sandpaper, they prep the surface to receive automotive paint.","The horse is ready to be painted.","With delicate strokes of an airbrush, an artist gradually paints the animal to life.","Before finishing her artwork, she'll apply two coats of transparent varnish to protect the paint from precipitation and the fading effect of the sun's rays.","Excavation buckets are ground-breaking tools.","Attached to the bottom arm of backhoes or other heavy equipment, they scoop up tons of soil and rock to make holes in the ground.","For jobs like building foundations and laying water and sewer pipes, excavation buckets dig right in.","For soil excavation, there's quite a bucket list.","Manufacturers make excavation buckets in a range of sizes and profiles.","They could have teeth or a smooth blade, depending on the kind of soil they'll be digging.","They custom design each excavation bucket on a computer and map out the dimensions.","The computer then guides a plasma torch as it cuts parts from high-strength steel.","Here, the torch produces attachment plates for holding the bucket to the excavator arms.","It even cuts the holes for the pins that will hinge it to a boom arm.","Each part weighs over 200 pounds.","A powerful magnet lifts it over to a metal palette to await refining.","Next, the computer-guided torch carves through a thinner sheet of steel to produce a template.","Parts of the excavation bucket will be shaped in this template so they'll match up when assembled.","With an oxygen-fueled torch, they bevel the blade to give it the edge it needs to bite into the ground.","This blade profile is for sandy soil.","A jagged edge is preferred for rocky or clay terrain.","Next, it's over to a powerful press.","It bends another part into an arch.","This arched part with straddle the top of the excavation bucket.","Meanwhile, at another station, a press bears downs on the beveled blade to shape it to the template.","The template is a cardboard copy of the steel one cut earlier.","The operator confirms that the first bend is angled correctly.","He then sprinkles lubricant and aims the press a few centimeters away from the first bend.","It takes six to eight hits to achieve the desired 90-degree angle.","Once satisfied, he'll bend the other end to the same degree.","Using rollers, the factory transforms a flat piece of steel into the bottom and back wall of the bucket.","The operator checks the curvature of the part with each pass until it's spot on.","They're now ready to pull all the pieces of the excavation bucket together.","Using chains and a hydraulic system, they pull the sides up to meet the back wall.","The steel template is now put to use.","It's positioned on the front lower lip, and serves as a guide as the chains bend the sides.","With the sides now flush to the back, a welder first tacks them together and then does permanent welds.","He guides the blade into position at the front of the bucket and welds it to it.","When this weld is complete, he'll remove the steel template.","The attachment plates have by now been linked by thick pins.","They lower it onto the top of the bucket, and it fits snugly to the arch and the to the back wall.","He welds the attachment assembly to the bucket.","They paint the bucket inside and out.","Yellow or black are popular choices for excavation buckets.","Clients usually match the color of the bucket to the machine that moves it.","It takes about 50 hours to manufacture an excavation bucket, and then it's ready to hit the ground."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Curling Stones","Refrigerators","Aluminum Baseball Bats","Opalescent Glass"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Curling stones...","Refrigerators...","Aluminum baseball bats...","And opalescent glass.","The sport of curling is a combination of shuffleboard, billiards, and bowling on ice.","Players aim a large stone at a target while trying to knock the opponents' stones away from the target.","As the stone glides along the ice, team members sweep brooms in its path to control its speed and trajectory.","Curling stones are made of granite, but only two quarries in the world-- one in wales and one in scotland-- produce the unique type of granite that's required, a fine grain and free of quartz.","This unique stone has three times the impact resistance of regular granite.","The quarry tries to avoid traditional blast mining because that fractures the stone.","Instead, they locate flaws in the rock face and pry chunks off of it with an excavator.","This chunk weighs about 20 tons and is the size of a small car.","The next step is to divide it into more manageable slabs using a thick cable cutter with abrasive rings made of diamond particles.","A large pulley system moves the cable against the rock at high speed, and the diamonds slowly wear through the granite.","Avoiding flaws and weak points, workers trace circles the size of curling stones on the best-quality areas.","The cut slab then moves inside the quarry building, where this core drill's diamond cutters bore right through the slab, excising a blank that will become a curling stone.","The blanks weigh almost 60 pounds apiece.","Workers lift them out with an industrial-strength suction cup then transfer them to a container bound for a curling-stone factory in canada.","There, a drill bores a channel a little over a half-inch wide right through the center.","This is for attaching the curling stone's handle.","But that's still a long way off.","First, this machine has to carve the blank into the shape of a curling stone.","The machine's curved arm is lined with diamond cutters.","It shapes half the stone, then workers flip the blank over so it can finish the other half.","The next machine carves out a pocket in the bottom of the stone.","This will hold a high-resistance insert of extra-fine-grain scottish granite that will extend the curling stone's life.","After lining the pocket with epoxy, the insert is positioned.","A hydraulic press expels any trapped air and holds the insert in place until it firmly bonds.","Next, a grinding machine, following a template, makes a center cup in both the top and bottom of the stone.","Curlers can attach the handle to either cup, depending on which granite surface they want gliding on the ice.","Workers bolt the stone to a spinning polisher and buff the surface with five progressively finer grades of diamond abrasive pads.","Then they blast the side with tiny glass beads.","This pits the surface to better distribute impact force, preventing the side from chipping as it strikes other stones.","Running the top and bottom over coarse sandpaper gives the stone more traction on ice.","The finished curling stone weighs in at 40 pounds.","The factory molds the stone's handle from durable impact-resistant plastic.","This computer-guided engraving machine can embellish it with any name or logo.","Paint is applied to the recessed areas to make the lettering or design stand out.","Finally, the finished handle is bolted through that center hole drilled earlier.","From the quarry to the factory to the ice, this beautifully crafted curling stone is ready for competition.","When we return...","The cold, hard truth about refrigerators.","Before refrigeration, people stored foods in underground cellars or shacks filled with snow and ice.","Then in the early 1900s, a french inventor developed the first machine to cool and preserve foods at home.","The modern refrigerator comes in countless styles, sizes, and colors.","Manufacturing begins with coiled sheets of steel.","Just one of these coils produces hundreds of fridge exteriors.","The interiors are made from rust-resistant aluminum lined with an acrylic shell.","A shearing machine slices the steel into pieces for the exterior top, back, and sides.","Then each one goes into a computerized punch press that makes the holes for running various wires.","A brake press forces the steel against a forming die to create edges.","Next, workers place the pieces of the refrigerator's outer shell in an assembly jig, which holds them firmly together.","Now for the fridge's interior.","A vacuum-forming machine heats a sheet of plastic and shapes it against an aluminum mold.","Then a router carves off all the excess plastic.","The freezer half of the refrigerator slides perfectly into the metal outer shell, and the fridge side follows.","Copper tubes, filled with heated gas, are laid along the outer edge where the door contacts the fridge.","The gas prevents moisture buildup.","A precut face frame goes onto the assembly.","Then foam is injected into the cavity between the interior and exterior shells.","This foam not only insulates the refrigerator but gives it structural rigidity, as well.","This evaporator plays a key role in keeping things cool.","It draws the heat out of the freezer and its contents.","Next, the electrical control panel goes into place.","It connects to a maze of wires and, eventually, a microprocessor.","With the freezer side almost complete, the fridge side gets its evaporator.","Next comes the refrigerator doors.","Two compressors pump fluid and gas through the various tubes inside.","This component, called the radiator, dissipates the heat collected from the food.","Workers attach the expansion valves.","These allow the pressurized liquid coolant to expand into a cold gas that circulates through the refrigerator's tubes.","Copper tubes are soldered to the compressor.","Later, they'll be filled with refrigerant.","Temporary quick-connect valves allow the system to be charged with inert gas to check for any leaks.","The fill hoses are connected, and the gas blows in.","Inspectors use this wand to check the tubes for escaping gas.","If there's a leak, the gauge spikes out of the specified range.","Refrigeration occurs as cold gas in the evaporator coils pulls heat energy from inside the fridge.","The compressor then changes the gas back to a liquid while the radiator dissipates the collected heat.","The expansion valve turns the liquid back into a cold gas, and the cycle repeats.","With a charging gun, workers inject refrigerant gas into each tube then weld the ends of the tube shut.","Now for the finishing touches, starting with the refrigerator handles.","Drawers for fruits and vegetables slide right in-- so do the rest of the premade shelves and compartments.","Finally, an adhesive logo goes onto the door.","Built-in, stand-alone, double-door, or traditional, the refrigerator keeps our food fresh and cool, just the way we like it.","Up next...","A factory that tries to hit a home run every time.","On today's baseball diamonds, the ping of the aluminum bat is rivaling the crack of its wooden predecessor.","The pros still use traditional wood, but outside the major leagues, the metal bat is a definite hit.","Lightweight and durable, the metal bat has some definite advantages over wood.","Production begins with aircraft-grade aluminum rods.","These rods are sliced into short chunks called blanks.","The blanks are loaded into a lathe with a computerized drill.","The drill tunnels through the center of the blank as it spins.","Then the blank undergoes what's called impact extrusion.","With 300 tons of force, a shaping tool bores into the hole in the blank, stretching it to more than twice its length and giving it the basic taper of a baseball bat.","The stretched bat blanks now tumble into a big, perforated drum.","The drum is lowered into a tank of soapy water.","As it turns, water flows through its holes, washing away any oily residue.","And now, for a real heavy hitter.","This forming tool delivers 400-ton punch through the center of the bat blank.","The aluminum stretches around the tool to the full length and shape of a baseball bat.","A technician measures the bat to confirm that it's completely straight.","If it's not, she applies a little hydraulic pressure to bend it into shape.","This is a critical step because even a slightly crooked bat could throw the player off his or her game.","Next, the bat goes into another computerized lathe.","As it spins, a blade lops off the bat's end, cutting it to size.","Another tool threads the inside for the endcap.","The bat is locked into a holding device, and a circular saw trims the handle end.","Now that the bat has been correctly sized, it's time for a vigorous sanding.","This gets rid of any small defects and roughs up the surface so paint will stick to it.","They use heavy-duty paint because baseball bats have to stand up to a lot of abuse.","The sanded bats go into a silk-screen machine that applies the trademark.","Then it's over to the decal department.","The decals are dipped into a solution that activates the glue, then they're stuck into place.","Now it's back under the paint gun for a clear coat of polyurethane.","The plastic endcap is press-fit into the hollow barrel.","An aluminum knob slides onto the handle end, and the assembly goes into an automated welding machine that fuses them together.","Now for the grip.","Synthetic leather is wrapped around the handle to provide a nonslip surface.","And a little vinyl tape finishes the edge.","From a solid little chunk of aluminum to a hollow metal baseball bat, this powerhouse is ready to hit one out of the park.","Coming up...","The hot secrets behind opalescent glass.","Glassmaking dates back more than 40 centuries.","But in the late 1800s, glassmakers created something new-- glass that was both milky and translucent.","They called it opalescent glass.","Like its namesake, the opal gemstone, its beauty lies in the way it magically catches the light.","Opalescent glass is a semitransparent glass in either a solid color or a swirling mix of hues.","Glass makers create it by melting minerals, including silica sand...","Soda ash...","Dolomite...","Limestone...","And fluorspar.","Adding recycled glass helps speed up the melting process and stretches costly raw materials further.","The mix is colored with pigments, in this case, cobalt oxide, which gives a distinctive blue tint.","A hoist then lifts the raw ingredients called batch to a double-chambered mixer.","Ingredients flow from end to end between them, thoroughly blending the batch.","The blended batch now goes via wagon to the beehive-- a furnace that contains 12 ceramic pots.","The furnace worker shovels the batch into a pot to melt at a searing 2,600 degrees fahrenheit.","He pushes any spills back into the pot.","Then to control the temperature inside, closes up the pot's mouth.","24 hours later, workers scoop out the glowing molten glass.","With only seconds to spare, they hurry to the mixing table, keeping the glass in motion to prevent it from cooling unevenly on the way.","It's critical they cool off the ladles between each use or the next scoop of glass will adhere to the ladle's surface.","The ladles they use vary in size, holding between 4 and 40 pounds of molten glass.","Workers pour as many as five different ladles at once to make a single color.","The mixing table is where the magic happens.","The table worker picks up one gather of burning molten glass, then another, then skillfully blends them together using a steel fork.","He then flips the molten glass into a rolling machine, evening it out as it squeezes through the rollers.","Out comes a sheet about 6 feet long and 1/8th of an inch thick.","Every 90 seconds, workers fill their ladles with 2,000 degree fahrenheit molten glass.","Mixing it on the table helps cool it and blend the colors.","The table worker separates the glass sheet from the table surface, forcing out any trapped air bubbles and further cooling the glass.","The sheet now goes into a lehr-- an oven that hardens the glass, then cools it evenly to prevent cracking.","From there, it's on to the trimming table.","Workers wear protective clothing and thick gloves to handle the razor-sharp edges still hot to the touch.","Cutting the glass sheets is a delicate, two-person job.","They must work in sync to keep pace with the sheets that keep on coming.","A single pot produces about 25 sheets over 24 hours.","That's 300 sheets a day from just one 12-pot furnace.","Using a carbide-tipped cutter, the workers score the glass, then snap apart the pieces--  standard 32-inch square sheets.","They set aside the excess glass to remelt in a new batch.","Finally, the sheets are loaded into crates for shipment all over the world.","Just look how artists use opalescent glass to create a feast of pattern, color, and light.","Like a painting, only far more fragile."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Indy Steering Wheels","Mixed Salad","Wind Turbines"]},"text":["The indy steering wheel isn't just for steering.","It's the control center for the racecar, replacing the dashboard.","This incredible steering wheel is also detachable to allow the driver to enter and exit the cockpit quickly and easily.","It's, quite simply, designed for speed.","The indy steering wheel is a complex piece of equipment that puts everything at the driver's fingertips.","It starts with a full-scale design, customized to the driver's racing style and preferences.","The technician aligns the traditional racing steering wheel with the drawing, and marks it for a complete remodel.","He cuts out the leather and foam wrap within the marked lines and saws off a chunk of the aluminum frame.","He then activates a computerized cutter that carves away a big section of the steering wheel hub.","It also cuts holes for switches.","With these changes, the steering wheel is ready to accommodate a panel with over two dozen controls and gauges.","Next, more computerized tooling transforms a sheet of carbon fiber into the steering wheel's switch plate.","It cuts out holes for screws and switches, and it creates slots for the shift and clutch panels.","The tool then zigzags around the perimeter to trim the switch plate to fit the modified steering wheel.","With the trimmings removed, the switch plate is ready for the working parts.","The next technician plugs the color-coded switches into the holes and locks them in place with nuts and anti-vibration washers.","The yellow one is a pit-lane speed limiter.","As the name suggests, it will limit the car's speed in the pit lane.","Once all the switches have been installed, he runs wires to them and solders the connections.","This completes the circuitry.","He coats each connection with silicone sealant.","This weather-proofs them and further dampens vibrations.","And for additional protection, he applies glue to the plastic sheathing around the wires.","He adds a rubber boot to each connection.","The boot fits loosely around it at first, but, using a heat gun, he shrinks the specially formulated rubber to the connection.","This makes the boot fit like it was made for it.","The indy-steering-wheel switch plate is now ready for the shift paddles.","So next, the technician screws a spacer plate into the slot.","This metal spacer slightly elevates the paddle mechanism to give it the right amount of clearance.","He screws the paddle assembly to the spacer.","He installs the second shift paddle and two clutch paddles.","Then he inserts the rotary switch for fuel mapping and secures it with a washer and nut.","This fuel-mapping system will adjust the fuel-air mix to boost or decrease power output.","He adds little decals with icons to the color-coded switches.","A radio-transmission icon marks the communication switch.","He returns to the steering wheel now.","He attaches a unit that displays rpm and other information that a normal dash would have.","He screws it to the exposed aluminum frame.","He's now ready to mount the completed switch plate to the steering wheel.","Three bolts to the hub secure the assembly.","He installs a spring-loaded mechanism at the back of the steering wheel that will allow the steering wheel to be installed or removed in half a second.","He tests the two shift paddles and the two clutch paddles and confirms they operate smoothly.","Finally, he attached dense padding to the steering-wheel hub for a soft landing for the driver's head in the even of a crash.","This indy steering wheel costs as much as a small compact car.","But for the driver and crew, it's worth the investment if it helps win the prize.","People have been dining on edible greens for thousands of years.","Traditionally collected in the wild, today, there's no need to forage for them because field greens are cultivated commercially.","They're mixed, washed, and packaged for the consumer's convenience.","It's an easy dish to toss together.","Packaged mixed greens combine mild-tasting leaves with stronger-tasting ones and crunchy greens with more tender ones.","So when it comes to texture and flavor, it's truly a mixed bag.","They cultivate up to 20 different kinds of greens on this california farm, and they aren't all green.","Some are red.","They plant the various lettuces according to the recipes for different packaged salads so they'll have just the right combination.","With regular irrigation and fertilization, the leaves flourish.","It makes for a stunning red-and-green display in the field.","After 30 to 45 days, these baby greens are ready for harvest.","A machine with a long blade moves across the field and literally mows the field greens.","The greens flow onto one conveyor and transfer to another.","The belt is a metal-mesh one to sift out contaminants like small rocks and twigs.","At the end of the sifting conveyor, the salad greens fly off and onto another belt.","This belt serves them up to bins on a flatbed trailer, creating an enormous salad in each one.","Workers cover the bins with plastic and haul them to a nearby processing plant.","On arrival, the salad greens transfer to a vacuum-cooling chamber to chill.","The vacuum causes moisture on the greens to evaporate.","As the water evaporates, it absorbs heat to lower the temperature and cool the greens.","The salad greens then head into an optical sorter.","Here, computerized cameras and lasers scan the greens for flaws, like discoloration and foreign material.","The operator has programmed the system to detect flaws or contaminants.","When the computer finds one, it sends a signal to an air jet that expels it.","Some good leaves get lost along the way-- about 3%.","It's considered an acceptable loss.","The rejects will be composted.","Out of the optical sorter, an employee tosses in the bitter greens, like radicchio and frisée.","This moving salad now heads into a three-part wash system.","The first wash tank has rolling perforated cylinders that keep the greens submerged for washing.","They also pick up unwanted tiny leaves and remove them from the mix.","The salad greens transfer to a vibrating conveyor that shakes out the water.","Then they travel through a second wash tank and finally receive a third wash from overhead sprayers.","The washed salad greens fall into plastic containers with perforations.","They're essentially very large colanders.","They transfer each colander to a centrifuge and power up.","It spins the colander, and this causes the moisture on the greens to drain through there perforations.","This leaves them dry and crisp.","It is a large-scale version of the salad spinner many people have in their kitchens.","These field greens are now ready for the packaging line.","It's an entirely mechanized system with an endless appetite.","The greens funnel through a hopper and land in buckets.","This is a weighing operation.","There's a scale under each bucket.","When the target weight is reached, the bucket releases the greens.","They slide down chutes into the bagging machine.","These salad greens are still living, breathing plants.","The packaging will slow their respiration and put the aging process on hold.","Machinery hermetically seals them in plastic to give them a shelf life of 14 days to 19 days.","And with that availability, there's no excuse not to eat your greens.","Wind turbines use an unlimited natural resource, the wind, to produce electricity without polluting the environment.","A turbine consists of a rotor and a massive propeller that spins in the wind on top of a high tower.","It drives a built-in generator that produces electricity.","The higher up you go, the windier it is.","So the taller the turbine, the more wind power it harnesses.","They may not look it from a distance, but wind turbines can be as high as a 20-story building with rotor blades half a football field long.","To begin constructing those massive blades, workers prepare fiberglass sheets, each one numbered according to a detailed engineering plan.","Then, following the plan, workers lay down specific sheets in designated locations in the bottom half of a blade-shaped mold.","For a blade to be free of defects, each sheet must lie perfectly flat.","So, using a smoothing tool, workers remove air bubbles and creases.","The surface of the mold cavity is treated with a non-stick coating.","This will prevent the blade from adhering to the mold when they extract it.","After placing all the sheets in the bottom half of the mold, workers construct the upper part of the blade by laying fiberglass sheets on the top half of the blade mold.","Again, every single sheet is numbered and positioned according to the blade-design plan.","An area of the mold can have from for to 120 layered sheets of varying thickness, weights, and weaves, depending on how structurally strong that part of the blade has to be.","To make specific areas more rigid, between layers of fiberglass they install balsa, an extremely lightweight wood.","Cut channels enable the balsa panels to flex to the shape of the blade.","The channels are also the pathways through which the bonding agent epoxy will flow to saturate the wood and surrounding fiberglass.","Precision in the setup of fiberglass and wood is critical.","The process takes a team of six workers 16 hours.","They close up the mold by lowering the top half onto the bottom half.","Then they inject the epoxy.","Simultaneously, workers heat the mold to 158 degrees fahrenheit.","This aids the chemical reaction between the epoxy's two components-- a resin and a hardener.","After 9½ hours, the epoxy is fully cured.","With overhead cranes, they lift away the top half of the mold, revealing a turbine blade measuring up to 60 yards long, weighing in at about 10 tons.","Using lifting devices positioned at specific locations, they slowly extract the blade from the bottom half of the mold and lay it onto a stand to cool for 4½ hours.","Workers then transfer the blade to a mill-and-drill machine, which shapes the open end to align with the rotor hub.","The machine also drills holes for the 54 pin bolts that will fasten the blade to the hub.","Next, workers grind away the seam of hardened epoxy that formed where the two halves of the mold met and sand the surface perfectly smooth.","Then they spray the blade with a coat of primer, which they let cure for six hours.","Then a coat of epoxy-based paint, letting that cure for about eight hours.","Then workers insert those 54 pin bolts made of a particularly strong grade of steel and tighten them with a torque wrench.","After this, they weigh each blade on a floor scale and group three blades of similar weight per turbine to ensure the rotation will be balanced.","The install a cover over the opened end of the blade to prevent debris from falling inside during transport to the wind farm.","Upon arrival, crews bolt three blades to a rotor hub, then hoist the rotor to the top of the turbine tower and connect it to the nacelle.","The nacelle is the part of a wind turbine which transforms wind power into electricity.","With the rotor mounted to it, the nacelle houses a giant drivetrain.","It multiplies the rotational speed of the spinning blades then transfers it to a massive generator, which produces electricity.","A wind turbine's rotor is made of three blades attached to a hub.","The hub alone weighs more than 30 tons.","It's cast from ductile iron, a strong grade of cast iron.","At the factory, they use a crane to hoist and affix the hub casting to an assembly fixture.","This fixture holds the hub securely in a suspended position while workers mount components to it, starting with three blade bearings.","A blade bearing is a giant ball bearing to which the blade is attached.","When it rotates, the blade pitches, meaning it changes angle.","Blades need to be pitched to better catch the wind and to spin at optimal speed.","Each bearing attaches to the hub with 54 huge bolts.","The next hub components--  three accumulators-- one for each blade bearing.","An accumulator stores hydraulic oil under pressure.","This oil moves hydraulic cylinders, which rotate the blade bearing to pitch the blade.","Workers assemble each accumulator, mount its cover, then install it on a blade bearing.","Once all three accumulators and other components are installed, the hub is finished.","They remove it from the assembly fixture and put a fiberglass cover over each bearing to protect the workings inside.","Meanwhile, in the same factory, workers assemble the wind turbine's nacelle.","First, they lay out the bottom section of its steel housing, then they assemble the yaw system, the key component that enables the nacelle and rotor to rotate 360 degrees.","They mount a large stationary gear in the center of the system's mainframe.","Then, on the reverse side of the mainframe, they install eight yaw gears.","These smaller gears engage the large gear on the other side.","Fully assembled, the mainframe weighs more than 22 tons.","Workers hoist it with a crane, then install it into the bottom section of the nacelle's steel housing.","They connect the gearbox to the rest of the nacelle's drivetrain.","It works like a car transmission in reverse.","While the car transmission takes combustion-produced energy and turns it into rotation--  the car wheel's turning-- the nacelle drivetrain takes rotation-- the blades spinning in the wind-- and turns it into electrical energy.","Those spinning blades rotate the drivetrain's massive steel shaft.","The opposite end of that shaft connects to the gearbox.","The gear's multiply the speed of rotation, rotating the second shaft, which they now connect to a generator, installed inside the nacelle housing.","The second shaft powers the generator, which produces electricity.","After connecting the drivetrain to the generator, workers install the top section of the housing, as well as access doors for maintenance work.","Technicians conduct various tests to make sure everything runs properly.","Here, they are verifying the fan that cools the generator.","The finished nacelle looks like a mammoth aa battery.","It weighs 85 tons.","Nearly half of that is the drivetrain.","The plant ships both the nacelle and the hub separately to the wind farm by either truck or rail.","The blades are shipped to the farm from another factory and the tower from yet another.","Once all the parts arrive on site, assembly can begin.","Crews first direct the tower.","Then they hoist the nacelle all the way to the top and mount it.","On the ground, they assemble the rotor by installing the blades in the hub.","Then they hoist the rotor to the top of the tower and mount it to the nacelle.","And from that point on, the wind does all the work."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bamboo Bicycles","Chainsaw Art","Breath Mints","Manual Motorcycle Transmissions"]},"text":["The bamboo bicycle was invented in england in the 19th century, and the idea never really went anywhere until now.","The modern bamboo bicycle is a highly engineered piece of work-- one that takes advantage of bamboo's steely sturdiness and its ability to absorb vibrations.","At a time when bicycles are often made of high-tech carbon fiber and exotic alloys, the bamboo bike takes things in a whole new direction.","Bamboo cane is a grass that's incredibly sturdy.","And because it's fast-growing, a bicycle made from it is as green as it gets.","The frame builder starts with the strongest species of bamboo.","Each cane is scrutinized to confirm that it's perfectly straight and structurally sound.","He measures and marks each one to a precise length.","To avoid fraying the edges or splitting exterior fibers, he makes the cuts slowly.","He smoothes the freshly cut ends against a drum sander and tapers them a bit to fit into steel joints.","Once satisfied with the fit, he removes the bamboo canes from the steel joints.","He sprays an acetone cleaning solution into the joints and then scrubs with a wire brush to prepare them for bonding to the bamboo canes.","A total of five steel joints will hold the bamboo bicycle frame together.","It's now time for the assembly.","He probes the cavity of each bamboo cane to confirm there are no obstructions and to determine how far inside to insert a foam plug.","This plug will prevent adhesive from running through the entire cane during bonding.","Using a long syringe, he injects fast-setting epoxy adhesive into the cane.","This seals the plug to the inside wall of the bamboo cane.","Once plugs have been installed in all the canes, he snakes plastic tubing through the steel joints and caulks the gaps.","This tubing is a delivery system for the next application of epoxy adhesive that will seal the steel joints to the bamboo framework.","With the plastic tubing now installed in all the steel joints, he reassembles the bamboo bicycle frame and double-checks the geometry.","This is known as the dry fit.","It's one last chance to perfect the fit at the joints.","He'll sand the ends of the bamboo or even cut a new cane, if needed.","Most frames need at least a little tweaking at this stage.","Once it's just right, he secures the bike frame in a jig.","He inserts a bit of epoxy putty between the bamboo cane and the steel joint.","It acts as a shim to center the cane in the fitting.","He then wraps electrical tape around the gaps where the steel joints meet the bamboo canes.","This tape is low-tack, so it won't pull up bamboo fibers when it's removed.","Yet the seal is strong enough to keep epoxy adhesive from dripping out as he now injects it into one of the joints.","He cuts a tiny slit in the tape to monitor the flow.","And when epoxy starts to leak out, he knows there's enough for a full bond.","He tapes up the slit to close off the overflow and clamps the end of the plastic tubing with a clothespin.","He injects epoxy into all five joints.","Once all the gaps have been filled, he leaves the assembly to dry.","12 hours later, he unbinds the joints.","They're now solidly fused to the bamboo to hold the frame together.","The plastic tubing has also bonded to the inside of the joints.","He just cuts the ends.","He grinds off the excess epoxy for a smoother transition from the steel to the bamboo.","Once the bike frame has been cleaned and engraved with the brand name, he stains the bamboo with a polyurethane finish.","This seals the pores of the bamboo against water damage and enhances the texture of the woody fibers.","He paints the joints with automotive-quality paint, and it's ready for a set of wheels.","This bamboo bicycle frame has been 40 hours in the making.","As an eco-friendly mode of transportation, it should be a trailblazer.","When the motorized chainsaw came on the scene in the 1920s, it revolutionized the forestry industry.","From then on, it was only a matter of time before some creative lumberjacks started logging extra time with their trusty tool, using the chainsaw like a sculptor's chisel or a painter's brush.","These chainsaw sculptures run the gamut from cartoonlike characters to realistic reproductions of wildlife.","This artistic endeavor does come with significant risk.","One wrong move with the chainsaw can cause serious injury or worse.","At the request of landowners and governments, this particular logger artist cuts down bug wood-- pine trees killed by mountain pine beetles.","Brandishing a chainsaw with a 16-inch blade, he'll transform this log into a turkey.","The first cut forms a higher back, which will eventually become the tail feathers.","The second cut establishes the top of the head.","Then, he cuts away wood in between to begin shaping the body.","He removes wood from the front to begin forming the turkey's beard and breast.","Then, he removes wood from the sides to shape the wings.","As this is a turkey in a strutting pose, the wings are thrusting downward.","After shaping the breast further and carving the feet, he puts down the chainsaw, picks up a pencil, and outlines 19 tail feathers.","Then, he gently carves his lines with the tip of the chainsaw.","He also carves the outlines of the feathers located under the tail feathers.","Then, using the tip ever so lightly, he makes delicate lines inside each feather.","The rough shape now complete, he begins working on the finer details, such as sculpting each wing feather.","Then, he carves some even finer details with a die grinder-- a tool which takes interchangeable bits.","He uses a cone-shaped bit to carve the turkey's toes, then a sanding disk to proportion the breast, then a small wheel to carve the lower breast feathers.","Now he tackles the snood-- that flap of skin over the turkey's beak.","He makes it curved, rather than hanging straight down, to make the turkey look as though it's moving.","To craft the eyes, he uses a tool he rigged up himself by attaching a modified bolt to a die grinder.","The eyes are the artistic turning point.","They add the first hint of facial expression.","Using the cone-shaped bit again, the artist shaves off wood underneath the eyes so they'll protrude somewhat.","Then, using a variety of bits, he does some touch-ups on the snood and sculpts the sac of skin under the turkey's neck.","Then, he takes the eye tool again, but this time to brand little circles on the skin sac, to give it a realistic texture.","With the carving now complete, the burning begins.","Using a small gas torch, he scorches the wood.","The raised area becomes darker than the recessed areas, giving the feathers contrast and depth.","The last step is some finer, detailed texturing.","He attaches a soft wire brush to a drill and smoothes out the tips of the feathers.","He coats the finished carving in a sealer-- a homemade concoction of equal parts mineral spirits, heavy-duty marine varnish, and boiled linseed oil.","This sealer gives the surface a rich, semigloss luster.","But, more importantly, it protects the wood against the elements, which is critical, given that these carvings are usually displayed outdoors.","This specially designed sealant is the key to the longevity of these carvings.","It forms a suit of armor against precipitation and the sun's ultraviolet rays, yet the sealant isn't an airtight shield.","It still lets the wood breathe, which is critical for preventing mold growth.","It's also flexible, moving with the natural expansion and contraction of the wood.","An inflexible sealant would crack, letting water seep in.","This durable, protective finish makes the chainsaw-carved statue not only a statement piece but also an investment piece.","Bad breath can ruin your social life, but suck on a mint, and you'll be breathing a sigh of relief.","Mint candies were first introduced in britain in 1790 and were initially used to soothe indigestion.","Later, their breath-freshening qualities were discovered, and they became known as breath mints.","Out of consideration for their costars, actors often suck on a mint or two before shooting a romantic scene.","Bad breath can be a real scene-spoiler in the movies and in everyday life.","They make these tablet-style mints in various colors and flavors.","For a lime-flavored mint, ingredients include sorbitol-- a sugar-free sweetener-- magnesium stearate, which acts as a binder, and lime oil for that refreshing flavor.","They load measured amounts of the ingredients into a v-shaped blender.","They'll be producing a 300-pound batch that will yield 600,000 mints.","That green stuff is a premix of color and oil.","He screws the lid tightly onto the blender.","It tumbles the ingredients for 45 minutes.","The magnesium stearate begins to bind the various elements.","They then mix blue and yellow pigment to produce a vibrant green one.","The pigment is a booster to enhance the green color of the mint and reflect the lime flavor of the candies.","After one more spin in the blender, the mixture is ready to be pressed.","It flows out of the blender and into a big bin.","Once the bin is full, they deliver it to the tablet-pressing machine.","Here, they scoop the mix into two hoppers that have sieves on top.","The sieves screen out any large clumps.","The rest of the mix falls into the rotary tablet press.","This is actually the same kind of machine that the pharmaceutical industry uses for making pills.","It spins in a blur to punch out 1,800 tablets a minute.","They slow the press to a crawl to give us a close-up look.","The granulated mixture flows in metered amounts into dies in the rotating wheel.","Upper and lower punches meet in the dies to compress the mint-candy ingredients.","This fuses the mixture into hard tablets.","After the compression, the lower punches rise and eject the candies.","The mints and the excess powder fall down a chute.","At the actual speed, the machine churns out dozens of mints faster than you can blink an eye.","The tablets and all that excess powder now flow into a perforated cylinder.","As the cylinder rotates, the powder flies out of the holes and into the trough below.","This is known as dedusting.","The mint candies, minus most of the excess powder, spill out into a container.","Next, the mints ride a revolving table.","This is a tablet-counting system.","As the mints exit the table, light sensors count out a preset amount of mints for packaging-- in this case, 72 mints.","A worker moves tins into position below the hoppers to capture the mints.","This kind of tin has been used since the 1920s to contain mints.","It has a sliding lid that makes it easy to open.","But once closed, it contains them tightly, preventing spillage.","Now it's over to the shrink-wrap department.","Machinery drops a plastic sleeve onto each tin as it rides by and under a leveling bracket.","The tins then travel through an oven, where a blast of heat softens the plastic sleeves, causing them to shrink to the tins.","They emerge securely sealed and ready for retail.","Today, mints can come in exotic shapes, like these wine-bottle mints.","They can be custom-made for any occasion, because, after all, most occasions call for fresh breath.","The transmission in a motorcycle multiplies the power coming from the engine to move the bike down the road at faster and faster speeds.","The vast majority of motorcycles have a manual transmission, so it's up to the rider to operate a lever to shift into lower or higher gears as required.","most manual motorcycle transmissions have a push-button electric starter, but traditionalists still prefer this old-style transmission with a kick starter.","The transmission case is made from aluminum that's been extruded to a starting shape.","A saw cuts a piece to the case length.","Then, a series of computer-guided tools hollow out the inside and bore a pocket to hold the bearing in which the main drive gear turns.","The main drive gear is what takes power out of the transmission, ultimately rotating the rear wheel of the motorcycle.","Once polished, the transmission case is ready to receive its 100-plus components.","Workers assemble the bearing in which the main shaft turns, transferring power from the engine to the transmission.","Using a press, they push this bearing into a bearing housing, then bolt it in place, immobilizing the bolt with a few drops of permanent thread-locking fluid.","Then, right next to the main shaft bearing, workers bolt the bearing in which the countershaft turns, magnifying and multiplying the power which the main shaft transfers from engine to transmission.","They press in a pin which helps accurately position this housing when it comes time to bolt it to the transmission.","They apply thread lock to secure the bushing that holds one of two rods for the bike's shift forks.","They're what the rider manipulates to move each gear into a predetermined position.","They suspend the second rod between the housing and the transmission case.","They install the countershaft into the countershaft bearing and lock it in with the press.","Next, workers assemble what's known as the gearset.","This is a 6-speed transmission, which means there are six gears on the main shaft and six on the countershaft.","Each gear is held to its shaft by a high-strength steel retaining ring that's plated with yellow zinc to make it easy to verify that it's in the right position.","Workers lubricate the bearings thoroughly to ensure they rotate smoothly around the shafts.","Putting the gearset aside for now, they use the press once again-- this time, to install the main drive-gear bearing into the pocket they bore for it in the transmission case.","The red disk merely provides a cushion to prevent the press from damaging the component.","Next, they press the main drive gear in the bearing.","Again, they use the installation disk to cushion the component from the press.","They slide the gearset into the transmission case and secure it with nine nuts.","They apply semipermanent thread lock to each nut so that they can be unscrewed in the future, should the gearset need to be removed for repair.","Meanwhile, a computer-guided mill machines the shift drum out of a super-durable type of steel.","The shift drum rotates when the rider shifts gears, moving the gears.","After coating it in black oxide to prevent against corrosion, they install it on top of the transmission case.","They assemble the kick starter.","When the rider kicks it, a series of gears rotates the main shaft inside the transmission.","The main shaft is also connected to the engine, so this rotation starts the engine.","The kick arm itself is stainless steel.","The pedal, bronze.","Both types of metal are durable enough to withstand years of kicking and are resistant to corrosion.","For demonstration purposes, this transmission case has been cut away to show what happens inside when the rider shifts gears.","The shift drum rotates 30 degrees to pull the transmission out of one gear, then another 30 degrees to put it into another-- a perfectly engineered piece of mechanical choreography."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pro Hockey Sticks","Bronzed Shoes","Treadmills","Computers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pro hockey sticks.","Bronzed baby shoes.","Treadmills.","And handheld computers.","Today's cutting-edge hockey sticks are made primarily of graphite, a strong yet lightweight material woven from carbon.","Professional hockey players have their graphite sticks custom-made.","Each player has the curve and angle of the blade tailored to precise specifications that he believes enhance his performance on the ice.","To construct the stick's hollow shaft, workers layer 15 sheets of graphite, each in a different direction to make the shaft uniformly rigid.","Heat-activated resin molds the layers together.","This machine, called a flex tester, measures how much force it takes to bend the shaft one inch.","If the force is within a certain range, the shaft has the correct degree of stiffness for that model.","The blade starts with the plastic core.","In the center, there's a piece of hard foam wrapped in graphite.","It absorbs the impact of the puck.","Later, they'll mold the core to the shaft, but for now, they glue and clamp them together.","When the glue dries, they cover the core in a graphite sock.","The sock fibers run diagonally.","The fibers of subsequent layers run in other directions, building a combination of crisscross fibers that creates uniform stiffness throughout the blade.","Now the core goes into a glue applicator.","This heat-activated plastic resin permeates the graphite.","Once it cures, it will fortify the material.","On the next two layers of graphite are strips.","On one, the fibers run vertically.","On the other, they run diagonally.","They're stiffer because they've already had a resin application.","They run through the glue applicator and go onto the core.","This is how the factory builds its graphite blades, whether mass producing amateur sticks or making a few special-order sticks for a pro player.","At this point, retail sticks head into large-scale automated production.","Workers continue making pro sticks by hand.","Initially, they produce a customized wooden mold for each player's stick and give it an identification number to prevent mix-ups.","They install this two-piece mold on a press.","The press shapes the blade to the player's precise specifications, for the face, or vertical angle, and the curve.","This molding process also compresses the graphite layers into a single unit and bonds the blade to the shaft permanently.","The plastic bag over the blade prevents excess resin from oozing all over the press.","Using a router, they profile the blade to a specific shape.","Each pro player orders his own personal template.","It can be any shape, provided it abides by nhl regulations.","Maximum curve-- half an inch, maximum height-- 3 inches, maximum length-- 12 1/2 inches.","Now, a good sanding.","And a thorough buffing.","They dip the blades in urethane, a colorless coating that fills in tiny imperfections on the surface.","Once that dries, a machine sprays silver paint at the base of the shaft.","Finally, another coat of urethane to seal and protect the paint.","For the retail market, this company mass produces six models of graphite hockey sticks in a right-handed and left-handed version.","They all have the same blade shape, but different curves.","You can peel off the removable model-name decal and write your own name on the shaft instead.","Not nearly as personalized as a made-to-order pro stick, but at least you won't leave the arena with someone else's hockey stick by mistake.","The pitter-patter of little footsteps is a welcome sound in any household.","But children grow by leaps and bounds.","Bronzing baby shoes is one way to preserve the memory of those first steps.","The tradition was started back in the 1930s.","In these shoes, a child learned to stand on his or her own two feet.","The baby shoes have joined a pile of others.","They're all about to be preserved forever.","They record information about the shoes' owners including personal details for engraving.","They assign a tracking number to each pair.","Without it, some shoes might not find their way back to their owners.","They stamp that number onto insoles.","There's a special coating on the insoles that will prevent the metal plating from sticking to them, so this number will be visible throughout processing.","They staple down the insoles and then dip the shoes in a special formula.","It chemically seals them and will also help stiffen them as they dry later.","But first they hang them to allow excess liquid to drip off.","They stuff each shoe with plastic to give it some shape.","They push a rolled plastic form into each shoe to complete the shaping.","They tie the laces, positioning the bows flat against the shoes so they won't break off during the rest of the process.","As an extra precaution, they wrap a rubber band around each bow and then glue it down.","With the shaping plastic removed and the shoes dried and stiffened, they drill holes into the bottoms of the soles.","This will allow them to be hung on prongs during plating later.","But before that happens, they stir up a mix of water, copper, and other ingredients.","They carefully submerge a rack full of baby shoes into the coppery liquid.","This isn't the final coating.","It's a key preparation step.","It makes the shoes electrically conductive so that they can be electroplated.","They hang the shoes to dry and dribble a little more of the liquid onto them to cover any bare spots.","They allow the finish to dry for a couple of days.","Then a worker lowers them into the electroplating tank.","An electrical current runs through to the shoes, attracting copper in the tank to plate them.","Using a special polishing wheel, they lightly scratch the bright copper finish on the shoes.","This prepares them for the next step.","They spray a black finish onto the shoes.","And then wipe it off, rubbing some into the crevices to give them an antique appearance.","Next, they spray them with a protective lacquer.","You can still see the identification number clearly on the insole, so they haven't lost track of the owner.","They attach the engraving plate onto a wood base and screw the shoes onto it.","Now they won't be going anywhere, except down memory lane.","And it seems there's no end to the bronze keepsakes that can also take you there, from cowboy boots to burgers on a bun.","Treadmills were invented back in the 1800s for the farm team.","Farmers put animals on treadmills to power butter churns and threshing machines.","It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that people started working out on treadmills, and as a fitness concept, it's been a success.","In these high-tech treadmills, computer processors access your level of fitness and plot your workout program.","To make one, they punch holes in aluminum-frame side pieces.","These holes will be used to attach other parts.","But first, they weld joints to the side pieces.","And they weld brackets onto the platform that will hold the treadmill's motor.","They position the platform between two aluminum side pieces and screw it into place to complete the frame.","Next, they attach the elevation mechanism.","This piece will raise the treadmill belt.","They fasten wheels to the frame that will allow the treadmill to be rolled away for storage.","They turn over the treadmill frame and work on the underside.","They attach brackets for the rollers that go inside the belt.","Then they position the belt and deck over the frame.","They slide in the steel rollers...","And attach the drive belt.","They bolt a big shock absorber to the drive motor to dampen its vibration.","They install a strobe disk and then place an optical sensor over it.","With the help of this sensor, the strobe will monitor the motor speed 16 times per second.","They mount the drive motor for the treadmill belt on the special platform and bolt it into place.","At this point, they attach one of the computer boards.","It receives information from the optical sensor about the treadmill's speed and relays it to the computer in the control panel.","This will ensure that everything is in sync.","Here, they slide a protective casing over the framework.","They cap the ends, then turn over the machine once more to install the mechanism that allows the treadmill to be folded up when the workout is over.","They screw a plastic cover onto it to protect the bottom.","And it's over to the control system.","They stick the control membrane onto the plastic housing and attach a safety switch to the back.","Then they install the treadmill's other computer board in this housing.","They plug a lead wire into the safety switch and install a receiver to pick up the runner's heart rate.","They secure the handlebar assembly to the control housing and plug in the upper circuit board.","Now they close the back of the control system, and it's time for the two assemblies to come together.","They connect the upper and lower computer boards so they can communicate.","And then they give the treadmill a little test run to make sure it's in top form.","They put it through a range of elevations and check the belt to determine if it's running in the middle.","They adjust the belt to center it a little better.","And now this treadmill has passed inspection.","So they wipe away their footprints and press the brand label onto the hood.","They lower the hood onto the motor.","And now, this treadmill is ready to give you a good workout.","Handhelds, as they're called, are rugged computers designed for workers on the move.","You see them on delivery trucks, police cruisers, forklift trucks, and in large warehouses.","They process data in virtually any condition, from bad weather to rough roads.","So even though you're in the field, you're still plugged in.","From scanning bar codes to reading parking meters, handhelds provide information on location.","They start with the keyboard electronics panel.","They test each contact for conductivity.","Then they transfer the tracking number from the electronics panel to the inner casing, so it will be visible if it needs servicing.","They glue the electronics panel to the casing with silicone for a waterproof seal.","The rubber keypad goes on next.","Then they glue a protective plastic plate over it.","Next, they cut a silicone liner to the size of the computer screen.","It will help seal the unit, preventing water and dust from getting in.","They place the liner in a bracket behind the screen and then use this jig to align the screen to the computer casing.","A dab of threadlocker glue to the screws helps to hold it all together.","The top casing for this handheld computer is now assembled.","They move on to the back casing and install a speaker.","They apply a layer of silicone to a circuit board assembly, again, to resist water and dust from seeping into it.","This circuit board assembly goes into a hole in the back casing.","It will allow the unit to communicate with a central computer.","In the next step, they wire the speakers to the circuit board, and now the handheld has a sound system.","More silicone on these connections.","Then they install triggers to the scanner, one on each side.","They install a liner on the door for the memory card compartment.","Then they run the top assemblies for three hours in extreme temperatures.","Once the inner workings have been completely installed, they attach the top assemblies to the bottom ones.","They tuck the battery pack into its compartment and install the end cap.","It has an antenna for wireless communication.","Now they install a smartcard reader, because this particular handheld computer will be used for security checks on personal i.d. cards.","They test the laser scanner, then activate security software which reads fingerprints, allowing this handheld computer to do security or criminal checks on the spot.","When an unregistered person presses a finger onto the print reader, this is what happens.","Of course, mobile computers are designed to return to a home base, where they upload information to a main computer.","But first, randomly selected units get roughed up in a series of tests.","They toss this unit into a tumbler and it gets thrown around.","Then they drop it from a height of 6 1/2 feet.","They plunge it into a tank of water.","In the real world, things can be even tougher.","This computer ended up in a fire.","And this one was run over.","But even when it seems that they've been completely destroyed, information can still be salvaged.","Here, they transfer the memory board from one of the wrecked units to an undamaged one.","They hook it up to a central computer and retrieve the information.","These are tough computers for those on the go."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Game Calls","Mayonnaise","Traditional Razor Blades","Butterfly Safety Razors"]},"text":["The invention of mechanized game calls in the middle of the 19th century allowed hunters to mimic the sounds of their prey.","Before these devices came along, hunters whistled and made noises with their hands to lure birds or animals into shooting range, and their efforts weren't always on the mark.","whether it's a mating call or just a sociable \"hey, there,\" a game call is about speaking the language.","Of course, it all translates into big trouble for birds and animals who respond.","There are dozens of different game calls, from duck to goose to elk.","Each game call is a precisely crafted instrument.","To make one, they don't have to look far for raw material.","A bamboo crop flourishes in the backyard of the louisiana factory.","Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet, so there's always a ready supply.","The stem is hollow, which makes it ideal for the game call's larger barrel.","After the bamboo cane has been dried for six to eight weeks, they cut it to length--  about 3 inches.","But bamboo isn't the only wood they use for making call barrels.","Others are constructed from walnut, cherry, or exotic woods.","They're harder and a bit more rugged, but, of course, they're also solid.","A boring machine hollows out these solid walnut blanks.","They load them six at a time into the machine's slots, and then lower a holding bar to secure them for drilling.","A carriage moves the drill bits forward, and they hit the walnut blanks dead center.","A worker locks a hollow barrel in a lathe.","As it spins, he manipulates a blade to carve a slightly concave profile.","This will make it easier to grip.","He also cuts designs into the wood, which identify this instrument as a certain duck call.","Each call has its own distinguishing design.","As the duck-call barrel continues to spin, he sands away any burrs or splinters.","What was a simple, wooden tube now has flowing lines and a defining design.","Next, they spin a stone on each end of the barrel, creating a burn that blackens and smoothes the rims.","The game-call barrels then funnel into the clutch of prongs on a revolving wheel.","As the wheel turns, the barrels brush against a series of sanding belts, each one with a finer grit than the last.","This final sanding makes the barrels super smooth.","With a set of pincers, he dips the barrels in a solution to seal the wood inside and out.","The sealant will protect the wooden barrel from rain, humidity, and the user's saliva.","After dipping, he leaves the parts in the sun for several hours to bake on the sealant.","Meanwhile, they machine a smaller barrel which will hold the noise-making parts.","Using a reaming tool, the worker tapers the opening of the larger barrel, and the two barrels now fit snugly together.","A worker buffs the barrel with steel wool as it spins on a mandrel.","The buffing gives the wood a silky texture, and prepares it for a final sealant.","Production now turns to the noise-making insert.","A worker pounds a die into a strip of rigid plastic to punch out the reeds.","It's this part that vibrates against the tone board to produce sound.","The reed's shape varies depending on the kind of call being made.","He aligns the reed with the wooden tone board, and then inserts them part of the way into the barrel of the game call.","He sands a little, wooden wedge that will hold everything in place.","He pushes it into the space between the barrel and the reed and tone board.","Then, using a metal file, he forces the wedge even further into the opening to ensure the parts won't budge.","He slides the larger barrel over the protruding reed and tone board.","After some tuning, the game call is ready.","In a way, hunting calls are like musical instruments-- it takes practice and know-how to use one successfully.","But once mastered, this instrument could attract flocks of admirers.","after all, every game call has a target audience.","according to one theory, mayonnaise originated in the town of mahón in spain, where it was known as \"salsa mahonesa\".","Mayonnaise makes sandwiches zestier, turns canned tuna into tuna salad, hard-boiled eggs into egg salad, and is a creamy dip for french fries, belgian-style.","Mayonnaise recipes vary, but all have eggs and oil as the main ingredients.","The eggs can be all yolks, all whites, or a combination of both.","At this mayonnaise factory, the raw eggs arrive in liquid form by tanker trunk.","They've been pasteurized to kill off salmonella and other common bacteria.","The egg supplier has also cleaned and sealed the tank valve, an additional food-safety precaution.","A worker clamps a sanitary evacuation hose to the tank.","Then, with a few blows of a mallet, releases the valve.","A pump draws the eggs through the hose into a refrigerated receiving tank.","The second main ingredient, soy bean oil, arrives by railway tanker car.","Like all bulk-ingredient deliveries, for food safety, the tank is sealed at the supplier to ensure it isn't opened prior to arrival here.","A pumping system transfers the oil to a large holding tank.","Meanwhile, factory workers weigh out the ingredients that make up this company's secret blend of spices.","Next, they mix this spice blend with white vinegar, cider vinegar, and salt.","Then they add liquid natural flavors.","They pour this mixture into a large tank of room-temperature water, producing what they call a \"slurry\".","The raw eggs, meanwhile, have been transferred into a large, refrigerated holding tank.","So now there are three holding tanks at the ready-- a slurry tank, an egg tank, and an oil tank.","A computerized proportioning system extracts the required amount from each tank and sends it to a mixing vessel.","A couple of minutes of mixing at high agitation merges the eggs, oil, and slurry into tangy, creamy mayonnaise.","The factory draws samples periodically and sends them to its quality-control department for analysis.","The lab technicians there evaluate several criteria, such as color, consistency, and, of course, flavor.","In this test, for example, they mix the mayo with phenolphthalein, a ph-level indicator, and de-ionized water to check the acidity level.","Once the mayonnaise passes quality-control inspection, this rotary filler dispenses it into recyclable polyethylene jars.","It fills each jar in just a quarter second.","The next machine twists on a plastic cap.","Inside the cap is a foil seal.","This machine uses targeted induction heat to fuse the seal to the rim of the jar without heating the mayonnaise in the process.","The seal preserves freshness and indicates the jar wasn't tampered with after leaving the factory.","The labeling machine glues on one end of the label, spins the jar to wrap the label around, then glues down the other end.","The quality-control lab also performs some post-production spot-checks.","In this test, technicians use a machine called a viscometer to measure the product's consistency.","The factory also packages its mayo into single-serving pouches.","They're made of polyethylene film on one side, foil printed with the product label on the other.","This multi-tasking machine forms rows of pouches, inserts about four ounces of mayonnaise per pouch, then seals and separates the pouches.","These pouches are shipped to ready-made sandwich vendors and fast-food restaurants whose customers need mayo on the go.","Cavemen sharpened pieces of flint and used them to shave their facial hair.","Modern man can simply go purchase a pack of razor blades for his shaver.","While several styles of shavers and blades exist, many men believe the traditional type of razor blade gives the closest shave of them all.","They're paper-thin, yet sharp enough and strong enough to cut through the coarsest beard.","Razor blades are made from a stainless-steel strip that's a mere .","004 of an inch thick.","The strip first enters a punching machine that stamps out the overall blade shape.","These dull-edged blades-to-be are called blanks.","At this stage of the process, the stainless steel is very soft-- as pliable as paper-- so they now harden and strength it through a four-step heat-treatment process.","Step one-- they heat the blanks in a furnace to just over 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for about 30 seconds.","Step two-- they briefly submerge them in cold water.","This is called quenching.","Step three-- they chill them for about 20 seconds in a deep-cooling chamber at a temperature of -58 fahrenheit.","All this progressively re-structures the molecules, hardening the metal.","However, the metal becomes brittle, necessitating re-heating the blanks for 20 seconds.","The now-hard blanks then move through a printer, which applies the razor-blade brand name.","Gas flames instantly dry the wet ink.","Now it's time for the blanks to become blades.","They enter a grinding and polishing machine.","Within it are three grinding stations which first sharpen the contour, then produce two super-sharp cutting edges.","The blades then pass through a polishing station that removes burrs left by the grinding.","Until now, the blades have been connected to each other.","As they exit this machine, a knife separates them.","The factory's quality-control lab pulls samples from the production line and checks, among other criteria, the quality of the grinding and geometrics of the cutting edges.","Then, every single blade the factory produces is examined for cutting-edge defects.","Technicians assemble blades in packs of up to 800, then shine fluorescent light on the two cutting-edge sides.","This makes defects visible.","Blades that pass this inspection are washed with solvent to remove contaminants...","Then dried.","The now-pristine razor blades go into a vacuum chamber.","It draws a chromium-based coating onto the surface, rendering the cutting edges harder and more wear-resistant.","Next, spray nozzles apply a non-stick coating, which will help the blades glide smoothly over the skin.","To adhere the coating permanently to the blade surface, they bake it on for 20 minutes at about 660 degrees fahrenheit.","Quality-control technicians test samples again, this time to ensure the blades meet strength specifications.","This test machine measures the force required for the blade to cut a thick wad of wet paper to a certain depth.","Back in production, workers submerge the razor blades in organic oil for about half an hour.","This provides additional protection against corrosion.","On the packaging line, the equipment wraps each blade individually in wax paper.","The wax coating on the paper helps protect the razor blade against corrosion during storage.","Wax paper is also stronger than regular paper, so the blade's razor-sharp edges don't cut through it.","The edge of these razor blades are about 10 times thinner than a human hair.","A blade typically lasts about six shaves, so the average male goes through quite a few, considering that, over the course of his lifetime, he'll have spent more than 3,300 hours shaving his face.","In the age of disposable razors, the butterfly safety razor still has an edge.","This precision metal tool is good for a lifetime of clean shaves.","A few twists of the handle, and the butterfly mechanism opens to allow cleaning and replacement of the blade.","With it, getting rid of stubble is very little trouble.","Invented in the last century, the butterfly safety razor has done its part to prevent injuries.","The blade can be replaced without actually touching the sharp edge.","The butterfly doors also close around the blade for a safer shave.","Also known as the twist-to-open razor, this grooming tool is anything but simple.","It's comprised of about 20 parts.","Production begins with solid zinc bars.","They melt down the bars in a big cauldron.","The machine then presses the melted zinc into a mold of three razor parts.","The zinc instantly cools and solidifies into the shape of the parts.","They're linked by more hardened zinc.","A worker separates them, revealing a support structure for the blade, a framework for the butterfly flaps, and the outer casing for the blade-support part.","Breaking them free from one another leaves ragged edges, so a worker grinds them smooth.","But there are still a few blemishes to rub off the surface.","The parts toss about in a tumbler filled with abrasive synthetic pellets.","After about half an hour, the surface irregularities are gone.","Next, a computerized drill bores into the center of a spinning aluminum dowel as a second tool contours the outside.","This transforms the dowel into nuts for adjusting the blade.","They shape the aluminum handle the same way.","Now they apply a more durable chrome finish.","This process involves three electro-plating baths.","The first one gives the parts a copper coating.","Then it's into the nickel bath.","In this case, nickel is a go-between kind of finish.","It will allow chrome to stick to the part.","After a chemical treatment for a matte finish, they plunge the parts into the chrome bath.","A quick rinse in water reveals the result.","The parts now have a resilient matte-chrome finish.","Once all the parts have been fabricated, it's time to assemble the butterfly razor.","A worker drives a threaded insert into the outer casing for the blade support.","She installs a similar insert in the adjustment nut we saw being fabricated early on.","These inserts enable her to screw the two parts together.","She sets aside the nut and blade-support assembly.","She slides a spring onto the razor's center rod.","This spring pushes up the rod to open the butterfly flaps.","She dabs thread-lock glue on the threaded section of the butterfly-flap support part, and then screws the part to the razor's center rod.","Next, she installs the butterfly flaps on the support part.","The various sub-assemblies now need to come together.","She begins with the blade-support structure and brass stem.","She attaches a spring and slides the adjustment-nut assembly onto the stem.","She inserts a plastic washer into the assembly, allowing her to screw the handle onto the adjustment nut.","She now pops the center rod with the butterfly doors into the assembled framework and adjusts the assembly.","She threads a set screw onto the center rod and into the handle.","The screw will prevent the user from turning the handle too far and compromising the butterfly mechanism.","An end cap attached to the base holds the center rod in place.","Finally, she tests the handle and screw-rod mechanism that opens the butterfly flaps and confirms that they're fully functional.","It's taken about 20 minutes to produce this butterfly safety razor.","With regular cleaning between blade changes, it should last for many years.","Good thing, because there will always be a growing need for this reusable shaving tool."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Folding Kayaks","Piñatas","Garbage Trucks","Ceramic Composite Brake Discs"]},"text":["The folding kayak is a seaworthy vessel that can be disassembled and stuffed into a duffel bag.","This boat-in-a-bag concept was developed in germany a century ago.","It's a good fit for the modern traveler's lifestyle because it can be stowed in a car trunk, checked on to a plane, or stashed in the condo closet.","History has shown that when going gets rough, the folding kayak doesn't fall apart.","Adventurers have crossed oceans in them, and today its story continues to unfold.","The kayak frame starts with parts cut from solid ash and laminated birch.","For waterproofing, they dip them in marine-grade varnish three times, drying them for 24 hours between dips.","A worker then rivets metal fittings to a varnished section of the keel board.","It's these fittings that enable the folding kayak to move with the sea instead of against it.","That's because they're made of an aluminum-copper alloy, a metal with a certain amount of give.","He fastens more aluminum-alloy fittings on the cross ribs.","There will be a total of seven cross ribs in this two-seater folding kayak.","The center three will carry most of the load, so they're made of nine layers of laminated birch.","It's super strong because unlike solid wood, it has few knots or imperfections.","He applies a label with the production's serial number to a boomerang-shaped piece of the frame.","This is how the kayak owner would actually assemble the boat on-site.","He locks two sections of the keel board together with the flexible fitting we saw installed earlier.","He snaps the bow piece to the front and hooks rods into fittings installed on the bow.","He fastens a couple of ribs to the keel board.","The gunnels, which are the top sides of the boat, are next.","He attaches one end to the bow and the other to one of the ribs.","The bow and stern parts are color-coded with red-painted fittings for the bow and blue ones for the stern.","All the parts fit together like a toy model.","With both gunnels now attached, he's ready to install more ribs-- the laminated birch ones that form the cockpit.","He completes the assembly of rods.","All these rods will give the kayak directional stability.","He unfolds part of the kayak deck assembly, known as the coaming, and arranges it to surround the cockpit.","He attaches it to the gunnels using metal clamps and fittings.","He slides the two seats into place on the keel board.","And he attaches the back rest to the gunnels.","The frame of this folding kayak is now complete and ready for its custom-made skin.","Over in the sewing department, the seamstress traces the patterns for the kayak deck onto cotton-hemp material and cuts along the penciled lines.","This natural fabric will allow the deck to breathe and yet keep it water-tight.","It's now time to piece together all of the parts, including two long sleeves for inserting inflatable tubes.","Deflated, the tubes will create slack, making it easier to fit the frame into the skin.","Inflated, they make the kayak virtually unsinkable.","Once the thick layers have been stitched together, she's ready to insert the inflatable tubes.","They were pumped full of air to be examined for holes, so she deflates them.","She uses a long pole to extend her reach and push the inflatable tube into the sleeve.","With a synthetic rubber hull now stitched to the deck fabric, the skin is complete and ready for the kayak's wooden frame.","This particular model has been painted black.","If the fit is even slightly off, the kayak won't perform properly.","The skin fits like a glove.","He brushes glue onto the tips of the bow and stern and then presses molded rubber bumpers onto those areas.","The bumpers will protect the ends of the hull casing, which takes a lot of hard knocks.","In total, it takes about 50 person-hours to make a folding kayak.","It should take the owner about 15 minutes to disassemble or assemble one.","For some, it will become a traveling essential, part of the luggage on any trip.","The piñata is a colorful paper-mache object typically filled with candy or small toys, then suspended high from a string.","Blindfolded partiers take turns trying to hit the piñata with a stick to break it open and release a shower of goodies.","From popular cartoon characters to colorful, glittery shapes, today's piñatas are a big hit at kid's parties where children eagerly await the decisive blow that breaks open the piñata, releasing the treats inside.","The traditional way to build one starts with a clay pot suspended from a string.","The piñata-maker glues cardboard shapes to it and secures them by gluing on pieces of newspaper.","Then she covers the rest of the pot.","When the glue dries, she decorates the surface with colorful paper.","The modern method is to use a balloon instead of a clay pot.","After inflating the balloon, she pastes pieces of newspaper all over it.","This technique is known as paper-mache.","The trick is to completely saturate the newspaper with a thick paste and make sure no part of the balloon is left uncovered.","She continues this process until she's built up two or three even layers of newspaper all over the balloon.","Then she suspends it from a clothespin to dry.","Hours later, the paper-mache is hardened into a shell around the balloon, which she now breaks and removes.","Next, she cuts an opening at the top of the shell.","This is the hole through which the buyer will fill the piñata with treats.","She'll later reattach the cut piece to make a trap door.","But first, with the sharp tips of her scissors, she pierces a row of holes along the circumference and threads twine through them.","She leaves long ends at the top with which to suspend the piñata.","This piñata will be star-shaped.","To make each point, she rolls thin cardboard into a cone, taping it closed.","She trims it to the required size, then cuts tabs at the base and bends them back.","She makes seven of these cardboard points, then tapes them onto the shell one by one.","Once all seven are positioned, the decorating with colorful, glittery foil wrapping paper can begin.","She tapes a sheet around each point of the star.","Then she applies glue in between the points and adheres pieces of wrapping paper to those areas.","She folds other pieces into flower shapes and glues them on, as well.","Once the entire piñata is covered, she tapes matching streamers to the end of each point.","Historians believe spanish missionaries used star piñatas like this one to convert the native peoples in the americas to christianity.","The star symbolized satan, its seven points, the seven deadly sins, its beautiful colors, temptation.","Wearing a blindfold represented blind faith in god.","Striking the piñata with a stick meant goodness and virtue battling evil.","Breaking the piñata, releasing a shower of treats or trinkets, symbolized heavenly rewards.","Human beings have always generated garbage.","In the battle to keep the streets clean, the mechanized garbage truck is a combat vehicle.","It crushes tons of trash en route to deliver it to landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities.","Without it, we'd all be knee-deep in garbage.","Garbage trucks have different approaches to handling garbage.","Some load from the front, other from the rear or side.","And some are entirely mechanized like this side-loader truck.","The operator inside the cab barely needs to lift a finger as the hydraulic lift-arm does all the heavy work.","The garbage truck has come a long way since it hit the street in 1952.","Production on a modern side-loader truck begins with a welding robot.","The robot fuses numerous steel supports to the truck body floor.","These supports will allow the truck to hold up to the force of tons of trash being compacted inside.","Meanwhile, down the line, other parts like the roof and sides take shape in separate assemblies.","Once they're complete, they hoist the large steel parts into place and assemble them within a metal framework.","The framework serves as a guide to piece together all the parts of the truck box.","Once assembled, the workers clamp the parts together to secure the assembly as they weld the seams.","The garbage truck body is then ready for the mechanized parts, beginning with a hopper.","It's equipped with a powerful, hydraulic compactor to squeeze as much trash as possible into the truck.","They fit the hopper snugly to the front of the truck body and weld it to it.","Then they lift the tailgate into position at the rear of the truck box.","They hinge it to the truck by sliding heavy-duty steel pins through brackets.","Once hinged, the tailgate can swing up and out of the way to allow garbage to be discharged.","The driving force for this is a pair of hydraulic cylinders attached by brackets, welded to the tailgate at one end and the truck body at the other.","With that job done, these cylinders can now extend to lift the tailgate and retract to close it.","Across the factory floor, another team assembles a pair of steel lift-arms.","These lift-arms are designed for another kind of truck, the front-end loader.","It's mainly used to collect hefty commercial garbage containers.","In action, these arms pivot around the truck cab and extend to the front to fork up the trash container and deposit the contents in the hopper.","Hydraulic cylinders also power these lift-arms.","When the task is complete, the forks at the end of the arms fold back out of the way.","Nearby, workers test this rear-loader garbage truck.","Its tailgate is split into two hoppers-- one for recyclables and the other for trash.","Hydraulic systems lift them one at a time or simultaneously.","Collecting garbage and disposing of it can be tough on a truck's paint job, so they apply an extra-durable finish.","They spray sealer on the sanded outer surface, followed by two coats of epoxy paint.","After that, they bake on the layers.","Meanwhile, the truck chassis has arrived from another factory.","It's a standard size, so they chop a piece off to size it for the garbage-truck body.","They install bracket plates at the back and slide thick pins through the holes to join the truck body to the chassis.","Using a crane, they lift the automated side-loader truck body onto the modified chassis.","Once it's installed, they test the compactor.","Dual hydraulic cylinders push the ejector blade to the back of the truck.","They test the tailgate--  which has by now been equipped with signal lights, mud flaps, and other parts-- and verify that everything functions properly.","Once a truck passes muster, it's ready to handle whatever garbage society throws its way.","And with these automated garbage trucks, there's no need for anyone to strain their back or get their hands dirty, because these robot arms can handle it.","High-performance cars typically have ceramic composite brake disks rather than regular cast-iron ones.","That kind of power on wheels requires being lightweight, and cast iron is very heavy.","It would also wear out too quickly due to the intense heat friction generates when you brake a car with such a powerful engine.","Ceramic is heat-resistant up to 1,830 degrees fahrenheit.","Therefore, these ceramic composite brake disks last about 60 times longer than standard cast-iron disks.","Ceramic composite means the ceramic material silicon is combined with carbon fiber for strength.","The disk factory prepares the carbon fiber by mixing two ingredients-- a heat-molded resin and chopped pieces of raw carbon fiber, the strength of which lies in the interweaving of its miniscule carbon filaments.","Automated machines pour the carbon fiber into aluminum molds in the shape of the disk ring.","The first filling station fills the mold cavity only halfway.","Workers then fit a slotted belt around the mold and insert aluminum cores into the slots.","These cores will form a ventilation channel in the disk ring to keep the disk from overheating.","Now the mold moves on to the next filling station.","It fills the remainder of the cavity with carbon fiber.","A roller levels the top.","Then workers close up the mold, and a small press pushes down the cover to lightly compact the contents.","The mold enters a large press which applies 20 tons of pressure while heating to almost 400 degrees fahrenheit.","This compacts the carbon fiber and transforms the resin powder into plastic.","Once the mold has cooled down enough to be handled, workers submerge it in cold water for five to eight minutes.","This cools the disk ring completely, enabling them to pull out the cores.","A computer-guided laser then examines the mold to make sure every last core has been removed.","When they get the all-clear, they open the top and bottom sections of the mold and extract the disk ring.","Computer-guided machines then smooth out the rough areas and drill tiny ventilation holes.","They put the disk ring into an oven which, over the course of two days, gradually heats it to just over 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This causes a chemical change which transforms the plastic into carbon.","Next, they take a crucible-- a high-heat resistant container-- and position five mounts inside.","They place the disk ring on the mounts.","Then in the middle, a funnel, into which they pour a ceramic material, a fine silicon powder.","Then they load the crucible into an oven for 24 hours.","It gradually heats the disk ring to more than 3,000 degrees fahrenheit, melting the silicon.","Then it applies low-level suction, drawing the now-liquid silicon into the disk ring.","This creates an exceptionally hard new material called silicon carbide.","After a computer-guided drill bores mounting holes, the disk ring goes into a chamber where it receives a coat of protective paint.","The paint shields the carbon in this disk ring from oxygen, which is critical because at high heat, oxygen burns carbon.","This anti-oxidation treatment significantly extends the life of the brake disk.","The paint is cured in an oven, leaving behind a white residue.","A robot sands it off, then polishes the entire disk-ring surface.","Here's what the finished disk ring looks like before it's cleaned and polished...","And after.","Every single brake disk ring undergoes a meticulous inspection.","This sophisticated machine takes thousands of high-definition photographs of the surface, which a computer then analyzes in micron-level detail.","To complete the brake disk, they affix the bell, a circular component in the middle which connects the brake disk to the vehicle.","The bell is made of either aluminum or stainless steel and bolted into the mounting holes in the disk ring."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Prams","Factory"]},"text":["When it comes to choosing baby's vehicle, as with any set of wheels, there's no shortage of choices.","Some parents prefer sporty models, while others opt for the elegance of a classic carriage.","Either way, it's a stylish experience baby will likely sleep through.","The classic perambulator, or \"pram\" for short.","While this style of baby carriage is unmistakably british, this particular brand is italian-made.","Production begins with this machine, which bends steel tubing to form the pram's handle.","The machine's every move is computer-guided for accuracy and consistency from pram to pram.","Once formed, the handle is chrome-plated.","They construct the base of the pram's frame out of steel blade.","An automatic feeder pulls the blade off the roll into a stamping machine.","The machine's die cuts 21\"-long pieces with rounded ends.","A press then bends each piece twice, forming it to the final shape.","To assemble the base, workers align the pieces in the correct configuration with the help of a template.","They add two steel rods for the front and rear axles, then weld everything together.","The base then goes off to be plated with chrome.","When it returns, following some minor assembly steps, the full frame assembly begins.","Workers mount two large oval, steel springs on the base, securing them with pivoting hinges.","Fold flat for easy transport.","They hammer a rivet into each hinge...","Then, using clamps, lock it in.","The pram has a cargo basket made of chrome-plated, welded, steel mesh.","It hooks onto the frame base.","The pram's handle, meanwhile, has acquired a grip made of chrome-plated steel and genuine leather.","They attach the handle to the frame with a plastic, pivoting hinge which enables the handle to fold down flat for transport.","A spring locking device secures the chrome-plated wheels to the axles.","A foot lever at the rear of the frame activates the brake on both rear wheels.","The pram body has an upholstered covering.","They make it by layering a rugged polyester fabric over soft polyester batting, then fusing the two materials along the perimeter with heat generated by a high-frequency welding machine.","This upholstered covering is made up of three sections.","After trimming off the excess fabric, a seamstress stitches the three sections together, then she lines the interior with cotton, a breathable fabric that's soft against baby skin.","The body structure is made of plywood sides, poplar bottom supports, and sturdy fiberboard ends.","After cushioning the sides and edges with polyester batting, they dress the body with the upholstered covering and lay in a cotton mattress.","After installing metal carry handles, they affix the pram's canopy, driving the screws through the upholstery into pre-drilled holes in the plywood's structure.","The canopy is made of water-resistant laminated polyester sewn over a frame of steel ribs.","The ribs are hinged, enabling the canopy to be opened and locked or collapsed.","The snap-on, upholstered front cover, like the canopy, is made of laminated polyester to protect baby from rain and cold.","Metal pins underneath the body fit into slots on the frame, locking it securely with a lever.","For quality control, the factory regularly tests random samples, putting them through 100 hours of simulated bumpy road at a speed of three miles an hour.","The pram must survive this not very baby-friendly journey with nothing beyond normal wear and tear.","Documents say a two-story, panelized-frame dwelling was shipped from england to the u.s. in 1764, but perhaps the first real predecessors of modular homes were sold from catalogues in the early 1900s.","These kit homes eventually led to houses built in a factory setting.","Not only do factory-built homes cost less, they tend to be much more energy-efficient and versatile.","They are quick to build and offer a variety of space options with all the comforts and conveniences of conventional houses.","They provide ease of living and ease of construction, as well.","In the factory, a worker welds the steel pieces that make up the undercarriage chassis.","Its length depends on the demands of the customer.","Workers move the completed chassis to the next part of the factory.","They pull a layer of polyethylene over the length of the chassis and roll a blanket of fiberglass insulation on top.","Framing for the home's subfloor is in place, along with waterlines and heating ducts.","An assembler nails the framing joist to a perimeter rail.","They apply glue to the floor joists and cover the floor framing with composite wood floor decking.","The assemblers nail the decking into place.","A worker glues vinyl tiles onto the decking.","Flooring comes in a variety of materials, including marble, ceramic tile, carpet, laminate, and wood.","In another part of the factory, framers are working on the home's interior walls.","Building them on tables tends to make them straighter and stronger than walls that are built standing upright.","Workers fill these exterior walls with insulation.","The efficiency of the insulation depends on the climate in which the home will be installed.","Workers apply adhesive to the studs.","They position interior paneling and staple it into place.","This is the factory's cabinet shop.","These specialized cabinet makers use a wide variety of materials and styles to create bathroom and kitchen cabinets, such as this double-sink galley cabinet.","Workers begin putting cabinets on the floor of the home.","In factory-built homes, cabinets are installed before exterior and partition walls have been put in place, making the job a lot easier and more precise.","Once the cabinets and interior walls are done, workers install exterior walls.","They add this wall with the help of a crane.","The wall fits precisely into place.","Both the wall and interior frame are pre-caulked, and when they meet, they form an airtight seal.","Workers move this section to the next station in the factory.","Using a crane, they lower the ceiling system into place.","The ceiling system is all one piece.","Workers lower it carefully, making sure the ceiling lines up precisely with the walls below.","All the walls are pre-caulked, and once they set the ceiling down, it's completely sealed, adding to the home's energy efficiency.","Workers blow cellulose insulation into the attic cavity to form a thermal barrier.","Before adding the exterior roof covering, specialized roofers put wood decking over the trusses and staple it into place.","Pvc piping is used to drain the home's waste water and sewer lines.","Assemblers now install lap siding over a moisture barrier.","Sidings can be composite, vinyl, cement, or wood with different finishes.","This cement board is impervious to bugs and won't rot.","A drywall finisher is inside, taping and texturing the gypsum wallboard and applying plaster to walls and ceilings.","This particular home is ready for off-grid use.","Solar panels on the roof charge batteries by day.","The batteries store power for use at night.","This single-module cottage, like most factory-built homes, can be transported and delivered anywhere in the world.","Comfortable, affordable, and energy-efficient, factory-built houses have redefined the dream home.","The wood flute is one of the oldest musical instruments.","Every culture had a version, but the native american one has a particularly soulful sound and a very romantic past.","For centuries, native men played the flute to court their beloved, and it became known as the courting flute.","Today, the courting flute courts a wider following.","Its appeal reaches beyond the native community.","With two chambers instead of one and a block-whistle mechanism, the native american flute is unique.","It takes less skill and effort to play it, and the tranquil tones offer relief from the din of the modern world.","To make one, a native craftsman cleanly splits a piece of cedar with a table saw.","No need to craft it entirely by hand when there are now mechanized woodworking tools.","With a router, he carves a hollow in one end.","It will be half of the flute's slow air chamber, which is the first chamber to receive breath.","He now shapes the much longer sound chamber.","It's the one that sets the pitch of the notes.","After routering corresponding hollows in the other cedar half, he applies glue and spreads it evenly.","A consistent application is crucial.","Any gaps and the flute won't work.","Me matches up the pieces and clamps them for a solid seal.","The clamps squeeze out some glue, so he wipes it away quickly before it dries.","He cleans up the inside with sandpaper wrapped around the end of a spinning metal rod.","Once the assembly dries, he builds the mouthpiece, using a brand of dark african wood for contrast and then a thick chunk of myrtlewood.","Myrtlewood is finely-grained and hard, so it will hold up to heavy use.","He drills into the wood to carve out the mouthpiece and breaks through to the slow air chamber.","It's time for a spin in the lathe.","The craftsman turns a wheel to move a chain-driven router along the spinning wood.","It shaves the wood a little with each pass to take it from square to round.","He mills the flute between the two chambers to create the nest, a flat area with holes upon which the block will rest.","It's through this area that air passes from one chamber to the other.","He cuts off splinters that could ruin the sound of the flute.","He builds up the nest area with a precisely-shaped flat piece of wood.","He bores through it into the nest hole to reopen it and give it its final shape.","He carves a ramp to compress and speed up air as it passes from the first chamber to the second.","He drills the smaller sound hole.","After he files the sound hole to a rectangular shape, he positions the block over the nest.","It's this wood block that creates the clear whistle tone of the flute.","The length of the tube determines the pitch of the instrument.","He blows into the flute and checks the dial of the digital tuner.","The key is a bit too low, so he cuts the end to take it up to \"g\" on the scale.","Satisfied with the pitch, he drills six finger holes.","He spaces them in a precise configuration.","The size of the holes vary slightly to help create the desired notes.","He files the edges of the finger holes on an angle to bring the notes into tune.","He tests the flute again.","It's in the correct range--  no tweaking needed.","He now tapers the mouthpiece using a belt sander.","He uses a fairly rough grit to transform the cylindrical mouthpiece into a cone shape that's easier on the lips.","He scrutinizes the newly-sculpted mouthpiece and confirms that the shape is right.","He signs and numbers it with a wood-burning tool.","Finally, he coats this native american flute with protective acrylic.","Using modern woodworking techniques, a centuries-old musical instrument has been updated and it's now ready to entertain.","In the first half of the 18th century, bike tires were made of wood, then metal, and after that, solid rubber.","Finally, in 1888, a scottish veterinarian named john dunlop developed an air-filled rubber tire to give his son's tricycle a smoother ride.","The air-filled bicycle tire continues to be the hottest thing on two wheels, but a modern spin on the concept takes it into the 21st century.","Computer designed for minimal road resistance and aerodynamics, the inflatable bike tire has had a major update.","Additives such as mineral oil, sulfur, and carbon black make the tire more elastic and durable, and they use a combination of natural, synthetic, and recycled rubber.","They weigh and bag it and send it into an enormous hot mixer.","The white blocks are the synthetic stuff.","Other ingredients include anti-aging agents.","During the mixing, a chemical reaction causes the plastic bags to disintegrate, leaving only the desired elements.","The components melt into a rubbery dough, and rollers squeeze it into thick sheets.","This rubber sheet will now be used to make the tire, beginning with the tread.","Narrower strips enter an extruder.","It heats the rubber to soften it and takes it through a die to form a strategic profile for the bike-tire tread, leaving it thicker in the center and thinner along the edges.","The tire-tread rubber now takes a long cool dip in a tub of water.","This solidifies it, setting the profile shape.","An automated spool winds it up with a fabric separator between the rubber layers to keep them from sticking together.","In the meantime, rubber for the bike-tire casing has been reinforced with nylon mesh.","This casing rubber now enters a cutting station.","Blades slice the casing rubber into strips that are the correct width for building bicycle tires.","It will take several to build one tire.","An employee pieces all the strips together for production.","He winds the assembled strips of casing rubber onto fabric backing.","Neatly rolled onto spools, the rubber can be stored until the tire assembly.","And they're ready to roll.","An employee winds the nylon-reinforced rubber around a metal drum.","She then applies two strong, kevlar threads for the tire beads.","The beads will hold the tire to the wheel rim.","Once in place, devices fold the rubber at the sides over the beads.","She then wraps a kevlar strip around the tire casing.","This is for puncture protection.","A machine now rolls the tread rubber onto the kevlar strip.","With all the layers of the bike tire in place, she removes it from the drum.","Then it's over to the branding station.","This worker arranges labels on the tire rubber and bonds them to it with hot metal plates.","The next employee places the tire rubber in a clamshell-like mold.","This mold contains a large balloon, or bladder.","They pump steam into the balloon, causing it to press the rubber against the sides of the mold.","This shapes the tire, including the tread, and fuses all the layers together.","It also transforms the tire from limp to rigid in a process known as vulcanization, and it's quite a transformation.","This is the tire before vulcanization, and this is the tire after.","One tire from the batch undergoes a gamut of tests.","This one simulates road wear.","The tire spins against a metal wheel until it goes bald, usually after several thousand miles of spinning.","This confirms that the tires from this production run are long-wearing and can go the distance.","They also test for puncture resistance and pressurization.","If the bicycle tire passes all the tests, this batch is ready to test human endurance."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Golf Balls","Furniture Handles","Parking Meters","Room Dividers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Golf balls.","Furniture handles.","Parking meters.","And room dividers.","Different types of golf balls deliver different results.","Highly skilled golfers often use what's called a wound ball-- a ball made of rubber thread wound tightly over a core-- because its flight is more controllable.","But most people use what's called a two-piece ball-- a ball whose core is covered in a dimpled material.","Today's golf ball has really come a long way if you consider that the early ones were made of feathers.","This is what's inside now--  a bouncy rubber.","They mix it up with other chemicals to make a hot batter and then roll it out like a pie crust, cooling it between two huge steel drums.","Next they push the rolled-up rubbery sheets into this machine, called an extruder.","There's a ram inside, and it forces the rubber through a die.","This makes shapes that resemble large marshmallows, called slugs.","A conveyor belt sends them to a compression-mold machine.","Here a worker positions the slugs in a steel mold.","The slugs often vary in color depending on the type of ball being produced.","When the door closes, the bottom part of the mold presses up into the top part, applying over a ton of pressure.","This is a shape-and-bake system because inside this mold, the newly rounded rubber is cooking at 332 degrees fahrenheit.","Baking it for 13 minutes hardens it.","Then after it's cooled with water, a worker places a piece of slotted plexiglas over the mold.","This holds down the leftover trimmings so that only the ball shapes get picked up by the vacuum.","He peels off the excess rubber for recycling later.","The marshmallow-shaped slugs have now been transformed into a solid golf-ball core.","A robot transports these cores to another mold.","A ram pushes melted plastic through tubes and into a mold cavity.","This forms the outside shell of the golf ball, complete with the dimples that will help the ball travel farther.","This is an inside look at a ball with its new shell.","This injecting-molding system generates four dozen golf balls every minute.","The new balls are on the move.","They roll into a bin which funnels them to a golf-ball elevator.","They're on their way to get cleaned up.","Look closely, and you'll see little pieces of leftover plastic on the ball shells.","The next process will get rid of that.","This is an automatic miller that removes the excess plastic.","This is a golf ball before milling.","And here it is after.","The flecks of plastic have been removed.","Next robotic arms shovel the golf balls towards a chute entry.","This is a quality checkpoint.","If the ball is not smooth and uniform, it won't go through this hole.","Now a wheel rolls the golf balls towards a stamping machine.","Robotic arms carry silicone pads to an etched steel plate.","The pads soak up ink from the etched plate and transfer it to the balls.","The pads brand each ball with a player number, the company name, and the model type.","Then beams of ultraviolet light harden the ink.","They dump the balls into a bin, but they funnel some balls over to another stamping machine.","This one does custom logoing.","Now, that's a stamp of approval.","Next an automated machine sprays the balls with polyurethane while they rotate atop spindles.","The polyurethane protects the ink logos that have been stamped on the balls.","Robotic arms carry the wet golf balls to a drying rack, where they cook at 150 degrees fahrenheit for 5 minutes.","Then they're done.","And that's the technique behind the golf ball.","It's up to you to explain your golf technique.","Imagine a dresser with antique-style brass pulls.","Now imagine that same dresser with country-style wooden knobs or funky plastic knobs or sleek handles in stainless steel.","The decorative hardware on a piece of furniture or on cabinetry dramatically affects its look, so changing them is an easy and inexpensive makeover.","How would we get a grip on things without knobs and handles?","They're more than something that can open doors for you.","The many styles add to the appeal of our furniture.","To make a handle, an electrical hoist drops big chunks of zinc into a melting furnace.","At 800 degrees fahrenheit, metal quickly turns into liquid.","It's so hot, you'd lose a finger if you touched it.","Automated arms move an iron pot full of the liquid to a railroad car, which takes it to the next stage.","Here they pour the liquid metal into another furnace that's just as hot.","This is called a machine furnace.","A hydraulically driven cylinder pushes the liquid metal through a system of nozzles and pipes that run through the furnace.","It carries the liquid metal to a die.","The die shapes the handles cookie-cutter style.","Water flushes through the die.","This cools down the zinc, and it hardens into a handle shape with a lot of extra molding that they're going to have to get rid of.","So, now that they've cooled, it's safe to touch them and remove some of that waste.","A worker snaps some of it off and tosses it into a bin for recycling later, and the handle shapes go into a separate bin.","But there are still some little bits of waste on the handles called overflows, so a mechanically driven spinner tosses the handles around and knocks off any overflows that have been missed.","It's a lot faster than picking off those little pieces by hand.","A worker dumps the handle shapes into a bin.","They're definitely starting to take shape now.","A similar die-casting system is used to make knobs, but the knobs come in two interlocking pieces.","They place them on a turntable and fit them together.","Then a 4-ton hydraulic press presses down on the knob, and that pressure seals them.","They pour a mixture of water and oil on the knobs to cool and lubricate them, while an automated machine drives a screw into the back of the knob.","This makes a thread pattern inside of it so it can be easily screwed onto furniture later.","Now they plunge the handles into a chemical bath.","The chemicals help to conduct electricity.","This process is called electroplating.","The handles are negatively charged.","The brass particles in the water are positively charged.","They attract and connect, and this causes the brass plating to form.","They dip the handles into the chemical wash twice and then rinse twice.","Next they dump the brass handles into a vat of acid.","This oxidizes it, blackening the finish to make it look antique.","This brass pull has aged a hundred years in just a few minutes.","Next they funnel the handles into a big, round polisher.","It's called a bowl vibrator.","The handles are mixed in with steel ball bearings.","The machine vibrates, and the friction from the ball bearings polishes the handles.","Now those antique brass handles have a shinier finish.","Sometimes they use ceramic pellets in the polisher instead of ball bearings.","They spray soap and water into the bowl to lubricate the handles and allow them to move freely.","This gentler friction results in a different finish.","The polish on the handles will be brighter.","Now they put a handle into a clamp.","With air pressure, it squeeze the handle so that it hooks into a backplate.","When the pressure is released, the fit is snug.","A front and backplate gives a handle a more elaborate look.","They buff up a knob with a cloth polishing wheel that's mechanically driven.","This process gives knobs and handles a certain gleam.","It's the finishing touch.","The beatles wrote a song about lovely rita the meter maid, but try finding anyone else singing the praises of those uniformed patrols who ticket your car when your meter expires.","Parking meters have been around since the 1930s, and ever since then, drivers have had to pay for parking.","It's time to find out just how these heavy-duty piggy banks are made.","First the low-tech part.","The time-limit label goes onto a zinc dome-shaped plate.","Then a worker sprays lubricant onto various parts of the motherboard that contains computer circuitry.","After he snaps the board onto the plate, he screws it in.","Then he fastens another dome-shaped plate onto the back, sandwiching the motherboard between the two plates.","The worker hooks the board up to the power source--  the battery pack-- and he tucks the pack into a special compartment so that it's secure.","Then he plugs a programming device called an \"x\" key into prongs protruding from the motherboard.","The key feeds software to the motherboard inside.","When numbers appear on the screen, it's programmed.","The next piece, called a smartchute, also has computer circuitry.","It analyzes the coins as they fall through the meter.","It can even recognize coins from other countries.","He puts the chute into a protective plastic casing and plugs it into the protruding prongs that were used earlier to program the meter.","The two boards make a connection and can now communicate to one another.","He clicks another zinc plate over the coin chute and adds a stainless-steel coin slot for added protection.","This card is a radio-frequency probe that detects how much money is in the meter as well as maintenance information.","Just how good is a parking meter at analyzing coins?","This particular meter was made in canada.","A canadian nickel and a british 20 pence are roughly the same size.","Put in a canadian nickel, and you get three minutes.","But try the 20 pence.","Nothing registers.","The meter treats it like a plug nickel.","The meters are now in an environmental chamber.","This chamber replicates the most extreme climate conditions.","It's a test to make sure they're ready for life on the street.","Now it's time to make a lock.","He puts a zinc-alloy lock plug containing brass tumblers into a miniature lathe.","The lathe spins rapidly on its axis while pressing against the hard steel blades.","The blades cut the spinning lock tumblers to the appropriate length.","The result?","A lock plug that has brass tumblers of different lengths that can't be opened without the correct key.","Here a worker places the lock barrel in a vise to give a better view of the lock system.","As you can see, it turns easily with the key.","But, vandals, beware.","This lock is designed to be tough to pick.","Next he inserts the lock into the bottom of a coin can that's made of plastic.","He closes it and then puts it on what's called a sonic welding machine.","It emits high-frequency sound vibrations that actually melt the rigid plastic, welding the top and bottom pieces together.","Now these coins will be really tough to get out without that key.","Next he brushes a second lock system with a lubricant and adds a hard steel shield that will resist attempts to drill into it.","This lock goes onto an iron door which will be part of the vault that contains the coin can.","He brushes the lock assembly with another lubricant to make the locking operation smoother.","Then he installs a rubber gasket along the frame for the meter dome window.","This gasket seals the dome and protects the electronics from harsh weather.","He places a tough plastic window on the gasket and tops it with a zinc strap.","He screws all the pieces together.","Then he places the iron case that will hold all the mechanics on top of the vault containing the coin can.","He attaches the windowed cap and strap assembly with hinges.","And there's a third lock to help protect the electrical components of the parking meter.","After a check for fit and function, he installs the actual mechanics.","This means it's all systems go.","The parking meter is ready for the street.","Later the coins can be collected without even opening the plastic coin can.","This special receptacle activates the lock at the bottom of the can.","Once turned, the coins deposited into the parking meter drop into the receptacle.","If you need to section off part of a room, there are many types of room dividers that can do the job.","Accordion doors routinely divide meeting rooms.","Sliding walls made up of multiple panels can easily split a large reception hall in half or partition an office in no time at all.","This particular company makes two types of room dividers-- sliding panels called operable walls and accordion doors.","Both have built-in soundproofing.","The folding mechanism at the core of an accordion door is called a pantograph.","It's made of flat steel bars riveted together in a crisscross configuration.","A worker tightens the rivets just enough to hold the bars in position without impeding their movement.","Then he inserts pins along the top and bottom, securing them with steel retaining rings.","The pantograph is custom-built to expand to the precise width of the door they're making, the pins attached to the covers that will later sandwich the pantograph, forming the accordion door's surface.","To make those covers, they first make slats.","This automated machine hot-glues a band of cardboard onto a band of steel.","Then a series of rollers progressively folds the sides upward, forming a steel edge around the cardboard.","Finally the machine cuts the continuous band into slats, whose length is the height of the accordion door they're making.","Now workers pair up the slats, connecting them with cardboard strips.","They feed each pair into a glue machine.","The slats come out adhered to a soft and flexible type of paper that's tearproof.","Next workers connect six pairs of slats to form a panel.","Then they glue on the decorative surface-- in this case, commercial-quality vinyl.","To block sound from passing through the space above and below the accordion door, a worker glues a felt-and-vinyl strip to the top and bottom of each panel.","After lining the inside of each panel with acoustic wool, a soundproofing material, another worker gathers the number of panels required for the door's width.","He attaches them using industrial-strength steel staples.","Then he slips u-shaped steel channels onto what will be the door's inside folds.","Using an air-powered machine called a serter, he presses the channels tightly in place.","Now he installs the pentographs.","The height of the doors determine how many.","Using steel retaining rings, he locks the pentograph pins into holes on the channels.","The second cover goes on the same way.","After this, workers apply a metal trim to finish off the front and back ends.","They also install a handle for opening and closing the door.","The door hangs by wheels attached to the top pentograph.","Operable walls are made up of several sliding panels.","For each one, workers build an aluminum frame, then install a soundproofing mechanism-- a crank-activated aluminum seal that juts out to fill the gap above and below the panel.","To make the front and back faces of each panel, workers begin with a sheet of gypsum board.","To one side of it, they glue a steel sheet that's at least 4/100 of an inch thick.","This provides soundproofing.","To the other side, they glue a decorative surface-- in this case, laminate, a thinner version of the material used for countertops.","A machine called a pinch roll applies pressure to ensure the laminate adheres well.","Workers slide the face into the frame, fill in the middle with acoustical wool for soundproofing, then slide in a second facing.","They close up the bottom, then test the retractable soundproofing seal.","The last step is to install the wheels that run along the ceiling rail.","An operable wall can have one or many types of faces-- from fabric, mirror, or galvanized steel to blackboard, markerboard, even cork bulletin board."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Balloons","Wallpaper","Frozen French Fries","Incandescent Light Bulbs"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Balloons...","Wallpaper...","Frozen french fries...","And incandescent light bulbs.","Balloons are used to mark special occasions or to brighten up a day for young and old people alike.","But balloons weren't always so delightful.","In earlier days, they were made of dried animal bladders-- a bit of an unpleasant concept.","In the 19th century, someone invented a rubber balloon which we still use today.","They started mass-producing balloons in the 1930s, and today they're everywhere.","To make balloons, they pour dye into a tank of latex.","They filter it through cheesecloth to remove any lumps.","Agitators at the bottom of the tank mix it up for 15 or 16 hours.","This distributes the color, and it also keeps the latex active so it doesn't congeal.","Balloons come in 53 different shades.","Nozzles spray hot water onto balloon forms to clean them as they move on a system of rollers.","A fixture then flips and dips the forms into a tank of coagulate that carries an electrochemical charge which will attract the colored latex.","On top of this fixture are balloon forms freshly dipped in blue latex, while below a tank full of latex rises, coating more forms on the underside.","The job done, the fixture flips back, moving the balloon forms to an upright position, while below another tray of balloon forms takes the plunge.","The latex dries quickly as a conveyor moves the balloon forms forward toward spiraling brushes.","The brushes roll up the bottoms of the balloons creating lips.","The lips will make it possible for people to grip the balloons in order to inflate them.","The fixture flips again, and the balloons nose-dive into a hot-water bath.","They soak for up to 16 minutes.","This step is critical.","It leaches out all the impurities, including a protein that causes latex allergies.","The hot bath also triggers vulcanization, or rubberizes the latex.","The balloons travel to another station.","Here, the fixture dips them in a mix of talcum powder and water.","This will allow them to be more easily stripped off the form.","And now it's time for the forms to shed their latex skins.","As the forms pass through this station, air jets inflate the balloons.","Rollers at the top grab the balloons as they fill with air and pull them away from the forms.","The rollers shoot the balloons upward, and they topple onto a conveyor belt.","Next, a worker piles the balloons into an industrial washing machine and adds a cleaning solution.","The machine heats to a steamy 160 degrees fahrenheit, while the balloons tumble and nozzles spray water into it.","This doesn't just clean the balloons.","It completes the vulcanization of the latex.","Now it's time to see if they can stand the test of inflation.","A machine blows air into a huge, heart-shaped balloon, and the heart swells but doesn't break.","She holds it against a light to check for imperfections like blisters.","Now it's time to blow some up.","They're sure to brighten up your day.","We've been using wallpaper to add color to our homes for a long time.","The use of wallpaper dates back to 15th-century england.","At first, it was seen as a cheap substitute for tapestry and panels.","But over time, wallpaper gained wider appeal.","Even today, wallpaper is a popular alternative to plain paint.","When it comes to variety and design, wallpaper has really got it covered.","To make the vinyl base for wallpaper, they pour water into a giant mixing bowl, add stabilizing powder and a lot of plastic pellets.","They add solvent which helps to dissolve the plastic pellets into the mix.","Big beaters stir it all up.","It starts to look a lot like pancake batter.","And just as if they were making pancake batter, they add ingredients incrementally-- a little more powder to thicken the mix...","And more plastic pellets for good measure.","When the mix reaches the right consistency, they pour it between rollers onto one side of special paper.","An applicator roller spreads the vinyl mix evenly onto the paper.","A jumbo reel rolls it up and then unwinds it again.","Here, nozzles fill trays with paste.","Rollers pick it up and apply it to the backside of the paper.","Electrically powered rollers pull the wallpaper through a gas oven, drying the paste.","Then they wind up the paper again, creating a giant reel.","A circular blade now slices through the center of the paper.","This turns the one roll into two, each one of them 21 1/2 inches wide.","They pull off a sample piece and tear the paper away from the vinyl.","They're checking the adhesion and if the vinyl is durable and smooth.","Meanwhile, away from the production line, stylists experiment with paint.","They brush colors on a design that they've selected.","They select five to six different color combinations because this design will be printed in many hues.","Each color requires a separate print roller.","The design is engraved into each roller.","A worker applies some ink onto one of the print rollers.","As the wallpaper turns on a big drum vinyl-side up the print roller transfers the image onto the paper.","Each cylinder layers it in a different color, building up the design.","Darker colors are achieved by deeper engravings on the print cylinder because they transfer more ink to the wallpaper.","Conversely, shallower engravings produce lighter tones.","When they have the final proof, they compare it to the original artwork.","If the colors look right, the design goes into production.","There's no turning back now.","The ink is ready, and the paper roll travels through a web of print cylinders.","Here, print cylinders build a dolphin design onto the vinyl side of the paper.","To dry the ink, the paper travels through a hot-blower system.","This is the view from below.","Photos are taken and viewed on a monitor to get a close look at the quality of the wallpaper print.","If it passes inspection, they roll the wallpaper onto a big reel.","Some wallpaper has a flat finish, but they often emboss it, making raised designs.","This creates texture.","Blades from above and below cut the wallpaper into 32.8-foot rolls.","A conveyor system transports the wallpaper to a machine that shrink-wraps it, and then it's off to the showroom, where you can pick your favorite design.","Most food historians believe french fries are actually a belgian invention.","One theory says they originated in the 1680s with poor people who'd resort to frying potatoes instead of fish.","During world war i, fries were popular with north american soldiers stationed in belgium's french-speaking areas, which may be how they came to be called french fries.","This company makes its frozen fries from russet potatoes.","Russets are oval, so they produce longer fries than a rounder-shaped variety would.","Russets are also sufficiently crunchy when fried, and their lower-than-average sugar content means their flesh stays white longer.","When the potatoes arrive at the factory, they travel along rollers that rub off any foreign matter-- things such as soil, small rocks, and plant parts.","The rollers also scrape off the eyes.","The potatoes then enter the washing station.","As they spin in a revolving cage, water jets spray their surface, cleaning them thoroughly.","Next stop-- a sorting machine that divides the potatoes by size.","It's made up of successive levels of vibrating grids.","The shaking forces the smaller potatoes through the grid openings, separating them from the larger potatoes.","Big potatoes become classic, strip-shaped fries.","Small ones become ring-shaped or cube-shaped fries.","After sorting, the potatoes drop into a collection bin.","Once full, its bottom hatch opens, releasing the potatoes into a giant steamer.","After about 10 seconds in the pressurized steam, the skins are soft enough to come off with just a little pressure.","That happens next in this machine called the peeler.","It looks like a giant clothes dryer, except that the drum is lined with brushes.","As the drum tumbles, the bristles rub off the skins.","As the skinless potatoes exit the peeler, workers inspect them, tossing any that have green or rotten parts or pieces of skin still stuck to them.","The type of fries in production determines which of two systems to do the chopping.","A series of rotary, mechanical slicers...","Or a hydraulic system in which running water thrusts the potatoes against cutting blades.","The freshly cut potato pieces drop into a canal.","Flowing water transports them to a conveyor belt that will move them through the next phases.","Now for a high-tech quality check.","Each and every piece passes by a camera in which a computer analyzes size and color.","Any substandard fry-to-be is flagged, and an air jet blows it off the production line.","The good pieces fall into a water tank.","As they soak, sugar leaches out of the flesh so that they'll all turn out the same color once they're cooked.","Then a process known as blanching-- the pieces go into hot water then cold water.","This firms up the flesh and makes the potato flavor more pronounced.","Then it's into the fryer.","The potatoes cook for about two minutes in non-hydrogenated vegetable oil.","As the french fries leave the fryer, excess oil drains down through holes in the conveyor belt to a collection pan below.","The fries now pass through the freezer area which is between 5 and negative-13 degrees fahrenheit.","They take about 10 minutes to freeze.","Once they do, an oscillating conveyor belt deposits them into chutes.","Each chute has a built-in scale set to the package weight which, for this production run, is 8.8 pounds.","Once that quantity accumulates, the bottom of the chute opens, and the fries drop into a plastic bag.","All the customer has to do is drop these frozen french fries into boiling oil for two or three minutes, and they're ready to serve.","The incandescent light bulb is a rather simple device.","Its base has two metal contacts which connect to a metal filament.","The electric current's electrons collide with the atoms in the filament, making them vibrate.","This energy heats the atoms to 4,000 degrees fahrenheit, at which temperature they emit visible light.","The light-bulb factory has two production lines that eventually merge.","One prepares the glass bulb.","The other makes what's called the mount-- the electrical components that go inside it.","At the start of the mount line, a machine cuts glass tubing into pieces of specific lengths.","The cut tubes land on what's called a glazing wheel that runs them through a gas flame for about seven seconds.","This heats the glass enough to smooth the surface.","The glazed tubes now enter what's called a flare-making machine, which heats each tube until the glass is malleable then stretches one end into a flared shape.","The next machine loads two copper lead wires into the flare end, then it inserts a thin, glass cylinder called the exhaust tube.","A trip through a series of progressively hotter flames softens the tubes.","A press then moves in to squash them, encasing the wires in glass.","At the same time, the machine makes a tiny hole in the glass in between the wires.","This is to later remove air from inside the bulb.","It will exit via the exhaust tube through this hole.","Next, the machine separates the lead wires and forms the ends into hooks.","These fasten to the filament, a thin wire coil made of tungsten, a type of metal that holds up well to heat.","The machine coats the lead wires in a liquid form of another metal, zirconia.","This lengthens their life span by making them more resistant to moisture inside the bulb.","Like the tubes we've just seen, the bulbs are made of an inexpensive type of glass called soda-lime glass.","A machine stamps the top of each bulb with the voltage, the wattage, and the company logo.","Opaque light bulbs are simply clear bulbs with an inside coating of synthetic silica-- a white powder.","The coating machine charges the bulbs to 30,000 volts.","Combined with just the right amount of heat, this electrical charge makes a thin layer of powder cling to the glass.","A series of flames evaporates moisture and bakes off any impurities.","As the two production lines merge, a bulb goes over each mount.","Torches then fuse the flared end of the mount to the neck of the bulb.","Arms move in and mold the neck to fit inside the bulb's aluminum base.","The next machine vacuums out all the air in the bulb and replaces it with pressurized argon gas.","This inert gas will resist heat buildup, helping the filament last longer.","After bending the lead wires out of the way, torches melt and seal off the glass exhaust tube, locking the argon gas inside.","The bulb would now be fully functional if connected to an electric current.","But it needs a base in order to screw into the socket of a light fixture.","The base is made of aluminum.","This machine inserts one of the bulbs' lead wires through the middle and solders it in place.","It then spot-welds the other wire to the side.","The result-- two base contacts to line up with two socket contacts.","On their way to packaging, the bulbs undergo what's called flash testing-- repeated light-ups, using a higher voltage each time.","This strengthens the filaments inside, making it less likely to break during shipping.","This factory tests light bulbs regularly to make sure the light output and wattage are what they should be.","One last illumination to make sure nothing broke between flash testing and packaging.","The automated packaging equipment is designed to cushion and protect the fragile bulbs so they don't break during transport."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Spinning Reels","Plasma Protein Therapies","3D Cups","Stainless Steel Beer Kegs"]},"text":["Spinning reels are also called fixed spool reels.","That's because the spool on this fishing reel doesn't rotate.","Instead, a device around the spool does the spinning, which winds the fishing line.","The advantage of using a non-spinning spool is there's no backlash of the line.","A spinning reel provides a unique twist on fishing.","Unlike other reels, the spool doesn't rotate.","Instead, a pivoting, u-shaped wire called a bail spins around the spool to wrap the line.","Making a spinning reel starts with a cylindrical chunk of aluminum.","Computerized cutters carve the cylinder into the rotor that spins the bail around the reel spool.","The transformation is complete.","The cutter sculpts side arms onto the rotor to hold the bail, carving a hole for the spool shaft.","Then a protective finish is applied to the rotor, and the bail is attached.","Next, a craftsman heats a cylindrical piece of steel in a furnace until it's hot and flexible.","Then it's transferred over to a press that flattens the cylinder.","The worker inserts the hot steel puck into a mold.","The top half descends and forces the steel into the crevices.","Tools cut teeth into the part, completing the transformation into a gear.","Next, the gear housing is formed using aluminum alloy.","To trim the excess material from around the edges, designers use a die cutter.","It punches down a part, which then slides down a chute into a bin.","At another station, a laser etches the company name and the product number into the part.","The gear system is now ready to be assembled.","The technician brushes oil on a transmission gear...","Installs it in the gear housing and screws it in place.","Next, a part called a slider is placed on top of the gear.","The ends of the slider are attached to the spinning reel body using thick pins.","The slider moves the spool up and down as the bail spins the line.","Oil is applied onto the neck of the gear body, and a helical pinion is inserted into the gear.","Next, the technician installs a roller element on the extended part of the pinion gear.","A retaining ring is positioned between the bearing and the gear body.","Then a wider steel ring is placed onto the outside of the neck.","An outer metal sleeve holds the part together.","The threaded end of the pinion gear is set on top.","Next, the rotor is attached on the end of the pinion gear and secured with a nut.","This connects the rotor to the gear.","The rotor is tested to confirm that it's operating smoothly.","Another operator places the main gear in the gear body so that the lower teeth engage with the other gears.","The operator slides a metal washer on the gear shaft and links a main axle shaft to the slider.","The operator screws the end of the shaft to the slider...","And inserts thick pins into the gear housing.","They'll prevent the main gear from turning in the wrong direction.","The spinning reel gear system is now complete.","Next, an operator attaches a side plate to the gear body.","This encases the spinning reel's gear system.","The threaded fitting will enable the gears to be linked to a handle.","The reel spool has a drag system inside so the line will slip instead of breaking when pulled by a powerful fish.","A drag adjustment knob is screwed to the end of the spool, then the technician fastens the handle to the fitting in the gear body and checks to confirm it operates smoothly.","An automated testing system turns the handle while water flows over the gear body.","This exposes any leaks that could compromise the internal gear system.","Finally, this spinning reel is ready for action.","Plasma is a yellow-colored liquid component of blood that holds blood cells in suspension.","It's 90% water and contains critical proteins.","Companies harvest these proteins from donated plasma to manufacture medical treatments.","Proteins from human plasma are used to treat shock, bleeding disorders, and immune deficiencies.","First, the plasma is separated from the blood cells and placed in a freezer at a temperature of minus-4 degrees fahrenheit.","This process preserves it until scientists can test its quality.","A computer monitors the temperature and prints out measurements so the team can ensure the plasma remains adequately frozen.","Ready for production, the plasma goes from a freezer to a cooler, and then a warming bath to thaw the outer layer.","A machine collects the bottles and moves them into slots.","A blade slices them open to release the plasma.","The outer layer of plasma has liquefied, but the cores are still frozen.","Then the plasma travels forward to a heated mixing tank.","The agitator and heat break up the chunks, and the plasma becomes liquid.","Transferred to other tanks, technicians expose the plasma to conditions that cause the proteins to become insoluble.","They're pressed into slabs.","In this form, the proteins are known as precipitate.","A technician scrapes the precipitate off the filter sheets and into a plastic-lined container.","An automated system retrieves the filter sheets and takes them through wash stations to remove residual precipitate.","Once thoroughly washed, the filter sheets are ready for the next filtration.","A technician breaks the protein chunks into smaller pieces and bags them for freezing.","This protein is called albumin.","Albumin helps maintain and repair tissue growth.","Next, technicians dissolve the albumin protein in water.","They remove the precipitate from the freezer and pound the outside of the bag to further reduce the size of the pieces inside.","Then the bags of precipitate are emptied into the mixer, causing the particles to disperse.","Over the next day and a half, processing continues to purify and concentrate the albumin.","At the same time, glass bottles enter into a chamber with cameras to take pictures of each bottle.","A computer locates defective bottles and signals a mechanism to knock them out of the line.","The bottles cycle through a washing machine, and then a hot tunnel for sterilization.","They're now ready for the albumin protein.","Needles inject the protein into the bottles, filling eight bottles simultaneously.","A robotic arm inserts stoppers in the neck of the bottles.","Then a machine installs aluminum seals with flip caps.","They crimp the seals around the necks for extra protection.","Technicians load racks of the bottled albumin into a pasteurizer.","The chamber fills with water heated to 140 degrees fahrenheit.","This kills any potential pathogens.","The glass vials slowly spin by a magnifying glass as inspectors scrutinize them for cracks, missing stoppers, broken seals, and other defects.","A technician takes out any product with physical flaws.","As the remaining bottles continue down the line, an inspector examines them again.","This time, visually checking the volume of the albumin protein.","At the next station, labels unwind, and a camera takes a picture for a computer check of the batch information.","The computer confirms that what's on the label is accurate.","Next, specialists place a sample in a petri dish and incubate it for 14 days.","If there are unwanted micro-organisms in the batch, they'll grow.","But if not, the protein therapy is cleared for use.","This protein therapy is now ready for medical emergencies.","Pictures on 3-d cups have depth and appear to move, depending on the angle you view them.","It's a neat trick made possible by a technology known as lenticular printing.","A sheet of tiny plastic lenses is applied to interlaced images, creating a kind of graphic magic to entertain you.","A 3-d cup fools the eye.","Viewed from different angles, the artwork seems to come to life.","It's all a carefully crafted illusion.","Making 3-d cups starts with clear plastic pellets.","An extruder machine melts the pellets to a semi-liquid consistency.","An engraving cylinder forms it into rows of tiny convex lenses.","Water-chilled cylinders cool the sheet of lenses.","This solidifies the plastic, then a gauge measures the lenses' thickness.","A blower device dissipates static.","An ink jet printer prints information on the edge.","This indicates the optical resolution of the lenses, the type of plastic, and the lot number.","Then a rotary blade cuts the plastic into sheets.","The sheets land in a neat stack.","To confirm their size and alignment, an inspector views them against a pitch test pattern.","Another inspector magnifies a sample 100 times and measures the thickness of the lenses.","Too thin or thick, and the lens display won't focus.","With a lens strip clamped at both ends, the machine pulls it from the top.","How far it stretches until it breaks is a measure of its strength.","Meanwhile, a team designs and edits scenes on a computer.","Designers copy the scene, divide it into very narrow strips, and then interlace the strips.","Next, the strips are combined into a 2-dimensional, digital file.","Designers now run test copies known as proofs.","This process tests sheets of colored plastic film which will serve as ink.","The technician layers the colored film in a cartridge with muslin paper.","Next, the cartridge is placed in the printer which creates the proofs.","The designer transfers them to an illuminated work surface and confirms that the images line up with the plastic lenses.","Once the print plates are made, an operator loads them into the printer.","A suctioning arm feeds the lenticular plastic sheets into the printer, reverse-side up.","In this position, the images will be printed on the smooth side of the plastic.","Rotating cylinders transfer ink from the printing plates to the sheets, one color at a time.","This system prints several different 3-d cup images on each lenticular plastic sheet.","The press ejects and stacks the printed sheets.","The 3-d-printed sheets now head into a laminator.","It applies a white film to the artwork.","This film will protect the 3-d images during the cup-molding process.","Next, the sheets are cut into cup-sized labels, placed on an illuminated table and inspected for any visual flaws.","Once approved, the designer clears the the labels to be formed to plastic cups.","Next, an operator loads the stacks of 3-d labels into the cup-forming machine.","This machine will process four different labels onto cups at once.","Each with a different 3-d image.","A robot with suction grippers picks up the labels one at a time and transfers them to cup-shaped mandrels.","The mandrel inserts the 3-d label into the mold of a cup.","Molten polypropylene flows into the mold, and as it solidifies and becomes a cup, the 3-d label fuses to it together.","Robots retrieve the 3-d cups and stack them on their sides to await final inspection.","Then they're packaged for shipment.","3-d cups are no ordinary beverage container.","Rather, they're a fun visual experience for any type of consumer.","Commercial breweries not only bottle and can their beer, they also ship it in kegs to distributors, bars, and restaurants.","Kegs are typically made of stainless steel-- a durable metal that doesn't produce oxides that adversely affect the taste of the beer.","This beer keg is made from a food-grade steel commonly used for cookware.","It's exceptionally durable and contains sufficient chromium and nickel to protect against corrosion.","First, a technician coats a circular piece of stainless steel with lubricant.","Then the steel is placed in a machine called a deep draw press.","The press slowly draws the edges of the metal circle upward for 90 seconds, forming a cylinder with one opened and one closed end.","Next, technicians place the cylinder in a trimming machine, which spins the cylinder against a blade.","The machine cuts off half an inch of excess metal from the open end.","Then the cylinder is flipped and placed in a punch press.","The press knocks out a 2-inch hole in the closed end.","Next, technicians put the cylinder on a fixture and secure a stainless steel neck to the hole.","The neck is welded into place.","This cylinder will form the bottom half of the keg.","Technicians pair it with another cylinder which will form the top half of the keg.","This cylinder has an open end and a closed end.","They align the two open ends in a welding fixture and manually tack weld them together in six spots.","They transfer the assembled keg to an automated machine which welds the tacked perimeter together.","This press punches four holes into a 2-millimeter-thick strip of stainless steel to imprint the name of the brewery.","Next, a roll machine curves the strip.","Then a seam welder joins the ends to form a circle.","This circle will become the handle on top of the keg, known as the chime.","A technician places the circle on the chime-forming machine and brushes on some lubricant.","Automated, hydraulically driven rollers then form the chime in three stages.","Next, the chime is placed on a punch press with lubricant.","The press then knocks out two handle holes.","Technicians place another chime underneath the keg with one on top of this machine, appropriately named the keg crusher.","The machine presses both chimes in place.","Next, an automated lathe welder welds them to the keg simultaneously.","The keg is put through a series of baths, then rinses.","The acid removes the scorch marks left by the welding and render the stainless steel food safe by making it resistant to oxidation, which causes corrosion.","The valve, which connects to the tapping system that draws out the beer, goes through the hole in the bottom cylinder.","This clip ring holds it in place.","Pressed deep into the neck with this tool.","Every keg goes through quality control testing before it leaves the factory.","This is a pressure test to ensure the keg doesn't leak.","Technicians pump in compressed air to three times the pressure the keg would ever have to withstand.","Then they spray the keg with a water-and-soap solution, checking for air bubbles, which would indicate a pinhole leak.","Then the finishing touch.","A silk screen machine prints the brewery's identification onto the keg.","The keg goes into an oven for 45 seconds to cure the ink, which renders it wear-resistant.","These beer kegs are designed to withstand a lifetime of handling because they're transported back and forth between the brewery and the establishments filling the beer glasses."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Abalone Collagen","Digital"]},"text":["Abalone is an edible mollusk.","Its shell has a multicolored iridescent lining that's been used since ancient times to decorate jewelry and other prized objects.","More recently, abalone has been tapped as a source of collagen, a protein that supports the structure of bones, connective tissues, and skin.","Abalone collagen is a popular treatment in asia.","This farm and factory raises the abalones, then extracts their collagen to add to drinks, cosmetics, and medicine.","The abalones spend their first six months in the farm's hatchery and nursery pond.","Nocturnal, they hide from daylight under cement tiles that simulate their natural habitat of rocks and coral.","Their single shell has pores that regulate various bodily functions such as breathing and reproduction.","The main ingredient in their specially formulated food is seaweed.","Feeding time is once every evening.","At six months of age, the abalones graduate to the cultivation pond.","There are two types of growing methods.","In this one, before filling the pond with seawater, workers lay cement tiles at the bottom, along with underwater pipes that supply oxygen, which abalones need to survive.","The other method houses the abalones in stacks of polyethylene crates, referred to as condominiums.","With 50 to 100 abalones in each condo, the yield per square foot is significantly greater.","Every second day, workers remove the condos from the cultivation pond to rinse out the crates, check the abalones, and feed them.","Rather than wastefully using new seawater, the pond water is regularly drained, cleaned, and recirculated.","The cleaning system filters out feces and neutralizes ammonia.","After six months to a year in the cultivation pond, the abalones are mature and ready for harvesting.","Workers remove them from the shell and remove organs to be used for other products.","Then, the workers prepare to extract collagen from the meat.","First, they mash the meat in an industrial-sized blender.","The trick is to use an extraction method that doesn't destroy the collagen or diminish its effectiveness.","Abalone collagen must have full potency when consumed in order to stimulate the human body to produce more of its own collagen.","Since prolonged heating turns collagen into gelatin, worker use a process called cold extraction, stirring the meat in refrigerated tanks for up to seven days until the collagen separates and rises to the top.","Workers skim off the collagen, then, to make this particular product, blend it with mixed fruit juices.","Then they heat the drink in pasteurization tanks for three minutes to kill off any bacteria.","The drink contains 20% collagen and 80% juice.","When it's time to package the product, the conveyor belt moves glass bottles to the cleaning station, which washes them out with pressurized boiling water.","After washing, the bottles move to the next machine which fills them with the drink.","The next machine seals the bottles with an aluminum twist cap.","Controlled by a sensor, an inkjet printer applies the lot number on the cap along with the product's expiration date, a year away.","A worker visually inspects the bottles as they make their way to the labeling machine.","The factory's on-site laboratory conducts a series of quality control tests on random samples.","In this test, the technician uses a ph meter to ensure the product's acidity is within a specific target range.","In another test, she places a few drops on a device called a refractometer.","It measures to what extent light passing through the liquid is bent, which gives a reading of the sweetness.","While this drink is a skin enhancement product, other abalone collagen formulations are designed for weight loss, boosting immunity, increasing bone density, and strengthening cartilage.","An essential component of an audio system is the digital-to-analog converter.","It receives data from a digital device such as a computer, tv, or disc player and converts that signal to analog, an electrical audio signal that the sound system can amplify and play through speakers.","This digital-to-analog converter, part of a product line of high-end audio components, has four inputs for different digital devices.","It also has a built-in cd drive.","Many of the converter's structural parts are made by computer-guided machines.","This computer-guided lathe, for example, rotates an aluminum bar, which a cutting tool forms into one of four legs that support the cd drive.","This milling machine cuts and shapes most of the aluminum parts that makeup the converter's chassis, the box that contains all the electronic components.","The parts come off the mill with sharp burrs along their edges, so the next step is to trim them with a de-burring tool.","Workers spray the trimmed chassis parts with black powder paint, then bake the paint in an oven to make it more durable.","Then they print labeling on the chassis's front and back panels by squeegeeing white epoxy paint through a silkscreen stencil.","Then workers put the panels in the oven to bake the paint.","Workers install them in between the cd drive support base and each of the feet to create a floating suspension system that protects the drive from vibration.","Next, workers install the cd drive onto the support base.","They install the drive's protective cover.","It prevents dust from getting into the cd optical reader.","Meanwhile, a technician tests each of the converter's five circuit boards to make sure they function perfectly.","This board runs the l.e.d. display which shows the selected input and other playback information.","Once all the circuit boards pass inspection, workers solder the l.e.d. board to the front panel circuit board which runs the converter's user controls.","The worker inserts brushed aluminum push buttons into the front panel's labeled holes.","Then they attach the front panel circuit board.","This aligns the push buttons with the corresponding contacts on the board.","The worker assembles the chassis bottom, side, and back panels.","They attach the front panel with its push button controls, and in the center, an opening for the cd drive.","The technician visually inspects the converter's main circuit board, which converts the digital signal to analog.","If the main circuit board passes inspection, they install it in the back of the converter next to the power supply board.","Next, a worker installs the cd drive.","This requires connecting three cables into the main board-- one for the optical reader, and two for the motors that open and close the loading tray and spin the compact disc.","Before completing the converter by closing up the top, a worker tests the cd drive as well as the four other digital inputs, which are designed for connecting devices such as audio components, dvd or blu-ray players, tvs, and computers.","The testing machine takes all kinds of measurements to ensure the converter performs to a list of technical specifications.","If the unit passes inspection, they complete the assembly by attaching the top cover.","This digital-to-analog converter is now ready to play its critical role in this high-end audio system, reproducing sound for the discerning ear.","Embossed wood trim can make factory furniture look handcrafted.","The technique was developed over a century ago to mimic carvings on fancier furnishings that were only available to the wealthy.","Today, this trim is still giving furniture and cabinetry the look of hand carving.","The purpose of embossed wood trim is purely aesthetic.","It can transform a piece of furniture and make it a beautiful thing.","Making embossed moulding starts with a rough piece of maple.","Using a rip saw, a woodworker slices the board into strips.","The first cut straightens the edge of the wood to correct warps, and the second one trims the strips to the correct dimension.","He then carves through the center of each strip to get two pieces of trim from one board.","Each strip is about 1/2 inch thick.","The strips are ready to be fed to the moulder, a machine that shapes the flat surface to a specific profile.","The moulder has five cutter heads.","To prepare them, he inserts a spacer and a blade into the steel head.","He uses a magnet to pull them into alignment.","The worker locks the blade and spacer to the cutter head with bolts.","He slides the cutter head onto a spindle in the moulder.","The worker secures it with a nut, using a special tool for the job.","Once all the cutter heads are in place, he turns the switch on the machine.","As the cutters spin, the operator feeds the long strips of wood to them.","Rubber and steel wheels move the board from one cutter to the next.","The cutter progressively profiles the area that's to be embossed and creates decorative raised borders.","Here's a side view of the contouring.","This trim is now ready for embossing.","Some of the embossing wheels at this shop date back to 1908.","The oldest wheels are made of bronze, and the newer ones are made of steel.","There are hundreds of patterns to choose from.","The worker selects the wheel with the desired pattern.","He mounts it to an embossing machine that was built in 1908.","The worker locks the embossing wheel onto the shaft.","He ignites torches that heat the embossing wheel.","As the hot wheel revolves, it presses the pattern into the moulded strip of wood.","The heat releases moisture from the wood, preventing splintering during embossing.","A drive wheel below works in concert with the embossing wheel to move the wood forward.","Next up are rosettes that are used to accentuate the corners of furniture, windows, and doors.","Using a sliding apparatus known as a sled, the woodworker delivers a board to the teeth of a saw.","He makes straight cuts and squares to the desired dimensions.","The worker draws lines from one corner of the wood square to another, and from the opposite sides.","The lines intersect at the exact center of the square.","The worker clamps the square in a milling machine with the cutting tool aimed directly at the center.","He activates the tool to make the first circular cut.","He removes the wood square to check out the cut.","The worker measures it to confirm that it is in fact, dead center.","He returns the square to the platform under the milling tool.","This time the cutter spins into the wood to make a wider and deeper circular cut.","This further expands the pattern in a radial fashion.","And it completes the rosette pattern.","The worker examines the quality of the cut and measures the distance to the edge of the wood to verify that it's to spec.","From a simple wood square to an elegant rosette, this job is done.","The trim can now be used to make furniture looked hand carved without all the effort.","A stapler can instantly transform a pile of papers into a document.","Its story begins with the rapid increase in the use of paper in the middle of the 19th century.","The stapler was developed because people needed something better than string or pins to hold the pages together.","Plier staplers open and close like pliers to tackle fastening jobs with quick precision.","Making these staplers starts with the cover plate.","A press wields up to 176 tons of force to shape steel blanks to a slopped profile.","A robot inserts tracks into nickel steel casings.","These are the vertical staple tracks for the front of the stapler.","Tools bend tabs on the ends of the casings to fasten the two parts.","Another robot serves up covers for the stapler's magazines to an automated welder.","The welder fuses an assembly attachment to each cover.","A worker immerses some of the stapler's interior parts in a solution of water and zinc phosphate.","This solution forms an anti-corrosion coating on the surface of the steel.","These particular parts are pusher guides.","The top part has the protective coating.","The parts then take a ride with ceramic stones and polishing solution.","This smoothes rough bits and makes them shine.","Next up is the die plate.","This is the part that shapes and closes the staple during stapling.","An automated system screws an iron \"u\"-bolt attachment to the die plate.","A robot then inserts the spring block, the part that allows the stapler to spring back to its original position after use.","Meanwhile at the next station, a robot places a piece of precision-cut steel on a mold.","A press drives it into the mold to shape it into the stapler body that holds all the working components.","More robots then work in perfect sequence, to install thick metal pins across the stapler body.","These pins brace the stapler's structure, but that's not all.","Some of the stapler's working parts will hook onto these pins.","Other robots now fasten the die plate to one end of the stapler body using rivet hinge.","In the process, they also fasten the spring block securely to the die plate.","After cleaning and degreasing, the stapler bodies head into a paint booth.","Spray guns apply primer, and a curtain of water behind the parts prevents emissions from escaping from the booth.","The next sprayers coat the parts with green paint.","With the paint dry on the stapler body, workers are ready to assemble all the working parts.","The assembler slides the front staple track into place and inserts the staple pusher guide into the body.","She positions a metal plate over the guide and screws everything in place through holes in the body of the stapler.","The assembler clips a retaining ring around each screw.","Next up is the driver.","This part detaches staples one at a time during stapling.","After installing it, the assembler inserts the spring loaded pusher and hooks the end on the staple guide.","Another worker assembles the handle that allows the stapler to be wielded with plier-like accuracy.","He secures the handle with a rolling fastener.","This rolling fastener indirectly bears down on the staples to apply pressure during stapling.","Another team member then inspects the stapler.","Satisfied with its fabrication, she reaches for the cover plate and hammers the wings to bend them for a better fit.","She slides the cover plate into the grooves of the stapler and loads the staples to give it a trial run.","She staples paper repeatedly to confirm that it's fully operational.","These plier staplers are now ready for the workplace, where with a few quick crunches, they'll help keep the paperwork in order."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ropes","Billiard Tables","Sailboards","Cymbals"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Ropes...","Billiard tables...","Sailboards...","And cymbals.","Years ago, making rope was a time-consuming process.","They stretched yarn 700 to 1,000 feet-- sometimes down alleys-- and secured it on hooks.","Then, they turned wheels to rotate the hooks, twisting the yarn into rope.","This technique was called a rope walk.","Luckily, today, we have machines to do all the work for us.","These ropes are made from thousands of nylon fibers that are finer than human hair but stronger.","To make rope, yarns wind around aluminum cylinders pulled by a turning spool down the line.","Then, three at a time, the yarns roll over another spool that applies a protective coating of urethane.","They funnel through a distribution plate that holds them evenly apart.","This ensures they're at an even tension as a rocking spool twists them into one larger yarn.","This machine is called the whirlwind.","It twists the yarn and then winds it onto a take-up spool inside.","A little arm moves back and forth, guiding the yarn so it winds evenly onto the spool.","This is core yarn, and it will be used to make other rope.","Now dozens of spools of nylon fiber unwind at the same time to make jackets to protect the core yarns.","The fibers travel several feet over a network of rollers that act as guides and control tension on each individual fiber.","They pass through distribution plates as turning bobbins below twist the fibers into yarn.","A platform moves up and down to evenly wind the yarn onto the bobbin.","They place 48 of these bobbins on the maypole machine-- so called because the braiding action resembles a dance around a traditional maypole.","The bobbins spin and zigzag around each other as the machine pulls core yarn up through the center.","Here, you can see the rope being braided around the core yarn as it's pulled up through a die.","This is the braiding action in slow motion.","It produces a mountain-climbing rope-- strong yet stretchy because of the twist in the core of the rope.","The rope winds onto the wheel as it pulls it upwards.","Then it spills into a basket.","A worker pulls out a sample rope to checks its flexibility and strength.","He bends it to make sure it will knot easily.","Now another maypole braider weaves a synthetic rope that's stronger than steel yet lightweight and flexible.","That's because the strands at the core are braided with a material called ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.","It's a high-performance thermoplastic.","This rope will be used for advanced yachting.","A pulley draws this high-tech rope through some metal pipes filled with steam.","This shrinks the polyester jacket around the powerful core for a tight fit.","These dancing bobbins do some fancy moves to produce different weaves around core ropes.","They dip around and between each other in a choreographed sequence.","But there are no worries about production hitting a snarl-- if a yarn breaks, the machine simply shuts down.","It takes 8-10 hours to make around 3,000 feet of this large utility rope.","Now for the strength test.","They loop a sample piece of rope around steel posts.","This one is a nylon double braid, the type used for dock lines on boats.","Hydraulic pressure pulls the rope upwards while a computerized gauge measures the tension and detects the breaking point.","Almost 20,000 pounds-- that's the weight of a killer whale.","Needless to say, this rope is just fine.","Now for another test-- they insert a steel probe, known as a fid, into some industrial rope, then place the pointed end into a hole.","An electric motor forces the fid though while a gauge measures the force it takes for it to completely penetrate the rope.","It took 10 pounds of pressure to push the probe through the rope, which means this rope is firm yet flexible.","And that's how this useful item is made.","The game of billiards has beenaround in one form or another for nearly 500 years.","During the 19th century, the game's rules and equipment evolved to basically what they are today.","Billiards, also known as pool, is played on a slate tabletop that's usually 8'3½\" long and 4'7½\" wide.","Clients order billiard tables much like they would custom-designed furniture.","They pick the table's style, colors, the type of wood, and its lacquer and stain.","The tables come in maple, walnut, mahogany, cherry, and the most popular, oak.","A computer-guided machine shapes part of what'll be the table's frame.","This machine's rotating heads perform several different tasks.","A profiling head carves the angle of part of the frame, a routering head creates the table's decorative grooves, and a drilling head makes holes for bolts to fit through.","Six wood components, called rails, will surround the playing surface.","They have diamond-shaped carvings that'll become visual markers for the players.","After spraying the rails with glue, a worker inserts 18 metal nuts.","They'll be used later to secure the rails to the playing surface.","He attaches rubber strips along the sticky rails, which are just over three feet long.","The rubber will cushion the balls when they hit the sides.","The rails then pass through a press twice to ensure the rubber adheres.","Next, workers move the rails along this 30-foot-long sanding machine.","Rubber wheels gently grip each rail as presses rub sandpaper along the edge and top.","They skip the bottom because it'll be covered.","They pass the rails through this sander several times to smooth them down.","To make sure everything fits, a worker pre-assembles the four sides and the middle section of the frame's base.","He uses 20 metal bolts and 20 nuts to join them.","And he inserts eight wooden dowels in order to align the table parts correctly.","He stamps numbers on the frame sections so they can be reassembled later by pairing the same numbered parts together.","Next, a worker hot glues 18 one-inch-long mother-of-pearl components called sights.","He fits them into the carvings on the rails which have now been stained to the desired shade.","He taps them into place using a hammer and a block made of synthetic resin.","This way he won't damage the rail.","A worker then lines the rubber part of the rail with cloth made of wool and nylon.","He attaches it with a plastic strip that fits over the cloth and into a groove.","He uses a mallet to ensure the cloth is tightly inserted.","The worker then staples the cloth to the other side of the rail.","A zinc and brass plaque displays the table's brand name.","After shipping, workers reassemble the table in its new home.","Serial numbers ensure the parts belong to the same table.","Assembly takes about two hours.","They match the numbered parts together using up to 50 bolts and 50 nuts.","Then they level the table using metal components called leg levelers to adjust the table's height.","It's like sticking a matchbook under an uneven table leg.","Now comes the really heavy lifting-- workers fit the three sections of the table's top, which are made of slate and weigh up to 300 pounds each.","Slate won't degrade, and it won't budge if you hit it.","The workers use 12 screws to attach the slate sections to the frame.","They level the sections using wedge-shaped plastic shims between the slate and the frame.","Next, a worker melts wax over the cracks between the sections.","He uses a scraper to smooth out the playing surface.","The remaining holes will later be covered by rails.","After the wax dries, they cover the table surface with cloth, which comes in a variety of colors.","They cut the cloth in the corners so there won't be any creases in the lining of the pocket holes.","They staple the cloth to wood strips under the slate.","A worker pierces the cloth over holes in the slate so he can later attach the rails.","The six pockets are six inches deep and consist of a metal frame covered with a leather lattice.","Workers install 18 threaded metal rods underneath the rails.","Then they flip the rail assembly and insert the rods through pre-made holes in the table top.","They use nuts to secure the rods in place.","Screws attach the pockets, and voilà, your table is ready.","For prices ranging between $1,500 and $15,000 you have quite a stylish game.","American newman darby built the first sailboards during the 1960s.","He rigged a sail to a mast on a board with a tail fin and rode the wind and waves.","Today's windsurfers can pay several thousand dollars for their high-tech gear.","This includes a sail, a mast, and a sailboard.","To make a sailboard, workers start with a long block of styrofoam.","They attach a wood template, pushing nails through holes in the wood and into the block.","Using an electrically heated tool, called a hot-wire, they slice the block along the curved line of the template.","The result is what's known as the core.","They use styrofoam because it's lightweight and buoyant.","Next, a worker guides what's known as a shaper machine.","It outlines a template, called a masterboard, on the left, while a spindle cuts grooves into the core on the right.","The grooves are guidelines to carve the core into the shape of the masterboard later on.","The shaper's 40-pound counterweight lets the spindle gently hover above the core as it cuts.","Styrofoam dust flies everywhere, so the worker wears a protective mask to avoid inhaling it.","A worker then saws along the grooves to reveal the initial shape of the sailboard.","Another worker then sands down the core.","Next, he applies almost 1 1/2 pounds of epoxy resin onto carbon fabric to reinforce the material and make it sticky.","Another worker applies resin on fiberglass fabric.","These strong, lightweight materials are part of the board's fabric-and-foam-sandwich construction.","They'll harden inside molds of the board's top and bottom sections during the curing later on.","The workers carefully scrape away about 20% of the resin.","Too much and the board could crack during use.","Here, the worker spreads thicker resin onto a piece of rigid foam that's 1/8 of an inch thick.","He places it into the bottom mold and attaches a hand-sized plastic component called a fin box.","It'll hold the sailboard's fin, which helps the user steer.","They add kevlar, an ultra-lightweight synthetic fabric, as the final outer layer on the core's bottom side.","After applying resin to another piece of rigid foam, a worker cuts openings through which other components will later fit.","This layer is placed into the top mold and covered with more carbon fabric.","Next, a worker places the core into the bottom mold.","He fits two plastic components, called foot strap inserts, into openings lined with fiberglass fabric to secure them.","Another plastic component, called a mast track, fits through an opening lined with a stronger carbon fabric.","The track will later anchor a mast measuring up to 20 feet high.","Strips of carbon fabric also reinforce the areas where the windsurfer will stand.","Workers join the mold sections and insert the whole thing into a plastic sack called a vacuum bag.","They tape the end shut but leave two smaller holes open.","They attach two hoses to collars in these holes.","An electric pump then takes about three minutes to suck all the air out of the bag.","As the air is removed, pressure forces the mold sections even closer together.","After curing in an oven at 100 degrees fahrenheit for 5 hours, workers separate the mold sections.","Using a rotary grinder, a worker trims away excess hardened fabric and foam along the edge.","The whole board got a coat of primer earlier, but now a worker sands the paint off along the edge.","They place a strip of carbon fabric all the way around the edge and secure it with thin plastic wrap.","After more curing, the wrapping is removed, and the board is sealed for good.","Next, the sailboard gets another skin-- two coats of urethane paint.","A worker locates the foot strap insert holes and cleans them out with a router bit.","He uses a router to clean the inside of the mast-track opening.","An enormous vinyl sticker gives the board its personality.","A worker smoothes away any air bubbles.","Then, after inscribing the sailboard's dimensions and serial number, he signs the board.","Finally, workers glue on two rubber cushions, called deck pads.","For $1,900, you've got the foundation of a very cool gliding machine.","People have been crashing cymbals for centuries.","History tells us that cymbals were used in israel in 1100 b.c. over the centuries, the finest cymbals have been manufactured in turkey with a secret method for blending metals.","And those time-honored techniques still resound in cymbal-making today.","Cymbals play an important role in today's music making.","Each cymbal has its own character, resulting in subtle differences in tone.","To make cymbals, they start with castings.","In this case they're made of a secret blend of copper, tin, and trace amounts of silver.","A worker sorts them by weight.","Then a moving tray that's powered hydraulically takes them to a rotary oven.","1,500 degrees fahrenheit softens the castings, and then workers shovel them into a rolling mill.","It squeezes them between two big metal cylinders.","And the effect is the same as rolling out pie crust-- the castings become thinner, flatter, and larger.","These castings go through a heating and rolling cycle up to 12 times depending on the type of cymbal being made.","The repeated heating and cross-rolling creates a dense, interlocking weave in the granular structure of the alloy.","It will make the cymbals strong enough to take a real beating.","The interlocking weave will also help transmit sound waves more rapidly across the cymbal.","After the cymbal has been tempered and pressed into its final shape, they place it on a spindle.","While it spins, circular cutters shear the edges to a set diameter.","Next, the cymbal is pounded.","A hydraulic engine powers this hammering cylinder, and a computer program directs the force.","These impressions will enrich the cymbal's sound by changing the path of the sound waves.","Next, the application of tonal grooves.","This craftsman puts the cymbal on a lathe, bottom side forward.","The cymbal spins on an axle while the lathing blade cuts into it.","He starts with a hand-held lathing tool and then switches to one that's mounted on the machine.","Lathing removes the cymbal's outer layer and carves those important tonal grooves into it.","The depth and position will vary depending on the type of cymbal being produced.","He lathes the top of the cymbal entirely by hand so he can better control the amount of pressure applied.","Watch those fingers.","Don't worry--  he knows what he's doing.","He's honed his skills over five years of apprenticeship, and no automatic machine can duplicate the fine touch of an experienced cymbal craftsman.","Now he removes the newly grooved cymbal and puts it on an edging machine.","A big, round metal clamp locks the cymbal in place.","It spins while a cutting tool smoothes out the edge of the cymbal.","Here's a before and after shot-- the ragged rim is before edging.","The smoother one at the bottom is after.","This guy has the best job-- he's in charge of quality assurance.","That means he tests each cymbal before it's sent out into the marketplace.","He's listening for a range of sounds.","Now a laser etches the trademark into the cymbal.","It also engraves a unique serial number.","Next, a silicon pad sponges up ink from a print plate and transfers it to the cymbal.","Now that the company logo is on, it's ready for shipping anywhere in the world.","But this rough metal casting has already come a long way.","It's been transformed into a smooth, sleek cymbal over a total of 21 days."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Solid Tires","Cheesecake","Canoe Paddles","Globes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" solid tires...","Cheesecake...","Canoe paddles...","And globes.","Solid rubber tires are designed to conquer the toughest turf, the kind of rough terrain found at construction sites, landfills, and mining operations.","These places are full of hazards that would flatten ordinary air-filled tires, but solid tires don't go flat.","Even with a dozen nails sticking out of them, these big boys just keep on turning.","Strong and dependable, these tires are ideal for heavy work.","And because there's no inner tube, you never have to worry about getting a flat.","It all starts with a wide strip of partially processed rubber.","As the strip is forced through a series of holes, it's turned into a long, tubular shape.","Next, hot cylinders roll it thin and soft like a pie crust.","In another part of the factory, the tires' metal frameworks are being prepped.","A worker moves them along an overhead rail into a special chamber.","Steel pellets are added to the mix.","Inside the chamber, a machine tosses the pellets around and the friction polishes the metal tire frames.","Next, workers spray on a coat of primer and apply an adhesive.","Then one by one, the frames are mounted on a mechanical arm that's positioned in front of the rubber rolling system.","The arm moves the tire frame forward to meet the turning cylinders.","The metal surface, still tacky from the glue, easily takes up the freshly rolled rubber.","Depending on the kind of tire being made, the machine can layer the rubber around the frame up to 100 times.","Then, workers weigh the tire and slice off bits of rubber until it meets specifications.","This solid tire is now in good shape, so it moves on to the next stage.","Over at another station, they're building a different type of solid tire.","This one has no metal framework, so it can fit on a rim made for an air-filled tire.","Rubber strips are wound around the metal hub that serves as a mold.","Then a heavy press squeezes out any air pockets.","These rubber strips contain recycled material which is stiffer than regular rubber.","This will help the tire hold its shape in the absence of a metal framework.","Now it's time for some tread.","Workers begin the process by spraying a release agent onto a mold so it will be easier to remove the tire later.","Then they lightly glue the i.d. label and serial-number plate to position them for transfer to the tire.","The tire is centered in the mold with a metal ring.","Then the top section of the mold is lowered into place.","Now it's time to get cooking.","The mold is hoisted to another station and sandwiched between two steaming hot plates.","The searing temperature melts the rubber into the crevices of the mold.","Minutes later, the mold is opened and out comes a treaded tire.","The heat has also vulcanized the rubber, a molecular change that makes it much more durable.","Changing one of these tires isn't a job for just anyone.","Typically a specialist travels to the work site and switches tires using a heavy-duty hydraulic system.","And that's how you put a solid tire on a wheel rim made for an air-filled one.","Big tires with metal frameworks go into this autoclave to be shaped and undergo vulcanization.","A forklift, equipped with solid tires, of course, extracts the finished tires from the autoclave.","And now they're ready to roll.","When we return, another round creation.","People associate cheesecake with new york, but actually, it comes from greece.","The ancient greeks served this rich delicacy to the athletes of the first olympic games in 776 b.c. the roman conquest spread the dessert across europe, and many centuries later, european immigrants brought to north america.","The ancient romans even brought cheesecake to their temples as an offering to the gods.","The basis of a cheesecake is its rich, creamy filling made from ricotta, neufchatel, or cream cheese.","But first, bakers need to make the crust, similar to a butter cookie.","For a batch of about five dozen cakes, this bakery combines 50 pounds of butter with 10 pounds of sugar.","Next, 16 egg whites.","Then, 25 pounds of flour.","After mixing just long enough to incorporate the flour smoothly, a conveyor belt shuttles the dough to a vat.","Gravity pushes the blob of dough through a slot at the bottom, expelling a sheet less than a quarter inch thick.","A dusting of flour prevents the dough from sticking, not just to the conveyor belt but also to the rolling and cutting tools.","This prickly roller preparates the dough sheet.","The holes allow any trapped air to escape during baking, which prevents the dough from shrinking and ensures a flat, bubble-free crust.","The next roller has plastic circles that work like cookie cutters, slicing the dough into cake-size discs.","The leftover pieces go into new batches of dough.","Each dough circle goes in a pan, then bakes at 375 for 16 minutes.","Meanwhile, the batter starts taking shape.","For a batch of about 20 cakes, the bakery combines 25 pounds of cream cheese with two pounds of cultured sour cream.","That's sour cream processed a little longer than usual to give it extra flavor.","After slowly mixing in 15 pounds of sugar and about 2 1/2 cups of flour, workers blend in 3/4 cup of vanilla extract.","Now they get cracking with 1 1/2 dozen eggs.","That's the recipe for plain cheesecake.","Flavored versions come with extra goodies.","This batter is caramel pecan.","It's paired with a chocolate cookie crust.","As the baked crusts arrive, sprayers grease the inside of each pan with butter so that the cake will slide out easily after baking.","Then a machine, called the depositor, shoots in just the right amount of batter.","The pans now enter a tunnel-shaped oven that's almost 25 yards long.","The temperature inside is a toasty 350 degrees.","By the time the cakes exit the other end, they're fully baked.","These 10-inch cakes take just under an hour.","From the oven, the cheesecakes go onto a cooling conveyor, and by the time the hot cakes do the nearly hour-long circuit, they are at room temperature and ready to come out of their pans.","From there, most cheesecakes go straight into the storage freezer, but there are a few exceptions which detour to the decoration department.","This belgian chocolate cheesecake isn't complete without a squirt of chocolate ganache, a decadent mixture of chocolate and cream.","Workers spread it all over, then make swirls with a decorating comb.","And now the final touch, a sprinkling of cocoa.","Some cakes go into an automated cutting machine that divides each cake into 14 equal slices and inserts parchment paper in between them.","Back at the decorating department, they are putting shards of chocolate on a mud pie, a combination chocolate souffle, chocolate cheesecake with pecans and coffee mousse topping.","You might want to put off that diet just for one more day.","Coming up, an age-old implement gets a new spin.","They keep us from going adrift, and no one wants to be up the creek without one.","Paddles have been around so long no one know who is invented them or when.","But there's no question they've evolved.","Made with sophisticated craftsmanship, today's wooden paddles really go the nautical mile.","Modern paddles are often made from a blend of hard and soft woods for a product that's strong yet lightweight.","First, wooden boards are fed into a multi-bladed rip saw that slices them into uniform strips.","Each strip has a flat, smooth joint on the side.","Glue is rolled onto those flat joints and then the strips are pressed together.","These glued sections will be used to make paddle blades.","Over at another station, workers are creating the paddle shafts two at a time.","They glue shorter pieces of wood for the handles, and clamp them together to allow the glue to set.","The blade chunks are arranged in a much bigger clamp.","Then the glue-coated ends of some shafts are wedged between the blade pieces.","In a process called lamination, the blades are bonded to the shafts.","The laminated paddle shapes are called blanks.","Next, the blade design is traced onto one of the blanks...","And the design is cut out with a band saw.","Laminated wood doesn't warp easily.","This allows the factory to produce wider blades, which give the canoer more power through the water.","But paddles cut from a single piece of wood have a more traditional look and feel, and some canoers prefer them.","These narrower paddles are made with cherry wood.","Modern tools make quick work of a design that hasn't changed very much over the centuries.","In no time, a basic paddle has been carved from a single piece of wood.","Next, the edges are rounded off with a large router.","It shapes and contours the paddle to its final dimensions and gives it a smooth finish.","In just minutes, that chunky-looking piece of wood is transformed into a sleek traditional paddle.","Meanwhile, back in the laminated paddle department, notches are sawed into each paddle blade.","Workers mix up a liquid plastic concoction...","Then pour it into the slots to harden.","The plastic gives the paddle tips some extra protection against rocks and other obstacles in the water.","Now it's time to improve the profile of the laminated paddles.","With the same type of router used to shape the solid paddles, workers fine-tune the design.","Both types of paddles then get a heavy sanding.","The final touch is to taper each paddle head so that it's much thinner at the tip.","Trademark information is branded onto each paddle using a hot iron.","Then it's time for the paddles to take a dip in a tank of varnish that contains a sunblock.","The varnish both protects the wood and enhances its natural beauty.","The paddles are suspended on an overhead conveyor to dry.","And soon, they'll be on their way to a waterway near you.","Up next, a factory that makes the world go round.","Because the world is round, flat maps don't give us the full picture.","A globe is the most accurate representation of the earth.","It depicts countries in true spatial relation to one another, and better defines latitude and longitude lines.","At the globe factory, production revolves around world events.","As war and political upheaval redraw boundaries, these spherical maps have to be constantly revised.","Globe construction begins with a big roll of cardboard.","A machine pulls it under a roller that coats it with glue.","A knife then slices the cardboard into smaller pieces, which will serve as liners for the maps.","One more coat of glue, and then the liners are attached to the back of maps.","Heated rollers press them together, completing the seal.","Each map represents a hemisphere.","A powerful press now cuts the maps into a pinwheel shape.","Each map must be carefully positioned in the cutting press.","After all, one false move, and a whole country could end up on the factory floor.","It takes two punch cuts to do the job.","Then, the excess paper is pulled away, leaving behind a map divided into 12 spoke-like sections.","Here's a top view of that cutting press.","It acts like a giant fist to punch out pinwheels.","And now it's time to shape the world.","Workers place a map cutout and a liner into a mold.","It rises into a heated cavity that presses the paper into a bowl-like shape.","One hemisphere down, one more to go.","The southern hemisphere is created using the same type of mold.","Molds also emboss each map to represent the peaks and valleys on the earth's surface.","Here's an inside look.","The raised and indented sections of the molds allow people to see and feel variations in the world's topography, both aboveground and underwater.","With the hemispheres complete, it's time to go global.","The northern hemisphere goes for a spin while a razor blade trims the edges.","Then the lower hemisphere takes its turn while a nozzle beads hot glue along the inside.","This stiff cardboard ring adheres to the globe and gives it some re-enforcement along the equator.","Glue is applied to the northern hemisphere...","And it is fitted over the ridged edge of the southern one.","The two halves are precisely aligned, then tape is attached over the seam.","This both disguises the seam and marks the equator.","Next, each globe is mounted on a pedestal that's attached to a metal arc called a meridian.","Suctioned to the top of the globe, the meridian will allow the earth to revolve.","From fragments of paper and glue, a whole new world's been created in just a couple of hours.","Globes tell us where we are and help us figure out where we're going.","They come in many different languages.","And because they help us get our bearings, you could say they make the world a better place."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Glass Sculptures","Racing Pulley Systems","Inductors","Medicine Balls"]},"text":["the use of glass as an artistic medium dates back to ancient egypt.","Despite the obvious fragility of glass sculptures, this art form has an enduring appeal.","The transparency of glass often has a ghost-like quality.","They're tangible works of art that are skillfully crafted.","With this glass sculpture of a horse, the artist's two passions come together-- art and horsemanship.","The artist takes inspiration from her horse, observing the swell of his muscles as he romps in order to create the same sense of movement in glass.","She then draws a series of sketches of the horse in different stances.","These sketches are an artistic study.","They help her work out the sculpture's form before actually creating one.","She cleans solid glass rods to prepare them for sculpting.","This is borosilicate glass, which is more resistant to thermal shock than other kinds of glass.","She brings the glass into the flame of a torch to soften it.","Once softened, she can fuse two of the rods together.","Then using tweezers and flat, knife-like tools, she sculpts the glass into the shape of the horse's hips and legs.","She works quickly so the glass doesn't have a chance to cool and fracture.","She adds a smaller piece of glass and forms it into a tail.","She constantly turns the glass as she works it to make sure it looks good from all angles.","She melts glass in front of the hips to build up the body and shape the horse's belly, back, and chest.","This is intensive and precision work.","The piece must be exposed to a well-adjusted flame and constantly moved so it doesn't become too hot and melt too much.","She adds glass to the front and sculpts the shoulders and part of the front legs.","She removes a little piece of extra glass.","She deposits the sizzling, unwanted bit in water to cool it down and dispose of it safely.","She does more work on the front legs.","She'll refine them and form hooves later, but now she bakes the partially sculpted glass horse in a kiln.","This is the first annealing, which realigns molecules to prevent cracking.","She forms the head and mane separately from the body.","This is more intricate work.","The features are much more detailed, so she uses smaller tools.","Once she shapes the eye sockets, she melts little blobs of black glass into them.","She sculpts the eyes with a flat knife.","She carves creases above them to create an eyelid effect.","She adds glass for the ears.","Then, using a tool called a masher, she pinches the ears to squeeze them thinner.","She heats them again.","This process can cause the ears to stick together, so she cuts them to separate them.","She curls the ears using tweezers and tweaks their position on the horse's head.","She melts the base of the head to the body, and they become one.","She fuses more glass to the back to craft a mane, and after another annealing, she returns to the legs.","She softens them with a flame again and adds definition to the fetlock joints.","She cuts the tips to create a more level surface.","She melts black glass on to the ends of the legs and sculpts it into the shapes of hooves.","With a series of tools, she tweaks each hoof until she's satisfied this glass horse will stand the way she wants it to.","After another annealing, she shines a polarized light through the sculpture and examines it for stresses that could compromise its structure.","Finding none, this galloping work of glass art is complete.","It's been made with great care and caring.","To turn a regular car into a race car, one needs to change the pulley system mounted to its engine.","Factory-installed pulley systems are heavy, and their pulley-size ratios are designed for driving at low speeds.","A racing pulley system is lightweight and has pulley ratios for high-speed driving.","Replacing the factory-installed pulley system on a car engine with one of these racing pulley systems is like putting a car on steroids.","The components of this system are determined by what the engine already comes with.","For example, if the engine's water pump is too heavy for racing, this company makes a lightweight one along with a size-appropriate pulley to go with it.","To make a pulley, an automatic saw cuts a patty off an aluminum bar.","Workers then mount the patty on a computer-guided lathe.","As the lathe spins, multiple tools shape the patty into a pulley.","The first two tools drill a hole in the center and machine the overall shape.","Then, this tool bores the hole to a precise diameter.","This tool carves grooves along the perimeter for the pulley belt.","This broaching tool makes 17 vertical grooves inside the bored hole corresponding to grooves on a shaft, locking the pulley in place.","A worker removes the partially-formed pulley from the lathe and mounts it on a computer-guided mill.","The mill's first tool drills six round holes.","The next tool reshapes those holes into triangles known as windows.","This reduces the pulley's weight.","The factory sends all pulleys out to a plating shop which coats the aluminum with the hard, black protective finish known as anodizing.","This is a different type of crankshaft pulley.","To make it, the automated saw first cuts a patty from a smaller aluminum bar.","Then, a worker mounts it on a computer-guided lathe.","After the first tool evens out the surface, this tool drills a hole through the center.","The next tool enlarges that hole.","The next tool cuts a female pattern inside the hole.","A female pattern has grooves which receive corresponding protruding areas of a male pattern.","The lathe then transfers the patty to another spindle to expose the opposite side for machining.","The first tool shapes the back.","The next one cuts a male pattern.","With a female pattern on one side and a male pattern on the other, multiple pulleys can be stacked and interlocked to accurately align the system.","The final tool cuts straight teeth for a square-tooth belt.","When an original engine component is replaced with a new, smaller, and lighter one suitable for racing, the factory must also make a smaller, lighter bracket to mount the new component to the engine.","A computer-guided mill shapes a rectangular piece of aluminum cut by the same automated saw that cut the patties for the pulleys.","Brackets, like pulleys, go out for anodizing.","When they come back to this factory, they get laser-printed with a brand name and model.","Here's how the pulley system assembles on this particular engine.","First, the technician bolts an adapter to the harmonic balancer.","The harmonic balancer is a component on all engines that lessens vibration.","Next, he installs the new crankshaft pulley on to the adapter, attaching it with a long central bolt that extends beyond the harmonic balancer and into the engine's crankshaft.","He installs a new lightweight water pump, which has a new mounting bracket for the alternator attached to its left side.","Then, he bolts on a new water-pump pulley, which has grooves for two belts.","After mounting a new lightweight alternator, he connects the water-pump pulley to the crankshaft and power steering pump pulleys with one belt and to the alternator pulley with another belt.","This allows simultaneous steering, battery charging, and water circulating to cool the engine.","Coiled copper devices called inductors provide storage for electrical circuits.","As electrical current flows through the coils, a magnetic field is produced.","The inductor stores the electromagnetic energy until the circuit is ready for it.","They're one of the most important parts in the circuit.","Inductors come in many shapes and sizes.","Conductive windings surround an iron-based core to provide temporary energy storage and to regulate the current flowing through a circuit.","To make an inductor, manufactures use plenty of flame-resistant insulating material.","They cut sheets of it to the desired dimensions.","An operator programs this an automatic shear to cut the electrical insulation into long strips.","The hydraulically driven blade makes clean, straight cuts.","These strips will be used to insulate the inductor core and coils.","A worker folds a rectangular piece of insulation around an aluminum form to start the inductor coil.","She tapes the ends together.","She pulls a strip of copper foil to the insulation.","She's pre-soldered a terminal to the end of the foil, and she tapes the terminal to the insulating material.","She begins to wind the copper foil around the insulating material and stops.","She places one of the long insulating strips under the copper foil and resumes winding.","This prevents short circuits.","She clamps the copper windings tightly together and tucks an extra piece of the insulation under the copper.","She hammers the copper to flatten any kinks.","She solders a second terminal to this end of the copper foil windings.","These terminals will be used to connect the inductor to the electrical circuit.","She holds the terminal in place with a metal dowel and the soldering iron until the solder solidifies.","She then cuts the copper strip along the edge of the terminal.","She applies fiberglass tape to the soldered terminal joint.","She removes the clamp and adds more tape to keep the terminal in place.","She then winds fiberglas tape around the inside of the inductor coil.","This outer wrap will prevent shocks to anyone who might touch the inductor when it's part of an electrical circuit.","Using a tough nylon block to absorb the impact, she hammers the inductor coil to make it more rectangular.","She removes the coil from the winding machine.","Next up is this hard, polyester-infused fiberglass.","Manufacturers will ultimately use it to insulate the core and fill the gaps.","With a hydraulic shear, a worker cuts the fiberglass into strips that will fit in the core.","Another worker clamps two of the insulated copper windings side by side.","She inserts a c-shaped iron core in one end of the copper windings and flips the inductor assembly over.","She connects the protruding terminals with a tin-copper jumper.","She inserts insulating spacers into both cavities.","These fiberglass spacers will fill the gap between the two iron \"c's\".","She installs the second half of the iron core.","When alternating current is applied to the copper windings, it will create a magnetic field in this core, and this is how the energy will be stored.","She tucks a couple of fiberglass insulating spacers between the iron \"c's\" and the coils.","She drives them deeper into the inductor.","She loops a stainless-steel band around the iron core and pulls it tight with pneumatic tensioning tool.","She solders the ends of the band to secure it.","Workers immerse the inductor in a vat of varnish under vacuum pressure.","The varnish completely seals the inductor against dirt and moisture.","This instrument detects any problems with the insulation.","It's one of several tests conducted.","If the inductor passes them all, it's ready for the electrical circuit.","A medicine ball has nothing to do with medicine but everything to do with health.","This heavy ball is an effective workout tool, available in a variety of sizes and weights.","It can be used for a wide range of exercises to improve strength, coordination, and cardiovascular fitness.","Medicine balls are mass-produced in a variety of materials.","This company is one of the few remaining which craft traditional leather medicine balls entirely by hand.","The craftsman uses shoe leather, which is thicker and sturdier than garment leather.","He places a pattern on top and cut loosely around it with the utility knife.","This steel-cutting die precision-shapes the panel.","The craftsman places it on the rough-cut panel.","Then, with a press, forces the sharp die through the leather.","The ball is made up of seven panels like this one.","Once he has cut all seven, he repeats the process with the circular pattern, then a circular die.","This cuts two leather circles--  one for each end of the ball.","He cuts identical pieces from nylon cloth.","These pieces will line the seven panels and two circles.","For the circle linings, he first hand-cuts squares.","Then he cuts those squares into circles with the die.","He clamps each lining to its corresponding leather piece and sews them together with heavy-duty polyester thread.","This industrial sewing machine is known as a cylinder bed machine because the sewing surface is cylindrical rather than flat, which enables working with a three-dimensional shape.","He takes two of the lined panels, and one at a time, puts them back on the press, this time using a different cutting die.","It cuts a notch in eight lace holes.","He then places one of these panels in an embossing press, which heat-stamps the brand name into the leather.","Using different dies, he cuts pieces of vinyl to reinforce the lace holes, then sews them to the panels.","This is the only area where the bright red thread will be visible.","He sews the panels to each other until he's formed a closed circle.","However, he doesn't yet stitch together that notched area between the two sets of lace holes.","First, he sews the lined leather circles to the ends.","The ball's leather shell is complete, but inside out and with a gap between the lace holes.","The craftsman hands it off to a colleague who inverts the shell and presses the seams against a metal rod to stretch and round them out.","Now it's time to stuff the shell.","The worker takes shredded scraps of leather, inserts them through the gap between the lace holes, then compresses the scraps with a thick wooden dowel.","Once the ball is fully stuffed, he makes sure the ball has reached the target weight.","Weight precision, however, is less important than perfect roundness.","To close up the ball, he threads a thick rawhide lace through a large brass needle and threads it through the lace holes, pulling tightly.","This is the same sturdy lacing configuration that's used on footballs.","He uses two large, thick nails to properly size the end loops.","Then he snips off the excess lace.","And pokes each end inside a lace hole.","Now he can safely remove the nails.","With a final pounding here and there to perfect the shape, this medicine ball is ready to pull its weight in someone's exercise regiment."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Thermometers","Produce Scales","Aircraft Painting","Luxury Chocolates"]},"text":["You can sense the difference between hot and cold, but a thermometer puts a number on it.","The concept is simple-- heat causes liquid to expand, forcing it up a glass column with a scale attached to it.","Italy's galileo came up with the idea in 1593.","Incredibly, these century-old thermometers can still tell the temperature.","But modern versions are a bit more precise.","To make one, they clamp glass tubing onto a carousel.","As it spins, torches heat the center of the hollow glass, while below, the operator pumps air into it.","This causes the melted glass to blister.","They break the tubing at the blister, creating two tubes with funnel-shaped openings.","They anchor a shorter glass cylinder on a turntable and suspend one of the funnel-mouth tubes above it.","The tubes spin in concert as torches melt them together.","The funnel ensures that the melting doesn't close the hollow tube.","Another torch now aims further down the cylinder.","It seals the end and shapes it into a ball.","To test a sample of the production run, they heat the entire length of the tubing.","This creates vacuum pressure so that when they place the open end in liquid wax, the tubing sips it up like a straw.","By watching the liquid ascend, they confirm that the thermometer fills as it should and has the right dimensions.","Next, the glass tubing swirls on a carousel as flames and forced air work together to form a longer blister.","Again, they break the tubing at the blister.","This blister creates openings that allow them to snake a narrow, hollow wire through the tubing, joining the two sections.","Flames melt and seal the glass around the wire.","This is called a glass-to-metal weld, and it creates a more flexible thermometer.","They cool the welded glass and wire on a conveyor.","Next, they turn on a vacuum pump for several hours to pull the air out of the wire and tubing.","This draws the blue liquid wax up, but this time, it's not a test.","The wax is a nontoxic alternative to mercury that will expand and contract with changing temperature.","The thermometers now travel through chilled alcohol, shrinking the blue liquid down to the closed end of the thermometer.","As the tubing turns, flames follow the top end to melt and close it.","A heat gun below then drives the liquid up the tubing, and the air pressure creates a bubble in the end that was just closed.","This bubble will be the thermometer's expansion chamber.","They plunge the thermometers in ice water to calibrate the bulb liquid to 32 degrees fahrenheit.","They scratch the glass at that mark.","Next, the thermometers warm up in a bath set at 200 degrees fahrenheit.","The blue liquid shoots up, and they make another scratch.","They align the two scratches in the thermometer with markings on a printed grid.","The distance between the two scratches often varies, so by measuring against this grid, they can calibrate the thermometer.","They then match the thermometer with the corresponding scale.","They install the top section of the thermometer in a case which can be metal or plastic.","They then choose the appropriate scale and slide it between the glass tubing and case.","They wrap part of the wire capillary around a joint and then cap it.","The sensor bulb of this thermometer will be used to gauge the temperature inside industrial piping.","So they protect it with a metal sleeve called a bulb chamber.","A glass window slides easily into the grooves of the casing.","A plastic cap is the finishing touch.","And now these thermometers are ready to gauge the highs and lows of industrial processing, and they're sure to measure up to expectations.","Much of what you buy in the produce department of your supermarket is sold by weight.","So the store usually hangs a scale at the end of the aisle on which you can weigh your purchase before heading off to the checkout.","This is typically a type of scale with fairly simple mechanics.","Internal springs spin a pointer to the correct weight mark on a dial.","The weight of produce hanging in the pan pulls on a pair of springs inside the scale.","They move the various internal components that turn the pointer to the corresponding weight mark on the dial.","To make the scale's frame, a press stamps a steel plate five times, progressively cutting and bending it into the final frame shape.","A washer goes into each steel spring.","They turn it up or down to adjust the spring's tension.","That's how they'll calibrate the scale later.","The top part of each spring will bolt to the frame, and the bottom part to this slider-- a long metal component with weight markings.","Next, they attach a component called a rack to one end of the slider, securing the screw tightly with thread-locking fluid.","The rack's teeth will mesh with this pinion gear and turn it.","They install one end of the pinion into the frame.","Then they screw on a metal bridge to support the other end.","They insert the slider with the rack attached through the bridge.","Now when you pull on the slider, the pinion turns.","Next, they attach the springs to the frame and slider.","Each spring in this imperial scale supports up to 20 pounds, making this a 40-pound scale.","When weight pulls on the springs, they move the rack, which turns the pinion, which rotates the scale's pointer.","A press stamps out the dial face from a steel plate.","After painting it white, they print on the markings with a silk-screen press.","They insert a spring to prevent the rack from slipping on the pinion.","Then they put the face over the bridge so that the pinion protrudes through a hole in the middle.","A guide helps them align the face so that the zero will be in the right spot.","Then they tighten two screws to attach the face.","A press stamps the pointer from a thin sheet of aluminum.","Using a special tool, they twist the end, forming a thin tip that won't obscure the fine line to which the pointer's pointing.","Next, a coat of red paint so the pointer will stand out against the black-and-white face.","Once the paint's dry, they mallet the pointer onto the pinion.","Now they hang the pan on the scale and turn a little screw in the slider to adjust the pointer to zero.","This ensures the scale will weigh just the produce rather than the produce and the pan.","Now they calibrate the scale.","To do this, they load it with weights to full capacity, which is 40 pounds for this scale.","If the pointer doesn't indicate 40 pounds on the nose, they turn the washer in each spring to adjust the resistance.","Then they adjust the pointer back to zero again.","This is what they call a double-dial scale, meaning it has a face and pointer on each side.","They install the second dial on the opposite end of the pinion so that the two pointers move in unison.","They close up the space between the two dials with a strip of white plastic.","This sash ring, as it's called, has grooves for the dials and for the transparent plastic cover that goes over them.","Hanging scales can have dials or digital readouts, and they come in a wide range of capacities, from your common 20-pound, or 10-kilogram, grocery model, to heavy-duty 600-pound, or 272-kilo, scales designed to pull their weight in industry.","The stresses of flight are hard on an aircraft's paint job.","Ice, rain, and other environmental factors can soon make an aircraft look travel-weary.","Regular paint jobs are just the ticket when it comes to keeping up appearances.","They also help maintain the integrity of the airframe.","Problems may lurk beneath the old paint of an aircraft.","Stripping it off can expose weaknesses in the aluminum skin.","They brush on a powerful chemical solution.","The paint bubbles off, baring the aluminum and any small holes or dents in it.","They seal the windows and doors and wrap sensitive components like antennas to protect them during stripping and pre-painting.","Back to those flaws on the exposed aluminum.","A production manager flags any damage or corrosion with blue tape.","A technician then mixes a two-part aerodynamic filler.","He works quickly because the compound will harden in minutes.","He spreads the filler on the defects flagged by the production manager.","The repair job smoothes the surface for painting and makes the airframe stronger and more aerodynamic.","This aircraft has been primed and sanded.","Now technicians blow off all the dust.","They also wipe it down with adhesive cloths.","This intensive cleaning is crucial.","The plane has to be squeaky-clean or the paint won't adhere properly.","Next, they prepare an additional primer.","They spray it on areas that need more coverage and around parts that will get a lot of wear.","They then mix polyurethane paint with various catalysts and activators.","It's a special aircraft blend.","Jets can be jumbo-sized, of course, so they often prep and paint a section at a time, sometimes on different days.","They're now working on the fuselage and tail.","Respirators and full-body gear protect them from the hazardous fumes as they work from the top of the aircraft down.","A warm, low-humidity environment is essential to allow the paint to cure properly.","And they'll adjust the paint formula to compensate when conditions aren't optimal.","An aircraft usually gets two to three coats, resulting in a high-gloss finish.","While it dries, a technician demonstrates for our camera the process of painting stripes onto an aircraft.","He maps out the paint scheme with tape, then peels away some of it.","He spray-paints the exposed sections.","He peels off more tape and then covers the freshly painted stripes with protective paper so he can spray another color onto the plane.","He pulls back the final pieces of tape, and this job passes with flying colors.","They do some final detail work to make sure the lines are clean and crisp.","After all, appearances count in the high-flying world of international travel.","Even very tiny imperfections won't be tolerated.","Using fine-grit sandpaper, they make them disappear.","It can take four weeks and 1,800 person-hours to repaint a large jet.","And when it comes to price, the sky's the limit.","The least expensive jobs cost tens of thousands of dollars.","So the customer has the final say.","The handshake means this plane is ready to model its new look on the runway.","Bite into a luxury chocolate, and you'll get a taste of one of the finer things in life.","Each one tastes different from the next, and it's that element of surprise that keeps us coming back for more.","Of course you could consult the index on the box, but that would spoil the fun.","Ever since chocolate was discovered, people have had a craving for it.","Today's luxury chocolates take our addiction to a whole new level.","They add marshmallow cream and lots of pure butter to a mix of sugar and corn syrup to whip up some buttercream chocolates.","Water, vanilla, and a special yeast enzyme complete the recipe.","The enzyme will enhance the creaminess.","They tuck the buttercream between ridged rollers, which shape it into creamy columns.","A wire slices them into bite-sized morsels.","They tamp the buttercreams to a uniform height.","Chocolate oozes up through the slats of this conveyor to coat the bottoms of the creams.","Then it's on to a cool surface to solidify.","Next, the creams travel through two curtains of chocolate while being coated on the bottoms again.","A worker uses her fingers to make a symbol on the top.","It's a clue as to what's inside.","A trip through a 24 1/2-foot-long cooling tunnel hardens the chocolate, and it's a feast for the eyes.","You can look, but don't taste.","These chocolates are headed to the stockroom.","Now production takes a sweet turn as they cook up a caramel filling.","They add sugar and salt to water, followed by corn syrup and a lot of heavy cream.","They fire up the burner and turn on the mixer.","They add butter to enhance the flavor.","As the mix comes to a bubbling boil, it caramelizes.","Then they kill the heat.","Otherwise, the next ingredient, pure vanilla, would evaporate.","They apply a nonstick substance to a big pan, then pour the caramel into it.","They leave it to set overnight.","The next day, they divide the caramel slab into squares.","They feed the caramel squares into a device with circular knives.","It's called a gang cutter, and it slices the squares into strips.","They turn the sliced square sideways, and it goes through the gang cutter again to create caramel cubes.","They dust the caramels with starch so they won't stick to each other as they go through the chocolate-coating system.","And that's how they get the caramel in the chocolate.","To make cordial-cherry chocolates, they load the cherries into a revolving pan.","They add sugar crystals, and as the cherries roll around, they get an even coating.","Along with the sugar, these cherries have been coated with a special enzyme.","It will turn the sugar to liquid over the next 10 days for a juicer cherry taste.","The enzyme effect is why the cherries get an extra coating of chocolate.","It creates a solid shell that contains the sugary liquid.","And now they're ready for cherry-picking chocoholics.","Each box of chocolates contains 18 to 20 different varieties.","Since they make three to four flavors a day, it can take up to a week to produce one of these luxury assortments.","Of course, they'll be devoured in no time at all.","For the customer, it's one sweet deal."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Chinese"]},"text":["Classic chinese furniture is made of rich, lacquered woods with intricate carvings and ornate artwork in mother-of-pearl inlay.","For centuries, the specialized skills required to craft these functional works of art have been passed down from generation to generation.","The style of this striking rosewood sideboard dates to the tang dynasty of the 7th and 9th centuries-- a period considered a golden age of chinese arts.","This manufacturer is located in thailand.","Its design team consists of a conceptual designer who merges the structure and aesthetic features, a specialist who ensures the historical accuracy of the piece, and artists who draw the patterns for the elaborate wood carving and the intricate mother-of-pearl inlays.","The team produces a highly detailed blueprint and makes several copies of the artwork patterns for the craftspeople to use.","To make each inlaid cabinet door, a woodworker glues the pattern onto the wood, making sure that it's perfectly centered.","Then using a router, he cuts about 3 millimeters deep, making a groove along the pattern's perimeter and cutting out the parts that will be inlaid with mother-of-pearl.","Meanwhile, using another copy of the pattern, a worker makes templates by cutting out the same parts the woodworker routed out of the cabinet door.","Each template is marked either pink, white, or green.","She glues it into a 3-millimeter-thick piece of the corresponding color of mother-of-pearl.","The next craftsperson takes one piece at a time, and holding it steady with pliers, carefully saws around the template with a 1-millimeter-wide blade.","Once she's cut all the pieces, she reassembles the pattern.","The next craftsperson spreads adhesive paste into the cutouts in the cabinet door.","Then he fills each cutout with its corresponding piece of mother-of-pearl.","Five hours from now, once the adhesive has dried, he runs a sander over the design to remove the paper and excess adhesive, smooth the wood, and polish the mother-of-pearl.","Then an artist etches fine detail into the mother-of-pearl.","This provides texture, dimension, and expression to objects and characters, which, until now, were merely blank shapes.","High-end chinese-style furniture like this is traditionally made of heavy and sturdy rosewood.","They first dry the wood to a humidity level of 11%.","This prevents components from expanding or contracting significantly with temperature changes, which is critical because the sideboard is made of traditional jointed construction.","The parts lock together without any nails, screws, or glue.","To prepare pieces that will have a carved design, a worker glues a copy of the pattern onto the wood.","Next, a woodworker drills a small hole in each area of the pattern to be cut out.","He feeds a thin saw blade through the hole...","Then saws out the area.","Once he cuts out all the required areas, he hands the piece to one of the company's carvers.","These artisans apprentice for years with the master carver to learn this ancient craft.","Working with a collection of chisels, they gradually follow the pattern.","It takes tremendous talent and skill to know how to read a drawing and, bit by bit, transform the flat wood beneath it into a three-dimensional design.","Once all the components are ready, workers assemble the sideboard from the footed base upward.","The drawers move on modern drawer slides, and the cabinet doors attach with bronze chinese-style hardware.","They bring out the rich color and grain of the wood with four coats of traditional lacquer made entirely from tree sap.","It highlights the etched details in the mother-of-pearl and protects the sideboard with a glossy shield.","Light switches put a lot of power at your fingertips.","One quick flick, and the lights go on or off.","When switches are paired with sockets, appliances and gadgetry can also be powered up.","Invented as an improvement over pull cords a century ago, switches deliver power to the people.","Flip a switch, and the world instantly becomes a brighter place.","Switches give us power over electrical power.","Making switches starts with big sheets of metal.","In this case, the sheets are brass.","A worker serves them up to a hydraulic guillotine.","It chops the brass into strips that will be used to make faceplates for custom-sized switches and sockets.","For switches that are a standard size, they simply order the strips precut.","Computerized punches cut holes and rough out both the faceplates and the steel grids that hold the electrical structure together.","All the holes in the grid plates will correspond to holes in the faceplates in order to put the two together.","These plates are for switches that will be installed in hotel rooms, and they will include sockets for three-pin british plugs.","Next, more steel unwinds into a punch press, which transforms it into a framework to support the electrical components.","The automated tooling wraps the punched metal around a form to give it the desired shape.","This framework will also serve as an electrical grounding plate, discharging electrical energy from the socket to prevent shocks.","A worker now attaches a molded plastic part to a grounding plate.","He inserts a screw in a brass connector and installs it in a slot in the molded plastic.","He installs a series of brass terminals.","At the next station, a worker assembles fuse holders, contacts, and springs to the plastic structure.","Next up are little spring- operated plastic shutters.","They block the sockets when nothing is plugged into them.","Moving down the assembly line, a worker inserts springs into twin rocker switches.","She lowers a press to squeeze all the switch components together, then transfers the switches to the electrical unit.","Another technician snaps a cover onto it.","He plugs it into a light box to test it, and the bulbs of the box illuminate.","This confirms that the switches and sockets are fully operational.","He pulls the plug and sets the assembly aside.","It has taken roughly four minutes to assemble the switch and socket unit.","A worker now fits the steel grid plate to it with the switches and sockets protruding through it.","This particular unit is also equipped with a round european plug and a usb charging port for mobile devices.","At the next station, an operator serves up brass faceplates to a press that bends the rims, forming a thin lip that will fit around the grid plate.","A computerized welder fuses studs to the back of the faceplates, placing one at each corner.","These studs will fix the faceplate to the grid plate and provide a screwless finish on the front.","When it comes to switch and socket combinations, there's no shortage of options.","At this station, a worker assembles a particularly large one with switches, charging ports, and sockets.","It's also designed for installation in a hotel room.","He secures the charging port to the grid plate and is ready for the faceplate.","He attaches it using the welded studs, and with the folded edging, it encases the grid plate neatly.","This switch and socket assembly is now complete.","When switched on, the circuit will be closed, and the electrical current will flow.","When switched off, the circuit will open, and things will go dark.","It should work every time.","In many east asian cultures, salt is not traditionally used as a condiment.","In its place, cooks use high-sodium sauces such as fish sauce.","In thailand, fish sauce is a key ingredient in traditional dishes, giving them a rich and distinctive savory taste.","Used in cooking or as a dipping sauce, thai fish sauce brings out the flavors of other ingredients.","Fish sauce is made by fermenting two parts fish with one part salt.","Over time, the salt will naturally extract water from the fish's flesh, creating the savory sauce.","The factory processes 100 tons of fish every day.","They use wild-caught anchovies from the gulf of thailand.","Anchovies have a strong flavor, so even small amounts can be used to flavor dishes.","They mix two parts fish with one part natural sea salt.","The ingredients fall down a chute into a rotating drum.","As it spins, it evenly mixes the salt and the fish.","This is faster than mixing by hand, ensuring quicker processing times.","When the mix is ready, it's taken to one of the 3,000 fermentation wells on-site.","The bottom of the well is already filled with sea salt.","They add the salt-fish mixture and spread it around so that the surface is flat.","They finish by covering the mixture with a thick layer of sea salt.","Each fermentation well can hold 10 tons of fish and salt.","They cover the well with a cement corrugated sheet.","The temperature inside can reach 104 degrees fahrenheit.","They sometimes remove the cover to expose the sauce to sunlight.","From time to time, they sample the sauce for inspection.","Salt crystals form naturally on the surface.","After 12 to 18 months of fermentation, first-grade sauce is pumped out from the bottom of the fermentation well with layers of salt acting as a natural filter.","Fish sauce is stored in large fiberglass tanks.","Employees take samples and send them to the lab for quality testing.","After filtering and sweetening the sauce slightly with 5% sugar, they are ready for bottling.","After a visual inspection, bottles head to the filling area.","The machine grabs each bottle and fills it from the bottom up.","Fish sauce does not need to be pasteurized as filtration has already eliminated most bacteria.","Also, the sauce contains over 25% salt.","This high-sodium content prevents any harmful bacteria from proliferating.","Because of the sauce's intense flavor, it is generally used in moderation.","So bottle caps have a small dropper hole to facilitate use of the sauce during cooking.","Next, brushes apply adhesive labels to the body and neck of the bottle.","This factory produces three different grades of fish sauce for a total of 15 million liters every year.","After a second visual inspection, bottles proceed to the packing department.","The machine pushes them forward, aligning them in position.","By now, the bottle caps have been safety-sealed.","A robotic carrier picks up 36 bottles to fill three boxes at once.","A metal frame keeps the carton cases open as the machine inserts the bottles.","The tasty sauce will be sold locally or exported to one of 70 different countries.","In the food-science laboratory, technicians perform several quality-control tests.","They start by measuring the salt content of the product as the salt will affect the taste and the shelf life of the sauce.","Next, they measure the protein content.","Fish protein breaks down during the fermentation process, releasing a compound called glutamate.","Glutamate increases the flavor intensity of the sauce.","Higher levels of protein give a tastier, higher-grade sauce.","They also check the levels of histamine to make sure they comply with international food standards.","High levels of histamine could indicate spoilage.","They end with a ph test.","Good fish sauce is slightly acidic, and the ph value must remain within an acceptable range.","People now use fish sauce not only in thai dishes, but also to flavor their own traditional foods.","Cappers are automated machines which apply caps on bottles that have been filled with a factory product-- anything from shampoo to soft drinks.","The closures the cappers apply include screw caps, push-down tops, and aluminum caps molded to the shape of the bottle neck.","Cappers come in different sizes to meet the product manufacturers' packaging requirements, from three-head machines that cap 40 bottles per minute, to 36-head machines that cap 1,200 bottles per minute.","Every capper is custom-designed for the product being packaged, so producers must supply the capper manufacturer with samples of their specific bottles and caps.","The first step of the design phase is to paint the samples white so that engineers can scan them with a laser to produce a three-dimensional computer model.","Then the engineers use that virtual bottle and cap to design the machine's bottle-handling equipment.","This refers to the components which transport the bottles through the machine as opposed to the components that apply the cap.","This computer-guided water-jet cutter slices through a stainless-steel plate to make the bases that support the bottle-handling equipment on the capper from underneath.","A computer-guided machining center shapes the complex bottle-handling components out of stainless-steel rods.","The capper's bottle-capping components are machined the same way.","Every part undergoes a precision inspection.","An engineer checks the dimensions with a device called a coordinate measuring machine.","A computer-guided router cuts the plastic components of the bottle-handling equipment from a 19-millimeter-thick sheet of polyethylene.","Meanwhile, an electrician wires the capper's control panel.","It houses the components which regulate the machine's speed, as well as the computer that controls all the machine's functions.","The machine has sensors that detect the presence of a bottle and cap at the capping head.","These sensors are wired to the computer.","Other workers assemble the production-line conveyor belt that ferries bottles into and out of the capper.","The belt is comprised of plastic links connected with pins.","To begin assembling the machine, workers attach the three capping heads to the overhead carousel.","Then they install a capping chuck in each head.","The chuck picks up a cap.","Then the capping head rotates to screw the cap on the bottle.","A computer-guided engraver labels the capper's infeed star wheel-- a disc with pockets that guide the bottles into the machine.","Workers highlight the engraving with paint and inset a colored disc indicating the specific bottle size the star wheel is designed to run.","They repeat these steps with the machine's two other star wheels-- one in the center of the machine that moves the bottles under the capping heads and another that transfers the bottles to the machine's exit.","Workers manually assemble each star wheel.","They verify the pocket size...","Then, on the center star wheel only, bolt a stainless-steel reinforcement layer and line the pockets with a rubber material that grips bottles.","After installing the metal support bases on the capper, they mount the corresponding star wheels.","The center star wheel and base have to be made in halves to fit around the machine's central shaft.","Workers install the center guide.","The bottles travel in the path between the wheels and the guide.","Next, workers install a restraint belt made of the same rubber material that lines the center star wheel pockets.","The belt and pocket prevent the bottle from spinning as the capping head screws on the cap.","No capper leaves the factory without a test run.","Before running the machine normally, workers run it at low speed to check that the components are properly aligned and the movements correctly timed.","The infeed star wheel receiving the bottles transfers them to the center star wheel under the capping heads.","The capped bottles then transfer to the discharge star wheel, which guides them to the conveyor belt leading to the labeling machine."]}
{"meta":{"things":["CCD Semiconductors","Airline Meals","Paper Cups","Trumpets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" ccd semiconductors...","Airline meals...","Paper cups...","And trumpets.","A ccd semiconductor is the image sensor in a digital camera or camcorder.","When you snap the shutter or press record, you expose the ccd to patterns of light.","It captures them electronically by converting them into millions of electrical charges.","The camera's processor then reads these charges and translates them into pictures or movies.","Ccds, or charge couple devices, are made of silicon, the main element in sand.","What's special about silicon?","When light hits it, you get electrons.","Production begins with a round silicon wafer six inches in diameter and about as thick as a shirt cardboard.","It goes into a steam oven for three to four hours.","The intense heat, along with oxygen and hydrogen gases in the steam, create a glass-like layer on the wafer.","This insulates the silicon against the miniature electrical circuitry that will be built on top of it.","But first, the wafer is covered in conductive material.","This layer measures less than a micron.","A human hair is 100 times thicker.","Next, a robot applies a one-micron-thick layer of photo-sensitive resin, which will undergo a chemical reaction when exposed to light.","A technician places a mask over the wafer.","The pattern on this mask is the scheme attic for part of the circuitry.","When you take a picture, you expose the silicon wafer to light and that generates electrons.","The circuitry carries those electrons to the camera's processor, which reads the charges and translates them into an image.","This machine exposes the masked wafer to ultraviolet light.","The resin underneath the circuitry pattern remains intact, protecting the conductive layer beneath it.","The resin on the areas not masked by the circuitry pattern needs to be removed.","Chemicals are sprayed on.","This dissolves the resin exposing the conductive layer underneath.","Technicians repeat this entire process with anywhere from 13 to 30 masks until they've built up the full circuitry pattern on the wafer.","Next, technicians submerge the wafer in acid, which eats away the uncovered conductive layer.","So, now, the only conductive material left on the wafer is the actual circuitry.","Next step, a thorough rinsing in tap water to remove the residue.","Then a rinse with purified water to remove any impurities left by the tap water.","Throughout production, contamination is a concern.","A single speck of dust can ruin an entire wafer.","To protect and insulate the circuitry, the wafer is coated in liquid glass, then baked for two hours, until the glass hardens.","The wafer surface is divided into 25 million tiny square cells called pixels.","When you take a photo, each pixel records the light intensity of a minute portion of the scene, generating an electrical charge.","A filter on the ccd translates each pixel charge into color.","The company makes this filter with three pigment powders-- red, green and blue.","These three colors combined in varying ratios can reproduce any color.","The camera's processor reads and then reconstructs the photograph scene pixel by pixel.","Each finished ccd undergoes a battery of automated tests to ensure that all the circuits are functional.","The machine marks faulty circuits with ink.","Just one bad circuit means the entire ccd needs to be discarded.","Technicians then check every ccd under a microscope looking for scratches that might have occurred during the production process.","The number of pixels on a ccd varies depending on what type of camera it's for.","This one is a 25 megapixel ccd, meaning it has 25 million pixels.","This company even produces a single ccd that has 111 megapixels.","So the next time you say, \"cheese,\" remember that you're producing a digital photo thanks to all that painstaking work that went into the sophisticated ccd semiconductor inside your camera.","When we return, creating the ultimate to-go meals for today's highflyers.","In the earliest days of air travel, passengers really lived the high life.","They were served multi-course meals that were actually prepared during flight.","But as air travel boomed, this kind of service became impractical, and airlines turned to premade meals.","Not all food fares well at high altitudes.","That's why you don't see any souffles at 30,000 feet.","They couldn't possibly rise to the occasion.","It's just one of the restrictions airline chefs need to consider when preparing a menu.","Airline meals start with tons of ingredients, literally.","Just one facility can turn out 45,000 meals in a single day.","Of course, the cooks wash their hands very thoroughly because they don't want any germs stowed away in the meal.","They cook on grills that are five feet long.","At one end, they stir-fry vegetables, while at the other, they sauté potatoes.","Then, they spice it up.","Airline food isn't as bland as it's reputed to be.","Researchers believe that low humidity and the pressurized environment cause our taste buds to work less efficiently in an airplane, something to take into account when you're traveling by air.","Recipes vary according to the route.","Flights to more exotic locales will offer spicier dishes, while a domestic north american flight usually calls for more moderate seasoning.","Cooks fire up different grills for the meat.","They prepare food for the crew as well as the passengers.","On many airlines, the pilot and co-pilot must eat different meals to minimize the risk of food-related illness compromising the flight.","The cooked food will now be blast chilled in special fridges.","Cooks scrub up again as they prepare to assemble the meals.","They start with the food that needs to be reheated on the plane.","It goes into foil containers.","Smaller containers inside help control the portion sizes.","Cooks must be careful not to overstuff them because that could cause messy spills later.","A little sauce and a generous dab of herb butter, and you have the makings of a first-class meal.","Finally, the food is covered with a vented lid.","With each menu change, chefs must meet with airline representatives.","They serve up sample dishes and discuss the ingredients with them.","There's often a lot of negotiation before the final menu is agreed upon.","Every detail about an airline meal is carefully planned right down to the plates and bowls and how they're placed on the serving tray.","It takes a bit of arranging to make everything fit.","Once planners finalize the arrangements, they follow that formula in the kitchen.","As with any meal, presentation counts for a lot.","Of course, meals in economy class are more simple, and the planning less detailed.","The food-laden trays go onto trolleys and are rolled into a big, refrigerated room, where they're arranged according to the flight number.","They won't be here for long because every meal is made to be served that day.","And all the groundwork beforehand is sure to pay off once passengers and crew are in the air.","Up next, a popular product that lets us all enjoy one for the road.","The paper cup was invented around the turn of the 20th century to stop the spread of disease.","Today, it's an integral part of our culture.","Paper cups provide a convenient and hygienic way to serve food and beverages, and the lining of water-tight plastic or wax prevents any nasty leaks.","And where would we be without our disposable coffee cups?","Production starts with paper that has a thin plastic coating.","It unrolls into a printer that's as long as a bowling lane.","As the paper weaves through the machine, printing cylinders layer an image onto the paper one color at a time.","When the image is complete, a rotary die cuts the paper into what's called a flat.","The dimensions of the flat vary depending on the size of the cup being made.","Each flat will eventually become a paper cup.","They land on a conveyor in a shingle-like lineup.","A computerized system counts the flats and divvies them up into stacks of 200.","The flats drop into an elevator stacker.","It creates piles that workers can easily collect.","They load them into another conveyor in a different part of the factory.","It moves the flats in a vibrating shuffle up into the cup machine.","Meanwhile, a roll of paper winds into the other side of that machine, where a die punches out bottoms for the paper cups.","This leaves a long strip of scrap paper which gets sucked away for recycling.","Meanwhile, the flats are relayed to a carousel.","Now the paper cup takes shape.","Mechanical jaws wrap each flat, and a heat gun seals the seam.","And now, you have a paper cup with no bottom.","That crucial step comes next.","Bottoms are shoved onto the cups and heat-sealed in place by melting the plastic backing on the unprinted side of the paper.","The cups then fall down a chute to the next operation, which will give the cups a rim and allow you to take a sip without spilling.","A hot tool curls the top edge of the paper.","Then, the vacuum sucks each cup into ductwork overhead.","Each piece of ductwork comes from a different production line.","There are big cups and small cups, all traveling to the packing department, where they land in stacking tubes.","A counter keeps a running tally and portions out the stacks.","The stacks then slide into a curtain of plastic.","Hot jaws seal the plastic wrap around the stack.","And now, the cups are ready to be packed and shipped.","Meanwhile, over in the testing department, this is no coffee break.","Inspectors have pulled some cups off the production line to check for leaks.","A mirror below reflects the bottom line, but leaks are one in a million, so they made one leak deliberately for demonstration.","In the case of a real leak, production is halted and inspectors follow the paper trail until they determine the problem.","It takes about a minute to transform pieces of paper into a cup.","Now, it's time to hit the road without any leakage.","When we return, a factory with something to trumpet about.","The ancestor of the modern trumpet was a straight horn that could emit just a few notes.","By the 15th century, instrument makers learned how to bend a horn, allowing for more notes to be produced.","The invention of the valve in the mid-1800s finally allowed the trumpet to play in any key.","A trumpet is made up of five feet of tubing.","Three valves allow air to flow through additional tubing to alter the trumpet's pitch.","Trumpets are made from sheets of metal, most often brass.","This factory combines different thicknesses of brass in a single instrument to attain a particular sound.","Workers first lay a template on a brass sheet and trace it out.","Then they cut along the score line with electric shears.","This piece will become the trumpet's bell.","A manually operated press forms a perfect fold down the middle.","Then, they notch the edges.","Then, they close up the bell by hammering the notched pieces onto the opposite edge.","They use a rawhide mallet because anything harder would damage the brass.","A brass alloy is melted along the joint.","It solidifies in a metal seam that permanently bonds the edges.","Next, the bell goes over a cone-shaped mandril where the brass is hammered until it, too, is cone-shaped.","Then the bell goes onto another mandril mounted on a lathe.","Here, the brass cone is refined into a more refined shape.","Then, the metal is filed smooth.","Now for the bell's rim, called the bead.","A brass rod with a notch at the end catches the edge of the bell and rolls it back into a rim.","Metalworkers use what's called a concave roller to round the rim's jagged edge.","Then they slide a brass alloy wire into the rim pocket.","This makes the bell stronger and adds weight to the edge of the flare to project the sound better.","They roll the rim over even more to enclose the wire.","Now they heat the rim and apply acid flux to clean the surface for soldering.","Silver solder ensures the wire won't rattle when the bell vibrates.","After wiping off the excess flux, the bell goes back on the lathe to scrape off the excess solder.","Using an abrasive sponge, workers smooth away any scratches left by the scraper.","Then, they remove any solder bits trapped in the rim.","Now, the entire bell is filled with a soapy solution.","Then, it's frozen at minus 56 degrees.","When the solution is frozen, the bell goes into a bending block.","The frozen solution provides counter pressure, preventing the brass from buckling inward, and because there's soap mixed in, the pliable ice doesn't shatter under the pressure.","After the angle of the bend is checked with a gauge, the bell is defrosted.","In the mounting department, workers assemble smaller components made of brass and nickel.","Valve casings, the sliding tubes to which they connect, the slide for tuning the trumpet, the pipe that holds the mouthpiece, then they solder on the bell.","They lubricate three pistons and install one in each valve casing.","These slides have to be loose enough to move but tight enough to prevent air leaks.","One slide has a finger ring for holding the trumpet.","After polishing and lacquering the brass, workers test the trumpet for sound quality.","This is one company that likes to blow its own horn."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Car Headlamps","Directional Drills","Pet Grooming Combs","Stained Glass Restoration"]},"text":["Headlights aren't just functional.","They're often the first design feature that catches the eye of a potential buyer.","Unlike the metal and glass versions of the past, today's headlights are made of durable plastics that can be creatively molded into a multitude of shapes.","In addition to the main beam, this pickup truck headlight has an integrated amber turn signal and daytime running light.","Most of the headlight's components are made of injection-molded plastic.","The machine melts plastic pellets into a gooey liquid, then shoots it into a mold for the specific part.","The headlight lenses are made of clear polycarbonate, a strong plastic that's resistant to extreme heat and cold.","The molding process stresses the plastic.","To relieve that stress, they put the lens into an annealing oven for 20 minutes.","When the lens comes out, they wipe it down with an anti-static cloth and inspect the surface meticulously.","Next, a robot sprays the lens with a protective coating.","This will prevent scratches, chips, or yellowing from exposure to ultraviolet rays.","They run the lens through a tunnel oven to cure it.","This component is the reflector for the headlight's main beam.","It's made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester.","They sand away any excess material, then hand wash the part with soap and water to remove any polyester residue left by the sanding.","Then, they put the reflector into a machine similar to a dishwasher.","A robot sprays on a coat of primer.","It goes on clear, but turns yellow after it cures in an oven.","Now comes the process that makes the reflector reflective.","Inside an aluminizing chamber, a fixture rotates the reflector on its own axis as well as around copper electrodes at the center of the machine.","An electrical charge to the copper electrodes generates heat, which vaporizes an aluminum wire that's wrapped around a spiral tungsten filament.","The aluminum becomes a mist that deposits evenly across the surface of the reflector.","Now they assemble the headlight, beginning with the housing.","It's made of injected-molded polypropylene.","After installing the reflector for the daytime running light, they attach the main beam reflector.","They include pivots and adjusting screws so that the beam level can be customized.","They screw in the reflector for the turn signal.","It's made of aluminized plastic.","Then, a robot applies a sealant which prevents water, dust, and insects from penetrating the housing.","They place the assembly in a lens binding machine.","Then, they insert the main beam lens, which has already been joined to the turn signal and daytime running lights.","The top of the binding machine descends, securing these assemblies to each other with screws.","Next, they screw in a halogen bulb for the main beam reflector.","The bulb has two filaments for a high and low beam.","Then, they add halogen bulbs for the turn signal and daytime running lights.","The last step is to level the main beam reflector.","This leveling machine tells them which adjustable screws to turn to tilt the reflector into the correct position.","This is the manufacturer's default setting.","Auto makers can change this before installing the headlights in their vehicles.","This model hooks up to wiring coming from the pickup truck.","Some headlights have built-in wiring that connects to the vehicle.","It's easy to change a burnt out bulb in both designs.","You simply lift the hood of the vehicle to access the bulb from the rear of the headlight housing.","When work crews need to lay pipes or cables, they use a directional drill to bore a horizontal hole underground.","It enters the ground at an angle, drills underneath the surface horizontally, then exits at an angle on the other end.","A directional drill enters the ground at an 18 degree angle.","Once it reaches the desired depth, it drills horizontally.","The machine can attach several onboard drill rods for increased drilling distance.","Most of the machine's parts are made of steel, cut to the required shape by a computer-guided laser.","Workers use a press brake to bend certain parts.","This is part of the drill's undercarriage, the frame on which everything else sits.","After they bend this part, they weld it to other parts to build the engine mount.","They weld the engine mount to the rest of the undercarriage.","Once the undercarriage is complete, they clean the steel with a chemical to maximize the adhesion of the industrial-grade primer and paint.","Once the paint dries, they install a rubber track on each side.","Tires leave ruts in the ground, so tracks work better.","The track loops around a rail and sprocket at the back.","Workers mount the sprocket on a hydraulically-powered motor, then align the sprocket teeth with the track.","When the motor runs, the sprocket rotates, driving the track.","They apply thread-locking fluid to the bolts that secure the sprocket to the motor.","This ensures the sprocket won't loosen.","Then, they install a track tensioning spring and tighten it with a pneumatic wrench.","Next, the steel hydraulic tank.","It holds the hydraulic oil for the machine's 23 different hydraulic functions.","Now the water pump.","It lubricates the drill rod with water to help it move through the ground.","It also cleans the machine after each drilling job.","They install the pivot mechanism that opens and closes the engine hood.","Now that the hydraulic tank, water pump, and hood pivot are in place, they begin installing the machine's diesel engine.","It's similar to a tractor engine.","They connect its wiring to the operator console and several other components on the machine.","The operator console consists of the driver seat, dashboard lcd display, and joystick controls.","Next, they join the rack containing all the drilling components to the undercarriage.","They install two plastic tanks-- white for water, black for fuel.","Then, the onboard computer that runs the engine and drilling components.","They also install control valves for the hydraulic lines.","They mount the rod box, which holds 40 drill rods, each measuring 2 inches in diameter by 10 feet in length.","Larger models have longer and wider drill rods.","They connect the ventilated plastic hood to the hood pivot they installed earlier.","They close the hood over the engine, then apply make and model number decals.","This directional drilling machine is now fully built and ready for testing.","As the rack tilts down at the front, hydraulically-powered outrigger feet at the back descend, raising the machine into the drill position.","Giant augurs at the front keep the machine on the ground.","The rack's gearbox is powered by a hydraulic motor.","It rotates the drill rod while the carriage moves the rod through the ground.","When the job's done, the carriage moves back, retracting the rod.","With all its rods joined together, this small machine can drill almost 400 feet.","Pet grooming combs are specifically designed for animal fur.","They can get down to the roots to detangle, loosen, and remove dead hair.","A good grooming comb is essential to the primping process.","It's believed that the pets of british and french nobility were the first to be regularly groomed centuries ago.","Today, a lot of pets receive the royal treatment.","At this factory, pet combs start with bundles of long brass bars.","A computer-guided saw slices them into 6-inch pieces.","Each piece will be transformed into a comb body.","An employee inserts six of the brass pieces into a vice and tightens the clamps.","A computerized drill carves dimples into the ends of each of the blanks.","This is called a predrill.","The drill returns to each dimple, producing precisely-cut holes to join the comb body to a handle.","Next, a computerized drill bores into the brass pieces, creating small holes for the comb's teeth.","The spacing of the holes varies depending on the type of comb being made.","Combs with tightly-spaced teeth are used for finer fur.","The combs are now ready for teeth.","An employee inserts three comb bodies in a fixture, then grabs a handful of steel pins and pops them into the holes, one by one.","These steel teeth aren't sharp.","They've been blunted to avoid hurting the animal during combing.","She gently taps the steel teeth with a hammer to force them further into the holes.","She brushes off any residual shavings from the earlier drilling.","Then, she places the combs on a demagnetizer.","It erases any magnetic fields in the steel teeth that could compromise the chrome plating finish they will soon receive.","Next, a punch sets the steel teeth in their final position.","At another station, a device cuts extruded aluminum into shorter pieces.","These pieces of aluminum will be the pet comb handles.","Their contoured shape is designed for easy gripping.","A worker clamps one of the handles in a fixture.","It holds the handle steady as he drills rivet holes in both ends.","The fixture also helps locate the holes through lined channels called bushings.","By drilling through the bushings, he produces accurate rivet holes every time.","In the meantime, the comb assembly has been plated with a rust-resistant nickel and chrome finish.","It's ready to be joined to the handle.","An employee aligns the holes in the comb with the holes in the handle, and places them in a riveter.","The tool flattens the rivets against the handle on both sides.","Then, she dabs adhesive around the open ends of the handle and inserts plastic caps.","She hammers the caps down.","The glue sets quickly, creating a strong seal.","After about a half hour of work, this pet grooming comb is now complete.","It should last for many years.","There will, no doubt, be many tangles ahead, but this comb will pull through them.","And, in the end, fido will look and feel a whole lot better.","Stained glass windows add beauty and light to places of worship.","Over time, exposure to the elements and pollution can cause the glass, metal framework, and glazing to deteriorate.","Restoration ensures the survival of these sacred works of art for future generations.","They are incredible picture windows.","Each stained glass panel depicts a religious scene.","But it is a fragile art, and often, only a restoration can ensure its survival.","It starts with a thorough evaluation.","An assessor photographs the window.","She examines every part as well as measures the panes and connecting lead strips known as cames.","She numbers the parts and loads information about their condition into a computer.","These cames are in bad shape, so they'll need to completely disassemble the panel and rebuild it.","First, they make a rubbing.","A member of the team places a large sheet of paper over the back of the window.","He rubs a wax crayon over the raised led strips to transfer the pattern of the panes.","After testing the condition of the paint on the panes, he submerges the glass in a non-acidic cleaning solution, and leaves it overnight.","This softens the glazing cement between the lead strips so the window can be easily disassembled.","He clips off the lead strips.","He extracts the glass and cleans off the glazing using a straight-edged razor.","He gently scrubs off residue with a soft-bristle brush, and wipes the glass clean.","He pieces together the glass panes within the paper pattern.","Most of the panes are in good condition and can be preserved.","But one is fractured and held together with special conservation tape.","They'll need to replace it.","A craftsperson traces the outline of the cracked piece onto a new piece of glass.","She scores the new glass, giving the outline a wide margin.","She snaps the glass along the score line, then cuts the glass along the tracing lines.","She compares the pieces to confirm they have the same silhouette.","She copies the designs onto the new pane and mixes a matte paint that matches the one on the broken pane.","She then shades the designs on the new pane with the matte paint.","She dabs it with a brush to create fine, crisscrossed lines.","Then, she switches to a brush with shorter and stiffer bristles.","She removes some of the paint, following the designs on the pane.","This creates highlights.","She fires the glass in a hot kiln, and then lowers the temperature to anneal it.","This process reduces brittleness.","Switch compares the replicated pane to the broken one.","She joins all the stained glass panes using new lead cames.","She taps the panes gently with a rubber mallet to fit them snugly into the grooves of the cames.","This lead matrix will both unify the numerous panes and create visual interest with bold strokes.","Using an electric soldering iron, she melts tin and lead solder where the channeled lead strips intersect.","These solder joints hold the window's lead skeleton together.","Another team member applies glazing cement across the front and back of the stained glass panel.","The cement provides waterproofing and added strength.","He sprinkles calcium carbonate onto the wet cement.","It's known as whiting.","The whiting soaks up excess oil in the glaze.","As he brushes it off, it cleans and polishes the panel.","He trims the cement around the lead strips to give them a clean edge.","Finally, he vacuums up the glazing residue.","With the restoration complete, he props the stained glass panel against a backlight.","It shines like new when illuminated.","It's taken about a week to restore this stained glass window.","It should last another century or more, providing plenty of opportunities for spiritual reflection."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Glass Cookware","Soap Bars","Steel Drums","Firefighter Uniforms"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Glass cookware...","Soap bars...","Steel drums...","And firefighter uniforms.","Pyrex is an idea cooked up by the wife of a glass-industry scientist in 1913.","She believed the tough glass used in lantern globes would be great for baking cakes in, so she baked one in some glass her husband brought home.","The cake was a hit, changing the notion that glass was too fragile for the oven.","Today, in most homes, you'll find different types of cookware, many of which are made from pyrex.","To produce some dishes, a batch feeder pushes ingredients into a big furnace as they spill out of a bin overhead.","Silica sand is the biggest part of the mix.","It's a crystalline substance, and it makes glass transparent.","The batch also includes soda ash and recycled glass.","Some of the other ingredients are a trade secret.","The furnace heats the mix to the melting point, over 2,700 degrees fahrenheit.","It turns into molten glass that looks like lava.","The glass, in this lava-like form, will spend up to 24 hours in the furnace.","On its way out, mechanical shears cut it into gobs.","The gobs slide down a water-cooled chute and drop into a baking-dish-shaped mold.","There are 16 molds on a rotating table.","As it turns, the table delivers the gob-filled molds to a plunger, which presses them into the baking-dish shape.","Continuing to rotate, the table positions the molds under blowers.","They cool the freshly-molded glass so it holds its shape.","A mechanical arm suctions up the glass dish and sets it down on another revolving table.","Flames lick the glassware from burners above and below.","The dish is exposed to a temperature of over 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This softens its sharp edges so that the rim is smooth.","Next, hoses blast high-pressure air, cooling the dishes to solidify them, so that a mechanical arm can pick them up without ruining them.","It transports the glass dishes to a conveyor belt.","Further down, another arm feeds the dishes to a kiln, where heating and cooling cycles temper the glass.","This is what gives pyrex its strength.","Now it's time to make the lid.","A different plunger presses glass gobs into a lid shape.","Every lid needs a knob, so a valve inside the mold forms it, and then thrusts the lid up to be picked up by a mechanical arm.","The arm flips its lid and sets it down on a conveyor belt.","The lids are on the move, traveling through a tempering kiln.","On their way out, a fan cools them off so that they can be handled by human hands this time.","Workers inspect each glass lid before packing them.","On another line, measuring cups are produced.","Little platforms lift the measuring cups to suctioning arms that protrude from a revolving silk-screen machine.","A little squeegee forces enamel through a screen, printing measurements onto the cup.","Over in the lab, a worker roughs up a sample dish.","By rubbing it with sandpaper, he mimics years of wear and tear.","But it's about to be subjected to even more abuse.","He places a sharp tool in the center of the dish and takes aim with a hammer.","Will it break without shattering into numerous little shards?","It's a clean break, which means this dish has met the quality standards.","The widespread use of soap has elevated our standards of cleanliness.","The ingredients that are used in soap remove dirt and dangerous pathogens.","Regularly washing your hands can reduce the chances of you getting sick and will make your world a more hygienic place.","Soap comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and textures, even different scents.","But it all starts in a bubbling kettle, where animal or vegetable fat reacts with sodium hydroxide, a caustic substance, to create soap.","They add water to keep it fluid, as steam bubbles up through the center to mix it all up and encourage the chemical reaction.","This may look like an arctic ice floe, but it's the leftovers-- soap that settled at the bottom of the kettle.","They pour it all into this tank and reuse it in the next batch.","Now they spray hot liquid soap onto a big metal roll.","It solidifies in a flash, and a big blade scrapes it off the roll, creating ribbons of soap.","The soap ribbons plunge into a hopper, where an auger moves the soap along, sending it down a chute.","The soap ribbons fall all the way to the next floor to big steel rollers called mills.","They mix and compress the soap.","A blade scrapes it off the rollers and cuts it into ribbons again, but these soap ribbons are denser.","Inside the next hopper, another auger turns.","It pushes the soap through an extruder called a noodle plate that shapes it into soap noodles.","As the noodles fall from the extruder, they're collected in bins, which are then dumped into a mixer.","At this point, they add color in powder and liquid form.","Steel blades stir it up until the color coats the soap noodles.","They add some fragrant oils, and the blades toss it all together.","When the batch is ready, a trapdoor opens.","The blades keep turning, nudging the soap out the door.","Then it's forced through another noodle plate.","This mixes up the batch a little more.","Next they push the soap through a forming plate, making a long bar.","Blades mounted on a track slice it into shorter pieces called slugs.","The soap slugs are on their way to the next stage.","They're on a two-lane thoroughfare heading into a die-press.","A mechanical arm pushes the slugs through an oval plate, trimming it and then loading it into the die.","The die rotates to accept the slugs.","Mechanical presses move in to shape and stamp them.","Mechanical arms suction the bars to remove them from the die.","These mechanical pushers help.","They nudge the soap bars out of the die towards the suctioning arms.","The oval soap bars now travel through a wrapping station.","A blade crimps and heat-seals the plastic wrap in one fell swoop.","Then automated grippers grasp the wrapped bars and load them into a machine, which slides them into little boxes.","Now it's time to pack them up and ship them off to the store.","The story of the steel drum begins in trinidad in the 1930s, when street-band skirmishes led to the ban of skin drums.","So people improvised and made drums from thick bamboo poles, car parts, tins, and, finally, oil barrels.","Steel drums have a very distinctive sound.","when people first started pounding on steel instruments, they inadvertently dented them.","That's how they discovered that each dent produced a different pitch.","So now steel drums are created with the same idea.","To make a drumhead, they cut a piece of steel into a circle.","They weld a metal ring onto it, and then they position a metal shell, or skirt, on the ring and weld it in place.","The drum is held in a big clamp while a worker pinpoints the drumhead's exact center.","He places a measuring guide there, using it to mark radial lines from the center to the rim.","Each line is 10 degrees apart.","As the drum turns, he draws circular lines to make a grid.","Now he pounds the head of the drum with a pneumatic hammer, using the grid as a guide to ensure the work is done evenly.","It takes 8 hours of hammering to transform the drum into a bowl-like shape.","This is called sinking the drum.","Then, with a special guide for curved surfaces, a technician measures out another grid inside the bowled drumhead.","He outlines the notes that are about to be hammered out-- in this case, a high \"b\" and an \"e\".","Then he hammers down the steel around each one to shape the note.","Getting this right takes skill and a lot of time, up to 50 hours.","He trims the drum skirt to the correct length and tapes a stencil of the company logo onto the skirt.","This device is an electrical etching machine.","It uses acid and electric current to eat away the steel exposed through the stencil.","Now a technician wields an ultrasonic thickness probe.","She presses it against a note.","Using high-frequency sound waves, the probe measures the steel's thickness to within a fraction of an inch.","She grinds down the notes where needed.","Then, using a scribing tool, she scratches a line around each note, so it will be visible to the player.","Now it's time to make sure they have the right note.","To tune a steel drum, the technician plays a note with a stick and then dents it with a hammer to adjust the pitch.","You have to listen very carefully.","He hammers the note until it sounds right.","Sometimes, he turns the drum upside down to knock out a note from the underside.","For the fine-tuning, he relies on an electronic tuner.","A microphone delivers the sound to it, and the lines on the screen tell him if the note is in tune or not.","Next, he burns the border of each note with a blowtorch.","Then he cools it down with water.","The process tempers the steel, making the notes more resonant.","He tunes the drum again, checking for flaws.","After the drum is chrome-plated, he tunes it a final time.","It has taken 120 hours to make this steel drum.","Now it's time to take a break and listen to the unique sound.","firefighters have been doing their jobs heroically for centuries.","Their uniforms, however, were not always up to the task.","Good thing today's firefighters are cloaked in layers of space-age material.","The protective armor has virtually eliminated firefighter deaths caused by burn injuries.","A computer-guided machine cuts out more than 90 parts to make the outer shell, just one of three layers in a firefighter's jacket.","This fabric contains synthetic fiber known as pbi, which protects against temperatures as high as 1,200 degrees fahrenheit.","Another machine tapes the seams of the jacket's middle layer, the moisture barrier.","Pressure rollers and high heat activate glue in the tape, sealing the seams.","This synthetic fabric lets perspiration through, but blocks some harmful liquids, such as battery acid, hydraulic fluid, or infected blood.","Now they line the moisture barrier with the thermal liner, the jacket's third and innermost layer.","This synthetic fabric protects against heat of up to 800 degrees fahrenheit.","To reinforce the cuffs, hems, and front and back panels, a worker sews them together with a heat-resistant tape and thread, but she leaves the neck area unattached, so the firefighters can pull the jacket inside out to inspect the liner between rescues.","Back to the outer shell.","A worker sews two orange-and-silver stripes to the front and back panels.","She also sews a stripe onto each sleeve.","The florescent orange makes the firefighter more visible in daylight.","The reflective silver is for nighttime or in the smoke.","In some cases, she adds reflective die-cut letters identifying the fire department or spelling the firefighter's name.","A strip of velcro goes onto the left front panel.","It's one of four ways to fasten the jacket, in addition to zippers, snaps, and hooks.","To keep water from entering through the front of the jacket, they attach a strip of the same fabric used to make the moisture barrier.","A worker sews it inside the outer shell's right front panel, what's called the storm flap.","The storm flap's other side gets a velcro strip that mates with the velcro on the left panel.","They attach the front panels to the back panels.","A worker folds the garment over, and the machine sews through two layers at once.","It's another way to reinforce the seams of the jacket.","They use a different sewing machine to attach the sleeves.","A worker sews five different seams to join the shoulder areas.","This is critical because firefighters carry a 24-pound air tank on their back.","The seams spread out the stress this weight places on the jacket.","A worker attaches three metal snaps to the inside front of the outer shell.","These will attach the outer shell to the two inner layers.","Then, a heat-resistant plastic zipper.","This machine applies three rivets to each of four spring-loaded hooks along the right front panel of the jacket.","A six-foot-long strap cinches around the armpits to drag an injured firefighter away from danger.","A worker then snaps together the assembled inner layers to the outer shell.","There are four snaps on each cuff, which could heat up quickly in a fire.","Tabs ensure they never burn the firefighter's skin.","The front panels come together with four snaps on each side.","The four-inch collar unfolds, covering the neck to where it meets the firefighter's helmet.","Fully assembled, the jacket weighs about four and a half pounds.","This testing device gauges how long it would take to sustain a second-degree burn.","A gas burner shoots a flame that's exactly 2,000 degrees fahrenheit directly onto the jacket's outer layer.","A heat sensor mimics human skin's sensitivity to heat.","The material fails the test if the transferred heat would cause second-degree burns in less than 17 1/2 seconds.","Finally, they shower the uniform for 20 minutes to test its watertight seal.","The dummy's wearing a cotton bodysuit underneath.","Just one wet spot on the bodysuit, and the uniform fails inspection."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Blast Doors","Lipstick","Artificial Palm Trees","Brass Plaques"]},"text":["With a black market for firearms and terrorism a worldwide threat, armed forces need to protect their munitions from getting into the wrong hands.","Weapons are often stored in earth-covered concrete bunkers that have special doors.","These mammoth steel doors are designed to prevent anyone from blasting their way into a military bunker to access the munitions stored inside.","The key to the doors' exceptional strength-- a grid structure core made from steel slats 6 inches wide and 6mm thick.","A computer-guided torch notches half the slats so the other half can slot into them to form the grid structure.","Workers assemble the grid structure on top of a nearly 1/2-inch-thick steel plate, the exterior face of the door.","Because the grids have empty space in the middle, they provide three-dimensional strength without the excessive weight of a solid core.","Even so, these doors weigh almost 10 tons each.","Once the slats are all assembled, workers weld the bottom of the grids to the plate.","Then with a manual gas torch, they trim the ends of the slats so they'll fit inside the channel of the steel framing that will run around the perimeter.","Once they've installed framing on all four sides, they clamp everything in position, then weld all around.","They run a string line to properly position and weld l-shaped steel tabs to the top of the grid structure.","These tabs, two per grid, will support the interior face of the door.","Then they fill each grid with mineral fiber insulation.","This prevents moisture from condensing on the inside of the door.","They take the steel plate for the interior door face, drill several 1/2-inch-wide holes through it...","And lay it onto the structure, aligning the holes with the grid tabs.","Then they weld the plate's perimeter to the framing and each hole to the grid tab beneath it.","Once workers have finished constructing the doors, they weld on hinge pins and locking mechanisms.","The frame on which the doors hang is made of two heavy, vertical steel beams with hinge pin receivers and two horizontal steel tubes.","In the middle is a temporary cross bracing to keep the frame square and to prevent it from buckling under the weight of the doors before installation is complete.","Onsite, the installers first mount the door frame.","Then, using a forklift with an extended boom, a type of heavy lifting arm, they carefully descend the door's hinge pins into the receivers on the frame.","Crews then build the bunker's concrete structure around the installed door.","Once the concrete has properly cured, they remove the frame cross bracing.","A handle on the door releases a foot bolt, which slots into the base of the frame.","This prevents the locked door from bowing.","The lock itself is a massive dead bolt with a tungsten-carbide rod inside, making it impossible to saw through.","As an added layer of security, the military installs a monitoring system that sends out a signal the second anyone tries to open the door, even with the key.","If the entry is unauthorized, soldiers descend on the bunker to apprehend the intruder.","Throughout history, women have enhanced their lips with color.","Cleopatra led the way over 2,000 years ago.","She used crushed ants and beetles to redden her lips.","Today a tube of lipstick does the job nicely.","No need to mess around with crushed bugs.","Lipstick comes in a case that also serves as an applicator, and that's the beauty of it.","Just just twist the stick and apply color to make lackluster lips look luscious.","Lipstick ingredients include waxes, pigments, and moisturizers.","A worker pre-weighs everything following a formula.","The exact blends are usually a company secret.","She pours the measured ingredients into a kettle, that melts and mixes them together.","She adds a plant-based gel known as plantolatum.","It will act as a skin softener and also enable the lipstick to be smoothly applied.","Different waxes-- carnauba, candelilla, and beeswax-- add body to the mixture.","The waxes will also give the lipstick a certain sheen upon application.","With the base mixture prepared, she now whips up a batch of pigment using different iron oxide colorants.","She scoops it onto rollers that grind the pigment particles while rolling it into sheet form.","It takes three passes through the rollers to fully grind the pigment.","It's ready to be added to the base mixture.","She lowers the heat in the kettle to avoid scalding the ingredients.","She adds pigment until the mixture thickens and becomes creamy.","It's now the right consistency to be shaped into lipstick.","It's over to the next station where another worker pours the lipstick liquid into a filling machine.","This filling system also has a mixer that keeps the consistency creamy.","She places a mold under the filling machine and activates a lift.","It serves up the mold to nozzles that pump lipstick liquid into the slots of the mold.","She continues to fill lipstick molds until the supply in the machine has been depleted.","She places the molds on a conveyer, which takes them through a nearly five-foot-long cooling tunnel.","The chilly trip causes the lipstick liquid to solidify.","The lipsticks are now ready for their swiveling, tubular containers.","She places a rack on top of the mold and inserts the cases into slots on the rack.","The slots are aligned with the lipsticks in the mold.","Then it's over to the turnaround machine.","Bursts of air gently push the lipstick out of the mold and up into the cases.","To assist, little pushers apply pressure to the bottoms of the cases.","The lipsticks have made their transfer without a smudge.","She sets them down and removes the transfer rack.","On another conveyor, the lipsticks pass by heat guns.","The hot air melts the lipsticks just a little to make them shine.","Continuing on, the lipsticks travel past rollers that turn the cases to cause the lipsticks to swivel down.","A testers samples a lipstick from every batch to determine the melting point.","This is important because lipstick should be stable enough not to melt in a purse on a hot day.","He smears lipstick shavings onto a glass disk and examines their consistency.","He places the sample on a heating element and swings a magnifying glass overhead for a close-up view as the lipstick shavings melt into a puddle.","Checking a thermometer, he confirms that the melting point is within an acceptable range.","Another worker then compares the color of the freshly made lipstick to the standard, and it's a match.","So they wrap up production with a plastic cap.","The cap is clear to showcase the shade of the lipstick.","It has taken about a day to manufacture this lipstick.","It's time to freshen up.","There's no need to close your eyes and imagine you're in a tropical paradise when artificial palm trees are part of the landscaping.","They can provide a touch of tropical in any climate, but making a synthetic copy of one of nature's towering achievements is no small task.","With artificial palm trees, there are no watering or other maintenance worries, so you really have it made in the shade.","To manufacture a palm tree, a worker wraps sticky mesh tape around a tubular piece of polyvinyl chloride.","This tube will establish the shape of the trunk, and the tape will allow the next layers to adhere to it.","While all that taping is going on, a welder pieces together the tree's solid-steel skeleton.","He welds the base plate to a pole.","He strengthens the joint with lateral supports called gussets.","The gussets should enable the palm tree to withstand heavy winds.","He adds height to the tree skeleton with another piece of steel.","Artificial palm trees can be made to exact specifications, while in nature, things are less precise.","After a coat of rust-inhibiting paint, they're ready to insert the steel skeleton into the taped pvc pipe.","One worker clamps the end of the steel structure to a table, and the other member of the team slides the trunk core onto it.","They screw the trunk to the steel skeleton in several places.","With a foot pedal, a member of the team activates a spindle, and it turns the palm tree trunk so he can efficiently wrap synthetic rubber around it.","The effect simulates natural growth rings.","He brushes an adhesive onto the rubber, ensuring complete coverage.","The adhesive is high-strength and waterproof, qualities that will allow this synthetic concrete to stick to it in all kinds of weather.","The concrete is made of many components, including silicone and liquid rubber, and is the consistency of peanut butter.","He spreads it onto the entire palm tree trunk.","After an overnight cure, the coating solidifies and he paints it with exterior latex paint using a light touch.","He adds contrast with darker paint.","It highlights the rubber ridges on the trunk to make it look more authentic.","While the paint dries, he turns his attention to the slotted steel trunk cap.","He applies some of the synthetic concrete used on the trunk.","It will serve as an adhesive as he now presses a cocoa-fiber fringe to the cap.","The fringe of fiber camouflages the steel and makes the cap look like a tree husk.","He ties it with wire to maintain the arrangement.","He tightens it with pliers and snips off the excess.","He disguises the wire with more of the synthetic concrete.","And after it cures, he paints it to match the cocoa fibers.","Successfully disguised by cocoa fiber and paint, he bolts the steel cap to the treetop.","The next worker tapes a flat steel bar to the stem of palm foliage which is made of polyethylene.","He reinforces the job with two metal clamps.","He crimps the clamps tightly to the stem and bar.","These palm fronds, as they're called, provide the crowning touch.","They insert the steel bars in the slotted cap and then bend the fronds back to a more realistic angle.","It's taken about an hour and a half to manufacture this artificial palm tree, easier than waiting a decade or more for a real one to grow.","And with the job done, it's time for a piña colada.","A brass plaque prominently identifies an important site.","Think historical landmarks, memorials, hospital donor walls, walks of fame.","Many professional firms identify their offices and many homes display their addresses with an elegant plaque made of brass.","A brass plaque makes a bold and lasting statement.","Making one begins with a wooden model, minus the lettering, covered in artificial leather where they want a bumpy texture.","They use this model to cast an aluminum pattern.","A typesetter draws guidelines on the pattern for the inscription, then glues pewter lettering on the lines.","Getting the pattern perfect is essential, as this is what they use to make the sand mold for casting the brass plaque.","The typesetter hands off the pattern to the molders, who spray the surface with a release agent, the industrial version of nonstick cooking spray.","This will prevent the pattern from adhering to the sand mold they're about to make with it.","After laying the pattern in a high-edge steel frame, they pour in a mixture of silica sand and resin, filling it to the top and compacting tightly.","After 15 minutes, the resin cures, binding the grains of sand.","The molders then flip the frame and lift off the top half of it.","A hard block of sand is in the bottom half containing a mirror image of the plaque pattern.","This is the sand mold with which they'll cast the plaque in brass.","The molders now spray the surface with a solution of alcohol and graphite, then they burn off the alcohol with a lighter, leaving behind a film of graphite.","This heat-resistant layer will prevent the sand mold from eroding when it comes into contact with the molten metal.","Workers charge the furnace with brass ingots, as well as with pieces of excess brass from previous castings.","The furnace temperature, 2,300 degrees fahrenheit, liquifies the solid metal in about 20 minutes.","Then the molders pour the molten brass through a hole at the top of the mold.","The hole feeds two channels leading to the cavity.","The metal begins solidifying immediately.","However, it's a good hour before the casting is fully hardened, at which point, they open the mold to extract the plaque.","Attached to it are runners, excess metal that solidifies in the channels leading to the mold cavity.","So, after knocking the sand out of the frame to release the plaque...","They saw off the runners, then throw them back into the furnace to be remelted for the next casting.","They grind the edge of the plaque with an abrasive wheel, smoothing the nubs where the runners were cut off and making the plaque perfectly round and straight-edged.","With a steel scraper, they clean up the surface, removing flakes of metal and remnants of sand and graphite.","They dissolve sulfurated potash in warm water.","This chemical solution oxidizes metal, creating what looks like a natural patina, a darkening of the surface that develops with age.","After preparing the solution, they transfer it to a large basin.","A kiddy wading pool does the trick.","Then they dip the plaque, keeping it submerged until they get enough patina to make the brass look antique.","They rinse off the chemical with water and dry the plaque with compressed air.","They gently press a vibrating abrasive belt against the plaque.","It polishes the raised surfaces, removing their patina and restoring their brassy shine.","This finishing creates depth by highlighting the relief against the dark background.","Just one last step before the plaque is ready to take its rightful place.","Workers spray the surface with a coat of clear urethane.","This prevents the brass from tarnishing and protects the plaque from weathering when mounted outdoors."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pocket Knives","Soapstone Products","Electric Pole Transformers","Snowshoes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pocketknives...","Soapstone products...","Electric pole transformers...","And traditional snowshoes.","Pocketknives can be used to cut rope or slice an orange.","Just unfold the blade, and you're good to go.","Folding knives actually date back to ancient rome.","Many centuries later, the smaller pocket-sized versions came along so people could carry their knives without shredding their pockets.","Pocketknives can pack a lot of punch.","They often contain several blades and tools, all of which can be retracted into the handle.","To make pocketknives, rollers first feed a strip of stainless steel to a series of dyes.","Then dyes punch out blade shapes.","They cut holes in the handle for installation, stamp on the company logo, and create grooves so the user can get a grip.","A trip into a fiery furnace hardens the metal.","It's the first step in heat-treating the blades.","Once they're cool, the blade shapes are placed on the magnetized rim of a rotating carousel.","It moves the base of the blades under an induction-heating coil.","The heat anneals that end, making it pliable enough to bend and easier to fit in the pocketknife handle.","A robot now transfers a blade shape into a computerized grinder that bevels the edge but leaves it blunt.","It won't get its cutting edge until later.","Here you can see the difference the grinding makes.","Vibrating ceramic pellets polish the blades with paste for 32 hours to achieve a mirror finish.","A magnetic belt collects them and transfers them to the next station.","Meanwhile, a rocking cutting tool carves ridges into a piece of cow shinbone, which will adorn the pocketknife handle.","A bag of those ridged shinbones are dipped in dye, tinting them a vibrant green.","Cow shinbone is just one of the many materials used to adorn the knives.","Some are synthetic, and some are natural, like this material-- mammoth ivory.","Using epoxy adhesive, workers decorate these pieces of bone with embellished metal inlay.","Then they trim the excess bone so that it's flush to the metal liner.","Next, they place a spring on the underside of the bone and brass part followed by a rocker arm and a spacer.","This sandwich is finished off with another bone-covered brass liner.","Workers insert blades in one end, first dipping them in oil for lubrication.","A pin holds it all together.","A separate set of blades goes in the other end of the pocketknife, and another pin is inserted.","A pneumatic tool flattens the ends of the pins, riveting all the parts together.","Sometimes a shim is pounded between the layers so the knives can move more freely.","It's a little fine-tuning.","The pinheads are grinded down to blend them to the rest of the pocketknife.","Sparks fly as workers hone the beveled edges against a belt sander until they're sharp enough to cut.","Next, all the blades are retracted, and the knife is buffed until it shines.","Here a laser edges an insignia into the bone handle.","The engraving is enhanced with paint.","And now you have a pocketknife that's sharp and sharp-looking.","Coming up, soapstone products-- a real rock-'n'-roll story.","Dig deep into the history of civilization, and you'll find plenty of soapstone.","Over the centuries, it's been used to make everything from cookware to countertops to the kitchen sink.","Soapstone doesn't stain or burn, and that's why it continues to be a rock-solid material.","But before you can make something out of soapstone, you need raw materials.","Several deep holes are bored into a soapstone hillside.","The horizontal and vertical holes form an intersecting lattice.","Miners loop one end of a long diamond-encrusted cable and attach it to a rod.","This makes it easy to maneuver as they snake the cable through one of the vertical holes.","A coiled snare is attached to the cable's other end and inserted in one of the horizontal holes, jiggling it around it until the snare snags the loop.","Next, the cable is threaded through the rock.","Two ends of the cable are crimped together to create one big circle over 200 feet in circumference.","A section of the diamond cable is wound around mechanical wheels.","The machine moves backward as the wheels turn the cable through the rock, and slowly but surely the tiny diamonds saw through the soapstone.","The process kicks up a lot of talc, the mineral that gives this stone its soapy texture.","So water is sprayed into the cut to minimize the dusty fallout.","As the cable exits the rock, it snaps off the wheels, so everyone has to steer clear.","It has taken about 20 minutes to slice through this soapstone hillside.","Now it's time for the excavator.","As it pulls the soapstone away from the hillside, the slab breaks into chunks, each one about two or three square yards.","The chunks are washed.","Then they're lifted up by a front-end loader and delivered to a band saw.","Like the cable, the saw has a diamond edge that easily cuts through the stone.","They get several one-inch thick slabs from each block, perfect for a countertop.","The smaller-end slabs are used to build apron sinks.","This type of sink was first popular a century and a half ago.","But these days, computerized blades and lasers make the job of building one a whole lot easier.","The laser lines serve as guides while the blades cut the soapstone to precise dimensions.","This piece will be the bottom of the sink.","A precision grinder tapers the sink bottom from the center out so that liquid will flow down into a drain in the middle.","Next, a drain hole is punched out.","A constant flow of water keeps the cutter cool and the dust down.","Epoxy resin is mixed with hardener for a high-strength waterproof adhesive.","It's quickly applied along the edge of the sink bottom so it doesn't dry.","Then a sink wall is pressed onto the glued surface.","They piece together the rest of the sink, and it's ready to blend in with the soapstone countertop.","From the shower floor to the stove surround soapstone can perform many functions with style.","When we return, the shocking truth behind electric pole transformers.","Electric transformers-- we see them everywhere but often take for granted the big part they play in our everyday lives.","Their job is to transform the high voltage from electrical power lines to the lower voltage that's suitable for home use.","Without them, raw electrical power would be virtually useless to the average person.","Transformers are a critical part of modern life, but did you ever stop to wonder what's inside those canisters?","To build a transformer, workers start by taking paper that's coated with epoxy glue and tape it to a wooden block.","Next component-- an 1/8-of-an-inch-thick aluminum strip.","It's a metal that can withstand the heat that a high-voltage current produces.","As the block is rotated, the paper and the aluminum strip are wrapped around it.","An aluminum bus bar, called the low-voltage lead, sends low voltage current out from the transformer.","Workers fold the lead and move the unit to another rotating block for more wrapping.","The insulating paper has epoxy glue on both sides.","This glue will later melt and bond several components in place.","On the next block, a worker tapes on more epoxy paper along with epoxy-coated copper wire.","He covers the paper...","Then repeats the same process, forming a second layer of copper wire.","He solders a high-voltage lead wire to the copper wire then rolls yet another layer of copper wire.","Next, he welds on what's called the lead wire out, the wire that will protrude from the transformer cylinder and attaches vinyl-coated wires that will connect to different voltages out of the transformer.","This completed unit is called the coil.","Now using electrical steel, workers build the transformer's other main component, called the core.","The coil and core are tightly secured together with metal strapping, which will help to fix the assembly in the tank.","Then it's into an oven where they bake for 8 hours at 275 degrees.","The heat improves insulation by removing any traces of humidity.","It also melts the epoxy glue, fusing together the paper, the aluminum strip, and the copper wires.","The assembly now goes into a steel tank.","A rubber gasket is hammered around the perimeter, and a grounding wire is bolted on.","Then three thermoplastics bushings are inserted.","Workers connect the low-voltage lead to the thermplastic bushings then bolt the bushings to the tank.","They adhere an oil-filling guide to the side of the tank then position an automated filling machine.","A machine fills the tank with mineral oil, drawing a vacuum to make sure the oil disburses throughout the coil and core.","The oil is used for its thermal and insulating properties.","An internal fault detector will alert maintenance crews if there is a short circuit.","A worker runs lead wire through the thermoplastic bushing and secures it in place.","Next comes the high-voltage connector.","Finally, the tank cover is bolted shut.","The transformation, so to speak, is finished.","Before transformers go into service, they have to undergo some truly electrifying tests.","This equipment simulates a 145,000 volt lightning strike.","Then it's into a water tank to test the transformer for leaks.","If it passes muster, it could soon be appearing at a pole near you.","Up next, how they make snowshoes step by step.","Historians believe the ancestors of north american native peoples brought snowshoes with them when they migrated from central asia some 4,000 years ago.","Today, the tradition of snowshoe making lives on thanks to skilled artisans who combine an age-old craft with a few modern improvements.","Every snowshoe frame comes from a single piece of hardwood, usually white ash.","Craftsmen start with a two-yard strip about 3/4 of an inch thick.","Using a planer, they thin the middle down to about half an inch.","Then it's on to a table saw, where each end is tapered to a fine point.","They take the trim pieces known as bows and hammer steel braces onto each one.","These support the wood where it's thinnest so it won't break later on during the bending process.","The bows go into a steam chamber to soften the wood.","30 minutes later, they're damp enough to bend without breaking.","The craftsmen start working from the middle, the area called the toe, where the wood is thinnest and easiest to bend.","They wrap it around a steel form on a bending jig...","Then lay one tapered end over the other and tack them together.","Now back to the steamer for a second bow to complete the pair.","A temporary crossbar helps hold the shape.","Different steel forms are used to shake different snowshoe models.","The frame is set on a bending machine called a press break.","Then a wooden bar is positioned on the frame to act as a fulcrum.","As the press comes down, it curves the tip of the frame about 2 3/4 inches upward.","A crossbar is inserted lengthwise to hold the bend in place.","Still damp from the steam chamber, the frames will need to dry out for several days.","Only then can the temporary crossbars safely come out.","The craftsmen then sand the wood to a smooth finish.","They drill slots on the inside for the two permanent crossbars while another machine stamps those bars with the company logo.","It takes just a quick stretch to insert the bars-- one near the toe, the other near the heel.","Now the frames go for a dip in a vat of oil-based varnish to seal and waterproof the wood.","Once the varnish dries, the frames are ready for lacing.","In keeping with tradition, the laces are made of animal hide.","Wetting it makes it easier to cut into the long strips.","A skilled weaver threads her needle then begins by hooking the rawhide lace through a nylon thread that runs along the shoe's inside perimeter.","She nimbly builds up a pattern of webbing that always begins and ends with a series of triangular shapes.","This intricate weaving technique is a traditional skill passed down through generations of native canadian women.","She finishes by wrapping up the heel end of the frame with rawhide then pulls it tight.","Now that the toe piece is finished, she starts weaving the middle piece.","Using a large width of rawhide, she builds up another web of triangles, this time knotting the strips directly onto the frame.","Finally, she weaves an opening to leave room for the bindings that hold the snowshoe to your boot.","Once the rawhide dries, the webbing will lie taut across the frame.","The last step-- another coat of varnish to seal and protect both the wood and webbing.","And now these traditional snowshoes are ready to make some tracks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rock Crushers","Fabric Lampshades","Cake Sprinkles","Steam Irons"]},"text":["Rock crushers are brawny machines designed to smash big boulders to bits.","The broken rock is then used to make asphalt pavement, concrete building foundations, ceramic tile, and many other things.","Modern society is largely built on the crushing strength of these powerful machines.","If there's one invention that's been a smashing success, it's the rock crusher.","These machines are designed to pulverize.","This crusher slams rocks against anvils to shatter them along natural stress lines.","They break into uniform cubicle particles that can be processed into many different things.","Production starts with the crusher's lid.","A computer-controlled plasma torch cuts through a sheet of steel that's underwater.","The water keeps the smoke down as the plasma gas makes a sharp, precise cut.","They feed a piece of steel back and forth between rollers to shape it into the crusher body.","With each pass, the strip curls a little more.","When the two ends meet, the steel is sufficiently cylindrical.","The technician tack welds the ends while the steel is still in the rolling machine.","This holds the shape so that he can then do a complete weld.","After a bit more work, the crusher body is ready for mounting to the base frame.","They lower it into place with the crane and weld it to the section that will hold the electric motor and pedestal.","After a paint job and some fittings, the focus turns to the inside of the rock crusher.","A worker bolts steel castings to the interior wall.","The rugged castings will protect the crusher structure from damage as rocks are slammed around inside during crushing.","He secures the bolts from the outside of the crusher structure.","They're now ready to assemble the crusher bearing and shaft.","The worker starts with the bearing.","He carefully aims a torch at it, and the exposure to the steady flame causes the bearing to expand.","When it's large enough, he lowers the shaft into the bearing.","As the bearing cools, it shrinks to the shaft for a tight fit.","This takes several hours.","Then he heats the opening in a part known as the pedestal housing to enlarge it.","He inserts the shaft and bearing assembly into it.","The housing cools and shrinks to the bearing.","They also equip the other end of the shaft with a bearing and cap, and then it's time for a test run.","They run each pedestal unit for two hours so a computer can thoroughly assess its performance.","The pedestal shaft assembly has passed a gamut of tests.","It's ready to go into the crusher.","The installer bolts it to the frame in six places.","He attaches it to the protruding shaft bearing by heat shrinking it in place.","He reinforces the installation with two locknuts.","Meanwhile, a robot welds brackets onto a machined steel plate that will serve as the impeller.","The impeller is a kind of turntable that revolves to toss the rock into anvils to shatter it.","They attach parts called shoes to the brackets.","They transfer the impeller to the crusher and bolt it to the hub.","A worker installs chrome and white iron castings.","The castings are the anvils.","Arranged in a ring, they serve as the striking surface for the rocks.","He installs them on an angle and locks them in position.","The crane transfers the ring to the crusher, and the anvils now surround the impeller.","With all of the components in place, it's time to put the lid on the rock crusher.","A worker presses a decal with brand information onto the outside.","They install the electric motor, and this crusher is now ready to reduce rocks to rubble.","A lampshade is primarily practical.","It diffuses the light that bulbs emit.","It also serves a decorative purpose.","What the shade is made of, its shape, and size all influence the style of the lamp, so much so that you can give an old lamp a whole new look just by changing the shade.","Whether the look is modern or classic, putting the perfect shade on your lamp base is always a bright idea.","Manufacturing a lampshade begins with the frame.","It's made of steel wire 3 or 4 millimeters thick, depending on the shade size.","A computer-guided forming machine pulls the wire off the spindle and straightens it with rollers.","Then the machine bends and cuts the wire into the shape of each frame component.","For each frame, the machine makes two rings in the shape of the shade, typically round, square, or rectangular.","Then it makes three \"l\"-shaped pieces.","To assemble the top of the frame, they place one \"l\"-shaped piece at a time in a positioning jig alongside a steel loop with three tabs.","They weld an \"l\" piece to each of those tabs.","Next, they take each ring and weld it closed.","They weld the free end of the \"l\"-shaped pieces to one of the rings.","This completes the top of the frame.","The remaining ring forms the bottom of the frame.","Workers spray both of them with paint powder.","Then the frame parts enter an oven, which bakes the powder into a durable coating.","At the core of the fabric portion of the shade is a sheet of pvc plastic that has an adhesive on both sides.","Working one side at a time, they peel off the paper covering the adhesive, then apply the fabric gradually, carefully smoothing it out as they go to prevent creases.","This lampshade has cream-colored linen on one side and patterned cotton on the other.","Once they've applied fabric to both sides of the pvc sheet, a computer-guided cutter cuts out the shape of the shade.","It also cuts through the inside of the fabric and the pvc all along the perimeter half an inch from the edge.","This leaves a small border of only outside fabric.","They apply double-sided tape to this border on the top and bottom of the shade.","They run a bead of glue down one side edge, then fold the outside fabric border over the inner fabric.","This gives the lampshade a neat seam.","Now they assemble fabric and frame, starting with the bottom ring.","They position it just above the double-sided tape along the border, then they remove the paper to expose the tape's adhesive surface and fold the tape border tightly over the frame.","They stand up the shade on its bottom ring and position the top ring with clips.","Then they peel, fold, and stick the fabric border over the ring just as they did on the bottom.","They press all around to smooth out the fabric and ensure it adheres well.","Then, using a bent spoon, they push the edge of the fabric in behind the curved wire frame.","This creates a neat, rounded rim.","They seal the shade's vertical seam, applying glue to both the inside and outside edges.","They weigh it down for about half an hour until the glue fully cures.","The shade is now ready to add its personality to an awaiting base.","With all the lampshade's styles, shapes, colors, and fabrics available today, any lamp can have multiple personalities.","Believe it or not, cake sprinkles have been around since the late 18th century when french confectioners used them as decorations.","Chocolate sprinkles are believed to have been invented in 1936 by a dutchman responding to a little boy's request for a chocolate bread topping.","Cake sprinkles come in a variety of colors and can be found decorating and adding texture to many treats such as cupcakes, doughnuts, ice cream, and cookies.","They can quickly turn a tasty treat into a visual one, as well.","A variety of liquid and powder food colorants are among the ingredients used to make these colorful dessert decorations.","Shortening is one of the other ingredients.","A worker adds an exact quantity of shortening to a mixing tank.","Water in the tank is heated as the mixture is agitated.","Within minutes, the ingredients are absorbed.","A worker adds powdered sugar to a dry mixer.","By the time all the needed sugar has been added, the machine is full.","He adds a pre-measured amount of liquid food colorant.","Different food colorants and different amounts of colorants produce different-colored sprinkles and different shades of colors.","The mixture of water and shortening are added to the dry mixer containing the powdered sugar and colorant.","He closes the lid and begins the dough-mixing process.","About 15 minutes later, a worker opens the lid to reveal the freshly mixed and colorful dough.","A worker pushes the dough along a conveyor into a chute.","It leads to a wide collection area and another conveyor machine which moves the dough toward an extruder.","As the dough falls into the extruder, it's forced through many small holes.","It emerges as these long, narrow strands which fall onto another conveyor.","The holes through which the dough is forced are in a big plate.","To make sure the quality of the product doesn't vary, room temperature in the production area is kept constant, and the relative humidity is kept at 50%.","That same ambient air dries the dough as it moves along the conveyor through a tunnel.","About 10 seconds after it enters the tunnel, it falls into a holding vat with a pail.","A worker sifts through the dough to make sure it's properly dried.","She lifts the dough-filled pail and places it on a trolley for the trip to a tumbler.","The tumbler breaks the strands into smaller sizes.","The dough usually spends about 10 minutes here.","Any longer and the strand bits will be too small.","A nozzle sprays a mixture of confectioner's glaze and carnauba wax.","The mixer keeps the cake sprinkles from leaking color once they're placed in finished products.","Now dried and trimmed for size, a worker removes the sprinkles from the tumbler and pours them onto a shaker table.","Properly-sized pieces of dough fall through a screen along with smaller pieces as larger clumps are sorted out.","Before dropping to another conveyor, a second filter below removes under-sized granules.","The sprinkles fall into a plastic-lined packaging tub.","Cake sprinkles come in a variety of colors.","A tumbler mixes all the colors together in order to package a multi-colored product.","The various colors are mixed together for about five minutes before a worker samples the mixture to make sure the variety of colors is consistent.","Once the sprinkles have been thoroughly mixed, they fall into a line of bottles.","A jet of air directed at the top of the bottles keeps sprinkles away from the cap area.","The capping machine not only positions the cap, it also spins the bottle to screw the cap into place.","The capped bottles head to the labeling area.","An adhesive label is applied to the bottle.","These colorful sprinkles are sure to make any dessert dazzle.","The steam iron is a 20th-century invention that makes ironing less of a chore.","Less physical effort is required because the steam opens the weave of the fabric so that creases can be smoothed out more easily by the heated sole of the iron.","In the past, people used heavy wedges of iron heated over a fire to press clothing, and so they became known as irons.","But today's electric irons aren't made from iron at all.","They're made with lighter stuff like plastic and aluminum.","Production starts with this injection-molding machine.","Once the mold closes, nozzles inject three streams of plastic into the cavities, each one a different color.","The plastic hardens into a tri-colored part that is the upper shell of the iron and its handle.","The plastic shell will also serve as the iron's water tank.","The robot transfers the molded parts to automated scissors.","The scissors snip off unwanted bits that were formed as plastic flowed into the mold.","The next robot transfers a plastic ring to a printing station.","This ring will be the temperature indicator for the control knob.","Another robot stamps the measurements and other information onto it.","Nozzles inject a ceramic liquid into the iron's aluminum base-- the sole plate which contains the heating element.","The ceramic will aid in the production of steam by breaking the surface tension of the water from the tank.","A worker places a cover on top of the sole plate, and a machine rivets them together.","There's a cover for the bottom of the sole plate, as well, fittingly known as the shoe.","An injector coats all the rivets in the sole plate with silicone.","The silicone serves as a kind of glue, keeping the rivets tight.","A robot transfers the sole plate assembly to a heating unit to cure the silicone.","Another robot pumps compressed air into the sole plate to check for leaks.","The sole plate cools down from the silicone cure on the ride to the next station.","While just ahead, robots nimbly bend and twist wires to a precise geometry.","These robots are faster than humans and incredibly accurate.","Afterwards, another robot welds the wires to a post on the iron's temperature-control unit.","A carriage shuttles the unit forward, and the next robot retrieves it and transfers it to the iron sole plate assembly.","Another robot adjusts the unit's knob until it's in the correct position.","They install an aluminum silicate disk to protect the knob from heat.","A robot applies hot glue into the grooves of the iron's heat shield, which will also serve as the bottom of the water tank.","With the glue still liquid, another robot transfers the iron upper to it, and the glue cures.","Up until now, the robots have done most of the work, but it's time for a helping hand or two.","A worker transfers the iron upper assembly to the bottom one.","After the two parts have been secured and a leak test performed, another worker connects the power cord to it.","She encloses the back with another molded plastic part.","Another worker installs the steam and spray subassembly.","This part has an intake channel for fill ups and a mechanism to control the steam.","It's time for a thorough electrical test.","They plug it in, and a robot turns the knob while a computer monitors its performance.","A worker then examines the steam iron from all angles.","With her final approval, it's ready for packaging.","With robots and humans working in tandem, it takes just 10 minutes to assemble a steam iron.","Piles of rumpled laundry await, so it's full steam ahead."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Crosscut Saws","Haggis","Collectible Firearms"]},"text":["Chain saws and other machines may dominate forestry, but the human-powered crosscut saw still has a basic appeal.","Pushed and pulled through the trunks of trees, its jagged blade can handle any job, that is, until the person operating it runs out of gas.","Making a crosscut saw is an exact science that dates back centuries.","At this factory, they make these saws the old-fashioned way, mostly by hand.","It's a nod to a time when these saws were at the forefront of history, helping to clear the way for railways and settlements.","With guillotine blades, a worker first trims a steel rectangle along the lines measured and marked onto it.","The trimming gives it a distinctive taper and establishes the correct dimensions.","This particular saw is a one-person model, so it's about 3 feet long.","Using a punch cutter, the worker carves gullets in the steel.","These are the valleys between sawteeth, through which sawdust and debris are cleared.","He cuts one gullet every inch.","He then cuts the teeth, three between each gullet.","This pattern is known as the great american tooth.","It's designed to cut medium to hardwoods across the grain without snags.","He hammers each tooth to bend it and alternates the direction of the bends-- one up, the next down.","This is called setting the teeth.","And the result is protruding teeth that cut more efficiently.","He files each tooth, working from the bottom up to the tips and sharpens those tips to a point.","It takes about a half-hour to give this steel blank its crosscutting edge.","A worker then connects the blade to a power source.","He centers a stencil of the company logo on the saw...","And then applies liquid electrolyte to the exposed metal within the stencil.","He turns on the power, and the electrolyte conducts the current to burn the logo into the metal.","A computerized router carves a piece of beech into the pistol-shaped handle.","This software-driven tool also drills holes for installing the blade.","The computerized system is quicker and more precise than manual carving.","An employee then cuts a slot in the handle to fit the saw.","He sands the edges of the handle until it's smooth.","He then inserts the crosscut saw blade into the handle.","It's a tight fit, but to more solidly entrench it, he drills through the holes in the wood handle to make corresponding holes in the metal blade sandwiched within it.","He inserts screws into the handle, securing the blade to it.","He tightens the screws as much as possible.","And this one-person saw is now complete.","A two-person crosscut saw is crescent-shaped and longer to cut through bigger trees.","The teeth are also more substantial with deep pitches between them.","Sawdust will be expelled through these deep pitches, so there's no need for gullets in this particular cutting edge.","Once the teeth have been cut, a worker places socket fittings on each end of the saw.","He pounds in rivets to secure the fittings to the blade.","These fittings will be used to install a different kind of handle known as a fist grip, which is more suitable for a two-person saw.","It's essentially a wooden dowel that just slides into the socket fitting.","It has taken about an hour to make this crosscut saw.","Wielded with force, it will cause mighty trees to fall, proving that this low-tech tool can still cut it on the jobsite.","Haggis is scotland's national dish, made from minced lamb and beef, encased in beef intestine.","While quintessentially scottish, historians believe haggis actually originated in ancient greece and eventually made its way northward with the romans to britain.","Haggis is traditionally served with mashed potatoes and turnips-- what the scots call neeps and tatties-- along with a glass of scotch whiskey to wash it down.","At the haggis factory, the production process begins with beef fat.","They put it through a mechanical chopper, and a guillotine blade slices it up.","The chunks of fat go into a large cook tank.","They fill the tank with water and simmer the fat for 2 1/2 hours.","Then, using a strainer, they drain the cooked fat and put it in a tub.","Then they empty the tub into a mincer.","Next, they chop up lamb lungs.","Haggis recipes sometimes also use heart and liver.","They simmer those in a cook tank, as well, for 2 1/2 hours.","Using a strainer, they drain and remove the cooked chopped lungs and transfer them to a tub.","They now take dried, shredded onions and rehydrate them with some stock from the cooked meat.","They pour the onion and stock mix into the tub with the cooked lungs...","Then empty the whole thing into the mincer to join the ground fat.","Next, two different grinds of oatmeal-- medium and coarse-- to give the haggis just the right texture-- not too stiff, but not too loose.","The consistency is key, which is why the grind proportions are a closely guarded company secret.","Also a top secret-- the composition of the spice blend they now add.","All the company will divulge about this seasoning is that it includes salt and pepper.","The oatmeal and spice blend now join the other ingredients in the mincer, and there you have it-- the finished haggis mix, ready to be stuffed into casings.","In keeping with tradition, the company encases its haggis in beef intestines.","After a thorough cleaning, the intestines are stored in salt.","Before use, they soak in cold water overnight to desalinate.","This also softens them up until sufficiently pliable for the stuffing process.","On the filling line, workers slip an intestine over what's called the stuffing horn.","Then, with a knee, activate a lever that triggers the machine to pump out a set amount of haggis mix.","On this run, they're preparing the one-pound size.","They close the casing on either side with a thick aluminum staple.","Now they spread the haggis out on cooking trays and pierce each casing to let air escape as the casing shrinks during cooking.","The temperature inside the steam oven is 230 degrees fahrenheit.","The haggis cooks for one hour, during which the casing shrinks and forms into a ball shape.","Once the haggis come out of the oven and cool, workers cut them apart.","Each haggis goes into a printed plastic bag, then into a vacuum sealer.","The machine draws out 99.9% of the air before sealing the bag.","This vacuum-packing process extends a 7-to-10 day shelf life to 4 weeks.","The packaged haggis now drop into a tank of hot water.","The bags instantly shrink and thicken by 25%, making them significantly more durable.","Haggis may date back to ancient greece, but it's certainly changed with the times.","This company also makes a one-minute microwavable version, a canapé format, and even vegetarian haggis...","Far beyond what robert burns could ever have imagined.","The term \"collectible firearms\" refers to antique guns and top-of-the-line new guns made in the traditional style.","These firearms are mostly handmade by skilled craftsmen, using centuries-old techniques.","This quality workmanship translates into top-notch performance.","This company in england has been manufacturing rifles and shotguns since 1835.","It still uses the same traditional gun-making methods, only now with the help of modern-day computerized equipment.","Even with that technology, it's still arduous work.","Making just one gun takes, depending on the model, up to 1,250 hours of labor.","In the factory's machine shop, under a shower of lubricant, a computer-guided tooling machine shapes a solid-steel bar into a hollow tube with a rectangular plate, called a lump, on one end.","This tube will become the barrel of a shotgun.","Here, you can see the progression from bar to tube, but it's still somewhat rough, so now a highly skilled barrel maker manually files the tube to obtain exactly the right roundness.","This traditional process is known as striking the barrel.","With his expert eye, he checks his work by observing how light and shadows fall on the barrel.","Now he lays two barrels side by side in a fixture and connects their lumps with pegs.","He lays a strip of silver solder along the joint and binds the adjoined lumps with steel wire.","Then he brushes on flux, a chemical which prevents steel from oxidizing and helps molten solder flow into the joint.","He now loads this end of the pair of barrels into a small furnace.","Within about 20 minutes, the fiery heat, peaking at a temperature of 1,650 degrees fahrenheit, melts the silver solder, which flows into the joint.","The barrels are now bonded.","Next, he lays a thin strip of steel, called a rib, in the gap between the joined barrels.","This time, he uses flux made of pine-tree resin, which works better than chemical flux when soldering with tin.","He immobilizes the rib with steel wedges and wire then, using a hand torch, melts tin solder to fix the rib between the barrels.","After removing the wire and wedges, he cleans off the flux and excess tin with abrasive paper, revealing a seemingly seamless double barrel.","Now he mounts the double barrel on a fixture and coats what's called a lapping rod with oil and an abrasive powder.","He moves the rod back and forth within the barrels until their inside is ground to within a fraction of an inch of the required diameter.","This process also smoothes the interior of the bore to a mirror-like finish.","The barrel maker then polishes the outside surface to a shine.","Meanwhile, the action body, the part that houses the gun's mechanics, has already been roughly shaped.","Now the final machining in a bath of paraffin to wash away the metal debris.","In a process called spark erosion, copper electrodes of varying shapes erode the steel to create the required slots, holes, and recesses.","Quite the transformation from what started out as a solid piece of steel.","It's critical that the action's 60-plus intricate components will fit together with ultimate precision.","Once again, nothing beats the traditional method.","The actioner blackens the component with a smoke lamp.","Here, he's fitting the trigger plate.","He positions it in the action, taps a few times...","Then removes it.","The black soot marks left behind indicate where the plate needs to be filed down.","He repeats this procedure again and again until the plate fits perfectly.","He does this with each and every one of the action's components.","Using the same marking method, he also files the lumps on the barrel to fit to the action perfectly.","They hook onto a cross pin and serve as a hinge on which the barrel pivots against the action.","He also marks and files the face of the barrel so that it fits perfectly with the face of the action.","Such flawless precision is the hallmark of top-of-the-line firearms.","The shotgun's action is finished, but there are still two main components to come.","The lock is the firing mechanism.","The stock is the gun's wooden butt end that you steady against your shoulder to shoot.","Once those components join the others, the whole shotgun will be complete-- lock, stock, and barrel.","Some double-barreled shotguns have two triggers-- one per barrel.","Others have a single trigger which fires each barrel alternately.","Depending on the style of the gun, the two barrels are positioned either side by side or one over the other.","The gun's firing mechanism is called the lock.","A double-barreled gun has two locks-- one for each barrel.","Each lock consists of a plate with 14 components.","They've all been machined by the factory's computer-guided tooling equipment.","An expert craftsman assembles them by hand.","To test the lock, he uses a cocking key to simulate what happens when you pull the trigger.","The key depresses two spring-loaded sears that release and drives a tumbler forward, striking a firing pin to fire the gun.","The locks are installed on both sides of the action body, just above the trigger.","In the factory's stocking shop, another craftsman lays a template for the gun's stock onto a piece of turkish walnut, traces, and then saws out the shape.","The wood appears quite ordinary now, but wetting it a bit shows the rich grain, which an extensive finishing later on will bring out.","Just like the actioner before, he uses a smoke lamp to fit the action to the head of the stock, the soot marks telling him where to shave the wood with various chisels.","This meticulous process takes more than 40 hours because he first has to strip the action of all its parts, then fit the main body into the stock, then reassemble the action piece by piece, fitting each and every one into the wood separately.","Now, using a tool called a drawknife, he finalizes the stock's shape.","By the time he finishes, the block of walnut has gone from this to this.","A finishing specialist now applies linseed oil mixed with a hardener and polishes the wood many times over until the wood is lustrous.","In the factory's engraving shop, decorative work is underway on each lock plate.","An engraving artist first draws the design on paper, then on the plate in pencil.","She then uses a sharp tool called a graver to cut the design into the metal plate.","This process, while painstaking, requires minimal pressure.","The graver is made of either high-speed steel or tungsten carbide, extremely hard metals which cut into steel quite easily.","Later on, they'll highlight the engraving with black ink and varnish the surface to prevent tarnishing.","Now the action and lock plates undergo a heat-treatment process that hardens the steel so that it won't wear out over time.","This process leaves colors on the surface.","On luxury guns like these, customers typically request designs or markings in gold inlay.","After disassembling the barrels, the craftsmen inlays, in this case, a barrel number.","After cutting the number, he undercuts the edge of it so that the gold he then beats into the number will lock in place.","Then he files the gold inlay flush with the surface...","And smoothes off the excess with an abrasive stone.","Every gun goes out to an independent authority for extensive firing tests.","The gun returns certified with proof marks.","The very last operation is a chemical treatment to protect the steel barrel from rusting.","The steel reacts to this chemical process by turning from its natural silver color to black.","Because these guns are not mass-produced but handcrafted, with each and every component custom-fit to the neighboring component, parts from one gun are never interchangeable with those of another, even if they're the same model.","It takes approximately 1,000 working hours to produce a single gun, so customers placing an order typically wait at least a couple of years until delivery."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hydroponic Lettuce","Construction Wood","Recycling","Fishing Flies"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Hydroponic lettuce, construction wood, recycling, and fishing flies.","Bet you thought the only way to grow lettuce was in a garden.","Well, vegetables don't necessarily need soil.","They can also grow in water, provided it contains the proper nutrients and fertilizers.","That's called hydroponics.","This method of growing hydroponic lettuce is called \"deep pool floating raft technology\".","It sounds pretty complicated, but it's really quite simple, and it all starts in the germination area with lettuce seeds.","To plant them, workers use a steel tray connected to a vacuum hose.","The tray has 276 holes, and a vacuum sucks a seed into each one.","Next they take a foam block with corresponding holes called an oasis and position it into the tray.","A quick flip deposits a seed into each hole of the oasis.","The seeds are coated in clay.","Clay holds in moisture to nourish the seed but also breaks apart easily to let the seed sprout.","On the way to the greenhouse, the seeds get their first watering.","Then workers set them afloat.","The pool of water is about 12 inches deep.","Technicians continuously monitor and manipulate its levels of oxygen and fertilizer.","That's the key to hydroponic growing.","The water is never discarded, just topped off to replace what the plants drink and what evaporates.","On the first day, they water the seeds frequently.","Within a couple of days, the seedlings start to appear.","They water and fertilize them.","By about the fourth day, there's some significant sprouting action.","Again, they water and fertilize the plants.","The first leaves emerge on about the seventh day in the summer, on about the 11th day in the winter.","The winter growth rate is slower because there's less sun.","At this point, it's time for the first in a series of transplants.","Workers transfer the lettuces from the 276-plant oasis to a styrofoam board that holds more plants-- 288.","They set the boards afloat in the nursery zone.","At about the 13-day mark in the summer-- the 20-day mark in the winter-- transplant number 2 takes place, this time to a less crowded styrofoam board that holds just 72 plants.","This gives the plants more light and more room to grow.","Workers use a hook to avoid damaging the roots.","A plant needs healthy roots to absorb water and nutrients.","The last transplant happens on about the 26th day in the summer, the 45th day in the winter.","Now the lettuces go from the 72-plant board to a board that holds just 18.","By now the plants have long roots, so they're harder to manipulate.","The lettuces go into the production zone, the last move before harvesting.","These pools are bigger, so automatic machines move the boards around.","This hydroponic system produces 500 plants per square yard, almost five times the yield of field-grown lettuce, and it's safer, too.","There's no need here for pesticides or fungicides, and because it's all indoors, fertilizer can't contaminate the environment.","By about the 45th day in the summer, the 75th day in the winter, the lettuces are finally ready for harvesting.","Workers cut off the yellowed leaves at the base, then either cut off the roots or wrap them around the stem, depending on how this crop will be sold.","Then they vacuum-cool each lettuce for longer shelf life.","An american engineer has invented a self-mending plastic to use for components that vibrate and weaken.","When the plastic tears, tiny capsules inside it also tear, releasing a liquid, like blood from a cut.","Then a catalyzing agent also in the plastic seals the tear like a scar.","There was a time when if you wanted to build something out of wood, you had to pick up an ax and go chop down a tree.","Thankfully for city dwellers, all it takes today is a trip to your local home-improvement center to buy 2x4's, 2x10's--  you name it.","They start with logs cut from spruce or fir trees.","Turning them into construction wood isn't that complicated.","First they soak the logs for about 20 minutes.","This removes the mud and softens the bark to make it easier to remove.","Next the logs go through the debarker, a machine with a rotor that shaves off the bark.","The rotor has six sharp blades that take just 10 seconds to shave a log bare.","In the filing room, they regularly sharpen and inspect the saw blades they'll use to cut the shaved logs, straightening them back into shape when necessary.","In this sawmill, there are two production lines.","The wider logs go through this saw.","The worker at the controls uses a laser to help him position and reposition each log as he runs it through the saw several times to cut it into as many 4x10-inch pieces as possible.","An average log usually yields about seven or eight pieces.","The narrower logs go through a different saw.","This saw first cuts a board off each side, then sends what's left of the log on to another saw.","The 4x10's on the first production line go for a second cut called the resaw.","They're cut in half into 2x10's.","The logs on the second production line end up here in what's called the canter-bull machine.","It has eight adjustable circular saws that can cut the log into various sizes of wood anywhere from 2x3's to 2x8's, depending on the log's diameter.","Both production lines feed to machines that smooth the edges and trim off any defects that can effect the strength or resistance of the wood.","Then an automated sorter drops the wood into bins according to their size.","Each bin then feeds the stacking machine.","From here they'll put the wood into a kiln to be dried to about 15% humidity.","Then they'll grade the pieces and ship them to a lumberyard or home-improvement store.","If you care about our environment, chances are you separate your recyclable waste from your other garbage and either take it to a recycling center or put it out at the curb for pickup.","But have you ever wondered where it goes from there?","When the truck arrives, your recyclables go through their first sorting.","The worker puts paper and boxes in one receptacle, glass, plastics, and metals in another.","At the sorting plant the truck dumps each receptacle into a separate area.","Then it's on to separate conveyor belts for more sorting.","On the paper-and-boxes line, workers first remove any plastic, metal, or glass that got there by mistake.","Then they sort what's left into three categories-- first, corrugated cardboard--  what brown boxes are made of-- second, newsprint, and third, mixed-fiber paper such as cereal boxes, envelopes, and greeting cards.","On the glass, metal, and plastics conveyor belt, workers first remove the big bulky items such as gallon-sized containers.","A jumbo magnet picks up everything metal except for aluminum, which isn't magnetic.","Workers then sort milk and juice cartons to one area, aluminum to another.","They separate plastics into three categories, glass into two--  clear and colored.","Once everything's been separated, each category goes into a baler, which compacts it...","Then binds it with wire like a giant bale of hay.","Then it's off to the warehouse until they're sold to a recycler.","At the recycling plant, they cut open a bale of plastics, then load everything onto the conveyor belt.","The plastics pass through magnets to remove any metal that might have slipped through.","Then it's into the shredder.","It takes the shredder just an hour to shred two tons of plastic.","All those containers are now tiny, little plastic flakes.","Next, cleaning by friction and water.","Any remaining glass or other contaminants now sink to the bottom while the lighter plastic flakes float to the top.","The dirty water will be chemically filtered and used again.","They dry the flakes by hot air, then put them into silos to be compacted.","Inside the compactor, it's 320 degrees fahrenheit.","The heat partially melts the plastic, fusing the pieces as they compact.","The flakes go through the compactor's perforated inner drum, much like a pasta press...","And come out looking a bit like macaroni.","They're now officially recycled plastic in raw-material form.","Next they're melted, pressed through a screen, then cut into pellets 1/8 inch long.","They drop into water to cool, then go into a dryer.","Factories buy these pellets and use them to make plastic products.","This recycling plant takes the plastic flakes it produces to mold warehouse pallets.","The mold goes in at 446 degrees fahrenheit for just about seven or eight minutes.","It takes just 2 1/2 minutes to mold a recycling bin...","Something to help ensure a steady supply of what the factory needs to keep producing recycled plastic.","Still moping about the one that got away?","Well, maybe you just didn't use the right fly.","Fly-fishing is one of the most challenging types of sport fishing, and tying a good fly to the end of your line can make all the difference.","In about 300 a.d., people began decorating their fishing hooks to mimic insects and small fish.","The macedonians were known to use a fishing fly made of red yarn and rooster feathers.","Today, with so many synthetic materials available, the design possibilities are endless.","But every fishing fly is still based on that centuries-old technique of attaching bird feathers or animal hairs to a hook.","The whole idea is to trick the fish.","The fly imitates an aquatic insect or tiny fish, something the fish you're trying to catch likes to eat.","The flymaker starts by placing a hook in a vise.","Using a tool called a bobbin holder, he winds a waxed nylon thread carefully and tightly around the shank of the hook...","Then cuts off the excess.","This fly will simulate a mothlike insect called a caddis, a primary food for trout-- a caddis in the pupal stage of its life cycle, just before it transforms into an adult.","The flymaker first attaches a special synthetic yarn to create the tail.","He secures it along the middle of the hook.","He then takes another synthetic material called dubbing to create the body.","He spins the dubbing between his fingers onto the thread.","The wax on the thread helps it adhere.","He winds the dubbing over the base of yarn to form the body.","Then he folds some yarn over the dubbing and attaches it with more nylon thread.","Then he cuts off the excess.","Good fishing flies not only look like the real thing, they also act like it, mimicking the insect's natural movements.","When a caddis pupa is ready to transform into an adult, it swims to the surface of the water, then deploys its wings.","The shimmering yarn on this fake caddis will give the illusion of the air bubbles this voyage to the surface creates.","To simulate the wings, the flymaker uses dubbing made of deer fur.","He cuts off the long, coarse hairs known as guard hairs...","Then places them into a device called a hair stacker.","He shakes it...","Turns it to the side...","Then opens it up.","All the hairs are now evenly aligned.","He measures the length he needs to create the fly's wings.","Then he attaches it, leaving a portion sticking out the front to form the insect's head.","Next he uses a tool called a whip finisher to tie a sturdy knot made of several loops.","This caddis fly imposter is now ready to trick some trout.","There are thousands of styles of flies.","You choose which to use according to what fish are feeding on at the moment.","Flymakers use many types of natural and synthetic dubbings to form and decorate their flies-- feathers, animal hairs, metals, and plastics often dyed brilliant colors.","Tying a great fly won't always snag you the catch of the day, but if you maneuver the fly to make realistic movements in the water, the fish will buy it--  hook, line, and sinker."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plastic Injection Moulds","Automotive Oil Filters","Filing Cabinets","Blown Glass"]},"text":["If you take a closer look at the products around you, you'll notice that many are made of parts that have been assembled together.","One way factories make product parts is by melting material such as metal, rubber, or plastic, then pouring or injecting them into molds.","To make a plastic part for a product, the manufacturer has to first commission a mold-making company to design and produce a plastic-injection mold.","The mold begins as bars of chromium steel, a highly durable metal that can withstand repeated high-pressure injection of plastic.","Workers assemble several bars into a block called a mold base.","They mount this base on a milling machine, which shaves the bars to the right dimension.","This step is critical, enabling them to later machine the base into a mold that's true to the technical design, right down to the hundredth of a millimeter.","A mold usually consists of two halves, each of which is comprised of several components.","The factory drills strategically positioned holes in each base for the guide pins and bushings that hold the components together when the plastic's injected.","A grinder now goes to work, smoothing and leveling all surfaces.","This prepares the base for the high-precision machining operations that will transform it into a mold component.","A computer-guided tooling machine called the cnc slowly machines the base, wearing away the steel, particle by particle, to create the mold-component shape.","This one, part of a mold for the plastic rim around a snowmobile's front headlight, takes 20 hours to complete.","From here, most mold components go on to a second tooling machine, especially if they require fine detailing that this cnc machine isn't capable of carving.","The second machine is outfitted with a copper electrode in the shape of the plastic part, in this case, a snowmobile oil gauge.","After polishing the electrode to ensure flawless casting, they use a sophisticated measuring device to verify the dimensions.","The electrode goes facedown on the second tooling machine, called the edm.","Directly underneath is the mold half that's been partially formed on the first machine.","A strong electric current runs through the electrode and penetrates the mold, forming a cavity in the shape of the electrode.","After tooling, they drill coolant lines.","This is for the cooling fluid they'll use to accelerate the hardening of the molten plastic.","Some plastic product parts, like that snowmobile oil gauge we saw earlier, have lettering on them.","The factory engraves the letters in reverse inside the mold cavity.","After the plastic's injected, the writing is right-side out and raised.","This surface of the mold cavity is pretty rough from all that tooling, so they polish it smooth to ensure proper casting.","Here's what the two halves of a finished mold look like.","The pins and bushings fit together to close the mold before injecting the hot liquid plastic.","Once the plastic cools and hardens, it's just a matter of extracting the molded plastic part.","Here's a different molding method-- a two-step process they're using to make buttons that go on the steering handle of a jet ski.","First, they mold a structural base out of hard, white plastic.","Then, they put the base into a second mold and inject a rubberlike gray plastic.","This softer plastic covers everything but the raised lettering, giving the button a softer feel.","Factories also make molds for aluminum injection and rubber injection, among other materials.","They build those molds from different types of metal but using the same techniques.","Changing your car's oil filter a couple of times a year is an easy way to prolong the life of your engine.","The oil pump forces oil through the filter to the moving parts in the engine.","The filter's job is to block dirt and metal debris from getting in between those parts and causing engine damage.","They make many oil-filter parts from steel coil-- a sheet of steel on a roll.","They start by unwinding the roll and feeding the coil into a press.","The press contains a series of dies, each of which progressively stamps the steel into the shape of the specific part they're making.","This press is churning out tapping plates, a component on the end of the oil filter that screws onto the car's engine.","Hot off the press, the tapping plates travel on a magnetic conveyer to the welding station.","There, a robotic arm loads them onto the welding carrousel.","But before any welding begins, a nozzle applies sealant around the rim of each plate.","This will fill any gaps left between the parts after welding.","A robot now welds the tapping plate to another steel part called the bottom ring.","This ring will hold the gasket, the rubber seal that prevents oil from leaking out as it travels through the filter into the engine.","The welded parts, known as the bottom assembly, now go onto a machine that cuts a thread pattern through the center.","This will enable the oil filter to be screwed onto the engine.","Another press produces the oil filter's steel body, called the cannister.","The dies first stamp out a rough cannister shape.","Then, they reduce the diameter and make the can taller.","Finally, they cut off the excess.","Elsewhere in the factory, another machine cuts and perforates pieces of tin-plated steel coil and rolls them into tubes.","We'll see where those tubes go shortly.","Yet another machine prepares the filter's key component-- a filter paper that works like a fine sieve, trapping dirt, carbon, and soot.","First, the machine pleats the paper so it will fit inside the cannister.","Next, the machine cuts the continuous ribbon of pleated paper into lengths.","It folds each piece into a circle, fastening the ends with a steel clip.","The next machine assembles what's called the filter cartridge.","It places each filter paper over a tube.","The tube's job is to reinforce the paper against the force of the oil pumping through it.","This machine glues a capping disk on each end of the filter paper to hold the tube in place.","A heater cures the glue.","Now for the final assembly.","As the cannisters go by upside down, automated arms insert the filter cartridges.","A worker then puts a thin, rubber disk on top of each cartridge.","This disk will prevent the oil from draining out of the filter.","Now for those bottom assemblies we saw them making earlier.","A worker positions one on each cannister.","Then, a machine called a seamer folds its edge down, forming a rim, just like the rim of a soup can.","Now the conveyer turns the filters right-side up, as they file by five nozzles spraying powder paint.","An infrared oven dries the paint in about 90 seconds.","Then, a printing machine stamps on the product information.","The conveyer now turns the filters upside down again, as they travel to the gasket inserter.","Its automated plungers insert a gasket into each bottom ring.","These automotive oil filters are finally finished and ready to do the dirty work.","Whether you work in a sprawling corporate office or in a home office, filing cabinets are an essential component of an efficient workplace.","They keep your paperwork tidy, organized, and out of sight, yet just a drawer away.","And when you're short on space, they make a handy counter for the coffee maker.","Filing cabinets begin as sheets of cold rolled steel, a thin type of metal that's easy to bend, weld, and paint.","As the sheet comes off the roll, it goes through a straightening machine that removes the curve, then, into a press, whose dies punch out the shape of the specific part, complete with holes, slots, and embossments.","A filing cabinet is made up of over 60 steel parts.","For the top-selling models, the factory has dies specially designed to punch out each part.","But that's too costly a system for models that aren't mass-produced.","To make low-volume or custom-made filing cabinets, the factory uses this computer-controlled punching machine.","This equipment operates at a far slower speed than the presses we just saw, but the advantage is that it can be programmed to punch out any size, shape, or design, no matter how complex.","Several filing-cabinet parts are designed to be bent into shape.","Workers do that manually, using a machine called a press brake.","This particular part will become the top of the filing cabinet, so they're making downward folds along the perimeter to create 1 1/2-inch-wide edges with strong and tight corner seams.","This machine is called a dedicated bender because it only bends one type of part-- the filing-cabinet doors.","The factory produces doors in such high volume that it pays to design a special machine to shape them.","The doors are also bent downward along the perimeter to create edges half-an-inch wide with tight corner seams.","The cabinet's base is welded from the same type of steel sheeting as the other parts.","Small steel reinforcements make it rigid enough to support the excessive weight of file-filled drawers.","To join the cabinet's side and back, robots perform what's called \"resistance welding,\" fusing metal using heat from an electric current.","The next set of robots welds the side and back unit to the cabinet top.","After this, workers attach the base using what's called \"mig welding\"-- welding that adds extra metal along the joint to create a strong seam.","Once again, it doesn't pay to invest in robotic welding equipment for models that aren't mass-produced.","They manually weld low-volume items such as those small filing cabinets that roll under desks.","In the paint department, rotary atomizers envelop the filing cabinets in a mist of paint that contains a synthetic resin for durability.","These atomizers lace the paint particles with a negative electric charge.","This draws the particles to a positive charge on the cabinets, creating a thorough and even coat.","After 20 minutes in an oven to bake the paint, assembly can begin.","Ball-bearing sliders on which the drawers will sit, tracks for the fold-down doors, and doorstops, so the doors can't be pulled off their tracks.","There's also a locking system that simultaneously bolts both sides of each door, making the files inside inaccessible.","The last step is to install the doors and drawers using a rubber mallet, so as not to damage the finish.","Each drawer can support up to 200 pounds of files.","An interlock system lets you open only one drawer at a time.","This prevents the cabinet from toppling forward.","A glassblower can transform a sizzling blob of molten glass into sheer sculpture or objects that are both functional and decorative.","Blowing glass can be on the cutting edge of modern design, quite a feat for an art that's more than 2,000 years old.","The first hollow glass objects date back to 1,500 b.c. the invention of the blowpipe around 30 b.c. revolutionized the craft.","Until then, objects were either carved from solid glass blocks or molded from molten glass.","The blowpipe enabled glassmakers to expand and shape glass.","It made fast, inexpensive production possible.","This meant that everyday items, not just luxuries, could now be made of glass, accessible not just to the rich but to the ordinary people, too.","When you see these spectacular shapes and colors, it's hard to believe that blown glass comes from this bland, clumpy stuff.","This is silica, a natural material derived from sand, mixed with thinners and stabilizers, such as potassium and limestone.","The glassblower recycles any leftover, colorless glass then loads the mix into the melting furnace.","After 12 hours at fusion temperature, 2,200 degrees fahrenheit, the raw material transforms into colorless liquid glass.","The glassblower uses a blowpipe, a long steel tube with a ring or pear-shaped end to collect what's called a gather, a glob of this red-hot molten material.","To color the gather, she quickly rolls it in finely ground colored glass.","At this stage, the glass is honey-like in consistency, though it's cooling and thickening by the second.","She fuses the color layer by reheating the glass for a few seconds in a smaller furnace called a glory hole.","Next, she rolls the glass against a ladle-shaped block to form a starting shape for blowing.","A gentle blow or two bulges it into a hollow bubble.","By now, the cooling glass has thickened to the consistency of caramel, making it more controllable and shapable.","The glassblower stretches and shapes the glass with different blocks and hand tools.","Now the glass is like hardened caramel, and it will hold its final shape.","She scores the glass where it meets the blowpipe, then cools it down further with compressed air.","On the opposite end of the glass, with a bit of hot glass, she attached a solid-metal maneuvering rod called a pontil.","Then she applies a single drop of cold water on the score line to break the glass off the blowpipe.","Using another pontil, she plugs the resulting hole with hot glass.","Then, it's back to the melting furnace to attach a gather.","It's critical to always rotate the glass so that it doesn't droop and become lopsided.","The glassblower shapes this gather, not with a block, but by hand.","She protects herself from the intense heat by using a thick stack of soggy newspapers.","Using an ordinary pair of scissors, she forms ridges.","Then, she twists the ridges to spiral them.","She cools and hardens the finished design using compressed air.","Then, it's a quick blast into the glory hole to equalize the temperature throughout the piece.","This blown-glass lemon reamer has taken all of eight minutes to make.","Now it goes into an electric kiln for a slow 12-hour cooldown to prevent cracking.","Meanwhile, the glassblower starts a new piece-- a large vase.","More blowing, more shaping.","Then, while her co-worker blows air to expand the glass and thin it out, she cools the vase's bottom with wet newspapers.","This holds the shape while she scores the cutoff point at the top.","After reheating the glass to resoften it, they stretch it, lengthening the vase.","Once they finalize the shape, they use a wooden paddle to flatten the base.","Now for some eye-catching decoration-- vivid colored glass coiled like taffy over the entire vase.","Certain designs require cutting off a portion of the finished piece.","That leaves a rough, opaque edge they must extensively grind and polish.","A lemon reamer, a vase, even a mortar and pestle-- a glassblower's work is clearly remarkable."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Educational Robots","Boxing Belts","Boat Radar Mounts","European Style Radiators"]},"text":["Artificial intelligence is an area of computer science focused on creating intelligent machines that work and react to humans.","The term \"robot\" first appeared in 1920.","It comes from the czech word \"robota,\" meaning \"forced labor\".","This facility makes a type of educational robot equipped with a series of interconnected servomotors.","This type of equipment allows the robot to move with an extraordinary degree of dexterity.","Construction starts from scratch.","Tiny bushings are created from a steel rod placed inside this high-tech automated machining device.","A technician monitors the operation as the machine shapes the parts with digitized precision to the design specifications.","The high-speed steel bits carve the metal at an incredible speed.","This machine can manufacture 1,309 parts per every eight-hour shift.","The parts fall into a vibrating mechanism that feeds them into the next phase of production.","A specialized device called a gear-hobbing machine quickly and accurately cuts a series of cogs to create tiny sprocket wheels.","A technician uses state-of-the-art measuring devices to gauge the profile, tooth alignment, and pitch of sample parts to ensure they are up to standards specified in the manufacturer's control plan.","Another operator mounts a gear plate on a device, fastening it to a smaller part called the sun gear.","Once all the required parts are tested and prepped, technicians begin putting them all together to create d.c. motors.","Since the robots are specialty items with small production quantities, this facility is able to assemble each motor by hand.","The gears used in the motors are made of a variety of metals to account for different requirements of torque and loading force within the device.","Moving with speed and precision, specialists are able to assemble each motor in less than 10 minutes.","Next, the tiny control unit is installed.","That will allow the user to manipulate the robot.","The technician carefully attaches the bottom portion of the unit inside the motor container with a small cordless drill.","Once the unit is firmly secured, he expertly positions the wire leads to prepare them for the next step.","A technician quickly solders the wires in place.","Now that the installation of the control panel is complete, a technician finalizes the d.c. motor assembly by attaching the cover and securing it down with four screws using a cordless drill.","Next, the individual motors are installed into the framework of the robot.","One motor becomes the robot's head, while the remaining motors are attached to hinged joints that correspond to a major body part.","Then the robot's wiring is plugged in, ensuring the motors are connected to each other.","They now form parts of an integrated device which can act together.","Technicians use a 3-d printer to create a suit of armor for the robot, which they mount on its exterior to give it a more finished look.","A specialist plugs the robots into a computer and programs their different movements.","The robot tech communicates with the robot's control panel to make it do remarkable things.","But first, an old-fashioned rock 'em sock 'em before they take over the world.","When professional boxers win a title, they're crowned the champ and rewarded with a belt to be worn around the waist.","Each international organization commissions a belt that's custom-designed to its specifications and prominently features the organization's logo in the belt's central medallion.","These boxing championship belts are entirely handcrafted.","The laterals, the side pieces flanking the ornate centerplate, are sometimes engraved with a fighter's portrait.","When a boxing association commissions a new design, the company's artisans prepare a sketch for each piece.","Following the sketch, they sculpt a clay model.","From that, they cast a plaster model, then a metal model, refining the sculpture at each step.","Artisans use the final metal model to produce a rubber mold, which is used to cast the piece in white metal.","The extracted castings are quite rough, so the workshop's craftsmen use files, chisels, and automated tools to refine the shape.","Some of the devices and techniques are routinely used by jewelers, while others were designed specifically for this purpose.","Once the intricate details are completed, the team files down rough spots along the perimeter.","The belts feature a three-dimensional sculpture of an eagle fused to the centerplate.","An artisan heats the wings with an open flame to make them pliable.","Then he bends them to render the eagle more lifelike.","Every piece must be meticulously hand-polished on a buffing wheel.","This prepares the metal to be plated with gold or rhodium.","The piece is electroplated with copper, then nickel, then 18-karat gold.","The nickel carries the shine through to the surface.","After a thorough buffing on the surface, the pieces are embellished with crystals into molded cavities.","Sometimes the championship winner may order precious stones such as diamonds and rubies to replace the crystals, depending on their preference.","A team of enamelers paints the finished pieces with jewelry-grade enamel.","This requires a steady hand and close attention to detail.","Once the piece is painted, it's put into an oven to bake the enamel.","The belt strap is made of high-grade bonded leather.","A craftsman traces a belt template in the leather, then cuts it out with a knife.","Then they adhere the strap to leather or high-grade vinyl.","The designer sews the strap's lining separately, stitching black spandex over a faux-fur backing and attaching the authenticity label which bears the belt's serial number.","This distinguishes it from cheaply made copies.","The craftsman attaches leather/high-grade vinyl piping to the strap perimeter.","He places a brand sticker on the back next to an inscribed tribute to the originator of the modern boxing belt.","They adhere the lining.","Then, after smoothing out the layers of the belt with a hammer, the designer stitches the lining to the strap.","Some belts have buckles, others hook-and-loop fasteners, which are stitched to the strap at the same time as the lining.","Once the belt is finished, the centerplate and laterals are attached.","It's essential to wear gloves while doing this to protect the pristine surface.","The final step is to place an engravable brass plate into each lateral.","Then the championship belt is delivered in a hand-crafted protective case for a knockout presentation.","Radar helps sailors navigate through inclement weather while on the water, ensuring they aren't operating blind.","These specialized pedestal mounts elevate the radar systems, which maximize the antenna's range.","The mounts also provide equipment stability while traveling over rough waters.","Boat-radar mounts are one of the most critical pieces of navigation equipment to have on deck.","Radar-mount construction begins with a computer-generated drawing that specifies the height and angle of the tower.","The parts are made from extruded marine-grade aluminum.","A machinist clamps the first top plate in a jig and sets the tower upside down on the top plate.","The jig holds the tower in position as he tack-welds the assembly in place.","After clamping side gussets to the tower, the technician turns it right-side up and inserts the bottom tabs in a baseplate to position it for assembly.","Using an angle ruler, he confirms that the tower stands at 90 degrees.","Then he welds the radar-equipment tower to the base.","He sets the tower on its side to measure locations for tack welds, marking each with a pen.","Next, he makes larger stitch welds intermittently.","This will secure the gussets to the tower.","The machinist installs a gusset arm or bracket in the middle of the radar tower.","Using a metal puck as a guide, he centers another top plate on the gusset arm.","He clamps it and measures its placement to verify that it's properly centered, and welds it to the arm.","He removes the puck and installs another mounting arm at the base.","A computerized drill cuts bolt holes in a radar-mounting plate.","Radar-bolting patterns vary, so it configures them to match up with a specific radar system.","Once the bolt holes are placed, the drill carves around the border of the plate, reshaping it from square to round.","The circular profile will match the base of the satellite-radar system.","In a process known as countersinking, he bevels the rims of the bolt holes to a graduated profile.","This method will provide a stronger connection between the mounting platform and the radar system.","With a special deburring tool, the technician removes sharp edges left by the countersinking process.","He smooths the outer edges of the mounting plate using a hand sander.","The mounting plate is placed in a tub of vibrating ceramic stones mixed with water.","The friction removes any lingering imperfections and sharp edges.","Another technician cuts aluminum wings for an accessory extension.","The extension could hold a number of accessories, including a radio, gps antenna, or deck lights.","The parts are hollow in order to house wiring.","The wings will be assembled to a center trunk.","But first, they cap one end of each wing.","This wing will contain wiring snaked through from holes in the sides of the trunk.","The technician welds a wing to each side of the trunk.","This step completes the accessory-extension structure.","Next, it's time to build an arm for a navigation light.","A hydraulic press bends the arm to the desired curvature.","A measuring tool indicates the angle of the bend.","The technician drills a hole for the installation of the light.","After a powder-coat finish has been applied to all the parts, the mount is ready for assembly on the boat.","By using critical navigational equipment, this boat-radar mount will ensure that any boater will be able to find their bearings.","European radiators exude both warmth and style.","The heating-tube technology can be modified for electric or hot-water heating systems and can be made in a range of designs.","These radiators can blend into a background or stand out to make a statement on the wall.","This european-style radiator is typically mounted to a wall so it doesn't take up floor space, allowing more room for furniture and people.","Making panel radiators starts with steel flat tubes.","Using a circular saw, the machine cuts a stack of the tubes to length.","These flat tubes will be held together by struts known as headers.","An automated drill punches holes for bushings into the ends.","At the next station, a machine inserts bushings into the holes and welds them together.","Another welding device seals the ends of the flat heating tubes.","The tubes are stacked.","Meanwhile, technicians prepare the headers, which are made of square steel tubes.","An automated machine punches holes in the headers.","These holes will allow hot water to flow throughout the radiator.","A circular saw cuts the header to its specified length.","Most radiators are custom-made, and sizes are determined by the heating requirements of the space.","The headers are equipped with endcaps and fittings to supply water and vent air.","A technician inserts the caps into the ends of the header tube and hammers them down.","He clamps several of the capped headers in a fixture.","The fixture holds them in position as an automated welder joins the caps to the headers.","Here is the header tubing before and after the holes were punched and the endcaps were welded.","With the header clamped into another fixture, a drill carves a threaded connector into the side.","This connector will be used to plumb the radiator to the hot-water system.","It's now time to build the grid of heating tubes.","First, a machine moves the header into position.","An automated arm slides the flat heating tube into place on the header, and a welding device joins them together.","The automated welder installs flat tubes on each side of the headers and applies the company logo.","Strips of steel will be used to make fins that direct heat upward.","A machine punches a series of notches in the steel to mount the fins to the back of the radiator.","A hydraulic press bends the notched steel, creating an accordion-like profile.","These ridges create pockets that will capture hot air and allow it to rise.","The fins coil up at the end of the line for easy transfer to the next station.","At this point, all the flat tubes have been fully assembled to the headers.","An operator places the fins, which have been cut to a specified length, on the back of the flat-tube grid.","A machine welds the fins to the heating tubes between the folds.","This step produces a heating panel that will radiate heat up and out.","Another team member installs metal trim on the top of the radiator.","He places mounts on the back corners and welds them together.","These mounts will house threaded bolts, which will be used to level the radiator to the wall.","The radiator is now fully assembled.","The radiator undergoes a quality-control test.","Technicians pump in air and submerge it in water.","If bubbles appear, it indicates a leak.","If not, the radiator is removed from the water.","Electrostatically charged epoxy particles are sprayed onto the device, which provide a protective layer.","This european-style radiator is now ready to release some major heat."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Recycled Skateboard Guitars","Solar Street Lights","Dolls"]},"text":["With flips and jumps part of the sport, active skateboarders damage their decks beyond repair every few months.","But instead of tossing the ruined skateboards into landfills, their being reclaimed for a different kind of trick-- a transformation into electric guitars.","From skateboards to fretboards, it may seem quite a leap, but making electric guitars out of old skateboards is not such a wild idea.","Skateboards are often made of multiple layers of rock maple, which is a traditional toned wood for guitars.","A guitar maker evaluates the condition and color of the boards.","And once he's made his selections, he aims a heat gun at the grip tape on top to soften it.","He pries the edges of the softened tape away from the board using a razor.","He grabs the tape and pulls it off the skateboard.","He can now get a better look at the damage done to the board, and he decides it can be salvaged.","He sands off the adhesive and the graphics.","The sanding doesn't remove the turquoise color.","The dye has penetrated the wood and is part of its intrinsic appeal.","He cuts off the nose and the tail of the board and discards them.","He'll just be using the wheel bases.","The next step is to laminate five of the skateboards together.","He applies a liberal coat of glue, spreading it with a putty knife for complete coverage.","He adds the final board to the glued stack and places the stack in a hydraulic clamp.","To protect the surface of the skateboards, he sets a wooden board on top.","The clamp squeezes the skateboard sandwiched together as the glue sets.","A day later, he removes the now laminated skateboards.","A blade shaves the surface of the stack smooth and brings out the grain.","He trims the edges of the stack so that they're more even.","He applies glue in a zig-zag pattern to one of the side edges and spreads it across the entire edge.","He joins another skateboard stack to this one and clamps the two together.","Fused together, they form a block that's large enough to be crafted into an electric guitar body.","With a pencil, he traces around the template of a guitar shape to transfer the outline to the laminated skateboards.","Using a bandsaw, he cuts out the shape.","The skateboard colors form a random pattern within the guitar shape.","He places the template on the guitar body once again and secures it with double-sided tape.","With a router, he fines the profile, giving the guitar smoother lines.","Using a different pattern as a guide, he routes and drills cavities to accommodate the guitar's neck, electronics, and bridge.","He removes the template and inspects his work.","He sands the edges of the cavity smooth.","Then he drills several holes in the back of the guitar for attaching the neck later.","With the guitar body held steady in a clamp, he bores a hole for the input jack.","After crafting the neck of the guitar from reclaimed skateboards, he files it aggressively to shape it to the desired profile.","He then sands the entire neck.","The body undergoes an extensive sanding, too, and then he coats it with clear gloss.","This is the first of seven to eight coats with a sanding in between each one.","With curing time, this lacquering process takes three weeks.","After wet sanding and buffing, the guitar body and neck have a mirror finish.","The guitar maker nestles the neck in the hollow space at the front of the body and screws it in place from the back of the guitar.","This recycled skateboard guitar can now be assembled and wired and is set up to rock.","It takes a month to transform some battered, old skateboards into a sleek electric guitar.","Trading the half-pipe for the stage, these skateboards are no longer hasbeens.","Solar street lights are a 21st century innovation.","Powered by the sun's rays, they take the concept of renewable energy to the streets.","There's no need to tap into the grid.","These lights are standalone systems, so even if there's an electrical power outage, these street lights will stay on.","Solar street lights take energy from the sun during the day, store it, and then use it to shine brightly at night.","So even when the sun sets, they still provide light.","Manufacturing begins with the assembly of an led circuit board.","The technician places the optics or lenses, onto the aluminum board and adds a silicone-foam gasket for water proofing.","She secures the assembly with a stainless-steel plate.","This completes the solar street light's led board.","The next worker assembles the led board to the base of an aluminum heat sink.","It will disperse excess heat from the led board.","He uses several screws to secure the led board to the heat sink.","He installs the driver, which will provide power to the led board.","Once in place, he connects the led driver to the input power lead.","He now builds the decorative housing.","He screws aluminum tiers together.","He applies adhesive to the upper inner rim.","He inserts an optically clear polycarbonate lens, and the flange adheres to the adhesive-coated rim.","He screws the led heat sink assembly to an aluminum lid.","He now applies a special adhesive to the outside rim of the light fixture housing.","He presses foam tubing onto the area.","Once compressed by the lid, it will provide a water-tight seal.","With everything in an upside down position, he lowers the assembly over the led heat sink and screws it to the lid.","A technician plugs the fixture into an electrical testing unit.","He confirms that all the leds are illuminating and that there are no electrical issues.","The manufacturers then transfer the light fixture to a solar light factory.","Upon arrival here, a technician does more testing to verify that its function hasn't been compromised along the way.","The team is now ready to add the solar power system to the led street light.","A technician programs the solar charge and load controller.","Another team member places the battery that will hold the solar charge into a vented cabinet.","He connects the battery to a side clip and ground wire.","He tucks insulating foam to the sides and connects a load fuse to the battery wiring.","He plugs the controller into the battery.","In addition to regulating the battery charge and energy load, it's also a timer for the light's operation.","Next up is the solar array.","It's a group of photovoltaic panels or solar cells.","The technician sets the solar array front-side down on the workbench.","He threads cable through an aluminum back panel.","This cable will serve as a ground wire.","He pushes a pop rivet through a hole beside the cable and slides the eyelid on the end of the cable over it.","He then pulls the pin through the rivet.","He threads wires from the panel junction box and into the opening beside the ground cable.","He tucks them into a flexible cable at the back.","He rivets the aluminum back plate to the solar panel array.","He pulls the wires from the junction box through holes in a cover.","He solders electrical pins to the ends of the wires and plugs them into a single connector.","With the junction box cover installed, the solar street light system is ready for final testing.","The team assembles the street light to a pole in the factory, they connect everything, and stuff the wires into the pole's cavity.","They screw the led light fixture to the bracket on the pole, and it's ready to shine.","The street lamp controller senses when it's dark and automatically illuminates.","It will also a detect a well-lit environment and switch the light off.","Now, that's street smarts.","The doll just may be the earliest recorded toy.","There's archaeological evidence that in ancient greece, rome, and egypt, people made dolls from available materials, such as clay, wood, bone, and leather.","But doll manufacturing began in germany in the 1400s.","This french company has been hand-crafting dolls since 1860.","The materials have changed over the years, but the doll making techniques have essentially remained the same.","The body parts are still cast in traditional copper molds.","The factory makes one line of dolls out of tinted vinyl.","This pinkish color is for caucasian dolls.","However, the factory also makes black and mediterranean dolls.","Each tray holds the six molds required for a single doll-- head, torso, arms, and legs.","The worker sets the machine to fill each one with a specific quantity of vinyl.","He closes each mold with a twist cap.","He tightens each cap with pliers to prevent leaks.","Then he places the molds in an oven at 410 degrees fahrenheit.","Throughout baking, the oven rotates the molds in two directions to ensure the vinyl spreads evenly inside the mold cavity.","He removes the molds from the oven seven minutes later...","Then submerges them in water for precisely 23 seconds.","This stops the baking and solidifies the vinyl.","The worker uses pliers to remove the caps...","Then switches to a pair of needlenose pliers to grab each cast-vinyl limb and yank it out of the mold.","To remove the head, he pierces a hole to release trapped air, then, with a stick, compresses the head just enough to pry it out.","The vinyl is still flexible.","As it cools, it will become more rigid, yet still soft enough to stamp out eye sockets and implant strands of synthetic hair.","This factory makes another line of dolls out of colorless polyethylene granules mixed with ground-tinted polyethylene left over from the molding process.","The molding machine melts the granules and simultaneously extrudes and inflates the liquid poly into a balloon, which the mold shapes into a specific part.","This mold makes the torso.","Workers simply switch the mold onto the machine to produce a different part.","A worker snaps off the excess polyethylene.","These are the leftovers which get ground up and combined with new, colorless granules.","As the polyethylene cools, it hardens.","That's why these dolls have molded hair and eyes, which are later painted.","Each part comes out of the mold with a glossy finish and is seamed where the two halves of the mold met.","A worker buffs the part against a felt wheel rotating at high speed to wear down the seam.","But this discolors that area in the process.","To make this surface finish uniform, the parts tumble in a rotating drum filled with sand for about seven minutes.","The sand rubs against the surface of the part, removing the shine and discoloration.","When the part comes out of the sanding drum, its uniform surface is seamless, smooth, and matte.","Back to the vinyl dolls now, it's time to address that bald scalp.","This factory uses hair-stitching machines from the 1950s.","Before that time, hair was glued to the head.","The hair is nylon and comes in a range of shades.","This machine's thick needle repeatedly pierces the vinyl, stitching on the strands as the seamstress moves the doll's head in concentric circles.","Once the head is completely covered, she parts the hair, then stitches on more in the middle to add thickness and height.","In addition to soft vinyl dolls and hard polyethylene dolls, the factory also makes combination dolls that have soft heads, with hair on hard bodies.","But all types of dolls become more lifelike as this process continues.","Dolls are recognized as an important contributor to the development of healthy children.","Dolls give kids children of their own to care for, a chance to emulate their parents and engage their imaginations as they feed, dress, and cuddle their dolls and lullaby them to sleep.","These vinyl dolls have what are known as sleeping eyes.","When the doll lies down, its eyes close.","Before installing the eyes, workers warm the head with a heat lamp.","This makes the vinyl flexible enough for the press to lodge the eye into the socket with a shot of compressed air.","The eyes are made of metal and plastic.","Once installed, they often require a slight adjustment so the doll isn't cross-eyed.","For safety, molded pockets inside the head hold the eyes securely in place so that children can't pull them off.","These vinyl dolls have painted hair.","The painter applies the hair and facial colors with an air brush.","There's a different stencil for each model.","This one has light-brown hair and eyebrows, a pale pink mouth, and rosy pink cheeks.","All the paint is non-toxic.","Polyethylene dolls get some extra pampering with a manicure and a pedicure.","The assembler takes a thick length of elastic, ties a large knot at one end, then with a tool, pokes the knot into a hole in one of the legs.","She threads the other end of the elastic through holes in the torso and pulls until the leg and torso are connected.","Then she knots the other end of elastic and pokes that knot into the hole of the other leg.","She repeats the process at the top of the torso, connecting the first arm, the head, and the second arm with the same elastic.","This traditional assembly method makes the dolls limbs and head moveable.","Workers here have been assembling dolls this way since 1860.","This is the last of what were once many factories in france handcrafting dolls.","Traditional operations are fewer and fewer worldwide, as most dolls today are mass produced in asia.","The assembler makes sure that the limbs and head move properly before sending the doll to the next department.","Meanwhile, other departments are producing a range of outfits and accessories.","Before dressing and packaging a polyethylene doll, the worker has to wipe it down, as buffing down the seams left a layer of plastic dust.","This doll comes in a ballerina outfit, white tights, pink leg warmers, pink ballet shoes with flowers and ribbons, of course...","And a pink tutu.","Although there are no hard and fast rules, doll collectors usually prefer the hard polyethylene dolls, while the softer, vinyl dolls are designed for children.","After putting the finishing touches on the outfit, the dresser brushes and styles the doll's hair.","This little ballerina wears a pink bow in her ponytail.","All the clothes are removable, to allow a child to change the doll's outfit.","The last step before packaging is to hang an elegant, color-coordinated manufacturer's tag on the doll's right wrist.","They may be wearing today's styles and fashions, but these handcrafted dolls are a testament to a toy-making tradition that goes back centuries."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Table Tennis Tables","Plastic Model Kits","Light Microscopes"]},"text":["Table tennis is more commonly known as ping-pong.","Folding table-tennis tables are popular in homes and kept outdoors because they can be closed up and rolled out of the way.","These tables can also fold down on just one side, allowing for solo play.","This high-end outdoor table-tennis table has an aluminum bottom that prevents the tabletop, called the plate, from warping or splitting due to expansion and contraction.","A press stamps cups into a sheet of aluminum.","This pattern creates nearly equal areas both in contact and out of contact with the rest of the plate layers, providing flexibility to withstand temperature-related movement.","Each table needs two embossed aluminum sheets-- one for each half of the plate.","A technician assembles frames for the plate halves out of square extruded aluminum tubes, cut to the lengths and widths of the plate half perimeter.","An automated milling machine makes miter cuts, which allow the tubes to be made into rectangles.","Then, the technician moves the frames onto a rotating fixture...","And welds the corners together.","The frames are inserted into a brushing machine.","Inside, wire brush rollers allow the aluminum surface to become rough.","This helps the components to adhere to one another.","Another technician places the embossed aluminum sheet into a rectangular assembly jig.","And adds the brushed aluminum frame.","A conveyor transfers the jig to the next station.","Then, the jig connects with an 8-millimeter-thick sheet of particleboard, made of wood chips and glue.","The board is coated with a heat-activated adhesive film on both sides.","At the next station, an aluminum sheet is placed on top of the particleboard.","This step completes the plate component assembly.","Next, the conveyor loads the jig into a press.","Once 12 jigs have been loaded onto the press, it heats to 239 degrees fahrenheit.","And compresses them for about 10 minutes.","This process activates the adhesive and bonds the components of each plate into a single unit-- one framed plate half.","Each plate half goes through an automated milling machine.","The machine trims any excess material from all four sides to ensure the table won't have any sharp edges.","The plate half goes through a paint machine, then into an oven.","The process repeats, applying a second coat of paint and a u.v.-resistant clear coat.","A machine applies paint through a screen stencil, printing the lines that mark the boundaries of the playing surface.","After the paint is dried in an oven, a team places the finished plate half in a cardboard box and attaches folding legs to the base.","The factory mills the legs in-house out of high-tensile steel, then finishes them in baked-on paint.","The net, along with several components, are packed and made in-house, which the consumer later assembles to the table.","Components include the net posts, side panels, wheels, wheel brakes, and the ball return box.","Finally, the plate half is transferred to an automated system, which completes the packaging.","Many ping-pong tables on the market require the net to be removed every time you fold the table.","The design of this table enables the net to remain in place whether the table is folded for storage or has one or both sides open for playing.","Less setup time means more time to play.","Plastic model kits were developed before world war ii, when people became interested in seeing machines in small-scale replication.","Today plastic model kits continue to offer building opportunities to hobbyists, who love the challenge of putting little pieces together.","With a plastic model kit, a colossal ocean liner can be replicated in small scale.","Built with nearly 2,000 pieces, assembly is all about the details.","Each model kit starts with extensive research and design, a process that can take up to a year to complete and cost up to $100,000 dollars.","Using the computer design, a set of steel molds is made for every piece of the kit.","Tools carve into steel chunks to make the molds.","Precision work done entirely by machinery.","Installed in large dies, the molds are linked by channels.","Melted plastic will flow through the channels to fill the molds.","Clear polystyrene is used for transparent components.","The melted polystyrene is pumped under high pressure into the molds.","Once the plastic hardens, a pusher ejects the parts.","The connected kit parts are known as a tree.","The opaque polystyrene pellets are used to form the other kit parts and are molded separately.","The scale of the parts is 1 to 24, which means the model will be 1/24 the size of the original.","Since the manufacturing is automated, the risk of contamination is reduced.","Next, the tree is put through a technical analysis test.","The technician photographs the tree and compares it to an image already fit to scale.","If some parts haven't taken shape or if they're only partially formed, more pressure may be needed to ensure that the polystyrene flows into all the mold cavities.","A technician compares a randomly selected tree to the design and verifies that no parts are poorly formed or missing.","Once the confirmation is attained, the technician slides the model kit parts into a clear plastic sleeve.","Before it's ready for retail, the kit needs a set of illustrated instructions.","The designer deconstructs the model and then reconstructs it on his computer as he draws up the instructions.","With the instruction manual complete, a team packs all the components of the model kit in a box.","One of each of the kit trees is placed in each box.","The kit also includes decals and large, separately molded parts, like the ocean liner hull.","A technician closes the box.","As it moves down a conveyor, a laser prints the date of production and the batch number on the side.","Then, the box is wrapped in plastic, and the ends are sealed with heat guns.","A year of planning has gone into making the plastic mold kit.","But took less than 10 minutes to mold the kit parts and package them.","Building the model will take 10 to 12 hours.","The factory does a test build on each model to confirm that it comes together as planned.","This is the iconic constellation aircraft, a world war ii military transport plane that was later converted to a commercial airliner.","Assembling a plastic model kit can be a great learning experience for the builder.","Decals mimic the i.d. information on the outside of the original aircraft.","These decals have been pretreated with adhesive.","Soaking the decals in water activates them.","The assembler brushes more water onto the design spots on the model.","And applies the decals to the dampened spots.","As the glue dries, they adhere to each other.","The plastic models can also be painted beforethe decals are applied for refined and clean look that really comes together.","The light microscope was invented in 16th-century europe.","It allowed the human eye to see tiny things that couldn't be seen before.","A sophisticated research tool with focused light and optical lenses, can magnify biological tissue, minerals, and computer chips.","Observation is an important aspect of science.","The light microscope increases the power of observation, making it possible to see things that can't be seen with the naked eye.","This 19th-century microscope represented a turning point, with lenses that delivered more light to specimens, increasing resolution.","A light microscope often has multiple lenses, all made from special optical glass.","A drill with a core bit tunnels into the glass to produce several solid cylinders.","The drill cuts them larger and thicker than the final specifications.","This gives technicians extra material to work with.","A tool moves the cylinder against a spinning blade slicing it into lens blanks.","The cylinder is first glued to a glass block, then glued to the tool.","This method holds the cylinder in the correct position.","Since bits of glue are left on the lenses, a thorough washing removes them.","Next, a device grips the lens using vacuum pressure and angles it for grinding.","Multiple grinding tools remove any excess glass and shape the radius of the lens.","In a process known as lapping, a technician applies a fine abrasive compound to a bowl with the desired contours.","He rotates and rubs the lens against the bowl to further shape the lens.","He rinses off the lens and holds it against a light while he examines it for scratches.","He measures the radius of a master lens and compares it to that of the lens he's been working on.","If the measurements are off, he'll remove more material.","Once additional material is removed, he measures the thickness of the lens and compares it to what it was before the adjustments.","Next, these polishing tools will be used to fine-tune the profile of the microscope lenses.","To protect the lenses during polishing, a technician sprays on a temporary lacquer.","These tools will remove just a fraction of a millimeter of glass, but it will make an important impact.","Polishing liquid provides fine abrasion and enables the tool to move across the glass.","Then, a robot trims the edges of the lens.","A device clamps the lens in place as trimming continues along the edges.","Trimming allows the lens to reach the correct diameter.","Next, the lenses are cleaned in multiple water-based solutions.","In the baths, the vibrations from high-frequency sound create a gentle scrubbing action.","The intensive cleaning leaves the lenses pristine.","A technician places the freshly cleaned lenses in round trays.","She handles them very carefully inserting them individually into each tray slot.","Because they're extremely fragile, the slightest pressure could crack them.","The lenses in the trays will receive an antireflective coating-- one that will prevent a loss of light due to reflection.","Next, the antireflective material is loaded into a coating machine.","The technician adds a specific amount of magnesium fluoride into a receptacle in the base.","She inserts a piece of aluminum oxide in the next receptacle.","And transfers the microscope lenses to the chamber, placing the rack on top.","Inside the chamber, heat and a targeted plasma beam evaporate the materials.","They precipitate onto the lenses, forming a coating.","Coming up, all is revealed as the lenses come together in the microscope.","Light microscopes bring the invisible into focus.","Similar to telescopes, a tiny specimen is placed under the lens assembly, from which the viewer can discover what lies within.","By magnifying the minuscule, the light microscope has become an indispensable scientific tool.","The light microscope often has multiple lenses.","Throughout the production process, the lenses are put under the microscope to confirm that the geometry is correct.","A technician magnifies the lenses one at a time, measuring their radius and the diameter.","Meanwhile, computerized tools shape the edges of glass prisms.","The prisms are triangular lenses that bend or refract light, aligning colors at a focal point for a clearer image.","Once the shaping is complete, a technician positions a prism on a holder to be calibrated.","She aims a laser at it.","The light passes through the prism, reflected in a mirror, and bounces back.","A computer magnifies the surface of the prism a thousand times bigger than its original size, measuring the degree to which the prism refracts light and the flatness on each side.","This is an inside look at a microscope lens assembly, revealing the combination of lenses.","A prism can be an important part of this combination.","The cast-aluminum housing has been equipped with the circuitry.","Some of the connections have already been made.","It's ready for the focusing mechanisms that allow the user to zoom in on tissue or other specimens.","A technician inserts the motorized focus drive into the housing so that the ends protrude from both sides.","He attaches adjustment knobs to the ends.","The larger part of the knob is for quick motorized focus.","The small one is for slower and more precise focusing.","He slides a protective rubber cap onto the fine-focus component of the knob.","Another technician mounts a system for revolving lenses to the microscope.","This is called the nosepiece.","He wires the nosepiece to the controls.","Using compressed air, a technician cleans a part known as the side port revolver.","It's equipped with a mirror, prism lens, and a magnifying lens.","It will reflect light to the lenses in the eyepiece or external cameras.","Then the side port revolver is tested.","At this point, multiple lenses have been installed in the tube lens assembly.","The technician screws the assembly to a revolver.","Light from the illuminated specimen shines through the tube lens in parallel rays the rays are projected onto the eyepiece or external camera.","He looks through the eyepiece to check the positioning of the lens in the revolver slot making adjustments if needed.","A reflected-light illumination system is installed.","This part directs light through the lens and onto the specimen, then back through the lens to the eyepiece or external cameras.","This system makes it possible to magnify opaque specimens.","Then a technician installs the transmitted light arm.","The light arm is used for magnifying transparent or thin specimens.","It does this by directing light through them.","A technician performs a final inspection.","He places specimens under the microscope, checking the brightness of the transmitted light and the resolution of the magnified image.","He tests the focus of all the lenses in the nosepiece to confirm that each one delivers a sharp, clear view.","He verifies that the revolving mechanisms move smoothly and are in good working order.","After this final inspection, this light microscope is ready for research.","By imaging small things, big discoveries are possible."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Temporary Metal Fences","Asphalt Shingles","Expanded Polystyrene Products","Hard Candies"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Temporary metal fences...","Asphalt shingles...","Expanded polystyrene products...","And hard candies.","Temporary metal fences securely cordon off dangerous areas on construction sites.","At open-air events such as concerts and festivals, they mark the perimeter and help direct traffic flow.","Seasonal businesses such as garden centers use them to protect their merchandise from thieves and vandals.","It all starts with a giant spool, roughly 4 1/2 miles of galvanized steel wire.","A machine called the \"straightener\" uncoils the spool and straightens out the wire.","The next machine cuts the lengths they'll need to construct the fence panels.","A worker feeds those wire lengths into another machine, arranging them in the proper configuration.","The lights show where they go for this particular model of fencing.","These lengths will form the panels' vertical pieces.","The machine carries them over to the automated welding station.","At the welding station, a magnetic arm grabs the panels' horizontal pieces and feeds them, one by one, into position over the vertical pieces.","Then the welding begins.","This is electrical welding.","A strong electric current zaps the joints, melting the metal and fusing the pieces together.","It's faster and neater than traditional welding.","The machinery then stacks the welded panels and moves them down the production line.","Some panels are welded on another kind of electrical welding machine.","It feeds the horizontal pieces onto the vertical ones using a different technique.","But the result is the same.","Workers position each welded panel in a manually operated pneumatic press.","Then they bend the panel at certain key points.","This makes it more rigid and, therefore, stronger.","Next, workers trim off the surplus wire sticking out along the edge of the panel.","And then the final step-- they position a round galvanized steel post on each side of the panel.","A robotic welder then welds these side posts in place.","When it comes time to erect this temporary fence, all they'll have to do is place each panel in footings that sit on the ground, then line up the panels side by side and attach them by clamping together the side posts.","All the fence components are made of heavy-duty galvanized steel.","That makes this temporary metal fence highly durable, maintenance-free, and rustproof.","Asphalt roof shingles come in many different colors, textures, and patterns.","They're one of the least expensive roofing materials.","They're also very durable.","Some even carry a lifetime warranty.","But they can only go on a roof with a steep-enough slope.","At the heart of every asphalt shingle is a membrane.","It can be made from fiberglass or, like this one, from organic fibers like wood chips, recycled cardboard, and paper.","The giant rolls of membrane feed what's known as a \"felt looper\".","It builds up enough reserves so that workers can change rolls as needed, without stopping production.","From there, the membrane enters a machine called the \"saturator,\" where it's drenched in hot liquid asphalt, a petroleum derivative.","When this saturant dries, the membrane will be impermeable.","Next comes a thicker asphalt coating, mixed with powdered limestone.","They apply it to both the top and bottom.","This coating will make the membrane flexible.","It will also form a protective barrier against harsh weather.","With that coating still wet, they spread color ceramic granules over the top surface.","This gives the shingles their color and makes them resistant to the sun's ultraviolet rays.","Granules that don't stick to the wet asphalt get recycled back into the system.","Next they apply a cellophane strip to the back surface so the shingles won't stick together in the package.","Then they shower the back surface with powdered stone, also to prevent sticking.","Even by this point, the asphalt coating is still piping hot, too hot for the shingle material to be cut to size.","So it's off to the cooling section, where cold rollers and water jets bring down the temperature.","The next machine applies strips of adhesive asphalt.","The sun's heat will activate them, keeping the shingles stuck to each other.","The process to this point is the same, regardless of color.","The only thing that will differ from this point on is how the shingle's bottom edge is cut.","That determines the shingle's profile.","On the way to the cutting station, the shingle material passes through the finish looper.","Like the felt looper we saw at the beginning, the finish looper accumulates enough reserves so that production won't come to a standstill if there's a problem.","The cutting machine cuts to size and profile.","Standard shingles measure 39\" x 13.3\".","This model has a straight edge, but some styles have a curved bottom.","An automatic counter keeps track of production.","The machine automatically stacks the shingles for packaging, usually 21 sheets to a bundle, which is enough to cover roughly 32 square feet of roof.","Asphalt shingles come in about 50 different colors and in about a dozen different shapes and profiles.","They wrap each bundle of shingles in paper that's been treated with polyethylene to prevent water penetration.","The bundles then go onto pallets, which the factory wraps in a plastic bag that's water- and u.v.-resistant.","The warranties on asphalt shingles range from 20 years to lifetime.","Generally, the thicker the asphalt and granule protective barrier, the more durable the shingle, and the longer the guarantee.","We call it \"packing foam,\" but its real name is \"expanded polystyrene packaging,\" those feather-light white foam inserts that come with many boxed items.","They not only secure the merchandise within the box-- they also act as a shock absorber during transport.","Polystyrene plastic comes in tiny pellets about 4/100 of an inch in diameter.","The first step is to expand them inside a steam chamber.","The 392-degree-fahrenheit heat causes the pentane gas in the pellets to escape, allowing air to enter the pellets and inflate them up to 40 times their original size.","Here are the polystyrene pellets before...","And after expansion.","The factory then bags the pellets in huge sacks.","To make expanded polystyrene products, they start by dumping sacks of expanded pellets into what's called the \"block mold\" machine.","The more pellets they put per cubic yard, the denser the product will be.","They steam-fuse the pellets together, molding them into a block that's roughly 16 feet long by 3 feet wide by 2 feet high.","This molding process takes from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the density.","A scale built into the conveyor belt weighs the block to make sure it meets specifications.","Depending on its density, a block this size can weigh anywhere from 99 to 440 pounds.","Now the block is ready to be cut into whatever product the client has ordered.","Expanded polystyrene is best known as packaging material, but it also has many other uses.","Here they are slicing a block into insulation panels.","Builders use expanded polystyrene insulation for basements, roofs, foundations, and inside and outside walls.","Regardless of the product, they cut polystyrene blocks using a copper-and-nickel wire that's electrically heated.","It melts the polystyrene on contact, enabling fine, precision cuts, almost to the hundredth of an inch.","To make expanded polystyrene packaging, they custom-cut the specific shapes required.","These squares they're gluing together have been ordered up by a furniture manufacturer.","They're designed to fit onto the bottom of chair legs to protect them from damage during shipping.","This machine handles more detailed and complex jobs.","Its cutting wire is guided by computer software, so it can cut virtually any design.","Expanded polystyrene is a low-cost alternative for making commercial signs that can be hung indoors or out.","A sign made of high-density expanded polystyrene and coated with a quality exterior paint has an outdoor life-span of a few years.","This moldable product has endless creative and commercial uses.","They come in different colors, different shapes and sizes, in flavors ranging from fruity to minty, from tart to tangy.","Pretty much everyone enjoys sucking on a hard candy from time to time.","For children and adults alike, these sweet treats are just irresistible.","Our love of sweets goes back to the caveman, who delighted in eating honey from beehives.","In ancient times, people indulged in treats made of honey-covered fruit and nuts.","In the middle ages, europeans made candy from boiled sugar.","But the high cost of imported cane sugar restricted this delicacy to the wealthy.","Candy finally became affordable for the masses in the 1800s, with the discovery of a new and domestic source of sugar, the sugar beet.","These hard candies aren't mass-produced confections.","They're gourmet candies, custom-made and crafted by hand.","The candymaker starts by bringing a pot of sugar and water to a boil.","Then he adds glucose, a thick syrup made from starch.","He heats the mixture to a specific temperature, depending on what type of candy he's making, and lets it cook for about a half-hour.","Then he stirs in liquid flavoring.","Once the mixture is evenly blended, he pours it onto a cooling table.","The candymaker has several flavorings at his disposal, from eucalyptus oil to fruit flavors.","He also chooses from a wide range of food colorings.","This candy will have a strawberry design in the middle, so he and his assistants are working with three colors-- green for the leaves, red for the berry, and yellow for the background.","To enhance the flavor, they add citric acid.","Then they keep blending until the candy has cooled down and hardened enough to be malleable.","They separate the pieces by color and put each piece on a heated table to slow the hardening process so that the candy will remain pliable.","Now they create the design.","They form various shapes and sizes and, like a puzzle, put the pieces together to make a jumbo version of the candy design.","Once they have assembled the red berry and green leaves and yellow background, they roll on more yellow background...","Then a layer of red for the outside trim.","All that's left is to reduce this giant wad of candy into a bite-sized version.","To do that, the candymaker pinches one end and stretches it out to form a long, uniform strand called a \"rod\".","He cuts the rod into pieces almost 2 feet long, but he has to keep rolling them until they cool and harden, or else they'll go flat.","When the rod is just the right diameter, the design is in perfect proportion.","All they have to do now is cut candy-size pieces.","They use the same technique to make kiwi candy, pink grapefruit candy, and banana candy, to name just a few varieties.","Want to order up some candy with a personalized message?","Here's an \"l\"...","An \"o,\" a \"v\"...","An \"e\"...","A \"y\"...","\"o\"...","And \"u\".","Again, they create a yellow background and red trim.","Then it's more pinching, pulling, rolling, and cutting...","Until the rods are down to just the right size.","If you look at the back end of each rod, you'll see the lettering is in reverse.","That will be the underside of the candy.","When the raw candy comes off the cooling table, it's transparent.","To make it opaque or lighten the color, they'll pull it on a hook.","Here, they intertwine two colors and feed the rod through a special machine that forms bands of pillow-shaped candies.","After cooling, they simply break them apart by hand.","If you're no sucker for hard candies, no problem.","They can also twist rods into lollipops."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mouth"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Mouth-blown window glass...","Water pumps...","Sake...","And tweezers.","Before machine-made plate glass became popular in the 1920s, window glass was blown by artisans.","Today, specialty companies still make window glass the traditional way.","While machine-made glass is uniformly clear and flat, mouth-blown window glass has subtle variations.","This german company produces a wide variety of mouth-blown sheet glass.","It's used to make contemporary wall light panels.","It can also be used to make clear or stained glass windows.","The company can make glass sheets in 5,000 different colors and textures.","This furnace melts silica sand and other natural materials into glass.","The starter begins by inserting the end of a blowpipe into a furnace.","He takes a small amount of colorless molten glass out of the furnace and rotates it in a wooden mold.","The mold is lined with heavy paper to soften the surface.","Then, he inserts a metal needle through the blowpipe to create a pathway for air.","He returns to the furnace for more molten glass.","The artisans make multiple trips to the furnace, shaping the molten glass in stages so it's easier to handle.","This time, the assistant shapes the glass with a large mold.","When the shape is set, the assistant prepares it for blowing.","He uses a fork tool to push the glass to the top of the pipe.","The starter rotates the glass in a larger, paper-lined mold to round it further.","The molten glass cools rapidly once it comes out of the furnace.","If the temperature dips below 1,800 degrees, it's not longer workable.","So the team must work quickly and reheat the glass repeatedly.","Another assistant lubricates the blowpipe so it will rotate easily on the support stand.","The starter hands the glass over to the master glassblower.","First, he rotates the blowpipe to straighten and center the drooping glass.","Then, he begins turning and blowing into the pipe to gradually inflate the glass.","This requires great physical strength as well as tremendous artistic and technical skill.","The pipe and glass weigh over 30 pounds combined.","When the glass starts to cool, the assistant reheats it in a smaller oven.","He passes the pipe back to the glassblower, who then resumes inflating it.","This time, he swings it upside-down, using gravity to help elongate the shape.","Next, he will transform the glass balloon into a cylinder.","First, he reheats the tip of the glass and weakens it with a hot burner.","Then, he reheats the entire glass cylinder.","This expands the air inside and forces the weakened tip open.","The glassblower taps the opposite side of the hot glass with a cold metal stick.","The thermal shock causes a neat stress break.","This releases the glass from the blowpipe.","Then, the assistant slices it lengthwise with a glass cutter and hands it off to the flattening team.","Their job is to transform the cylinder into sheet glass.","The flattening master's assistant puts the cylinder into a furnace.","It's heated to over 1,500 degrees.","The glass softens in about 30 minutes.","Then, the flattening master reaches into the opposite end of the furnace with a stick and gently opens the cylinder.","Next, the flattening master irons the glass sheet with a special wooden tool.","The flat sheet goes into the annealing oven for a gradual controlled cooldown.","This relieves stress and prevents cracking.","The flatting master's assistant removes the glass from the annealing oven and performs a visual inspection.","The last step is to cut the edges straight.","To make multicolored and textured glass, they add additional ingredients during the melting process.","Mouth-blown window glass contains natural variations that play with the light and create a subtle glow, a glow that machine-made window glass can't replicate.","Water is essential for life.","But most of earth's fresh water is trapped underground.","To tap into these reservoirs, we need water pumps.","They've existed in many forms for thousands of years.","The designs have improved over time, and today's water pumps are truly an underground success.","For farmers and municipal water providers, the turbine water pump is a workhorse.","It can pump thousands of gallons of water out of the ground every minute.","They start by making diffuser bowls using urn-shaped castings.","One turbine pump could have up to 30 diffuser bowls.","The bowls hold the pump's spinning impellers.","Computerized tools refine their shape so the bowls fit neatly in the pump column.","Another set of tools carve the bronze impellers.","They fine-tune the casings so that the impellers will fit into the diffuser bowls.","Here's a look at both sides of the finished impellers.","An uneven impeller will vibrate when spinning.","A technician uses this machine to check for imbalances.","When sensors locate the problem, he sands down the metal in that area.","This balances the impeller.","Next, a machine carves the top attachment ring of the discharge head.","The discharge head shields the motor from water.","It also changes the water flow from vertical to horizontal.","Next, a machine carves the outflow flange and drills holes for attaching a gasket.","An employee paints the part blue.","The paint protects the metal against rust.","He also highlights the embossed company name with bright red paint.","Here are the machine parts before and after painting.","Next, they make the pump's shaft pipes.","Tools work on both ends of the pipes simultaneously to refine the inner diameter.","Then, they carve threads into them.","They clean the pipes, then roll them into the holding area.","Next, computerized tools cut threads into the bronze bearings.","These threads will interconnect with the ones on the shaft pipes.","A worker screws the completed bearings into the ends of the shaft pipes.","Then, he screws the pipes together in a loose preassembly.","He brushes lubricant onto the exposed section of the bearings.","He links four pipes to create one 20-foot pipe.","He sets the long pipe in a cradle-like device and activates the drive wheel.","As the pipes tighten, the bearing disappears inside.","The worker inserts a steel shaft into each 20-foot pipe.","He caps the ends to secure the shafts inside the pipes.","This wider pipe is called the column pipe.","An employee attaches an assembly flange to each end and secures it with bolts.","A worker connects a suction bell to one of the shafts.","The suction bell will draw the well water into the pump.","Then, he slides an impeller into place.","He secures the impeller to the shaft with a tapered clamp called a collet.","He encases the impeller in an iron diffuser bowl.","He bolts the diffuser bowl to the suction bell.","They add more impellers to increase the power of the water pump.","A more powerful pump will be able to extract water from deeper underground.","They apply protective paint to the pump, and then, it's ready to install.","On site, workers use special equipment to help guide the pump into the well.","They join the shaft pipe to the pump.","Then, they slide the column pipe around the shaft pipe and bolt it to the top of the pump.","The team adds more shaft pipe for a deeper reach.","Then, they install the discharge head.","This turbine pump is now ready to extract water from great depths underground.","Sake is japanese rice wine.","It's distinguished by two main factors-- how the rice is milled before fermentation, and whether there's any distilled alcohol added to the final blend.","Sake can be mass-produced or handcrafted the traditional way.","This canadian microbrewery only makes pure rice wine called junmai-shu.","The brewery doesn't add any extra alcohol to their sake.","The clear sake, known as seishu, have a subtle, fruitier, nutty flavor.","Cloudier sake is called nigori.","It contains rice sediment, which produces its creamier texture.","The rice is milled before it arrives at the brewery.","Milling removes the proteins and lipids on the outside layers of the rice grain.","This rice has 30 percent of its grain milled away.","The starch of the core will produce premium sake.","First, they wash the rice.","Then, the pour it in a porous bag and soak it in cold filtered water.","The brewmaster checks the rice with his hands.","Once it reaches the right consistency, they drain the bag overnight.","Then, they pour the rice into a steamer.","The steamer cooks the rice under pressure for about an hour.","They cover the steamer with cloth to contain the rice as it cooks.","The steamer softens the rice but doesn't overcook it.","To ferment at the right speed, the rice needs to be firm on the outside and soft in the center.","Workers separate the rice by hand, then use fans to cool the rice down to about 98 degrees.","Next, they transfer it to a heated room.","They spread out the rice and cover it with mold spores imported from japan.","When heated, the spores germinate and grow on the rice.","The spores secrete enzymes that will transform the starch into fermentable sugars.","Workers insert a thermometer into the rice then wrap it in cloth to hold in the heat.","48 hours later, the sweet rice, called koji, is ready.","Now, they begin the fermentation process.","They mix 3/4 of steamed rice with 1/4 of koji in a temperature-controlled fermentation tank.","Then, they add spring water and yeast.","The mold enzymes in the koji convert the starch in the steamed rice into sugars.","The yeast consumes those sugars and produces alcohol.","The process takes about three weeks.","The brewmaster checks the temperature, acidity, residual sugar, and alcohol levels every day.","When the brew is ready, they pour it into cloth bags.","They neatly stack the bags in a traditional japanese mechanical press.","Large sake breweries automate this entire process, but this smaller operation follows century-old traditions and does everything by hand.","As the press fills up, the weight of the bags kick-starts the pressing.","They seal the press with heavy steel plates and mount the pressing mechanism.","As they turn the crank, the press squeezes all the liquid out of the bags.","When they're done, only unfermented rice will be left behind.","The liquid sake drains out of a spout at the base of the press.","They age the sake in refrigerated tanks for up to 4 months.","As it ages, the sake develops deeper and more complex flavors.","Not only is this sake entirely handcrafted, it's also hand-bottled.","Workers use a gravity-fed filling machine to pour sake into these glass bottles.","The dark bottles protects the sake from uv rays, which would spoil its color and flavor.","Next, they add the aluminum twist cap.","A machine molds it to the shape of the bottleneck and crimps the bottom rim.","They apply a label to each bottle with a simple hand-crank machine.","Full-strength sake has an alcohol content of 18 percent.","Some sake is diluted with spring water to bring the alcohol content down before bottling.","The sake this brewery produces is unpasteurized.","This enhances the flavor but requires refrigeration.","Tweezers were first used in ancient egypt and rome.","These indispensable tools help us grip small objects.","We use tweezers to pull splinters and unwanted hair from our skin.","They can also handle the tiny parts found in mechanical devices, like watches.","When something small eludes our grasp, tweezers help us pick them up.","They act as an extension of our forefinger and thumb, allowing us to grab and hold on to the tiniest things.","First, a worker preps the tweezer mold by grinding and sanding around the tweezer-shaped cavity.","This smoothes the mold, making it easier to cut out the metal parts.","A worker buffs the mold to give the surface a glossy finish.","A computer-guided machine carves a die cutter out of a steel block.","It uses an electrified brass wire to slice through the steel.","The die cutter perfectly matches the tweezer mold.","After the tools are prepped, they're ready to make the tweezers.","A coil of thick stainless steel wire unwinds into the molding machine.","Rollers straighten out the kinks.","An automated device grabs the wire and pulls it between the die-cutter and the mold.","The die-cutter pushes the wire into the mold and cuts out the shape it needs.","The excess steel slides out, and a spool collects it for recycling.","The mold ejects the part into a bin.","They are a little thinner at the gripping end.","This design gives the tweezers more flexibility.","An employee places two of the parts in an induction welder.","He activates the welder to fuse it twice at the gripping end.","A double weld reinforces the joint, making it very difficult to pull the tweezers apart.","This welder assembles approximately 3,000 pairs of tweezers per shift.","Each pair of tweezers is thoroughly polished to make them smoother and easier to grip.","It's a multi-step process.","First, an employee sands the body of the tweezers using fine abrasive paper and polishing cream.","Next, the tweezers go into a vibrating polisher.","They bounce around with ceramic stones and various polishing solutions for 24 hours.","After that, they wash off the chemical residue.","Then, they filter and neutralize the water.","Using another device, they shoot fine glass particles at the tweezers.","This gives them a satin finish that's durable and resists scratching.","A worker levels a tweezers' tips using a sanding belt.","She makes sure the claw-like tips are exactly the same length and angle.","Another member of the team sands the inside of the tips using a very fine abrasive disc.","This will improve the tweezer's grip.","The factory also makes carbon steel tweezers.","They're a cheaper alternative to stainless steel.","They immerse the carbon steel tweezers in a chrome solution to protect them from rust.","The tweezers' electrical charge attracts the chrome.","The result is a shiny and protective chrome plating.","Next, an employee prepares the tweezers for laser lettering.","She places them in a fixture and selects the image on her computer.","She activates the laser, and it permanently etches the graphics onto the metal.","Next, she rubs special oil onto the surface of the metal and cleans the tweezers thoroughly.","She also inspects the tweezers for any cosmetic flaws and makes sure they function properly.","These tweezers are now ready for plucking, primping, and any other small jobs."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Train Rails","Desalinated Water","Racing Wheelchairs","Parquetry"]},"text":["In the early days of the railroad, train rails were made of either cast iron or wrought iron.","Cast iron was too brittle and would break easily.","Wrought iron was too soft and would wear out too quickly.","So steel eventually became and remained the train-rail metal of choice.","The train wheel's rim runs on the inside of the rail to keep the train on the track.","This plant makes train rails entirely out of recycled steel from scrapyards, food cans, and recycled pieces from the rail-making process itself.","Electromagnets pick up the scrap and dump it in a charging bucket.","A truck hauls the bucket inside, where a crane drops the contents into a furnace.","An intense electric current melts the scrap steel at 3,000 degrees fahrenheit.","It then flows into a large brick-lined ladle, where they add carbon, manganese, and other elements to make the steel more durable.","The alloy then runs down a ceramic tube that shields it from exposure to oxygen, which would ruin the metal.","From there, the molten metal flows into molds, which extrude it into continuous rectangular blocks called blooms.","Acetylene torches cut each bloom into 12-foot lengths.","A crane then transfers the blooms to a furnace, which, over the next five to seven hours, reheats them to 2,300 degrees fahrenheit.","This softens the steel for further shaping.","Then the reheated blooms enter a machine called a rolling mill, which elongates each bloom, more than quadrupling its length.","A shear then slices the longer, thinner blooms into four pieces.","The pieces now go into another furnace for reheating.","This preps them for the next set of rolling mills, which will gradually form them to the final rail shape.","Different railroads used to use different-shaped rails, which required changing the train's wheels when passing from one railway to another.","By the turn of the 20th century, the t-shaped rail became the industry standard and remains so today.","For the final shaping, each steel rail passes several times through three consecutive mills.","This is what a mill's rollers look like.","And here's the standard \"t\" shape to which they form the steel.","Next, a saw slices off about 12 inches to square off the ends.","The cut-off pieces go back to the scrapyard.","The rails, meanwhile, are laid out until they cool to about 930 degrees fahrenheit.","Then an electromagnet piles them in a holding box, where they sit for 10 hours until they cool off to about 190 degrees fahrenheit.","When they come out of the box, they run through two sets of rollers.","The first set flexes the rail vertically.","The second, horizontally.","This flexing process straightens out the rails, which curve slightly due to all that heating, shaping, and cooling.","Next, each rail passes over a mirror, enabling inspectors to examine the bottom, as well as the top.","Finally, a saw cuts the rails to whatever size the railway ordered-- most often the standard length of 82 feet.","The quality-control department measures random samples to make sure all the dimensions are precise.","Every rail bears a number identifying the batch of steel from which it came.","In the event of a problem, that number lets them trace all the rails made from the same batch.","It's a system that ensures a safe, smooth ride.","In regions where fresh drinking water is limited, desalination plants remove salt from seawater, converting it into freshwater suitable for human consumption.","There are more than 13,000 desalination plants worldwide, producing 12 billion gallons of water a day.","The desalination plant that produced this drinkable water is located right next to an electrical power plant which uses seawater to cool down its condensers.","Post-cooling, the water travels via underground pipes to the desalination plant.","Before salt extraction, the water is pretreated in a multiphase cleaning process.","First, the water flows through screens that filter out large debris.","From there, it flows into basins for the first pretreatment stage.","As large paddles agitate the water, the plant adds two chemicals-- sodium hypochlorite, a disinfectant, and ferric chloride, a coagulant.","The coagulant binds together sand and other tiny particles of debris, forming heavier clumps that sink to the bottom.","This removes a significant portion of dirt from the water, but it's still far from being crystal clear.","The water now moves into another set of basins for the second pretreatment phase-- sand filtering.","Inside each sand filter, regulated by various pressure and flow gauges, a steady stream of air continually moves sand in a circular motion.","The seawater enters at the bottom of each filter and flows to the top.","As the sand moves downward against the rising water, the dirt particles attach to the sand.","The seawater now looks clean but still contains microscopic particles.","So it enters the final pretreatment phase.","This time, the filtering medium is diatomaceous earth, a powdered rock that contains algae fossils.","Finer than sand, it filters out those microscopic particles.","The seawater is now perfectly clean and ready for salt extraction.","They do that using membranes-- cylinders containing layers of plastic sheets that have pores .","001 the diameter of a human hair, small enough to trap microscopic salt crystals.","The plant pumps the clean saltwater under extremely high pressure through long tubes, each of which contains eight membranes.","By the time the water passes through all the membranes and reaches the center of the tube, it's completely salt-free.","Plant personnel and a slew of sophisticated instruments continually monitor every one of the system's 10,000 membranes.","Meanwhile, the plant sends the debris removed earlier to large waste basins for another round of chemical treatment.","After the solids settle to the bottom, the dirty water goes back to the front of the plant to be cleaned and recycled.","Pressure rollers squeeze the remaining water out of the solids.","Trucks then transport the dry solids to a landfill.","The extracted salt, meanwhile, goes to the power plant, which dilutes it, then returns it to the sea in a way that doesn't upset the water's natural salinity level.","Processing saltwater into freshwater strips away the water's natural minerals.","Not replacing them would create two problems.","First, the water wouldn't taste right.","Second, it would damage metal pipes by aggressively trying to replace the missing minerals.","Therefore, the plant adds liquid lime and carbon dioxide to the water.","These two elements adjust the ph level and raise the alkalinity, restoring the minerals and natural taste.","World war ii veterans disabled in combat were the first to race in wheelchairs.","But those chairs were clunky, steel models.","Fast-forward to today and wheelchair racing is a serious sport with aerodynamic chairs.","These chairs have elongated mainframes and three wheels instead of four.","This modern racing chair is tailored to the athlete's physique, specific disability, and skill level.","They begin by taking detailed measurements of the athlete as she sits in a demo chair.","They measure the width and height of her knees to determine the best seating position.","They check the balance point to decide how the rear-wheel axle should be positioned, and they measure her arms so push rims can be sized for her.","They then produce a digital drawing of the racing wheelchair, complete with any extras requested by the athlete.","The fabricator selects the appropriate aluminum tubing and cuts it to the desired length.","This one will be the main tube for the racing chair's frame.","Rollers curve the tube slightly at one end so the framework will accommodate the seat.","A press then flattens the tube quite a bit.","This stiffens the metal and will make the racing-chair frame more aerodynamic.","This small tube, which they weld to the main tube, will hold the racing chair's steering fork.","He now tapes a steering mechanism for the front wheel onto the framework and confirms that its placement is exact before welding.","This device will keep the front wheel on autopilot, freeing the racer's hands to push the rear wheels.","The welder now positions the other end of the main tube perpendicular to the wheel axle.","He inches the tube towards the center of the axle until it's right on the mark.","He welds the axle to the main tube, giving the framework a \"t\" profile.","Temporary wheels lift the axle so he can install the seat frame.","Then a hydraulic machine bends an aluminum tube into a \"u\" shape to make the racing chair's seat frame.","He positions the seat frame on the rear axle and does a few more welds.","Finally, he installs fenders on the wheels.","The main framework of this racing wheelchair is complete.","But to make it look flashy, they spray-paint it red.","This is a powder coating.","It's a thermoplastic paint that's tougher than the conventional kind.","Next, this machine rolls the push rims, which the athlete uses to propel the wheelchair.","They weld on pegs for attaching the rims to the wheels, then glue a rubber sleeve onto each rim.","They wrap it in tape to clamp the two as the glue dries.","The tape stays on until the chair is delivered to the customer.","They install the rear wheels at an angle to make the racing chair more stable when cornering.","They add padding for the athlete's knees, then assemble the nylon seat to the chair.","Next comes the front-wheel steering fork and handle.","They complete the assembly with a spring-loaded cylinder.","That's part of the steering autopilot system.","After testing the steering fork, they install the front wheel, which is smaller than the rear two.","Once it's been equipped with brakes, this custom racing chair is ready to take on the competition.","An elite athlete will buy a new racing chair every year.","Some choose rear wheels made of lightweight carbon fiber because any advantage is welcome in the push to win.","Parquetry was invented in france in the 1600s as an alternative to high-maintenance marble flooring.","It's made from small pieces of wood bonded together in a geometric pattern.","The most common motif is squares.","But it also comes in other patterns, such as herringbone, lozenges, and triangles.","Parquetry can be made of laminate or plywood.","However, the best-quality flooring is made from genuine wood, such as oak, maple, or yellow birch.","The factory first cuts the wood into planks, measuring 2 to 5 inches wide by about a yard long.","A drum saw then cuts each plank into 6 blocks about 6 inches long while an inspector discards any misshapen ones.","The blocks then move through a planer that shaves a fine layer off both sides.","This reduces the blocks to a thickness of just under an inch and smoothes the top and bottom surfaces.","Next, the blocks run through a saw with 10 blades that slice them into strips measuring .","3 inches wide by 6.2 inches long.","Quality controllers remove any strips with inconsistent thickness, which are usually the ones cut from the block's extremities.","The good strips continue on to another area, where they undergo a more thorough quality-control inspection.","A worker checks the tops and bottoms, then lines them up on a conveyor belt good-side up.","She also discards any substandard strips that may have slipped past the first inspection.","The conveyor belt then flips the strips over.","This positions the strips underside facing upward.","Saws then cut two parallel grooves through them.","These grooves are set .","9 inches in from the edge...","And are just deep enough to hold a thin aluminum wire that'll connect strips together to form tiles.","The next machine dispenses the parallel wires.","A wheel pushes the wires deep inside their respective grooves.","After every seven strips, the machine cuts the wires and starts new ones.","The 7-length strips form a 6-inch-square tile.","An end-matching machine now squares each tile so that the four corners are precisely 90 degrees.","Then it carves tongues on two of the tile's edges and grooves into the other two.","Four tile feeders then drop tiles into an assembly machine that inserts the tongues into the grooves.","The machine then applies hot glue which bonds the four tiles into one larger tile measuring 12x12 inches.","The tiles are now ready for varnishing.","Feeders drop them onto the automated varnishing line.","The tile surface gets a sanding.","Rollers then apply an even coat of varnish.","From there, the tiles immediately pass under ultraviolet light.","This dries the varnish within a second.","Then the process repeats three more times for a total of four coats of varnish.","Workers then stack them in 10s, at the same time doing a final inspection and discarding any tile that has a less-than-perfect finish.","On the packaging line, each stack gets a label and clear plastic wrapping.","An oven shrinks the plastic tightly around the tiles.","Those four coats of varnish made this parquetry superdurable, and because it's real wood, when the many years of wear do begin to show, you can simply refinish the floor to its original splendor."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Dress Forms","Boat Propellers","Duvets","Faucets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Dress forms...","Boat propellers...","Duvets...","And faucets.","When it comes to dressmaking, a dummy can be a lot of help.","These dummies are known as dress forms, and they're full-scale reproductions of the human body.","They give seamstresses a form on which to solve fitting problems.","They're also used to showcase outfits in storefronts where they can look pretty smart all dressed up.","For centuries, the fashion industry has relied on dummies to act as stand-ins so clients don't have to endure lengthy fittings.","Sometimes, a form is even custom-made as the client's exact body double.","To make one of these forms, a worker starts by soaking cardboard in water.","It's strong and porous, so it can absorb a lot of water without falling apart.","He positions the back half of a plaster body mold, then rips a soaked cardboard sheet in two.","He dips his gloved hand in paste and slathers it on the cardboard.","This paste is a combination of plaster and tacky glue.","Then, in a process called feathering, he makes a series of tears along the edge of the cardboard.","Next, the glue-coated cardboard is pressed into the shape of the body mold, building up several layers.","Some pieces are arranged lengthwise and others horizontally for a tight interweave.","Overlapping the feathered edges helps to interlock them, and a few taps with a hammer makes them level.","The worker lifts a few of the feathered edges...","Then joins the front of the body to the back.","The cardboard forms fit loosely on top of one another.","It takes even more paste to seal them together.","The worker manipulates the end of a paste-covered tool inside the cavity, overlapping loose layers with adhesive.","Finally, he opens the mold to reveal the shape.","This dummy is a size 12.","After 24 hours of drying in the open air, the form goes into an oven where it bakes at 350 degrees for 8 hours.","This causes the moisture to evaporate from the form, hardening it.","A worker scrapes off all the rough bits with a rasp...","Then sands it smooth.","Another worker draws lines on the form with a pencil.","He'll use these marks as guides as he cuts into the dress form to make the shoulders collapsible.","He carves out slots on each side of the form, then peels back layers on either side of the slots.","This allows him to install hinges level to the form so they won't protrude and ruin a fitting job.","The dress form then undergoes some major surgery.","A worker slices open both shoulders, but leaves them attached to the rest of the form by the hinges.","He makes sure they function smoothly...","Then trims the dress form along the incisions.","This will allow the shoulders to be collapsed into the form, a feature that makes it easier to pull a garment on and off.","This piece of pliable steel is a spring for a mechanism that locks the collapsed shoulders in position.","Along with the rest of the locking mechanism, it's attached to wooden supports in each shoulder.","The dress form is now covered in layers of jersey and linen.","These pins will serve as reference points for the seamstress.","Another worker then washes the dummy with a sponge, shrinking the fabric to the form.","The dress form gets the stamp of approval.","A worker then gives the headless body a metal collar...","And caps it off with a gold-colored finial.","And now you have a body shape that's made to measure.","When we return, we'll take you up to speed at a boat propeller factory.","Boat propellers were invented in the early 19th century, and they've been making waves ever since.","These propellers rotate in a screwlike fashion, drawing water in and pushing it out to move the boat across the water.","With a steel propeller, you can zip across the lake in a flash and make a real splash.","Production begins with wax pellets, which are melted until they're the consistency of toothpaste.","Nearby, a mold of a boat propeller closes, and the thick wax is injected into it.","It takes about a minute for the wax to cool into the propeller shape, which will serve as a pattern for the metal prop.","A shot of compressed air helps extract a wax funnel from its mold.","It's called the pour cup.","We'll find out what's poured into it later on.","After a cast shape is wiped down, its flat end is softened on a burner and joined to the glue-coated end of the pour cup.","Workers dip the attached pieces into hot wax to fill any gaps in the joint.","A quick wash and rinse gets rid of any oily residues left behind.","Here, a robot submerges a rack of propellers in a special solution that gives them a nonstick coating.","Then it's over to a tank containing a mix of silica sand and water.","The robot dips the wax propellers several times, then plunges them into various ceramic-based concoctions.","After each dipping, the propellers go into a machine that showers them with sand.","Then they dry under fans.","The process of dipping and sand bathing builds up a hard ceramic shell around the wax.","Workers load the propellers into a pressurized oven called an autoclave, where the wax melts away, leaving only the ceramic shells.","Those shells are then fired in big ovens, the way potters bake ceramics to strengthen them.","Nearby, molten steel is bubbling, heated to the melting point by electrical induction coils.","A worker takes a ceramic propeller shell out of the oven, then the searing steel is poured into it through the pour cup.","The steel immediately begins to cool, causing cracks in the ceramic shell.","Any remaining bits of ceramic are knocked off with a metal rod.","Now it's time to get rid of the pour cup, which has already served its purpose.","They grind the edges to smooth them.","Then a more intensive grinding removes any corrosion on the surface.","Talk about putting your shoulder to the grindstone-- this process takes skill and strength.","The propellers are lowered into a series of vibrating polishers.","The friction from these pulsating cones smooths out the grind lines on the propellers and adds shine.","Finally, each propeller gets the once-over from a laser that measures the blades from all angles.","It sends the information to a computer which compares it to the specifications.","If it checks out, the propeller will be on its way to a waterway, ready to launch.","Up next...","Getting down on the duvet production line.","\"down\" is the term for belly feathers of waterfowl, primarily ducks and geese.","Made from interlocking fibers that create micro-size air pockets, down works something like a scuba diver's wet suit.","The bird's body heat warms the trapped air, and the warm air then insulates the bird against the cold water.","Regular feathers have a central stem from which the fibers emanate.","Down is more lightweight, and its fibers are in clusters.","Bags of plumage from waterfowl farms arrive at the feather-and-down processing factory.","The first step is to separate the down from the feathers.","A vacuum hose sucks everything up into a sorting machine that has four air chambers side by side.","In the first one, the air blows everything upward.","The heaviest feathers rise just partway, while the lighter plumage floats through an opening into the next chamber.","Same air-sorting process there-- heaviest stays, lighter moves on.","This continues until there's only pure down in the fourth and final chamber.","A vacuum hose then transfers the down to the cleaning machines.","First, agitation and suction remove any dirt trapped inside the fibers.","Then a 13-cycle, hot-water wash with soap kills bacteria.","A degreaser strips the natural oils that coat the down fibers, and the last rinse cycle applies an antibacterial, antifungal treatment.","The next machine spins the down to remove the water.","When the down comes out, it's still a bit damp.","A robotic machine called the picker gathers small batches at a time and loads them into a steam dryer.","After processing, the factory's lab tests a sample from each batch for cleanliness.","Technicians also evaluate \"loft,\" the technical term for filling power.","The higher the loft, the better the down will insulate.","They measure how much space the sample fills.","If the down meets specifications, the factory bags the batch for shipping to the duvet factory.","First stop there--  a holding tank.","A programmable filling machine extracts a specific amount of down and transfers it to a canister.","Next, a worker shoots the canister's contents in a duvet's fabric shell.","To keep the down evenly distributed throughout the duvet, the shell is sewn into sections called boxes.","Emptying one tube at a time, they fill one box at a time.","Air pressure piles all the down at one end of the box, but it'll get spread out later in the process.","The open ends of each row are temporarily closed with a plastic clip.","Then, when all the boxes are filled, it's off to the sewing department.","There, seamstresses stitch the open ends closed and sew on labels and washing instructions.","A light table allows them to see the down within each box.","Then they spread it out evenly using, of all things, badminton rackets.","The 100%-cotton shell has gone through a high-pressure treatment to fuse its fibers so that no down can poke through.","The factory also stuffs bedding items with feathers.","Back at the processing factory, feathers go through the same post-washing tests as the down.","To measure cleanliness, lab technicians soak a sample from each batch in distilled water.","Then they strain the water...","Mix it with sulfuric acid...","And add a potassium compound.","They analyze the color of the liquid to gauge its oxygen content.","If the oxygen level's under 10, the feathers are clean enough to ship to the duvet factory.","There, the feather-filling process is just like the down-filling process, only with bigger canisters and blowing nozzles to accommodate the larger feathers and larger fabric shells.","Feathers are heavier than down and have less insulating power, but they're more affordable.","Down is only found on the bird's belly, and that scarcity makes it expensive.","That explains why high-end bedding contains 100% down, while the rest contains either a down-and-feather mix or feathers alone.","But when it comes to getting a cozy night's sleep, there's no \"downside\" to any of those options.","Coming up...","A production line where they know how to go with the flow.","Faucets were actually invented by the ancient romans.","But when their empire collapsed, so did their water and sewer systems.","It took many centuries for running water to make a comeback and for water to become available on tap.","Today, faucets are an indispensable part of our daily lives.","Modern faucets come in many different designs, but inside, they all have the same basic components.","Workers start by setting a brass spout tube on a revolving support.","An automated dispenser applies silver solder to the inside rim of the spout.","They press a threaded tip into the spout, then dip the other end of the tube in flux paste, which cleans the brass and prevents tarnishing.","The tubes are set against brass hubs.","Then torches liquefy the solder, which flows into the joint, sealing the tube to the hub.","The threaded tip is soldered in turn.","A carriage now moves the faucet spouts against buffing wheels coated with polishing compound for a mirror finish.","A wheel with an abrasive surface gives that finish a brush texture.","The faucet spouts are dipped in an acid bath laced with dissolved nickel.","The application of an electric current draws the dissolved nickel onto the brass spouts, plating them with a thin, even layer.","Next, the faucet spouts and other parts are loaded into a special chamber.","Inside, an electron beam flashes like lightning as it spirals around the zirconium rod.","This causes the zirconium to vaporize.","The vapors mix with gases being pumped into the chamber and bond to the faucet for a final finish that's virtually indestructible.","The other parts of the faucets get the same treatment.","Meanwhile, a blade slices a solid-brass rod into smaller pieces.","A variety of cutting tools machine the brass lump to make a faucet body.","It will house a ball valve that controls the volume and temperature of the water.","A jaw grabs the other end of the brass body to position it for more drilling.","Several tools carve out holes that will act as waterways.","The waste brass gets recycled.","That piece of solid brass has now been transformed into a pivotal piece for the faucet, the valve body.","With copper tubes and brass fittings now attached, the faucet slides into the baseplate.","That's the plate that sits on the sink deck.","Working from underneath, it's fastened with screws.","Next, a robot puts one-half of a stainless-steel ball in a spinning vice, which orients it so an automated welder can join it to the other half.","The ball's openings align with hot and cold inlets in the faucet body to regulate the flow of water into the spout.","Rubber seals are inserted into those inlet holes in the faucet body.","Rubber o-rings on the body will both form a seal and allow the spout to swivel.","In goes the ball valve.","Then a rubber seal caps it off.","The aerator is screwed onto the spout, and pneumatic driver tightens it down.","The spout assembly is secured to the rest of the faucet with a metal bonnet.","Now it's time to see how this faucet functions.","An inspector connects it to a pressurized water source for a test run.","Finally, the handle is attached to the rest of the faucet, and it's ready to ship out.","Included in the box are the spray hose and support system, which will be installed on-site.","It takes a day or two to build one of these faucets.","But it will be on clean-up duty for many years to come."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Olive Oil","Lift Trucks","Seamless Rolled Rings","Ski Boots"]},"text":["The ancient greek poet homer called olive oil \"liquid gold,\" and today a little drizzle can still dazzle.","Like fine wine, premium olive oil can bring a complexity of flavors to the table and create flavors to the table and create a real taste sensation.","A real taste sensation.","The roots of the olive tree stretch far into the past.","For thousands of years, people have harvested its fruit and crushed it with stone to extract the precious yellow oil.","In those early days, olive oil wasn't just used in food, it fueled lamps and was a medicinal ointment.","Today's thriving olive groves are living proof that our appetite for olive oil hasn't waned.","When green olives turn a violet red, they're ripe and ready for harvest.","Workers shake the olives off the workers shake the olives off the branches with vibrating rakes.","Branches with vibrating rakes.","The olives fall onto nets spread the olives fall onto nets spread beneath the trees.","Beneath the trees.","They funnel the harvested olives into the factory.","They fall down a chute into a large vat of pure water.","A hose suctions the olives and water into a vibrating bin.","It separates out leaves and twigs as the water drains away.","The cleaned olives now bounce merrily on their way toward the crusher.","A few centuries ago, the crusher was a donkey-powered apparatus.","Today, a motor drives 1,300-pound granite wheels to grind the olives, pits and all, grind the olives, pits and all, into a paste.","Into a paste.","Once the paste reaches the desired consistency, it's over to a computerized system that regulates the temperature of the paste as an auger mixes it.","This separates the oil from the paste, making it easier to extract with this machine.","Traditional extracting techniques involve spreading the paste on mats and then stacking them to press out the oil.","This system is more high-tech.","Rows of metal plates dip into the paste and the oil adheres to them.","A spin in a centrifuge separates the residual paste from the oil.","Oil.","The result is virgin olive oil.","The result is virgin olive oil.","A sample of every batch goes to the testing room where there's a guy who has a nose for the job.","He inhales the olive oil's aroma.","Like a glass of fine wine, it should have a certain bouquet and should taste intensely fruity.","If the olive oil makes the grade with this tester, the entire batch is ready for packaging.","The packaging process is entirely automated, ensuring it's all done hygienically.","A conveyor funnels these tins into line for a filling.","A mechanized system then feeds the olive oil directly from big tanks into the tins.","A measuring device controls the amount that goes into each one.","At the next station, equipment spins and curls a metal disk around the lip of the container to put the bottom on the can.","The conveyor flips the can around so it lands right side up, ready to pack.","They package the premium-grade oil in bottles.","They use dark glass to protect the oil from the sun's ultraviolet light, which could cause olive oil to degrade and lose intensity.","After an automated fill up, they cap the threaded necks of the bottles.","Machinery press-fits and then screws the caps on for an airtight seal.","Equipment then glues and applies the labels to the bottles.","Preserved and protected, this olive oil is now on its way to the store shelf and ultimately to the table, where it's sure to the table, where it's sure to kick up the flavor factor.","To kick up the flavor factor.","The development of the forklift truck in britain early in the last century was an uplifting event.","It was during the first world war, and much of the country's male workforce was on the battle front, so the forklift literally picked up where they left off to keep the economy moving on the home front.","The modern forklift has quite an extensive reach.","That's because warehouses today expand up rather than out to stack more into a given space.","Production starts with this welding robot.","The robot uses computer smarts to fuse steel parts together to produce the truck body.","Humans take over to weld together rails for the lift system's mainframe.","After a sleek paint job, the truck body is ready for the mechanics.","An emergency switch goes on the front.","It will allow the forklift operator to quickly cut the engine's power.","Then they assemble the lift's hydraulic system, beginning with the tank that holds the hydraulic fluid.","They hook it up to the pump that provides the required pressure.","They wire the pump so they can later connect it to the forklift's battery.","They nudge the pump into its permanent position and bolt it to the floor of the truck.","Wiring for the lights, horn, and lift sensors comes next.","Then they slide a foot pedal into place.","It both activates and brakes the forklift truck.","At seven horsepower, this engine may seem small, but it's enough to move the truck and a load of 2.2 tons safely.","They check the oil and install a bracket for the vehicle control bracket for the vehicle control handle.","Handle.","The handle is then connected to a computerized system that operates both the vehicle and its hydraulic lift.","They slide the steering wheel onto a shaft and make sure it's solidly attached.","Production then hits a turning point as they power up the motor and check the steering wheel installation.","They flush filtered oil through the hydraulic system that powers the lift.","It's a cleansing process to ensure no dirt can compromise the hydraulics.","They test the computerized controls for the lift and motor.","With the hydraulic cylinders installed, they grease the mainframe above them.","This makes it easier to slide the inner rails onto the frame, and later, the grease will also improve the function of this hydraulic lift.","They thread chains through the mainframe and its inner rails.","These chains will work in conjunction with lift cylinders to elevate the load.","They roll the forklift's carriage along grooves in the rail system.","It's this carriage to which the forks and other attachments will be mounted.","A special machine now maneuvers the lift into an upright position.","Then they wheel in the completed truck.","They call this a marriage because the truck and lift are getting hitched.","They bolt the two subassemblies together from the inside of the empty battery compartment.","They then temporarily connect the forklift to a battery in order to move it down the line.","It's time for the forklift to undergo a little corporate branding with these company decals.","They engrave a serial number onto a metal plate.","It identifies the forklift for warranty purposes.","They put a cover on the truck, and this forklift is ready to go to work.","The forks and the battery will be installed on the worksite because they're often specific to the job.","But one thing's for certain-- this forklift is sure to carry a this forklift is sure to carry a lot of weight in the workplace.","Lot of weight in the workplace.","Seamless rolled rings keep a lot of things running in our world, so we thought it was time to recognize their contribution.","These wheels of steel are essential components of engines, power generators, and industrial machinery, to name just a few things.","And you could say they keep things operating seamlessly.","Seamless rolled rings are at the center of the action in a lot of machinery such as bearings, gears, and connectors.","A seamless rolled ring starts with one of these solid steel billets.","A powerful magnet moves them into a queue for production.","A saw with carbide-tipped teeth cuts the billet into smaller chunks.","A hydraulically powered claw then takes the cut piece to a furnace fired to 1,260 degrees celsius.","That's hot enough to soften the steel for forging but below its melting point.","The steel turns bright yellow, which indicates that it's ready to be removed.","The operator places it in a chamber where chains batter the ends to break off scale formed by the searing heat of the furnace.","The claw then transfers it to an 1,100-ton press.","It squashes the steel slightly, causing the scale on the sides to crack and break off.","To crack and break off.","Then it's over to a die.","Then it's over to a die.","A worker places a bit of coal in the center of the hot steel chunk.","The coal catches, generating a powder that lubricates the action of a 2,800-ton punch.","The punch pierces the center of the steel and pushes it against the walls of the die, transforming the steel chunk into a doughnut.","30 feet away, the operator controls the gripper to lift out the doughnut.","He then reactivates the punch to knock out the last bit of metal in the center hole.","By now, the steel has cooled down quite a bit, so it's into another furnace to bring it back to forging temperature.","Once it's yellow hot, this steel doughnut is ready to be transformed into a ring.","A mandrel pokes up through the center.","It stabilizes the doughnut as a conveyor slides it into position for ring rolling.","The doughnut rotates, and rollers press against it to shape it into a thin, wide ring.","Cone-shaped tools above and below also spin against it to establish the desired height.","The hot steel is easily manipulated by the tools and stretches like putty.","This process turns the doughnut into a ring, and that's why they call this ring rolling.","The change is truly dramatic.","A worker stamps a serial number onto the rim.","Next, a tool drags the ring onto a conveyor which takes it to a stacking device.","The rings cool from yellow to orange.","Soon, they'll be completely cooled and ready to head into another furnace, this time for heat treating.","This tempering process relieves the stresses in the steel caused by all that rolling and forging.","This makes the steel stronger and more resilient.","Once this ring has been cooled and hardened, they position it on a turntable, relying on a special gauge to let them know special gauge to let them know it's on the mark.","It's on the mark.","The ring revolves as a tool peels off that sooty-looking crust to reveal the glossy substructure.","And they give the interior of some rings the same treatment.","Now these steel rings are ready to take their place as components in heavy equipment, power plants, and even train wheels because when it comes to their capabilities, they're their capabilities, they're definitely well-rounded.","Definitely well-rounded.","In a sport with steep challenges, proper footwear is a must.","Early ski boots were made of leather, but when molded plastic boots came along in the late 1960s, they offered a big advantage-- stiffness.","Stiffer boots meant better control, and when you're heading downhill fast, control is definitely a good thing.","The modern ski boot transfers the body's movements effectively to the skis, and a little high tech can't hurt when you're trying to take your skiing skills to new heights.","Transforming these plastic chips into a high-tech ski boot takes some planning.","They design the boot on a computer and simulate the process of the chips being melted and molded into the shape.","Like in the computer model, it will take just seconds to turn the chips into the outer shell of the ski boot.","Machinery lowers boot forms into molds which clamp together with a force of up to 550 tons.","Pumps then inject the melted chips into the space between the molds and the forms.","The plastic hardens instantly, and robotic arms pull the new ski-boot shells off the forms.","Two different plastics have been used to give these shells specific performance characteristics.","Equipment now stamps the brand name and graphics onto the shell.","The assembler rivets rubber protectors to the sole of the boot.","They'll interface with the ski's bindings.","They'll also provide tread to make the boot safer to walk around in during those ski breaks.","This ski-boot shell is now ready for some buckles.","Their location has been mapped out during molding with little indentations.","The indentations guide the assembler as she rivets the buckles to the boots.","Meanwhile, another worker focuses on the boot's plastic cuff.","It's fresh out of the mold, so he trims the edges to ensure they're perfectly smooth.","He installs a reflector on the inside to locate the skier in the event of an avalanche.","This feature is found on high-end models.","He attaches a long strap to the back.","It's for adjusting the boot's fit around the skier's calf and shin.","Now they're ready to attach the cuff to the shell.","The fastener is adjustable to align the cuff with the shape of the skier's leg.","This adjustment is called canting.","With the outer boot now complete, production moves to the liner.","A technician loads the patterns into a computerized fabric cutter, arranging them to minimize waste.","The computer-guided blade goes to work and cuts out the shapes.","They use a combination of synthetic fabrics to help the boot liner insulate the skier's foot against cold and humidity.","After sewing the outer part together, they glue two layers to it.","The outside fabric and inner padding are polyurethane material and the inner layer is polyester.","This special device presses the glued fabrics together and shapes them.","Then it's over to the sewing department where the glued seams are stitched.","They add the sole and finish it off with a waterproof fabric.","It has a special weave that keeps the liner from sliding around in the boot.","Mechanical arms now hold open the boot as the assembler slides the boot as the assembler slides a liner into it.","A liner into it.","Once the liner is installed, this ski boot is on its way to the sporting-goods store, and, the sporting-goods store, and, inevitably, to higher ground.","Inevitably, to higher ground.","The manufacturing process has taken about an hour.","And these boots should be good for years of plunging through for years of plunging through powder and mogul maneuvering.","Powder and mogul maneuvering."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Berets","Pastis","Stationary Bikes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","When it comes to iconic hats, nothing says french more than the beret, specifically the basque-style beret, as people wear different styles in other countries.","The basque beret was traditionally worn by shepherds tending their flocks along the pyrenees mountain range that divides southern france from spain.","The basque beret dates back to the 1600s in southern france.","Made of black merino wool, it has a little cabillou on top.","The factory making these berets has been doing so since 1840.","An automated machine knits undyed wood yarn into a galette, the french word for pancake.","The galette is flat and round with loose knit stitches making it soft and floppy.","A worker then pulls the galette's central thread, closing it into a circular shape resembling a shower cap.","In an industrial size washing machine, a worker washes this rudimentary beret in lukewarm water from the local river and soap for about 8 hours.","The type of soap is a trade secret.","The wool shrinks, causing the loose knit stitches to tighten.","The wool fibers also soften, transforming into the smooth and soft wool and fabric we call felt.","After felting the beret, the manufacturers begin the dyeing process.","The worker loads it into another washing machine, only this time with powdered dye.","This factory has always produced its own dyes in a wide range of colors, again using water from the local river.","However, the temperature to which this company heats it is a closely guarded secret.","When the dye cycle finishes, another worker checks the beret against a color sample because the wool composition and the river water quality are variable factors that can affect dye absorption.","The next step is to form the beret to the final shape.","Traditionally, beret factories did this using wooden forms, but today, they use metal ones.","The beret remains on the form long enough to lock in the shape.","This process, too, depends on the wool composition as well as on how humid it is in the factory on that particular day.","Each beret goes for a spin on the scratching machine, a rotating wheel surfaced with wire brushes.","The bristles lift the wood fibers, thickening the felt.","After inserting a cardboard template to maintain the shape, a worker uses a manual shearing tool to carefully scratch the area around the cabillou.","She removes any clinging plant debris left by the river water used in the wash and dye cycles.","Then she inspects for any holes or stretched fibers.","The beret now goes to the seamstress.","First, she heats a black cotton lining on a mold to shape it to fit perfectly inside the beret.","The lining has the manufacturer's label in the center, which features the company crest and the model name, vrai basque, confirming that this is indeed an authentic basque-style beret.","She turns the beret inside out to sew in the lining.","Then she turns the beret right side out again and puts it on a stretching machine.","She sets the machine to the desired hat size, and it automatically stretches the beret to that size.","Now, she sews a black leather band to the edge.","The hat size is printed on it.","Some models feature a color trim on the band.","The finishing touch is the company's metal hallmark.","She rivets it to the underside of the beret on one side...","And that caps off production.","Pastis is an anise-flavored liqueur popular in france, particularly in the southern city of marseilles where it originated.","You don't drink it straight, though.","The proper technique is to dilute it with water, typically 5 to 7 parts water to one part pastis.","Then add ice.","The maker of this pastis combines star anise with licorice extract and herbs and spices from the provence region of france.","Star anise is an asian spice.","The starting ingredient for this pastis is a pale yellow star anise essential oil purchased from a chinese supplier.","The first step at this french distillery is to distill that essential oil.","As the oil is heated, it evaporates and rises up the column still, passing through a series of stacking cooling trays.","Each tray condenses, then removes one of the oil's various components.","Pastis requires just one of the extracted components-- anethole, which is an organic compound responsible for the anise flavor and smell.","This pastis recipe also contains 60 different herbs and spices, each of which is separately distilled into alcohol.","One of these herbs is artemisia vulgaris, commonly known as mugwort.","A worker loads mugwort leaves into a tank filled with a mixture of water and alcohol.","As the leaves soak, the alcohol acts as a solvent, extracting the aromatic molecules.","This process is called maceration.","After a few days, workers drain the alcoholic liquid, now infused with aromatic molecules.","It's so alcoholic that it emits volatile fumes, so workers wear an alarm that goes off when the surrounding air reaches an explosive level.","The liquid is stored in a vat until it's time to mix the pastis.","Then, a worker removes the alcohol-soaked mugwort leaves from the tank and transfer them to a distillation device called an alembic.","The alembic heats the mash of fermented leaves with steam produced by a wood-fired boiler.","Once the mash heats to a temperature of 172 degrees fahrenheit, the alcohol in it begins to evaporate and rise.","The alcoholic vapor eventually reaches the neck of the alembic, where cooling coils condense it into liquid, which then flows out of the alembic and through a filter that also removes plant particles.","An alcoholometer measures the percentage of alcohol, which starts off very high, then tapers off.","The pastis maker uses only the middle of the flow, when the reading is between 70 and 50%, what's known as the heart of the distillation.","To make the pastis, workers combine all the ingredients.","The anethole, distilled from the anise essential oil, the 60 different maceration liquids and distillates of herbs and spices and licorice extract.","Workers also add water to dilute the final product's alcohol level to 45%.","A last filtration removes any particles that would diminish the clarity of the pastis.","A machine bottles the pastis in dark glass to protect the contents from light, which, by oxidation, would damage the liqueur.","The second station on the filling line seals each bottle with a t-cork, a type of stopper designed for bottles which are opened and sealed repeatedly.","The next station applies a sheath of heat shrink plastic over the t-cork.","The bottle then travels through a heating tunnel, which shrinks the plastic tightly over the neck of the bottle.","The final station applies the adhesive-backed label.","Pastis is always poured into the glass first, followed by water.","This makes the liqueur cloudy because the anethole doesn't dissolve in water.","If you want to add ice, you can do so only after the water, otherwise, the anethole crystallizes.","So just remember that chemistry lesson and enjoy.","The first stationary bike was developed by a london physician in the late 18th century to exercise the joints of patients suffering from gout, rheumatic disorders, or other afflictions.","The modern stationary bike is all about helping people stay fit to prevent illnesses.","On this stationary bike, magnets linked to the flywheel create tension that causes the cyclist to push harder, making the workout truly an uphill battle.","Production starts with steel tubing for the base.","A probe locates the center of the tubing.","This reference point allows a computerized laser cutter to find the exact spots to cut assembly holes.","With the assembly holes cut, the laser slices the tubing to the correct length.","An automated system retrieves the part and transfers it to a holding area.","A worker inserts screws in the base part, which will attach it to the main frame.","He pipes sealant around the screws.","Another worker now arranges the three tubular base parts in a welding fixture and clamps them in place.","The fixture revolves and meets up with a robotic welder.","The robot welds the three parts together.","This completes the base of the stationary bike.","The bike's main frame has been configured on the other side of the welding fixture.","The robot welds these parts together.","The fixture rotates to serve up another base assembly to the robot, and the worker collects the welded main frame from the reverse side.","He grinds the welded seam smooth and gets rid of burrs on the steel.","Workers sandblast the metal, wash it, and apply primer.","After grounding the main frame, another worker sprays electrostatically charged resin and pigment onto it.","Once it's baked on, this powder coat will provide a protective finish.","At another station, a 55-ton press punches holes into posts for the bike's handlebar and seat.","The holes are for adjusting the height of these parts.","Next up is the casting for mounting the handlebar to the post.","Using another press, the worker entrenches the top of the post in the casting.","He taps the casting with a rubber mallet to tweak the installation and sets the assembly aside.","At another station, a worker arranges numerous seat posts in tight alignment.","He drapes a stencil of sequential lettering on top of the posts.","He dips an etching wand in a chemical solution and then moves it over the letters five times.","This burns the letters into the steel, providing markers for height adjustment.","An assembler drives the wedge into one of the bike's two crank arms to create a hole that the axle will fit into.","He checks the depth of the hole with a gauge.","He inserts the end of the axle in the hole and using a press, pushes it into place.","He measures the hole from the other side of the crank arm and confirms that the axle has been set to the correct depth.","He then bolts the assembly to a precise torque.","He locks the crank arm assembly in a lathe.","He slips a foam sleeve over the axle to protect it from shards of flying metal as a tool machines the part of the crank arm that will ultimately hold the bike's pulley.","Another member of the team now assembles bearings to a wheel hub.","He slides two bearings with a spacer in a press.","He heats the hub in an oven, causing the metal to expand.","The machine presses the hub sandwich together.","As the hub cools, it shrinks for a tight fit to the bearings.","He installs a retaining clip in the hub to also keep it together.","Next up are the holders for the magnets that create resistance on the flywheel.","A worker places each one in a fixture to inspect the dimensions.","He then checks the strength of the magnets in a tester, and satisfied, he inserts two in each holder.","This metal cage, pulled into position by the magnets, completes the magnetic field.","Stay tuned for more on the making of this stationary bike.","Stationary bikes are equipped with resistance mechanisms.","They can be simple tension belts or more complex systems in which magnets produce an electrical current in the flywheel.","The indoor cyclist simply dials up the resistance, and he or she will soon feel the burn.","The assembler installs the magnetic resistance unit so that it swings from a bracket on the main frame.","This bracket also holds the computer board.","He mounts the aluminum flywheel to the axle, sliding it between the magnets and the tension device.","He caps the flywheel hub and secures the cap with screws.","The torsion spring-equipped cover completes the stationary bike's tension system.","He assembles the crank arm and axle to the bike and installs a bearing.","Then the bike moves on to the next station.","Another worker places an alignment tool on the back axle.","He loops an elastic belt with grooves around the small pulley on the flywheel and around the larger crank arm pulley, linking the two.","He inserts another tool into the crank arm and turns it to better wrap the belt around the large crank pulley.","He then removes both installation tools.","He installs four flat bushings in the handlebar post.","These bushings make it possible for the handlebar to be raised and lowered.","He applies a decal with the height indicators.","Made of a rugged synthetic material, the decal encases three sides of the metal post, and this protects it from abrasion.","He bolts the second crank arm to the axle and torques it to the specified tension.","Next up is the seat assembly.","He slides the seat stem into the post and tightens the adjustment knob to lock it in place.","He inserts the handlebar post into the bike frame and fishes the gear cable and communication wires through it.","He secures the handlebar post with the adjustment knob.","He connects the communication line to the resistance system's computer board.","He links the gear cable to the resistance system and tests its functionality.","Satisfied, he tightens a nut at the side to secure the cable.","Another worker installs a plastic cover on the drivetrain.","This will protect the cyclist's legs from the pulley system and shield the metal components from human sweat.","For added moisture protection, she applies sealer around a welded reinforcement on the bike frame.","She then encases the fork of the bike with more molded plastic.","Bolts secure the casings to the bike.","She now places a magnetized microphone on the axle and spins the flywheel at a high rpm.","This is a test.","The bike must operate noiselessly.","And the decibel meter confirms the noise level is negligible.","She also feels the frame for unwanted vibrations.","She now sets the location of the magnetic resistance mechanism using a special tool.","This calibrates the resistance so that they handlebar computer can find it and display the resistance setting during cycling.","Another member of the team then applies thread-locking adhesive to the screw holes in the crank arms.","He screws the pedals tightly to the crank arms and torques them to a specific setting.","The worker aligns the four bolt holes on the frame to the bolts on the base and secures them with cap nuts.","He installs a metal guard that encircles most of the flywheel.","This prevents contact with the edge of the wheel when it's spinning.","Once the trip computer has been mounted to the top of the frame, he slides the handlebar into place.","It takes about 2 hours to manufacture this stationary bike.","Now that the work is done, the workout can begin."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tin Whistles","Horn Products","Formula F Race Cars"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","The distinctive sound of the tin whistle is characteristic of the traditional music of england, ireland, and scotland.","When this flute was first manufactured in the mid-19th century, it sold for just a penny, making it affordable and earning its nickname \"the penny whistle\".","This u.k. company was the first factory to make tin whistles.","In 1843, the company produced whistles using tinplate-- that's tin-coated steel--  from british metal foundries.","A press strikes each sheet with a dye 20 times, stamping out 20 flat shapes called blanks.","Each blank contains six finger holes toward the bottom and a rectangular opening called a fipple near the top.","A technician inserts one blank at a time into a custom-made mandrel, then turns the crank.","The mandrel rolls the flat blank into a tube.","While some tin whistles are straight, this company's tin whistles are tapered.","The signature shape creates a distinctive sound.","Next, a technician slides four tubes into tapered slots on a custom-built jig.","The slots align the tube's edges, creating a seam that will prevent air blown into the instrument from leaking out.","The seam is coated in a chemical called flux.","Without it, solder wire won't adhere to the tinplate.","Using a custom-designed soldering gun, the technician melts lead-free solder wire onto the edges, fusing them together.","The flux and solder are both nontoxic since they're being used on an instrument that goes into the mouth.","A worker washes the tin whistles in mild soap and water to remove any excess flux.","Another technician uses a custom-made file to scrape off any excess solder and ensure the seam is smooth.","Then he shapes the top end of the tin whistle with this custom-made squaring tool.","The round top of the instrument is now square.","The tin whistles are sent to the factory's paint shop.","An operator hooks the whistles onto a track that moves through a paint chamber.","Inside, automated nozzles spray the instruments with powder paint.","Then the tin whistles head to an oven, which bakes the paint for 20 minutes, at a temperature of 255 degrees fahrenheit.","As each instrument exits the oven, the operator inspects the paint job.","A pad printer spreads gold ink into the engraved company logo and design.","The pad picks up the ink, and stamps the logo and design on the instrument.","To create the narrow air channel that produces sound, a wooden plug is created and placed above the mouthpiece, or fipple.","The plug is made from cedar or beechwood.","This type of wood contains closed grains that prevent swelling.","After pieces of wood are cut to the required shape, a tin whistle tuner applies a water-based, nontoxic adhesive inside the top of the instrument.","Then he takes a plug, sands the cut edge, and glues it into the top.","Once he's completed sanding, the whistle specialist tunes the tin whistle by inserting a sizing tool in the gap between the tinplate and the plug.","He gently hammers the tinplate against the plug and tool.","This step adjusts the air channel to the required width, perfectly tuning the instrument.","After tuning 50 or so tin whistles, he performs a musical spot-check.","Once the adhesive has cured for 24 hours, the tin whistle is ready for packaging.","After the instrument has been cleaned, a technician includes a fingering chart and a sheet of tunes in the package so that beginners can teach themselves how to play.","The tin whistle comes in the key of c and d. the musical landscapes of jigs, reels, highland flings, and other traditional melodies of the british isles.","Animal horns are made from meat-industry by-products.","They can be shaped and cut easily, while remaining incredibly durable.","In the 20th century, synthetic plastics largely replaced horn, but today, it's making a comeback as an all-natural biodegradable material.","In 1749, this manufacturer made inexpensive utensils for people on a tight budget.","Two and a half centuries later, horn products are desirable luxury items.","This facility sources its horns from nigeria where ankole cattle are known for their long, magnificent horns.","A craftsman cuts the horns on a band saw.","Horn is formed from keratin, the same material in hair and nails.","Even though it's hard, woodworking tools can easily cut and shape the horn.","The horn is also biodegradable.","The craftsman uses a sanding disk to shape the edges.","This particular horn will become a drinking mug.","Horn is thermoplastic.","It can be shaped when heated and will retain its new shape when cooled.","An artisan heats a thin section and bends the tip.","He heats the base of the thin section over an open flame and then carefully folds it over to form a perfect handle for the mug.","The craftsman puts the mug into a vice to ensures that the handle will retain its new shape once cooled.","In just a few steps, this cattle horn has been transformed into a unique mug-shaped object.","Now the mug needs a bottom.","A technician glues a set of mugs to wooden planks and then pours in a food-safe resin to form a watertight seal.","It takes 24 hours for the resin to cure.","Once cured, a craftsman uses a band saw to separate the mugs.","Then he trims the wood until there's only a small amount left around the edges.","The sanding disk easily removes the excess until the wood is even with the horn.","A specialized wheel with sandpaper edges smoothes hard-to-reach areas of the mug.","A craftsman sands and polishes each mug thoroughly until they shine.","For constructing other types of products, this facility uses a deep fryer to heat sections of horn in 392-degree cooking oil.","A hydraulic press flattens the heated material by applying pressure, then it's set aside to cool.","After 10 minutes, the horn will retain its new shape, which is called a plate.","Flat horn plate is used to make a variety of products.","Here, a cutting form stamps out spoons.","Artisans use a sanding disk to refine the spoon's shape.","Another press hollows out the end of the spoon.","Horn is a naturally non-stick material that won't absorb odor or color from food.","Beside their many other products, this facility also manufactures shoehorns.","Shoehorns get their name from the horn material used to make them.","A sanding disk is used to shape the horn.","It takes artisans years to develop this particular set of skills.","The horn, which has been straightened in a specialized press is now ready for the final phase.","A craftsman refines the shape of the horn by using a specialized tool, equipped with a narrow belt of sandpaper he smoothes the inner curve of the shoehorn by pressing on the sandpaper belt.","This operation requires a high degree of concentration and skill.","Too much pressure will remove more of the horn material than necessary.","Polishing wheels give the shoehorn its final sheen.","Once polishing is complete, the horn's color is revealed.","The colors of a horn are near the surface, so the sander must be careful not to remove too much material.","Skilled craftsmanship has transformed a raw horn into a shoe horn in just a few steps.","A laser engraving machine brands the shoehorn with the manufacturer's mark.","Horns may be an ancient material, but they still make relevant instruments for modern life.","Many professional race-car drivers got their start in a formula f car, an entry-level racing car developed in britain in the 1960s.","Initially called \"formula ford,\" the name was changed to formula f when a motor other than a ford was permitted.","A formula f racecar is driven by both aspiring professionals and amateurs.","This car can give drivers a start in the sport and hopefully a strong finish.","Productions starts with a steel tube skeleton known as a space frame.","The frame is designed to be lightweight yet rigid.","The technician measures a piece of steel to be trimmed.","Using a band saw, he cuts the steel to its specified length.","This piece will be used for the roll hoop, which protects the driver's head in the event the car rolls.","He measures the tubing one last time.","When satisfied with its placement, he lowers the saw and cuts off any excess steel.","He clamps the tubing in a hydraulic bending device.","Once activated, the device wraps the tubing around a dye forming it to the desired curvature.","Next, he builds the car's front bulkhead.","He arranges steel tubing in the desired configuration and clamps them to the work bench to hold them steady.","Using angle-measuring tools, the craftsman verifies that the corners of the bulkhead structure measure 90 degrees.","This confirms that the bulkhead is perfectly square.","Next, the bulkhead structure is welded at the joints.","The space-frame tubing is made up of varying thicknesses.","This ensures the bulkhead steel is strong and protected in the event there's a frontal collision.","He compares the newly fabricated bulkhead to the standard.","Once the frame is complete, the builder applies epoxy to the base in preparation for floor installation.","Since the steel floor is substantial in thickness and weight, it takes two technicians to lift it onto the epoxied section of the space frame.","In addition to the epoxy, a craftsman uses rivets to fasten the floor to the frame.","The floor will be the only barrier between the driver and the track.","With the space frame and floor secured, the racecar is ready for mechanical-component assembly.","After installing adapter plates to the engine, the engine is hoisted into the back of the space frame.","Then the adapter plates are bolted to the frame, securing the engine in place.","The technician uses a hoist to carry the transmission system to the motor.","Once in position, he connects the input shaft to the engine.","He straps a fire extinguisher to the cockpit floor using metal bands.","Then he runs wires from the instrument panel to the extinguisher for easy activation.","He screws the panel to the cowl.","Moving to the front, the technician bolts the foot pedals to the floor.","Next, he works on the rack-and-pinion steering system.","This assembly will convert the rotational motion of the steering wheel to the lateral motion of the rack.","Tie rods link the tires to the system.","The technician tests the movement of the rack to confirm that it's operating smoothly.","At another station, computerized tools drill holes in a solid piece of aluminum.","This step transforms the aluminum into a part called the bell crank.","The bell crank will provide a link between the car's suspension rods and the shock absorbers.","It takes about 10 minutes for these computerized tools to turn a piece of aluminum into a precision-crafted bell crank.","The technician installs the bell crank onto the car frame.","With that, they've turned a production corner, and it's full speed ahead to the next phase, coming up.","A formula f car is designed to make semi-professional racing accessible to amateurs.","This vehicle's steel space frame is inexpensive to produce and easier to repair in comparison to frames made of carbon fiber.","With the steel frame complete and the engine and transmission installed, the technician bolts shock absorbers to the chassis, one for each wheel's suspension system.","A technician connects the shock absorbers to the bell crank, linking it to the rest of the suspension system.","He bolts suspension arms to mounts on the frame.","A push rod links the arms to the bell crank.","He bolts the wheel hub assembly to the suspension arms.","He assembles a brake rotor to the hub.","Then he installs the drive shaft assembly.","This assembly connects the transmission to the wheel hub.","That completes the push-rod suspension system for one wheel.","This sheet of aluminum will be used for the back of the fuel-cell compartment.","He measures and marks the sheet accordingly.","He clamps the sheet in a press brake along the measured line and activates the press brake.","The bend forms a flap that will be used to attach the sheet to the car frame.","He measures and marks spots for mounting holes so they'll be evenly spaced when drilled.","The panel is placed in the space frame behind the cockpit with the flap resting on lateral tubing.","The fuel cell is made of a flexible rubber-like material that's unlikely to rupture if in an accident.","He assembles the sides and front panels to the back, creating a compartment that encloses the fuel cell.","Next, the technician wires the racecar's electrical systems together.","He crimps connectors to the ends of the wires and plugs them into their corresponding electrical components.","He routes wiring through the car and plugs in the alternator.","He installs fiberglass support parts to the radiators, attaching one to each side of the car.","He runs hoses from the radiators to the engine.","With the radiators now on the supports, the packing material is removed.","A cone-shaped air filter located on the engine's throttle body will keep dirt out of the engine.","After installing front shock absorbers, he assembles the steering column and shaft to the car.","He slides the steering wheel onto the column.","He tucks a special safety seat into the cockpit.","The seat has been custom-made for the driver.","The harness has six straps for upper-body protection.","Then he connects an exhaust pipe to the engine and hangs it to the car with metal bands.","After the fiberglass body parts are molded, he maps out holes for components.","He cuts out the holes with a rotary sanding tool.","The cockpit's side panels are fitted to the space frame and screwed into place.","The nose of the car is made of carbon fiber.","The strength of the carbon fiber provides additional crash protection.","The body panels are attached with fasteners that can be quickly during a race.","With the front suspension installed, this racecar is ready for wheels.","The technician torques the locknut that holds the wheel in place and slides a pin onto the axle.","It takes about two to three months to build this formula f racecar.","Now that it's left the shop, things are sure to accelerate."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Industrial Casters","Wedding Cakes","Terahertz Spectrometers","Racing Catamarans"]},"text":["Industrial casters are used to move heavy equipment from one location to another.","The wheels make it easy to move mining machinery, large medical devices, or factory carts wherever and whenever it's required.","The size of the object determines the size of the casters used to move it.","Heavy items need casters with thicker wheels.","Some larger objects may need multiple wheels to evenly distribute its weight.","First, they make the top plate, which mounts the caster underneath the object.","They begin with a thick sheet of steel.","A computer-guided cutting machine combines oxygen and electricity to produce plasma.","This incredibly hot flame melts the steel to cut out the part.","They make several other caster parts out of steel coil.","It's a thinner, more flexible type of steel.","They fit it through a punch press.","The press strikes it with a yoke-shaped die.","The yokes are the arms that hold each side of the wheel axle.","Workers place each yoke piece in a forming press.","The press bends the piece into the required shape.","It also makes a circular groove around the hole in the middle.","Next they fill the groove with steel ball bearings.","These bearings allow the yoke to swivel.","The steel retainer holds the ball bearings in place.","They fill the grooves of the steel cap with ball bearings, as well.","Then they place it in a punch press and position the yoke on top of it.","The press joins the cap to the yokes retainer, sandwiching the ball bearings in between.","After riveting the top plate to the yoke, they put a steel seal over the retainer.","They lock it in place with a pneumatic press.","This factory purchases nylon wheel inserts from a supplier.","Workers place the inserts in an injection molding press.","The press melts neoprene rubber and injects it into the mold.","Once it cools to a solid state, the machine ejects what are now rubber-edged wheels.","This process takes about four minutes.","The rubber edge absorbs shock, reduces noise, and prevents damage to the floor.","When this factory needs to make larger wheels, they use a different injection molding press, one that can make wheels five times larger than their standard models.","It works exactly like the other injection molder except it only makes one wheel at time.","A worker carefully places the wheel on a cool-down rack for two and a half hours.","The wheel molds are made of two parts.","The parts form a seam once attached.","A worker grinds down the rubber seam until the surface is smooth.","Now that all the caster's parts are ready, assembly can begin.","First they place a two-part bearing inside the wheel and lock it into position with a pneumatic press.","Next they install a steel guard on each side.","The guards prevent anything from getting inside the wheel and inhibiting its movement.","They position the wheel between the yokes and insert the steel wheel axle.","A bolt head secures one end, and they attach a nut to the other.","Then they tighten everything with an impact gun.","They inject grease to lubricate the ball bearings.","This factory runs random samples through a series of quality control tests.","A machine applies weight and counts how many revolutions the caster can withstand before it finally breaks.","This factory also makes special casters for oven and freezer carts using rubber wheels built to withstand extreme heat or cold.","Their ball bearings are also lubricated with grease that doesn't freeze or melt.","Casters can also come equipped with a foot-activated brake.","Wedding cakes have become bigger and more elaborate over the years.","Today's wedding cakes are multi-tiered and even multi-flavored.","They're typically covered in fondant icing and decorated with ornate sugar flowers.","The finished product is an edible work of art, perfect for that special day.","These customized wedding cakes are covered in fondant.","This special icing acts as a canvas on which delicious designs can be created.","The baker starts by making chocolate cakes for the bottom tier.","Once the cakes come out of the oven, she transfers them directly to the fridge.","The cool, firm cakes are easy to slice into layers.","She spreads buttercream frosting between the layers.","The frosting ingredients include lightly salted butter, icing sugar, and dutch cocoa powder.","Layer by layer, she builds the tier to the desired height.","She puts the tier back in the fridge.","While it's solidifying, she makes the gum paste that will be used to craft the edible flowers.","First, she adds icing sugar to egg whites...","Then thins out the mixture with a teaspoon of water.","Next, she adds food coloring.","She mixes the ingredients for a couple of minutes until they're thoroughly blended.","She adds tylose powder, a synthetic version of gum arabic to harden the mixture.","After another 15 seconds of mixing, the gum paste is ready for kneading.","The baker rubs some vegetable shortening on her hands for lubrication.","She sprinkles some icing sugar on the table to prevent the gum paste from sticking.","Then she kneads the gum paste for 5 to 10 minutes.","Now the artistry begins.","She uses a set of modeling tools made of food-safe, nonstick plastic.","First she makes a little hat out of the pink gum paste.","Then she rolls out another piece until it's paper thin.","The baker uses a gum paste cutter to cut out several teardrop shapes.","One at a time, she lays the tear drops out on a hard foam mat.","She thins and curls the edges with a ball-tipped modeling tool to create a natural-looking rose petal.","Then she switches to a scribe tool.","She curls back the edges to make the petal even more lifelike.","Then she applies tasteless edible glue.","She adheres the first petal onto the point of the gum paste hat.","She wraps it all the way around to create the center of the rose.","The baker attaches the next layer, this time using two petals.","She adds several additional layers using two more petals each time until the rose is complete.","She snips off the base of the hat, then lets the glue dry for 15 minutes.","The baker uses green gum paste to make the leaves.","She rolls the paste thicker at the base and thinner at the top.","Then she presses the sheet against the top of the board to produce vertical veins.","She centers her leaf-shaped cutter over one of the veins and cuts out a leaf.","After attaching the wire to the base, she uses a silicone stamp to imprint smaller veins on the leaf.","This makes it look more realistic.","The baker curls the leaf's edges with a round tool.","She uses a different tool to deepen some of the veining and complete the leaf.","The baker sets her decorations aside and removes the cake tiers from the refrigerator.","She firmly applies the fondant over the chilled chocolate frosting.","She made the fondant earlier with melted marshmallows, butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract, and food coloring.","She applies fondant to the remaining tiers, then stacks them.","She begins decorating this cake with ribbon and italian lace.","She attaches the flowers with stiff edible glue made from egg whites, icing sugar, and lemon juice.","She can also make edible ribbons and lace by pouring liquid gum paste into the appropriate molds.","This special gum paste uses corn syrup and corn starch to reach the right consistency.","A magnificent custom-made cake is designed to be a showpiece at the wedding reception, admired, devoured, and always remembered.","Terahertz spectrometers use invisible light to see through objects, including living tissue.","These t-rays are an emerging technology that allows objects to be imaged and analyzed.","It's a form of radiation that is non-ionizing and believed to be non-destructive.","An alternative to x-rays and ultrasound, terahertz technology generates a light that can't be seen by the naked eye, but it can see what lies beneath the surface.","The technology has potential applications in the medical, security, and manufacturing fields.","Production starts with the circuit board holder for the transmitter sensor head.","Computerized tools drill a hole into a cylindrical piece of brass and carve ridged slots to hold the circuit board.","Another tool transforms a second brass cylinder into the main body for the sensor head.","This is the completed sensor head body.","A technician screws an optical collimator into the housing.","This device separates the laser light into parallel beams.","He inserts a lens in the housing.","The next piece he installs adjusts the position of the circuit board holder in the spectrometer.","He selects a circuit board.","It has a sensor chip in the center that emits terahertz light.","He places it into the holder and slides the holder on the sensor body.","He uses steel pins to lock it in place.","The worker fastens a larger lens on the end.","A device holds the sensor head in place as he tweaks the position of the circuit board.","It must be perfectly aligned in order to receive the laser beam.","He attaches a round circuit board to the sensor head.","This board will allow the sensor head to establish electrical connections.","Next he installs the collimating module.","This device has a larger lens than the sensor head so it can send parallel terahertz beams further.","He attaches a retainer ring to the module.","The technician screws the collimating module to the sensor head.","Now the spectrometer transmitter is complete.","He slides the base of the stand into a rail system.","He installs a receiver at the other end of the rail, and connects fiber optic cables to both the transmitter and the receiver.","The next technician assembles the optical chassis that scans objects for imaging.","He installs lenses in specific locations within the aluminum chassis.","He attaches a mirror to a rail in front of the lenses.","The moving mirror will bounce laser light to scan images.","He tests the rail system to make sure it shuttles the mirror across the spectrometer chassis.","The technician places the chassis on a steel panel and wires the fiber optics throughout.","He connects the fiber optic cable to the laser-generating unit.","He screws an acrylic glass cover to the chassis.","Then he secures the chassis and laser unit to the cabinet panel.","Technicians mount the panel to the back of the spectrometer cabinet using brackets and screws.","Once it's solidly in place, they install the cabinet door.","The door allows for easy access during servicing.","They lock the door, then screw on the top lid.","The spectrometer is ready for the transmitter and receiver assembly.","The technician pushes the fiber optic cable through a hole in the lid and makes all the connections.","He tests the device using a plastic bottle.","The transmitter sends terahertz light through the bottle to measure its thickness and analyze its chemical composition.","The receiver collects the data for computer analysis.","This terahertz spectrometer is now ready to scan objects and show them in a new light.","Thousands of years ago, the polynesians built the first catamarans.","Then in 1876, an american redesigned one for racing.","It was so fast that it was deemed unfair competition and banned from organized racing.","But eventually, racing catamarans made a comeback in the late 20th century.","With two hulls instead of one, catamarans skim the water faster than traditional sailboats.","While a single-hull boat relies on a heavy keel, a catamaran uses its width as leverage to harness the power of the wind.","A racing catamaran starts with foam material for the hull's lightweight core.","A worker clamps the foam to a fiberglass form.","Then he places it into an oven and closes the door.","The oven gradually brings the core temperature up to 160 degrees fahrenheit.","After a few minutes, he takes the foam out of the oven and places an upper form over it.","The softened and malleable foam bends to the form's contours.","After applying a gel coat and fiberglass fabric in a hull mold, he lays in the shaped foam pieces.","He fills any gaps in the core with slivers of foam material.","He adds little squares of porous plastic to reinforce areas where hardware will be attached later.","The worker drapes fiberglass fabric loosely over the core.","He sprays a small amount of rubber cement onto the core and presses the fabric into it.","The cement helps the fabric stick to the core.","Then he stretches nylon fabric over the fiberglass and foam.","He runs spiral cut tubing along the sides of the mold.","He cuts it to the right length and tapes it down.","After laying down a plastic mesh, two workers cover the mold and its contents in plastic.","They secure the edges of the mold with tacky tape, creating a tight seal.","The team connects a vacuum to the spiral tubing on one side of the mold.","When they turn it on, the vacuum sucks out the air, pulling the layers tightly together.","They prepare a vinyl-based resin and apply it using the vacuum tube.","The vacuum pumps the resin through the layers of fiberglass and foam.","The resin takes a couple of hours to dry.","The team removes the plastic, mesh, and nylon layers, revealing one half of a catamaran hull.","Next they install the bulkheads.","They use special tools to accurately position them in the hull.","They also place bulkheads in the second half of the hull.","The workers join the two hulls while they're still in the molds and seal the seam with epoxy.","They remove the hull from the molds and cut an opening for the trunk.","It holds a retractable center board for curbing sideways movement.","They attach the screws used to lace the trampoline platform.","A worker applies glue-back strips of plastic to protect the fiberglass from chafing.","He screws sailing hardware to both hulls.","The hulls are placed in an alignment jig.","Then the team installs crossbars that fit into molded recesses.","They attach a rudder system to each hull and test them to verify they operate correctly.","The trampoline platform is made of polypropylene.","The front slides into a molded groove.","They lace up the back and sides with double-braided synthetic rope.","He pulls the laces tight to keep the platform rigid.","Once the other sailing control lines are in place, they're ready to hoist the sail on this racing catamaran.","From start to finish, it takes three weeks to produce a racing catamaran.","In competition, these boats have been clocked at three times the speed of wind."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Radiators","Hatchery Chicks","Filo Pastry","Cross"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Car radiators...","Hatchery chicks...","Phyllo dough...","And cross-country skis.","When the gasoline in a car engine burns, up to 70% of the energy generated converts into heat.","A lot of this heat goes out the exhaust system, but much of it stays heating up the engine.","The car's cooling system prevents overheating.","The system's key component is the radiator.","A water-and-antifreeze mix absorbs the heat generated by the engine.","The fluid then flows through the radiator tubes to cool down.","The tubes are made from paper-thin brass.","The 1.5-inch-wide strip is bent by rollers into the shape of a flat tube.","The tubing then runs through a vat of bubbling-hot molten lead.","As the tubing exits the vat, it runs through cold water that hardens the lead coating.","A cutter then chops the tubing into pieces, the length of which varies according to the model of radiator.","These are about 30 inches long.","Meanwhile, another machine shapes a narrow strip of copper just 6/100 of an inch thick into what are called \"cooling fins\".","As we'll see in slow motion, the machine folds the copper strip like a fan, then perforates it, creating mini air vents.","When the hot fluid runs through the tubes, these fins will transfer the heat to the air flowing through the radiator.","The cooled fluid can then go back for another round of absorbing engine heat.","The cooling fins come out of the machine cut to size.","Then workers manually stack the tubes and fins one on top of the other.","They straighten them out and apply a brass tag indicating the model number and date of production.","Then they compress and strap the components together.","Elsewhere, a computer-guided machine punches out a pattern on brass sheets.","These will become what are called \"headers\".","There's one on each side of a radiator.","The punching tool then changes to a knife, which now cuts along the perforation lines.","Using a press, they bend each header.","Then punch slots for the radiator's tubes.","Now, using a mallet, they hammer the headers onto the ends of the tubes.","The banging inadvertently closes a few tubes, so they use a special roller to reopen them.","After cleaning the surface, it's into an oven at 600 degrees fahrenheit.","In just two minutes, the lead melts, fusing the tubes and cooling fins.","After straightening out any crooked tubes, workers dip the headers in a tank of hot-liquid lead for 30 seconds.","This solders them to the sides of the radiator.","They apply a few drops of lead on the corners for reinforcement.","The headers and tube openings are now encased in lead.","Workers now feed a sheet of brass into a press to form the tanks that go onto the headers.","One contains a brass tube.","Hot transmission oil enters one end of it and exits the other, cooling along the way.","Once workers finish soldering the tanks to the headers, they solder on what's called the filler net, a spout for pouring antifreeze into the tank.","On the opposite tank, they solder on a water-intake pipe.","This will be the entry point for the fluid heated by the engine.","Finally, they coat the finished radiator in an asphalt-based black paint.","The asphalt content makes the paint heat resistant and protects the radiator's cooling fins.","Which came first, the chicken or the egg?","It's an age-old question, and we can't give you the definitive answer.","But we can take you to a hatchery to see how baby chicks are bred.","It's the first step in commercial chicken farming, or the second step if you think the egg came first.","Chicks come from eggs fertilized by mating, but a hen can lay eggs without mating.","Those unfertilized eggs are the ones we eat.","The fertilized ones go to the hatchery three or four days after being laid.","Hatchery workers transfer the eggs onto special trolleys, then roll them into the incubator, where the temperature and humidity level mimic natural conditions.","The egg yolk, egg white, and shell all nourish the embryo.","Every hour, the trays shift 45 degrees to the opposite side and back, simulating the way hens turn their eggs while waiting for them to hatch.","After 18 1/2 days, the eggs come out of incubation and go onto a conveyer belt.","They pass under an infrared sensor that checks for eggs that are too transparent.","These are unfertilized eggs that slipped through.","The sensor triggers a suction device to remove them.","They go to a rendering plant to become animal feed.","The fertilized eggs continue along to the next station to be vaccinated against marek, a poultry disease.","Automated needles pierce a hole in each shell and inject a vaccine into the amniotic fluid surrounding the chick.","Now a suction device transfers the eggs to hatching trays, 168 eggs per tray.","About 150 of them can be expected to hatch.","The rest die in incubation or have physical defects.","Day 19--  the chicks use their beaks to crack a hole through the shell, then a horizontal line all around.","After six to eight hours, the chicks finally emerge from the shell.","They're covered in short feathers called \"down,\" and they're able to walk and see.","After about four hours, their down has dried.","Now workers roll the chicks to what's called the separator, a machine that separates the birds from the shell halves.","The shells are larger than the chicks, so they stay on top while the chicks fall down to a conveyer belt below.","The shells, which are high in calcium, go to a rendering plant.","The chicks move on to be classified according to gender.","Workers put the females down one chute, the males down another.","They determine the sex by checking two rows of feathers.","If one row's shorter than the other, the chick's a female.","If the rows are the same height, it's a male.","Each chute feeds a separate conveyer belt.","An optical counter tracks the number of males and females.","The chicks now fall into specially designed transportation boxes, 102 chicks per box.","Some clients request that their order of chicks be vaccinated against bronchitis.","Those boxes pass under an aerosol sprayer that sprinkles them with a mild dose of vaccine.","Poultry farmers raise chicks for their meat or eggs.","Females used for egg production begin laying eggs at about 20 weeks of age.","For meat production, females reach slaughter weight at about 38 days.","Males, depending on market size, take from 40 to 65 days.","If you like greek food, then you've probably tasted baklava.","It's made with a paper-thin, flaky dough called \"phyllo,\" the greek word for \"leaf\".","Phyllo dough itself is low-fat and cholesterol-free.","Unfortunately, the stuff they usually fill it with isn't.","Phyllo dough can be made by hand or by machine.","Either way, it starts with the same dough recipe.","The proportions are roughly 40% water to 60% flour.","They use two types of wheat flour-- high-protein flour to make the dough strong and flexible and low-protein flour to make its texture smooth.","They also add sorbate, a preservative, to increase shelf life.","After about 15 minutes of mixing, the dough is ready.","They cut off a section and feed it into a machine called the divider, which transforms it into a cylindrical wad.","They hand-roll the wad into a rough ball, then feed it two or three times through a machine that kneads the dough into a rounder, harder ball with no air bubbles trapped inside.","They can tell when it's ready just by feeling it.","Then a machine called the sheeter flattens the ball into what looks like pizza dough.","Workers stack about 30 sheets with craft paper in between to absorb some of the moisture.","Now the key step--  opening the dough.","First, they lay a large cotton cloth over the work surface.","It must be 100% cotton to absorb the moisture.","Otherwise, the dough would stick together.","They take the sheet of dough and begin stretching it by hand until it's approximately 27 square feet.","Even though the dough is stretched thin, it doesn't tear.","This is due partly to its protein content and partly to the skill of the worker.","They repeat the process with all 30 sheets, stacking them one on top of the other.","Then they take a plank of wood, called a \"sanida\" in greek, and roll the dough sheets onto it one by one, removing the cloths that were in between.","They sprinkle corn starch on the dough, just enough to prevent sticking.","Too much corn starch will burn the dough.","Now they move the sanida to another table and cut along one side of the dough.","They remove the wood and open the sheets flat.","Then they cut rectangles measuring 13x17 inches, standard phyllo size.","Each sheet of phyllo dough is about as thin as a sheet of tissue paper, but it's strong and flexible enough not to tear when a baker works with it.","Machine-made phyllo dough is a much faster method, used primarily for mass-produced frozen-food items.","An automated machine called the stretcher transforms a big wad of dough into a thin, flat sheet, applying just the right amount of corn starch.","A continuous air current coming from underneath creates an air bubble.","The height of the bubble tells them whether the dough is the right consistency.","The dough dries under infrared lamps.","This step is necessary because this method doesn't use craft paper and cotton cloths to absorb the excess moisture.","The dried sheet of dough rolls onto a spool.","They cut along the side to release the dough and lay it flat.","Using a template, they cut the standard size rectangle, yielding about 800 sheets of phyllo dough.","They roll about 20 sheets together at a time and wrap them in plastic.","Then, they vacuum-pack and heat-seal the package.","Phyllo dough stays fresh for six weeks in the refrigerator, six months in the freezer.","Cross-country skis used to look pretty much all the same-- long, narrow, and wooden.","Today's skis, however, come in many different styles, specifically designed for the many types of cross-country-- telemark, back-country, all-terrain, touring, and racing.","Archeologists in scandinavia have uncovered ski artifacts 5,000 years old.","These stone-age skis enabled people to hunt during the winter.","Skiing became so vital a means of transportation that the vikings worshipped a god and goddess of skiing.","19th-century scandinavian soldiers wore skis in winter warfare.","They held races in their spare time, turning cross-country skiing into a popular sport.","From there, it just snowballed.","One way to make cross-country skis is compression molding, a process that uses heat and pressure to bond the components together.","First, a computer-guided blade cuts out what will become the ski's underside, called the gliding surface.","It's made of pre-assembled fiberglass laminate and polyethylene thermoplastic, a friction-resistant material.","They lay it into the bottom half of a mold, then glue on steel edges for grip.","This spray makes the adhesive dry faster so that they can apply the principle adhesive-- epoxy.","A rubber shock absorber goes on the back, followed by a durable plastic reinforcement called the heel-piece protector.","The ski's wooden core is made of aspen and birch laminated together.","Next comes a sheet of fiberglass impregnated with epoxy for extra reinforcement.","The wood core is now sandwiched between two high-resistance layers.","Then, for decoration, a plastic film with a silk-screen design.","With everything now in the bottom half of the mold, they clamp on the top and tape it up to ensure nothing shifts out of place.","Then it's into a press that compresses the mold and heats it to 185 degrees fahrenheit.","This activates the epoxy, hardening it in 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the ski.","Now they do a rough cut to trim off the excess.","Then they sand all the edges until they're smooth.","They run the gliding surface across a grinding stone, that white object you see below.","This extra step is only for the higher-end models.","Another way to make cross-country skis is by a process called reaction-injection molding.","First, they place the skis' top layer, a fiberglass-epoxy sheet, in the mold...","Then the gliding surface, made of pre-assembled fiberglass laminate and polyethylene with a high-resistance backing.","Instead of a wooden core in the middle, this press injects a super-resilient plastic.","In just three seconds, the injection phase is over, and the reaction phase begins.","This demonstration shows what happens.","First, the polyurethane inflates...","Then it hardens.","After eight minutes, it's hardened enough to come out of the mold.","They let the ski cure for up to eight hours, at which point it's strong enough to support the weight of a skier.","Now, these three components-- the top layer, the polyurethane middle, and the gliding surface--  are one.","Now comes the finishing.","First they trim and bevel the edges.","They sand the gliding surface.","Then they carve a groove down its length.","This gives the ski directional stability.","All that's left to do now is decorate the skis.","First the background color and a quick-drying, solvent-based lacquer.","They apply the design manually, one color at a time, using the silk-screening process.","A typical design consists of five to seven colors, including the background.","To keep the skis looking vibrant, they protect the paint with a coat of transparent varnish."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Motion Sensors","Belt Loaders","Pheasant Breeding","Diving Helmets"]},"text":["Tiny motion sensors known as accelerometers are at the heart of much of today's technology.","Built into a smartphone, for example, the sensor detects both movement and the angle at which the phone is being held to trigger the rotation of the screen.","This little chip is why a smartphone knows when it has moved.","These motion sensors are tiny, but smart, because they can detect every move.","They start with silicon disks called wafers.","Each wafer will be used to make thousands of motion sensors.","A technician aligns the disks in a cassette, using the flat part of each one as a reference point.","Once properly aligned, a mechanism lowers the silicon wafers onto a carrier made of quartz, which can withstand intense heat.","The technician loads the wafers into the furnace.","Inside, the 2,000-degree heat and steam cause an oxide to form on the surface of each wafer.","It'll act as an electrical insulator.","Then it goes into what's known as a sputter system.","Here, inert gas ions bombard aluminum, causing it to sputter onto the wafer until an even layer accumulates.","This aluminum layer will serve as a conductor of electricity.","The next machine deposits a light-sensitive chemical onto the wafer.","The wafer spins, allowing the chemical to flow evenly across the surface.","This all happens under the glow of yellow light to prevent the untimely activation of the chemical, which reacts to bright light just like an unexposed photographic negative would.","They're now ready for that bright light.","U.v. light beams through tiny patterns on a glass plate to activate the light-sensitive chemical.","The patterns transfer to the wafer's surface, forming an outline for thousands of motion sensors.","Another chemical then flows onto the silicon wafer to further develop these miniscule images.","Next, lasers locate the wafer's flat edge, signaling a chuck to spin into its proper position for plasma etching.","The etching creates thousands of free-moving 3-d structures.","Each one is a motion sensor.","After etching, a sprayer blasts the surface with carbon dioxide.","It's the only way to clean it without damaging the now-movable sensors.","At the next station, a robotic arm flips the wafer into position.","A tray moves under the robot and places the wafer on it.","The tray retracts and loads the wafer into a clamping system.","It then collects a second silicon wafer and places it on the first one in the clamp.","The second wafer acts as a lid to protect the individual sensors.","Held in the clamp, a machine heat-seals the two wafers, and the bond is complete.","Next, a computerized saw cuts grooves into the top wafer only, while a steady stream of water keeps the dust down.","The saw exposes the aluminum layer on the bottom wafer, something that will allow each sensor to make an electrical connection.","A platform now moves the wafer a millimeter at a time so that a probe can test each sensor and confirm it performs correctly.","This continues until every sensor on the wafer has been tested.","From a plain silicon wafer to a unit that contains thousands of motion sensors-- this process takes three weeks.","After the individual sensors have been cut and encased in plastic, they're ready for a final test.","A robot loads each sensor into a test socket.","The socket both tests the sensor's performance and programs it to customer specifications.","A robot packages the sensors for shipping.","And once installed in phones, tablets, and computers, these motion sensors will be ready for action.","If you've been to an airport, you've seen mobile belt loaders on the tarmac.","They drive from the terminal to the aircraft, align their built-in conveyor belt with the entrance to the cargo hold, then load baggage or cargo on board.","When an aircraft arrives, they do all that in reverse to unload baggage or cargo.","A turn of the control handle adjusts the height of the front of the belt loader, enabling it to reach the cargo hold of even the tallest aircraft.","The rear height is also adjustable so the airport baggage handlers can set it at a level comfortable for loading.","The vehicle and the conveyor belt are separate units.","In this part of the factory, workers construct the conveyor's steel frame.","They weld together all the steel parts then grind all the weld seams flat so that the belt will move over the frame smoothly.","Workers install a crossmember just past the midpoint of the frame.","It will connect with two sets of lift arms installed in the vehicle-- one which raises and lowers the front of the conveyor, the other which raises and lowers the rear.","Workers insert alignment pins to position the crossmember on the frame correctly, then weld it into place.","The vehicle's chassis is also made of welded steel.","Workers blast the chassis and conveyor frame with a metal abrasive.","This removes rust and other debris, prepping the surface for paint to adhere properly.","The caulk all the unwelded seams to prevent corrosion, then spray a coat of primer followed by a coat of industrial-grade paint in the color the customer requested.","Once the paint dries, assembly can resume.","On the conveyor frame, they install the motor, which drives the belt.","There are two options available-- this hydraulic motor powered by the vehicle's engine or an electric motor powered by battery.","The motor rotates two large metal rollers-- one at the front of the frame, the other at the rear.","The belt wraps around these rollers so that, when they turn, the belt moves.","Between the end rollers, running the entire length of the conveyor, workers install 58 smaller metal rollers.","These form the floor of the conveyor and can support up to a ton of cargo.","The motor runs these rollers forward or in reverse, depending on whether the belt is loading or unloading the aircraft.","The belt itself is made of high-strength tire-grade rubber with an antiskid texture on the surface.","To be long enough to loop around the 25-foot-long conveyor plus the end rollers, the belt is 50 feet in length.","The ends have teeth which fit into each other like a zipper and fasten with a metal pin.","Elsewhere in the factory, technicians install components on the vehicle chassis.","First, the front and rear axles...","Then on each axle, two wheels with tires specifically designed for long life on the airport tarmac.","At the rear of the chassis, they install the hydraulic cylinder, which raises and lowers the rear lift arms, then the vehicle's engine, which can be either gas, diesel, propane, or electric powered.","The vehicle drives at a maximum speed of just 25 miles per hour, but that's more than sufficient for traveling between the terminal and the aircraft.","After installing the power-steering system, technicians run wiring for the lights and other electrical components, run hydraulic hoses for the brakes and lift cylinders, and install the controls for the conveyor.","They install the hydraulic cylinder, which raises the front lift arms, then connect the fluid hoses to the hydraulic pump.","Next, they install the front and rear lift arms along with a safety brace underneath to use when mechanics are working beneath the conveyor.","They attach the lift arms to the front and rear cylinders, which expand to raise the arms and retract to lower them.","Now workers hoist the conveyor over the vehicle and bolt the front and rear lift arms to the crossmember on the conveyor's underside.","The two units are now one mobile belt loader, ready to roll off the line and hit the tarmac.","The pheasant is one of the most sought-after game birds in north america, but populations in the wild have dwindled.","To replenish them and also supply a market for pheasant meat, farmers raise breeding stock and incubate their eggs to make it more likely they'll yield chicks.","With stunning plumage and an ability to both run and fly, no wonder the pheasant struts around.","Each pheasant lays approximately four eggs weekly, april through to july.","Farm workers collect the eggs daily before the pheasants have an opportunity to nest.","With their intervention, the hatch rate will get a big boost.","It will go from 40% to at least 75%.","The farmer washes the eggs in water and special soap to remove dirt and bacteria that could infiltrate the shells and harm the growing chicks.","She inspects the eggs and rejects any cracked or very large ones that would contain a double yolk.","Eggs with cracks or double yolks won't hatch.","One last dip, and she sets the eggs aside to drip dry.","Once dry, she taps eggs together systematically and listens.","If the tap sounds like fine china clinking together, they're suitable for hatching.","But if the tap sounds dull, there's likely a crack.","By listening, she finds one or two cracked eggs she missed with the visual inspection.","She places the eggs in an incubator rack and transfers it to a cooling room.","The pheasant eggs chill here for a few days.","The cooling slows down cell division until the farmer is ready to put the eggs in the incubator.","Chick production is timed for two hatches weekly.","When the time is right, she transfers the eggs to the incubator.","The incubator is a toasty 100 degrees fahrenheit to mimic the warmth of a hen's body.","She latches the racks onto an automated system that gently rocks the long cradles back and forth to turn the pheasant eggs.","Turning the eggs routinely is something that nesting hens do naturally, and it's important.","Without it, the developing embryo could stick to the shell, causing abnormal growth.","The farmer monitors the incubator temperature and humidity several times daily.","Three weeks later, she removes the rack and places it on a tray lined with cheesecloth.","She opens each cradle, and the eggs spill softly onto the tray.","At this point, there are tiny pits on the shells caused by the chicks' beaks as they attempt to break through.","Once on the tray, she arranges them close together in a figure-eight configuration.","This way, the chicks can feel each other moving, cuing them to break out of their shells.","She pumps water onto the tiers of the hatcher now.","The hatcher is warmer than the incubator.","She covers the trays with screens to keep the chicks from jumping onto other trays.","As the water heats up, the humidity increases.","This causes the shells to weaken, making it easier for the pheasant chicks to break out of their shells.","After a couple of days, the eggs have hatched.","After drying off, the chicks are fluffy and lively.","The farmer packs them in ventilated cardboard boxes.","Freshly hatched, they'll survive 60 hours without food, giving the breeder enough time to ship them anywhere in the world.","That's why pheasants are easier to ship when they're chicks.","Some customers prefer more mature birds, so the farmer raises some chicks in wire frames for a week, until their legs become stronger.","Then they move those chicks to other heated buildings until they're ready to thrive outdoors.","Some will be kept as breeding stock.","Others will be sold as food.","The rest will be introduced into the wild and just fly away.","Today's diving helmets are produced primarily for history buffs and divers performing underwater work, such as welding the submerged parts of bridges.","Unlike a scuba tank, which carries a limited amount of oxygen, a helmet connects to an air pump at the surface, providing an unlimited air supply.","A diving helmet is completely watertight so the diver doesn't need a mouthpiece to breathe and can speak to people at the surface via a built-in transceiver.","This helmet is the design the u.s. navy used from 1916 until 1984.","At the factory, they make the helmet's head portion, called the bonnet, from a copper sheet about a millimeter and a half thick that's been spun on a lathe into a dome.","They buff it smooth, then, using a template, mark where to cut openings for the various components.","It takes a good month and a half for the factory to machine all those components and assemble the helmet.","With a hammer and punch, they dimple the copper at the marked spots.","This will give the saw a foothold on the otherwise slippery surface.","Then they apply cutting oil to prevent the saw from overheating as it bores through the metal.","The first cut is a 6-inch-wide hole at the front for the bonnet's hinged faceplate.","They saw eight openings for the bonnet's other components, including three windows.","Next, with tin-and-lead solder, they fuse a threaded neck ring to the bottom edge.","This ring attaches the bonnet to the helmet's breastplate, which bolts to the collar of the diver's dry suit.","Then they solder a base to the faceplate opening.","Like all the helmet's components, it's made of red brass, which is more durable than standard brass due to its higher copper content.","Next, through a template, they drill holes into a banana-shaped brass exhaust tube.","It enables the diver's exhaled air to exit the helmet.","They solder the exhaust to the bonnet, positioning the non-perforated end over a hole near the diver's mouth and the perforated end at the rear.","This directs air bubbles behind the diver so as not to obstruct the view.","Then they solder on the remaining components, including three window bases.","Just as one does when installing a window in a building, they apply glazing to the faceplate and window bases to seal the three-inch thick acrylic pane against leaks.","For underwater safety, they screw a brass guard to the base.","This prevents the pane from popping out should too much air pressure build up inside the helmet.","Now they install the transceiver and feed its wires through a brass elbow, which will ultimately attach to a communications cable running to the surface.","With the bonnet complete, it's time to shape the helmet's breastplate.","They lay a copper sheet onto a breastplate-shaped mandrel, clamp on a breastplate-shaped form, heat the copper with a torch to make it malleable, then, with a wooden mallet soaked in brine to keep it from splitting, pound the copper for about 45 minutes, until it assumes the shape.","Then they chisel out the neck opening.","Once the copper has cooled, they transfer the breastplate to a form and begin reinforcing the bottom with a brass strap.","After clamping the strap in position, they hammer the copper around and over its outer edge.","Then they remove the clamps and solder the copper to the strap.","Once the soldering's done, they grind the surface smooth and drill 12 holes into the strap for the custom-made bolts that connect the helmet to the collar of the diver's dry suit.","Then, after flipping the breastplate upside down, they wrap solder around the bolts, drop them in the holes, and melt the solder to lock them in.","They polish the metal and solder on the last breastplate components-- a threaded neck ring for connecting the bonnet and, at the front, a pair of brass eyes for lashing the air- and communication hoses off to the side so they won't get in the diver's way underwater."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Chocolate Coins","Floor Heating Systems","Pedal Cars","Latex Swords"]},"text":["This edible money is a symbolic treat.","In some parts of the world, chocolate coins are stuffed in christmas stockings to celebrate the charity of saint nicholas.","They're also handed out to jewish children during the festival of hanukkah to teach them the value of money and charity.","Chocolate coins don't have any purchasing power, but they do buy a lot of appreciative smiles from the kids.","They start with giant chocolate bars.","Each one is 10 pounds of pure chocolate.","The worker transfers the big bars to a kettle.","It's a kind of double boiler.","Hot water bubbles and steams inside a sleeve shell to heat and melt the chocolate.","There are 2 1/2 tons of liquid chocolate in this kettle.","The machine now pumps the chocolate through a long pipe with different cooling zones.","The chocolate thickens but not to the point of solidification-- a process called tempering.","It causes the chocolate to form a precise crystal structure for just the right texture and taste.","The thick liquid chocolate flows onto a conveyer that brings the chocolate under a broad blade.","The blade levels it to a specific thickness and spreads it evenly, creating a long sheet of chocolate.","The chocolate now begins to coagulate and harden.","To spur that process, it travels through a refrigeration tunnel that is approximately 15 yards long.","This journey transforms the liquid chocolate into a soft solid.","Next, they clean and prepare the die.","It's a spring-loaded device that works cookie-cutter style to punch out round blanks.","There is one big difference.","Each cutter is long and tubular, so as it punches out the chocolate blanks, they accumulate inside.","The latticework of leftovers journeys forward to be re-melted into the process...","So not a crumb of chocolate goes to waste.","At the end of the line, dozens of coin blanks have stacked up in each magazine.","And piles of leftover chocolate have accumulated in a bin that will now be transferred back to the melting pot.","Now it's time to print some chocolate money.","To do this, they wrap the chocolate first and then emboss both the wrap and the chocolate blanks simultaneously.","Here's how it works.","Sheets of glossy gold foil travel between rollers to establish an even tension.","Ahead, a forked arm moves two chocolate blanks between the foil sheets.","Piston-like knives move in to wrap, cut, and fold the foil around the blanks.","The forked arm then delivers the foil-wrapped blanks to a die press.","It stamps designs on both sides of the coins, making an impression on the foil through to the chocolate.","The chocolate, although solid, is still warm enough to receive the image.","Removed from the machine, here's what the die heads look like.","These are used to emboss chocolate coins with american penny markings.","As for the foil discards, they don't end up on the scrap heap.","Instead, they accumulate in a bin to be sent out for recycling.","They make 150,000 foil-wrapped coins a day.","To change the currency type, they simply switch die heads.","Chocolate coins can be made in many sizes with a range of different illustrations.","The coins now spill out onto a conveyor that takes them to a bin.","All that's left now is the packaging, which will be the traditional mesh bag.","From start to finish, it takes less than an hour to make a chocolate coin.","Gold dollars or $5 poker chips, every day, it's a jackpot of chocolate money at this factory.","So there's never any shortage of edible cash, only decisions to be made-- poker chip or chocolate penny?","You could always flip a coin.","In-floor heating systems are hardly a new concept.","The ancient romans heated the floors of their bathhouses.","Today's systems use either electric cables or hot-water pipes installed beneath the floor's surface.","As the floor warms up, the heat radiates to people and objects in the room.","For electric radiant heating systems, installers affix installation gauges to the subfloor, then wind electrical cables around those gauges.","When there are no objects such as bathtubs to work around, installers can roll out a fiberglass mat that has the cable embedded.","Once the cables are in place, the installers lay down the floor.","Radiant heating systems can be installed under most types of flooring.","It's up to 28% more energy efficient than forced-air or baseboard heating.","At the core of those electric heating cables are copper or copper-alloy wires called conductors.","An unwinding system feeds each spool of conductor to an extrusion machine.","Extrusion machines force molten plastic through a die to form a particular shape.","They load the raw plastic pellets into a receptacle called a hopper at the top of the machine.","The pellets drop down into a heating device that quickly liquefies them.","The machine then forces the molten plastic through a round die, forming a plastic jacket around the conductor passing through.","This jacket insulates the bare wire.","A water bath cools the still-warm plastic to prevent sticking as they wind up the conductor on a spool.","The next machine takes two insulated conductors and twists them together into a single strand.","This forms a paired conductor.","Then the next machine braids 16 spools of triple-strand copper wire around the paired conductor.","This copper braid is the ground.","The ground will capture any electrical leak should the cable get damaged, preventing electrocution.","The cable's internal wiring is complete.","Now they run it through an alignment jig that straightens and smooths everything out in preparation for the next extrusion process, which coats the wiring in a final plastic jacket.","Then they wind up the cable on a spool to prepare it for packaging...","And put one end into a machine that cuts off an inch or so of jacket.","After soldering the two conductors to each other so that the electrical current goes out on one and returns on the other, they insulate this connection from the braided ground with transparent heat-shrink plastic.","Then they pull the ground over the now-insulated end and cover it with a black heat-shrink plastic.","This seals the end of the cable so that water can't seep in and short out the wiring.","Another machine produces the cable that brings power from the wall-mounted thermostat to the heating cables under the floor.","It's called the cold lead because it leads to the heating cable, yet itself doesn't heat up.","This machine cuts the average production run of 8 1/2 miles of cold-lead cable into several cables of standard length, either 2 or 3 yards long depending on the product format.","The cold lead is comprised of two conductors and a separate ground wire.","Workers connect it to the heating cable by fusing conductor to conductor and ground to ground.","They protect this junction with a hard plastic cover called a mechanical joint.","This, too, must be sealed to prevent any water infiltration.","After all, heating cables are often installed under floors in wet environments such as bathrooms.","So, they seal the joint by injecting enough polyurethane to fill every nook and cranny.","The polyurethane takes three to four minutes to dry, then another 24 hours to fully harden.","This machine assembles the other format-- the roll-out mat with heating cable embedded.","First, it winds cable the same way an installer would onto installation gauges.","Then it secures it to an adhesive-backed fiberglass mesh.","Three strips of adhesive tape above and below reinforce the bond.","The mat format is sold by the roll, while the loose cable is packaged in a kit with installation gauges and glue sticks to adhere the gauges to the subfloor.","It looks like a car and it drives like a tricycle-- a child-size version of a motorized three-wheeler vehicle, popular in the early 20th century.","Instead of gas, pedal power propels this replica forward.","Based on actual vehicles, a wave of nostalgia has put pedal cars on the road to a comeback.","An old-style pedal car is a snazzy toy with a sleek metal body and real rubber tires.","Highly collectible, owning one is a trip down memory lane.","Production starts with the pedal car's wood floor.","The worker places a metal template of the floor under a sheet of ash plywood and transfers the two to a router table.","With a pin in the template below to guide him, he moves the plywood as the router cuts it.","This produces a part that's the precise size and shape needed for the pedal-car floor.","Using the same system, he cuts a slot for the pedals and another one for the rear wheel.","He evens the edges with a hand router, giving the pedal-car floor a finer look and feel.","He glues supports for the backrest close to the rear of the floorboard.","He props the backrest against the supports and screws it into position.","He installs the dashboard framework further towards the front.","Next, they varnish the laminated ash dashboard a deep, rich hue, to replicate the look of the one in the original three-wheeler vehicle.","And now for the body of the pedal car.","A welder tacks together the two parts of the aluminum shell and seals them with special adhesive.","They then screw the wooden framework to the aluminum body.","After a thorough cleaning, they paint a primer coat onto the metal.","Then it's in to the paint booth for a glossy coat of automotive paint.","In the meantime, the metal chassis of the pedal car comes together.","A worker mounts a dummy twin engine to the front.","In this pedal-powered replica, the engine's purpose is purely decorative.","The headlights, though, are real.","He attaches those to the chassis, complete with the hooded framework distinctive to the original, full-size three-wheeled car from a century ago.","He then fits the tires to the chassis.","They're cycle tires, child-sized, to fit the scale of this toy-car replica.","A quick spin confirms they're operational.","He mounts the fenders to the frame just above the tires and secures them with metal brackets.","The fenders will guard against splashing mud and water.","He now transfers the car body to the three-wheeled chassis.","He aligns it with fixing points on the chassis and then screws it into place.","Next, he hooks up the exhaust pipe.","Like the engine, it's an imitation, but it looks real.","He fits an aluminum grille to the front of the pedal car, just behind the mock engine.","He installs a small windshield in front of the pedal-car cockpit.","And now he pops the dashboard, equipped with a speed dial, into place.","It fits into the pedal car's hooped frame perfectly.","He wires the battery-operated headlights to the dashboard switch.","He attaches the hand brake to the side of the cab and runs the braking cables to the rear wheel.","He threads the steering-wheel column down through the dashboard to steering arms on the front wheel axle.","He clamps it to the steering arms...","And makes some adjustments to precisely position the column to the shaft.","He fits the padded leather seat into the cab, and this completes the construction of this pedal-powered replica car.","It takes about 40 hours to make one of those retro toys.","When it comes to the authentic touches, dave spared no expense and expended great effort.","It's time for a spin to the playground and some good old-fashioned fun.","Some people enjoy playing combat games on video systems, while others prefer to exchange the controller for a fake weapon, dress up in costume, and act out the fantasy with those who share the same passion.","It's called live-action role-playing, and there's typically a medieval or apocalyptic theme to it.","These weapons sure look like the real thing-- so much so that this company also sells them as film and theater props.","But as menacing as these axes and swords appear, they couldn't even hurt a fly because they're blades are made of latex.","In the weapons workshop, they begin the sword-making process by constructing the blade.","After tracing a template on a 4/10-of-an-inch-thick piece of flexible waterproof foam, they cut out two blade halves with a utility knife.","After slitting one of them down the middle, they glue in a rigid 4/10-of-an-inch fiberglass core.","This makes the sword blade stiff enough for combat, yet flexible enough to not break.","Next, they glue a strip of durable polyester fabric over the core.","This acts as reinforcement, preventing the tip of the core from poking through the foam.","Now they glue the second blade half over the first one, sandwiching the core.","The glue is a rubber-based adhesive that bonds with pressure that they apply with a heavy marble rolling pin.","Next, using a band sander, they sculpt the blade's cutting edges.","Then they remove the foam residue with a rotary tool.","Next, they take a wood-burning iron and melt the foam in select spots to create the look of battle scars.","Then they spray on five to six coats of latex rubber.","This forms a protective shield over the foam without hindering the blade's flexibility.","Next, using an air brush, they apply two coats of acrylic-based latex paint-- first black, then silver.","They brush on a thick coat of black paint, then wipe it off.","This wash, as it's called, creates the look of aged metal.","And finally, they lightly dab some silver acrylic paint over select spots to highlight details.","From foam to main component of a lethal weapon in just a few easy steps.","They finish off their handiwork by stenciling on the company logo in gold acrylic paint.","Now for the sword's handle.","They drill a hole lengthwise through a cylinder made of walnut and glue a steel tube inside.","Then they glue leather around the wood...","And wrap a leather ribbon around it for decoration.","To give it a worn appearance, they lightly sand parts of the surface.","To make ornate handles, an artist first sculpts a model out of lindenwood.","Using that wooden model, they cast a silicon mold.","Then they pour rubber into the mold to cast a handle.","For that leather-covered wooden handle, they cast only the components above and below it in rubber.","After trimming off the excess rubber, they paint it to look like metal.","To assemble the sword, they glue the handle components onto the core, which protrudes from the base of the blade.","First, they position the guard.","It stops the opposing sword from sliding down past the blade and cutting your hand.","Next, the handle.","And last, the pommel.","It blocks the end of the handle to prevent the sword from sliding out of your hand.","Each sword this workshop creates comes with a scabbard, a protective leather sheath.","They boil and wax the leather to make it rigid.","The workshop also makes daggers and other realistic-looking weaponry-- all you need to bring out your inner warrior."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Grammy Awards","Bicycle Lights","Above"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","In the music industry, winning a grammy is the ultimate accolade.","The national academy of recording arts and sciences has been awarding grammys for recording since 1958.","Every year, the winners are honored with a golden gramophone trophy.","The grammys are to the music industry what the oscars are to movies.","The coveted trophy is made of gold-plated grammium.","But don't look for that metal on the periodic table.","It's a proprietary zinc alloy specially formulated and trademarked by the artisan who makes the grammys.","To make the base of the trophy, they heat the grammium to 644 degrees and pour it into a bronze mold.","They immediately pour out the excess molten metal.","What remains quickly solidifies in a thin layer against the walls of the cavity, creating a hollow cast.","They also cast the gramophone's cabinet and tone arm in grammium.","They remove mold seams, excess metal, and smooth out the surface of each cast component with a belt sander.","Then, they file by hand the areas the belt can't reach.","Finally, they polish the metal with an abrasive compound on a buffing wheel.","They make sure there are no surface imperfections.","Now, they work on the gramophone's iconic horn.","Using a metal shear, they cut a disc of malleable bronze.","They mount the disc on a lathe.","As the lathe spins, they use a series of tools to transform the flat disc into a horn.","Then, they spin the horn on a different lathe, pressing an abrasive cloth against the surface to remove any tool marks.","Before they connect the tone arm to the cabinet, they brush on some flux, a chemical that makes the stationary solder flow into the tiny gap between components.","Now, they bolt the tone arm to the cabinet, then solder.","They submerge this part of the trophy in a degreasing solution for a few minutes, then in water.","Gold doesn't adhere to zinc, so they plate it with copper.","They run a positive electric charge through the trophy and a negative charge through a piece of copper also suspended in the plating tank.","This process dissolves the copper, then draws the particles through the water and onto the trophy.","They repeat the electroplating process in a different tank, this time with nickel.","Nickel creates a sufficiently hard base to support the gold plating.","It also makes gold appear brighter.","After another rinse, it's back into a tank for the final plating with 24-karat gold.","To prepare the trophy's base for painting, they smooth the surface with a belt sander, then fine-sand by hand.","They spray on an epoxy primer, let it dry for a day then wet sand it with fine sandpaper.","They repeat these steps with a black primer, then paint the base with high-gloss, chip-resistant black paint.","Once it dries, they can finish assembling the trophy.","They bolt the polished gold-plated cabinet and tone arm to the painted base.","Then, they take the horn, which has been gold-plated and polished, and screw it into the tone arm.","After 15 hours of craftsmanship, this grammy is ready to be awarded.","But this trophy won't be handed out during the award show.","The grammys handed out on stage are actually props that are used year after year.","The winners receive a personalized trophy a few weeks after the show.","The base has a brass plate engraved with their name and musical category.","The first bicycle lights were modified kerosene lamps fixed to the handlebars.","The concept was truly trailblazing and made it possible to cycle at night.","A century later, the technology has changed, but the concept remains the same.","Bicycle lights are still showing us the way.","These bicycle lights are battery-powered with energy-efficient l.e.d. lights.","Mounted to handlebars or a helmet, they make it possible for a cyclist to see and be seen at night.","A bicycle light starts with a design for the canister.","In this case, it's for a handlebar-mounted trail light.","Following that plan, computerized tools carve blocks of aluminum into a two-part mold for the bicycle light reflector.","They secure the mold in an injection molding machine.","Then, they load white acrylic pellets into the machine's hopper.","The machine grinds and melts the acrylic pellets into a thick liquid.","Then, it pushes the liquid into the crevices of the mold.","The acrylic quickly solidifies into the shape of a reflector.","An aluminum finish makes the acrylic shiny and reflective.","Then, it's over to a different injection-molding machine.","This one uses molten rubber to form four on/off buttons.","A worker sets an l.e.d.-studded circuit board on a switch cradled in a fixture.","She trims wires from the switch that protrudes through the board.","She solders those wires to copper pads on the board, securing the switch and making an electrical connection.","She removes the assembly from the fixture and threads the battery cord through the board.","She attaches the board to a vented heat sink, which will draw heat away from the lights, allowing them to run more efficiently.","She installs the reflector over the tiny l.e.d. lights.","The reflector will focus the light forward, creating narrow beams.","Another member of the team places a tray of reflector covers in a laser etcher.","He closes the lid and activates the laser.","It etches through tape that's been applied to the metal.","The tape has a blackening agent on it.","The laser transfers that blackening agent to the etched number, making it stand out.","The number indicates the lumen power of the light.","Lumen is a measure of the total amount of visible light emitted by a source.","Back on the assembly line, a worker snaps the cover onto the bike light.","Then, she attaches an open guard to the heat sink to protect the cyclist from the heat generated by the l.e.d.s.","This bicycle light is ready to be put to the test.","A technician turns it on and inserts it in a device called a lumen sphere.","A computer analyzes the light and finds that it meets standards.","Next, an employee builds a smaller bike light for a cyclist helmet.","She inserts the l.e.d. assembly in a canister, then attaches the on/off button.","She attaches the light to a circuit board with three l.e.d.s.","She tucks the circuit board into the housing and inserts a rechargeable lithium battery.","She puts the assembly aside and attaches a red reflective panel to an aluminized reflector.","She snaps the assembly into a clear plastic case, completing the rear light lens.","She returns for the front helmet light and installs the reflector over the light.","She screws on a glass cover that's framed by a metal bezel.","She joins the rear lens and the l.e.d. assembly, encasing the electronics of this bike light.","She switches on both lights to confirm that they're fully operational.","These bicycle lights are ready to illuminate a rider's path, whether it's a shadowy mountain trail or a dark city street.","Installing a pool above ground costs much less than installing one in ground.","This is because there's no excavation required.","You can build an elevated deck around the top to give it an in-ground appearance, or you can simply climb up a ladder and jump right in.","No hole to dig, no underground pipes to install.","Just a day or so of on-site prep and assembly, and you can take to your above-ground pool like a duck to water.","At the factory, a computer-guided machine cuts vinyl panels for the pool's water-retaining inside surface.","The vinyl comes in a wide choice of printed designs.","It's tear-resistant, u.v.-resistant, and is treated with an antifungal coating.","The wall panel is rectangular, and the floor panels are curved to fit the pool's perimeter.","The wall panels go through a welder that fuses a bead to the top edge.","A bead is a flexible, \"u'-shaped, thermoplastic strip that is used to attach the pool wall to the liner.","A hot welding tool slightly melts both the bead and the liner edge, so when they cool and solidify, they're bonded.","The liner is ready to be assembled.","Workers use a manual welding machine that generates heat with radio frequencies.","They overlap the edges of adjoining panels, then fuse them together.","After connecting the floor panels to each other, workers complete the liner by joining the wall to the floor.","A quality-control inspector checks every soldered seam to make sure they're solid.","Meanwhile, workers manufacture the pool's structural components.","They feed a continuous strip of painted, galvanized steel through a roll former.","The strip is shaped to a specific profile.","A punch press cuts the components to the required length and shape.","Four different structural components are made this way-- the pieces that form the top and bottom tracks of the pool, the vertical posts that support the pool wall, and the ledges running along the top of the wall.","The wall is also made of painted galvanized steel.","A roller impresses a corrugated pattern to give the wall more vertical strength.","Then, a press punches out openings for the pool's water inlet and filter.","After folding each end of the wall over itself to form a strong edge, they punch holes for the bolts that will join the edges.","A stamping die progressively shapes strips of galvanized steel into connectors.","The connectors join the vertical posts to the structure's bottom track and top rail.","An injection molder makes the plastic covers that will hide those connectors.","Workers then box the liner and structural components for transport to the installation site.","On-site, they lay crushed stone around the perimeter to support the bottom track under the weight of the water.","Next, they unroll the pool wall and place it in the bottom track.","They place a vertical post over each bottom connector and secure it with screws.","Inside the pool wall, they lay down a base of sand and compact it.","Then, they lay down landscaping fabric.","They cut a hole for a central bottom drain.","Then, they begin spreading out the liner.","They hook the bead over the top edge of the wall, then lock it in place with the top rail.","Once the liner is fully attached, they suction out the air to draw it tight against the wall.","They seal the liner to the bottom drain.","They hide the top rail under the ledge and the connections under plastic caps.","They run pipes to connect the filtration system and skimmer.","Then, with an ordinary garden hose, they fill the pool with water.","Foldable solar panels were invented in the 1990s for american soldiers in the field.","They use them to recharge electronic devices.","The panels have environmental and tactical advantages, conserving both electricity and physical energy.","Today, foldable solar panels are not just for the military.","These lightweight panels can be folded up and tucked into a backpack, allowing anyone to escape to the wilderness but stay plugged in.","Production starts with a roll of thin plastic film.","It's the same material used to make flat-screen tvs.","A worker loads it into machines that distribute thin layers of aluminum and silicon onto it.","The aluminum acts as an electrical contact.","The silicon produces electricity when exposed to the sun's rays.","Next, lasers carve vertical and horizontal lines into the film.","These lines define the solar cells.","An automated squeegee applies black ink through a screen and into the lines.","The ink will act as an electrical insulator.","It also makes it possible to cut through the film without damaging it.","Uv light cures the insulator ink.","An employee pours a generous amount of metallic silver ink onto a pattern.","A squeegee forces the ink through to the solar film.","This creates a conductive grid on the film.","A camera magnifies the grid for inspection.","The solar film travels through a chamber where heat cures the silver ink.","A laser now connects the solar cells, linking the bottom aluminum layer of one cell to the top silicon layer of the next.","The laser ties them together similar to how a soldering tool would.","This establishes electrical connections and increases the voltage significantly.","A different camera magnifies the connections to check the alignment.","Now, a worker loads the solar film into a machine.","It deposits a transparent oxide onto the film that will increase conductivity.","These solar cells are now fully functional.","The next machine tests each one.","It also applies a conductive foil tape at certain points.","Another machine rolls a clear sheet of plastic onto the solar cells.","The plastic adheres to the cells, waterproofing and encapsulating them.","A die press cuts out solar panels along the black insulator lines.","The press uses computerized cameras for accurate cuts.","A robot transfers each panel to the next station using suctioning heads.","A computerized camera scrutinizes the panels for defects.","After more testing, they deposit the panels on a piece of fabric.","A laser cuts the fabric around the panels.","Heated rollers bond the plastic panels to the fabric.","Now, an employee burns through clear plastic film to reach the conductive foil.","He solders wire to the foil at these points to connect the positive and negative leads.","The wire is flexible and will bend with the fabric when it's folded.","A seamstress now stitches strips of fabric over the wires, enclosing them in a protective pocket.","Another member of the team solders a connector to a circuit board that's been attached to protruding wires.","He squeezes silicone into a plastic cover and places it on the assembly.","The silicone solidifies around the components to protect them from water damage.","Finally, he rivets the cover to the fabric.","This foldable solar charger is ready to be bundled up and placed in a backpack.","It can power a laptop or a smartphone, keeping the user connected anywhere in the world."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Space Pens","Reef Aquariums","Metal Caskets","Composite Bike Wheels"]},"text":["The space pen can write in zero gravity, which is why astronauts have used it.","It also writes underwater, in extreme heat or cold, or when held upside down.","All this is possible due to the pen's ingenious design that keeps ink flowing toward the tip no matter what.","The space pen's ink is pressurized with nitrogen, so, unlike ordinary ballpoints, it doesn't rely on gravity to flow toward the tip.","Invented in 1966, the pen first went into space with the apollo 7 astronauts.","The pen's writing point starts out as an 3/10 of an inch long block of stainless steel.","It passes through more than a dozen machining operations that progressively shape a point, then bore a hole through the tip to form a pocket for the carbide steel ball.","That makes this a ballpoint.","The last station inserts the ball and curves the edges of the pocket inward so that the ball is locked in yet can rotate to spread ink.","The replaceable ink cartridge, called the refill, begins as an empty brass tube.","This assembly machine inserts a white plastic ball into the back end then pumps in half a gram of ink.","The white ball is called the float.","Its job is to follow the ink down the tube, moving residual ink forward toward the point.","Next, the machine inserts the writing point into the opposite end of the tube, then it crimps the end to ensure the writing point can't dislodge.","Back to the other end of the tube now.","The machine applies a bit of sealant...","Injects nitrogen to pressurize the refill, then caps the tube with a hollow brass plug.","Nitrogen is ideal for pressurizing because it's an inert gas that doesn't harm the refill tube or its contents.","This demonstration shows how the pressurized nitrogen forces the ink flow.","After subjecting each and every refill to a writing test and washing the surface to remove traces of machine lubricant and other residues, a printer applies the company name and product information on the refill.","Certain space pen models have a cap that fits over the writing point.","A feeder places a brass cap on each spoke of the cap assembly machine, which then pushes the cap into position to receive a clip.","The clip is stamped out of spring steel, a fairly flexible metal.","It's chrome-plated for corrosion resistance and aesthetics.","The machine drives the clip's teeth through the wall of the cap, then curls them back toward the inside of the wall, locking the clip in position.","To prepare the two-part brass body of the pen, a feeder drops the bottom part, called the barrel, onto each spoke of the barrel assembly machine.","To straighten the writing end, the machine inserts a brass reinforcement piece called the nose tip.","It then crimps the end, flaring the nose tip inside the barrel so that it becomes wider than the barrel opening and therefore can't slip out.","This model has a chrome-plated brass body and clipless cap.","To begin assembling the pen, workers place the barrel in a foam holder, insert a spring to keep the refill in position, then a threaded connector made of brass.","The barrel goes through a machine, which puts a silicone rubber o-ring on the top edge of the barrel.","And now the final assembly.","They place a refill in the barrel, insert the connector into the top half of the body, then, with an electric motor, thread the parts together.","After placing the cap open-side up in a foam holder, they insert the pen.","The o-ring holds the cap in place.","The original space pen, still in production, has a push button on top to push out the refill and another on the side to retract it.","This demonstration pen has a cutaway section to show the inner workings.","All space pen models can write underwater...","And in zero gravity.","They also work in freezing cold, intense heat, and upside down.","A reef aquarium takes underwater exploration to a whole new sea level.","It's a mini coral reef system re-created in a glass tank.","Installed in a home or business, a reef aquarium allows people to see life on the bottom of the sea without donning a wet suit and a snorkel.","A reef aquarium is a living, breathing, and growing ecosystem.","Along with tropical fish, it has spectacular coral and more low-profile organisms like crab, shrimp, and tiny aquatic creatures.","All these organisms act as a biological filtration system for the water in the tank.","They supplement the biological filtration system with mechanical and chemical ones.","The assembler starts with the pump that recirculates the water.","He installs it in a tank under the display tank.","This tank is known as the sump.","He places the protein skimmer in the sump beside the pump.","This unit injects air bubbles into the water to remove organic compounds before they decompose and become waste.","He adds a u.v. sterilizer.","It has a high-intensity light that will be activated when needed to kill free-floating bacteria, parasites, and algae.","Next, he introduces the media reactor.","This cylindrical device contains both activated carbon and an aluminum-based media.","These materials will absorb fish-waste by-products, thereby removing them from the water.","With the mechanical and chemical filters in place, he now moves on to the display tank.","He spreads real ocean sand on the bottom.","This sand will be a habitat for some of the bacteria and other organisms that will aid in the biological filtering process.","He selects rocks from a supply tank and transfers them to the aquarium.","The rocks are home to numerous algae, bacteria, and small invertebrates.","This makes them the central part of the aquarium's biological filtering system.","He now prepares the ocean potion, adding synthetic sea salt to water.","A pump circulates the water as the salt dissolves over a period of 24 hours.","He presses a switch, and the premix of water and salt flows into the tank.","This water now needs to mature.","It will take weeks for tiny aquatic creatures to begin to thrive in this water.","During this time, the filtering equipment in the pump below helps keep it clean.","The protein skimmer foams up as the water constantly circulates through it.","After about three weeks, there are enough microorganisms in the water.","It's ready for coral and fish.","These corals have been grown on an ocean farm and kept in this holding tank for this very moment.","Each coral is composed of tiny, fragile animals called coral polyps.","They are essentially little colonies.","As the aquarium technician makes his selections, he considers how the coral will adapt to light and water motion and how compatible the corals will be with one another.","Some corals are very territorial and may release toxins when they come into contact with other corals.","He leaves a lot of space between the corals to give them room to grow.","Allowed to thrive, some will triple in size.","He now introduces fish.","Clearly, this aquarium has all the comforts of home.","He installs a lighting system overhead that mimics ocean light at different times of day-- sunrise, daytime, and sunset.","For the creatures in this reef aquarium, light is a source of energy.","With the reef aquarium now complete, the monitoring begins.","He'll test the water chemistry regularly to ensure the right environment is being achieved.","The activity of the fish and coral will be under observation to confirm this mini-reef system is becoming a thriving marine community.","Only then will this reef aquarium be ready to go public.","So much more than a fishbowl, the reef aquarium brings the wonders of the ocean to the surface.","A central part of arranging a loved one's funeral is choosing a casket.","This is often an emotionally difficult decision, as it forces us to face the reality of the loss.","Caskets are most commonly made of either wood or metal and range in style from understated to ornate.","There are two styles of caskets.","Full-couch models have an undivided top to show the deceased from head to toe.","Perfection-cut models have a split-top to show the deceased only from the waist up.","This factory makes metal caskets constructed from sheets of steel.","To form the top, workers insert a sheet into a press.","A die inside draws the metal into a paneled shape.","This requires 900 tons of pulling force, the equivalent of hoisting 27 fully loaded tractor trailers.","After trimming the edges, workers insert the panel into an automated folding machine.","First, the machine bends both long sides upward-- two bends of 90 degrees each.","Second, it bends both short sides upward the same way.","Then, workers weld the corner seams.","They also assemble and weld the casket's side, end, and reinforce bottom panels.","These two were shaped in the press but with a different type of die, which stamps, rather than draws, the steel to the required shape.","For a perfection-cut casket, they saw the top in half, then weld steel to the cut end, forming a header to give it a neatly-finished look.","An automated belt grinds all the welds flat to create a smooth finish.","After a cleaning, all the parts travel through a booth inside which 20 automated spray guns coat them in powder paint.","An electrical charge draws the powder particles onto the steel, ensuring a thorough and even coat, which a giant oven then bakes for 20 minutes.","Once the surface cools, workers inspect the paint finish to make sure it's flawless.","Workers apply hot-melt glue on the inside, along where the bottom and sides meet.","This makes the body of the casket watertight.","And they conduct a water test to make sure.","The casket is lined with crepe, a synthetic fabric which is formable when you apply high heat.","This specially-designed machine heats the material with an iron as serrated wheels gather it into decorative pleats known as shirring.","The high heat forms the fabric to this shape permanently.","Sewers cut and sew the shirred fabric into lining components.","Meanwhile, workers mount the casket's steel hardware, either stationary handles or swing bar handles, which pivot.","They place a rubber gasket around the top edge to ensure a proper seal when the top is closed.","Then, they mount the top.","The gasket has holes for the steel hinges.","By this point, they've already attached most of the interior fabric over an inner lining of corrugated cardboard.","Now it's time to install the steel bed, using an expandable rod.","The bed's height is adjustable, enabling funeral directors to elevate the deceased for easier viewing.","A mattress pad and sheet go on the top of the bed.","Clips on each end hold them in place.","A pillow completes the interior.","Every casket undergoes a thorough final inspection, then it's shipped to the funeral home that ordered it.","The funeral home typically displays several sample pieces showing the range of styles, colors, hardware, and fabric options available for a loved one's casket.","In the cycling world, carbon composite wheels are the wheels of change.","They can weigh half the amount of traditional metal wheels, so the cyclists can pick up speed with less effort.","Carbon wheels also cost many times more than metal ones, so your wallet will also be more lightweight.","Flatter and thinner than metal ones, these high-tech carbon bike wheels are designed to take advantage of carbon fiber's unique characteristics and support the cyclist's weight efficiently.","They start by cutting carbon fiber into patterns.","These arcs are for half of a side wheel.","The technician layers them onto a band of fiberglass in a mold.","The fiberglass will provide a good breaking surface.","He drapes a piece of nonstick plastic film over the mold and adds a silicone pressure pad.","He stacks several carbon-filled sidewall molds, each with a silicone pad and plastic film.","He wraps a heater pad and a plastic vacuum bag around the stack and activates the vacuum.","It sucks out the air to pull the melting carbon fiber to the shape of the molds.","He adds an air bladder and metal plate.","This applies more pressure as the carbon fiber solidifies into a sidewall shape.","The next technician layers material for the wheel rims.","He inserts strips of carbon fiber into a long and narrow mold, pushing it into the crevasses with a teflon wheel.","He applies strips of carbon to the sides for reinforcement.","He adds a resin-based film adhesive followed by more carbon fiber.","Using a kind of wedge, he again puts on the pressure, causing the carbon fiber and film adhesive to stick together.","He transfers the long layers to a round mold.","As with the sidewalls, he heats the rims under pressure to set the shape.","He'll get five wheel rims out of this one tool.","The next technician shapes carbon-fiber layers around a metal shaft and flares them out to form the wheel's hub flanges.","She smoothes the creases, then prepares for the vacuum pressure curing, placing a piece of nonstick plastic and a silicone mandrel assembly on top.","She stacks the flanges and slides a tube around them.","She bolts on a lid.","Then it's into an oven to bake under pressure for about four hours.","This transforms each patchwork of carbon fiber into a solid, seamless bike wheel flange.","They'll now assemble the wheel.","The technician inserts flat carbon-fiber spokes into holes in one half of a sidewall.","Adhesive and carbon fiber will bond the spokes to the sidewall.","He places a carbon-fiber patch where the end of the spoke meets the sidewall and tapes it there.","With all the spokes in position, he lowers the lid and applies mechanical pressure.","The spokes bond to the sidewall, and it's ready for the rim.","With the help of a locating pin, the technician positions the rim on the sidewall.","He also uses this carbon-fiber ring as an alignment tool.","He places the other sidewall half, with spokes attached, on top.","The geometry is precise for maximum strength and resilience.","After another compressed bake, he applies adhesive to the ends of the spokes and attaches them to hub flanges.","He places a metal spacer between the two flanges for now and tapes the spokes to prevent adhesive from trickling down onto them during the heating process.","He adds a piece of release film and a silicone pressure pad.","He clips metal splints to the carbon-fiber spokes to support them through the cure.","And, with the spokes now pressure-bonded to the flanges, it's time for fine-tuning.","The technician locks the bike wheel in a fixture that stretches the spokes slightly.","This creates the necessary tension and rigidity.","Once he's satisfied with the tensioning, he applies resin adhesive through a hole in a hub flange.","Two hours in an oven sets the tensioning, and he removes the wheel from the fixture.","After cleaning and the application of graphics, the carbon-fiber bike wheel just needs a rubber tire, and it's ready to go for a spin."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cast Iron Tubs","Hopi Kachina Dolls","Mine Truck Engine","Memory Cards"]},"text":["An 1880s invention, the cast-iron tub was first marketed in america as a horse trough and a hog scalder, which could also serve as a bathtub.","It was soon more popular in the bathroom than the barnyard.","It's heat-retaining properties made a long and luxurious soak possible.","The cast-iron tub is one invention that's got a lot of people in hot water, and that's what people like about it.","Today, they make cast-iron tubs from scrap metal-- things like old heating radiators, water pipes, manhole covers, and even some car parts.","Recycling scrap iron is more energy efficient and cheaper than mining it.","A powerful magnet at the end of a crane arm lifts the heavy iron from the scrap heap and transfers it to big trays known as charging pans.","The charging pans deliver the scrap to a center trough.","This trough is a scale.","It weighs the scrap and releases it to a conveyer.","The scrap heads into the bathtub factory.","Inside, it flows directly into an enormous electric induction furnace heated to more than 2,500° fahrenheit.","The scrap iron melts into a pool of liquid metal.","They run this furnace around the clock, and it's always two-thirds full so that newly-added scrap melts quickly.","Huge hydraulic cylinders tip the furnace forward.","The molten iron flows into a ladle.","An overhead trolley carries the ladle brimming with the hot liquid metal to a holding furnace which maintains its temperature until the next step.","They're now ready to make a two-part casting mold from sand using steel tub patterns.","To make one half of the mold, they fill a tub pattern with a mix of moist sand and clay.","Hydraulic rams pack it down, and the mix compacts and takes the shape of the pattern.","The clay is the bonding agent that causes the mix to hold the shape.","Once the rams retract, the mold takes a trip under some blades that scrape off the excess sand.","Machinery then lifts this half of the sand mold out of the steel pattern and transfers it to the other half of the mold prepared earlier.","The two bathtub molds now come together, leaving a small gap between them.","The molten iron, which has been transferred to an automatic pouring system, flows into portals in the top of the mold and into the gap at the center.","The bathtub molds then move to a cooling line, and after chilling here for about 20 minutes, the iron inside solidifies.","Then, it's into a shaker device that breaks apart the sand mold, revealing the newly cast iron bathtub.","A robot retrieves the bathtub and stacks it.","Next, an employee sprays specially-formulated glass powder onto the tub.","It's an undercoat for the enamel finish.","They bake the tub until it's red-hot.","In the heat, the glass powder melts and adheres to the iron tub.","A hydraulic device called a manipulator sets the tub on a pedestal.","The pedestal swivels as they apply two more ground-glass layers.","These are the enamel topcoats.","On contact, the glass mixture melts onto the undercoat.","The layers of glass form a permanent bond with the iron casting.","Between coats, the tub cools, and they send it back into the furnace for a reheat.","They place a mask in the base of the enamel tub.","The mask is like a stencil.","A robot blasts fine alumina-oxide particles into the open areas of the mask.","This etches an abrasive finish, leaving a subtle pattern on the surface of the bathtub.","It creates visual interest and also provides a non-slip surface.","The masks come in a variety of patterns for different looks.","Whether it's a modern design or the traditional claw-foot one, these cast-iron tubs should have no problem finding a home.","The hopi, a native american tribe living primarily in northeastern arizona, are known for carving kachinas, wooden dolls representing deities, elements in nature, or the spirits of ancestors.","They are traditionally presented in a dance ceremony to the girls of the community.","Hopi kachina dolls are cherished family keepsakes designed to teach hopi children about the deities and spirits central to their aboriginal traditions.","Besides ceremonial purposes, many hopi carvers produce kachina dolls for sale to native art enthusiasts.","The carver uses knives of different sizes, sharpening the steel blades after every 10 or 15 minutes to prevent dulling.","Kachina dolls are traditionally made of cottonwood-- not from the tree's branch, but from its root.","The carver begins by shaving off the thin outer bark.","With a straight cut from one side to the other, he shapes a bit of the single feather which will adorn the top of this doll's head.","He makes a series of vertical cuts to form the face and hairline.","He continues carving the head form, then, with a wood-burning tool, burns in the square outline of the face.","Now he shaves away wood above and below to make the face protrude.","He forms the face in more detail...","Then picks up the wood-burning tool again, this time to delineate the neckline...","And the doll's robe.","Back to carving.","Now, with upward strokes, he shaves off wood to shape the neckline.","He takes a larger knife and removes bigger pieces of wood to finish forming the head feather.","Now he sands the wood with progressively finer sandpapers to remove all the cut marks left by his knives and to refine the doll's shape.","With the doll perfectly formed now, it's time for the details and decorations.","First, he sketches it all out in pencil...","Then runs the wood-burning tool along the lines.","He decorates the body, then moves on to the doll's hair and facial features.","It's these details that bring the doll alive.","What was a simple and ordinary cottonwood tree root has gone through carving, sanding, and burning to become an almost-finished kachina doll.","He now coats the entire surface with clear varnish.","This seals the wood to prevent it from absorbing the paint he applies next.","About 40 minutes later, the varnish is dry and the painting can begin.","Traditionally, hopi carvers made paint from natural pigments such as sand, plants, and berries.","Today's carvers buy ready-made oils or acrylics.","This carver dilutes acrylic paint with water to make it transparent.","This allows the natural beauty of the wood grain to show through the color.","After painting, he applies a coat of clear varnish to seal and protect the surface.","Some carvers have moved in a new artistic direction-- bronze.","They use their wooden kachina doll to produce a latex mold.","Then, with this mold, cast a wax replica.","They dip the replica in a substance that hardens into a heat-resistant shell.","Then, they put the shell in a furnace to melt away the wax.","This leaves a cavity in the shape of the doll.","They poor molten bronze into the cavity, and when the bronze cools and solidifies, they break the shell to extract a bronze version of their kachina doll.","Instead of paints, they apply chemicals that color the metal-- a modern twist on an age-old hopi art.","A mine-truck engine is a beast.","The most powerful ones pack a brawny 24 cylinders, generating 4,200 horsepower.","Compare that to 200 horsepower for a mid-sized car with six cylinders.","But when they start to show the strain, it's time for a total rebuild.","After about 20,000 hours of hauling heavy rock, it's time for renewal.","Mine-truck engines are routinely rebuilt-- not just once, but numerous times.","It's cheaper than buying a new engine, and it saves precious resources.","Each rebuild is a massive undertaking-- virtually every component of this diesel engine will be remanufactured or replaced.","As the team dismantles it, they inspect each part for wear and tear.","They take it down to the immense crankshaft, the heart of this mine-truck engine.","With the crankshaft removed, they pull the lengthy camshaft out of the cylinder block.","With the engine now in pieces, they clean every part that's salvageable, including the huge cylinder block.","A couple of hours soaking in a hot sodium-phosphate solution removes the grease and exposes the bare metal.","Any imperfections are now more apparent.","Using a depth gauge, a technician maps out flaws, like this crack.","It will need to be filled, and he makes a note of it.","Next, a high-speed milling tool carves off a thin layer of the steel, taking the cylinder block's finish from grimy-gray to bright and shiny.","It also smoothes away any unevenness to create a uniform surface for sealing gaskets around the cylinders later.","After the intensive machining, the cylinder block looks like new.","It's back to the crankshaft now.","It, too, has undergone an extensive cleaning.","Machinery grinds the outside diameter to a precise tolerance-- equivalent to one-twentieth of a human hair.","This will allow new, thicker bearings to fit to it.","The team clamps weights to the machine crankshaft.","These weights mimic the load of engine parts, like pistons and rods, as they now balance this critical part.","The crankshaft rotates, and sensors detect vibrations and pinpoint the problem.","After more grinding in these locations, they test it again to confirm the crankshaft is balanced.","Back to the camshaft now-- a member of the crew uses a black marker to highlight wear patterns.","A grinder evens out the wear, and it also machines the profile of each lobe as it follows a metal camshaft master.","The black-marker lines vanish as the wear lines are smoothed, and the profile of the camshaft is improved.","A major clean-up also transforms the rods that connect the piston to the crankshaft.","A technician then places the rod in a special honing machine and activates it.","Four arms with gritty ends grind the inside of the rod-head as the technician moves the rod back and forth.","This sizes the inner diameter to enable the rod to fit to the other revamped parts.","Once all the parts have been cleaned and machined, the engine is ready for reassembly.","Using a crane, a technician lowers the crankshaft back into the cylinder block.","He secures the crankshaft at one end with a metal bracket called a main cap.","There are actually nine main caps in total.","He gives the crankshaft a spin to confirm that it rotates freely before installing the rest.","With a piston now attached to one end of a connecting rod, he slides the other end into a slot in the cylinder block.","This particular engine is a 16-cylinder one.","It's considered midsize for mining trucks.","Once the gaskets have been fixed to the cylinder block, they bolt the cylinder heads to it.","There are hundreds of parts in one of these monster engines, and it takes 700 person hours for one rebuild.","With this mine-truck engine now fully assembled, they hook it up to a dynamometer to measure engine performance.","They run at full tilt to confirm that it's firing all cylinders and performing to the max.","This rebuilt mine-truck engine is ready to go back into service.","Strong and heavily built, this nine-ton diesel engine should pull its own weight and then some.","Music, photographs, documents-- what used to take up shelf space in our homes offices can now be stored on a tiny memory card or flash drive.","You can save your files on it, take them out of the device and transport them anywhere, as well as delete data you no longer need.","A memory card fits into a slot in your digital device.","A flash drive plugs into a usb port.","The key component of both formats-- a memory chip, produced in a factory that's 1,000 times cleaner than a hospital operating room.","It all begins with the wafer--  a thin disc of pure silicon, a non-metallic natural element that conducts electricity.","An automated container system moves the wafer through more than 800 operations.","At each stop, the wafer receives one of several layers of non-conductive materials, such as silicon dioxide, and conductive materials, such as copper.","The machines coat the layer with light-sensitive fluid, then apply uv light through a glass stencil of the complex pattern of electrical circuitry.","The exposed areas of fluid chemically react, locking the material directly underneath into the circuitry pattern.","Chemical baths then remove the surrounding fluid and material, leaving only the layer of circuitry, electrical pathways 2,000 times narrower than a human hair.","A robot tests the circuitry for every memory chip on the wafer.","A single wafer, measuring 12 inches in diameter, yields hundreds of memory chips.","The goal is to make those chips as small as possible.","In this industry, it's all about maximum memory in minimal space.","That's why this operation thins the chips by grinding away two-thirds of the silicon from the backside of the wafer.","And one last step before cutting the wafer into individual memory chips-- this machine applies tape to hold the separated chips together.","A computer-guided saw slices the chips apart.","Cutting silicon is like cutting glass-- it requires a diamond-edge blade.","In the next step, a robotic arm, following the wafer map generated earlier, picks up the chips which pass testing and attaches each one to a fiberglass lead frame.","The term lead refers to the frame's pins, which connect the chip to the digital device.","Another robot wires the chip to the lead frame with gold thread that's about the width of a human hair.","Gold is very conductive, so now the pathway is complete.","Electricity will travel from the chip's circuitry, through the gold thread, to the pins, to the device.","After a machine seals the chip in plastic, workers gently snap them apart and insert them in memory-card housings.","The plastic and metal housing is for a memory card format known as compact flash.","A small, automated press locks the two halves of the housing together.","The next station labels the front of the housing.","Every single memory card undergoes testing for both function and speed.","A laser machine etches product information into the back of the housing.","These are another format called secure digital, or sd.","They're assembled and labeled just like the compact flashcards.","When the finished memory cards come off the assembly line, workers conduct a final, visual inspection.","On the flash drive assembly line, much the same process.","A robot puts 20 lead frames on 20 circuit boards.","Then, a worker positions 20 usb connectors, which a soldering machine bonds to the circuit boards.","The final step--  electronic testing, to make sure the usb connection is working, and via the circuit board, talking to the chip.","The flash drives are now ready to go into individual housings.","This model has a two-part plastic housing, which pivots in and out of a plastic case, that can conveniently be attached to a key chain or a lanyard for easy portability.","Flash drive or memory card, storing your digital effects is just a click away."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Copy Paper","Jeans","Computers","Plate Glass"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Copy paper-- we'll check it out again and again and again...","Jeans-- stay tuned for a \"denim-stration\"...",".computers--  here's some hard data for you...","And plate glass-- we promise you full transparency in this report.","Computers were supposed to send paper back to the stone age-- no more letters, just e-mails.","Goodbye, typewritten reports.","Hello, floppy disks.","Well, those predictions were wrong.","Photocopiers and printers have us using more paper than ever before.","Paper production begins with the arrival of wood at the mill.","Paper is made from a paste produced from a mix of 65% maple, 25% birch, and 10% poplar.","They require two tons of wood to produce one ton of paste.","Everything starts from this debarking drum, which removes bark from the logs.","It's about a 20-minute operation.","The bark will be burned to produce steam, for the operation of the mill.","The debarked logs are transported on this conveyor.","All is controlled by an operator.","Now the logs are reduced into small pieces called kindling.","They're accumulated into a pile and remain outdoors winter and summer.","The kindling looks like this.","These 5 piles total about 30,000 tons of kindling.","Next step-- reduce the kindling into a paste.","They begin by washing it.","This screen verifies that the washer is properly loaded.","Then comes alkaline cooking.","This diagram controls its operation.","This huge cylinder is the washer, in which the kindling is cooked for several hours at a temperature of 315 degrees.","And this is the recuperation boiler.","It burns wood lignite at 1,800 degrees.","Certain chemical products, which come out fused as lava, are recuperated.","This black lacquer, a reside of burned wood, will be burned to produce steam.","Exiting the washer, the brown paste is washed and sent to the thickener.","With this spatula, they verify the quality of the brown-paste washing.","The paste must be bleached.","This alkaline-extraction tower places the brown paste in contact with chemical products.","It's bleached with chlorine dioxide and gradually becomes more white.","Then the water is partially drawn off.","Water is extracted with this equipment, the beloit bel baie iii paper machine, operating at a speed of 3,500 feet a minute.","Between the entry and the exit, the concentration of water in the paste falls from 95% to 5%.","Here we see the sheet of paper coming out of the presses.","Then analyzers verify the quality parameters of the paper and signal any anomaly.","The paper is then rolled up.","This roller produces enormous main spools.","With this transfer arm, they change a full spool for an empty one.","A roll weighs over 35 tons and contains over 37 miles of paper.","The spooler cuts the main spools into smaller, less wide rolls.","Some will be delivered as is, while other will be shipped to paper cutters.","Rolls are sent to an automated warehouse.","In the warehouse, they store rolls that will be cut later.","Robots, guided on rails in the floor, feed the bielomatik paper cutter.","This is the one that produces copy paper.","Robots are controlled by a central computer directed by operators.","Production reaches 55,000 sheets per minute.","We see here the transfer section of the cutter.","Four automatic catchers and operators verify paper quality before packaging.","In one hour, this mill produces 6,600 packages of copy paper.","A single log allowed for the production of at least 15 of those packages.","Jeans might be the world's greatest rags-to-riches story.","When they were first invented, nobody would be caught dead in them, except for factory workers, farmers, and tradesmen.","Yet, today, they're one of the most popular clothing items in the world-- quite a fashion statement.","Jeans are made from a highly rugged cotton called denim.","This enormous roll contains 1,500 feet of fabric, from which they will produce 350 pairs of jeans.","Several thicknesses of the material are unrolled on this long table.","This knife can cut up to 100 thicknesses of the material at a time.","By multiplying the thicknesses, they produce a whole pile of pieces with one cut.","They shape the denim pieces following the cutting patterns.","Each piece of the jeans has its own cutting pattern.","The little pieces of fabric are cut with a clicker, also known as the stamper, which cuts out pockets with a cutting mold.","Exerting 1,500 pounds of pressure, it can cut 20 pockets at a time.","They begin sewing.","Jeans are sewn with 100%-cotton thread.","This needle pierces the fabric 4,000 times a minute.","Designs are embroidered on the pockets with this machine.","Its needles move at 2,500 strokes per minute.","This pocket robot will simultaneously fold, press, and sew a pocket.","This machine allows for the installation of 75 pockets in 60 minutes.","The pocket is now sewn into place.","Next step-- the buttonhole.","This machine sews the contours of the buttonhole and a steel blade comes down to cut the opening.","The closing button is positioned.","This machine is used to make the loops, which will hold the belt in place.","The loops are sewn, as usual, with cotton thread.","At this stage, they assemble the different pieces of the jeans.","This operator joins the two pieces of denim at the crotch.","Then she sews it.","Then they sew the exterior of the leg.","This sewing is done flat, with an overcaster, which cuts excess material proportionately and to size.","Now for the zipper.","This machine installs the zipper holdfast and the slide.","The zipper is sewn into its position.","The final sewing step consists of installing the jeans belt, a strip of fabric.","This operation requires only a few seconds.","The jeans were made up on the reverse side, so that all stitches would be on the inside when the jeans are worn.","The pant is then turned right side out with this turner, which has 100-pound suction power.","All that now remains is to steam-press the jeans.","This operation lasts only 20 seconds and eliminates any pleats.","This company makes 1,500 jeans every day.","Producing a pair of jeans will have taken 12 minutes and 50 seconds of work and will have required between 3.6 and 3.9 feet of fabric.","Just 30 years ago, nobody could have told you what this object was, let alone the kind of wonders you could work with it.","Well, times change, and today, it's hard to imagine a single modern home or office without at least one of these revolutionary devices.","It takes about 90 minutes to assemble a computer.","Its hard-disk drive saves information transmitted to it for a long time.","The reading head reads the information.","It is extremely precise.","The space between the reading head and the hard disk is as thin as a hair.","The hard disk is installed in its position within the computer.","There are two other units which safeguard information-- the removable 3-inch-disk reader, and the cd-rom reader, which allows for the reading and execution of programs recorded on compact discs.","These two units are placed into position.","The spinal column of the computer is the motherboard.","It is to this unit that the other elements of the computer are connected.","This cooler dissipates the heat generated by the chip set.","Certain sound cards are integrated directly on the motherboard.","These connections, in sequence, are the audio input, its output, and the microphone port.","This agp retaining ring secures the video card during transport.","This thermal unit measures the temperature emitted between the processor and the motherboard.","The processor is the brain of the system.","It interprets, calculates, and executes the instructions given to it.","The processor has several million transistors.","And its cadence, its operating speed, reaches the gigahertz level.","The processor rests on this base.","The processor's cooler dissipates the intense heat.","Its efficiency depends on the type of material used, and a conducting material assures better cooling.","The r.a.m. memory stores short-term information, but erases it when the current is turned off.","This memory is more rapid than that of the hard disk or cd-rom.","Now they integrate everything in the case.","It protects the internal elements from the external elements.","At this stage, they install the electronic components in this case.","Several connectors of the case are connected to the motherboard, such as the computator and various light indicators.","This is the output connection for the video card, which links the computer to the monitor.","We also see the video chip, which creates images in 2 and 3 dimensions.","Here is the video memory.","The more its capacity is increased, the clearer will be the image displayed on the monitor.","The video card is placed into its position.","The modem allows two computers to communicate.","Its capacitors produce the perfectly clean phone signal to facilitate communications.","These modem chip connectors control information circulating between the two computers.","The fax modem is installed.","The power supply transforms electricity according to the voltage required by the different components.","The computer's internal cabling is installed.","It allows information to travel between the different media and the motherboard.","The i.d.e. cable is connected and the cd-rom.","The last electrical wires are connected to different computer components.","The assembly of 30 components of the computer is now finished.","Just before closing the case, they test each computer to verify the good functioning of the peripherals.","Then they close up and proceed to packaging.","This company produces about 300 computer units every day.","No need to adjust your set.","What you're looking at is supposed to be hard to see.","Here at \"how it's made,\" our job is to explore the everyday things around us and how they came to be.","So let's start by making one thing perfectly clear-- manufacturing plate glass is anything but simple.","We can speak of the use of glass since the time of the egyptians 4,000 years ago.","It wasn't used in construction, though, but merely to enclose small objects.","Later, the romans became masters of glassmaking, with their methods being used up until the 18th century.","By the end of the 19th century, glass was no longer just a luxury item, but became a construction material as common as steel and concrete.","Plate glass is made from several raw materials mixed with a little water.","These materials are silica sand...","Soda ash...","Dolomite...","Limestone...","Nepheline syenite...","And salt cake.","It begins by dumping into a hopper pieces of recycled glass together with the raw materials.","It will all be melted.","In a continuous stream, the mixed materials go into a gas-fed furnace.","Temperature inside the furnace is 2,700 degrees.","It contains 1,500 tons of molten glass.","They use 500 tons of it every day.","In this regenerating chamber, combustion air is preheated to 1,800 degrees.","The materials of the mix begin fusing, and the molten glass is stirred up.","The homogenizer mixes the glass to equalize its temperature.","Pouring will be done within several hours.","In the glass industry, they call this machine the top roller.","The glass is poured onto a bath of liquid tin, on which it floats.","As soft as toffee, it is molded into a ribbon.","All equipment in the tin bath is cooled with water so that it won't break from the heat.","Coming out of the bath, the glass is at 600 degrees.","The glass must again be cooled, and this unit is used to do that.","This huge ribbon of glass is 11 feet in width.","The ribbon of glass rolls gently on rollers, gradually cooling along the way.","The glass is still soft.","The marks we see are imprints from the top roller.","The glass must have a uniform thickness.","This laser scanner measures its thickness to within a hundredth of a millimeter.","The glass is now fairly hard.","They proceed to cutting it.","This ultrahard tungsten-carbide roller makes a longitudinal score before the glass can be cut.","Now they proceed with transverse scoring, made according to the dimensions customers have asked for.","The scored glass separates easily.","The glass strips are separated and continue along the conveyor.","These roller breakers cut the edges of the glass sheet.","Leftover pieces fall to the ground and into a chute.","They will later be recycled.","These rubber-covered rollers move the glass sheets to the inspection department.","When they arrive for inspection, these immense glass sheets are handled with great care and are positioned upright.","The glass is inspected for faults with florescent lamps.","Once inspected, the glass sheets are handled one at a time and stored vertically.","Making the glass took several days of work.","It is now ready for delivery.","Heat fusion has transformed solid ingredients into transparent glass."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Custom Steering Wheels","Aerospace Fuel Lines","Apple Pies","Household Radiators"]},"text":["What do you do when you're the proud owner of an ultra-luxurious vintage automobile that has an original steering wheel that's several miles short of being as elegant as the car?","You order yourself a handsome custom-made steering wheel designer to match the vehicle's deluxe interior.","From the plain, original steering wheel to a deluxe edition befitting a vintage automobile, custom-matched to its woodwork and leather interior.","They start by skinning the original wheel, a steel ring covered in black plastic with some leather trim.","After slicing and chiseling off the covering, they file the ring clean because they'll be reusing it for the new wheel.","However, they'll encase it within two plywood rings to beef up the width and thickness and to create a substrate on which to glue the wood veneer.","Using a jigsaw and bandsaw, they cut a front ring and a back ring out of european birch plywood.","Then they mill the profile, including a groove inside for the metal ring.","Once the shape is finalized, they sand the surface smooth to prep it to receive the wood veneer.","Veneer is made from a piece of wood sliced into ultra-thin sheets called leaves.","For each steering wheel, they take four consecutively cut leaves so that their wood-grain pattern is nearly identical.","For each plywood ring, they take two of those leaves and tape them mirror-image to each other.","They insert adhesive where the taped edges meet and let it dry overnight.","Then they lay the ring pattern onto the veneer, trace, and cut out the shape.","Next, they notch the veneer ring so that it can fold over the ring's edges.","After coating the plywood ring with glue, they center the veneer and tape down the edges.","Next, they add a layer of protective plastic followed by rubber cushioning.","These will protect the veneer surface in the next machine-- a vacuum press.","Powerful suction draws the bag tightly around the materials.","This locks the veneer onto the plywood substrate, forcing out any air in between them which would hinder full adhesion.","Each plywood ring is now veneered and ready to encase the metal ring of the original steering wheel.","The workers apply glue to the underside of both rings, into the groove.","Then they assemble the two veneered rings over the metal one.","They set clamps all around and leave the glue to dry overnight.","The next day, they remove the clamps and put the steering wheel in an oven for about eight hours to cure the glue.","Once the steering wheel cools, they file away excess glue that seeped out the seam, then sand the entire surface silky smooth.","They protect the delicate veneer with eight coats of resin, cured in the oven for optimal durability.","They then polish the surface with a series of compounds to produce a glossy finish which highlights the richness of the wood grain.","The perimeter of the steering wheel now completed, they cover the spokes and hub with fine leather, first gluing the pieces...","Then hand-stitching them.","They put back the original steering wheel's hub, which they had removed before the makeover.","Then the finishing touch--  a veneered horn button.","After all, when you're driving a luxury car, you might just want to toot your own horn.","Be they airplanes, satellites, or rockets, aerospace vehicles all have one thing in common besides their capacity to fly.","Their internal construction includes several assemblies of tubes and ducts through which materials such as fuel, air, oil, and hydraulic fluid move.","Aerospace tube-and-duct assemblies are typically made of highly durable, lightweight materials, such as aluminum and titanium.","The choice of material depends on the application, for example, whether the finished component must be able to resist high heat or withstand high pressure.","These aluminum tubes are on their way to becoming a fuel line for a boeing 737.","The operator immobilizes a tube with clamps, then saws it to the length required.","This leaves burrs--  sharp shards-- on the cut edge, so they insert the tube into a deburring machine.","Here's what the tube looks like before deburring and after.","They squirt some lubricant inside, then slide the tube onto the mandrill of a computer-guided bender.","As the machine forms the tube to the required shape, the mandrill provides counter-pressure, preventing the tube walls from collapsing inward.","They'll repeat this process with all the tubes which make up the fuel-line assembly.","They clamp each part into a fixture, then pass a laser-measuring device over it.","With utmost precision, the laser analyses the dimensions from five different angles to ensure the part meets technical specifications.","Next, workers submerge the part in hot water and cleaning solution, then rinse twice.","This washes away the lubricant and any dirt.","Now the high-tech precision work can begin.","A robotic laser-cutting system finalizes the shape and cuts all the required holes and slots.","Just a bit of pressure, and the cut pieces easily pop out.","Meanwhile, a stereolithography machine makes the fixtures, which will position the various parts of the fuel line together for welding.","A computer-guided laser beam repeatedly flashes the shape of the fixtures onto liquid ceramic.","Each flash solidifies a 250th-of-an-inch-thick layer of the liquid.","Thousands of hardened layers later, the weld fixtures are fully formed.","Welders use these ceramic fixtures to correctly assembly the connecting fuel-line components.","Once everything's precisely in position, the welding begins.","For aircraft safety, it's critical that every fuel line be leak-free.","To test for leaks, they fill it with nitrogen at high pressure, submerge it in a water tank, then watch closely for bubbles, which would indicate nitrogen escaping.","They use nitrogen rather than air because its molecules are smaller, making it possible to detect smaller leaks.","After this, they heat-treat the fuel line to harden the metal and apply an anti-corrosion coating.","They wrap the fuel line with high-heat-resistant foam insulation secured with high-heat-resistant polyester tape.","This insulation prevents fuel from freezing in cold temperatures.","It also blocks heat coming from other components of the aircraft, keeping the fuel at a safe working temperature.","After a final inspection, the fuel line is ready to be shipped to the customer.","It leaves the factory with a few un-insulated spaces for installation clamps.","These areas will get insulated after the fuel line is mounted in the aircraft.","The apple pie is a mouth-watering treat.","This pie's popularity has been centuries in the making.","It dates back to the 14th century, when countries like england, denmark, and sweden developed slightly different versions, all leaving fans hungry for more.","Today, apple pie is mass-produced to meet demand.","So you can throw away your rolling pin and let the folks at the factory do all the work.","To make the filling, they empty loads of apple slices into a huge steam-heated kettle.","These apples are a firm and tart type and have been organically grown.","They add honey and apple juice, and the apple slices simmer in the liquids while mixing blades gently blend the ingredients.","And with the slices now partially cooked, they spice up the mix with a generous dash of cinnamon.","To thicken it to a syrupy sweetness, they add tapioca flour.","The blades fold the dry ingredients into the mix as the apple slices continue to cook.","The fruit softens and releases juices.","The liquids thicken to a syrupy consistency.","When the apple slices are lightly browned, this filling mix is done.","These browned and syrupy slices are now prepared and ready for the pastry shell.","The shell starts with chilled premium-grade butter.","It's the creamiest.","Organic and 100% whole-wheat flour is the next ingredient in this high-fiber pastry recipe.","They pour a measured amount of honey into the pastry mix to sweeten it.","They add ice-cold water.","It's cold to keep the butter from melting too quickly, and that means the crust will turn out flaky.","Inside the pastry mixer, a dough hook blends and kneads the ingredients until they congeal into dough.","The dough is moist, but not too wet and sticky.","Inside an apparatus called a sheeter, a mechanized roller presses the dough into sheets.","A worker drapes a sheet of dough over groupings of four paper pie plates, which then move forward on a carousel.","Meanwhile, overhead, that syrupy apple filling funnels into a device called a depositor.","The depositor pumps the filling into the uncooked pie crusts as they circle around on the loop conveyor.","This automated system fills every second grouping of crusts right on cue.","Now full of sweet fruit, a worker tops them with more dough, giving the pies the upper crust.","Like a big, revolving cookie-cutter, a rolling die punch-cuts the dough around the pie plates, separating them, trimming and crimping the edges all in one action.","Pedestal lifts hoist the pies, and a worker transfers them to the next conveyor.","They finish one group of pies and then start another, for a continuous cycle of pie production.","The pies now head into the baking zone.","Here, workers arrange the pies on baking sheets.","They slice holes in the top crusts to vent steam and prevent fruit juices from overflowing.","They stack the pie-laden baking sheets on racks in a convection oven.","The racks spin for a more even baking job.","They send one apple pie from each batch to the quality assurance department.","Here, the inspector takes in the aromas from the freshly baked pie.","She examines its form and compares it to an existing perfect pie.","Slicing it confirms that the crust is flaky.","But does it have that melt-in-your-mouth flavor?","There's only one way to verify that.","If the quality assurance people approve the pie, then the whole batch moves forward.","They flash-freeze the pies, then seal them in cellophane.","Suctioning arms open cardboard containers, and a worker slides in the pies.","Rollers close the pre-glued flaps.","They produce more than 2,100 apple pies every hour at this factory.","Once the job is done, there are big decisions to be made-- like one scoop or two?","One slice or the whole pie?","Perhaps it's best just to dig in and decide later.","Invented in 19th century america, the radiator brought warmth to people's lives.","It made central heating possible.","Before that, several fireplaces and stoves were needed to warm a home.","But with a radiator in every room, one boiler could heat an entire house.","While the traditional cast-iron radiator is still a source of warmth, it now competes with modern steel versions.","These steel radiators are lighter and heat a room faster.","They also come in a range of styles and can make a colorful design statement.","Production begins with a series of powerful punch presses.","They punch holes in steel plates, and they shape the parts by pressing the metal onto dies.","These punched and pressed parts are called half pieces.","They'll be used to make radiator headers, the connector part that interlinks the tubular heating elements.","The half pieces exit the punch-press station and slide into the clutch of a robotic device.","It brings two half pieces together in perfect alignment and delivers them to an automated welder, which joins them at the seam.","The process is usually shielded by a protective cover, but it's been lifted to allow our camera to video it.","Next, a press pares down the bulging seam.","This is called deburring.","With perfect timing, a robot then moves in and transfers the assembly to a grinding station.","Here, it rotates between two sanding belts to smooth the seam to a flawless finish.","A circular saw spins towards the part and slices it in the center to create two radiator headers.","These radiator headers are now complete.","A gripper with rounded claws transfers six steel tubes to a welder.","The welder fuses the tubes to the headers, and while the welding is being done, another feeder robot ensures a steady supply of headers.","There's one header for two tubes, so three radiator modules are coming together simultaneously.","Sharp, pinscher-like knives sheer down the protruding welds so they're flush to the rest of the parts.","The welded modules then chaff against two grinding belts.","The process smoothes the seams substantially.","But this grinding misses the spaces between the steel tubes, so a smaller sander tucks into that location, making the weld smooth all the way around.","Now a test.","They immerse a four-element module in water and pump air into it.","No bubbles in the water mean no leaks, and production continues.","They now build the radiator section by section.","They layer the modules and weld them together at the headers.","This sectional approach allows them to assemble radiators of virtually any size.","Each radiator is custom-ordered to fit into a specific space and to meet a specific heating need.","Of course, the larger the radiator, the more heat it delivers.","Here's an inside look at a steel radiator header.","With the radiator now complete, they repeat the test done earlier and confirm that it's completely leak-proof.","They now run an electrical charge through the radiator, as they immerse it in a primer.","The charge causes the primer to cling to the metal.","Once baked on, it will protect it from corrosion.","This household radiator is ready for a coat of paint.","The customer selects the color beforehand to suit the home's interior design and his personal taste.","They bake on the finish, and once it cools, they wrap up the job.","These radiators are now homeward bound.","Fueled by a furnace, hot water will move through them in a continuous loop, and they'll exude warmth.","That's why the radiator continues to be a nice thing to come home to."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fish Replicas","Siren Systems","Pre"]},"text":["It used to be that you stuffed and mounted that big catch.","Nowadays, catch-and-release is the norm, so the trend is to display replicas of the prize fish you caught, photographed, then set free.","It's more humane, and you get to brag about the one that didn't get away until you let it.","Sports fishermen aren't the only buyers of fish replicas.","Marinas, seaquariums, and seafood restaurants also acquire them for display.","While a replica is a humane alternative to mounting the real thing, one real fish does have to sacrifice his life for the cause in order to make the mold from which the replicas are cast.","The first step is to surround the dead fish in a mix of soil and dirt.","To construct the first half of the mold, the artist builds the mix-up to the halfway point, then rinses the surface clean.","Next, using molding plaster, he forms a ledge all around the fish and under the fins.","He positions six to eight tabs that will help align the two mold halves.","Once the plaster hardens, he pins the fins steady and pours on gelcoat resin.","This material picks up the scales and other intricate details.","Once the gelcoat cures, he removes the pins, then covers the surface in fiberglass resin and over that, shredded fiberglass cloth.","Then he applies another coat of fiberglass resin, ensuring the cloth is thoroughly saturated.","Once the resin hardens, he flips the fish to the other side...","Breaks off the plaster, and repeats all the previous steps to construct the second half of the mold.","After about four hours of labor, the mold is finally finished.","The mold maker removes the fish and washes the now vacant cavity.","Now the team can begin casting the replicas.","They wax the cavity to prevent sticking.","Then they apply white gelcoat resin, which picks up all the fine details.","With a handheld chopping gun, they lay down a layer of shredded fiberglass cloth.","They apply resin putty along the perimeter of the cavity on each mold half.","Using the alignment tabs, they close and clamp the mold halves together.","Once the putty sets, they remove the clamps, open the mold, and extract the fiberglass replica.","Using a jigsaw, they cut out the fish's mouth.","Then via the mouth, they fill the hollow interior with expanding polyurethane foam.","The hard foam provides a solid base against which to sculpt the fish's mouth and set its eyes, fins, and gill.","With a jigsaw again, they remove all the excess foam...","Then, with a disk sander, sand the rough edges smooth.","Next, they glue a glass eye on each side of the head and, using resin putty, set the side and bottom fins, which they had removed at one point and molded separately.","They epoxy teeth into the mouth.","The mold maker used the real fish teeth to make a rubber mold.","Then, using that mold, he cast this replica set of teeth in plastic.","Now they'll bring the fish to life with color.","First, using a paint gun, they apply a coat of gray primer.","Once that dries, they apply a white base coat, followed by a coat of silver.","With an airbrush, an artist paints the subtle shades and markings that make this fake fish look so incredibly real.","The finishing touch-- they paint a piece of cardboard red, cut it into the shape of a gill, then glue it in place.","After 45 hours of casting and painting, this prized catch is ready for display.","Siren systems were first widely used during world war ii to warn of possible air attacks.","Early on, that wailing effect was generated by forcing air against a perforated disk.","Today's siren sounds emanate from higher-tech systems and still mean trouble is on its way.","from atop towers and buildings, siren systems warn surrounding communities of impending tornadoes, floods, or any calamity.","Today's sirens can broadcast both warning tones and live voice messages.","They can also be activated by remote control from anywhere in the world.","The messages and warning tones from a typical system can be heard from almost half a mile away.","production begins with the transformers for the amplifiers.","A worker winds thick, insulated copper wires around a plastic bobbin to produce the transformer's primary coil.","She compresses the wires to eliminate gaps.","A tight winding is critical for generating a magnetic field and transferring it to a secondary coil.","She wraps insulating tape around the primary coil.","She winds thin wire over it to produce the narrower secondary coil, and she encases that in more insulating tape.","Next, with swift dexterity, an employee stacks e-shaped iron insulators in the center of the bobbin to build a core.","She inserts smaller iron insulators between the e-shaped ones, and this tightens up the pack.","She taps them into place and now has a dense iron core that will aid the flow of energy between the transformer coils.","With an enamel coating baked on and the assembly wired for sound, this siren transformer is now complete.","A computer-operated machine now punch-cuts assembly holes in an aluminum panel that will be used for a section of the siren cabinet.","A robot transfers the panel to a computerized bending machine.","Another robot feeds the panel to a clamping bar and, using hydraulic might, bends it against the clamp in strategic locations.","This transforms it into a section of the siren's back and sidewalls.","It also folds the edges, creating flanges for the cabinet-door assembly.","This computerized system takes less than a minute to complete all these folds.","The robot then transfers the siren-cabinet part to a conveyor, and it's on to the next station for assembly.","Ahead, some cabinet brackets are in the wash zone.","As the parts travel through, they get a soapy spray and then a rinse.","After drying, the parts head into a powder-paint booth.","Sprayers apply dry powder paint to the surface of the parts.","It takes eight automated guns and two manually operated ones to evenly coat these brackets.","The paint is electrostatically charged to cling to the metal, but at this point can be rubbed off like dust.","Baking it causes the particles to melt and bond to the surface for a smooth and very tough paint job.","This worker now installs the siren system's control board.","It regulates the siren's six tones, 16 prerecorded messages, and the public-address function.","He bolts it to the inside of the cabinet door.","Next up is an amplifier equipped with the transformer we saw assembled earlier and the amplifier board.","He installs the completed amplifier in the cabinet and connects it to the control board.","There are five amplifiers in this siren system-- one for each speaker on the tower.","He equips it with a control pad for on-site activation.","Then a 1,650-ton press injects hot liquid plastic into molds.","In seconds, the plastic cools, and the press retracts to reveal the new speaker parts.","They bolt the speaker halves together, install the screen through which the siren sound emanates, and top it off with a plastic cap.","They install a 400-watt driver in each section of the siren's speakers.","The more speakers there are atop the siren tower, the greater the reach.","The most powerful can be heard many miles away.","Emergency vehicles are equipped with smaller versions of these systems to warn motorists of their speedy approach, and the concept is basically the same-- to get your instant attention.","in today's hustle-and-bustle world, it's not uncommon to forgo brown-bagging it and instead to grab a meal on the go.","It's not surprising to see that food retailers, from mega supermarkets to tiny convenience stores, carry prepackaged sandwiches for the hungry-in-a-hurry customer.","Ham and cheese, cheese and tomato, chicken salad-- just a few of the many sandwich varieties you can buy ready-made.","Retail customers specify which ingredients they want in their sandwich order, and the factory sets up the assembly lines accordingly.","The first step is to load fresh bread into an automated machine.","While doing so, they visually inspect the slices and remove any with holes or other flaws.","The machine separates the slices in the loaf.","Then, because this sandwich requires it, an internal roller spreads melted butter.","The machine then drops the buttered slices faceup onto the belt that moves through the production line, where first, an automated depositor squirts on the quantity and type of mayonnaise the customer requested.","Workers manually lay on the more specific ingredients, such as cold cuts or grated cheddar cheese.","In the prep area, workers load logs of ham into a slicer.","The customer has specified the size and weight of the slices it wants in the sandwich, and the factory programs the slicer accordingly.","The slices go off to the assembly line, where workers add them to the sandwiches.","Next, they close up the sandwiches.","They stack the sandwiches in piles of two.","The belt then brings the sandwiches to a mechanized cutter.","The cutter works like a reciprocating saw, the vertical blade oscillating at high speed as the sandwich travels through it.","The stacked halves on each side will be packaged together as one sandwich.","Some of the sandwich varieties produced in the largest quantities are made on a fully automated assembly line.","A robot suctions up bread slices and places them on a moving belt.","Positioning plates descend and adjust the slices so that they'll be perfectly centered under the nozzles, which dispense the sandwich ingredients.","In production here, egg-salad sandwiches.","A nozzle deposits a set quantity of chopped egg with mayonnaise on every second slice.","At the next station, robotic arms lined with suction cups grab the empty slices and flip them over onto the filled slices.","Next stop, an ultrasonic knife.","It slices the sandwiches in two using vibrations produced by high-frequency sound waves.","This cutting method gives a cleaner edge.","Next, robotic arms pick up half of each sandwich, spin it around, and stack it onto the other half.","A robot grabs four finished sandwiches at a time and puts them in triangular, plastic trays, which then move on to the sealing and labeling stations.","Back on the semi-automated assembly line, workers stack the sandwiches manually and place them in individual plastic-lined cardboard packages.","A conveyor belt brings them to a machine, which pushes down the top flap and heat-seals it shut.","The sandwiches hit store shelves within 12 hours of production.","They stay fresh for an additional three days, after which the sandwich company removes the unsold ones while making its daily delivery of new ones.","Before the invention of electrical lighting, candlesticks were household essentials.","They often had shiny flanges to reflect the light of the flame and throw the glow farther.","Necessity may have been the reason for their invention, but candlesticks soon evolved into a thing of beauty.","With their elegant curves, these pewter candlesticks add a touch of class to any decor.","Top them off with lit candles, and the ambiance improves, which is why people still use candlesticks to both decorate and illuminate.","This candlestick starts with a flat pewter disk.","The worker stamps the company insignia onto it.","He loads the stamped disk into a lathe against a flared form known as the chuck-- a kind of template for the base of the candlestick.","He rubs a wax-like lubricant onto the pewter to reduce friction, while he works the metal as it spins very fast on the lathe.","He exerts a fair amount of pressure with a finger-shaped tool to make the pewter conform to the shape of the chuck.","This process is called spinning.","It takes a series of passes with the tool to transform the flat disk into the basic shape of a candlestick base.","He trims the bottom to make the part perfectly level.","Now, with a wooden dowel, he rolls the bottom of the candlestick base to make it more substantial.","The base now complete, he sets it aside.","He now works a smaller pewter disk against a different chuck to shape the candlestick top, which is called the bobeche.","He flares the bobeche, creating a flange to reflect candlelight and catch wax drippings.","Using the chuck, pictured on the left, he's produced a stylish candlestick top.","To make the candlestick post, the next worker melts pewter and skims off the impurities.","He pours the molten pewter into a mold, and it solidifies quickly.","He drains the remaining liquid pewter and opens the mold, revealing a hollow post that matches the top and base of the candlestick.","Pewter is also hardened in the channel through which it was poured.","This extra material, called sprue, will be removed later.","Over at the next station, a worker removes a seam-like ridge created where the parts of the mold came together.","He scrapes and files the ridge to even the surface.","On the left, you can see the candlestick post before the ridge removal.","And this is the part afterward.","Another worker now slices off the sprue ends with a band saw, leaving the post design intact.","The pewter sprues will be remelted and reused.","Next, the worker clamps the post into position, and a paddle drill bores into one end and then the other.","It slopes the lip of the casting inward, creating a chamfered edge that will connect neatly to the candlestick top and base.","He slides a rod through the casting to better grip the part as he presses it against a fine-grit sand belt.","The sanding process removes scuffs and scrapes, and the result is satiny-smooth.","Now it's time for this pewter candlestick to come together.","He places the post on the candlestick top and solders them together.","The tin-alloy solder wire melts and acts like hot glue to bond the two parts.","He moves the candlestick base into position.","He dips the open end of the cast post into a flux substance to prepare the surface and transfers it to the base.","As he solders the two, he taps the post with the torch to realign it when it slips a bit.","Then he continues soldering.","He now dips the completed candlestick in soapy water.","This removes flux residue and hardens the solder bond.","For a highly polished finish, he presses the candlestick against a spinning cotton wheel that rubs a special compound onto it.","It's a shinier alternative to the satin-pewter candlestick, and the effect is similar to silver.","When it comes to candlesticks, two are always better than one, so it's time to pair them up.","Together, they'll really shine."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aluminum Foil","Snowboards","Contact Lenses","Bread"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Aluminum foil...","Snowboards...","Contact lenses...","And bread.","Aluminum foil has a multitude of uses, from heating something up in the oven to keeping something cold in the fridge.","But have you ever wondered how a huge block of solid aluminum gets transformed into a paper-thin sheet of foil?","The manufacture of aluminum foil requires the repeated thinning out of a large block of aluminum.","We begin by melting ingots of 100%-pure aluminum in a natural-gas furnace.","These ingots, called \"pigs,\" are essential in alloys with zinc, titanium, and silica.","It takes 3 to 8 hours to melt 30 tons of aluminum in this remelting furnace, which operates at 1,380 degrees fahrenheit.","The fusion temperature of aluminum is 1,220 degrees fahrenheit.","A portion of aluminum is poured into this small mold to make a sample.","Solidifying in just seconds, the sample allows for testing to verify the contents of the prepared alloy.","Molten aluminum runs in a movable trough located above the tapping well.","At this stage, impurities are filtered out in special receptacles.","The molds are cooled with water to accelerate the solidification of the molten aluminum.","Ingots are unmolded and are ready for milling.","Each ingot is massive, measuring 14 feet in length, 5 feet in width, and 18 inches thick.","It weighs a whopping 8 tons, so it has to be handled by overhead cranes and placed on special plates.","This crust-removing machine removes 1/10 of an inch of the ingot's thickness.","Impurities are eliminated to achieve a perfectly smooth finish.","All traces of the liquid used to cool the decrusting knives have to be eliminated.","The many steps in the thinning of the ingot begin.","First, the aluminum block is crushed by the hot mill rollers.","Temperatures in the rollers are between 850 and 1,000 degrees fahrenheit.","Pressure on the ingot is continually verified by a technician.","If the pressure is too great, the technician will lower it.","The heat is so high that the ingot risks sticking to the mill's roller.","To prevent this, everything is cooled with a liquid that's 95% water and 5% oil.","Starting from a thickness of 18 inches, the ingot becomes increasingly thinner with each pass-through.","Depending on requirements, the ingot will go through the machine between 12 and 16 times.","The ingot now measures about 3 inches in thickness.","It has to get down to just 2/10 of an inch.","At this stage, the ingot is about 2 inches thick and measures almost 30 feet in length.","This conveyor transports the plate during its milling stages.","The ingot has become a sheet 2/10 of an inch thick.","It is sufficiently thin to proceed to spooling, where it spools onto itself before being sent to the cold rolling mill.","There, its thickness will be reduced still further.","The aluminum sheet has become very thin now and risks being broken by the tension needed for cold rolling.","So the sheet is doubled to avoid this breakage.","One final reduction in the mill, and the sheet will have the thickness required by the customer.","A liquid coolant is used to prevent the foil from sticking to the rollers.","Since the edges of the foil sheet are lightly damaged and crinkled, a knife removes a strip 4/10 of an inch wide.","Finally, the roll is cut to the desired width, and one huge ingot has produced nearly 8 miles of foil.","If you've ever tried snowboarding, you've probably discovered that those cool moves aren't quite as easy as the pros make it look.","Learning to maneuver a snowboard is a long and involved process, and it's much the same when it comes to manufacturing these surfboards for snow.","The snowboard is the delight of winter-sports enthusiasts.","Its core is made of a thin sheet of wood.","Various kinds of woods are used, depending on the type of board being made.","Bindings have to be firmly attached to the board.","Holes are drilled for inserts, to which bindings will be secured.","A template allows the holes to be precisely drilled.","Planing reduces the board to the required thickness.","A thick board is obviously more rigid than a thin one.","A shaping procedure refines the board's contours.","At this point, the board is still perfectly flat with no curvature.","The boards are then stored upright to await the next step.","Now they must secure the aluminum inserts, which will be embedded in the wood.","This thin sheet of fiberglass will create better support for the inserts.","Therefore, they will be more solid.","To make working on it easier, the board is securely held in place by clamps.","Epoxy, an extremely strong adhesive often used with composite materials, is applied to the fiberglass at room temperature.","It is essential to remove any excess epoxy, as well as eliminate all air bubbles so there will be a good adherence.","As for the top part of the board, it's made of a resistant plastic applied by silk-screening.","In silk-screening, ink is spread by this little squeegee.","This application is called a pass.","Colors have to be applied one at a time.","The inks must dry for several hours between each coat.","Now the board must be curved.","A cover is placed on the mold.","When the mold is closed, the board is given the desired curve.","Heat trapped in the mold makes the epoxy set and harden.","The board comes out of the mold, and any excess epoxy and wood are removed by a band saw.","To achieve a perfect cut, the saw blade is changed every 50 boards.","It's highly precise work and totally manual.","They apply, again by silk-screening, another coat, then another color.","This time, red.","The snowboard must now be protected.","A protecting varnish flows as a thin curtain.","The board passes beneath this curtain and then moves into a dryer for a six-hour stay.","Sanding removes surplus varnish from the edges of the board.","New holes are pierced into the board to locate the inserts installed at the beginning of production.","This sander removes imperfections in the hardened varnish and prepares the board for its second varnish coating.","Then the plastic base is sanded to obtain the desired finish.","The board is checked to see that it's perfectly flat.","A razor blade verifies that the different coats are well-adhered to one another.","Certain boards get an engraved aluminum insert-- a luxury touch.","The board is now ready for action.","This facility turns out over 500 snowboards per day in 30 different models.","People who have defective vision can always wear glasses, but in many cases, there's a less-noticeable alternative.","Contact lenses correct faulty vision without anyone knowing the wearer even has them on.","What goes into making these tiny optical aids is really eye-catching.","Contact lenses have been in existence for over a century.","At first completely rigid, they have become gas-permeable and as flexible as gelatin.","These small polyhema disks are used to make soft polymer contact lenses in a variety of colors.","We see here a patient's prescription, essential to the fabrication of lenses.","The process begins with data processing control of the shaping.","Data is supplied by computer, which controls a digital lathe.","They begin by shaping the inner curvature of the lens.","This digital lathe, rotating at 6,000 revolutions per minute, is equipped with an industrial diamond.","It shapes the inner surface-- the part that touches the cornea.","It must be free from any abrasions and imperfections and is polished with a super-fine abrasive paste.","Polishing is a crucial step because it assures excellent comfort and perfect vision.","A technician measures lens thickness with an extremely precise gauge.","They now shape the outer surface, the part that touches the eyelid.","The lens is glued with a special warm wax, when the lens is completed, an ultrasound device will remove the wax.","The wax takes on the desired shape in just seconds.","The comfort of a lens is also determined by its thickness.","It must be as thin as possible while retaining sufficient solidity.","They begin by shaping the outer diameter of the lens, which takes only a few seconds.","They now polish the outer surface of the lens.","This polishing, done at high speed, calls for an abrasive paste, some oil, and a small polyester cotton ball.","This apparatus polishes several lenses at the same time-- a step that takes only 60 seconds.","With everything computerized, quality is incomparable.","A technician then polishes the rims of the lens.","The polymer is hydrated to make it flexible.","Lenses remain immersed in a balanced ph saline solution for 24 hours.","The lens becomes engorged with liquid and expands, reaching the desired proportions.","This optical topographer is used to verify, through color distribution, whether the spread of optical power in the lens is precise enough to assure perfect vision.","And now we proceed with another important testing procedure.","The soft, fragile lenses are always handled with the greatest of care.","This unit, called a frontofocometer, is a metering device which verifies the optical precision of the lens.","The lenses are now completed and are cleaned.","They're stored in containers filled with a salt solution.","This little vial that we might find at optometrists' is sealed with a silicone cap and another of aluminum.","These vials are placed in a sterilizer at temperatures of 250 degrees fahrenheit for an hour and a half.","The contents will remain sterile for up to seven years if not opened.","The production of a lens involves 14 steps.","If we exclude the rather lengthy hydration process, actual lens production requires only 15 minutes.","They can produce almost 1,000 contact lenses per day-- all made from these tiny colored disks.","It's a staple for people all over the world.","Smothered in butter and jelly or dipped in gravy, it's a delicious treat that's hard to resist.","And we're willing to bet you can't resist the opportunity to find out what goes into the making of your daily bread.","Over 3,000 years ago, in the time of king tut, egyptians were already baking 40 varieties of leaven bread.","The greeks' contribution to this history was the oven and 70 varieties of flavored breads-- breads so good that the romans took the greek bakers to rome and their ovens to gaul.","By the middle ages, bread had become the primary food of western europe.","Multigrain bread is made from several ingredients such as flaxseed, buckwheat, soy, and millet.","This protective grill prevents foreign matter from accidentally falling into the recipe mix-- a recipe that calls for a half a ton of flour.","The ingredients, ground in a mill, are kept in these 36 enormous containers.","We begin by mixing the ingredients together.","These kneading troughs are used to ferment the yeast, a step which takes three hours.","The fermenting yeast makes the dough rise considerably.","This huge mixer kneads the dough for about eight minutes.","When thoroughly homogenous, the contents are emptied into a large tub.","The dough weighs a little over a ton.","The dough is loaded onto a slide situated above the dough divider.","At the bottom of the machine, a small hole allows the dough to escape.","Two mechanically operated arms cut the dough pieces into equal lengths.","It forms 192 of these a minute.","The dough then falls onto a conveyor.","Here dough pieces are rolled into balls, which can be more easily worked.","The doughballs are floured to prevent them from sticking during their transport and when they're molded.","Here the balls of dough leave the divider and go to the molder.","During transport, the dough can rest, allowing the yeast to act.","The dough is then folded and rolled.","The machine can handle three per second for a total of 11,500 an hour.","The dough is rolled out to the exact size and falls into baking molds.","Here we see the making of hot dog rolls.","These little doughballs have to be shaped lengthwise and fermented before molding.","Here the hog dog rolls are being machine-molded.","Dough pieces must not touch one another, so they're spaced apart by a small mechanical arm.","Now we go back to multigrain bread production.","Squatted down at the bottom of the molds, the dough pieces go into the proofer, where they rise for an hour at 110 degrees fahrenheit and at 70% humidity.","Then they bake for 20 minutes at 490 degrees.","When finally baked, the loaves end up with a nice golden color.","A vacuum system draws the loaves from their molds.","They're then placed on a conveyor to cool.","A guidance system takes care of carrying the breads to various sections of the bakery.","When well-cooled, breads go to the slicer, which cuts 65 loaves a minute.","They are sliced by 7-foot-wide and 16-inch-long steel saw blades.","These blades are changed every two weeks.","Sliced loaves are automatically packed at 65 per minute.","They're now ready for shipping.","Some 5 1/2 hours have passed between preparation of the dry flour and packaging of the baked bread."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Champagne Hoods & Foils","Pneumatic Systems","Espresso Machines","Pizza Ovens"]},"text":["Champagne toasts are common at weddings, birthdays, and many other special occasions, but if the cork isn't secured properly, it can pop off at the wrong moment.","So champagne manufacturers have developed hoods and foils to keep the bottles closed until the right moment.","The foil covering that protects the cork is part of the iconic champagne look.","Unwrapping it is like opening a special present.","Underneath the foil is a wire hood and disk that keeps everything in place.","The flat disks begin as thin sheets of steel.","A suctioning device transfers the sheets to a printing machine.","The machine slices the sheets into strips.","Then, the suctioning device moves the strips to the next step in the production line.","It positions the strips on a machine that quickly punches out the round disk components.","The wire hoods are made out of galvanized steel.","A series of large bobbins feed the steel into a multiphase machine.","The wire is coated with colored lacquer for increased protection and aesthetic appeal.","On a rotating carousel, the machine twists two horizontal strands of wire.","It leaves enough room for a vertical loop between each set of twists.","Next, the device twists the vertical loop.","A blade cuts the wire in between each newly formed cross.","Then, a mechanism removes the crosses and transfers them to the next stage of production.","A machine shapes the bottom of the crosses in three steps.","First, it pinches the wire together at the four extremities.","Then, it forms a bend.","And finally, it folds them over to create a hook.","A device folds the feet up and hooks them onto a wire circle called a belt.","The wire structures are ready for the disk insert.","A press forces the disks into a die to create rounded caps.","Finally, the machine inserts the newly formed caps into the wire structure.","The champagne wire hoods are now complete and ready for their bottles.","It takes 15 steps to build a wire hood.","Incredibly, the machine can build each hood in under 2 seconds.","The wire hood holds the cork in place, but the polylaminate foil wrapper protects it from the elements.","This specially made foil is composed of polythene film sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum.","A high-speed cutter trims the edges.","Then, the polylaminate rolls through a bath of varnish.","The polythene film is made out of granules.","They dye the polylaminate gold using a high-speed printing process.","The polylaminate foil is coated with specially formulated ink that dries instantly under ultraviolet light.","The foil transfers to a perforation machine.","This allows customers to easily unwrap the champagne bottle.","A hot stamping machine adds decorative elements and the brand name to the foil.","Another device adds a strip of glue to one edge.","A machine cuts the foil, then a device equipped with cylindrical rods, called mandrels, wraps the foil into cones.","The glue strip holds the cone together.","A machine places a disk on top of the cones.","They crimp the ends to increase the cone's rigidity.","Then, a vacuum sucks the completed cones off the mandrels.","No bottle of bubbly is complete without a hood and foil.","This factory quickly produces both in any style or color the winery requests.","The factory's speed and versatility allows them to produce wire hoods and foils for 50% of the sparkling wines made in france.","Pneumatic tubes were originally used to transfer money and sensitive documents.","Today, these systems have a different purpose.","Hospitals use them to quickly transport blood samples to their labs.","For patients who need a quick diagnosis, these pipelines are a lifeline.","Many hospitals have a series of pneumatic pipes running behind their walls.","Health care workers seal medical samples in capsules and put them in the system.","These pipelines can be several miles long.","A computer allows users to monitor the capsule's movement.","Compressed air instantly pushes the capsules through the tubing.","They arrive at the lab in seconds.","The building process starts with the send-and-receive unit.","A worker glues tubes to a plate.","Both are made of plastic to reduce static.","He slides the tubes through holes in the top of the unit's metal housing.","He places more tubing inside the housing, then installs the track.","The tubing slides back and forth on the track to shift between send and receive mode.","He screws a bracket to the box.","It contains a motor for the sliding mechanism.","Then, he places the unit in an upright position.","He connects the motor to a power source to test it.","He confirms that the motor moves the plastic chutes back and forth smoothly.","The worker connects an air source to the system to verify that the seals and vents work properly.","At the next station, a technician removes the temporary door.","Then, he wires the motor to the electrical power source.","He bundles the wires and trims the plastic ties.","He screws the computerized control panel to the door.","Then, he reattaches the door.","The technician wires the control panel and verifies that it works.","Then, he connects the computer in the send-and-receive unit to one in a diverter unit.","He confirms that the two computers communicate.","Each pneumatic delivery system has several diverters.","They allow the medical capsules to turn a corner or change direction to reach their final destination.","He installs a gear and motor.","Then, he tests the movement of the pipe from one outlet to the next.","If everything works properly, he screws the back panel on.","Then, they connect the diverter and other transfer units to tubing in the walls of the hospital.","Next, they make the delivery capsules.","A worker places the plastic body in a machine.","He activates it, and the machine spins a cap onto the body.","The spinning also generates heat, which fuses the two parts.","He slides the capsule onto a post to keep it in place.","Then, he hooks one end of a spring to the lid framework and the other end to the sliding lid.","He screws the sliding lid to the framework.","Now, the lid easily snaps open and shut.","He places a rubber casing onto the end and stretches a rubber gasket around the rim.","He wraps fabric bands around both ends.","This helps buffer the capsule during the journey through the pipeline.","He tucks the bands into the rims using a screwdriver.","He installs plastic bumpers inside.","They help cushion any blows to the capsule and its contents during the ride through the pipeline.","This capsule is now ready for a test run.","The technician inserts it in the shoot and programs the path.","He opens the door to monitor its progress.","The tubes slide over to collect the capsule and then slide back to drop it into the main pipeline.","Compressed air blows it through the system.","It zips through the pipes and arrives safely at its final destination.","In the 1880s, italians developed special machines to make espresso.","As the name implies, this coffee drink can be produced in seconds.","Soon, the appeal of this quick brew expanded beyond italy, and today, espresso is enjoyed all over the world.","Making good espresso is as much a science as it is an art.","Professional machines balance temperature and steam pressure to produce espresso with kick and crema.","Professional espresso machines are made of high-carbon steel sheets.","Computer programmed tools carve different shapes out of the steel.","These parts will be the framework for the espresso machine.","The tools also cut holes for screws, bolts, and components like the steam tap.","An employee places a freshly cut control panel into a hydraulic press machine.","The press bends the panel to the correct shape and creates tabs for assembly.","This is the panel before and after bending.","After bending the other panels, they assemble the framework.","The worker attaches a receptacle to capture excess water.","He installs meters to control the flow of water.","They release different amounts for long or short espressos.","He turns the base right side up and screws the side framework to it.","He attaches the front panel to the sides.","The espresso machine's framework is now in place.","Next, they make the group heads.","These parts will shoot hot, pressurized water through the packed ground coffee.","The worker installs valves that will regulate the water flow.","The valves allows release built-up pressure so that the filter holders can be removed after brewing.","The group heads fit into slots in the front of the framework.","He secures them with nuts at the back.","He places a large copper-and-brass boiler in the espresso machine chassis and connects the water lines.","The tank will generate steam to froth milk for cappuccinos.","It will also supply hot water for tea.","Heat exchangers run through the boiler to supply the hot water for brewing.","He connects copper pipes to the heat exchanger outlets on the boiler.","Then, he links them to the group heads.","The pipes have been pre-bent in order to easily fit into the group heads.","He tightens the fitting for the hot water tap.","Next, he installs the pump that pressurizes the water.","He screws it to one side of the framework.","A worker then wires the electronics to the front of the machine.","The employee fits the control panel to the front framework.","He slips rubber molding around the protruding seam.","Then, he screws knobs onto the levers.","He tucks a heating coil into the upper part of the machine.","The top of the machine works as a cup warmer.","The espresso stays hot longer when served in heated cups.","A worker then encases the steel espresso machine in polycarbonate molded panels.","The plastic parts are slightly rounded to make the espresso machine look less boxy.","He seats a steel drip tray under the group heads.","And he places the cup tray over the heating element.","The espresso machine is ready for the filter basket holders.","They're equipped with winglets that hook into the group heads.","The worker tests the espresso machine to confirm that there are no leaks in the hydraulic circuitry.","The machine appears to be in good, working order.","Now, it's time for a coffee break.","The best-tasting pizzas are made in traditional wood-fired pizza ovens.","They're constructed primarily of natural clay bricks that can withstand high temperatures and retain heat.","If a chef prefers to not use a wood-burning oven, a more convenient gas version is available, as well.","This italian company has been handcrafting classic pizza ovens since 1892.","While the tile or paint options change over time, the construction of the oven itself has remained the same for four generations.","It begins with the oven's rounded top.","They lay clay bricks on a dome form, working inward from a steel edge.","These bricks are made in house.","They can withstand temperatures of over 900 degrees fahrenheit.","That's fast enough to bake a traditional neapolitan pizza in just 60 seconds.","They combine sand, soil, concrete, clay and water in a mixer.","They pour this mixture into a steel mold for the base of the oven.","Once they fill the mold to the top, they place a circular template in the exact center of the mold.","Then, they begin constructing the oven's combustion chamber.","This is where the pizza is baked.","The carefully place clay bricks along the template's inner perimeter.","Then, they remove the template and add more bricks.","They work from the outside in, towards the center.","The oven floor serves as the cooking surface.","It's comprised of four pie-shape pieces made of the same heat-resistant clay as the bricks.","Each piece is 2 inches thick.","They slide the floor in temporarily so they can correctly position the bricks around it.","They remove the floor pieces and begin mortaring the bricks.","Once complete, this oven will weigh over 5,000 pounds.","The company makes even larger models that can weigh more than 3 tons.","They lay a second row of bricks on top of the first.","Then, they fill the middle with clay.","The team covers the clay with soil.","They pack down the soil as they go to create a hard, stable surface.","Now, they can permanently install the oven floor.","Next, they position the oven's cast iron mouth.","They lay bricks in a circle around the mouth to form the wall of the combustion chamber.","They lay most of the bricks vertically to fit in as many as possible.","More bricks will provide better insulation in the chamber.","The team pours water on the top edge of the wall.","They remove the oven mouth and apply the mortar.","Then, they lower the dome onto the wall to enclose the combustion chamber.","A worker repositions the mouth and mortars it in place.","He installs the over mouth, a cast iron plate bearing the manufacturer's name.","He levels it, then fills the gap between the mouth and oven floor with plaster.","They also use plaster to create a smooth surface on top of the mouth.","Now, the smoke will rise through the hood toward the chimney instead of being trapped in the oven.","They position steel side plates and weld them to the over mouth.","Then, they wield on a curved steel front plate.","Next, they construct a funnel-shaped stainless steel hood.","They fill the hood with the same mixture they used for the oven's base.","They cover the dome with wire mesh to compact the mix.","Then, they apply a final coat of the mixture.","A worker lays a cast iron plate on the base, directly in front of the mouth.","He spreads a smooth finishing layer of concrete on both the dome and the base.","Then, they paint the steel and cast iron parts with anti-corrosion paint.","They install marble on the base and apply paint or tile to the dome.","They mount the oven steel door last.","They fire up the oven for 9 days to dry all the natural construction materials.","Then, this oven is complete."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Guitar Pickups","Heated Furniture","Water Well Cylinders","Nonconductive Tools"]},"text":["Guitar pickups were invented during the time of the big-band era.","Jazz music incorporated both guitar and large brass sections.","To offset a guitar's mellow tones, a pickup device was developed to amplify the vibration of the guitar's strings, generating a louder sound.","The guitar pickup was invented in the early 20th century.","The device allowed musicians to plug into a new sound that would later define rock 'n' roll.","Production starts with an edged steel part.","A technician applies glue to the spine and attaches plastic strips to the glued areas for full adhesion.","He glues a second edged steel part to the first, creating a bobbin for wire windings.","He applies clear polyester tape along the inner edges of the bobbin.","The tape will serve as electrical insulation, supplementing an insulating coating that's been applied to the metal.","Using an abrasive wheel, he scuffs off the finish on the end of the bobbin to prepare it for soldering.","The scuffed bobbin is the one on the left.","Then the bobbin is mounted to a winding mandrel.","The craftsman wraps thin copper wire around the end of the bobbin and activates the winding mandrel.","As the mandrel spins, the bobbin gathers the copper wire together to produce a wad that's 4,000 windings thick.","The bobbin containing thousands of copper-wire windings has created a path for magnetic energy.","Next, the ends of the copper wire are soldered to the bobbin.","The craftsman applies a direct current through the coil and measures the electrical resistance.","Once the current falls within the acceptable range, he solders connection cables to the windings.","Then the coil is submerged in hot liquid wax.","The wax will encase the wire windings to prevent mechanical vibrations.","Next, the craftsman inserts brass pins into a press fixture.","He places a steel channel on top of the pins, piercing the pins through the channel.","He flattens the heads of the pins with the press while allowing the ends to extend through the channel.","To stabilize the assembly, he places rubber and steel washers over the protruding pins.","He mounts a brass plate to the pins and adds more washers to electrically ground the assembly.","The craftsman presses the pins to flatten them, securing the plate to the channel.","A second steel channel is attached to the plate on top of the first channel.","The dual coil assembly contains a higher output and will counteract electromagnetic interference.","While most pickups have magnets inside the coils, this pickup contains magnets on the outside of the coils.","This design reduces hum from electrical interference.","The craftsman solders a ground wire to the unit and applies more solder to one of the pins to connect the coil cables.","The coils are inserted in the channels.","A burnt-chrome finish can be applied to the pickup's outer casing.","The burnt-chrome casing produces a discoloration that adds visual interest.","He now pipes a generous amount of epoxy into the casing cavity and inserts the pickup.","He solders wire from the cover to the pickup to ground the unit.","The pickup is placed over the strings of a guitar, and he plugs it into an amplifier.","once he confirms the tone is acceptable, he measures the resistance.","The craftsman tests the direction the current travels through the pickup.","This method is called phase.","He also assesses the strength of the magnetic field through a method known as polarity.","Even though it's taken just 15 minutes to make this guitar pickup, due to its sustainability, it should last for years, providing musicians with plenty of good vibes.","when you're sitting outdoors and it starts getting chilly, you can shiver, put on more layers of clothing, or press a button to let the furniture you're sitting on warm you up.","Designed for use in the outdoors and in colder indoor spaces, heated furniture is a hot new trend.","This heated lounge is hip and practical.","Discreet drain holes prevent rainwater from puddling, and the easy-to-reach heat control knob is located underneath the seat.","Benches, multi-seat lounges, and single chairs can all be made into heated furniture.","The first step is to coat a fiberglass mold with a release agent.","Once a rubber insert is glued into the drain hole, a technician mixes the ingredients for the casting material together.","Ingredients include pigment containing metal oxides, which prevent color fading, a concrete mix containing a blend of fibers for extra strength and resistance, and water containing proprietary additives.","The ingredients are mixed together for about three minutes until the concrete is the consistency of cake batter.","A thin layer is sprayed on to the fiberglass mold, and any raised areas are flattened to remove air bubbles.","The chair's color will never rub off or peel because the pigment is mixed right into the concrete.","Next, technicians add the heating element, a cable that is wrapped around the piece of furniture.","The cable is tacked in place with a separate mix of concrete that has a higher fiber content.","The entire heating element is embedded in a full coat of the high-fiber concrete.","Then a finishing coat of the first mix is applied, and the structure is left to cure at room temperature for 24 hours.","Now cured, this white chair is ready to be extracted.","A technician pumps compressed air through the drain-hole insert.","Due to the release agent application, the cast chair easily pops off the mold.","The rough edges are smoothed with a diamond file.","Then the drain-hole plug is removed.","At another station, a technician coats the entire surface of another chair with a sealant that blocks moisture.","Moisture penetration weakens concrete and draws out the natural salt, which leaves white stains.","Meanwhile, a welder constructs the chair's frame with parts made out of stainless-steel tubes and plates.","The chair has three legs, plus cross members that act as conduits for electrical wires.","The cross members connect to a stainless-steel box, which will house the temperature control unit.","A technician fills the channel with adhesive along the perimeter.","He places the frame into the channel.","The adhesive will take a day to cure.","Next, the electrical wiring is assembled.","The technician fishes two electrical wires through the frame.","One wire connects the power-cord plug to the temperature control unit.","The other runs from the temperature control unit to the temperature control switch.","He glues the switch into a hole in the right front leg.","All the wires are embedded in rubber, making them waterproof.","The temperature control unit is installed in the box at the center of the frame.","Then a temperature sensor is installed underneath the seat.","The technician hammers plastic and stainless-steel feet into the bottom of the legs.","This prevents the legs from scratching the floor and levels the furniture on an uneven surface.","Lastly, a bronze drain is inserted into the drain hole.","A quality controlled heat test measures the surface temperature with an infrared thermometer.","If all is operating correctly, the sensor under the seat tells the thermostat and the temperature control unit when to turn the heat on or off.","Ever since the ancient egyptians developed the shaduf around 4,000 years ago, people have been creating new ways to move water.","Before people relied on electricity, windmills generated power using water-well cylinders.","These simple but highly effective mechanisms are still in use today.","Production of this water-well cylinder began in the late 1800s.","The design was so effective, it hasn't changed since.","To create the valves integral to water-well cylinders, the process starts with a specialized mold made out of compressed sand.","These orange tube-shaped objects are called cores, also made from compressed sand.","The cores allow molten metal to flow around them, ensuring that the valve cage remains hollow.","With the top of the mold casing in place, the assembly moves to the next station on the production line.","A robotic arm lowers the jacket and weight on to each mold to prevent the molten metal from escaping.","A metal worker drops pieces of metal, called returns, into a crucible.","When the temperature of the molten metal reaches 2,102 degrees fahrenheit, it's ready to pour.","Another metal worker uses a device called a cradle to hoist and move the crucible.","He pours the liquefied metal into a sprue hole, which flows into the mold openings.","The molds cool as they head to a vibratory conveyor system.","The vibrations break the sand apart, leaving in its place the newly formed metal parts.","A technician removes the parts with a hook and mounts them on an overhead transport system.","The transport system carries them into a blast machine.","Inside, steel shot blasts the metal clean.","When the parts emerge from the blast machine, the castings are ready for the next phase.","Using a band saw with a diamond-tipped blade, a metal worker carefully cuts the castings into their component parts.","Rough castings have a seam called a parting line, where the two halves of a mold meet.","A metal worker grinds off the excess casting.","The rough casting goes through a machining process.","As the valves are assembled, a small piece of newspaper is placed inside to prevent any damage to the balls during shipment.","These brass, precision-ground balls are crucial components that permit or prevent water flow as they move up and down inside the valve cage.","These components are made of leather that's been pressed, formed, and coated with graphite to lubricate them.","Water-well cylinders have both a check valve and a plunger valve.","A technician tightens a follower on a plunger valve.","While a check valve remains stationary and prevents water from escaping, a plunger valve isn't fixed, so it allows water to move out the top.","A water-well cylinder requires caps and connectors.","A cnc lathe machines a brass cap to the required parameters.","As the component spins at 800 rpm, carbide-tipped cutting tools hone, bore, and thread it where needed.","The cylinders are made from brass tubing.","The 3-millimeter-thick seamless tubing is made from a brass billet heated until soft enough to draw through an inner and outer die.","The result is a strong, corrosion-resistant cylinder that can handle water pressure and immersion for decades.","A cnc device threads both ends of the cylinder to receive the cap and connector.","A technician brushes a pipe-compound sealant on to the threads.","The sealant ensures a watertight fit.","Then he screws the cap to the bottom end of the cylinder.","He adds the top connector and inserts both ends into a lathe.","With the bottom held firmly in place by the lathe chuck, he places a wrench on the top end and lets the machine tighten the parts.","Next, the check valve and the plunger valve are inserted into the cylinder.","This clear acrylic version of the cylinder demonstrates how the process works.","As the plunger valve slides up and down, the check valve remains stationary.","It's hard not to be pumped about an old technology so good.","Nonconductive digging and cutting tools protect workers from potential hazards such as underground power lines.","When a nonconductive tool hits a live wire, the risk is neutralized.","The handle blocks the flow of electrons and reduces the risk of unexpected shocks.","Workers who need to dig run the risk of hitting live electrical wires.","The nonconductive handles of these tools will counteract the flow of electricity, stopping danger in its path.","The handles are made of fiberglass.","They are made using a process known as pultrusion.","A machine pulls glass twine through the stages of production.","Each piece of twine is comprised of hundreds of glass strands.","The twine unwinds through an orange resin bath, which permeates the glass fibers.","A die compresses the resin-soaked glass to a specific length and width.","The result is slightly larger than what is ultimately needed.","The compressed fiberglass travels through a microwave oven for preheating.","Then the fiberglass enters a second heated die.","The process squeezes the handle to its final size, shapes it, and cures the material.","As it's pulled forward, the long fiberglass form cools and solidifies.","This machine, called the tractor, is doing the pulling.","The tractor's treaded rubber pads grab the fiberglass shaft and deliver it to a circular saw.","The saw slices the fiberglass shaft to a specified length.","Since the fiberglass is only partially cured, the handles are cooled at room temperature for 24 hours.","The handles vary based on the type of tool.","A machinist cuts one end of the handle on an angle to fit the blade shank.","Using a sharp disc, he carves spiral grooves at the base of the angle cut.","These grooves allow the shovel shank to fuse with the end of the handle.","Next, the handle is placed in an injection-molding machine with the grooved end extended into the mold.","Glass-filled nylon pellets move through the machine's heated chamber and melt.","An auger forces the thick liquid into the mold.","The shovel shank takes shape around the end of the handle, and glass-filled nylon liquid flows into the grooves.","The shank becomes integral to the handle.","Next, a machinist clips the excess material from the newly formed shank.","The glass and nylon shank is also nonconductive.","The shank end is submerged in a cooling bath.","Using a drill, the machinist removes bolts from nuts installed in the shank during molding.","This leaves the nuts embedded in the shank.","They'll be used to attach the shovel blade.","Meanwhile, another technician applies a rubber gasket to the end of the shank.","The gasket has holes that keep the nuts open.","He places the shovel blade on the assembly, aligning the holes with the nuts.","He secures the shovel blade to the shank with screws.","It's nonconductive from the handle to the metal blade, so the user can safely grip it at almost any spot.","Apart from being nonconductive, this shovel must also be heavy-duty.","To test its strength, an inspector inserts the blade into a machine.","Once he has determined the test area, the chain is connected to a container filled with sand bags that weigh 250 pounds.","He lowers the platform that holds the load and observes the handle.","If the handle bends but doesn't break, it's sufficiently strong.","The inspector places the shovel in another tester and runs 10,000 volts of electricity through the tool to measure the leakage at the end of the handle.","If it's minimal, he assigns the shovel a unique serial number and brands it as certified according to electrical standards.","On site, a nonconductive tool can be indispensable, providing the user a safe handle on a potentially dangerous situation."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cartridge Blades","Chocolate Banana Loaves","Vending Machines","Dive Computers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" cartridge blades, chocolate banana loaves, vending machines and dive computers.","Developed in the middle of the 20th century, the cartridge blade is an invention with many cutting edges.","The plastic cartridge houses up to five razor blades.","With multiple blades, fewer shaving strokes may be necessary, which results in a faster shave.","For the multibladed cartridge razor, getting rid of stubble is no trouble.","When the many blades become dull, the cartridge can simply be popped out and replaced with a new one.","Making cartridge blades starts with coiled steel strips that are a few miles long.","The strips unwind around guide rollers that orient them for entry into punch machines.","Revolving cylinders help feed the steel strips to the punches.","The punches cut holes in the steel, spacing them at precise intervals.","These holes will allow production machinery to grip the steel and move it through the blade-making process.","Machinery pulls the steel ribbons through an oven, which heats them to a searing 1,832 degrees fahrenheit.","The steel then enters a cooling chamber, followed by another oven.","The temperature extremes change the steel's molecular structure.","It becomes harder and stronger.","The steel rewinds and then unwinds between grinding stones that hone the edge into a very sharp gothic arch profile.","They're now ready to break the steel into individual blades.","A mechanical punch snaps it.","And it breaks cleanly.","With a skewer holding the blades in alignment, a technician scrutinizes the edges for any defects.","After applying coatings to prevent rust and add durability, they bake the blades in a special furnace.","This binds the coatings to the blades.","At another station, they transform plastic pellets into the razor cartridges.","This machine melts the pellets and injects the liquid plastic into molds as pressure is applied.","The plastic solidifies into the shape of razor cartridges.","The cartridges bounce along a circular feeder.","The feeder orients them front-side-up and then funnels them into the next machine.","This one resembles an octopus with numerous tentacles.","The tentacles are robots.","The first one places the cartridges in a fixture on a revolving table.","As the table turns, it serves up the cartridges to the next robots in the assembly line.","In quick succession, these robots snap a total of five blades into the cartridges.","By now, the holes used to move the blades through the assembly process have been trimmed off.","And it's a perfect fit.","They now place back casings in front of the cartridges and install pieces of metal on the parts.","The metal pieces are sacrificial anodes.","Their sole purpose is to be sacrificed to corrosive forces to save the blades.","After that, robots flip the back casings then transfer them to the cartridge blades and click them into place.","The cartridge blades are now fully assembled.","The robotic system takes them into a station with more quality control cameras.","If no problems are found, the blades move into another mechanized system.","This one installs a temporary plastic cover to protect the consumer and keep the blades sharp until it's time for a shave.","Robotic arms pick up the clear plastic protectors two at a time and place them in slots in the assembly machine.","They then snap the cartridge blades into the plastic covers.","With the protectors in place, the robots send the cartridge blades down a chute and into a bin.","They're now ready for retail and the business of personal grooming.","Many schools today require all food on the premises to be allergy-free because so many children have life-threatening to peanuts, tree nuts or dairy products.","Often, these allergies are so severe that just touching or inhaling the allergen can cause a potentially deadly reaction.","These kid-sized chocolate chip banana loaves contain no peanuts, tree nuts or dairy products.","Nothing else this company makes contains them either to eliminate any possibility of cross-contamination.","As a further precaution, all the ingredients come from suppliers whose facilities are also entirely peanut, tree nut and dairy-free.","To make the batter, workers first combine water, canola oil and sugar.","Then they add pureed banana and mix until the ingredients are well blended.","They add wheat flour, then sea salt, baking soda and preservatives such as citric acid, routinely used in packaged foods, to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold.","The final ingredients are eggs and chocolate chips, not milk chocolate because these snacks are dairy-free.","Instead, chocolate chips are custom-made for this bakery by a producer of certified kosher pareve foods, meaning the products contain neither meat nor dairy ingredients.","A pump moves the finished batter from the mixing bowl to a large hopper that feeds the automated production line.","At the start of that line, more than 620 loaf baking pans pass under spray nozzles, which lightly grease them with canola oil.","This prevents the baked loaves from sticking to the pan.","Then the pans enter the depositor, which drops 1.5 ounces of batter into each loaf cavity.","This one batch of batter produces 6,666 loaves.","The filled pans enter a multilevel vertical oven in which they zigzag up and down 13 baking zones of varying temperatures.","After 27 minutes, the loaves are fully baked.","However, they can't be packaged yet because they're piping hot.","So the next station on the line is a multilevel vertical cooling chamber.","Its fans draw out the hot air while blowers introduce filtered cold air.","When the pans exit the cooling chamber about 25 minutes later, the loaves are just slightly warm.","A robot now descends on two pans at a time.","It jabs the loaves with needles to lift them out then withdraws the needles to drop them on a conveyer belt that's ventilated to help the loaves finish cooling.","This belt transfers them to a narrower one that leads to the packaging area.","There, workers line up the loaves in single file on a track that leads to the wrapping machine.","Each loaf is roughly 3 1/2 by 2 inches and 1 1/2 inches high.","Even though each one started out as 1 1/2 ounces of batter, some moisture evaporated during baking, reducing the final loaf weight to 1.4 ounces.","Under the watchful eye of a sensor, the loaves enter the wrapping machine where printed transparent film envelops them.","The two edges of the film overlap slightly underneath the loaves.","The machine seals the edges with a combination of heat and pressure.","Then it simultaneously seals and cuts the film in between the loaves.","Each chocolate chip banana loaf is now individually wrapped.","Workers pack the snacks into the retail packaging.","The box moves into a glue machine, which seals the flaps.","The bakery conducts several quality control checks throughout production, for example, testing the viscosity and ph level of the batter.","It also tests the finished product.","Once per hour, they cut up a loaf and place the pieces in a moisture analyzer.","The correct moisture level ensures that the loaf has a proper cake texture and isn't dry because as much as this snack needs to be safe for kids with allergies, it also has to taste great.","Vending machines are a common sight in public places.","The first modern vending machines in 1880s england didn't sell food at all.","They dispensed postcards.","Nowadays, automated vending has come full circle with machines selling not just food but electronics and other consumer goods.","Thirsty?","Just select a drink.","Enter its number on the keypad.","The led monitor displays what you've chosen and how much it costs.","Then insert the money.","The monitor shows your credit, how much you've paid.","The credit resets to zero when the machine releases your drink and returns any change you're due.","The vending machine has a welded steel body onto which workers assemble the other components such as the see -through refrigerator and an lcd monitor to display advertising.","Workers assemble the machine's payment and display system, starting with the machine's control board.","They install the led monitor and the keypad, which are integrated into a single unit.","After bolting the unit securely in its window in the housing, the workers screw the control board securely in place, then plug the led monitor and the keypad into the board.","They install the coin acceptor.","It can be set up to recognize up to 16 different types of coins.","When a customer inserts money, the coin acceptor transmits the value to the control board, which displays the amount on the led monitor, calculates it into the purchase of the item and directs the coin acceptor to dispense any required change.","Next, workers install the bank note acceptor.","It identifies the denomination of an inserted bill with an optical scanner and, to make sure the currency is genuine, measures fluorescent ink with uv light and reads magnetic ink printing with a magnetic scanner.","It sends the value of the bill to the control board.","They plug the data transfer cables from the money acceptors into the control board along with a cable for the controllers that operate the machine's product release motors and the data transfer cables coming from the two coin hoppers, which collect the inserted coins and dispense change.","Then they close up the machine with cover panels.","A worker constructs the product feed trays that go into the vending machine's refrigerator.","The first step is to attach partitions to a back panel to form columns.","Each column's width is set to the dimensions, weight and type of packaging of the product it will dispense, from small featherlight bags of chips to heavy glass beverage bottles.","A feed tray can have up to six columns.","The trays are constructed entirely of stainless steel because it withstands refrigeration temperature and doesn't rust when exposed to moisture.","Workers install a motor at the back of each column.","Once the tray's installed in the fridge, those motors plug into the control board.","When the customer pays for the selected product, the board activates the motor for the corresponding column to release the product.","Side-by-side columns designed to be stocked with the same product have linked motors.","That way, if one column sells out, the linked one with more of the same product kicks in.","Each motor moves the product with a steel drive spring.","There are seven different sizes of springs.","Workers install the size that has the correct spacing between the rolls that corresponds to the dimensions of the product being dispensed from that column.","Once the customer pays for the selection, the motor rotates the spring 360 degrees to release the product and move the one behind it to the front of the line.","Once all the product feed trays are installed, workers adjust the refrigerator thermostat and stock the products.","Then they test the machine.","First, they purchase a product with paper currency.","They make sure the bills feed smoothly, that the bank note acceptor sends the right data to the control board, that the board calculates the transaction accurately and activates the correct motor.","They run the same test with the coin acceptor to make sure its sensors correctly detect the coin, dimension, weight and chemical composition and transmit accurate information to the control board, all this to ensure the vending machine customers get exactly what they paid for.","Dive computers help divers safely return from the deep.","These wrist computers keep tabs on the time and depth of the dive.","And they calculate a safe ascent.","The journey back to the surface must often be done in stages, or the diver could fall victim to decompression sickness.","A dive computer is something someone wears when they're ready to take the plunge.","Strapped to the wrist like a watch, it provides critical safety data during the dive.","They start with panels of four printed circuit boards.","A technician confirms that the tracks and pads are correctly located.","A conveyor then takes one of the panels into a machine that precisely positions a metal mesh stencil over it.","An automated squeegee spreads solder paste onto the circuit boards through the open areas of the stencil.","The solder paste will act as glue for over 100 tiny electrical components.","Next, the circuit boards receive those electrical components.","A robot peels them off plastic strips and places them on the soldered areas at an impressive rate of 13,000 pieces per hour.","The parts include microprocessors, sensors and memory chips.","Then the circuit boards head into an oven with several different heating and cooling zones.","As they travel through these zones, the soldering particles melt to bond the components to the circuit boards.","Passing through the cooling zones, the solder hardens.","And this solidifies the bonds.","The circuit boards have now received all of the necessary parts.","A technician places the panel of circuit boards in an automated optical inspection machine.","Here, a camera takes a picture of the panel and sends it to a computer.","The computer scans the circuit boards for missing components, positioning errors and soldering defects.","If there are no flaws, the panels move on to a programming station.","Here, a technician positions them under probes.","The probes descend and load software into the microprocessors.","This brings them to life and enables them to control all of the board's functions.","Another technician trims and cuts the panels using circular saws.","She then punches out the four round circuit boards and transfers them to a tray that has an electrically conductive surface.","The surface protects the boards from mechanical and electrical shocks until they're ready to be assembled into the dive computer module.","Now the fabrication of that module begins.","The technician places a buzzer mechanism behind a backlight.","She transfers the two of them to the reverse side of a display screen.","She places a plastic framework on top.","And she inserts rubber connectors in it.","These little rubber parts will make the connection between the circuit board and the digital display.","The next assembler inserts the circuit board into the digital display unit.","She installs a temporary battery and checks the digital monitor to confirm that it's functional.","Satisfied that it's in good working order, she sets it aside temporarily.","In the next stage of production, the worker removes any dust particles from the screen using blasts of compressed air.","She snaps the dive computer module into a tough plastic case that's designed to withstand a lot of water pressure.","She cleans a glass face plate and places it over the digital screen.","This face plate will protect the screen from water.","The next part is a metal bezel.","It surrounds the face plate and will be used to secure it to the casing.","She flips the assembly around and screws the bezel to the case from the back.","She inserts the computer battery into a titanium back plate.","She then installs the battery assembly in the back of the module and secures it with screws.","This completes the dive computer module.","All that's left is to attach the wrist strap, and this dive computer is ready to probe underwater and provide critical safety information."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wooden Utensils","Transport Refrigeration Units","Moccasins","Electronic Impact Drills"]},"text":["Wooden utensils may date back to prehistoric times, yet today, they're a popular cutlery option for the modern dinner table.","Typically a high-end product, handcrafted by artisans, wooden forks, knives, and spoons appeal to people who are drawn to the organic beauty and warmth of wood.","Traditional in material but modern in design, each of these wooden utensils is meticulously handcrafted from a single piece of maple.","Maple is dense, so it doesn't develop cracks which can harbor bacteria.","It takes up to 28 steps to make a utensil.","First, a worker planes a maple plank to a specific thickness.","Then, they cut it into blocks the length of the utensil-- in this case, a fork.","The worker places each block on a curved template and traces the curve, which matches the arc of the fork's handle.","With a band saw, they cut along the trace line.","The center of the curve runs parallel to the grain of the wood.","This makes the handle and tines of the fork stronger than if the curve would run perpendicular to the grain.","They clamp the block to another template and profile the curve on a machine called a wood molder.","Then, with a band saw, following the curve, the worker cuts the block into strips 1/4 of an inch thick.","The curve is quite pronounced to give the fork an elegant line.","They clamp up to ten strips at a time onto this woodworking machine.","Then, they start her up.","Routers descend, and guided by computer software, simultaneously carve the strips into forks.","After seven minutes, each curved strip, while nowhere near the finished shape, does have a defined handle and four tines.","A strong squeeze snaps off the excess wood.","Only small nubs of excess wood remain, which a worker now removes by running the fork against a sanding belt.","From this point on comes finer detail work that can be done only by hand.","Starting on a balloon sander, a worker adds or releases air-- adjusting the inflation pressure-- to produce a soft surface against which to sand a curved utensil and a hard surface against which to sand a flat one.","Once they've refined the back of the fork, a worker manually sands the area that motorized sanders can't reach-- first beveling the tines to sharp points...","Then sanding in between the tines.","It's important to keep the tines thick so they won't wear out with use.","Next, the worker sands the entire fork with a fine-grit sandpaper to remove any faint ridges left by the balloon sander.","They finish with an ultra-fine sanding to make the fork feel silky smooth.","Now that the fork has its final shape, the worker stamps the company's logo into each handle.","To ensure the top of the fork remains smooth, they soak it in hot water.","This draws up the wood's short fibers so they can then be sanded down.","The final step is an intricate, hand-applied finishing process-- three coats of a proprietary mixture of food-safe plant oils, waxes, and lemon.","Lemon works like a solvent, diluting the mixture, so that it penetrates deep into the pores of the wood.","After the last coat dries, a worker manually polishes the surface with an ultra-fine abrasive pad, sweeps off any dust, then lets the finish cure for 28 days.","The finish brings out the grain and color of the wood.","It also protects against food stains, abrasion, and moisture over the lifetime of the utensil.","Wooden cutlery doesn't just look different, it sounds different-- no ting of metal utensils on dishes as you eat.","When dining a la wood, the only thing you'll hear is conversation.","The invention of transport refrigeration units in the 1940s changed our food-consumption patterns forever.","Suddenly, florida oranges were available in snowy regions and frozen food could be delivered far and wide.","Previously, ice had been used to preserve perishables so the trucks couldn't go far.","Transport refrigeration units are designed for the long haul.","When trucks are parked, they can be plugged into an electrical outlet to keep the cargo cool.","Production starts with this computerized punch cutter.","It cuts holes and slots in steel panels that will be used for the housing of the compressor and condenser.","A worker then serves up the panels to a bending machine.","It folds them so they can be assembled to each other to form the refrigeration unit's housing.","An automated machine bends copper pipe to form it into tubing for refrigerant.","Each bend changes the direction of the pipe.","It's an alternative to using fittings for this job.","It means fewer seams, reducing the risk of leaks.","A worker then joins the pipe to create the evaporator coil in which liquid refrigerant is converted to gas to draw heat from the area to be cooled.","Once the evaporator coil is complete and he's installed additional copper pipes for defrosting, a worker assembles it to the housing.","The fan panel completes the evaporator.","During operation, it will blow cool air into the truck trailer.","The unit can be set to refrigerate or freeze, depending on the trailer contents.","A technician puts together the unit that goes on the outside of the truck.","It compresses and then condenses the refrigerant during the cooling cycle.","She secures the compressor and the copper pipes to the steel housing.","She places a motor in the housing beside the compressor.","Using a rubber belt, the technician links the motor pulley to the compressor pulley.","She completes the connections for the inlet and outlet pipes.","The condenser is next.","It transforms refrigerant vapor back to liquid.","Using more copper pipe, the technician links the condenser to the compressor.","She connects a pipe to a little steel vessel that will hold liquid refrigerant not in circulation.","The technician installs a filter unit on the outside wall and links the refrigerant pipe network to it.","The mesh filter inside will catch dirt in the refrigerant gas and will trap any lingering humidity.","Back to the compressor now, the technician installs a second motor.","This one will keep the refrigeration system working even when the truck is shut off.","All the trucker will need to do is plug the power cable into an electrical outlet.","She attaches a pressure sensor to the pipe.","The technician melts metal filler into the joint where the discharge pipe links to the condenser.","This seals the connection.","The electronics for the control panel are next.","The technician screws the metal board that holds them to the housing.","Then, she makes all the electrical connections.","Now, a safety test.","Another technician connects the compressor and condenser unit to a vacuum and activates it.","It suctions out air in the system.","He then injects nitrogen gas and traces of refrigerant.","If the gas escapes, it will indicate a leak in the system.","To find escaping gas, he uses a special leak detector.","It sucks in tiny amounts of air and analyzes it for the refrigerant.","This enables him to pinpoint exactly where any problem might be.","Another technician powers up the unit and confirms that the control panel is working and that the compressor motors are fully operational.","They fill the system with nitrogen gas.","It's a temporary measure to protect it from oxidation during shipping.","The on-site installer will replace the nitrogen with refrigerant.","It has taken approximately an hour to manufacture this transport refrigeration unit.","When it comes to keeping food chilled or frozen, it should deliver for many years to come.","The indigenous people of north america invented moccasins to protect their feet from harsh weather conditions and to provide spiritual protection in the form of symbols stitched into the leather to evoke sacred places and things.","The idea was to protect both the soles of the feet and the soul.","Today, moccasins are mass-produced.","Factories make their own versions of this traditional footwear.","This one generates up to 100 pairs of moccasin slippers a day.","Production starts with rabbit-fur pelts that are a by-product of the european rabbit-meat industry.","The furrier places a plastic template over the pelt.","He draws lines through the slats of the template.","This outlines stripes to be used to trim the moccasins.","Using a razor blade, he cuts out the fur strips and sets them aside.","One pelt will provide enough trim for two pairs of moccasins.","Using dies made of sharp steel, the furrier cuts out the suede leather parts.","A hydraulic press, as known as a clicker, drives the dies through through the leather to punch out the pieces.","The largest one will be used for the bottom and sides of the moccasins.","It's called the foot.","The other parts are a sole to reinforce the bottom and the vamp, which is the upper part of the slipper.","Next, the furrier cuts out pieces of thick polyester fleece which will be used to create plush liners.","He arranges the moccasin components in the correct sequence for sewing.","This is called a layout, and it helps the sewing process go faster.","The furrier presses an adhesive-back size label to the bottom of the foot part.","The sewing machine operator stitches the sole of the foot through to its fleece liner.","She also sews the label to the leather to fasten it more securely.","She folds the back sides up, inside-out, and sews them together to form the heel of the moccasin.","The worker trims the fleece that protrudes from the seam.","She then folds the heel right side out.","Now that the foot and sole have been joined and the heel formed, the worker turns her attention to the vamp.","She sews beaded designs into this moccasins' upper.","These geometric designs are a nod to the past, but their purpose is purely ornamental, not spiritual.","After lining the beaded vamp with fleece, the worker stitches a leather strip around the edges, creating a border known as a welt.","The welt gives the vamp a more attractive finish.","To sew the vamp to the rest of the moccasin, she uses a special sewing machine.","It pleats the top of the foot to fit the vamp as it stitches.","The moccasins are now structurally complete, and they're ready for the fur trim.","The worker stitches the rabbit-fur strips together to create one long strip that will fit to the moccasin.","The length of the strip will vary depending on the size of the moccasin.","She makes an initial chain stitch and then doubles back to lock the stitch down, in order to prevent it from unraveling.","She aligns the fur trim with the collar of the moccasin and sews it to it.","After stitching, the worker leaves the fur tucked down into the moccasin.","This makes it easier to apply glue around the top of the moccasin, so that when the fur is folded up and over it, it stays in place.","With that, this modern-day version of traditional indigenous footwear is ready for its first steps.","An impact drill is a power tool that's tough enough to bore through hard materials, such as brick, stone, and concrete.","It can also drive screws into softer materials like wood.","An electronic impact drill has the added feature of a switch that amps up the drill speed if the job requires it.","An impact drill is comprised of the drive unit, the back part with the electric motor, and the gear unit-- the front part containing the motor-rotated spindle that turns the drill bit.","To make the housing for the gear unit, the factory furnace melts down solid aluminum.","Then, an automated casting machine injects it at high pressure into a mold with six housing-shaped cavities.","Once the machine cools the mold to re-solidify the aluminum, a robot removes the hot housings and submerges them in water to cool them.","The robot then places the housings in an automated stamping press, which cuts off the connecting metal, separating the housings.","A computer-guided milling machine finalizes the shape of each housing and forms a collar for attaching a second handle that provides extra control when drilling through hard materials.","Elsewhere in the factory, a computer-guided turning lathe shapes a solid steel bar into the drill spindle.","Back to the gear housing now, a worker positions it next to a spindle assembly fixture.","She lines up a grooved wheel, called a ratchet wheel, over the housing and inserts another one into the spindle fixture.","Then, she puts the spindle through this second ratchet wheel and inserts the first ratchet wheel into the housing with a press.","The worker inserts the spindle with its wheel into the housing.","This makes the two ratchet wheels, so that they'll move up and down against each other when the spindle rotates.","After installing a seal and retaining clip, she completes the gear unit by installing the gears that rotate the spindle.","An automated injection-molding machine, meanwhile, produces the plastic housing for the electric motor.","The machine makes two housings at a time.","The motor is made up of a stationary component called a stator and a rotating component called a rotor.","A worker inserts the stator into the housing, pushes it down into position with a press, then secures it with screws.","He mounts the electronic unit that lets you regulate the speed of the spindle.","After installing a flange, the worker inserts the rotor and presses it into position.","The rotor has a fan attached to cool the running motor.","He connects the electronic unit to the motor.","Now, everything comes together.","Using an assembly guide, a worker positions half of the drill's plastic handle then wires the motor to the switch that's connected to the electronic unit.","Moving the switch increases or decreases the drilling speed.","Next, she takes the drill's power cable, applies a device that prevents the cable from kinking, then screws the cable to the switch.","The worker closes it all up by affixing the other half of the plastic handle.","This completes the assembly of the back part of the impact drill known as the drive unit.","A worker places the gear unit onto the drive unit.","An automated machine screws them together.","Every impact drill this factory produces undergoes performance testing and a critical safety test.","If the tool passes inspection, the spindle gets awarded its chuck.","The chuck is the component that holds the drill bit.","A computer-guided laser engraver marks the model number and all the technical data on the motor housing.","Then, workers pack the electronic impact drill along with a second handle and accessories into a sturdy plastic carrying case.","With this tool in your kit, you've got license to drill."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Underwater Robots","Lasagne","Band Saws","Ski & Trekking Poles"]},"text":["Robots perform many underwater tasks, which are impossible or too risky for divers to carry out, like collecting samples from the ocean floor for scientific research, exploring shipwrecks, inspecting underwater pipelines, searching for planted explosives, or recovering bodies.","This particular underwater robot is designed to find unconscious drowning victims.","Recent incidents have shown that a person recovered within 90 minutes can survive without brain damage when rescuers follow a specific resuscitation protocol.","The robot uses a protruding, interlocking jaw to grab the victim by a limb and haul him or her to the surface.","Its onboard camera gives operators at the surface an underwater view.","When the water's too murky to see anything, video-enhancing technology and imaging sonar detect the outline of objects.","Several thrusters propel the robot through the water.","For each one, technicians grease, then position a pair of o-rings onto end caps that they install on each end of the thruster housing.","The o-rings seal the end caps, keeping water out of the motor located inside the housing.","The motor shaft protrudes through propeller the end cap.","A mechanical bale secures both thruster end caps to the housing.","They fill the thruster with oil.","This prevents the thruster from imploding under pressure as the robot descends deeper and deeper.","After filling, they draw a vacuum to remove any air bubbles and draw the oil into every nook and cranny.","Then then install a reservoir, which they also fill with oil.","When the underwater pressure builds, this backup oil supply fills any remaining miniscule air gap the vacuum might have missed.","They close the reservoir with a sealing screw to prevent any oil from leaking out.","Now they turn their attention to the thruster's main component, a two-blade propeller made of durable nylon.","It goes on the back end of the thrusters.","They install the camera chassis onto the robot.","This chassis also carries the majority of the robot's electronics, such as the computer, communications equipment, and lighting.","Here they're hooking up the belt for the tiny motor, which tilts the camera to look up and down.","They cover the camera chassis with a transparent, acrylic dome called the viewing port.","A cap with an o-ring seal keeps water out.","They install the robot's power supply at the opposite end of the robot, then encase it in a metal tube, sealed on both sides with an end cap and an o-ring.","For the thrusters to work at maximum efficiency, the robot must be neutrally buoyant, meaning neither too light nor too heavy.","So once the robot is fitted with all its thrusters and electronics, technicians install the main float.","Certain models have additional floats.","They cap each propeller with a vented cover called a kort nozzle.","This isolates the water flow, maximizing the propeller's efficiency.","These bumper frames act like bumpers on a car.","They absorb the force of impact, protecting the robot from damage when it encounters underwater objects.","The bumper frames also serve as a structure to attach lights and other components, as well as specialized tools, such as that quick-release jaw, which grabs the victim by a limb.","They install the jaw at an angle so that it doesn't block the camera's view.","Now the sonar unit.","It also mounts to the bumper frames.","The sonar projects a 130-degree left-to-right 3-d image onto a monitor at the surface, showing the outline of objects around the robot.","Finally, at the top, they install a strobe light-- a flashing beacon that tells rescuers on the surface exactly where the robot is.","Every underwater robot goes out for a test drive.","They submerge it in a tank, which is essentially an aquarium inhabited by fish of the stick-on variety.","These inanimate creatures adhere to the glass, provide colorful images on which testers can focus and unfocus the camera.","From there on in, the first mission in open water awaits.","There are many ways to make lasagna, but no matter how it stacks up, people seem to never get enough of this classic italian dish.","Popular in italy for centuries, its appeals transcends boundaries and cultures.","Who anywhere can resist all those layers of flavor?","Ruffled, flat noodles define lasagna.","They give it structure.","In between the layers, the possibilities are endless.","Ingredients vary, depending on the recipe.","For a veggie lasagna, things start off with sautéed onions, seasoned with pepper and salt.","They add pureed tomatoes to the pungent mix.","Blades stir the ingredients as they simmer in this steam-heated mixer, and in no time, they have a full-body tomato sauce.","They pump the tomato sauce into lasagna tubs.","This saucy base is the first layer of flavor, but it also serves a practical purpose, preventing the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the tray during baking.","Workers arrange the broad and crinkled lasagna noodles over the sauce.","These noodles have been made from a blend of whole grain and semolina flours for a texture that's firm, yet tender.","Now for the filling ingredients.","This factory lasagna will be made of roasted, organic vegetables.","They include chunks of broccoli and uniformly mixed peppers, onions, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms.","They load the sliced and diced veggies into the next steam-heated mixer.","The blades swing into action to stir the ingredients as they brown in oil.","This causes the natural sugars to break down and the vegetables to become sweeter.","Creamy mozzarella cheese will offset the sugary taste of the veggies.","They add the caramelized veggies, the shredded mozzarella, and more pasta noodles, building the layers of flavor.","And there's a lot more to come.","Over in another steam-heated mixer, a combination of milk, oil, and rice flour is on a low boil.","Paddles distribute the ingredients, and the sauce begins to thicken.","Shredded monterey jack and parmesan cheeses will enhance the creaminess and add another dimension of flavor.","Next, a serious dash of nutmeg and another one of salt spices it up.","And after more stirring action, the white sauce is velvety smooth and substantially thicker.","Meanwhile, a worker shovels crust into a grinder.","The crusts are broken pieces from a pizza production line, and they have been dried to a specific consistency, so they should grind up nicely.","A spiraling blade turns the crusts into uniform crumbs-- a classic lasagna topping-- adding a bit of crunch to the recipe.","With these final ingredients, they're ready to pile it on thick.","As the layering process continues, this meal really comes together.","The cream sauce and bread crumbs are the finishing touches.","With numerous sous chefs involved, things happen a whole lot faster here than on the home front.","They assemble 48 single-serving lasagna dishes per minute at this factory...","Then place them on trays and transfer them to a specialized freezer.","This is a blast freezer, which is also known as a shock freezer.","It brings down the temperature of foods very rapidly, preserving the flavor.","On the next shift, they remove the lasagnas from the freezer.","It's time to wrap up this meal.","The lasagnas ride a conveyer through a curtain of cellophane.","An automated system heat-seals the wrap around the trays.","Things move swiftly to prevent thawing.","They package 75 lasagnas per minute on this line, and then it's back in the freezer to await shipping.","Once something only mama made, now workers and machines team up to mass-produce this traditional comfort food.","So at mealtime, one only has to pop the frozen lasagna in the oven, and then mangia.","From the home workshop to the factory floor, the band saw is one of the most popular power tools around.","It's called a band saw because the blade is a metal band with teeth that moves continuously in a loop around two or three rotating wheels.","It can make straight, curved, and angled cuts.","This is an industrial band saw, designed to cut wood, aluminum, and composite materials, such as plexiglass.","It can cut pieces up to 12 inches thick and can divide a board up to 40 inches wide into two equal sections.","The tabletop tilts to a maximum 45 degrees for angled cuts.","It's made of sturdy cast iron.","The band-saw manufacturer purchases it from a nearby foundry, then uses a rotary grinder to make the surface, as we can see on the right, smooth and shiny.","One of the saw's key components is this lower bearing case.","It links the motor to the lower of two cast-iron wheels, which turn the saw blade.","Workers will later mount that lower wheel on one end of the bearing case shaft.","Now, on the opposite end of the shaft, they mount the drive pulley.","The motor will rotate the drive pulley, turning the shaft and consequently the lower wheel on the opposite end, which moves the saw blade looped around the lower and upper wheels.","Those cast-iron wheels, meanwhile, need a rubber edge to ensure the blade moves smoothly and without slipping.","Workers position a guide over the first wheel, then slip a rubber band onto the guide.","Next, they coat both the edge of the wheel and the rubber band on the guide with contact cement adhesive.","Then they carefully pull the rubber band off the guide, flip it over, and press the glued side against the glued surface of the wheel.","The first wheel now has a rubberized edge.","They repeat the same procedures for the second wheel.","In the meantime, another department has welded the band saw's steel steal cabinet.","After the cabinet gets a paint job, workers begin installing the various components, among them the support assembly for the upper wheel.","Behind the wall on which they mount the upper wheel, down at the bottom and protruding forward through the hole in the wall, they install the support for the lower wheel.","This support is the shaft of the lower bearing case, the side opposite the drive pulley.","After mounting the lower wheel, they move behind the wall, install an electric motor right below the lower bearing case, and link the two with a pair of belts.","So now when the motor runs, the pulley rotates, and the lower wheel turns.","Next, they bolt in the tabletop.","It tilts on trunnions-- pairs of mating, cast-iron supports-- one attached to the table's underside, the other to the cabinet's table frame.","Now for the most critical part of the assembly process.","Workers use this jig as a precision guide to align the wheels.","The wheels must be perfectly balanced to keep the saw blades stable while it's cutting.","Once the alignment's complete, workers remove the jig and loop the steel saw blade around the two wheels.","They adjust the blade to the correct tautness by simply setting the tension gauge to the width of the blade.","And finally, the last step.","Above the tabletop, they mount bearings which guide the blade.","Without these, the blade would wobble or drift offline due to the force of cutting through the wood or other hard material.","Now just a final check to ensure everything runs smoothly and make absolutely sure this band saw is up to speed when it comes to cutting construction materials.","Whether skiing down a snowy slope or hiking up a rocky one, pointed metal poles can provide much needed support.","They add balance and rhythm to both experiences.","Aluminum poles were first developed for skiing.","In recent years, the concept has been modified for trekking poles.","Ski poles and trekking poles look alike, but there are important differences.","Ski poles are one set length, while trekking poles can be extended as needed.","Ski poles begin with hollow shafts made of aircraft-grade aluminum.","They bake them for up to 12 hours to stiffen the metal.","Next, the poles travel between rollers, which apply pressure to straighten them.","The stiffening of the metal beforehand is key here.","It ensures that the aluminum doesn't snap during this critical straightening.","They insert one end of the ski-pole shaft into a device that squeezes it down to precisely tapered dimensions.","It's a shape that will better resist breakage and will also make the pole easier to swing.","An automated cutting tool spirals into the shaft to even the jagged edge.","Another cutter spins around the outside of the wider end of the pole to trim it.","Next, a machine punches a little hole in that wider end.","The hole will serve as a guide during the stenciling of the trade name and artwork onto the exterior.","With the ski poles tapered and trimmed, they head into an inspection station.","A supervisor scrutinizes each one.","Once he gives them the thumbs up, they're ready for sanding.","The ski poles spin between two sanding belts to remove dusty residue and rough up the surface so that the paint will adhere.","The poles now twirl on an overhead rail as a spray gun applies the paint.","An automated tool then squeegees paint through stencils to transfer designs and lettering onto the poles.","Each pass of the squeegee-like tool applies a different color, and this layering effect builds up the designs.","The poles now head towards an acid bath.","An electrical current ripples through the acid solution.","This causes the poles to oxidize for a scratch-resistant finish called anodizing.","Meanwhile, on the trekking poles' production line, machinery inserts long-wired, bristled brushes into the various shaft.","This roughs up the inner surface.","It's a step that will enable an expander device to grip it to extend the poles.","Next, a spray gun coats some unfinished poles with clear lacquer.","The owner of the factory now surveys a lineup of ski poles.","He's on the lookout for smudges or other flaws.","They meet his approval, and so it's on to the next step.","A carriage moves each ski pole forward towards a carbide tip and presses the tip into the tapered end.","With this tough tip in place, the ski pole is now equipped to pierce any hard snow pack.","Next, a worker slides rubber grips onto the handle end of the poles.","Like a big automated fist, a hydraulic mechanism shoves the grip more tightly onto the pole.","There are many different kinds of grips, each with a different look and feel depending on the type of pole being made.","Some ski-pole grips even have clips for attaching gloves.","Trekking-pole shafts now roll down the production line.","An automated arm slides plastic sleeves with carbide points onto the lower shaft section.","A spinning tool drives part of an expander mechanism into the trekking pole's middle shaft.","This expander will allow the pole to be lengthened or shortened to the user's preference.","Machinery then inserts the other part of the expander mechanism into the lower shaft.","Finally, a worker assembles the parts, sliding one section of the expander mechanism on the other.","Finally, she sharpens the tips.","And these poles are now ready for action."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hollow Disk Pumps","Palm Sugar","Yachts"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","And...","Many industries require pumping a wide variety of liquids.","And there are many different kinds of pumps that can do that.","One type, the hollow rotary disk pump, uses a rotating disk to create sufficient suction to move thin or thick liquids in a forward or reverse direction.","When the pump in the blue runs, a hollow disk inside it oscillates.","This creates suction, drawing liquid into one side of the pump and pushing it out the other.","Some of the pump components are cast in sand molds like this one for casting the first part of the pump's two-part body.","The molten iron takes a few hours to cool and solidify inside the mold cavity.","Then, a vibrating machine breaks the sand mold to release the cast part.","A computer-guided milling machine then finishes the shape.","The cut-off pieces of iron go back into the furnace to be melted down for subsequent castings.","After it's cast, the second part of the pump's body is machined to its final shape on a computer-guided lathe.","The pump's hollow disk, which the lathe machines from a bar of steel, requires a complex cut that only this electric disk charge machine can perform.","Its cutting tool is a gold wire charged with a high-voltage current conducted by water.","Guided by a computer, the wire erodes the metal in its path, cutting a teardrop-shaped opening in the disk.","A laser printer engraves a part number and a batch number on the finished disk.","To assemble the pump, a worker begins with the first part of the two-part body.","The worker applies glue to the shaft sleeve and inserts it into a channel from the front.","Next, they insert a lantern ring into the same channel from the back.","The worker places a bearing on top of the lantern ring.","Then, from the other side, they insert one more bearing.","The worker inserts the pump shaft through all the bearings in the channel.","The bearings minimize friction, enabling the shaft to rotate smoothly.","Along with this retaining clip, the bearings also prevent the shaft from moving up and down or shifting side by side with the pump's movement.","Workers take the second part of the pump's body and glue a bronze plate, called a diaphragm, into a groove at the top.","Then they join the two parts of the body, placing a gasket in between to prevent leaks.","The gasket is made of special gasket paper like the type used in car engine piping.","The workers fasten the two parts of the body with 10 massive bolts and install a heavy-duty steel spring in a groove in the shaft.","A steel cap keeps the spring firmly in position.","The worker compresses the spring with a tool and inserts a bronze stem bushing.","This spring loading is critical because it enables the disk to adapt to thin or thick liquids without clogging or getting damaged.","Now, they mount the hollow disk onto the bushing and bolt on the front cover.","When the motor turns the pump's shaft, the hollow disk oscillates around the diaphragm, which acts as a barrier, separating the suction side of the pump from the discharge side.","This plate covers where the customer will later install a safety valve.","The oscillating hollow disk produces suction, which pulls liquid through the inlet port, then out the opposite side, through the outlet port.","Workers mask the inlet and outlet ports before spray-painting the pump.","Next, the worker installs a metal coupling joint, which is comprised of several parts, including rubber members, which make the joint flexible enough to withstand some vibration or slight misalignment of the connection between the pump and the gear reducer.","The gear reducer acts as the middleman between the motor and the pump, lowering the motor speed of 1,800 revolutions per minute to the disk oscillation speed of approximately 300 revolutions per minute.","Such slow rotation speed is critical, as it enables the pump to move even very thick fluids.","The disk can also rotate in reverse so that liquid can be loaded or unloaded using the same pump.","Palmyra palm sugar is derived from the palmyra palm tree and is considered a healthier form of sweetener than many others, just 41 on the glycemic index with only 1/10th ounce of fructose per 3 1/2 ounces.","It's also one of the few plant-based sources of vitamin b12.","Palmyra palm sugar doesn't come out of the palmyra palm tree looking like this.","From harvesting to processing, there are many steps between the tree and the ultimate product.","The tree produces the round fruit seen on the right and the cylindrical flower cluster on the left.","A palm sugar harvester prepares specialized containers for harvesting the sap by threading twine through a hole near the rim.","These tubes are made from bamboo.","And in thailand, they're called...","the harvester adds wood chips to the tubes.","The wood chips come from the shorea tree, which is called...","in thailand.","The chips well help prevent the sap from fermenting.","Some palmyra trees are more than 100 years old.","Here, the harvester climbs a ladder that reaches up around 66 feet.","At the top of the tree, the harvester uses a machete to cut the tip off the palmyra flowers.","Safely on the ground, he demonstrates what he does up in the tree.","He starts by binding together two of the cylindrical flowers and then carefully trimming off their tips.","Where they've been cut, the flowers exude drops of sap, which will collect in the bamboo tubes.","Up in the tree, the harvester secures the tubes in place.","Having swapped empty tubes for full ones, he brings the sap he's collected to an outdoor stove.","The harvester prepares a basket covered with several layers of gauze to filter the liquid.","He then slowly and carefully pours the sap through the filters, into the wok below.","The harvesting stage is complete.","Production now begins.","The filtered sap now boils away in the wok for approximately 45 minutes as it thickens into a sugar.","The worker takes advantage of the hot oven fire to sterilize his bamboo tubes.","He turns them upside-down, one by one, over small holes in the oven.","The worker must harvest twice a day.","If he doesn't, the cuts will heal over too much.","And he'll be forced to wait for a specific period of time before making additional cuts in order to prevent damage to the tree.","The boiling process thickens the sap.","And the worker must stir it frequently to keep it from sticking.","After roughly 30 minutes, the sap begins to turn white.","The tubes are now thoroughly sterilized.","And the worker can remove them and let them cool.","The bubbling sap has now been reduced to a thick substance.","The worker removes the pan from the heat source.","It's ready for the next phase on its path to becoming sugar.","Although it's often referred to as palm sugar, it's also known as jaggery.","The worker now uses a custom-made whisking tool to thoroughly mix the jaggery.","Shaped like a large spring, the whisk helps cool the sugar while mixing it.","He continues mixing the jaggery until it thickens and cools to a paste-like consistency.","At this point, the jaggery is too thick for the whisk.","So the worker continues mixing it with a simple stick.","Finally, the sugar cools and dries to a thick, flaky texture, ready to be packaged and shipped around the world.","It has taken nearly a gallon of palmyra palm sap to create roughly 2 1/4 pounds of this highly nutritious alternative sweetener.","The first yachts were simple, sturdy vessels used to take explorers on voyages of discovery.","Today's yachts are floating vacation homes.","Equipped with every convenience, the luxuries increase with the scale of the vessel.","Modern yachts are the ultimate way to explore the coastline.","If you can afford one of these, you're living the dream.","This motor yacht offers all the comforts of home on the water.","Making this mid-sized yacht starts with a mold for the hull.","The team sprays a gel-coat paint onto the entire inner surface of the mold.","This paint will transfer to the hull during molding.","They layer fiberglass strips around a p.v.c foam core and create a series of distribution channels for resin.","The crew now drapes an enormous sheet of clear plastic over the materials in the mold and seals the edges with tape.","The crew leaves a lot of slack in the plastic to conform to the mold's deep recesses.","A vacuum hose suctions out the air beneath the plastic.","The crew then connects plastic tubing to the ports in the distribution channels.","All this plastic tubing leads to one place-- the vacuum pump.","The vacuum pulls resin through the network of tubing, into the ports and through the distribution channels.","The resin saturates the fiberglass strips that surround the p.v.c. foam core.","The vacuum sucks the layers into a tight sandwich and pulls out more air and excess resin.","A worker pulls the plastic away from dry spots so the resin flows into these areas.","The resin cures, and the fiberglass layers harden.","The next day, the team removes the plastic sheet from the molded part.","They pull off the resin distribution channels and the ports.","A crane lifts the newly molded hull out of the mold.","The gel coat has adhered to it, giving it a glossy finish.","The crane transfers the hull to a wooden cradle.","Next, they create the yacht's deck.","The crew covers some areas of the mold in plastic to protect them from the first gel coat in a 2-toned paint job.","After the first color goes on, they gel-coat the areas that had been covered in plastic.","This two-toned paint job is done for aesthetic reasons.","But it also color-codes the areas that have a nonskid texture.","Like the hull, the crew makes the deck mainly from fiberglass.","A worker cuts out the strips in different sizes.","The fabrics have various thicknesses and weaves, all geared to the deck's structural requirements.","He numbers the pieces to designate their placement in the mold.","And the worker stacks them sequentially.","After arranging some of the fiberglass strips in the mold, the crew builds up the deck in certain areas using pieces of balsa wood.","Balsa wood is extremely lightweight.","But it will add strength when laminated into the fiberglass sandwich.","The strategic placement of the balsa wood in high-traffic areas creates a solid core that will hold up to heavy use.","A worker lays more fiberglass strips, encapsulating the balsa wood.","They'll laminate the layers with resin the way they did with the hull.","The crew also makes the roof structure the same way.","A boat builder applies putty to the fiberglass to even out any irregularities.","And after grinding the hardened putty smooth, they spread polishing compound on all the yacht's body parts.","The worker buffs the fiberglass until the glossy surface gleams even more.","Using a router, the crew cuts out holes for lights, portholes and other features.","An inspector taps the fiberglass to check for air voids that would compromise the yacht's structural integrity.","He confirms that everything is shipshape.","Production now moves to the yacht's interior.","We'll have the inside information coming up.","A motor yacht is a home away from home.","It's usually equipped with a full kitchen, one or more bathrooms, and luxurious common areas called salons.","Everything is designed to fit into the limited space below deck.","The waters may get rough.","But in the yacht's private quarters, the living is easy.","With the bulkheads now in place, the hull is ready for furnishings and fittings.","A computerized router cuts american cherry wood to a set of exact measurements.","This particular piece will be part of a storage locker.","At another station, a craftsman glues a dozen cherry strips together for a valence.","These laminated strips will be easier to bend to the desired shape than a thick board.","He wraps them in wax paper to prevent the glue from seeping out during bending.","The team places the laminated strips between the two parts of a bending jig.","They clamp the jig to close it tightly.","The adhesive sets overnight.","And the wood hardens to the curved shape of the bending jig.","The woodworker now clamps the valence to the workbench to steady it as he trims the edges.","He positions a template on the valence and follows it with a router to cut out a hole for an air-conditioning vent.","Yes.","The yacht will be equipped with air conditioning.","The woodworker inserts the custom wooden vent in the hole.","Turning now to the salon's coffee table, a router cuts holes in the cherry wood while bristles keep the dust down.","A worker applies glue and inserts pieces of maple into the cutouts.","He lightly hammers the pieces to drive them further into the holes.","Then, it's into an automated sander.","It sands the inlaid wood flush to the cherry tabletop.","A crew now brushes varnish onto all the wood pieces.","The varnish enhances the wood grain.","And it protects the surface.","After the varnish dries, another worker polishes the wood to a high sheen.","A worker then screws pedestal hardware into the back of each table to prepare them for installation in the yacht.","The hull has been equipped with the two diesel engines at the back.","A worker now assembles the clothing locker in the guest stateroom.","And in the master stateroom, construction on the en suite bathroom is underway.","The worker screws the toilet in place and connects the water and waste hoses.","They roughen a utility room for a washer and dryer at the back of the yacht, next to the mechanical systems.","The crew situates the propellers in the molded niches in the bottom of the hull.","And the technician connects them to swiveling mechanisms called pods.","He hooks up a pump that will replace the lubricating oil when needed, so there'll be no need to pull it into port for oil changes.","The technician installs intake systems that will suction lake or ocean water into the hull to cool the diesel engines.","The other mechanics include the air-conditioning system, water heater and a generator.","And now, the big moment.","Using a crane, the crew lowers the yacht's deck and pilothouse onto the hull.","This deck assembly weighs 3 tons.","Looks like it's a good fit.","Using crowbars, the team pulls the rim, also known as the flange of the deck, over the hull.","They drill threaded holes through the fiberglass flange and the hull and screw bolts into those holes to connect the two.","Special adhesive has been applied to these bolts to keep water from penetrating the vessel.","Here's the view inside.","The cherry paneling in the pilothouse seamlessly matches the paneling in the living quarters.","The builders complete the furnishings, giving the cabin the look and feel of luxury.","They install a high-end galley kitchen.","And this yacht is complete.","After 6 months of work, let the good times begin."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Lacrosse Sticks","Frozen Fish Products","Flashlights","Paintbrushes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Lacrosse sticks...","Frozen fish products...","Flashlights...","And paintbrushes.","Lacrosse is north america's oldest sport.","It was back in the 1400s that native people got the ball rolling, playing with a distinctive netted stick.","French missionaries decided the stick resembled the stafflike crosier, or cross, carried by bishops.","And so the game became lacrosse.","Lacrosse has never been more popular than it is today.","To make a lacrosse stick, they split a hickory log down the middle.","This tree was cut in the fall when the sap is out, so it's easier to work with.","They continue subdividing the log into eight pieces.","Each piece then goes through a band saw, which trims it to a width of 2 1/2 inches.","Hickory is the wood of choice because it's tough and can withstand the high-impact game of lacrosse.","But to work with it, they need to soften it up, so they steam the sticks for 45 minutes.","Then a craftsman places the hickory stick in a jig.","In this steamy state, the wood is completely flexible.","He easily curls one end around a form by hand.","He loops wire around it so it will hold its crooklike shape while the wood dries for one month.","At the end of that month, he puts the other end of the stick in a steamy jig and bends it back just below the crook.","This is called the back bend.","He sets it on a rack to dry and harden.","This is the basic form, and as you can see, it resembles the bishop's crosier, the one that inspired the name of the game.","After two weeks of drying, the stick is ready to be carved.","Using a drawknife, he shaves the bark from the stick.","Then he sculpts it thinner, following the bends of the stick.","The carver is an artisan who has the experience and skill to do this job well, which is important because the stick must be approved by the toughest judge, the player.","Next they drill holes in the curve of the stick-- 21 in total.","Then they give it a heavy sanding.","The surface has to be absolutely smooth so the player won't get any splinters.","Then, using a rag, they rub linseed oil into the stick to keep the wood from getting too dry.","The brand name goes on.","And now it's time for the weaver to build the sidewall of the net.","In the old days, they used rawhide for this, but today they weave with nylon string.","He interlaces it with leather runners that have been threaded through the holes at the back bend.","He brushes polyurethane on the completed side web to stiffen it.","Next he attaches the other end of the leather runners to the top of the crook.","The player will be able to change the depth of the netted pocket to his or her preference.","He interlaces the leather runner weave with the nylon sidewall...","And then pulls the woven pocket over a post to give it some shape.","He loops the ends of the leather runners in a half hitch and snips off the excess.","Every detail of this lacrosse stick has been handcrafted.","It's a process that's taken three months.","And now let the games begin.","Since prehistoric times, the innuit have used quick-freezing to preserve fish.","They threw their catch onto the arctic ice to instantly freeze it.","It wasn't until the early 20th century that the rest of the world discovered that this was better than slow freezing.","It's a case of progress moving at a glacial pace.","Fish that's rapidly frozen right on the ship is more flavorful and retains its texture.","This is minced cod frozen solid.","It underwent quick-freezing in china and was shipped in this frozen state all the way to this nova scotia facility where it will be turned into fish sticks.","A worker loads the fish blocks into a machine.","A powerful ram forces the blocks through knives, which slice them into logs that are about 19 inches in length.","Workers load the logs vertically into slots.","Below, more knives slice the logs into sticks.","They get 85 fish sticks from one log.","They check for breaks as the sticks move to the next station.","At another production line, they dump quick-frozen haddock fillets into a big, steel hopper.","It funnels them to a flighted conveyor.","The conveyor meters the fillets and drops each bunch onto a vibrating table.","The vibrations separate the fillets as they move into lanes...","And shuffle down to an inspection station where flaws can be easily spotted.","Now it's time for a hot shower.","It lasts just a second.","The hot water melts the fillets' protective glaze but doesn't thaw the fish itself.","Deglazing allows the coating mixture to stick to the fish.","The fish sticks are now traveling through a curtain of batter made of flour, water, and spices.","The excess collects in a pan below and coats the bottoms of the fish sticks.","Back on the haddock production line, they're loading a toasted wheat blend into a machine called a breader.","It creates a thick shower of crumbs below that evenly coats the fillets as they journey through.","Then the breaded, frozen fillets head for the fryer.","The fish sticks go through a fryer, too, for 28 seconds, just long enough to cook the outside coating, but the fish remains frozen on the inside.","With the coating baked on, the fish sticks and fillets are now en route to the freezers.","Meanwhile, over on a third production line, they dump oil and red peppers into a high-speed mixer.","They add some parsley for seasoning, then hand-stir it while it steam-cooks.","The red-pepper sauce cascades from an applicator, saturating these frozen tilapia fillets.","This coating sticks without being fried, so the tilapia fillets head straight for the spiraling freezer.","The fish sticks and breaded haddock fillets are in similar freezers.","After 45 minutes, the haddock slides down a chute which weighs it to portion it out.","Heated jaws seal the bagged haddock fillets.","An oscillating feeder deposits the fish sticks into boxes.","One last inspection and they're ready for retail.","They vacuum-pack the tilapia fillets, and this meal is sealed.","And now there's plenty of fish to fry, depending on where your tastes lie.","The flashlight can illuminate any situation, but the first version, invented in the late 19th century, wasn't all that efficient.","It produced only flashes of light, so it was named \"flashlight\".","The flashlight shows us the way when things look dim.","To make a military flashlight, they place an aluminum bar in a computerized lathe.","Blades go to work and shape it into a flashlight body.","As a drill hollows out the bar, coolant flushes over it to prevent the metal from expanding as the tooling heats things up.","This blade cuts threads on the outside so they can screw on a flashlight lens cap later.","A gripper now pulls out the tube so tools can work on the back half.","A blade slims that section down and then carves the cross weave onto it.","This heavy texture will make the flashlight easier to grip.","Next they drill a hole in the flashlight's tail stud.","It's an attachment for the wrist strap.","After the flashlight body has taken shape, they give it a black, protective coating.","Next, using tons of force, a machine injects hot plastic into a mold, which forms the lens for the flashlight.","They place the lens in a jig and unscrew the mold core.","The core has formed threads in the lens so it can be screwed onto the flashlight body later.","They use another injection mold to make plastic flashlight bodies.","The plastic flashlights are for more general use than the aluminum ones.","For custom orders, they stamp a logo onto the flashlight using a hot-foil press.","Next they insert light-emitting diodes into a circuit board.","The diodes are electronic lamps that are very bright and can be used instead of traditional incandescent bulbs.","They solder the diodes' lead wires to a circuit board and then trim them with snippers.","The diodes are now secured and connected to the circuit board.","For bigger flashlights, they use a lot of diodes-- up to 60 of them for this flashlight that's being made for search-and-rescue work.","Next a stamping press shapes the bronze battery contacts.","An ultrasonic welder bonds them to a plastic plate.","Then they solder a wire from the diodes to the contacts.","The lamp part of the flashlight is now built.","Now they insert springs into the aluminum flashlight bodies.","They load the batteries, and the springs hold them in place.","They slide the lamp assembly into the flashlight cavity and screw the lens on.","This aluminum flashlight has just been put together in a flash.","They move on to the plastic flashlight.","The battery contact and spring assembly goes in, followed by the batteries.","The light-emitting diode lamp is next.","They screw the lens onto the lamp.","The plastic glare shield is the final touch.","And now these flashlights are ready to shine.","If you've got a paint job to do, the right type of brush can make all the difference.","When you opt for latex paint, it's best to use a paintbrush with synthetic bristles.","They're typically made of nylon or polyester.","If you're painting with oil-based paint, you can use either a synthetic brush or one with bristles made of natural animal hair.","For natural bristles, this factory uses pig hair imported from china that arrives in bundles sorted by length.","Each paintbrush contains up to five different lengths.","This bristle structure makes the brush sufficiently stiff.","All five lengths go into a specially designed mixing machine.","First it combs the bristles, straightening them out and removing any curved hairs.","Then it spreads the bristles flat and mixes the lengths together.","Now a worker takes a handful of bristles from the mixer and pats them on a vibrating table.","Like human hairs, animal hairs have a root and a tip.","The vibrations make all the butt ends line up flat.","Each handful goes into a storage box until it's time to install the bristles in the ferrule, the steel band that goes around the paintbrush.","This machine makes the ferrules.","It shapes a thin steel strip that's 1.1 to 1.6 inches wide.","Rollers imprint beads to make the strip more rigid and a herringbone pattern that is purely cosmetic.","Then a blade cuts the strip into pieces that are long enough to wrap around the brush.","The machine bends each piece around a forming horn, then joins the ends in a strong lock seam.","Hammers flatten the seam, and the ferrule is finished.","Back to the bristles now.","A brush-making machine will join them to the ferrules.","Workers load the mixed batches of bristles into one of the machine's feeders and the ferrules into the other.","The machine picks up the required amount of bristles.","Transfer jaws grab the tips and insert them in a ferrule.","A vibrating device called a patter pushes the bristles in straight.","A continuous strip of cardboard feeds the next part of the equipment.","The machine parts the bristles, cuts off, and slots in a piece of cardboard.","This centerpiece, as it's called, creates a well inside the brush head to help hold the paint.","The machine then pulls the bristles out to the proper length, leaving about a quarter inch inside the ferrule.","Once the brush heads come off the machine, workers pick out the loose bristles.","The lightweight paintbrush handles are made of plastic pellets.","A vacuum loader sucks the material up to a molding machine which melts the pellets at about 400 degrees fahrenheit.","The machine then injects the molten plastic into handle-shaped molds.","Five minutes later, the machine ejects the handles from the molds.","Workers attach 30 handles at a time to sticks and hang them across paint vats, then lower the handles into the paint slowly to avoid creating air bubbles.","The first coat is a primer.","After a half-hour, the handles are ready for the next coat.","This time, the vat contains colored paint.","It dries to a matte finish in 30 minutes.","The third vat contains clear lacquer.","This coat protects the paint and makes the surface glossy.","Now it's time to glue the bristles to the ferrules with strong epoxy glue.","It seeps down into the bristle base.","Workers now load the finished brush heads and handles into an assembly machine.","The machine inserts a handle into each brush head, shooting two or three nails into each side to secure it.","Finally, a printing machine stamps the company name onto one side of each handle.","Paintbrushes come in a wide range of widths and thicknesses, providing different strokes for different folks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Slate Tiles","Hot Dog Carts","Garage Door Openers","Bicycle Seats"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","History suggests slate may have first been mined in the roman era, although the earliest confirmed records date back to the early 1700s.","Slate tiles were used for general building construction and are still used today for practical and aesthetic purposes.","These pieces of floor slate appear to be right from the quarry, but they're part of an 18-piece puzzle that's cut the same way every time.","These pieces of wall slate are much thinner and are used for paneling.","Uncut sheets of slate in a variety of thicknesses come straight from the quarry.","After the slate sheets are stacked on a forklift, a worker carefully drives them to another part of the storage yard.","He sets them down gently.","Another worker splits the sheets of slate using a pneumatic zip gun.","It's a delicate process.","Once he splits the slate sheets, the worker inspects the lines in the pieces of slate and looks for cracks.","Then, he carries the sheet to a gauging machine.","He checks the thickness of the sheet to make sure it won't cause jams on the cutting table.","This multiblade cutting table slices a sheet of slate into a series of strips.","It's covered with recycled water.","This lubricates the cutting process, cools the slate and cutting blades, and removes unwanted dust and particles.","A conveyor slowly moves the slate sheet forward.","A total of 18 diamond blades slice the sheet of slate into strips.","These strips of slate will be used for wall paneling.","This cutting table can cut several sheets of slate at the same time.","Once the cutting process is complete, a worker inspects the strips of slate and sorts them according to thickness and width.","Next, he piles some of them in preparation for splitting.","He cracks thicker strips of slate using a stone splitter with a hardened steel blade.","He makes sure they're thin enough to be used for wall paneling.","Once the pieces of slate reach their final thickness, a worker places them in boxes, ready for installation.","A worker inspects a sheet of slate that will be used for flooring.","The thickness of slate flooring must be constant.","He places a sheet on a conveyor.","It takes the slate through a gauging machine, where its surface will be made perfectly even.","Using two diamond grinding wheels, the gauging machine shaves off any pieces of stone that exceed a preset thickness.","After several minutes of shaving, the slate sheet emerges from the gauging machine.","An employee checks the sheet to make sure it's smooth.","First, he checks the underside of the eventual floor tiles.","Then, he checks the top side, the stone face that will be displayed.","The worker places the smooth, flat piece of slate on a cutting frame.","The computerized cutting machine cuts 18 pieces of slate according to a preset pattern.","A high-velocity water jet cuts the stone at three times the speed of sound.","The water is pure, filtered several times.","The first time the slabs move through the machine, it cuts pieces 1 to 9, and the second time through, it cuts pieces 10 to 18.","The worker snaps off excess trim and stacks the cut pieces of slate according to their numbers.","All the number ones are identical to each other, as are each of the other numbers in the 18-piece pattern.","Repeated on a floor, the 18-piece pattern appears natural.","This nonporous slate comes in different textures and colors, and can also be used in bathrooms or roofing.","The first hot dog carts were rolled out in new york city in the mid-19th century.","They were simple push carts with small charcoal stoves and served sausages on buns.","Those sandwiches became known as hot dogs.","A modern hot dog cart is a kitchen on wheels.","Equipped with a water tank and sink, a steamer and grill, and a cooler, it's made to serve the public.","And they're sometimes designed to stand out in a crowd.","To make this hot dog cart, they start with molds for the hot dog-shaped body.","A worker brushes a nonstick coating into the first mold.","It will allow the completed part to be easily removed.","He places fiberglass one sheet at time in the mold.","He brushes a generous amount of epoxy resin onto each piece.","The fiberglass starts to solidify very quickly, but he leaves it to set overnight for a complete cure.","They assemble the two halves of the hot dog-shaped body and apply bonding to the seams.","A colorful paint job completes the look.","Next, computerized tools cut holes in a sheet of food-grade steel.","These holes will accommodate the sink, faucets, and other parts.","Then, the cooler door takes shape.","Using a press, the worker bends up the edge of a piece of steel that's been cut to size.","He transfers the part to another break press.","This one is computerized.","It folds back the bend to give the door a strong, smooth edge.","He repeats this process on two other sides.","He then clamps a continuous hinge to the only unfolded edge, and he welds and rivets the hinge to it.","Work now begins on the chassis of the hot dog cart.","A worker welds heavy wall steel tubing to create a rugged framework.","After painting it, he bolts the wheel axle to brackets on the sides.","He tightens the bolts to an exact torque using a pneumatic wrench.","He screws taillights to the bumper.","The lights are surrounded by metal brackets to protect them from being damaged by customers waiting in line.","The brackets also serve as a mounting plate.","The team now transfers the fiberglass cart body to the chassis.","They drill large holes to vent gas fumes and smaller screw holes to secure the body to the chassis.","They line the cart with a molded fiberglass and styrofoam unit.","It has compartments for the water tank and food cooler, and it also serves as an insulating layer.","They install the steel food preparation surface, which has been equipped with a sink and faucets.","A member of the team tightens a crimp ring around the hoses to supply water to the sink faucets.","He runs a gas line to the steamer's burners and lowers the steamer into place on the cart.","He assembles a barbecue to the other side of the cart, and this gives customers a grilled option for their hot dogs.","They hinge the cooler door to the front of the cart.","Once closed, the door seals the insulated chamber to keep hot dogs, sausages, and sodas on ice.","The team presses bold graphics to the fiberglass shell and peels off the paper liner.","And with that, this hot dog cart is ready to hit the street, just in time for lunch.","Decades ago, people had to get out of the car when arriving home in order to open the garage door.","Today, it's routine to open and close your garage door at the push of a button, either on a wall-mounted pad or on a remote control.","A garage door opener's motor drives either a belt, a chain, or a screw rod, like these models.","In turn, they move a carriage connected to the garage door.","At this factory, the production line starts and ends at the same place.","They take one completed garage door opener off the line, then start a new one by attaching a power cord to the unit's steel chassis.","Then, they place the chassis onto a traveling assembly fixture and plug in the power cord to prep the unit for testing later.","They place the unit's plastic housing next to the chassis, then snap in the plastic safety cover.","This goes over the direct current motor, the equivalent of 1 1/4 horsepower.","They attach an optical encoder to the motor.","The encoder is a sensor which reads the door's position so that the motor knows when to stop moving the carriage.","They place the motor against the safety cover, then screw it in place.","In the housing, they install the motion sensor.","It turns on the opener's light as soon as you walk into the garage or when the garage door opens.","Next are the switches for programming the remote control and for setting the travel limits.","These are the points to which the opener must move the door to fully open and close it.","They then install the circuit board, routing the antenna for the remote control receiver to the outside.","They plug in the motion sensor cable, then wire and plug in the connector for the light bulbs and fasten the board in place with screws.","They attach the electrical ground wire to the chassis, connect the power cable, and then, the optical encoder to the circuit board.","With all the internal components installed now, they affix the housing to the chassis.","This completes the brain of the garage door opener, called the operator unit.","An automated testing machine now checks all the functions, simulating the load of the garage door.","It also checks the light bulb sockets and the connection ports on the circuit board for the safety beams.","The beams stop and reverse the closing door if they detect any object in its path.","Once the operator unit passes inspect, it comes full circle to the end, which is also the start, of the production line.","A plastic lens to enclose the light bulbs, and the unit comes off the line.","The carriage rail is milled from galvanized steel.","It has slots for locking in plastic liners which hold the screw rod.","To produce the screw rod, the factory machines a solid bar of steel to the required dimensions and profile.","Then, with high-pressure rollers, it forms threads in it.","Workers insert the screw rod into the liners in the rail.","For the retail market, rather than produce one long rail and screw rod, the factory makes three shorter connecting sections that fit into a smaller package.","This machine lubricates the screw rod with grease.","It helps it rotate smoothly in the rail liner when the opener's motor is running.","When the screw rod turns, teeth on the base of the carriage interlock with the threads, moving the carriage along the rail.","Workers first install the carriage base at the factory.","Then, they pack all the garage door opener components for shipping, starting with the rail sections and the operator unit.","Last to go in are the wall-mounted control pad, the remote controls, and the safety beams, which you install on each side of the garage door opening.","When you install the garage door opener, you insert the screw rod into the motor's drive shaft.","Then, you assemble the rest of the carriage, connecting it to an arm which attaches to the garage door.","Motor runs, screw rod turns, carriage moves, and your garage door opens or closes.","The bicycle is the most efficient mode of transport ever invented.","Ninety-nine percent of the effort put into turning a pedal is transferred to movement, so the lighter the bike, the better.","Using cutting-edge materials, a high-performance seat can weigh as little as five ounces.","This company made a special seat for a past tour de france winner.","In fact, half the cyclists on the prestigious pro tour racing circuit use their seats.","The design process begins with the simplest tools-- pencils and paper.","Designers sketch out a few basic ideas.","Specialists then transform the sketched ideas into 3-d digital images.","The manufacturers machine-model those images into a prototype.","After testing, they begin the manufacturing process.","A worker places a base, or shell, on the upper segment of a mold.","This company makes their shells from a variety of carbon fiber materials.","Polyurethane pours into the other section of the mold.","This is the part of the mold that will give the seat its shape.","When the mold closes, it cooks at a mere 104 degrees fahrenheit.","A chemical reaction takes place inside the mold, which causes the polyurethane to expand.","Five minutes later, an operator removes the seats from the molds.","Here, we see what the shells look like before and after.","A worker removes excess polyurethane from the edges with a knife.","While the polyurethane cures, workers prepare the cover material.","The material is a proprietary microfiber specially made for this company.","Not only does this material need to be flexible, waterproof, and comfortable, it has to be incredibly durable.","Once they've cut the material into strips, the workers stack them on a stamping press.","A die has been custom made to match the design of the seat.","The stamping press descends with enough force to cut through multiple layers.","It's now time to join the three panels of material that make up the seat cover.","This facility has two different methods for attaching the pieces to each other.","In this case, a skilled worker carefully stitches the material together.","A different method of joining the panels involves a process called thermal welding.","An operator skives, or thins, the edges by shaving them so that there won't be a bump where they overlap.","Double-sided tape will hold the material together.","A special tape dispenser applies the tape to the skived edges.","A worker positions the panels, carefully overlapping the edges.","A vacuum system removes air from between the top and bottom sections of the press, holding the panels in position and ensuring there will be no bubbles at the seams.","The press then heats the material up to 280 degrees fahrenheit, ensuring that the adhesive bonds the panels together.","The design of the shell for this seat has several slots in it to help create the right combination of flexibility and rigidity.","A laser machine cuts stripes in the cover fabric to create a graphic element that reflects this design feature.","Workers glue silver material under the stripes to highlight them, then brush glue all over the underside of the cover.","Mounting the cover on the seat requires two operators.","They place the cover glue side down on the seat, ensuring that it's positioned perfectly and that there are no air pockets.","They work the cover into a small recess that runs around the perimeter of the base.","They will then trim off the excess material with a utility knife.","The amount of skilled manual craftsmanship required to build these seats is a key feature of their quality, but the company also relies on state-of-the-art technology.","Bicycle seats sit on a framework called a rail.","This facility makes rails from both carbon fiber and metal alloys, and it tests each one with a dynamometer.","Workers put glue in the attachment points on the bottom of the seat to ensure that it passes a stringent safety test.","A customized machine bends the seat to fit into the rail.","The seat will then be bent back in the other direction to return it to its original shape.","The seat is now finished.","Fusing state-of-the-art technology with skilled craftsmanship, this company makes 520,000 bicycle seats every year."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Straight Razors","Black Pudding","Steering Wheels","Inorganic Pigments"]},"text":["In a world dominated by high-tech gadgetry, the low-tech straight razor still gets a lot of face time.","It can be reused endlessly, and it has a traditional appeal, one that actually dates back to ancient egypt, when there were straight razors made of solid gold.","Shaving with an unguarded super-sharp knife has always been for the tough guys.","To use it, a man needs a steady hand and steely concentration.","Production begins with steel cylinders heated in a furnace until they're soft and malleable.","A forging hammer then pounds the cylinders into dies to shape them.","A punch cutter trims the edges and cuts the shape into two blades.","From a steel rod to a flat, razor shape in just a few steps.","The straight razors are then fed to another die one at a time.","A wade forces the razor into the die, a process which both improves the shape and condenses the metal to strengthen it.","Next, a worker dips a rack of about 50 blades in graphite powder, followed by molten lead.","The lead adds more strength to the steel.","He knocks off the lead, which slides off easily because of the graphite undercoat.","The razor blades catch fire as he immerses them in oil to cool them.","He transfers the blades to a sieve and tosses saw dust into it.","The saw dust soaks up the oil and graphite residue.","Then he shakes the sieve to sift it out.","After a hardening treatment, it's into an oven to bake slowly.","This gets rid of brittleness and relieves internal stresses.","A technician then scrutinizes the razor to confirm that it's straight.","If it's not, he hammers it straighter.","Another worker grinds the blade, angling it down to the cutting edge using a series of abrasive wheels.","He tests the edge against a thick metal band.","It needs to be as thin as aluminum foil and strong, yet flexible.","The next worker brushes asphalt lacquer onto the blade and upper part of the handle, or tang.","This coating prepares the surface for laser-etching.","It allows the computerized laser beam to cut cleanly into the metal with no bleeding around the edges...","So the trademark insignia and art look crisp.","She paints a little more lacquer around the etching to prepare the blade for the next step-- gold-plating.","She dips the blade in a mix of water and gold and runs a current of electricity through the mix.","This causes the gold to gravitate to the exposed, un-lacquered section of the blade and adhere to it.","The lacquer has served its purpose, and she now cleans it off in a chemical bath to reveal the now-glossy, two-toned blade.","Next, she sandwiches the tang of the razor blade between two plastic parts of the handle, using a long pin to hold everything together.","She then shortens the pin, caps it, and hammers the cap down to secure it.","She now tests the installation.","The next worker grinds the entire blade against a slightly concave abrasive wheel, further sharpening it while maintaining the slope profile.","She then hones the cutting edge against a wet stone, tests it against a cow horn, and then hones it again.","This last step makes the edge razor-sharp.","She immerses the blades in chalk, which absorbs moisture to prevent rusting.","She now strokes the cutting edge against a leather strap.","This is called stropping.","It gives the blade its final polish.","And now she removes a single artificial hair from a bundle and confirms that this straight razor is sharp enough to slice it in two.","It takes a total of 80 different steps to manufacture a straight razor.","We've just shown you the highlights.","Properly maintained, a straight razor should last for decades.","It's common to many european cultures.","The french call it \"boudin noir\".","The spanish call it \"morcilla\".","The italians call it \"sanguinaccio\".","And in the united kingdom, they call it \"black pudding\".","What is it?","A savory dish made from pigs' blood and other ingredients.","In england, ireland, scotland, and wales, black pudding is typically served sliced and fried as part of a traditional breakfast.","Its roots are in ancient times, when people wouldn't waste any part of a slaughtered animal, not even its blood.","Black pudding also contains several dry ingredients-- barley...","Allspice...","Dried onions...","Spices and other seasonings...","And wheat flour.","The pigs' blood is also in dried form.","They begin by filling cotton bags with barley and submerging them in boiling water overnight.","The bags are porous, so the barley absorbs the water, swelling and softening as it cooks.","Once the barley is ready, they drain the water out of the cook tank...","Then cut open the bags and empty the cooked barley into a tub.","The barley and other dry ingredients will make up about a third of the pudding mix.","Another third is the pigs' blood; and the last third, meat fat.","They boil pork fat in a cook tank for two hours.","Then they strain out the water and transfer the fat to a tub.","In another cook tank, they boil smoked-bacon fat for two hours.","Then they scoop out and strain that fat and drop it into a bin, as well.","The scraps of meat clinging to the pieces of fat will give the black pudding extra flavor.","Next, workers empty the two bins of fat into a mincer.","Then they take dried onions and hydrate them with stock from the smoked-bacon cook tank.","This produces gravy.","They pour this gravy, along with the cooked barley, into the mincer.","Next, they add the flour and mince some more.","And then the dried pigs' blood.","Besides turning the ingredients a rich color, the blood makes black pudding a rich source of iron and protein.","They mince the ingredients until the mixture is smooth.","Then they transfer it to the stuffing line.","A worker pumps a specific quantity into a nylon casing, then staples each end of the casing closed.","This is the 7 1/2 pound retail size.","The factory also packages larger formats for restaurants, delicatessens, and caterers.","From the stuffing line, the black puddings go into a steam cooker.","Once their internal temperature reaches 185 degrees fahrenheit, which takes about two hours, they come out of the oven.","They're textured now like a dense chocolate pudding.","After cooling overnight, each black pudding goes into a printed plastic bag.","A vacuum machine sucks out all the air, and heat seals the package.","This improves the product's shelf life.","From there, the puddings drop into a tank of hot water.","This shrinks the plastic package tightly around the casing.","Even within the same country, black pudding recipes vary by region.","This smooth-textured pudding is typical of eastern scotland.","In western scotland, they use oatmeal instead of barley, and, in northern england, they use big, usually visible, chunks of fat, both producing a black pudding that's coarser in texture but equally delicious.","The earliest automobiles used a tiller for steering.","That's a lever attached to a rudder.","The first steering wheel appeared in 1894, in a car built by the panhard company of france.","Today, the steering wheel is a multitasking component, integrating control switches and the driver's-side air bag.","A car steering wheel looks simple enough-- a stylish ring with a horn in the middle and switches to operate the cruise control and other functions.","Yet despite this simplicity, a steering-wheel design undergoes years of development and testing for safety, durability, appearance, and function.","The manufacturing process begins with the armature, the internal support structure.","It's made of either aluminum or magnesium-- strong yet lightweight metals.","The factory's die-casting system injects the hot, molten metal into an armature-shaped mold.","Once the metal solidifies, the machine ejects the casting from the mold.","The metal is still hot.","So a robot arm moves the cast armature to a cooling area, where cold air blows on it.","They remove the excess metal left over from the casting process in one strike with a trimming die.","And with that, the armature is finished, and the steering-wheel assembly can begin.","First, a robot installs four rivets, the contact points for the horn system.","When you press to honk the horn, the rivets complete an electrical circuit, enabling the horn to sound.","Next, a computer-guided engraver marks a lot number for quality-control tracking.","This demonstration shows the basis of the next step.","When mixed together, these two polyurethane chemicals react to each other and produce an expanding foam.","By guiding this expansion within the confines of a mold, one can make this dense foam assume a specific shape, such as that of a steering wheel.","The process is called reaction injection molding.","They coat the mold cavity with a release agent to prevent sticking, place the armature inside, then inject the polyurethane chemicals.","The chemicals react, and the foam instantly expands within the mold cavity, encasing the armature.","Prior to injection, they also sprayed the mold cavity with protective paint.","It tints the foam the required color-- in this case, black.","It also protects the foam against wear and u.v. damage.","The injection-molding process leaves excess polyurethane on the steering wheel.","So the next step is to trim it off.","With the steering-wheel structure complete, it's now time to install the components.","These switches control the features operable from the steering wheel.","Workers assemble them into housings called finishers.","The finishers are molded out of plastic resin, then coated with metallic paint for a high-end look.","The switch wiring has already been assembled into a unit called a wire harness.","They connect the harness to the switches and install it onto the steering wheel.","Then they check that everything functions properly.","And if it does, they mark the assembly to show that it passes this stage of quality control.","After applying a bar-code sticker, they route the wiring through the steering wheel to prepare it for final assembly on the automaker's assembly line.","Next, they install spring mechanisms.","These support the air-bag module, enabling it to move in and out when you sound the horn.","Then they attach the horn plate, to which the carmaker will later attach the driver's-side air-bag module.","They take the ground wire and the wire harness and position it...","Then flip the steering wheel and secure the switch finishers to the exposed back of the armature.","Then they install a back cover made of plastic resin, the color matching the rest of the steering wheel.","A robot arm equipped with a camera performs a thorough quality-control inspection.","While the basics are the same, features vary from model to model.","Higher-end steering wheels are wrapped in leather and often have extra switch controls for the audio system and for hands-free use of a cellphone.","People have always used color as a means of expression.","Prehistoric man created paint from a mix of dirt and animal fat or spit.","Over the centuries, pigment production has become a lot more sophisticated.","Chemical manufacturing produces synthetic mineral pigments to add color to the products in our world.","From pavers to paint to plastic and cosmetics, this is where the color comes from-- synthetic mineral pigments.","They start with a salt recycled from the steel industry.","In this case, it's iron sulfate, which has a bluish-green hue.","They add warm water, and they're ready for the next ingredient-- high-quality scrap.","It's another source of iron, and it's about to be recycled into pigment.","Crane claws transfer it to the mix.","Chemicals are added.","Every so often, a technician scrutinizes a sample of the yellow slurry.","If he decides the color or thickness aren't quite right, adjustments will be made.","The slurry now flows over a perforated metal drum with a filter cloth stretched across it.","As a spray of water rinses off the salt, the fluid in the yellow slurry is sucked through the filter cloth and into the drum, leaving a more concentrated pigment on the surface, called filter cake.","The filter cake falls in chunks onto a screw conveyor and ends up at the top of a towering spray dryer.","Inside, machinery presses the highly concentrated pigment through the holes of a rotating disk.","This causes a spray of droplets that, when exposed to hot air, dries into pigment particles.","This yellow pigment is now ready to be mixed into an emulsion paint for coloring wallpaper.","A generous amount can produce a bolder shade.","A little less, and it's more mellow yellow.","To make black pigment, they start with cast-iron filings, another form of automotive scrap.","This magnetic crane transfers the filings for production, and, again, it will take a chemical reaction to produce the pigment slurry.","The chemical reaction also generates energy that's recovered and used in the manufacturing process.","They wash and thicken the black slurry on a revolving drum, just like they did for the yellow pigment, but this thick paste won't just be used to make black pigment.","It will also be used to make red.","For the dramatic conversion to red, the paste flows directly into a kiln, where it's baked until dry.","They introduce air and increase the temperature to more than 1,500 degrees fahrenheit, making the black particle turn red.","They transfer the red pigment to a drum, where they mix the pigment and adjust the color properties.","They then grind it to a finer consistency.","Once the pigment is packaged in paper bags, it's ready for transport or warehousing.","Like sugar, pigment comes in both a powdered and granulated form.","This demonstration shows the difference between the two.","The powdered pigment is more clumpy and doesn't flow from the open end of the beaker.","By contrast, the granular pigments are tiny micro beads that flow freely, which makes it desirable for users who want to mix and meter pigments more easily.","To test how the pigment would color brick, they mix red pigment with a concrete substitute and compared the result to the standard to confirm that they match up.","But sometimes they need a real concrete example of a pigment's color tone.","So they add a small amount to a mixer full of aggregate-- water and cement.","The mixer rotates, and once the ingredients are thoroughly blended, they open the lid to reveal the red brick paste.","They scoop it up for transfer to a brick-forming machine...","And then fill brick forms with the paste.","They activate a plunger that tamps it down to compact it into the forms, producing bricks.","Red, black, or yellow, these pigments are sure to make things more colorful."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Electric Vehicle Charging Stations","Grappa","Lunar Rover Replicas"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Cars powered by electricity were being developed as early as the 1820s.","In recent years, legislative initiatives improved batteries, and accessible methods of recharging have made electric vehicles more popular.","Charging stations provide electricity to customers with electric vehicles.","It's simply a matter of swiping an access card across the reader, verifying the customer's account, and then plugging the charging station connector into the vehicle.","The charging station provides electricity to the charger in the vehicle.","It can take one to six hours before it's fully recharged.","The blinking light stops, charging is under way.","A laser cutter automatically slices through oxidized aluminum sheets.","In a matter of minutes, the pre-programmed cuts are complete.","A worker carefully removes the cut pieces of aluminum.","Unused pieces will be recycled.","Another worker bends the aluminum on a bending post.","He places the aluminum piece in a bending machine.","Then, he positions the bent piece in a pre-programmed robotic welding machine.","It automatically and quickly welds the pieces of aluminum together.","The worker polishes the welded joints using a soft cloth to make certain they're smooth to the touch.","Polishing away rough edges makes the finished face plate safe for use by customers.","A worker assembles the painted face plate and the head of the charging station.","He screws the face plate to the head and attaches the user interface protection, which is made of tempered glass.","He places a flexible strip of light-emitting diodes around the perimeter of the light diffuser.","Different colored lights tell the customer whether the station is available and whether vehicle charging is under way.","He then places the protector cap containing the light strip and the antenna on the head of the charging station.","Next, he connects the various components housed in the head of the charging station.","These include circuit boards, the antenna connection, digital display, and card reader.","He inserts the control circuit board, which has the central processing unit, the antenna interface, digital display, and card reader on the other side.","He uses a flat cable to connect the 40 small connectors of the control-printed circuit board to the power-printed circuit board.","He inserts it into the head of the charging station, on top of the control-printed circuit board.","He finishes attaching the quick connecters.","A worker seals the edges of the charging station head with rubber stripping to protect the components inside from the elements outside.","He positions the aluminum back plate on the charging station head, and once that's in place, he attaches the charging cable assembly to the connector module.","The worker slips the charging cable wires into the frame of the connector module and securely tightens them.","Then, he positions the connector module door against the frame that holds it in place.","He attaches them securely to each other, using quick-connect connecters, he attaches part of the plug that links the charging station to the vehicle.","To make sure everything is working properly, the worker tests the door sensor and the door locking system.","His test confirms the sensor is functioning, and the door locks correctly.","He now attaches the connector module to the head of the charging station.","Then, he places the head of the charging station onto its pedestal base.","Whether it's being removed or attached to a vehicle, one safety feature is that the connector is never energized when being handled by a customer.","Once the charge is complete, the vehicle is ready to roll.","Grappa is an italian brandy, traditionally an after dinner drink.","It's made from pomace, what's left of grapes after they've been pressed to make wine.","Distilleries ferment the pomace to convert the sugars into alcohol, then distill it to transform the alcohol and other compounds into grappa.","Traditional grappa is colorless.","It can also be aged in wooden barrels to produce different varieties, with a specific color, taste, and aroma.","You can't make grappa without someone first making wine, because wine-making leftovers are the sole ingredient.","In italy, the wine harvest begins in late summer or early fall, depending on the weather and region of the country.","The harvested grapes go directly from the vineyard to the winery.","There, the first machine pulls them off the stocks, which are later composted into fertilizer for farms and nurseries.","The destocked grapes enter a cylindrical press.","They're crushed against the walls with an airbag-like device to extract the juice and pulp for making wine.","What's left behind in the press, once the juice and pulp drain out, are the skins, seeds, some residual juice, and pulp.","This is called pomace.","The winery sells it to distilleries that produce grappa.","This small artisanal distillery produces premium quality grappa by using only pomace from grapes pressed that very same day.","The pomace goes into temperature controlled fermentation tanks as soon as it arrives.","Large industrial distilleries operate differently, typically warehousing pomace prior to processing, sometimes for months.","This delay produces high levels of potentially toxic methanol, which the distillery then has to remove using an additional procedure.","The distillers monitor ph and alcohol levels to determine when the conversion of sugars to alcohol is complete.","The process takes from three days to a week, depending on the variety of grape and other factors, such as the outdoor temperature.","When the pomace is ready, they transfer it to wood-clad copper stills.","They heat the stills with steam, bringing the pomace to the boiling point, which transforms the alcohol and other compounds into steam.","This alcohol steam inside the still rises to the top and exits through a side hole.","It travels through copper pipes and other equipment, ultimately to a condensation system, which cools the steam back to liquid.","This liquid is grappa.","As it exits distillation, the master distiller meticulously monitors the temperature and alcohol level.","She discards the initial and final flows, capturing only the perfectly pure mid flow, referred to as the heart of the grappa.","Its alcohol level at this point is 70% to 77%.","Certain varieties now go to the cellar, into small wooden barrels to age.","Over time, both the grappa and the wooden barrels exchange compounds, which influence taste, aroma, and color.","For example, a barrel made of cherry wood will produce different characteristics than one made of oak.","The distilleries' experts analyze and taste samples following distillation and throughout the aging period.","Depending on the variety, this can range from just one year to more than 20 years.","Whether the grappa is aged or not, prior to bottling, they filter and dilute it with the mineralized water.","This lowers the alcohol content from an average of 77% after distillation to the target level of 41% to 50%.","They seal the bottles with stoppers made of food-safe synthetic materials rather than traditional corks.","Natural cork contains certain organic compounds, which can alter the flavor, aroma, and color of the grappa.","They seal the stopper with shrink wrap plastic.","An unbroken seal assures the buyer that the bottle has not been previously opened.","Then the bottles pass through a labeling station.","The grappa is ready to be poured as an after-dinner drink or enjoyed on its own.","As the italians say, \"salut\"!","On july 26, 1971, the apollo 15 space module touched down on the moon, and astronauts emerged with a new vehicle, the lunar rover.","They took it for a test drive.","It handled well on the rough surface of the moon, so they could venture further from the landing sight and really explore.","The lunar rover was no ordinary four wheeler.","Millions of dollars of research went into this one-horsepower wonder, which became known as the moon buggy.","Today, craftsmen build replicas for space museums and to use as movie props.","The team starts with a substantial suspension system, designed to smooth the ride over the moon's rocky terrain.","They then install a steering plate at the front.","They attach actuators, which are mechanisms that assist in steering.","They connect the actuator drive bars to the steering plate.","Together, the steering plate and actuators give the lunar rover an incredibly tight turning radius of 10 feet.","They screw support brackets for the actuators to the corners of the chassis.","They then connect the actuators to them.","They use steel and aluminum bolts and parts.","However, on the original moon buggy, many parts were made of titanium, because it lightened the load carried into space.","Titanium is expensive and unnecessary for this replica.","The fenders are next.","They are extra large to protect astronauts from lunar dust kicked up by the rover.","They insert a locking mechanism in a slit at the end of the drive shaft and slide the wheel hub onto the shaft.","They turn the hub to lock it in place.","They're now ready for the wheels.","In the atmospheric vacuum of the moon, air-filled rubber tires were out of the question, so the original rover had wire-mesh tires.","To mimic the look, they've wrapped a wire lattice around rubber tires.","The team secures the wheel to the hub with a plastic and aluminum cap that's equipped with locking pins.","They give it a spin and install the other three wheels.","Next, a technician assembles the instrument panel.","He inserts various switches and gauges into their slots...","Including this system reset switch.","It's used to bring the displays back to zero prior to an expedition.","He closes a two piece collar around the bottom of the switch.","He locks it in place with a top cap.","He then flips the panel around and tightens the nut on the back part of the switch.","With the system reset switch now attached, the instrument panel is complete.","He places it in the housing.","He installs metal bars around the switches to keep them from being accidentally tripped.","He assembles the steering handle, which is a t-shaped joystick, next to the instrument panel.","They now transfer the steering and instrument panel assembly to the vehicle.","They fasten the actuator switches to the steering housing, and then clip the wiring harness to the floor of the lunar rover.","They cover the bottom of the rover with flame-resistant material.","They lower the electrical control panel and battery into the chassis and connect them.","The original rover had two small batteries, but the mechanics of this replica have had an update.","Stay tuned for more, as this lunar rover replication mission continues.","The original lunar rover weighed just 460 pounds, or 77 pounds in moon weight.","It could carry a load of over twice that.","At minimal gravity and an atmospheric vacuum, it was the only way to travel on the surface of the moon in 1971.","The production of this lunar rover replica continues with the fabrication of a brake disk.","The technician carefully measures the dimensions and draws them onto a sheet of plastic-covered aluminum.","He drills a large hole for the main drive shaft and four screw holes.","He then cuts out the disk, following the penciled lines.","He smoothes the rough edges using a fine grit abrasive belt.","He sands off the plastic liner, and abrades the aluminum surface to a satiny sheen.","The brake disk is now ready for assembly to the lunar rover.","He attaches it to the main drive shaft, and lowers the assembly into the vehicle.","He bolts the disk to the chassis, where it will serve as a friction surface for the brake pads.","He installs those next.","He connects it to a spring mechanism for engaging the disk brake.","He tests the drive shaft and disk brake and confirms that they're both in working order.","He loops the roller chain around the sprocket gear for the rear wheel drive, and the teeth intermesh.","He drives pins through the links to join the ends, closing the loop.","This drive chain is powered by an electric motor.","It's another mechanical modification.","On the original rover, there was a small motor for every wheel and no drive chain.","The lawn-chair-like seats are next.","They cover the shocks and battery at the front with an aluminum hood.","They also install a cover over the mechanics at the back.","It doubles as a rack for geological excavation tools.","They attach the umbrella antenna to the rover.","It was used to beam pictures and data to earth.","Next, an aluminum cylinder spins in a lathe, as cutting tools transform it into a camera mount.","They also create a bracket for a communications antenna.","It's quite a transformation.","Using the bracket, a member of the crew now erects the communications antenna.","He then installs the mount for the film camera.","Next, using a sheer press, he lops off a piece of an aluminum sheet.","He switches to a hand tool and cuts out a geometric shape with flaps.","He folds up the flaps using a brake press, creating a box to cover the main battery.","After the seams have been welded, he wraps the cover in mylar, which is a strong plastic film.","The wrap is an extra layer of protection against wind-borne particles, known as mircrometeoroids.","They also wrap the camera and other parts of the rover with mylar.","This replica of the apollo lunar rover is complete and ready for display."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Firefighter Boots","Garden Tools","Automated Machines","Gypsum Board"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" firefighter boots...","Garden tools...","Automated machines...","And gypsum board.","Firefighters need boots they can pull on lightning fast to get to the blaze as quickly as possible.","Those boots have to be fire-resistant and waterproof.","They have to provide good grip for climbing ladders and be sturdy enough not to puncture when stepping through sharp debris.","Firefighter boots start out as a chunky block of rubber.","The first step is to put the block through a mill.","It passes through the rollers over and over again until it gradually flattens and thins out.","Workers then add chemicals-- anywhere from 15 to 35 different types-- depending on the model of boot they're making.","The rubber formulation is what makes the boot fire-resistant.","Once the rubber is smooth and malleable, about the consistency of modeling dough, they form it into sheets from which they'll cut the various pieces that make up the boot.","They feed this sheet through rollers that imprint vertical lines on the rubber.","They'll cut the sheet along these lines to make the strips that run down the back of the boot.","From another sheet of rubber, using a handheld die, they cut one layer of the multilayered sole.","They run an extra-thick sheet of rubber through rollers that imprint a tread pattern.","Then workers cut out the bottom soles.","They mark the boot size on the bottom.","Using yellow rubber, they cut out the boot's toe-cap covers.","The boot's leg has a stiff lining to prevent it from wobbling.","Workers cut it from a rubber-backed cotton fabric following a pattern.","Once all the pieces are cut, workers can assemble the boot on a form.","They start with the lining, wrapping it around the front and gluing it closed at the back.","Then they glue on the insole.","For this model, it's made of rubber-backed felt.","They secure the lining seam and seal it with one of those rubber strips we saw earlier.","Now the van-- a piece of felt reinforced with a thin layer of rubber.","This gives the boot strength.","Next, a toe-cap sponge made of rubber compounds.","When they cure the boot, the sponge will inflate and hold the steel toe cap in place.","To protect the firefighter's feet when walking through sharp debris, they add a steel arch and a steel sole.","Next, an adhesive-backed toe-cap cover.","Then a felt sole to protect the firefighter's foot against heat.","It has a steel arch for stability, useful when the firefighter needs to climb a ladder.","After applying a rubber heel-reinforcement, they cover the lower part of the boot with yellow foam for insulation.","They secure it using a strip of rubber.","Now they finish the bottom of the boot in black rubber.","They reinforce the back and sides in yellow rubber...","And finish them off in black rubber.","Next comes the yellow toe cap...","Then a rubber pad to protect the front of the boot when it rubs against the rungs of the ladder.","Now the bottom sole.","They use a press to seal it in place.","Rubber bonds to rubber under pressure.","They apply a rubber trim around the bottom using a small roller to press it in place.","Workers then press all the seams to ensure they're well-adhered.","Then it's into a vacuum machine for about four seconds to create an airtight bond.","Finally, the boots go into a giant oven that heats them to 280-degrees fahrenheit.","An hour and 45 minutes later, the rubber is cured and hardened and all the pieces have fused together.","These boots are ready to take the heat.","Anyone with a green thumb knows that it takes both skill and patience to make a garden flourish.","It also helps to have the proper tools on hand.","An avid gardener's arsenal can contain everything from shears, trimmers, and pruners to rakes, hoes, and spades.","The handles of these garden tools are made of white ash, a sturdy wood that can withstand the force of shoveling, digging, or raking.","These dried-ash dowels measure two to seven feet long, depending on the tool being made.","They first enter what's called the chucking line, where specially designed, automated machines shape them into handles.","The first operation rounds the dowels to the required diameter-- about two inches, depending on the tool.","The next operation cuts the dowels to the required length and profiles their ends.","Two chucking heads, one on each side, carve the ends simultaneously.","One shapes the bottom of the handle to fit the tool's blade.","Certain blades go over the wooden handle, while others go into it.","For inserted blades, another chucking head hollows out the handle.","Meanwhile, the chucking head on the other side rounds off the top of the handle.","The finished handles spin against a sanding belt as they exit the chucking line.","This smoothes the surface of the wood, preparing the handles for a coat of protective varnish.","High-end shovels and spades have what's called a steel d-grip-- a steel handle grip with a wooden insert.","An automated lathe first shapes a piece of ash to the right length and profile.","Then an automated drill pierces a hole.","To make the sides of the grip, workers begin with two precut pieces of steel called blanks.","They place them in a manually operated press that shapes them in a two-step process.","They use the heat of a strong electrical current to melt the steel and fuse the pieces together.","This is called resistance welding.","Next, they feed a steel rivet through the sides and wooden insert...","And fasten everything together.","Elsewhere in the factory, a heated forming machine stamps out the steel blanks the workers will shape into blades.","A robotic arm loads the blanks into an oven.","In just four minutes, the oven heats the steel to over 1,800-degrees fahrenheit.","This intense heat makes the metal malleable.","Workers then take out and shape one blank at a time.","They only have a few seconds to form the steel before it cools off.","The first press forms the blade-- in this case a shovel and a partial socket.","Then the second press closes the socket.","They quickly submerge the blade in lukewarm water to cool the metal down.","By now, the steel is extremely brittle, so the blades go into what's called a tempering furnace for 15 minutes.","This alters the metal's internal structure, restoring its strength.","The steel d-grip has been cleaned and painted.","Workers insert the wooden handle and nail the parts together.","On the other end, they attach the blade, which, by now, has been varnished to prevent corrosion.","After drilling a hole through both the metal and the wood, they fasten the blade using a rivet if it's a high-end tool, a nail if it's a budget model.","These hot-off-the-press garden tools are finally ready to put in a hard day's work.","A couple of centuries after the industrial revolution, mass production met automation-- a match made not in heaven but in high technology.","In this special segment, \"how it's made\" honors the automated machine with this \"moving\" tribute.","It's called \"gypsum board\" or \"drywall,\" and chances are your walls and ceilings are made of it.","Years ago, it replaced plaster as the wall material of choice.","Workers just mount the sheets onto wood framing, plaster the joints, then sand and paint.","Gypsum is a natural mineral.","Since ancient times, it has been mined to produce gypsum plaster.","In fact, there's gypsum plaster in egypt's pyramids.","In 1894, a man by the name of augustine sackett patented a board made of gypsum, which he called \"plasterboard\".","But it didn't become the norm in construction until the building boom that followed world war ii, when busy contractors abandoned plaster in favor of this faster and cheaper way to build walls.","The process of making gypsum board begins at the quarry, where crews mine the gypsum, a soft rock.","The loaders dump their haul into what's called an apron.","The apron channels the gypsum onto a conveyor, breaking up the big chunks along the way.","From there, it's sent to a giant rotating drum.","Within 8 minutes, this hot-air rock dryer removes 5% to 10% of the moisture, turning the gypsum white.","Next stop, a gas-fired silo, called a kettle.","It cooks the gypsum at 300 degrees fahrenheit, until most of the remaining moisture evaporates.","The kettle is fed by a mill that grinds the lumpy rock into what's called \"stucco,\" a fine powder the consistency of wheat flour.","In a mixing tank, workers combine water with several powdered chemicals and minerals and a chemical soap.","The dry additives give the board the required structure, while the soap creates air bubbles to make the board lighter.","In a separate machine, they mix the stucco with an accelerator to make the gypsum set faster.","Now they combine the two separate batches, creating a mixture called a slurry.","It looks like thick, white soup.","Now they'll form it into gypsum board, which is basically a slurry sandwich.","The bread is this thick, heavyweight paper.","As the roll unwinds, \"creaser wheels,\" as they're called, score a line about one inch toward the middle from both edges.","Then a machine evenly spreads the slurry, like a sandwich filling, between the top and bottom sheets of paper.","Then the paper-folding operation begins, most of which is a company secret and off-limits to our cameras.","They fold the edges along the scorelines, the bottom edges upward and the top ones downward, gluing them over the bottom ones to trap the slurry inside.","Drops of water smooth out any ridges, ensuring a smooth and even fold.","Forming plates then shape the folded edges into straight sides.","An optical sensor checks the depth of the board's recess.","The recess is where you put the joint tape to connect one board to the next when you're building a wall.","The forming station spews out 1,000 continuous feet of gypsum board.","A cutter now chops that megaboard into whatever size they're producing in this run.","As the boards exit the cutter, automated prongs flip them recess-side up.","The recess side will be the wall surface, and they don't want to risk damaging it on the rollers that lead to the drying station.","This gas-fired hot-air dryer is kind of like a multilevel parking garage.","It's almost 500 feet long and has 8 decks.","The factory can cure hundreds of boards at a time.","It takes 40 minutes to move through the dryer's 4 temperature zones, which start at 660 degrees fahrenheit and get progressively cooler, to 300 degrees.","The boards are sold in pairs, so the machinery stacks them in twos, then tapes them together.","The tape bears the brand name, as well as the size and thickness of the board.","Standard lengths range from 8 to 14 feet, and the most common thicknesses are 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch.","The tape also tells the consumer what type of gypsum board it is.","There's a standard drywall for building walls in homes.","There's a moisture-resistant version for humid areas, such as bathrooms, and there's fire-resistant gypsum board, usually required by law for commercial buildings."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Artist Brushes","DEF Tank Heaters","Game Tables","Art Glass Wall Sconces"]},"text":["An artist's paint brush can have synthetic bristles or natural ones made of animal hair.","Which type to use is really a matter of the artist's preference.","However, painters often tend to use a natural brush for watercolors, a synthetic brush for acrylics, and either type for oils.","These natural-hair paintbrushes are made of red sable, which is tail hair from a species of weasel.","Red sable is renowned for its softness and for spreading paint thinly and evenly.","An experienced head-maker performs the initial steps of making the head of the paintbrush.","She unrolls and straightens out a bundle of red sable, then separates enough hairs for one brush of this size.","She inserts the hairs into a metal band, called a ferrule, made of nickel-plated brass.","She feels how they fit in the ferrule.","If the fit's too tight, she removes some hairs.","If it's too loose, she adds some.","Brushes of different shapes require different tensions.","The head-maker takes the correct brass mold for the brush shape she's making and inserts the hairs all the way down into the mold cavity.","She ties the roots of the hairs together with a string...","Then removes them from the mold.","She inserts the brush head back into the ferrule...","Then removes the string.","Next, using a template, she adjusts what's called the length-out of the brush head.","Length-out is how far the hairs protrude from the end of the ferrule.","After removing stray hairs, she aligns the end of the ferrule with the edge of the nearly 1-inch-long template and pulls out or pushes in the hairs until their tips align with the opposite edge of the template.","She completes her specialized work by suspending the assembled brush head from a rack.","Another worker now fills a syringe with epoxy glue, then, with the syringe, fills the ferrule with enough glue to submerge the hairs.","Once the glue has dried overnight, another worker taps the brush head against a strip of adhesive tape to remove any short hairs that didn't adhere.","She dips the hairs into a solution of starch and water and works the solution into all the hairs by massaging the head on a towel.","The starch allows the hairs to be trained to a permanent shape.","She makes this particular pointed shape by spinning the head, then smoothing the hairs with her fingers.","The starch dries overnight, locking in the shape.","To make the paintbrush handle, a worker inserts birch dowels in a pegboard, then mounts the board upside-down on a dipping machine.","This machine submerges the dowels in black lacquer paint.","After one day of drying time, there is a second dip, partway this time, in silver paint.","The machine has markings to indicate how deep to dip the dowels for each color.","After another day of drying time, there is a third dip, this time partway in black paint.","This creates a black handle with a silver stripe.","Once the last coat of black paint dries, a worker uses a pad printer to stamp lettering on the handle with quick-dry silver ink.","One stamp simultaneously applies the manufacturer's name, the brush-hair material, the size of the brush, and the series number.","A worker glues the brush head onto the handle.","Then the worker sets the brush aside for a couple of hours until the glue partially dries to a tacky state because the next step, crimping, would crack the fully dried, hardened glue.","The worker inserts the ferrule into a crimping machine, which has been loaded with the dye that's the correct diameter for this brush handle.","The machine crimps the ferrule tightly to the handle, attaching it permanently.","Once that glue hardens, the paintbrush is finally ready.","From this point onward, it's in the artist's hands.","A diesel exhaust fluid, or d.e.f., tank heater, is a device which prevents diesel exhaust fluid from freezing.","Diesel exhaust fluid is a solution sprayed into the exhaust system of a vehicle with a diesel engine to break down dangerous polluting chemicals the tailpipe would otherwise emit.","Once the outdoor temperature dips to the diesel exhaust fluid's freezing point, the vehicle's computer automatically starts up this heater installed inside the d.e.f. holding tank.","The heater warms the tank by cycling hot radiator fluid though its tubing.","At the factory, workers form the heater tube out of lengths of stainless-steel tube.","A computer-guided saw cuts a tube to the length required for the heater size they're producing.","Cars have smaller d.e.f. heaters.","Trucks and construction equipment have larger ones.","A worker programs a robotic bender to bend the cut tube to the required shape.","These bends are so complex that no traditional manually operated bending machine would be able to do them this accurately.","The heater sits right inside the d.e.f. holding tank.","That's why manufacturers use stainless steel rather than ordinary steel for this tubing.","Stainless steel better resists the corrosiveness of the d.e.f. fluid.","At the next station, a worker inserts the bent tube into the tank heater sensor unit.","The tube fits through openings in the sensor unit's header.","When connected by a cable to the vehicle's computer, the sensor unit detects the level, temperature, and quality of the d.e.f. next, the worker puts the tubing in a punch press, which shapes the ends.","He puts those shaped ends in a bender, which curves them.","Another tube made the same way siphons d.e.f. from the holding tank to a device that sprays the fluid on the exhaust stream.","He installs a rubber o-ring onto this siphon tube and applies lubricant.","He installs the tube into the header, and the o-ring fits into a notch.","The worker then installs a bracket at the base of the heater, riveting it to the tubing.","The bracket holds a rubber grommet that secures the heater in place inside the d.e.f. tank.","Further up, he rivets on a second bracket to stabilize the sensor tube that runs down the center of the sensor unit.","This prevents the tube from rattling.","Then he installs the return tube, which feeds any excess unsprayed d.e.f. back to the holding tank.","Retaining brackets apply pressure to all the o-rings, sealing the tube connections against leaks.","He flips the heater over to attach the drain tube, which is the bottom half of the return tube.","He caps all the tubes to keep them clean until the heater is installed in the vehicle.","He attaches a nylon filter to the siphon tube, securing it in place with the retaining clip.","As the siphon tube draws the d.e.f. from the holding tank toward the sprayer, the filter removes contaminants such as sand.","Finally, this rubber grommet snaps into the bracket at the base of the heater.","The grommet fits over a raised bump on the tank floor, holding the unit securely in place.","Once connected to the vehicle's computer, the heater keeps the diesel exhaust fluid from freezing, no matter how cold the weather.","In the 17th and 18th centuries, most wealthy people in europe and america had at least one finely crafted game table in the drawing room for cards and conversation after dinner.","Today, game tables aren't just for the wealthy but for anyone who enjoys this fun and functional furniture.","This modern game table does double duty.","Flip the game top over, and it becomes a dining table.","When it comes to space-saving, this table's a game changer.","A saw carves kiln-dried maple boards into thick strips, helped by a laser scanner so the saw can make clean and judicious cuts.","An equipment operator scrutinizes the strips for knots and other defects and marks them with orange chalk.","Another scanner detects the orange marks, enabling a saw to cut around the defects as it chops the strips into shorter lengths.","The next worker dips one side of the strips in polyvinyl acetate, a super strong glue.","The next worker arranges the strips in a specific order, alternating the grain to balance the wood's expansion and contraction forces.","He clamps them tightly together and allows the glue to set.","Workers sand the top and bottom and trim the sides to produce one of the rim segments.","A computerized router now moves from one segment to the next as it carves slots for poker chips and drinks.","It then drills holes in the sides for the wooden dowels that will be used to join the eight table segments.","The segments are now ready for assembly.","A worker pipes high-strength adhesive in grooves along the edges and into the dowel holes.","He inserts the dowels in the holes in one side of each segment.","He arranges the segments in a circular pattern and inserts the dowels in the corresponding holes.","He pulls the eight rim segments tightly together with a strap clamp and leaves the glued configuration to cure overnight.","This permanently bonds the table rim segments.","The next day, a computerized router rounds the outside of the rim.","It also trims the inside of the rim and forms a channel for the insertion of the center of the game table.","The game table rim is now complete.","With the rim now game side down, the next member of the team pipes more of the super adhesive into the inner channel.","He inserts the dining-table surface.","This maple center has been precision-cut to fit into the groove in the rim.","Using a rubber mallet, he taps the tabletop to entrench it more firmly in the groove.","He flips the tabletop back to the game side and installs 16 screws on an angle to tighten the top to the rim.","The screws serve as a clamp system to hold the table center in place as the glue cures.","With the center now bonded to the rim, a worker sprays a base color and then a wood stain onto both sides.","This highlights the character of the wood and gives it a warm tone.","A worker then applies two coats of a urethane varnish and sands the finish between the coats.","Then, workers assemble a pedestal base...","And install a piece of laminate in a stained maple frame.","This creates a storage compartment under the tabletop, as well as providing a foundation for the tabletop to sit on.","The team transfers the pedestal base to the table foundation.","They bolt them together, which creates the support structure for the tabletop.","Back to the game tabletop, a worker installs a cloth-covered padded insert.","This will serve as a smooth and cushy surface for card playing.","And with that, workers finally transfer the game tabletop to the base.","The games can now begin.","The first sconces were candleholders attached to the wall by extending brackets to keep the flame a safe distance away.","With the invention of electricity, sconces could be mounted flush to walls.","This opened up new design possibilities, among them, art glass wall sconces.","Art glass wall sconces can be used to both decorate and illuminate.","Turning on these lights makes a design statement.","At this factory, workers craft every sconce by hand.","The process starts with scrap glass from a window manufacturer.","The craftsperson measures the glass and scores it with a cutting wheel.","Using special pliers, she applies pressure to fracture the glass along the score line.","She manually completes the break.","She cuts a large pane and a smaller one.","She sets the large one aside and tapes the small one over a detailed sketch of artwork.","She traces the lines of the sketch onto the clear glass using liquefied dark enamel, creating thick lines to mimic the look of lead veins in stained glass.","Once the lines dry and harden a bit, she paints the designated colors within them.","Each area of the sketch has a letter that corresponds to a particular color of enamel.","She centers the painted pane on the clear larger one to feature the artwork more prominently.","Then she transfers the two panes to an electrically-fired kiln.","It will gradually heat the glass to over 1,400 degrees fahrenheit and then cool it over a period of 10 hours.","This prevents fracturing as the heat fuses the two panes together and bakes the artwork into the glass.","The baking also deepens the enamel colors.","Next, a mixer blends clay to a pudding-like consistency.","An employee pours the clay into plaster molds for the sconce's casing.","The clay begins to firm up along the inside walls of the mold.","He pours out the clay that's still liquefied.","Now a putty-like consistency, he trims the excess at the top.","He sets the mold on its side and opens it to reveal the newly shaped sconce casing.","It cures overnight.","The next day, the part is still soft but can withstand sanding.","The worker thins the rim and smooths the outside.","With a sharp knife, he cuts an opening for the art glass pane, first scoring the still-fragile clay and then making deeper cuts.","He removes the clay cutout.","Using a different knife, he now sculpts a chiseled profile along the edges that will eventually frame the art glass pane.","He cuts a hole for the light socket and another one to mount the fixture to an electrical junction box.","The clay casing now spends eight hours in a kiln, exposed to a temperature of over 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This transforms the clay into a durable glass-like ceramic.","He brushes a colored glaze on the outside of the ceramic, leaving the inside white to reflect the light forward.","He bakes the ceramic in another kiln for six hours, and this fuses the glaze to it.","The final finish is glossy, and the color is intrinsic to the ceramic.","The worker now installs the light socket in one of the holes in the sconce casing and pulls the wiring through the back.","He slides a brass washer over the wires at the back, followed by a second washer that's connected to a ground wire.","He secures the washers and the wires to the back of the sconce with a nut.","He screws a bulb into the socket.","It's now ready for the art glass pane.","He pipes adhesive onto the sides of the pane.","Picking it up from the unglued ends, he moves the pane into place in the ceramic frame of the sconce window.","He clips the pane to the ceramics around using clothespins and leaves the sconce overnight for the adhesive to cure.","The next day, the art glass sconce is ready to shine, and after installation, the lighting is on the wall."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Kelp Caviar","Luxury Sailboats","Dental Crowns","High"]},"text":["Caviar is made by processing the unfertilized eggs of certain species of fish.","For those who love the taste but not the price, there's simulated caviar made of kelp, a type of seaweed.","A fraction of the cost, it looks, smells, and tastes similar to the real thing.","Unlike fish caviar, the source of kelp caviar is a plant, so it's fat-free, cholesterol-free, and has zero calories.","This company makes its kelp caviar plain, which is vegetarian, as well as in several flavors.","Kelp is chock-full of vitamins and minerals and is especially rich in iodine.","Being a marine plant, it's quite different from land plants in that its consistency is gelatinous, which makes it ideal for producing little rubbery balls that resemble fish eggs.","At the kelp caviar factory, they begin production with kelp that's been dried naturally, then ground into a fine powder.","The other ingredients are salt, citric acid, and, if they're making a flavored variety, natural flavoring in liquid form.","They add the ingredients one at a time to water.","The mixer blends them thoroughly for about an hour, producing a thick, gelatinous liquid.","They transfer the mixture into a pot connected to an extrusion machine.","The machine pumps the mixture through what looks like a showerhead, only instead of outputting a steady stream, it squeezes out droplets, producing tiny kelp balls called pearls, which look exactly like fish eggs.","The pearls drop into a coagulation solution.","Besides providing a soft landing, this solution helps hold the pearls' shape.","The pearls roll down a chute into waiting containers.","The water drains out the bottom.","Workers empty the containers into large colanders.","Then they rinse and strain the pearls to ensure they're all a certain minimum size.","Pearls that are too small simply fall through the colander's holes.","They weigh out a specific quantity and mix in an all-natural stabilizer required to maintain the pearls' texture and round shape.","The factory's quality-control lab tests a sample from the batch to make sure the ph level is just right.","Careful ph control, coupled with pasteurization, is why this product doesn't require any preservatives.","At the packaging station, workers fill glass jars, then twist a tin lid onto each one.","Then the jars go into a pasteurization machine.","It heats the caviar to a high temperature for a specific period of time, which kills off any bacteria.","This ensures a two-year shelf life without refrigeration.","Once opened, the product stays fresh in the fridge for three months.","After printing each lid with a lot number for tracking purposes, all that's left to do is dress the jar in a cardboard label.","Kelp caviar contains no artificial colors or flavors.","Unlike certain types of caviar, it doesn't bleed color to the surrounding food, even when baked.","And while real caviar is typically either black sturgeon roe or red salmon roe, kelp caviar comes in additional flavors, such as truffle, cognac, and wasabi.","Luxury sailboats evoke thoughts of freedom and sunsets on the ocean, but in the factory, it's all about hard work, because luxury sailboats are still mostly made by hand.","Just a few hundred units are produced every year, each boat requiring up to 3,000 hours of work.","Sailboats have come a long way since they were first used on the nile river some 6,000 years ago.","These luxury sailboats are designed using computer-aided design software, which allows the engineers to optimize the hull shape for stability and speed before actually building the boat.","They build the hull from fiberglass, which comes as knitted fabric and as mats of random strands pressed together.","These two layers are hybridized to form a light but very strong material.","Huge molds are used to build the hull of this 45-foot boat.","Workers unroll the fiberglass and spray it with resin.","Then they unroll the next layer of fiberglass, which overlaps the previous one, making for a very strong construction.","The resin hardens as it cures.","Boat parts are so large and heavy that they must be moved with cranes.","This part is called the transom.","It will be attached to the hull with fiberglass while it and the hull are still in the molds, creating what's called a monaco construction.","This hull surface will receive the structural grid, which will support the engine, mast, fuel tank, and water tanks.","Meanwhile, carpenters fashion the wood components.","This door is made of solid teak, a durable hardwood that doesn't rot.","The wood parts are then put into a curing oven at 122 degrees fahrenheit.","Air is circulated to cure the varnish in about 11 minutes.","Bright lights also help cure the varnish.","It's time to put the divisions in place.","The hull liner has slots designed to receive the various wood components.","Each part is fitted twice-- first to check the fit, then permanently with high-strength adhesive.","It's time to install the engine.","With its 54 horsepower, the boat can cruise at 8 knots, even when the wind isn't blowing.","This stainless-steel structure serves to reinforce the rudder.","It's attached with epoxy glue.","After closing the rudder mold, they insert a paper cone to completely fill the rudder with urethane foam.","The foam expands as it cures.","They finish by carefully sanding the edges of the rudder, which is now attached underneath the hull.","To build the boat's deck, molds for the top and bottom parts must be aligned.","High-strength bonding material is applied at specific spots.","The two molds are carefully fitted together.","When the parts are perfectly joined, the mold is removed.","The deck is now ready to be fitted on the boat.","Workers carefully line everything up.","Luxury sailboats have enough space for many rooms and can be customized with appliances and electronics that suit the customer's needs and tastes.","All that's needed now is a dip in the test pool for a check of the engine, generator, and other mechanical systems.","After about three months of hard work, the boat is now ready to set sail for offshore adventures.","Dental work dates back to ancient egypt, when people used animal teeth and pieces of bone to replace their own teeth.","It couldn't have been pretty, but today, high-tech dental crowns can transform damaged teeth into pearly whites that look just like all the rest.","A dental crown starts with a plaster impression of the mouth.","It goes to a laboratory, where they cut it into segments to isolate the tooth in need of restoration.","They scan it into a computer and send the dimensions electronically to the factory.","There, machinery pumps liquid plaster into molds to create cylinders called blanks.","The plaster blanks take about 10 minutes to harden, then move on to cure for an additional 12 hours.","At the next station, a robot installs a blank in a milling machine.","A computerized cutting tool sculpts the blank, guided by the scanned data of the plaster replica.","It makes a duplicate that's 20% to 30% larger to allow for material shrinkage later in production.","Next, a device dips the plaster tooth in liquid ceramic, which hardens into a nonstick glaze.","The next robot orients the tooth, along with several others, in a circular holder, ready for the next phase of production.","Nozzles funnel ceramic powder into molds arranged in a matching circular configuration.","A robot then inserts the tooth replicas in the corresponding molds.","A worker stacks several of the mold platters and threads them together with a metal rod.","He transfers the rack of mold platters to the next worker, who plunges it into a water-filled chamber.","He closes the lid and activates a pressurizing system.","As the liquid pressurizes, it compresses the ceramic powder, solidifying it.","This process takes just 10 minutes.","Another automated tool now chisels away the excess ceramic, following the profile of the plaster tooth replica that's still inside.","This creates the ceramic shell of the dental crown, called the coping.","It's removed from the plaster replica, thanks to the nonstick glaze.","Baking the coping at a very high temperature toughens the ceramic.","It also shrinks the crown shell to the final size.","They carve a plastic copy of the tooth, using the same data scanned into the computer earlier.","They use this plastic replica to test the fit of the ceramic one.","A technician inspects the ceramic for chips or cracks, then packages it for shipping.","This tooth-like shell is now on its way to the laboratory, where it will get the finishing touches that will transform it into a crown.","When it arrives at the lab, a technician paints several layers of porcelain onto it.","The color will change to a more-realistic hue once they fire it in a special furnace.","The furnace pumps out air or other gases that would hinder the transfer of heat as it bakes the porcelain to a very dense consistency.","After all the layers have been applied, a technician textures the surface with a sharp tool.","Then, she sculpts it to give it tooth-like contours.","Finally, she brushes on a clear ceramic glaze, which mimics the look of tooth enamel.","Ceramic crowns like these take about five days to make.","They'll look and function just like any other tooth, and no one need ever know the secret behind that beautiful smile.","High-performance engines are technology-packed marvels that are the result of exacting design, modern engineering, and a constant need for innovation.","Producing them requires the skills of many highly trained technicians.","It's the lucky few that will get to enjoy the performance and thrills these engines can provide.","Under the hood of this car is the latest in a long line of performance engines, legendary as much for their power as their looks.","Each generation of engine delivers an increase in power and a reduction in weight, meaning today's engines consume less fuel and produce less co2.","At the heart of every engine is the engine block.","It begins with a set of molds cast from a mixture of special sand and resin.","Technicians glue the mold parts together.","Using a hand file, they make final adjustments by sculpting the sand mold down to the finest detail.","An automated machine releases molten aluminum into the mold.","After a cooling period, the machine releases the part from the mold.","They must remove all of the sand, which formed the hollow spaces inside the engine.","They spray-wash the cylinder head to clear away any remaining debris.","Technicians now begin to pre-assemble the cylinder head and intake manifold.","Every part of the engine, such as this cylinder head, is made from aluminum-- expensive but lightweight.","Here, robots immerse valve guides in liquid hydrogen.","This causes them to contract so they can be easily inserted into the cylinder heads.","As the valve guides warm up, they expand slightly, which holds them in place permanently.","One set of valves lets fuel into the cylinder.","The other lets exhaust out.","With a blast of pressurized air, workers verify that the manifold's air-intake passages have been properly formed.","Using a specially made tool, they verify the exact dimension of each valve.","They visually inspect each cylinder head for debris and minor faults.","If it passes, a worker tags it with an i.d. plate.","Here technicians insert the valves into position, then test their movement.","Next, they machine the crankshaft down to its final specifications, and the entire assembly is positioned in the engine block.","A technician lubricates the cylinder liners...","Then inserts them into the cylinders.","They tap the liners into position with a rubber mallet.","Then, using a bit of lubricant, they insert the pistons and connecting rods into each cylinder.","With the aid of an automatic torque gun, technicians secure the connecting rods to the crankshaft, then verify the crankshaft spacing.","Next, workers position and bolt in the valve cover.","Then they install the air-intake manifold on top of the engine and attach the fuel-injection system.","They hook up the finished engine to a machine called a dynamometer, which measures every aspect of engine performance down to the smallest detail.","And now for the ultimate test--  the road test."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Air Filters","Billiard Cues","Ice Sculptures","Suits"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Air filters...","Billiard cues...","Ice sculptures...","And suits.","Pollutants in the air can make it tough for you to breathe and function.","But pollutants can also affect your car's performance.","It's the reason an air filter is standard equipment on internal combustion engines.","The filter keeps dirt and particles out of the engine so it runs smoothly and gives good mileage.","Trapping dust and grime is a dirty job, and it takes its toll.","Air filters get clogged and have to be replaced regularly.","So we need a steady supply.","To make an air filter, an automated spool unwinds thick paper and feeds it between two rollers.","Bumps on the rollers press indentations into the paper.","The short, vertical ones are spacers to help air flow through the filter.","The long, horizontal lines are the pre-fold creases.","The rollers fold the paper along those lines as they push it out the other side.","An automated counter keeps track of the folds, because each filter needs to have approximately 75 pleats.","Now a conveyor belt moves the paper to a circular blade.","A steel bar holds the paper pack down while the blade slides on a motorized rail, slicing the paper at the correct number of folds.","The paper pack rolls down the conveyor belt, heading to the next station.","In the meantime, a robotic arm sprays liquid wax onto the aluminum molds that will be used to shape the tops and bottoms of the filters.","The carousel turns, positioning another set for spraying.","The wax will ensure that nothing sticks to the molds during the next steps.","Now chrome-plated steel screens fall into a positioning tray.","A robot picks them up with magnets two at a time.","It places them on the bottom mold for the filter.","A platen, or plate, bearing two top molds flips forward on the carousel.","The carousel turns, and remember the paper packs?","A worker places one in each of those two top molds.","Now a robot dispenses a liquid polyurethane mixture around the screen in the bottom mold.","Then the automated platen flips back so that the top molds with the paper packs face down.","An air cylinder pushes a platen holding the bottom molds up to meet the top ones, and heat triggers this chemical reaction.","The polyurethane swells and covers the screen and the paper pack, forming a solid, flexible plastic layer.","A robot with grippers peels the new air filter out of the mold and sets it on a cooling rack.","Because of the wax sprayed onto the molds, the robots don't have to work hard to pull the air filters out.","Like well-greased cookie sheets, nothing gets stuck to the bottom.","After they're cool, the rack tips up, and the air filters tumble down a slide to a worker who collects each one.","With a band saw, she trims the excess polyurethane, or flash, from the rim.","Now all that's left is the packaging.","On another assembly line, a robot prepares to make a radial seal type of filter.","It sprays the no-stick wax onto the brims of molds that look like inverted top hats.","A small wheel turns and delivers the molds to a larger assembly wheel.","Another robot picks up plastic caps and places them inside the molds.","Then a pneumatic pusher raises the caps, and nozzles dispense a hot glue bead onto their edges.","Another pneumatic pusher tool forces round packs of pleated paper out of cylindrical holders and into the molds.","The big wheel keeps on turning, positioning the molds to receive more packs, or tubes, of filter paper.","The wheel pushes the paper-filled molds onto a conveyor belt.","And down the line, a robot pumps a polyurethane mix into the bottom mold for the filter.","A worker presses the paper-filled top mold onto it.","Heat triggers the chemical reaction that expands the polyurethane, encasing the bottom of the filter paper and forming a gasket that will fit snugly near an engine intake.","The radial air filter is now completely assembled, and it's taken just 20 minutes.","The filters are ready to work under the hood of today's automobiles.","The game of billiards has been popular for several hundred years, dating back as early as the 15th century.","Then players used a mace to strike the ball.","When the mace's large head made it tough to shoot along the rail, players started using its slimmer tail end.","This led to the invention of the cue stick so players didn't have to worry about switching back and forth.","Pick a cue, but be selective, because choosing a stick that feels right for you pays off when you're behind the eight ball.","To make the butt, or bottom section, of a cue, they start with a block of expensive bird's-eye maple.","The wood spins on a lathe.","A doughnut-shaped blade moves on rails and cuts around the circumference, turning the block into a cylinder.","As it cuts, the shavings are vacuumed away.","Now a square-tipped steel cutter carves into one end of the wood.","It makes a groove that will be used to attach the butt's forearm to its lower part.","He slides a black plastic ring around the rim and glues it down.","It's decorative, but it will also give the cue some stability.","Next, he brushes glue on top of it to attach another ring, this one made of a nickel/silver alloy.","He screws the forearm into the lower part of the butt.","Glue oozes out of the joint as the screws tighten.","The forearm is now bonded to the lower part of the cue, making one butt piece.","Then they employ a vertical cnc lathe.","Computerized cutters move up on rails, precisely tapering each butt piece to the desired diameter.","After that, another computerized tool called a cnc inlay cutter chisels geometric designs into the cue's forearm.","The same type of cutter carves matching designs from ebony wood.","A worker removes the ebony cutouts and inspects them.","He handles them cautiously because the thin strips of wood are fragile and break easily.","With a stick, he slathers a thick epoxy mixture into the cue stick's carved-out design.","The ingredients of this high-strength glue are a trade secret.","Next, he presses one of the ebony cutouts into the glue-filled cavity.","He fits a synthetic ivory cutout inside of the ebony one, pressing it down into the glue with big tweezers.","He continues to build the design with another piece of ebony.","These intricate inlays give the cue some attitude.","A cue stick's good looks can affect a player's mind-set and give him or her a competitive edge.","This glue may look a bit messy now, but when it dries, the ample amounts will keep the inlay tight, preventing air and moisture from getting in and doing damage.","He inserts little pieces of synthetic stone as a final touch...","And then presses all the pieces down with a wood dowel.","Next, a computerized drill bores a hole in the exact center of the joint section.","A second drilling makes a thread inside the hole.","He screws a steel joint pin dappled with glue into the thread created by the drill, twisting it tightly with a special tool.","When the joint is fully entrenched, he unscrews the tool.","And now the butt can be screwed to the shaft for the game and then taken apart for transport.","An automated paint gun sprays clear varnish onto the cue sticks.","A motorized stamping machine inks the logo onto the cue's butt piece.","And a worker applies glue as the cue stick turns on a lathe.","This is in preparation for the wrap.","Then the turning cue pulls linen thread from a spool, wrapping itself with the lower section with glue on it.","This linen wrap will make the cue easier to grip and will absorb moisture.","They roll the cue stick up against a high-speed cloth buffing wheel to give it a shine.","Now these cue sticks are ready for some serious competition in the pool hall.","Ice sculptures can make quite an impression at a party or social engagement.","Before they melt, their beauty can be seen and admired.","Mass production of ice sculptures is now possible with new machines and tools.","And the market for ice sculptures is expanding.","It's a curtain of ice, and it's in demand for big events.","They string beads of ice on plastic-coated aircraft cable.","As it melts, it creates a waterfall effect.","It's guaranteed to make an impression.","But just how do they get this ice to be crystal clear?","They start by tucking a plastic liner into a big tank.","They pipe filtered water into it.","Then a worker places a measuring bar with a dipstick across the tank.","The dipstick is set at 10 inches.","That's how thick the block of ice needs to be.","He clamps electric submersible pumps on each end of the tank and positions them underwater at a 45-degree angle.","These pumps are key.","They keep the water moving, forcing bubbles and impurities to the top while clear water below freezes.","He shuts the lid to allow the water to freeze.","24 hours into it, he'll remove one of the pumps.","Three days later, he probes the ice under the watery surface with a pick.","It needs to be level, so he checks the entire ice surface with a measuring bar.","Next, he siphons off the excess water with a wet vacuum.","He'll take off a couple of buckets full.","Then he attaches a lifting bar to brackets on each end of the tank and lifts the 300-pound ice block with a chain hoist.","Now he peels away the plastic liner and inspects.","The ice has to be absolutely perfect-- no clouds, cracks, or impurities.","Because water expands when it freezes, the block is a bit too thick, so they slice off the excess ice with an electric band saw, trimming it back to the desired 10-inch mark.","The steel blade cuts cleanly and evenly.","He slides the extra pieces of ice into a heated pit, where they'll melt and be recycled back into the system.","Before the ice is carved, they put the design on paper.","The artist is sketching a liquor luge-- two vodka bottles made of ice, through which drinks will flow.","Now its time to cut the ice.","The block turns on a special lathe.","Then they propel an electric router across the spinning block.","The sharp edges of the router cut into the ice.","A guide wheel above the router follows a plastic outline of a bottle so it cuts precisely to the design.","All this is done in the freezer.","The temperature in here is just over 17 degrees fahrenheit.","Now the vodka bottle is starting to take shape.","It takes about four minutes for this machine to carve it.","This task couldn't be performed as quickly or precisely by hand.","After the carving, the worker brushes off the ice shavings.","Then its time for the blowtorch.","It melts the frost so the ice looks like glass, through which you can clearly see the label and plastic tubing that have been frozen inside.","Now we have the finished vodka luge, which will be used to serve drinks at parties.","The barman pours the drinks through a funnel at the top, and the drink chills all the way down to the martini glass.","If a fish fountain is more your style, this is how it's done, the old-fashioned way.","The sculptor, armed with a chainsaw, shapes the ice following a cardboard template.","She smoothes the ice with an electrically powered disk grinder, then cuts in detail by using a die grinder with a triangular bit.","She dusts off the snow...","And then polishes the ice with a blast from the blowtorch.","Now, that's a work of art.","In today's world, suits are common, allowing both men and women to dress the part for any situation-- everyday work or a special occasion.","While men and women may wear different parts of a suit, the basics of the suit have been unaltered for over a century-- a jacket and trousers or skirt.","It's a look that's never out of style.","Every suit begins with a design on paper.","The style is precisely sketched.","It's a creative process but also highly technical.","He plans the entire outfit, right down to the last stitch.","No detail is left to chance here.","They feed the design data to this computerized cutting machine.","The blade slices through fabric placed under paper.","And because it's computerized, it's very precise, producing pieces that will fit together like a puzzle.","This is how they used to cut the fabric-- by hand.","It was more time-consuming, and the margin for error was much greater.","Now it's time to reinforce the fabric.","She places fusing tape made of fabric onto a sleeve piece and then sends it to a heat chamber with rollers that will bond the tape to the material, giving it strength.","Next, it's over to the sewing machine.","A worker lines up two sleeve layers, and it's hands-free from here.","A rail powered by compressed air descends and guides the fabric under the needle.","A computer controls the sewing.","This frees up the operator to continuously feed the machine.","This is an automatic pocket welt machine.","She places the front of a jacket under a clamp and puts the welt fabric in the clamp and a pocket flap at the side.","The clamp automatically slides the fabrics to needles that sew the welt and flap onto the jacket.","Then two tiny knives emerge and cut the pocket open.","The result-- a precisely made pocket completely by automation.","The only human involvement is to feed the machine and then collect the finished product.","Now over at another station, an operator irons fusible tape onto the open seams.","This stabilizes them and gives them a crisp finish.","A worker places the front of the jacket on a headless mannequin called a buck.","A hot metal press moves in, and the pressing reshapes the jacket to the contours of the buck.","Now she puts a sleeveless jacket on another buck and tucks a shoulder pad underneath.","She presses a pedal to activate the machine, and the hot presses lower, melting the glue on the shoulder pad, which fuses it to the jacket.","Now to steam the fabric.","Another jacket is on another mannequin.","And a worker clamps down the sleeves.","A big steam bag made of porous vinyl swings in, wafting steam onto the front of the jacket.","At the same time, hoses pipe steam into the porous mannequin cavity, so this jacket gets a steam press from both sides.","This machine is a collar master.","She folds the collar into the correct position and lowers a big fabric-covered metal press onto the collar to iron down the fold.","It's time for the auto-jig machine.","It's making an extension piece to the second button for a pant waistband.","This is the piece that goes over the second button on the waistband of dress pants.","It sews and cuts two layers of fabric that are held in a jig and then feeds the excess fabric to a vacuum tube for disposal.","Now it's time to define a crease in a pair of trousers.","An operator slides a pair of pants, inside out, onto a double rail.","Then using a device similar to a caulking gun, she pipes a silicone-based liquid along the crease line.","The liquid is a perma-crease mixture, which will give the crease some staying power.","There's also a nib on the end of this gun which sharpens the crease.","All that stitching and steaming seems to have gone without a hitch.","But the designer still needs to inspect the work to see if it measures up to his original concept.","If adjustments have to be made, he marks the spots.","That's because how it fits can be just as important as how it looks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Inflatable Safety Devices","Braille Typewriters","Carbon"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Inflatable safety devices...","Braille typewriters...","And carbon-fiber cellos.","They're designed to keep your head above water.","Inflatable safety devices activate in seconds to buoy you up and keep you afloat until help arrives.","You'll find these survival devices on airplanes and boats.","Even when they're not inflated, they provide piece of mind that you'll be safe while on the water.","To make a life vest, a computer-controlled knife cuts a pattern in urethane-coated nylon.","Heat from the blade makes some pieces stick together, so a worker peels them apart.","The shiny side is the waterproof coating.","It'll be on the inside of the life vest.","They place the front of the vest on a vacuum table to hold it down.","Then they silk-screen the amount of carbon dioxide needed for inflation onto the fabric.","Next, they pull an oral inflation tube through a precut hole...","And then place the assembly under a radio-frequency press.","It emits energy that heat-seals the tube to the fabric.","They fasten the back and front vest pieces on pegs to align them.","She slides the table with the vest pieces under a big radio-frequency press.","Again, electromagnetic energy bonds the plastic pieces.","This vest has been put together without a single stitch.","The cylinder that contains the carbon dioxide has been installed.","It holds about one ounce of the gas under pressure, which will instantly inflate the vest with one tug on a tab.","It also activates automatically when immersed in water.","A little tablet inside dissolves, triggering a spring that punctures the cylinder.","Pull the cord on this pack, and you'll have an instant lifeboat, complete with a roof.","To make one, the computerized blade cuts shapes out of rubberized fabric, while a plastic film helps hold it in place.","They brush on a rubber adhesive to seal the boat's joints and press rubber tape over the glue.","They remove air bubbles.","It will take several days for the bonding to be complete.","They apply the same rubber adhesive to all the inflation valves and pressure tubes.","To help activate the glue, they wipe it with a damp rag, then insert a valve through a hole in one of the raft's air chambers.","They apply more glue to the outside around the valve and secure it with a ring called a doubler.","It really is the glue that holds everything together.","They apply more rubber adhesive onto the lower inflated chamber.","Then they stretch a sheet of rubber flooring over it.","They smooth down the edges, again, to remove air bubbles.","They run rubberized tape around the rim.","It will protect it and also act as a hinge between the floor and the upper air chamber, which will go on next.","In preparation for that, they measure to align all the inflation valves.","Then they pull the upper air chamber, the walls of the raft, on top of the floor and lower chamber.","They line up the valves but hold off on connecting them.","Next, they pump regular air into the upper chamber to test the shape and function.","A plastic strip has been keeping the glued surfaces from contacting.","They pull it out and push down to initiate contact.","Before they pack up the raft, they take stock of the survival kit.","There's the first-aid package...","Miniflares...","Food rations...","A pocketknife...","And bags of water.","There are enough supplies to keep you safe and fed while you wait for help to arrive.","A braille typewriter types raised dots using the braille system.","It's based on six dots arranged in a rectangle, three dots high by two dots across.","This is called the braille cell.","Different configurations of dots within this cell represent different letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks.","A braille typewriter has a spacebar in the middle and six keys, one for each dot of the braille cell.","Pressing a key makes a pointed steel rod, called a stylus, type a raised dot.","To build a braillewriter, they first position the six styli one by one in a carriage with steel spacers in between.","The spacers ensure the styli move freely.","A cover plate seals the back of the carriage, and what's called a stripper plate closes the top.","The plate has six holes in the configuration of the braille cell.","When you press a key, the corresponding stylus protrudes and strikes the paper against a dot-shaped eye, creating a raised dot.","They screw the die to the carriage top but don't install it in the machine just yet.","This is how the carriage and die will meet once it's in place.","They start connecting the components which move the various styli.","The first part is a steel cam rod.","One end of it has a little eyelet called a lug.","They put a pin in it, then slip that pin through holes in the prongs of a metal strip called a link.","Later, they'll connect the other end of the link to a lever attached to a key.","The braillewriter's other components are made of cast aluminum.","The left end plate covers the left side of the machine.","To that, they connect the carriage tube, the cylinder on which the carriage rides, and the feed roller, the mechanism you turn to feed a sheet of paper into the typewriter, then what they call the rear support, an assembly of cam rods and links.","They slide the carriage onto the carriage tube.","Next, they install the drum.","The feed tube transfers the paper to the drum.","The drum winds it into the machine, positioning it for typing.","Then the rack bar.","Each tooth in it is the width of a braille cell, ensuring the carriage advances the correct distance between letters.","Next, they install the chain assembly, which advances the carriage.","They close off the other side of the machine with the right end plate.","Now they can finish the process of connecting the parts that move the styli.","So far, each cam rod connects to a link.","Now they connect each link to a cam lever, then each lever to a key.","Here's how it all works.","You press a key...","It triggers the cam lever to turn the cam rod...","And push up on the stylus.","The stylus strikes the paper against the die yet to be installed, producing a raised dot.","There's still one more paper-feed component to install--  the pressure roller.","It holds the sheet of paper against the feed tube.","Now they screw the die to the carriage top and install that on a support beam.","Then they position this assembly over the stripper plate at the top of the carriage.","They check and adjust the paper hold tension.","The back plate has slots for the two levers that adjust the margins.","The apron goes below the keys, the front plate above them.","Then the last component, the carriage lever.","When you type to the end of a line, you push this lever to the left to return to the left margin.","You also push a key on the far left to advance the paper to the next line.","Typing on a braillewriter is an embossing process, so you have to use thick paper.","You push single keys and combinations of keys to produce different configurations of dots, each signifying different letters of the alphabet.","This cello is made of carbon fibers instead of traditional wood.","Enthusiasts believe this newer carbon version has a more powerful sound than the wooden instrument.","It still has that characteristic sweetness, but it's more likely to be heard in the orchestral din.","And, after all, every musician wants to be heard.","The carbon cello was the idea of a boston symphony cellist who noticed waves resonate loudly against carbon-fiber boats.","They cut the top piece of the cello out of fabric that's woven with carbon strands.","This material is stronger than steel, yet electric shears easily cut through it.","A worker cuts out numerous top cello pieces and then sets them aside while he works on another section of the instrument.","He brushes special resin onto a fiberglass mold of the cello's back, ribs, and neck.","The mold has been prewaxed to keep the resin from sticking to it.","The idea is to saturate this big piece of carbon fabric with the resin as he tucks it into the curves of the mold.","He smoothes it down to get rid of any bubbles that could affect the cello's tone.","He brushes more resin onto the other side of the fabric, making sure it gets into all the crevices.","He sponges away any surplus and then layers more fabric and resin as he builds a laminated carbon-fiber shape.","He covers the layers with nylon-like material and trims the edges of the carbon fabric.","Next, he places perforated plastic on the nylon and piles absorbent batting on top of that.","He installs a vacuum pump and drapes a big plastic vacuum bag over everything...","Then activates the vacuum.","It sucks out the air and any excess resin.","The perforated plastic controls the amount, and the batting absorbs it.","While it's still under vacuum, they put the whole thing in an oven to bake the carbon-fiber layers together.","After they peel away the batting and plastic, it comes out looking like this.","The plies have fused together, and the shell has a sleek look to it.","They laminate the cello's top piece in a mold and bake it until it's also hard.","Using a band saw, they trim off the ragged edges and sand them for a smooth finish.","Now they clamp the cello top piece onto a fixture that has stencils on the back.","With a router, they cut out the stencil shape.","The sound will eventually emanate from these f-holes, as they're called.","They attach the company's label with glue to the inside of the cello's back section.","Then they glue around the top inner rim of the cello.","They tape the back tightly in place while it hardens.","Next, they glue the laminated carbon fingerboard to the neck of the cello.","They drill holes into the pegbox and insert the pegs which are used to tighten the strings.","Soon, this cello will be more than just a shell.","Coming up, we reveal its inner workings.","The story of this cello has many layers.","They're all carbon, and now the layers have hardened into the shape of a concert instrument.","At this point, you can't make music with it, though, because they have yet to construct the inner workings, a process that is another demonstration of fine craftsmanship.","The cello frames need a bit of bodywork.","They rough them up with sandpaper...","Then spray on a polyurethane clear coat to protect the surface.","Then it's over to the string specialist, called a luthier.","He sets a roughly cut wooden bridge on top of the cello and takes measure of the position.","The placement of this bridge needs to be exact because its job is to elevate the strings and transfer their vibrations to the instrument.","If its position is a bit off, the cello's sound will also be a bit off.","Using a grease pencil, he maps out the position of the bridge between the f-holes, then sets it aside.","Now he slips the wooden sound post into one of the f-holes and wedges it between the front and back of the cello.","The sound post is crucial.","It will strengthen the cello and couple the strings' vibrations between the front and back of the instrument.","This is delicate and highly skilled work.","He measures to determine if the sound post is on the mark.","If it's off by even a fraction of an inch, he adjusts it a bit more.","Afterwards, he double-checks the bridge's positioning.","Then, with a red grease pencil, he colors over the spots where the feet of the bridge are to sit.","He presses the bridge's feet into the grease marks, and this makes red smears on the feet.","The smears tell him where to shave the wood so that it will fit perfectly on the top of the cello.","The bridge doesn't get glued down.","It's held in place only by the pressure of the strings.","Next, he makes pencil marks on both tips of a measuring stick.","He leans the stick against the bridge at the same angle as the strings that will run over it.","He then transfers the pencil marks from the stick to the top of the bridge.","He rounds off the marks by penciling around a template.","And then he carves the bridge down to size.","He planes it down to make it thinner.","With a file, he cuts grooves to cradle the strings.","Now he moves to the bottom of the instrument and slides a spike called an end pin into a precut hole.","The end pin will rest on the floor, steadying the cello.","He lassos the end pin with plastic rope, which is attached to the tailpiece, and he rests the tailpiece on the belly of the cello.","He pulls the steel strings from the pegs and hooks them onto the tailpiece.","Like most classical string instruments, the cello has four strings.","Now he slides the strings into the grooves on the bridge.","He turns the pegs to tighten the strings.","The strings push down on the bridge, holding it in place.","He tunes the cello, and now it's ready for a real performance."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Leather Overnight Bags","Horse Exercisers","Air Hockey Tables","Copper Sculptures"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Leather overnight bags...","Horse exercisers...","Air hockey tables...","And copper sculptures.","Whether heading across the country or taking a weekend getaway, people love to travel.","Regardless of the destination, it's impossible to leave home without luggage.","Luggage is made from all kinds of materials, including wood, metal, plastic, hi-tech polycarbonates, and leather.","Not all leather overnight bags are created equal.","This dark brown bag was constructed with the capacity to hold water.","The process starts with full-grain hides, chrome-tanned by an outside facility.","Chrome-tanning is an effective treatment which allows the leather to become more water resistant.","This bag is constructed from a single piece of leather, making it more durable and water-tight.","First, a leather worker uses a template to cut out the shape of the bag.","He uses the machine to shave the edges off the piece of leather in a process called sciving, which prepares the leather for folding and sewing.","Using a hole punch, another craftsman taps the series of openings for riveting on buckles and other attachments.","The holes will prevent the opening from ripping.","Next, a leather worker uses a template to mark where he'll apply a strip of glue to the top edge.","He attaches a polyester strip to the bottom edge of the glue and spreads more glue on top of the polyester.","Then he folds and hammers the top portion of the leather over onto the polyester strip.","Once complete, the leather worker trims the edges of the polyester.","The leather is then placed into a machine known as a clicker, to stamp out the bag straps and other leather components.","The clicker works by applying 25 tons of pressure to custom-made dyes.","The shoulder pad is one of 22 pieces of leather that will complete the bag.","A craftsperson glues a foam rectangle between two layers of leather.","This type of glue won't bubble in hot temperatures.","Chrome-tanned hide is tough stuff, so manufacturers use a heated stamp to brand the leather with their logo.","A leather worker uses a sewing machine to piece together multiple parts of the leather.","The stitching perforations weakens the leather, so for added strength, the craftsman uses a heavy gauge continuous-filament polyester thread.","Next, a craftsman attaches the buckles.","He places one steel rivet in each buckle piece and secures it into place.","He leaves the remaining rivets out to accommodate the sewing machine, which will reinforce the attachment.","The buckles are made of high strength 316 stainless steel.","A craftsman attaches a piece of plastic to reinforce the handle and prevent the leather from becoming misshapen over time.","Once he's glued in pieces of plastic to each handle opening, the leather worker finishes all the seams.","This type of continuous-filament polyester thread is the same kind that is used to sew parachutes together.","Next, a craftswoman cleans the completed bag and applies a generous amount of leather milk to condition the leather.","The leather milk is made of all-natural, non-toxic ingredients.","The craftswoman uses a torch to singe off any stray hairs before the strap is attached to a set of upper or lower d-rings.","This first little bag can now be worn as a backpack or a shoulder bag.","Stylish and durable, this leather overnight bag is built to hold your stuff while you travel to any destination.","Horses need regular exercise to stay healthy and fit.","This innovative mechanical exerciser provides horses with a safe way to stay active on their own, especially if they spend long periods of time in their stalls.","The rotating panels of this exerciser give horses the push they need to get moving.","An operator regulates the speed of the panel, which controls the pace of the workout.","Making this horse exerciser starts with a computer-generated design.","This one is for a six-horse exerciser.","Once designing is complete, production can begin.","First, a sheet of mile-carbon steel uncoils into a rolling slitting machine.","Circular blades above and below slice the steel sheet into strips.","Most of the strips will be made into structural tubing.","One of the strips enters a 300-foot-long machine with many rollers.","The rollers shape the strip from flat to round.","More rollers shape the material.","As an induction coil energized by a radio-frequency electric current wields it together.","A blade shaves the excess steel from the wielded steam.","Meanwhile another tubing sheers the tubing against a set of guy clamping blocks, cutting it to the specified length.","Finally, the tubing exits the cutting operation.","A technician wields both plates to the tubing and adds a cable-stabilizer bar.","The completed part will serve as one of the arms that link the center shaft to the revolving panels.","Another machinist builds the panels for the exerciser's inner and outer walls.","To do so, he arranges tubing horizontally and inserts a vertical support bar.","He wields a framework to the tubing to hold the panel structure together.","He adds a steel shield to the lower part.","The shield will prevent sand from being forced out of the exerciser track by the horses' hooves.","Once construction is complete, the technician stacks the assembled panels together.","Next, an overhead monorail transports the panels to the powder-coating station.","Using an applicator, a technician applies a powder coat to the revolving panels.","The powder coat provides an anti-corrosive protective finish.","A team clamps one of the structural panels in a machine with powerful mechanical arms.","The arms bend the panel to a specified curvature.","All the structural panels are bent to the same angle, so that when looked, they'll form a round pen.","Using a press brake, a technician makes two strategic bends in a flat sheet of steel, which creates a flared three-walled part.","Another machinist fits two of these parts together to create a structure known as the tree.","Then he wields connectors to the tree for the cables and tubular arms.","A loop is wielded on top for handling purposes.","Then the tree is given a powder-coat finish to match the rest of the horse-exerciser machine.","Using a hoist, a technician lowers the drive shaft onto the motor and shakes the framework to bring the connection into alignment.","Then the assembly is tested to confirm the motor turns the shaft.","Steel panels fit to the framework to enclose the motor and protect it from the elements.","He attaches a door, so the motor can be accessed for maintenance.","Now complete, the parts are ready for shipping.","On-site assembly takes about nine hours, but it's well worth the wait when the horses get to test it out.","Halfway through the test, the operator reverses the direction of the machine to ensure all of the horses' muscles are being exercised accordingly, proving that running around in circles can be a good thing.","Air hockey was developed in the late '60s and early '70s by a group of american billiard engineers.","When in play, the puck floats on a thin cushion of air, propelled by players on each end.","With no friction, the puck moves fast, making air hockey a high-speed game.","In a game of air hockey, the puck levitates ever so slightly, made possible by a constant flow of air flowing through perforations in the playfield.","The playfield is made from a laminated composite material that's been printed with air hockey graphics.","A computerized drill cuts into three playfields at once in the same consistent pattern.","The size of the holes are a little larger than pin holes, creating over 4,600 perforations in each air hockey playfield.","An automated tool carves grooves in a sheet of medium density fiber board.","The board will serve as a base for the playfield.","Air will circulate in the grooves and exit through the playfield holes.","Next, sawdust is blasted out of the grooves.","The grooves' fiberboard moves through a glue applicator.","The rubber roller coats the top of the board with a small amount of glue, so it doesn't seep into the grooves.","As the board exits, technicians move the board onto a stack.","Once the board is in the correct position, the laminate is applied and aligned with the grooves in the fiber board.","A cardboard cover is placed on the laminate for protection as the stack moves through a press.","The weight of the press squeezes the stack together, ensuring adhesion as the glue cures.","Meanwhile, a craftswoman applies stick-on graphics onto the side apron boards.","She opens a pre-cut slot for a coin door and exposes a hole for a bolt.","She cuts open a slot for maintenance access and removes the panel that will serve as a door.","She numbers the door and the side apron piece, so she can match them up later during installation.","After applying art work to the end panels, another technician assembles curved corner parts and links mental brackets to the side apron parts.","He installs a bracket for a puck deflector in the center of the end panel and screws down the corner connectors.","He sets the end panels in an upside-down possession on the work surface and attaches the side boards to the corner connectors.","This completes the table apron.","A locked door is installed in the plywood floor.","This will serve as an interior storage compartment.","Next, a craftsman installs the coin door and secures it into place.","He mounts wire speakers that projects sound effects to a computerized optical system that tracks the puck's movements.","Once the structure is fitted with wooden panels, the game's flashing lights and sensor activators are installed.","At another station, a team flips a playfield over to work on the back.","One technician attaches a board above the open grooves, creating a chamber for airflow.","The motor and fan are installed over the small opening.","This system will blow air into the grooves and the playfield perforations.","The playfield is turned over and lowered onto the table structure.","Next, aluminum bumpers are attached to the table's border as a barrier for the puck during play.","A technician installs goal puck deflectors on the ends and screws in metal plates over the deflector cups.","He installs a lock on each goal compartment so no one can steal the puck.","Finally, the air hockey table assembly is complete.","Let the games begin.","Artisans have worked with copper for years.","The metal is soft enough to easily cut, shape, and emboss.","Unless sealed, copper's bright, shiny surface naturally tarnishes over time, producing a warm, aged finish, referred to as patina.","These intricate copper sculptures are the work of an artist with a quirky imagination.","This style of work is designed to rotate on rods as lawn art or weather vanes.","When a customer commissions a sculpture, the artist draws the sculpture on cardstock, a thick type of paper.","When planning a spinning sculpture like this griffin, the artist sketches the side view.","Using a pair of scissors, he cuts off the excess cardstock.","Then he uses smaller scissors to cut precisely along the lines of his drawing.","Now the artist has a pattern to work with.","He lays the pattern on a sheet of copper, tapes it down, and traces it with a fine-point pen to get a crisp line.","The tracing must be precise for the sculpture's components to line up properly.","He repeats this step on a second sheet of copper, since the sculpture will be two-sided.","He cuts along the line with metal sheers.","First, he cuts away the excess copper and then does the detailed cutting.","He cuts out pieces for the left and right side of the sculpture.","The artist draws an eye on the back of the right-side head.","With a round-head hammer, he taps a piece of stainless-steel wire on the line to create an eyelid.","He uses tools designed for stamping leather.","He recesses the head, so that on the reverse side, the front of the sculpture, the head will appear raised.","This technique brings dimension and texture to what was originally a flat piece of copper.","The artist hammers the back of the wing to gradually contour and texture the feathers.","He uses different tools to create finer effects such as veining.","This age-old technique of hammering a malleable metal from the reverse side to create a design in relief is called repoussé, french for \"pushed back\".","The artist heats a part with a torch and applies zinc chloride flux to the parameter.","This caustic solution cleans the copper, removing impurities that would prevent solder from adhering.","Then he uses a blowtorch to melt silver-based solder onto the copper, around the parameter of the part.","This step is called pre-soldering, as the sculpture will be fully soldered later.","He pre-solders the back of the pieces that will be attached to matching pieces.","Then he heats the front surface to bring out a rainbow of colors.","Next, he aligns the matching parts and heats them with a torch.","This melts the solder along the parameter, fusing the pieces together.","In areas where the sides are too far apart to be fused, he solders a small copper patch to fit over the gap.","He flattens all the seams with fine grinding tools until they appear seamless.","He repeats this process for each section of the sculpture.","Once all the sections are assembled, he solders them to each other.","The wing fits into a thin channel he hammered into the body of the sculpture.","He melts the solder in the channel to produce a neat and even seam.","To display the copper sculpture or use it as a weather vane, the artist solders a ball bearing inside a copper tube, then attaches the tube to the bottom of the sculpture.","The tube slides over a rod, so it can be set in the ground or mounted on the roof."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Exercise Bikes","Cornish Pasties","Pasta Makers","Slate Products"]},"text":["Exercise bikes can provide a great cardio workout.","Their tension settings are equivalent to the gears on a road bike.","Cyclists can adjust the tension to control the intensity of their workout, all while staying in one place.","Riding an exercise bike can help burn calories, increase strength, and reach fitness goals.","They start by making the bike frame, which includes the handlebars, saddle post, and flywheel housing.","An employee places all the parts in a welding fixture.","The welding system is computerized.","The fixture moves the parts into position and a robot accurately welds the joints of the frame.","It takes 20 welds to link all the parts of the bike frame.","At the next station, a machine shapes the handlebars and saddle post to the correct profile.","Then, a worker polishes the welds with a wire brush.","Next, they apply a black plastic finish to the metal.","This process is called powder coating.","An employee applies a metallic decal of the company name to the powder-coated frame.","He inserts the bearing for the pedal crank axle and gently taps it into place with a hammer.","He attaches a circuit board to the base.","It will control the resistance of the flywheel.","He threads the wiring through the hollow frame and out the handlebar post.","He drills holes in the saddle-bar tubing, then, he installs the post and adjustable locking screw.","He installs a temporary clamping lever on the flywheel framework, which will be used to tension the transmission build.","He installs the bike saddle.","Then, he uses a hydraulic system to press an axle and bearing into the center of the flywheel.","He places a product-name decal on the flywheel.","The cast-iron flywheel is the heart of the bike.","At about 40 pounds, it's heavy enough to stabilize the bike during the stationary ride.","He loops the transmission belt around the flywheel axle, then mounts the flywheel to the framework.","He installs magnetic brakes and wires them to a bike computer.","The brakes allow the rider to control the resistance during the ride.","He connects the pulley disk to the front of the bike.","Then, he loops the other end of the transmission belt around the pulley disk.","He uses a clamping lever to pull the belt tight.","He strums it and measures the sound to confirm the tension is right.","The next worker removes the clamp and places the bike in a test station.","It spins the flywheel and applies resistance.","A computer analyzes the bike's performance.","Another employee wires the switches for increasing and decreasing resistance.","She tucks the wiring inside the handlebars.","She attaches switches to the outside for easy access during the ride.","She folds the lower half of the resistance wiring up and installs the wiring sleeve in between the handlebars.","She screws the bracket to the handlebar housing, then, she connects the wires to the ride computer and attaches it to the bracket.","She opens the computer and plugs the main power cable into the back.","Then, she reinstalls the computer's back panel.","This completes the handlebar assembly.","The next worker encases the transmission belt and electrical parts in a plastic housing.","He attaches the pedals to the axle.","Then, he places plastic caps on the ends and hammers them into place.","He packages the bike and handlebar assembly separately.","This exercise bike is now ready to ride.","It may be stationary, but, when it comes to fitness, this bike should help riders go the distance.","A pasty is a common british meal consisting of meat and vegetables wrapped in a pastry.","Historically, the cornish pasty was served as a convenient meal for miners in the cornwall area of the united kingdom.","The crimped edge served as a handle, allowing workers to enjoy their food without contaminating it with their dirty hands.","The cornish pasty is the national dish of cornwall in the uk.","Its signature crimped edge, along with other characteristics, are culturally and commercially protected.","Under european union regulations, only pasties made the traditional way in cornwall can be sold as cornish pasties.","The traditional recipe begins with pastry dough.","Workers combine lard and margarine with salt and flour.","They mix these ingredients at low speeds so they don't overheat the fats.","The solid fats break up gradually and combine with the flour and salt to form a bread-crumb-like texture.","After about five minutes, they add water.","Then, they resume mixing, until the dough reaches the right consistency.","They let the dough rest for about an hour.","This relaxes the gluten in the flour, preventing the dough from shrinking when it bakes.","They put it in an extruder, which feeds it down an automated forming line.","At the first station, the dough passes through several rollers, which progressively flatten it into a sheet.","They add flour to the dough, so it doesn't stick to the rollers.","The flattened dough finally exits the first station.","The next station uses revolving cutters to slice the dough into 5-ounce disks.","The excess dough is collected and reworked into the next batch.","Flattening and cutting the dough heats it up, so they put it in a refrigerator for about an hour, to restore its elasticity.","Meanwhile, they prepare the pasties' vegetable filling.","Workers load washed potatoes into an industrial peeler.","It spins them inside an abrasive metal drum to remove the skins.","Then, the potatoes go through a dicer, which cuts them to a specific size.","The dicer deposits the potatoes in water, to remove any excess starch.","Workers combine the potatoes with diced rutabaga and onion in a vegetable mixer.","They add melted butter, to help caramelize the onions.","They also add salt, pepper, and a blend of other seasonings.","They run the mixer for about two minutes.","Then, the vegetable filling joins the other components on the production line.","Workers place the dough on a moving belt with the front edge of each disk on a white line.","This position ensures that the depositor's nozzles drop the filling onto the right spot.","Next, workers place fresh, lean skirt steak on top of the vegetables.","The steak is cut from the forequarter of prime beef.","According to european union regulations, 12.5% of a cornish pasty must be beef.","This company's pasties exceed that, containing at least 17.5%.","Highly skilled workers close the cornish pasty with the signature crimped edge.","They fold the dough in half, form 19 to 22 even crimps along the back of the pasty, then, neatly tuck the end.","This must be done with both precision and speed.","It takes these expert crimpers about 20 seconds per pasty.","Workers collect the pasties and make a small incision, to vent some moisture as the bake.","The remaining juices will infuse the vegetables, producing a flavorful gravy.","The factory immediately cools the finished cornish pasties to about 65° fahrenheit.","This keeps the raw ingredients fresh during packaging.","Pasties are stored and shipped frozen, then glazed and baked onsite.","After 45 to 50 minutes in the oven, these traditional cornish pasties are ready to serve.","Fresh pasta is made from a moist egg and flour dough that's mixed, kneaded, and rolled into a sheet.","Then, the dough is cut into soft noodles, ravioli, or other shapes, using a pasta maker.","This italian-made industrial pasta maker is designed for restaurants and smaller pasta suppliers.","The machine is only five feet wide, but it's still capable of mixing the dough and pressing it into a variety of pasta shapes.","The machine can turn dough into ravioli or assorted types of long and short pasta.","The machine's three stations-- the extruder, the ravioli maker, and the pasta cutter-- are constructed from stainless-steel parts.","A computer-guided punch press makes the required holes and slots.","Workers insert pieces into a press to bend them to the required shape.","This is a cover for one of the machine's components.","Once all the pieces are ready, workers weld them together.","The machine's pasta cutter uses stainless-steel cutting rollers to slice the pasta.","Each roller starts out as a stainless-steal rod.","A computer-guided mill carves grooves into it.","The groove width determines the width of the pasta.","The pasta cutter contains four pairs of rollers that cut the pasta to different widths: 2-millimeter-wide taglionlini, 4-millimeter-wide fettuccine, 8-millimeter-wide tagliatelle, and 12-millimeter-wide pappardelle.","Rollers are available in additional sizes.","Workers install four corresponding pairs of steel combs underneath the rollers.","The combs gently scrape the dough out of the grooves to eject the cut pasta.","Next, workers install the gears that turn the rollers.","The gears engage one another, so that the rollers revolve at the same speed.","This ensures that the cutter operates smoothly and quietly.","The motor turns the larger main gear, which moves the others.","They mount protective covers.","This critical safety feature prevents users' fingers from getting caught in the rollers.","At the base of the cutter, they mount a smooth laminating roller.","This roller thins the dough sheet before the cutting rollers slice it.","They install the electrically powered motor that turns the main gear.","Then, the handle that moves the laminating roller.","Here, they've removed the protective covers to demonstrate how the cutting rollers operate.","Next, they build the extruder.","They mount a blade in the dough mixer and connect it to an electric motor.","The extrusion tube is located directly below the dough mixer.","The dough is pushed through a bronze die in the extrusion tube.","The dies can be changed to make different types of pasta.","One die makes a flat sheet of dough, for cutting long pasta or making ravioli.","Other dies can be used to make short pasta, such as fusilli or rotini.","The machine's third station is the motorized ravioli maker.","It also has interchangeable dies, to make different shapes of ravioli.","Now, this machine is ready to make pasta.","First, they pour in the dough ingredients and mix for 15 minutes.","Then, they pull a lever to feed the dough through the extruder.","This is the die that makes a dough sheet for the long pasta cutter or ravioli maker.","They cut the dough off the extruder and put it through the cutter's laminating roller to thin it.","Then, they feed it through the rollers in one of the cutting slots.","To make ravioli, they extrude two narrow sheets and put them through the ravioli maker.","A tube injects the filling between the sheets before the die crimps them together.","A cooling system built into the extruder prevents the dough from heating up as it's forced through the die.","This keeps the pasta fresh for a long time.","Slate was originally used to make roof shingles, as well as floor and wall tiles, but, now, this metamorphic rock is used all over the house.","Artisans are using slate to create everyday items, including tableware, address plaques, and garden accessories.","These cornish slate products use traditional building materials in nontraditional ways.","In cornwall, they have been mining slate for hundreds of years.","Some of the craftsman's slate is old roof or floor tile retrieved from the demolition sites.","Other projects require new slate, fresh from the quarry.","The craftsman selects and older piece from a cheese board.","He evaluates the color, as well as the thickness and shape.","Older slate is weathered and has more colors running through it.","He scrapes the loose slate off the surface, working carefully to avoid fracturing the stone's thin layers.","He sweeps off the scrapings.","He scrubs the slate tile with a chemical cleaning solution and rinses off the residue.","The slate dries in minutes.","As the water evaporates, the color changes dramatically from dark gray to light gray with a bluish hue.","He measures the slate for cutting and scores it lightly with a sharp tool.","He places a template for the handle within the scored boundaries and marks it for drilling.","Then, he cuts the slate with a slate guillotine.","It's a double-bladed tool similar to a paper cutter.","He leaves a margin for trimming.","He breaks off the margin by tapping it with a special slater's tool and checks the edges, to confirm that they're neat.","Then, he redefines the markings for the handle holds.","The craftsman drills holes through the slate for the handles.","Then, he changes the drill bit to cut a sloped profile into the holes.","This will allow the screws to sit flush against the slate.","He brushes the edges, to get rid of loose chips, and refines the ends with a razor blade.","The craftsman washes the slate one more time.","The glues four small silicone knobs onto the base.","The knobs act as legs, so the cheese plate can be set on any surface.","He applies two coats of food-safe sealer to the slate.","Each coat takes a day to dry.","Then, he installs the stainless-steel handles.","This slate cheese board is now ready to hold a few snacks.","From an old roof tile to a nice piece of tableware.","It's quite a transformation.","Next, the craftsman slices a block of new slate with a wet saw.","New slate comes in thicker chunks.","It can be used to make signage.","He uses eight different grades of diamond abrasive pads to polish the surface until it's completely flat.","Then, he uses a computerized graphic cutter to make a stencil out of vinyl.","He places the stencil over the slate and sandblasts it with a special compound.","The process creates rough grooves in the slate.","The grooves will allow paint to adhere to the stone.","Another employee uses the stencil to apply paint to the slate.","She allows each coat of the paint to dry before brushing on the next.","She applies four coats in total.","When she's finished, she peels off the vinyl.","This custom slate sign is ready of face the street.","It takes four days to craft, seal, and paint the sign.","Now that it's complete, the sign is sure to make a rock-solid impression."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Holograms","Package Printing","Skin Culture","Canned Corn"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Holograms--  projections for the future...","Package printing--  how to make an impression...","Skin culture--  it definitely grows on you...","And canned corn--  we hope you're all ears.","Holograms aren't just beautiful and fascinating.","They have a certain high-tech mystique about them.","Well, stay tuned to have the mystery revealed.","Holograms are simply layered variations of an image, each one causing light to reflect in a different way.","A hologram is a 3-dimensional photograph produced by the interference of two laser beams.","A laser emits light--  this light ray.","The color of the light varies according to the wavelength.","A shutter, when activated, either blocks the light ray or lets it pass through.","Here the beam splits in two at a 90-degree angle.","The interference of the two beams is clearly visible on this screen.","It has very defined fringes.","The beams need great stability because the pattern of interference projected on the screen is extremely sensitive to minute vibrations.","A light tap on the table can easily spoil it completely.","The team will create a hologram from this sculpture made of modeling clay.","The sculpture is positioned on a support with a magnetic base that adheres to the metallic table.","Then they place a glass in front of the object.","Here's the exact point where the light beam passes.","The table has to be perfectly stable, so it's made of a 2.4-ton block of steel, which rests on 18 air tubes.","The table and laser are thus well-insulated from all vibrations.","The beam splitter separates the beam in two, directing one behind the object and the other in front of it.","One part of the beam heads toward the front of the sculpture.","The beam first passes through an objective lens that diffuses the light.","Then it's reflected by a parabolic mirror, which prevents it from losing too much of its intensity.","As in photography, film is required.","This holographic film is attached to a glass plate with adhesive tape.","Then another glass plate is added so that the film will not move.","A vibration of 1/10 of the laser's wavelength is tolerable.","The laser is turned on.","The intensity of its light ray reaches about 250 milliwatts.","The normal exposure time of the model to the beam is about one second, but some holograms made with a pulsed laser are exposed to the light for 12 nanoseconds, an infinitely short period of time.","Here we see the reference beam coming from the parabolic mirror.","And here we see it from another angle.","As in photography, the film has to be developed.","These trays contain different chemical solutions and the developer.","First the film is soaked in the developer for two minutes.","This solution blackens the silver salts that have reacted to the light.","Then the film is soaked in a solution called bleach to completely eliminate the silver salts that blackened it.","Now the film is rinsed.","This step is used to eliminate the acids in the emulsion and so as not to contaminate the next solution.","The film gently becomes transparent.","It's then rinsed in clear water.","And it's soaked for one minute in a wetting agent which eliminates all water spots.","The film is then dried, and it reveals its secrets, and here's the hologram created from the sculpture.","A hologram really creates a 3-dimensional illusion.","Some holograms can be animated.","They are generated from a series of still holograms.","Depending on the complexity of the project, a hologram can be produced from between one and five hours.","Your average product packaging is crammed with so much information, it's hard to see the artistry behind the instructions and ingredients.","An incredible amount of thought goes into making packaging that's unique, instantly identifiable, and attractive to the consumer.","All consumer products are packaged, and the making of these packages starts with the burning of an aluminum plate like this one.","This animation illustrates the burning process-- the transfer of an image onto an aluminum plate.","The plate is placed onto a cylinder, and, using a laser, the burning begins.","The image appears in six minutes.","This plate will make the printing impressions on packages.","The laser that did the burning has to be perfectly calibrated using this test plate.","The plate is now ready to make impressions via the offset method.","Printing involves ink, and it requires selecting the right one.","If the desired color does not exist, it has to be made up from a mix of various other colors.","An ink trial is done with a spatula, and, using this small manual press, color ink tests are done.","The ink is spread onto paper and the color compared with the one called for by the customer.","If the two match, the presses can be started up.","This is a 6-color offset process printing press with a 28x43-inch capacity.","The press is fed by a suction and friction process devouring 8,000 sheets an hour.","Now the printing plate is placed onto the press cylinder.","This plate will contact inking rollers of the ink reservoir.","To prevent it from drying, ink viscosity is maintained with this oscillator.","The press starts up and reaches a production rate of 8,000 impressions in 60 minutes.","The press comprises individual color printing units.","The paper sheet passes from one unit to another, receiving a new color at each step.","Here they register the colors-- that is, the quality of the superimposition of the different colors.","The final step is the folding and gluing of the boxes.","This grooved plate makes folding-point marks on the carton.","And this machine does the cutting, the embossing, and stripping of the sheets at a rate of 6,000 an hour.","The cutting die cuts the carton sheets and, together with the grooved plate, makes the folding joints.","This sheet is slid behind the cutting die to equalize the cutting of the sheets.","This enormous pile of 3,000 sheets is ready to be cut.","The embossing press feeder handles between 6,000 and 8,000 sheets an hour.","Rollers guide the sheets in the direction of the press.","And here the sheets are embossed by the machine.","The precision of the embossing is then verified.","Next comes the cutting of the sheets.","They cut 8,000 an hour.","The cutting unit strips and removes the unnecessary pieces, and the carton scraps are sucked up for eventual recycling.","The scraps can also be cut away manually using a hammer.","The carton end pieces are sent off for recycling.","All that remains is the assembly of the packages.","This high-speed gluing unit can make up to 30,000 to 40,000 per hour.","Gluing begins with the folding of sheets following the folding marks.","The sides of the formed box are then glued together.","An average of between five to eight steps are needed to fabricate a packaging box.","Every day this plant produces between 1 and 2 million boxes, requiring almost 4,000 tons of cardboard annually.","For people who've suffered severe burns there's hope.","They can be treated with skin grafts using human skin that's been cultured in a lab.","Patients who receive these grafts tend to develop less scarring and usually heal in a fraction of the time.","Culturing of skin allows us to save many lives.","To grow skin, epidermis cells have to be isolated and made to multiply.","It all begins with the removal of a small skin sample.","The 10 million cells in this piece are enough to make a culture.","The skin soaks in a medium containing penicillin and gentamicin, antibiotics which protect it from bacterial infection.","Now a piece of skin is cut and delicately sectioned on a petri dish with a scalpel.","The fat is gently detached from the dermis since it will not be needed in the culturing.","The skin is cut into thin strips because thermolysin, the enzyme that separates the dermis from the epidermis, acts more efficiently on the small surfaces.","Then an enzyme destroys the links uniting the dermis and the epidermis cells.","This procedure is carried out in this incubator over three hours at a temperature of 98.6 degrees, or body temperature.","Once incubation is over, the petri dish is removed from the incubator.","Only the epidermis cells, also called \"keratinocytes,\" are retained.","The epidermis is detached from the dermis with great precision.","Now the strips are placed in a trypsination unit.","Trypsin, an enzyme, will destroy the links uniting the epidermis cells in order to isolate them.","This operation signals the cells to multiply now that they're in a favorable medium.","In order to increase the effectiveness of trypsin, the trypsination unit is placed on an agitator.","The cells do not have to remain in extended contact with the trypsin.","They're inhibited with a medium containing serum.","Then the liquid containing the cells in suspension is drawn off.","Now the liquid is centrifuged to obtain two fractions.","The base fraction containing the desired cells is at the bottom of the tube, while the upper floating fraction containing the trypsin has to be removed.","This upper fraction is drawn off with a vacuum system.","In order to eliminate all traces of trypsin, the culture medium is added to the base fraction, and the whole is put back into suspension.","Now the cells from the small skin sample have to be counted before being centrifuged a second time.","The cells are counted by hand using a microscope or with this apparatus.","The exact number of cells obtained during the extraction via a biopsy is determined as well as the number of cells that will have to be seeded for maximum growth.","The bottom portion of keratinocytes is divided in these flasks containing a culture medium whose composition resembles that of blood.","The cells will multiply over a week in these flasks, placed in an oven at 98.6 degrees and at 8% oxygen.","The medium in which the cells are immersed is changed every two days.","In less than a week, the cells have almost covered the entire surface of the flask.","They can now be trypsinated anew and thus reseed some 50 flasks, which in turn will be placed in the oven for about one week.","Skin strips carpet the inner surface of the flask.","They are then detached with a spatula.","The flasks are cut in two with a heating unit resembling a soldering iron.","To make handling easier, gauze is placed on the skin strips, whose thickness is less than 1/10 of a millimeter.","The graft is placed on the wound.","Clamps and the gauze will be removed after 10 days.","A patient can be skin-grafted in less than two weeks.","When it comes to vegetables, there's nothing like fresh corn on the cob.","But when that's not available, corn is also great right out of the can, and anyone with an appetite for feats of engineering will appreciate the whirlwind journey from cob to can.","Throughout man's history, food preserving has included smoking, freezing, drying, and salting.","In the early 19th century, nicolas appert built a factory to preserve foods in hermetically sealed glass jars and to sterilize them by boiling.","But glass was breakable, and so in 1810, an englishman named durand invented the tin can, first used by the military, and soldiers, it seems, first developed a handy can opener.","The corn that's canned is harvested from mid-august until mid-october.","Canning is done very quickly.","Less than four hours pass between harvesting and canning procedures so as to conserve much of the nutritional value of the product to be sold.","The unloading of many trucks of this size will be needed for the 150,000 tons of corn that are canned here annually.","The cobs are transported into the plant on this conveyor.","They will first have to pass through a kernel remover.","Equipped with several counter-rotating cylinders, this unit removes the leaves and the silk which surround the cob.","With only a few seconds, the cob is completely stripped of its covering.","Once cleaned, the cobs fall into this chute en route to the next processing step.","Here they're lined up, ready to be handled by the kernel remover.","The kernels are removed from the cobs by going through the machine where knives remove the kernels in a fraction of a second.","Each of these units remove 1.5 tons of kernels per hour.","Twice a day the machines are stopped to inspect the blades, to clean, and sharpen them.","The corn kernels fall into the middle while the cobs themselves are moved to the sides.","Both kernels and cobs move along on their separate ways in the process.","The kernels are entered into this rotating drum, which removes any particles larger than the kernels.","Nothing is wasted in the processing.","Corn residues, leaves, and cobs will all be used later as animal feed.","Now the kernels fall into a mix composed of water and of a fluid that's obtained when cutting the corn kernels.","This liquid mix allows for the transporting of the kernels without damaging them.","Next the kernels flow along this belt and are placed on this conveyor toward the following processing step.","Bleaching is done in this huge cylinder.","A worm screw brings the bleached kernels to the surface.","A visual inspection verifies the quality of the kernels.","All that remains is to pack them into these leakproof cans.","Thousands of cans of every size are carried to the filling department.","Filling the cans is done from this rotating filling machine.","This filling machine can handle 300 to 450 cans a minute.","The kernels that fall to the side are gathered up later in this cylinder and returned to the filling line.","Here a brine solution composed of water, salt, and sugar is added.","Covers are securely attached onto the containers, but the canning is not yet finished because they have to proceed with some very important tests.","They perform tests in this laboratory that assure the quality of the product.","First they check the watertightness of the cans.","They also control the filling weight and the quality of the kernels.","Meanwhile, cans continue winding their way through the plant.","One step remains--  sterilization.","Sterilization takes place in this oven at 250 degrees and lasts between 4 to 6 minutes.","This is a crucial step because it guarantees that the product is reliable and that it will remain so for 18 months.","Now they taste samples of the product to determine that it conforms to quality standards.","Cans are labeled as customers' orders are filled.","In this facility, they produce an amazing total of 43 million cans of corn."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Suits of Armor","Street Light Poles","Bent Hardwood","Membrane Switches"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Suits of armor...","Street-light bulbs...","Bent hardwood...","And membrane switches.","If you're the type of guy who finds wearing a tie uncomfortable, try sporting a suit of armor.","Armor reached its peak during the battle-filled 15th century.","Initially, it was made of chain mail, tiny rings of metal linked together.","Then, for greater protection, knights began wearing plate armor, suits made from large pieces of steel.","Today, armorers make this obsolete battle gear mostly for historical re-enactment buffs.","This workshop specializes in custom-made suits of armor.","The armorer has to take 45 different measurements just to prepare the pattern.","He traces each pattern piece on a steel sheet that's about 1/16 of an inch thick.","Then he cuts along the trace line with a band saw.","This is the breastplate, which covers the chest and abdomen.","Now he begins to shape the piece using an automatic hammer.","There's no mold or template to guide him.","He works strictly by eye.","Now that he has the basic shape, he refines it using a manual hammer.","He strikes the metal against an upright log, a bag of lead beads cushioning the blows.","This prevents the metal from deforming.","A few lighter blows without cushioning in select spots to finalize the shape.","Until now, he's been hammering the inside of the breastplate.","Now he works the outside.","He smoothes the metal surface, a process known as planishing.","Now, using a different automatic hammerhead, he stretches out the breastplate's bottom edge to form a rim angling outward.","He places the piece on an anvil, then, using a manual hammer, planishes the rim.","When you wear this heavy metal breastplate, the rim takes some of the weight off your shoulders by distributing it over your hips.","The armorer checks the shape, then makes any necessary adjustments.","Now, using several different hammers again, he works his way around the rest of the breastplate, gradually rolling the edge onto itself to form a rounded lip.","Rolling the metal onto itself to form the lip reinforces the perimeter of the breastplate, and the rounded edge prevents the sharp metal from cutting the skin.","The breastplate is now ready for the finishing touches.","First, the armorer smoothes the surface with medium-grit sandpaper...","Then with fine-grit sandpaper...","Then-- the last step-- with fine-grit paper and a polishing compound.","Some breastplates have an articulated styling.","For this model, the armorer uses three brass rivets to attach the sections.","He fastens them loosely to enable the pieces to move.","Then, using rivets again, he attaches leather straps.","A suit of armor is made up of about 20 different components, such as the front and back shin guards called grieves...","Armor-and-leather gloves called gauntlets...","Shoulder pieces called pauldrons...","And, of course, the helmet and visor.","A knight would don a suit of armor from the bottom up, otherwise the weight of the top components would have him keeling over, half-dressed.","In the middle ages, a suit of armor cost as much as a small farm.","It was a prized luxury only the nobility could afford.","Being a modern-day knight in shining armor doesn't come cheap, either.","A base-model suit costs about $3,000, an elaborate one up to $20,000.","We take well-lit streets for granted, but there was a time when venturing out at night meant traveling in complete darkness.","In 1814, the first gas lights lit up the streets of london, england.","The first electric streetlights illuminated a public square in cleveland, ohio, in 1879.","These streetlight poles are made of what's called composite, a combination of fiberglass and epoxy resin.","Epoxy resin is a gooey, liquid plastic mixed with a hardener.","The factory constructs each pole on a mandrel, a long, tapered metal cylinder.","Workers first lubricate the surface.","Then they take what's called a fiberglass filament, a string composed of 2,200 tiny fiberglass strands.","They'll wind dozens of filaments around the mandrel to create the pole, but first, the filaments go through a bath of epoxy resin.","This resin is moldable and, once it's heat-cured, maintains its shape.","Once the filaments come out of the bath, a machine called a filament winder wraps them around the rotating mandrel.","The speed of rotation in relation to the speed of the winder is critical because it dictates the angles of the fibers.","The lower the angle, the more that part of the pole will be able to withstand the wind and provide constant, stable lighting.","When a pole bends in the wind, the light appears to flicker.","The number of filament layers depends on the design of each specific pole, and that's determined by a couple of factors.","First, the type of light fixture the pole will hold-- the bigger the fixture, the stiffer the pole has to be.","The other factor is wind.","The windier the location, the stronger the pole has to be.","Once the winding's done, the mandrel moves on to the curing station.","They pump pressurized steam into the hollow inside of the mandrel.","The heat kick-starts the hardener in the epoxy resin.","This solidifies the resin and cures it.","The mandrel rotates so that the pole cures evenly.","Curing time depends on the length of the pole and how many filaments it's made of.","To help extract the pole, they pump cold water through the mandrel.","This makes the steel mandrel contract, loosening the pole.","Remember how workers lubricated the surface of the mandrel before winding the filaments?","Because of that, the pole just slides off.","The pole now moves on to the finishing stages.","First, an automated sander works the surface.","The customer can order from a choice of surface textures, from smooth to rough.","Sanding takes just a few minutes.","Now a saw makes a neat cut at the top of the pole where the metal tenon will go.","A tenon is the component that'll hold the light fixture to the pole.","This particular model has an arched mounting arm.","The composite has cooled a bit since curing, so they reheat it to make it flexible.","After a bending machine makes the curve, they spray cold water inside to cool the material.","This registers the curve in the resin's memory, setting the bent shape.","Now they cut out the hand hole, the opening through which the electrician will connect the underground wire to the fixture wiring.","Workers then spray the pole with urethane paint.","The paint acts like sunscreen, protecting the composite from damaging ultraviolet rays.","This grommet hole will connect to the underground pipe that contains the electrical wires.","After installing a cover over the hand hole, it's time to assemble the parts-- the underground pipe to the pole...","And the pole to the tenon and light fixture.","Many products have rounded components made of solid hardwood.","Often, the companies that make these products hire factories that specialize in wood-bending to prepare these components for them.","Bending wood may sound simple, but it isn't.","It takes a lot of preparation and skill to bend wood without cracking it.","The best type of wood to bend is hardwood.","Its fibers react better to heat and moisture than softwood fibers do and, therefore, curve nicely.","If you bend softwood, it wrinkles.","The wood first goes into an outdoor dryer to bring its humidity level down to between 15% and 20%.","This prevents the wood from expanding and contracting after it's bent.","This air-drying process takes up to a week.","Once the wood is dry, a powerful trimmer saws the pieces to the required length, an edger to the required width.","Now that the wood pieces are the right dimensions, they go into what's called a steaming box.","This superficially rehumidifies them so that they become somewhat flexible.","This takes from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on the type of wood and its thickness.","This humidity will later evaporate out of the wood.","Now the pieces go into a press, sandwiched between two forms in the shape of the curve to be made.","The press applies both pressure and heat-- pressure to bend the wood, heat generated by a high-voltage electric current to cure it, setting the new shape.","How long the pieces stay in the press depends again on the species and dimensions.","Generally, it takes from 20 minutes to an hour.","Making this particular type of curve is called crown bending.","Workers measure each piece against the template to ensure the curve is just right.","The factory uses the same process to bend these pieces into a different shape.","It's critical to use just the right amount of heat and pressure-- too high a temperature would burn the wood.","Too much force would crack it.","These straight pieces of wood will become the rounded backs of windsor-style chairs, which is why this type of bending is called windsor bending.","Workers humidify the wood in the steaming box but will shape the pieces using a pressure-only process.","They mount what's called a bending mold onto a hydraulic press.","This machine uses just pressure to bend the wood around the mold.","No heat this time to immediately set the shape.","Instead, once the press curves the pieces, workers hook up a chain to temporarily hold the shape.","Then they transfer the bent pieces to a heated indoor dryer.","The drying process takes between two days and two weeks, depending, as before, on the type of wood and the dimensions.","Once the wood dries out, the curve is permanent.","There are many wooden products that require bent components-- this wheel for a horse-drawn carriage, for example.","Back to the windsor chairs, now.","A dowel machine rounds off the bent pieces.","Before shipping the pieces out, workers run them through a sander.","This prepares them for the furniture factories, who will varnish or stain them.","Upon receiving these chairbacks, the furniture factories will assembled them to the straight parts of the windsor chairs.","The term \"membrane switches\" probably means nothing to you, but chances are you use them or at least see them in use daily.","Membrane switches are those soft touch-pad buttons on the controls of many electrical and electronic devices-- for example, the buttons on a microwave oven or on a cash register.","The surface of the appliance's control panel is called the graphic overlay.","It's a sheet of plastic on which they print the design of the control buttons.","Each button has a membrane switch underneath it.","To make this graphic overlay, they first laser-print a sheet of acetate film with the design--  as many copies as will fit.","They lay the film on a polyester screen coated with a light-sensitive chemical.","Then, using this machine, they expose the screen to 2,000 watts of ultraviolet light for up to six minutes.","The light hardens the chemical on the parts of the screen that aren't shielded by the design on the acetate.","This blocks the screen's minute holes everywhere except in the design.","Workers remove the acetate film and rinse off the shielded chemical that didn't harden.","Now they have a screen stencil of the design they're going to print.","Workers dry off the screen and install it on a printing press.","A squeegee drags the ink across the screen, pushing it down through the open holes, printing the design onto the overlay plastic.","Ultraviolet lamps cure the ink in a matter of seconds.","Each color of the design goes on separately.","That means that there isn't one printing screen for the entire graphic overlay, but rather a separate screen for each color.","Meanwhile, on another screen printing press, they print the circuitry layout onto transparent plastic.","The ink contains silver, which conducts electricity.","This circuitry layout will go behind the graphic overlay.","Again, they print several at a time.","Once the printing's done, it's time to assemble the layers that make up the membrane switch.","First, the circuit layer goes onto an adhesive sheet.","A roller insures a solid, airtight bond.","This spacer sheet will separate the overlay and circuit layer to prevent contact between the two from being continuous.","Over each circuit goes a dome made of nickel-plated stainless steel.","This forms an electrical contact over the circuit that must be forcibly pressed in order to activate the circuit.","They adhere a polyester sheet to hold the domes in place for now.","After cutting out each circuitry layout and each graphic overlay, they expose the adhesive backing on the overlay and stick it to the circuit layer.","The membrane switches are now complete.","This control panel is for a hospital bed.","Some membrane switches have a light-emitting diode, or l.e.d., a tiny colored light that goes on when you press the switch to confirm contact.","The factory's robotic machines deposit two drops of epoxy paste on the circuit layer wherever an l.e.d. will go.","The paste contains silver--  again, to conduct the current.","A robot then picks up the l.e.d.s and deposits them on the drops of paste.","The robot then puts a dome on each circuit, creating an electrical contact.","The red light you see is a camera checking the positioning.","Testing equipment runs a current through the circuitry to make sure that everything works.","Then a drop of transparent sealant goes over each l.e.d. the sealant hardens under ultraviolet light, holding everything solidly in place.","Now workers remove the panel from the automated line and plug it in.","Lighting up all the l.e.d.s helps them position the graphic overlay properly.","This control panel is for a wall oven.","No l.e.d.s on this model.","And instead of a dome behind each button, they print an electrical contact using the same conductive silver ink they use to print all the circuitry.","After rolling on the graphic overlay, they peel off the protective plastic, then flip the control panel upside down and snap it into its cover."]}
{"meta":{"things":["External Hard Drives","Frozen Shrimp","Thai Rice Boxes","Paper Towels"]},"text":["In the digital world, like the real one, it helps to have extra storage space.","An external hard drive stores data separate from a computer to expand storage capacity.","It also preserves memory.","So in the event that the computer drive crashes, all is not lost.","50 years ago, external hard drives were the size of refrigerators.","Today, they squeeze a lot more memory into drives the size of chocolate bars.","On the hard-drive assembly line, there's not a speck of dust.","An air-filtering system sucks particles out of the air to keep them from contaminating the drive and compromising its function.","Production starts with the motor base.","An employee installs a voice-coil magnet.","It's one of two that will move the drive heads to write information on rotating disks.","They're called voice coils because they operate on the same principle as loudspeakers.","Next, a robot places one of the hard-drive disks in the motor base.","A camera snaps a photo to send information to guide the robot so it positions the disk exactly.","Another robot places a round, metal spacer at the center of the disk-- again, relying on the camera's eye for guidance.","It sets a second disk on top of the spacer.","This is a two-disk hard drive, but a drive can have several, depending on the amount of storage needed.","A robot locks the disks into place with a stainless-steel clamp.","This next part is a plastic ramp.","The ramp is a place to park the disk-drive heads when they're not engaged in reading and writing data.","Those tiny heads have been preassembled to one end of the head arm.","They attach the other end of the arm to the lower voice coil in the base and then situate the second voice coil above it.","To maintain its squeaky-clean interior, a robot inserts a thin cotton filter.","This filter will capture dust particles in the event that some infiltrate the hard drive.","A robot now places a metal cover on the other side of the drive.","Another robot then screws the cover to the motor base.","With the inner workings now encased, the hard drive can be moved out of the air-filtered section of the factory.","A worker collects the hard-drive assemblies and slots them into a tote box.","Once a circuit board has been added, they transfer the hard drives to a test chamber.","Behind the closed door of the chamber, a robot swings into action.","It plucks a hard drive from the tote box and plugs it into a test cell to confirm that it's functional.","Outside, employees go about their daily business, as the robot methodically tests each hard drive in the tote boxes.","Once a tote of drives is confirmed to be operational, the chamber ejects them and a worker then does a visual inspection of each one.","She looks for scratches or other damage that could hinder its function.","There's another slightly different system for testing.","In this one, the employee places each drive on a conveyor that delivers it to a robot tester.","Having two tester systems ensures that if one goes down, they still have another one to carry on.","After all, like humans, robots are not infallible.","At the packing station now, there's one last visual inspection.","The employee scans the drive's serial number so its production can be traced in the event of a problem later.","She then seals it in plastic.","This hard drive is now ready to accept data and ensure that someone doesn't totally lose it if their computer drive crashes.","People have been noshing on shrimp since the beginning of time, but it hasn't always been an easy catch.","Wild stocks declined in the 20th century.","Shrimp farms emerged to supply what nature couldn't.","Factories process the harvest, ensuring an abundance of ready-to-eat shrimp for the freezer.","Jumbo shrimp have long been big on the cocktail circuit.","Today, it comes prepped and frozen, complete with cocktail sauce.","Just unwrap and thaw.","Shrimp cocktail is one of the many ready-to-eat dishes prepared at this factory in thailand.","Fresh from the farm, the shrimp undergoes a quick cold-water rinse.","It then rides a perforated conveyor.","Rinse water drains through the holes in the conveyor to keep the shrimp from becoming soggy.","Still cool from the icy bath, the curly crustaceans spill off the conveyor into plastic baskets.","They weigh each basket and then transfer the shrimp to a larger tub.","To keep the chill on, they add crushed ice between loads.","A temperature of 50 degrees fahrenheit or less must be maintained throughout processing, or quality will suffer.","It's now time for the inevitable-- the deheading.","Using a metal tool that's like an open thimble, workers pull the heads off the shrimp with a few quick tugs.","The deheading line is a long and busy one.","The headless shrimp now travel to sizing rollers.","The space between the rollers is narrow at first and wider further down.","As the rollers spin, smaller shrimp fall through first, and the larger ones continue on to fall through further down.","They accumulate in different piles on conveyors below.","This separates the shrimp into five size categories.","Out of the sorter, an employee samples the shrimp's temperature to confirm that it remains adequately chilled.","Deheaded and sorted by size, these shrimp are now ready to come out of their shells.","On the shelling line, some workers cut the tails off and others leave them on, because there's a market for both.","After they peel away the shell, they cut out the digestive tract that runs along the back.","It's often referred to as the vein because it looks like one.","Workers on this line peel and devein 800 shrimp an hour.","The shrimp then goes to different prep zones.","At this one, an employee dips tail-on shrimp into an egg mixture and then dredges them in rice flour.","He sends them down the line to the next worker.","He rolls the floured shrimp in rice paper.","As you can see, there's a bit of trick to this.","He moistens the edges of the rice paper to seal the wrap.","The result is a spring-roll appetizer that can be frozen until it's ready to be cooked and served.","In another area, a worker prepares a breaded recipe-- again, using shrimp with the tail still on.","This is finger food and, with the tails on the shrimp, will be easier to grip.","He soaks it in seasonings and coats it in breadcrumbs.","Then he dips it in egg batter and breads it again.","The second coating of crumbs will give the shrimp extra crunch when fried.","The tray is now full, and so it's over to the fry belt.","After a quick trip through hot oil, the breaded shrimp is perfectly fried.","All the shrimp, including this raw product, take a blustery ride through a freezer.","Spread evenly across the conveyor, they freeze individually rather than in big, icy clumps.","So you don't have to thaw a whole bunch to get a few shrimp.","The frozen shrimp falls into weigh stations.","At the correct amount, the bottom opens to release them.","An ice glaze will protect them from freezer burn.","These frozen-shrimp products are ready to leave the factory.","From the freezer to the oven to your taste buds.","With all the prep work done at the factory, these frozen-shrimp products are quite a treat.","Rice is an integral part of the asian diet, so it's not surprising to find special storage vessels for it.","In thailand, the traditional container is a rice box-- a covered jar handwoven from bamboo and often beautifully decorated.","They're also produced as decorative items for export.","Thai rice boxes started out as an ordinary household container for cooked, sticky rice.","Today, they're sought-after handicrafts, produced in a range of sizes for storage of all kinds or simply for decoration.","Each box is handcrafted from start to finish.","The artisan begins with thin strips of bamboo.","He splits the strips with his fingernail to make them the width required for the box size he's weaving.","He lines up the first few strips on the floor and holds them steady with his foot as he weaves strips crosswise through them in an under-one, over-two sequence.","He continues weaving this pattern until he produces a square that's large enough to form the base of the box.","He sprays the base with water to soften up the bamboo.","This prevents the strips from breaking when he now bends them upward to begin weaving the sides of the box.","Once he's completed the sides, he begins weaving the box's neck, pulling the strips laterally in a circular direction.","He alternates, folding one strip upward, one strip downward.","He trims the downward strips, then inserts the ends through the woven sides.","Next, pulling the strips through the middle, he fits a bamboo ring over the outside of the neck, then another along the inside of the neck, locking the remaining upward strips in between.","This immobilizes the strips, eliminating any need for nails or glue.","It also adds rigidity, reinforcing the neck's round shape.","A quick trim of the remaining strips, and the box is fully constructed.","He then makes a lid using the same materials and technique.","Next, artisans coat the outside of the box and lid with a mixture of chalk, glue, and sawdust.","They let the coating dry in the sun for a day or two, until the surface becomes hard and smooth like clay.","Now an artist gets to work, first applying two base coats of acrylic paint.","Once the base coats are dry, she places the box on a turntable and applies a coat of the background color.","Once that dries, she begins outlining the design.","Then she fills in the design.","Once that's dry, the fine details.","It's here that you see the artistry emerge.","Once the artwork has dried, they encircle the neck with a band of rattan, then with strips of rattan, tie the box to a wooden stand.","At the base of each corner, they weave the rattan strips into a decorative pattern.","Not only is this rice box entirely handmade...","The artisans never use templates, never take measurements.","They do it all by eye.","The inside of the box remains bare.","The idea is to see the bamboo and how skillfully it's woven.","It's a natural, nontoxic surface, against which it's safe to store rice.","Paper towels were invented in the u.s. in the 1920s.","The idea of a one-use, disposable paper cloth for cleaning and drying proved popular.","And by 1931, paper towels were being mass-marketed.","Today, a paper towel roll is such a staple in the kitchen that an attractive holder for it is a must.","A paper towel always comes in handy to soak up a spill, clean a surface, or simply dry wet hands.","The embossed pattern is not just decoration-- it actually makes the paper towel more absorbent by creating liquid-suctioning empty spaces in between the towel's two layers, called plies.","This brand is made from 100% recycled fibers, primarily white paper obtained from office waste.","The paper goes into a large machine called the pulper, which breaks it up into fibers, then blends those fibers with water to produce a mushy substance called pulp.","A built-in filter removes all the non-paper materials, such as plastic windows from envelopes and staples.","The next machine removes the ink by injecting the pulp with air.","The ink detaches from the pulp fibers and clings to the air bubbles, which rise to the top and drain off.","The pulp goes through a press, which, with a series of rollers, squeezes out the water.","A screw conveyor then breaks up the pulp and moves it to the next station, which whitens it with a peroxide-based bleaching agent, then rinses it thoroughly with clean water.","Next, and this is off limits to the camera for competitive reasons, they apply a chemical wet-strength agent, then form it into a sheet of paper nearly eight feet wide.","The wet-strength agent, as the term suggests, keeps the paper towel intact when wet.","Without this fortifying treatment, paper towels would be as fragile as toilet paper.","After forming the paper, the machine winds it up into giant rolls.","These rolls will feed the converting line, the automated stations which transform the paper into paper towels.","Two rolls feed the line simultaneously, each providing one ply of the two-ply paper towel.","But before the plies hit the converting line, the factory's quality-control lab analyzes samples in both the wet and dry state.","The testing machine pulls both ends of the sample until it tears, measuring whether the paper meets strength specifications.","On the converting line, one ply travels under an embossing roller, which presses a textured design onto the paper.","Another roller then applies a thin coat of glue onto the raised portions of the pattern.","The next station lays the embossed and glued ply on top of the second still-flat ply.","Then a fine-tooth knife cuts the perforated lines, which will separate the individual sheets on the paper towel roll.","The next machine winds 100 sheets around a cardboard tube.","That's the length of one paper towel roll.","A machine called the accumulator transports these logs, as they're called, to the cutting station...","Where every 10 inches, a rotating circular saw slices through four logs simultaneously.","This divides each log into a dozen finished paper towel rolls.","The next station groups the rolls for packaging either by 6 or by 12.","The packaging machine encases the group rolls in printed plastic...","Then heat-seals the wrapping closed.","Paper towel consumption is highest in north america, where factories produce 50 trillion rolls per year."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Heather Gems","Instant Film","Beet Sugar","Electric Roadsters"]},"text":["Manufactured gemstones are typically designed to imitate genuine mined gemstones.","Not these--  they're made from heather, a hardy flowering plant which grows wild across scotland.","For centuries, scots used heather to thatch roofs, stuff mattresses, and even brew ale.","This scottish company turns heather into gemstone material for jewelry and other gift items.","Heathergems, as they're called, have veinlike patterns created randomly by the plants' stems.","Therefore, no two gems can be identical.","When the handpicked heather arrives at the factory, its green foliage still clings to the upper part of the stems.","After cutting the plants into lengths of about 10 inches, workers load them into a sandblasting machine.","The drum rotates for about half an hour while tiny iron pellets blast the heather inside.","The pellets chip away the bark and remove the foliage.","The heather comes out of the machine as bare, dried-out, delicate wood.","Workers form 1 1/2-pound bundles and place them in a vacuum-die chamber for two whole days.","First, the vacuum draws out the air in the stems to clear the way for the die to penetrate.","Then, again under pressure, the stems slowly absorb the dye.","This vacuum method is far more effective than dipping or soaking the stems in vats of dye because the color penetrates deeply into the heather wood rather than merely sitting on the surface.","They open the bundles and make new ones of the same weight, this time combining colors.","It's important to combine thicker stems with thinner ones to create contrasting lines in the gem pattern.","Next, they soak each bundle in epoxy resin for two or three minutes, ensuring the stems are well saturated.","Then they place the bundles on racks to allow the excess resin to drain off.","They load four bundles between the top and bottom halves of a mold.","A press then slowly closes the mold, applying 88 tons of pressure for about a minute.","They clamp the mold closed and remove it from the press.","Then they put the mold into an oven for an hour to cure the resin.","They open the mold and remove what is now a rock-hard, resin-bonded block of heather wood.","They put the block on a band saw and trim off the rough edges.","They cut slices between 4/10 and 5/10 of an inch thick, depending on what shape gem they'll be making.","After gluing each slice onto a plastic backing, a robotic cutting machine guided by a computer cuts the gem shapes.","Then workers simply pop the gems off the plastic backing.","This domed oval shape is called a cabochon.","The finishing team smoothes and polishes each gem on a belt sander, then applies four or five coats of clear lacquer.","Lacquering draws out the colors while sealing and protecting the wood.","Finally, they glue each gem onto the jewelry or gift item.","Sometimes they dye the heather just a single color.","This still produces a striking gem, because the dye penetrates the wood with different intensities, creating contrasting shades.","The signature feature is the unique veining produced by the heather encased within, each and every gemstone truly capturing the natural beauty of the scottish highlands.","Invented in the middle of the 20th century, instant film made photographic images materialize almost magically.","The picture appeared in minutes.","No more waiting for days for film to be processed.","Today it's a digital world, but instant film is still getting plenty of exposure.","With instant film, you can watch an image develop before your very eyes-- no film lab or digital printer necessary.","Just say, \"cheese,\" and wait to see what develops.","Many decades after its invention, instant photo development still seems like a neat trick.","Making the magic happen is a many-layered process, one that involves multiple materials and chemicals.","Production begins with the film negative.","It takes place in the dark to prevent pre-exposure.","The technician dons night-vision goggles, allowing him to monitor plastic film as it unwinds into a coating machine.","Inside, various dyes and chemicals will transform the film into a negative.","They switch the lights back on briefly for our camera.","The film travels up and down towards the coating machine.","It's a system that prevents any slackening in the feed.","The coating is also done in the dark, so this worker demonstrates the process for our camera on a small research machine.","Liquid photo chemicals and dyes flow onto the surface of the plastic film.","He spreads the liquids across the film for an even application.","This is all done mechanically inside the real coating machine.","Once coated, the film will head into the dryer.","The various coatings will dry in separate layers without intermingling.","Here's a test tube lineup of the liquid components of the negative.","The colorful ones are dyes, and the white ones are other chemicals.","They apply black backing to the negative to block light, again preventing pre-exposure.","The trip through the dryer is 87 yards long.","Hot air dries the chemicals on the surface of the film.","Once again, it all happens in the dark to protect the light-sensitive film.","Coiled up and packed into lighttight drums, the color-negative material is now on its way to a second factory to be assembled into the instant film pack.","Upon arrival, they thread the negative onto a machine, along with other materials for the film pack.","They include a plastic base material called the mask and the positive paper that receives the photographic image from the negative.","The various materials are steered toward assembly stations by a system of rollers.","Here's a lineup of the various materials to be assembled.","That's the mask on the far left and the negative in the middle.","The negative heads towards a series of hot presses.","One press laminates a plastic spacer called the rail to the negative.","Another lamination head applies the mask to the positive sheet that will receive the image.","On a different machine, equipment folds a kind of foil pouch and injects it with film developer.","Here's an inside look at the pouch.","The blue liquid is the developer.","Encased in the foil-lined envelope, it will stay fresh until needed.","Back on the main assembly machine, another hot press laminates the developer pouch to the other film materials.","This completes the film sandwich, and it heads into another station to be sliced into photo-sized pieces.","The photo frames ride a wheel with a counter that divides them into stacks of eight.","Meanwhile, robot arms deposit a rectangular spring on a battery.","Then they position the eight pictures on the spring-battery assembly, followed by a light-blocking cover.","The stack then moves forward to be squeezed into a plastic cassette.","A suction type of device now picks up a cardboard box and transfers it to the end of the film-pack line.","Another device captures the film pack as it comes off the line and places it in the cardboard box.","Once folded closed, the box of instant film rides the carousel to a scale.","A quick weighing confirms there's enough film in the box, so it's ready to ship.","The assembly of this instant film pack has taken roughly three minutes.","Now those instant memories are just a few clicks away.","A common assumption is that all white sugar is derived from sugar cane, but 30% of the world's white-sugar supply comes from the sugar beet.","While sugarcane grows only in tropical climates, the hardier sugar beet can be cultivated in cooler regions and in poorer soil.","It takes about 7 beets to produce a little more than 2 pounds of sugar.","The by-products of processing, molasses and beet pulp, are used for animal feed.","The processing of sugar beets yields various grades of sugar.","The lower ones are reprocessed to become white sugar.","Farmers plant beet seeds in the spring and harvest the mature crop in the fall.","Mechanical harvesters attack six rows at a time.","They rip the plant out of the ground, chop off the leaves and crown, leaving just the bulbous root.","A beet root typically weighs about 2 pounds.","17% to 18% of that is sucrose, which is sugar.","A loader transfers the harvested beets into trucks.","The loader's sieve removes about a third of the soil along the way.","When the trucks arrive at the sugar factory, they unload the beets, soil and stones included, onto a conveyer belt, which transports them to a washing station.","First they head into a revolving drum, where, under a shower of water, the beets rub against each other, dislodging the soil.","The water flow floats the beets, which then exit the drum.","The stones stay behind, collected in separator buckets along the edge.","A screw conveyer moves the beets to a transfer system, which brings them inside the factory to be processed into sugar.","Inside, slicing machines cut the incoming beets into cassettes, strips about the shape of french fries but smaller.","The cassettes travel on a conveyer belt into a large tank of hot water, where they soak for a few minutes.","This gets their cell membranes to begin opening, clearing the way for the sucrose to exit during the next operation, in which the cassettes are pumped to the bottom of a 22-yard-high extraction tower.","A rotating shaft within the tower transports them slowly upward against the downward flow of hot water.","This draws out the sucrose, producing a sugary water called raw juice.","The next step is to purify this raw juice.","In a giant kiln, they burn limestone with coke to produce the chemical compound calcium hydroxide, also called lime milk.","They add it, in several stages, to the raw juice.","Meanwhile, they press the sucrose-stripped cassettes into pulp to sell as animal feed.","They add carbon dioxide to the lime milk-and-juice mixture.","This absorbs 1/3 of the juice's impurities, enabling a filtration system to remove them.","The raw juice exits as a golden sugar solution called thin juice.","The thin juice then enters a 6-step evaporation process, which reduces it to a thick syrup-like juice.","From there, they pump it into a 4-phase crystallization system.","In phase 1, they heat and add seed crystals, tiny, identical-sized sugar crystals made separately using a complex cooling and evaporating process.","As the water in the juice evaporates, about half of the sucrose crystallizes, growing the seed crystals.","Then a centrifuge machine separates the crystals, called refined sugar, from the remaining syrup.","The syrup goes through this crystallization-centrifuge process three more times, producing a lesser grade of sugar each time.","The factory dissolves and recrystallizes the lowest two grades.","The highest grades of sugar go into dryers, on the way, passing through a screening machine which separates any crystals which are too large.","The factory dissolves these crystals, then puts the sugary liquid through the crystallization process again.","So, in the end, there are two grades of beet sugar which go into silos, where they're stored until it's time to package them for sale as refined sugar and white sugar.","The electric car ruled the road early in the 20th century, and then the technology was surpassed by gas.","Today the concept is cruising towards a comeback, its resurgence fueled by concerns about pollution from gas-powered vehicles and by worries about overdependence on foreign oil.","This sassy-looking sports car is leading the charge for change.","Just plug it into any electrical outlet, and after a few hours, it has enough juice for a drive through the countryside or for quite a few jaunts around town.","With no tailpipe, there are no direct emissions, and if the power generated by the electrical plant is clean, everyone breathes a little easier.","But with a price tag in the 6-figure range, this eco-friendly roadster is a luxury product.","Production begins with the first half of the gear box.","A worker bolts a brass fitting to the center and then attaches plastic tubing to it.","The tubing will deliver lubricant to the transmission's bearings.","He inserts those bearings into slots in the gearbox and presses them into place using a hydraulic tool.","He drips thread-locking compound into screw holes and installs a device for locking the transmission.","It's called the parking pawl.","He applies more adhesive to screws and threads them through the pawl to the gearbox.","Using a calibrated torque wrench, he tightens them to a precise setting.","The transmission is single speed with four gears, which they install in the other half of the gearbox.","These are helical gears.","Their teeth are cut at an angle for gradual engagement and smooth operation.","They're now ready for the rotor and the stator.","Both are electromagnets, and together they'll be the electric motor's driving force.","They insert the rotor into the stator, where their two electromagnetic fields will interact to create torque, transforming electrical energy into mechanical energy.","They hoist the rotor-and-stator assembly onto the gearbox and bolt them together.","They attach cables for wiring the motor to the power-electronics module later.","It's a crucial part that processes and regulates the flow of battery power to the motor.","This completes the electric-motor drivetrain.","They lower the drivetrain into the back of the preassembled car body.","They position the motor mounts over slots in the steel subframe.","And once in place, they bolt the drivetrain to the chassis.","Now, under the car, they pull back the rear suspension temporarily to attach the drive axle to the gearbox.","The axle is equipped with a rubber-encased joint that allows a rear wheel to react to bumps independently, without reverberation to the other.","The battery is next.","Seen here in a display model of the power train, the metal pack contains more than 6,800 lithium-ion cells and delivers 215 kilowatts of power, enough juice to enable this electric car to accelerate to 60 miles an hour in under 4 seconds.","Machinery now lowers the car onto the battery, positioning it in the front of the gearbox and just behind the car seats.","They jack up the battery for a precision fit.","They connect wiring for low-voltage systems, like the lights and fans.","And now the brains of the electric car-- the power-electronics module.","They install it on top of the motor and battery and wire it to both.","With all the wires connected, the module is equipped to convert dc power from the battery to the ac power.","It will then supply that current to the motor as the driver steps on the accelerator.","With the vacuum system, they drain air from the battery and pump in liquid coolant.","Coolant continuously flows through the battery to maintain an even temperature throughout.","The body panels are made of durable, lightweight carbon fiber.","And with the computer software updated and the car now completely assembled, it's time for a test run.","As this sports car accelerates, there's no throaty roar.","Unlike a gas-powered engine, the electric motor takes off quietly and quickly."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Residential Water Heaters","Air Bags","Jelly Beans","Ice Resurfacers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Residential water heaters...","Air bags...","Jelly beans...","And ice resurfacers.","The residential water heater was invented back in 1889, and the basic concept still applies today.","It heats water, usually with natural gas, propane, or electricity, then keeps it continuously hot so that you always have a supply ready for the bathroom, kitchen, or anywhere else you need it.","Water heaters may look plain, but there's a lot going on inside.","To make one, a hydraulic press transforms a round, steel blank into a dome shape.","This dome will form the base of a gas-heated tank, and it will hold the burner.","Next, rollers behind and above curl a sheet of steel around a cylinder.","This forms the inner-tank shape.","A seam-welder device then pinches the two ends of the tank shape together and welds them.","In the next step, a worker positions the tank body under a projection-welder.","He selects a threaded fitting, places it on the tank, and lowers the welder.","This projection-welder uses 10,000 volts of electricity to fuse fittings to the tank body.","It also welds fittings to the top of the tank.","Valves and other parts will be screwed into these fittings later.","Next, a press applies over 27 tons of force to fit a top onto the tank.","Then they spray liquid enamel inside of the spinning tank.","It will be baked in at 1,650 fahrenheit for 45 minutes to prevent rusting.","Now it's back to the bottom of the tank.","A worker inserts a flue tube in a hole in the center, and an automated welder joins it to the tank base.","The flue will vent gases from the burner.","After anti-rust enamel coating is baked onto the base and flue, they lower the tank body onto it.","Next, robotic welding arms work both ends of the tank.","One welds the base to it, the other bonds the flue to the top.","Now the pressure test.","They pump air into the tank and then pour water over the outside.","If water bubbles on the tank, it means air is escaping and there's a leak that needs to be fixed.","Here they install elements in an electric water heater...","And they hook up a thermostat and the wires that run to it.","Now it's time to make the tank's outer shell, or jacket.","An operator slides a painted-steel shape onto a mandrel so that it becomes cylindrical.","A lockformer then moves along a rail, folding and pressing the seam together.","Next, a rollformer crimps the top and bottom edges so that lids can be easily installed.","Here they drape a plastic apron over a tank...","And then slide on its jacket, or tank shell, with just the electric components exposed.","They screw a steel cover over them.","Here's a demonstration of what's next.","A chemical reaction causes polyurethane foam to expand in seconds.","They inject this expanding foam into the plastic apron that's now between the tank and outer shell.","The foam will insulate the tank.","Now they finish installing the wiring on this electric heater...","And then do an inspection.","It makes the grade.","On gas heaters, they slide a burner into the dome-shaped base and then connect the burner tubes to the gas valve.","They attach some wiring that controls the burner ignition...","And then hook it up to the gas line for a test run.","That inner glow is the burner at work.","They light a torch on the flame and pass it over the valve to check for little gas leaks.","It didn't ignite, so there aren't any.","It gets the seal of approval, and now it's up to the consumer to test the water when it's installed.","The air bag was invented in the 1960s, but it actually didn't catch on until several years later.","By the 1980s, automakers were installing them in most vehicles.","Air bags deploy when sensors detect a sudden deceleration and inflate them, giving vehicle occupants the protection they need.","This side-curtain air bag inflates in less than .","020 of a second.","Blink, and you'll miss it.","Air bags don't have any seams because they're woven in one piece.","Big, computerized looms weave at a blurring speed-- 600 revolutions per minute.","They're called air-jet lacquered looms.","They lift and lower each nylon yarn to make an intricate one-piece fabric.","Up to 10,700 yarns could be used to make the material.","If even one of the thousands of yarns break, an electrical sensor will detect it and shut the loom down.","It's a step to ensure quality control.","Despite this rapid weaving action, the loom produces just over 26 feet of fabric an hour.","That's because it's very dense fabric.","That density will allow the air bag to stand up to the force of deployment.","Now the woven fabric goes through an inspection station.","As automated rollers wind it up, a worker examines it.","If it's acceptable, he signs it off.","Next, it's on to the scouring station.","Here a machine unwinds the air-bag fabric as rollers guide it towards a wash-and-dry system that's 118 feet long.","The rollers draw the air-bag material through a number of big wash tanks to ensure a thorough cleaning.","Then a series of hot rollers dry and press the fabric.","The freshly laundered air-bag material moves through the coating machine.","A hose pumps liquid silicone onto the fabric, and a scraper overhead distributes it.","As a worker scoops some up, you can see that it's as thick as molasses.","The silicone seals the air-bag fabric.","But it's wet and sticky and needs to dry, so it passes through a series of ovens heated to about 370 degrees fahrenheit.","As it dries, the silicone cures to the fabric.","Now a computer-guided laser cuts the material with the precision and speed that no human could ever replicate.","Black lines woven into the fabric assist the laser as it cuts the air-bag design.","At any point in time, it's cutting multiple air bags out of the fabric.","When the job is done, the conveyor belt moves the air bags forward.","And now they're scrutinized by humans.","A worker pulls the one-piece air bag across a template and examines it to make sure the dimensions match.","Then it's sent over to the sewing station.","Although the air bags have been seamlessly woven, attachment and reinforcements still need to sewn on.","The stitching is computer-controlled.","A worker feeds the fabric to the sewing machine and then simply presses a button.","The machine stitches together the tabs that will connect the air bag to the inside of the vehicle frame just above the side window.","Here it sews a tether onto the bag.","This strip of fabric will also be used to hold the air bag in place.","Now it's time to test a sample air bag from the production run.","And, yes, it works perfectly.","The jelly bean is a colorful treat.","But, unfortunately, no one is sure exactly when the jelly bean was invented or how.","It's believed that the jelly center dates back to biblical times as a candy called turkish delight.","Many centuries later, the outer shell was added, thus making the jelly bean we know today.","The jelly bean is very popular.","Billions are sold at easter alone.","To make jelly beans, they heat liquid sugar in a big kettle to 347 degrees fahrenheit.","They add glucose, which is a more concentrated sugar, and then starch.","An agitating device mixes it all together...","While elsewhere in the factory, starch spills out of a drum onto big trays.","A leveler moves back and forth to even out the starch on the trays.","The trays then move forward, and a brush knocks off the excess starch.","It will be recycled.","A molding board now presses down into the starch.","It makes 756 jelly-bean impressions in the starch in each tray.","The impressions in the starch will serve as molds for the jelly-bean centers.","Nozzles inject the sugar-and-starch mix cooked in the kettle into the starch molds.","This system can make almost a million jelly-bean centers an hour.","Next, the conveyor belt takes the jelly-bean centers to the drying room, where they stay for 24 hours.","This solidifies them.","They become chewier.","Arms flip the trays of dried candy centers in starch and dump them into a big drum that will separate them.","When the trays flip back, they're refilled with starch, and the molding process begins again.","Meanwhile, the dried jelly-bean centers, now separated from the starch, tumble out of the drum onto a wire-mesh conveyor system.","It transports them to a steam belt, which dampens them.","This readies them for the next step-- sugarcoating.","The jelly-bean centers go into a sander drum that tosses them around while nozzles spray them with sugar.","In another part of the factory, liquid sugar flows out of a kettle into a tub.","A worker adds blue food coloring to the syrup, and then he blends it in.","This mix is called engrossing syrup.","He adds the engrossing syrup, along with some flavoring, to the jelly-bean centers as they tumble around in a tilted, spinning pan.","After they turn a very sticky blue, the worker dumps some sugar into the pan.","This process is repeated four times in order to build up a coating around the gummy center.","The next day, when the beans have hardened, they add hot syrup to the mix and toss the beans around again.","This polishes the jelly beans.","There's a lot of sweet stuff here-- 124,000 jelly beans in each pan.","Now he adds a little wax.","And as the pan spins, the beans rub against each other, distributing the wax.","This adds gloss to the polish.","Then the pan stops spinning, and the jelly beans air dry for 24 hours to allow the glaze to set.","It's the finishing touch.","After 3 1/2 days, this big batch of jelly beans is ready.","They move in a multi-colored mass along a series of conveyors.","They fall into a scale system that portions them out for specific bag sizes.","Then a trap door opens, and they drop down a chute to the packaging department.","Once they're in the bag, the jelly beans are ready to sweeten your day.","In just minutes, an ice resurfacer can smooth the surface of an ice-skating or hockey rink.","Before it was invented in 1949, it took several workers over an hour to resurface the ice using scrapers, squeegees, and hoses.","Today, these machines provide quick, uniform results.","If you ice-skate, you're thankful for this machine.","It smooths the ice in just a few turns around the rink.","To make an ice resurfacer, they weld together steel pieces to build the mainframe.","The frame has to be very strong because it will support everything from the engine to the water tank.","It's a load of almost 3 tons.","Sparks fly as they grind smooth the areas where parts will be mounted.","The sparks are actually steel fragments being sanded off.","Next, they weld support braces with holes in them to the center of the water tank.","These are called baffles, and the holes will allow the water to flow into both ends of the tank.","Now they slide a piece of spiraling steel, which is auger flighting, on one end of a pipe.","And they slip a piece that twists in the opposite direction on the other end of it.","They weld a u-shaped paddle to the pipe between the two steel spirals, or flightings.","The paddle is a critical part.","The flightings will feed ice shavings to it, and the paddle will then toss them to a bin mounted above a water tank to be disposed of later.","Next, the worker clamps the flighting to a hydraulic cylinder.","He turns a lever, and hydraulic energy pulls the clamp, drawing the auger flighting snugly to the pipe.","As the clamp holds the flighting in position, he welds it to the pipe.","Now they're solidly sealed together.","Next, another worker places a long steel blade on a magnetic table.","The magnets hold it down while a grinding machine moves over it, sharpening the edge.","Because the grinding generates heat, the machine also floods the blade with water.","This cools it down so the steel stays hard.","Now, using a crane, they lower an engine onto the frame that we saw welded together earlier.","Then they slide the rear drive shaft into place and bolt it down using a pneumatic wrench.","The tires for an ice resurfacer will need some serious traction.","Each tire gets 92 of these metal studs.","They drop the studs into a revolving feeder.","The studs funnel down a tube to the stud gun, ensuring that it never runs out of ammunition.","The road these tires travel will be nothing but a sheet of ice, and these studs should allow them to stay the course.","Next, using a crane, they transfer the water tank to the center of the frame.","The snow bin, which will hold the scraped ice, is next.","They place it on pivot points at the front.","Then workers slide the blade into place.","The bolt it tightly, working from the center outward.","The workers are shielded from the very sharp blade by a plastic sleeve that sheathes the edge.","When the blade is secure, they remove the plastic.","Now it's time to give the ice resurfacer a test run.","The steel flightings twist towards the paddle at the center, as they should.","Here's a close-up of that razor-sharp blade that will shave the ice.","A rectangular scraper slides over the flightings, preventing snow from building up and clogging the system.","This ice resurfacer is now ready for the rink, and it's sure to smooth the ice for years to come."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rolled Wafers","Wood Pellets","Class & Championship Rings"]},"text":["At some point many centuries ago, the thin, communion-style wafer took a delicious twist with the creation of the rolled wafer cookie.","The exact origin of this tubular treat isn't known, but it has been traced back to syrian christian pastry makers during the middle ages.","Long and elegant, the rolled wafer is one classy cookie.","It's crispy on the outside and creamy at the core for a sweet fusion of flavor and texture.","It could be served as a garnish for the main dessert or on its own.","It is, of course, a matter of taste.","Ingredients for the rolled wafer include flour, sugar, cocoa powder, whey powder, milk powder, and dark chocolate.","There are 20 ingredients in total.","They load each one into a separate bin.","The bins all funnel into one of two big mixers one floor below.","One mixer blends the wafer batter, and the other prepares the cream filling.","A central computer controls the flow from the bins to the mixers.","It measures and releases the ingredients to follow the recipe exactly.","The computer also assigns a lot number to each batch, so if there's a problem with the product, they'll be able to track the source and fix it.","Down below, in the wafer mixer, the batter is looking pretty smooth.","They're aiming for a consistency that's similar to pancake batter.","A worker scoops up some to check it.","Too runny or too thick, and the wafer won't have the right crunch.","The batch is just right.","The wafer batter now flows onto four metal plates that spread it onto an immense rotating wheel, creating four very thin ribbons of batter.","Gas flames heat the wheel to 300 degrees fahrenheit to toast the batter strips.","At this high temperature, the toasted pastry has yet to crisp up.","It's soft and flexible, which means it's ready to roll.","Coming off the wheel, the wafer pastry winds around a revolving mandrill and quickly cools, generating a continuous wafer roll.","The chocolate hazelnut cream filling is looking delicious by now, and machinery pumps it through a hole in the wafer-forming mandrill.","As the wafer takes shape, the mandrill pumps the cream into it.","This mechanized system is faster than hand-rolling, and the wafers it generates are more uniform.","The long, rolled wafer now spins off the mandrill and heads into a tunnel.","Inside, a little ax swings down to chop it into wafer-sized pieces.","The rolled wafer exits onto a slide and makes a gentle landing onto a conveyor.","The cream inside the cookie is still fluid, and the pastry itself is still somewhat pliable.","The next stage of production will solidify everything.","It's a trip through a cooling tunnel.","On this stage of the journey, the various components of the rolled wafer crystallize to their final form, and they emerge crispy enough to be handled by the employees.","They identify any damaged wafers and discard them as they arrange the cookies for packaging.","This means compartmentalizing them in groups on a slotted conveyor.","After that, the little stacks of rolled wafers travel through a curtain of plastic.","Machinery cuts and heat-seals the wrapping in this completely automated packaging system.","The plastic will keep the wafers fresh, but it won't protect them from breakage.","That's the job of the metal can.","After an ink-jet-like device prints the freshness code on the bottom, the cans ride a magnetized wheel which flips them to an upright position.","A worker then fills each can with the plastic-encased wafers and puts a lid on the top.","Modern manufacturing has revolutionized the making of these rolled wafers.","Once individually rolled and baked by hand, machinery now does most of the work, producing more than 100,000 rolled wafers per hour.","But, of course, the taste is still all about tradition.","Unlike a conventional wood stove that burns firewood, a pellet stove uses wood pellets as fuel.","Made from lumber byproducts such as sawdust and wood chips, which would otherwise end up as waste, pellets burn more efficiently and more cleanly than wood and produce very little air pollution.","A pellet stove has an on-board storage container called a hopper that holds, depending on the model, up to 80 pounds of wood pellets.","Several computer chips monitor the stove's heating performance, dictating the rate at which the hopper automatically feeds pellets into the stove's firepot.","The heat output is manually adjustable or can be controlled by a thermostat.","Wood pellets burn far more cleanly than logs, and the fire is smoke-free.","Wood pellets are made from a variety of raw materials-- sawdust, wood chips, wood shavings, small logs, even scraps of wood left over from furniture and other manufacturing.","These different types of lumber byproducts first have to be reduced to the same size and consistency.","Therefore, the first stop is a huge grinding machine.","Inside, mammoth steel hammers pulverize the raw material to uniform pieces.","The raw material contains about 45% moisture, so it goes into a dryer to reduce the moisture level to between 11% and 12%.","So what was rough, raw material has now been ground to a finer state and dried.","But it's still not fine enough, so it goes into a mill, which processes it further until it's roughly the size of rice grains.","A feed pipe transfers what is now wood fiber to a row of presses.","These are the machines which make the pellets.","The moisture content of the fiber is critical.","If it's too wet, the pellet presses risk clogging up.","That's why each pellet press has a readout displaying the fiber moisture level.","As an added measure, the factory draws fiber samples and sends them to the quality-control lab for analysis.","It's essential for the stability of the pellets that the moisture be at the ideal level.","Excess moisture would eventually evaporate, breaking the pellets apart.","So to analyze the moisture content, the lab technicians weigh a sample, heat it to a high temperature to evaporate the moisture...","Then re-weigh.","The analyzer is programmed to translate the weight loss into a reading of moisture content.","The pellet press is a large drum with perforated rollers inside.","The holes are pellet-width--  2/10 of an inch in diameter.","As the drum rotates, the rollers apply pressure.","This compresses the fiber by 400% and extrudes it outward through the holes.","A knife slices the extruding fiber at programmed intervals, cutting it into lengths of about 1 2/10 inches.","The compression generates heat, which draws out the tree sap still contained in the wood fiber.","This sap, called lignin, acts as an adhesive, locking it in the pellet shape.","The journey from raw material to pellet is now complete.","The pellets, however, are still quite warm and sticky, so they clump together.","The solution--  about 15 minutes in a cooler.","As the room-temperature air blows through the pellets, cooling and drying the tacky lignin, the pellets separate from each other.","Some of the processed raw material ends up in too fine a state to become pellets.","So as the pellets exit the cooler, a vibrating screen filters out this sawdust-like material, which incidentally doesn't go to waste.","The factory uses it to fuel the dryer.","The pellets, meanwhile, proceed to packaging.","It's a continuous system.","The machine feeds printed, plastic film around a cylindrical tube, forming the shape of the bag.","Then it drops in 40 pounds of pellets and seals the top of the bag, simultaneously forming the bottom of the next one.","Wood-pellet stoves are fast becoming a popular means of home heating, and because pellets cost significantly less than most other types of fuel, wood-pellet systems are an emerging option for commercial and industrial heating.","A ring celebrating a special achievement makes a cherished, lifelong keepsake, whether it's a class ring to commemorate graduation from high school or a championship ring for the players on a winning sports team.","As the years go by, this special piece of jewelry keeps the memories close at hand.","Championship rings are entirely custom-made.","They typically feature the team name and logo, along with the year of the big win.","They can also have personalized touches, such as the player's name or jersey number.","Class rings, on the other hand, come in several ready-made designs presented in a catalog.","Graduates order their favorite style, then personalize their ring by choosing options, such as symbols, gemstones, and engraved lettering.","For each style, a jewelry designer first sketches the ring's base-- the overall shape of the ring minus the decorative elements.","Then an industrial designer transforms the sketch into a three-dimensional computer drawing.","The ring's decorative components go through the same process-- the jewelry designer's color drawing adapted to 3-d software that guides a computer-operated milling machine.","The machine transforms two blocks of aluminum into a two-part mold for each of the flat, detailed components of the ring, meaning all the parts except for the base.","A steady flow of lubricant washes away the shards of metal the machine cuts away.","Bit by bit, the mold assumes very intricate detail of the ring design.","Once it's finished, they coat the cavity with a powder that prevents the wax they're about to inject from sticking.","Then they load the mold into an injection device.","It shoots in hot, liquid wax at high pressure, filling all the minute nooks and crannies of the intricately detailed cavity.","Seconds later, they extract a wax model of, in this case, the elaborate top of a championship ring.","To make a wax model of the ring's base, they use a flexible rubber mold because it would be too difficult to extract the three-dimensional shape from a metal mold.","They inject the wax at low pressure, as a rubber mold can't withstand high-pressure injection, nor is it necessary when the base has no intricate details.","The next step is to assemble the wax models of two of the ring's components, connecting the parts with joining wax applied using a fine-tipped soldering iron.","It's at this stage that they also size the ring for the customer, either cutting out a section of the shank to downsize or adding to the shank to enlarge.","Next, they begin building a wax structure on which to mount the wax models for several rings they'll be casting simultaneously.","They solder a small stem to each model...","Then connect each stem to a large wax rod.","When they're done, they have a treelike structure holding all the wax models.","They solder this structure to a rubber base, then slip a metal flask over it.","Next, they mix up some plaster, blending it for a good half-hour under a vacuum to remove all the air bubbles.","Then they inject the plaster into the flask, engulfing the wax models and supporting structure inside.","Over the next 12 hours, the plaster hardens into a shell around the wax.","Next, 12 hours in a hot oven.","This burns out the wax components, leaving behind a cavity in the shell shaped precisely like them.","Now it's just a matter of melting down the metal for the final casting.","The technique of using a wax model to create a mold is known as the lost wax process.","This company uses the plaster shell as a mold to cast rings in three types of metal-- gold, sterling silver, and stainless steel.","Regardless of the metal, the ring-making process is the same.","In just minutes, the induction furnace has heated the metal-- in this case gold--  to the required molten state.","They carefully pour it into the plaster shell.","Gold flows down channels and into cavities left when the wax burnt out.","Once the gold cools and solidifies, they submerge the shell in cool water.","This instantly dissolves the hot plaster, releasing the cast piece.","Everything that was once modeled in wax is now replicated in gold.","They cut the ring components off the structure, then re-melt the structure to reuse the gold.","There's still a remnant of the structure on each ring component, so they grind it off.","Next, using a grinding tool so small that it fits through the ring, they smooth the inside surface.","Then they stamp in the company name, along with the internationally recognized code identifying the metal, such as 10k for 10-karat gold.","To smooth the ring's outer surface, they use a grinding wheel which has splits in its abrasive disks.","The split produces a see-through view, as the disks spin at high speed.","With the entire surface now smooth, the ring is ready for polishing.","They apply some polishing compound, then, using another split wheel, shine it up.","Next, the top of the ring goes to the stone-setting department, where, using a fine rotary tool, a specialist contours each setting to fit the gemstone's pointed base.","Then he sets each gemstone...","Forcing down the four surrounding prongs onto the edge of the stone.","Next, he sets tiny diamonds.","He presses each one into place, then pushes the surrounding metal inward to hold the stone down.","The top of the ring complete, they now solder it to the base.","Using an airbrush, they apply a fine mist of black paint, then wipe it off.","This leaves behind a black background highlighting the ring's details.","Now they apply some polishing compound to a cloth buffing wheel and polish the ring to a high-gloss shine.","They clean the ring thoroughly in repeated ultrasonic baths.","Ultrasound waves traveling through the water dislodge all traces of polishing compound and other residues.","A few blasts of pressurized steam, and the ring is completely dry.","Certain rings also have enamel decoration.","Enamel is liquid glass.","It goes on like paint, then has to be baked in an oven for 30 minutes.","Finally, a computer-guided engraving machine inscribes any name or personal message customers request be written on or inside their rings.","The tradition of the class ring dates back to the 1800s.","Championship rings, a wearable trophy of sorts, are a more recent custom.","Both make a proud and triumphant fashion statement."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sleeper Rigs","Pecans","Steel Pulleys","Acetate Eyewear"]},"text":["Truck drivers spend a lot of time on the road, so their sleeper rigs become a home away from home.","Equipped with a refrigerator, tv, and microwave, a sleeper rig is more than a place to bunk down for the night.","It can also be a trucker's living space when it's time to pull over.","Due to the convenience of sleeper rigs, truckers don't need to pull into a hotel once they've put in their hours.","Instead, they simply pull over since they're hauling their own sleeping accommodations.","This factory builds custom rigs based on drivers' preferences.","Production starts by installing the steel frame rails for the vehicle's frame, or chassis.","First, machinists place the rails in an upside down position and wire it for indicator lights and other electrical components.","They run hoses for the air brakes and to deliver fuel to the engine.","They link the two frame rails with cross members...","And bolt an engine support rail to the front of the framework.","A crane moves the chassis down the line, while a second crane carries three wheel axles over to the first crane.","Technicians guide the axles into position as they're lowered onto the frame.","The team bolts the axles to the chassis.","A rollover crane flips the chassis and places it on a pedestal that will move it down the line.","Next, the fifth wheel hitch is installed.","That's used to connect the truck to the trailer.","The team secures the hitch with clamping bolts to ensure it's securely in place.","The engine and transmission are now connected to the chassis.","The team installs the diesel fuel tank.","Metal straps are wrapped around the tank, and brackets are fastened to the center of the chassis.","Machinists mount the tires and wheels onto the axles in pairs.","This dual wheel system has a greater load-carrying capacity than a single wheel.","Using a multi-spindled torque tool, a technician tightens all the lug nuts and writes identifying information on the wheel.","Now it's over to the industrial robots.","These machines assemble the cab and the sleeper and rivet the walls of the structures to frames.","With speed and precision, the industrial robots install the roof and pipe sealant on top of the cab frame.","A crane lowers the roof onto the cab and bolts the structure together.","Meanwhile, other industrial robots paint the cab, sleeper, and hood.","The color is usually a custom choice, as are the size and amenities of the sleeper.","A team slides the dashboard subassembly into the cab.","They bolt the dashboard to the cab and connect the components to the rest of the truck.","This is an inside look at the sleeper cab, which has been wired for lights and heat.","Technicians install the cabinetry.","Other features inside the sleeper cab include cabinets equipped with a radio, charger outlets, cup holders, fold-up bunk beds, and mini fridge.","Once all interior components are installed, the team connects the sleeper to the cab.","Then they bolt the two pieces together.","The cab and sleeper assembly is now ready to be mounted to the chassis.","A crane lowers it into place.","The team secures the hood to the front rail.","The hood contains a mechanism that will allow it to open and close with ease and lock in an open position.","Next, the assembled truck heads to the wheel alignment station.","There, an inspector monitors alignment readouts from lasers and 3-d cameras.","This information lets them know the wheel's positioning on the axle.","Based on the data, he loosens the bolts that hold the axles to the wheels and turns the axle to make any additional adjustments.","Once all the technical modifications have been made, technicians lock a kingpin into the fifth wheel hitch and turn the wheels to confirm that everything is secure.","This truck is now ready to hit the road and get to work.","Pecans grow on trees that are native to south central north america.","In fact, \"pecan\" is an algonquin word that means \"a nut that takes a stone to crack\".","Today, computerized shelling machines do that job for you.","Pecans add flavor and crunch to any recipe.","They can also be a satisfying treat on their own.","But manufacturing pecans is an entirely different nut to crack.","At harvest time, the husks that contain the nuts start to open.","At this orchard, a machine grabs the tree trunks and shakes the nuts to the ground.","Once on the ground, a sweeper moves the pecans away from the trees and into a row.","It also blows away some of the lighter debris.","A harvester with paddle wheels collects the pecans.","Once on the harvester, the pecans ride chain conveyors as vacuums remove and discard debris then the pecans are transferred to a cleaning plant.","The pecans are unloaded into a pit, and a conveyor takes them inside.","The pecans funnel into a slotted drum and tumble around.","The drum sorts the dehusked pecans from those that have retained their husks.","In this enclosed machine, spinning wire brushes remove more of the husks.","Blowers release the lighter husks into a big bin to be disposed of later.","After more processing, pictures of the nuts are taken with cameras.","A computer monitors the pictures for any husks still attached to the pecans.","If any are identified, the computer activates a blower to remove them.","With the husks removed, harvesters sort out any of the pecans that are cracked or split open.","At this point, the pecans contains about 12% moisture, which is high enough to cause deterioration.","So harvesters leave the pecans to dry for 24 hours, to lower their moisture content to 4%.","Once drying is complete, the pecans are transferred to the shelling plant, where they are plunged into a chlorine-and-water bath.","This both cleans them and rehydrates them.","Without sufficient moisture, the pecans will break into bits during cracking, and the objective is to extract intact halves for retail.","The pecans are rinsed in water at a temperature of 180 degrees fahrenheit.","This step removes chlorine residue, sanitizes the pecans, and raises the moisture content to 7.5%.","Now it's time to get cracking with the completely automated process.","Inside the sheller, pistons hit each end of a nut simultaneously, cracking it cleanly.","The deshelled pecans travel across a vibrating sifter that sorts them by size.","Then the pecans fall in front of an electronic system, which releases a blast of air that removes any lingering shell pieces.","A second sifting system removes any additional small pecan bits.","These pecans will be processed into candy bars and commercial pastries.","The electronic sorter has removed most of the shells, but not all of them.","Technicians visually scan the pecans and pick out the remaining shells.","The pecans continue along the conveyor and fall into cardboard boxes at the end of the line.","To prepare a toasted pecan snack food, salt and butter are added to the nuts.","Then the nuts are cooked and mixed in a roaster.","In packaging, technicians pour the pecans into measuring jugs, then empty them into plastic bags.","Hot jaws seal the tops of the bags to keep the pecans fresh and extend their shelf life.","Ready for retail, consumers won't have any trouble cracking these pecans.","They can go straight to snacking.","A belt and pulley system is a simple type of machine.","Two or more pulleys rotate, moving a belt wrapped around them, transferring mechanical power.","Torque, speed, direction, and other factors can be altered by using pulleys of varying diameters and designs.","Split pulleys drive a belt, while idler pulleys apply tension or change its direction.","Both are manufactured from steel coil, the industrial term for steel that's delivered to the factory in a roll.","The width and thickness of the steel varies, depending on the size of the pulley being made and the load it will carry.","To make split pulleys, the coil enters a stamping press, which punches out discs.","Each disc, called a blank, will become one pulley.","The scrap pieces go back to the steel mill to be recycled.","Each blank has a hole in the center.","This particular blank has three drain holes.","A magnetic arm picks up one blank at a time and loads it into an automated splitting machine.","As the blank rotates, a circular knife cuts the border around the blank to a specific depth, splitting the edge of the blank.","On the opposite side, another tool spreads the split edge, forming a groove.","The machine doesn't remove any steel.","Rather, it forms the groove to a specific shape by redistributing the existing metal.","A welder places the split pulley into a welding machine, then inserts a machined steel hub in the center hole.","The machine welds the hub to the pulley in about 20 seconds.","An idler pulley is made from two halves rather than from a single blank like the split pulley.","To make each half, the steel coil goes through a press in which a dye with multiple stations stamps the metal to the required shape, then cuts it from the coil.","Separate conveyors feed the two stamped halves to an assembly carousel.","One half runs through a small press which stamps dimples on the surface, then loads it onto the carousel's first station.","The carousel then rotates to the next station, which inserts a radial ball bearing in the center hole.","The next station places a stamp without dimples.","A press squeezes the parts together until the dimples touch the non-dimpled half.","A magnetic arm transfers the pulley to a track, leading to a projection welder.","The welder applies an electric current to the dimples, melting the two halves together at the contact points.","A robotic arm positions the pulley on the next station, which presses a bore adapter into the center of the bearing.","This adapter enables the pulley to be installed with a smaller bolt.","The thickness of the bore adapter also acts as a spacer to align the center of the pulley with the belt path.","Next, the samples are tested for weld strength.","A hydraulic jaw clamps one half of the pulley while another jaw pulls the other half apart.","The welds must remain intact to pass the test.","Split pulleys undergo a weld strength test on the hub.","A hot chemical bath removes traces of lubricating oil left by the machining equipment.","A thorough rinse with an anticorrosion chemical prevents the steel from rusting and preps the surface for painting.","Once the pulleys are dry, a technician loads them onto the paint line, masking the center with a plug.","Inside the automated paint tunnel, three spray guns fully coat the top, middle, and bottom of the spinning pulley with a water-based enamel paint.","Then the pulley passes through a tunnel oven, which heat cures the paint in about four minutes.","The pulley, upon exiting the oven, goes directly into the shipping box, and an unpainted pulley takes its place on the line.","The factory sends select pulleys to an outside facility to be plated with zinc rather than painted.","Zinc plating better protects the steel when exposed to corrosive environments.","Looking for a new pair of glasses?","If so, you might want to look into durable, lightweight, and flexible acetate frames.","Acetate is a high-quality plastic made from cotton or wood fibers.","It can be produced in an endless array of colors, color combinations, and finishes.","This eyewear is made of cellulose acetate, a transparent plastic made from cotton fibers combined with plasticizers and binders.","The acetate arrives as a thick sheet.","A computer-guided mill cuts a slab for the front of the frame and two pieces for the temples.","The cuts are carefully calculated to ensure any color variations will be in the same location on every frame.","This machine heats the frame front slab and applies a mold to form the bridge bump, the part of the frame that bulges out over the nose.","The machine drops the slab into cold water.","Once the slab has cooled, this computer-guided machine shapes it into a frame front.","Using 16 different tools operating from five different angles, the machine carves out the eyeholes and makes grooves in them to hold the lenses, then carves the outer shape.","An artisan refines the shape and smoothes the surface by hand, using files and custom-made tools.","Then the acetate parts are placed in a tumbler with hardwood pegs and polishing compounds.","The acetate is smoothed and polished by gentle abrasion.","A tiny pocket is carved on each side of the frame front for the hinge.","Next, the machine heats the hinge with an electric current and places it in the pocket.","The heat melts the acetate, securely setting the hinge.","The brand logo features a pyramid comprised of 21 dots.","This computer-guided precision drill bores 21 tiny holes into the tip of the temple.","A craftsman fills them with translucent epoxy.","Once the epoxy dries, the craftsman removes the excess epoxy with a fine sanding disc.","This requires applying just the correct amount of pressure.","Otherwise, the acetate can get damaged.","Custom-designed equipment tapers each temple to an ergonomic shape.","The temple is thicker at the hinge for strength, thinner around the back of the ear for comfort, and thickest at the end, creating weight at the back to offset pressure on the bridge of the nose.","Next, a craftsman heats the temple to soften the acetate.","The temple is loaded into a wire-shooting machine, along with a hinged nickel silver wire.","The machine shoots the wire through the core of the temple.","The temple is now adjustable and attachable to the frame front hinge.","A craftsman carefully removes excess acetate with a razor blade.","Then he smoothes out the acetate around the hinge with a heat press.","Finally, he covers the hinge with a glue cap.","This will shield it from damage throughout the remainder of the production process.","A laser engraves the logo, model name, color, and size information on the inside of the temple.","Now the glasses are ready to be assembled.","A craftsman cuts matching angles on the temples and frame front.","He joins the temple and frame front hinges with a nylon-coated screw.","The coating tightens the parts together and helps the temples fold and unfold smoothly.","A craftsman hand files the angles so there's no gap between temples and frame front.","Each frame is hand-polished with progressively finer buffing wheels and different polishing compounds.","Optical frames are shipped out with temporary plastic lenses, which an optician replaces with the customer's prescription lenses.","This mechanical machine cuts the plastic to the shape of the frame's eyeholes, following a model lens.","The temporary lenses have a bevel on their edge, which fits into the lens groove of the frame.","From start to finish, it takes two weeks to create a single pair of frames.","The process takes over 70 different production steps, more than half of which are performed manually."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fiberglass Boats","Clothes Dryers","Bubble Gum","Fireworks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fiberglass boats...","Clothes driers...","Bubble gum...","And fireworks.","They're sleek, they're fast, and they're fun.","Fiberglass boats can jump waves and turn on a dime.","The fiberglass body is low-maintenance and durable, so these watercraft don't deteriorate the way wooden boats can.","A computerized saw cuts out the wood pieces they'll use to build the mold for the fiberglass boat.","It takes a team of artisans about 15 months to design and build the mold.","They first construct the frame.","Then they construct the shape out of fiberglass.","The mold must be perfect in order to cast a boat that's free of faults and defects, so they painstakingly work on the mold's finish in particular, coating it in a special high-resistance paint that will withstand about eight years of castings.","Once they finish the mold, they can begin casting the fiberglass boat.","The equipment feeds just the right ratio of fiberglass to plastic resin.","Fiberglass is glass in the form of very fine, flexible fibers.","They may look fragile, but those fibers are stronger than steel, and they won't burn, stretch, or rot, so they make perfect boat-building material.","Workers make sure they roll the fiberglass into every nook and cranny.","This is critical because if they don't apply the fiberglass thoroughly, the boat will have structural defects.","As heat within the fiberglass builds up, it hardens.","Next, they roll on a material called roving.","It reinforces the fiberglass and makes it more rigid.","They also install wood in the areas where they'll later mount equipment.","They coat the wood with fiberglass to protect it from moisture.","After about an hour, it's time to extract the casting from the mold.","They use a lever system to lift out the hull.","They cut out holes for the mechanics.","Then they install the boat's deck.","They install the motor and the electrical wiring for the mechanics and plumbing.","The boat truly takes shape in the final assembly.","They put together the upper part of the boat, called the shell, and the inside, called the liner.","They install the furniture...","Certain components are installed by hand, such as the dashboard.","Last stop, quality control-- a series of tests to ensure that all the mechanics function well and that the boat is absolutely watertight.","Finally, a wrapping is added to protect the boat during shipping.","Electric cars are cheaper to run than gasoline-powered cars.","Just plug them in to recharge.","No fill-up required.","But they cost 40% more to buy, which offsets the savings.","Battery technology will have to improve and come down in price before electric cars can truly take off.","Clothes dryers were invented in europe in the early 1800s.","The lady of the house would put the clothes in a metal barrel with holes in it, then turn it by hand over the fire.","The first electric dryers were invented around 1915.","Most of the parts are made from steel just 3/100 of an inch thick.","The factory receives it from the supplier in giant rolls.","They go onto a machine that cuts sheets about 3 feet long.","Using those sheets, industrial presses stamp out various dryer parts.","These are motor supports.","And this is the back panel of the drum, the rotating compartment that holds the clothes.","Note those small holes.","We'll come back to them shortly.","To form the side of the drum, the machine bends a sheet of prepainted steel into a circular shape.","When a clothes dryer operates, it sucks in outside air through a hole at the front.","The air passes through the heating element and goes into the drum, entering through those little holes you saw a few moments ago located in the back panel.","Once the automated machines have finished shaping the drum, they form a groove on its outside surface.","This groove is for the motorized belt that drives the drum.","Next, they put the drum on another machine that screws three baffles in place.","Baffles are those thick plastic wings located inside the drum.","They're what throw the clothes around as it rotates.","Back on the automated line, the drum's front rim goes on.","They manually assemble the drum's back panel.","Then a machine installs it.","Next comes the exhaust duct.","Hot, moist air exits the drum through a series of holes and a large slot in the dryer door.","The air gets channeled downward through the lint screen, then goes through a duct at the front of the dryer to the fan.","The fan blows the air out this exhaust duct at the back of the dryer.","The dryer's heating element works much like the element in a toaster, except it consumes a lot more power-- up to 6,000 watts.","The factory receives the steel and ceramic heating coils ready-made.","Workers simply position them on a sheet of galvanized steel.","They also install a temperature sensor that shuts off power should something go wrong and cause the dryer to overheat.","In the finishing department, they coat the dryer with powdered paint that's heat- and shock-resistant.","Then they assemble the bottom and back of the appliance.","They install the motor that drives both the belt and the fan.","Then the exhaust duct goes in.","Automated machines prepare the electrical wiring.","They paint and cut the wires...","Then install a terminal on each end.","Workers wire the dryers...","Then install the drum.","They close up the sides...","Screw on the door, then wire up the control panel.","It's connected to a series of gears and switches that control the dryer cycles.","The model and serial-number sticker marks the last stop on the assembly line.","Chewing gum dates back to the ancient greeks, who chewed resin from trees.","Modern chewing gum was patented in the u.s. in 1869 by-- believe it or not--  a dentist.","In 1928, another american invented bubble gum.","Bubble gum comes in gumballs of all colors and sizes, but for blowing bubbles, nothing beats the chewy, gooey pink stuff in the twist wrap.","It all starts with a gum base, the stuff that makes gum chewy.","Traditionally, the base came from tree resin.","Today it's synthetic--  made of plastics and rubbers.","They pour the gum base into a mixer, then add color and flavoring.","As it begins mixing, they pour in glucose syrup, a sweetener.","Because it's liquid, it helps keep the gum base soft.","Next, they add dextrose, a powdered sweetener.","They blend the ingredients for about 20 minutes.","The stirring action builds up heat, which melts everything together.","The mixture is ready when it reaches the consistency of bread dough.","They transfer it by cart to a machine called the pre-extruder.","The machine squeezes the mixture through a narrow opening, like squeezing toothpaste from the tube.","This transforms the big, bulky wad into thin, manageable strips that can then go through the extruders.","The extruders squeeze each strip down to the actual width of a piece of bubble gum.","It comes out as one long, continuous stream, to be cut into bite-size pieces later on.","This extrusion process heats up the gum.","If they were to cut and wrap it now, it would stick to the wrapper, so the next stop is a cooling chamber.","The gum goes in for 15 minutes at temperatures between 37 and 45 degrees fahrenheit.","When the bubble gum comes out, it's cooled down enough for what they call the \"cut and wrap\".","One machine does both jobs in a fraction of a second.","Watch the action in slow motion.","As the continuous stream of gum enters on one end, the machine cuts it into bite-size pieces, pushes each piece into a wax-paper wrapper, then twists both ends of the wrapper closed.","Here's the slow-motion replay from a different angle.","The machine processes 900 pieces of bubble gum per minute.","Last stop-- packaging.","The bubble gum moves onto a scale that automatically weighs out the right amount per tub.","They seal the tub with plastic to make it airtight.","This keeps the bubble gum fresh.","Ever wonder why bubble gum is pink?","It's because that's the only color walter diemer had on hand when he invented this treat back in 1928.","Since then, the color just stuck.","What's a 4th of july celebration without fireworks-- brilliant colors exploding in the air, the oohs and ahhs they elicit on the ground?","Fireworks are so high-tech these days, it's easy to forget they're not a modern invention.","Historians believe gunpowder, the explosive ingredient in fireworks, was invented in china around 1000 a.d. it's said that in a famous battle, the chinese emperor illuminated the sky with it, scaring away the enemy.","During the renaissance, the europeans invented the type of fireworks we know today.","Modern pyrotechnicians use computers to ignite fireworks from a safe distance and to synchronize their bursts with music.","Assembling explosives into fireworks is the job of the pyrotechnician.","Even the tiniest spark of static electricity could set them off, so antistatic gloves are a must.","A firework is made up of separate compartments within a shell.","The burning fuse explodes one compartment at a time, creating those staggered bursts in the sky.","The pyrotechnician first glues the main fuse into the bottom of the shell.","The glue is naturally colorless.","It's dyed blue so he can tell exactly where he's applying it.","He puts the bottom aside to work on the second compartment of this 2-compartment firework.","He starts by spooning a powdered explosive into the center.","Then he caps it.","Here he's working on two fireworks at a time.","Next step-- a brown cardboard shock absorber to shield this compartment from the first compartment explosion.","Then a corrugated cardboard disk and a plastic spacer.","It'll take the fuse 1 1/2 seconds to burn through these two components, creating a slight delay between the first explosion and the second.","Gluing the second compartment together is tricky.","If it's too tight, it'll stifle the explosion, but it has to be tight enough to withstand the delay.","With the second compartment done, it's time to prepare the first.","He glues a sleeve onto a case, then fills it with hundreds of stars.","Stars are what create the flashes of color.","They're carefully measured explosives mixed with coloring agents such as magnesium for white, copper salts for blue, and charcoal for orange.","The pyrotechnician must handle them gingerly, or they could detonate.","Next, he adds comets, another type of exploding decoration.","He tops it off with gunpowder.","Finally, he glues the two compartments together, filling the remaining space with the same combination of ingredients.","Once the shell is full, he glues on the cover, and the tighter, the better.","The more pressure that builds up, the bigger and more spectacular the explosion.","Next, he wraps the fireworks in craft paper.","The label uses international color codes to indicate the size of the shell.","The lift charge-- a gunpowder bag with a long, fast-action fuse-- goes at the base of the shell.","That's what'll send the firework into the sky.","When they light the main fuse at the top, it simultaneously lights two secondary fuses-- the time-delay fuse inside the shell, running through the compartments of explosives and that long fuse running along the outside down to the lift charge at the base.","Once the lift charge ignites, heat and gas build up inside the launch tube until they explode, propelling the firework close to 1,000 feet skyward.","Let the light show begin."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Coconut Shell Charcoal","Dial Indicators","Wet Downdraft Tables","Bassoon Reeds"]},"text":["Coconut shells used to be considered agricultural waste, but today they're processed into biofuel for the barbecue.","In countries like thailand, companies convert the shells into briquettes that burn cleanly for an extended period.","Throwing away these shells would be a real waste of energy.","Instead of ending up as landfill, coconut shells are being used to fire the grill.","Processed into briquettes that burn virtually smoke-free, the shells are now considered a resource instead of garbage.","Converting coconut shells to charcoal starts with the partial-combustion process.","Inside these brick igloo-style kilns, they create a burning environment that allows the shells to be carbonized but doesn't reduce them to ash.","The kilns are partially underground.","The surrounding soil helps to seal the fire.","This keeps the air levels down for a slow, smoldering burn.","A worker bricks up the kiln door.","And he seals these bricks with mud instead of cement.","This will allow the door to be dismantled later without ruining the bricks, preserving them for reuse in the next burn.","From the top, he ignites the fire using soft wax as starter material.","Because of the limited air in the kilns, the fire burns out after 20 to 24 hours.","A worker takes the door apart and rakes the charred remains of the coconut shells into a basket.","They have been converted into a rich charcoal.","He heaps the blackened shells into a pile.","And under the intense sun, moisture from water, used to extinguish any hot spots, evaporates.","The charcoal dries out and breaks easily.","It's now ready to be processed into briquettes.","Workers load the charcoal pieces into grinders.","This is dirty work.","So they protect their faces with scarves and their hands with gloves.","Inside the grinding machines, rollers pulverize the charcoal, reducing it to a fine powder.","The powder flows into bins below.","A worker then transfers the charcoal powder to a mixer.","He adds a generous amount of starch made from the root of the cassava tree.","Together with water, the starch will bond the charcoal particles together like glue.","The mixer whisks it all together like pastry.","The consistency is right when the particles form clumps when pressed together.","The moistened blend exits the mixer and spills into a bin.","This coconut shell charcoal is now ready to be pressed into briquettes.","The next worker loads the charcoal into a press.","It forces the tacky black powder through a die to press it into a perpetual hexagon with a hole in the center.","As the machine extrudes the charcoal, a worker chops it into briquettes that are just over 3 inches in length.","These coconut charcoal briquettes have now taken shape.","But they're not yet ready for the grill.","They're soft and mushy to the touch and crumble easily.","To firm them up, they place them in structures with open fires in the center.","They close the doors and leave the briquettes to bake over a period of about 24 hours.","The heat fuses the charcoal particles together.","And the briquettes harden.","Out of the curing chamber, this briquette is solid to the touch and clean too.","It leaves no sooty residue.","From coconut shells to barbecue briquettes, it's been quite a transformation.","This coconut shell charcoal is now ready to sizzle.","In many disciplines, you have to take measurements.","Sometimes, those measurements are so minute they're difficult or impossible for the human eye to determine.","So a ruler or tape measure can't help.","What you need instead is a precision-measuring tool called a dial indicator.","On this dial indicator, each graduation is 0.001 inches.","A full revolution of the hand measures 100 thousandths of an inch.","To make a key component, called the bridge plate, this automated punch press stamps out brass circles, which are about 2 inches in diameter.","Workers place each bridge plate into a manual punch press, which makes location holes that will correctly position the bridge plate on the next press.","This press makes holes for mounting screws, locating pins, as well as for three precision jewels, which reduce friction on moving metal components.","This lathe begins the process of shaping a stainless steel rod into the dial indicator's main measuring component, called the rack.","Under a shower of cutting oil, the machine drills and threads a hole on each end for attaching a contact made of plated steel.","Next, this milling machine cuts teeth spaced 25 thousandths of an inch apart.","One of the dial indicator's gears runs along these rack teeth to turn the hand that displays the measurement.","This computer-guided machine forms an aluminum bar into another key component, called the bridge.","The bridge has holes for screws and locating pins that align with those in the bridge plate so that the two can fasten, sandwiching the gears in between.","The bridge also has holes for three jewels, which workers insert with a punch press.","Jewels are doughnut-shaped synthetic rubies set in a brass ring.","They line the holes for the gears and other moving components.","The jewel's surface is very smooth.","So it eases friction on the component.","Workers check every jewel under a microscope to make sure it didn't crack when pressed into the hole.","The dial indicator's outside case is made of aluminum, shaped by this computer-guided turning and milling machine.","Workers spray the case with powdered paint using an electric charge to draw the particles onto the surface in a thorough, even coat.","Then, they bake the case in an oven for 20 minutes to make the paint finish ultra durable.","They put the case on a machine that presses in top and bottom steel stems, which will hold the rack in place.","They mount a hair spring on the bridge plate.","This spring allows the gear to return to its original position after moving the rack upward to take a measurement.","They insert what's called a pinion for the large dial hand in the center jeweled hole and a second gear into the jeweled hole for the small dial hand.","Then, they attach the bridge.","Next, they insert the rack into the case through the stem and screw a contact into each end.","Then, they install a brass spring-loaded rack guide.","It prevents the rack from rotating so that its teeth always face the rack gear.","They mate the case with the rest.","Then they push in the stem while holding the hand pinion to wind the gear.","They install the printed aluminum dial on the bridge plate side and mount the hand for the small dial on a pinion protruding from the top of the gear.","They mount the large dial hand onto its pinion.","They place the movable dial into a grooved ring, called a bezel, and snap the bezel onto the case.","When you turn the bezel, the dial moves with it.","The back of the case is shaped with a lug for mounting the tool to a fixture.","The movable dial lets you zero the indicator.","You lock in the dial position with this twist bolt.","The factory tests every dial indicator with this micrometer head.","It pushes in the rack to a specific measurement.","Every time the large hand rotates a full revolution, indicating 100 thousandths of an inch, the small dial hand clocks one graduation.","This test guarantees no tool leaves the factory without delivering made-to-measure accuracy.","Cutting or sanding metals and other materials can produce combustible airborne dust or fumes, which can ignite or be inhaled.","That's why it's safer to do this work on a wet downdraft table.","This machine captures and filters hazardous particles from the work space.","A powerful blower pulls the flammable dust down through the openings of the grid tabletop.","Then a continuous spray of water extinguishes the dust and washes it down into a reservoir at the bottom, where a filter removes it.","Because stainless steel doesn't corrode, this computer-guided laser cuts the components that come into contact with water out of stainless steel sheets.","Workers pass each part through a wide-belt sander to smooth out rough edges left by the cutting.","When the part exits the sander, they thoroughly brush off the metal dust.","Then, they bend the part into the required shape using a computer-guided machine, called a press brake.","A welder then fuses the parts, constructing the machine in sections.","This is the table section that contains the tabletop and the wash-down system that processes the combustible dust.","Workers clean all the welds with a machine that uses a combination of chemicals and electricity.","They brush on a protective coating to make the welds corrosion-resistant.","Then, they wash the unit with soap and water.","In the reservoir at the bottom, they install the water-inlet filter.","When the blower sucks the dust under the tabletop, spray nozzles douse it with water.","The dusty water flows down into the reservoir, where this filter traps the dust before a pump sends the water back up to the spray nozzles.","To ensure that no water leaks out, a worker caulks this entire section of the machine with marine-grade sealant.","On the left side, they mount the housing for the mist-eliminator filter.","It captures water droplets from the airstream before the blower exhausts it.","To that, they attach the blower housing.","It has a side opening for the blower and a top opening for a silencer that muffles the noise of the blower exhaust.","Now, they install the blower.","It consists of an electric motor turning a blower wheel.","The resulting centrifugal force sucks air through the machine and out the exhaust.","They insert the filter into its housing.","The filter is polyester, so it's mold resistant, which is critical given that it gets wet.","Now, they install the water tree, a stainless steel wall with baffles that make the dusty water cascade into the reservoir.","These probes ensure there's always the optimum amount of water circulating through the machine.","They send an alert to the control panel if the water level in the reservoir rises too high or drops too low.","After installing a plumbing connection for the wash-down system, they install walls to contain the dust over the work surface and the silencer over the blower exhaust.","Then, they complete the assembly of the wash-down system by connecting pipes with spray nozzles to the plumbing connection.","Finally, workers install the tabletop, made up of two steel grates.","The blower sucks the dust through the grates' openings.","You can cushion the tabletop with a rubber grid mat.","When you press the start button on the control panel, the blower begins drawing air.","And the nozzles begin spraying water.","This demonstration with the smoke machine shows the powerful downdraft that gives industrial workers a breath of fresh air.","To play most woodwind instruments, the musician blows air through a reed made of cane.","The reed vibrates to create sound, just like the vocal cords in our throat.","A bassoon reed is comprised of two thin blades of cane rather than one, so it's called a double reed.","a bassoon reed has twin blades at the top that vibrate to produce sound and a tube at the bottom that fits onto the bassoon's lead pipe.","The reed maker begins with a stalk of cane that's almost an inch in diameter.","With a single strike of a cylindrical, x-shaped blade, he splits it into four equal strips, then uses a guillotine to cut each strip to a length of 4 3/4 inches.","After soaking a strip in water for about 8 hours to soften the fibers, he laterally slices off about half the cane.","Then, he places it in a precision gouger and thins it to approximately 0.05 inches, give or take a fraction of an inch.","He verifies the thickness with a precision-measuring tool, called a dial indicator.","He clamps the cane in a reed-shaped template and trims away the excess.","This gives the cane a distinct contour.","He removes the outer layer of rigid bark and thins out the middle, which will become the dual blades of the reed.","Next, he cuts a pattern that will enable the reed to vibrate at the frequencies required to produce the bassoon's full range of 44 notes.","Then, he scores both ends of the cane to make them flexible enough to be bent into a half circle.","He folds the cane in half and ties it with a piece of brass wire.","The fold will form the double blades at the top of the reed.","The opposite ends, once bent into mating half circles, will form the tube at the bottom.","Keeping the cane wet, he heats a cylindrical-forming mandrel over the flame of an oil-burning lamp.","Then, he wraps the tube end tightly with twine.","The heat softens the cane's fibers, molding them under pressure from the tightly wound twine to the shape of the mandrel.","This forms the two adjoining half circles into a perfectly round tube.","After a few seconds, he removes the forming mandrel and unwraps the twine.","He inserts a holding mandrel of the same diameter and wraps it with a rubber band.","He puts the reed aside to dry for about a week.","This sets the shape permanently.","When he unwraps and unfolds the reed, he sands the edges of the two adjoining half circles so that they meet perfectly.","Then, he refolds the reed, securing it with three wires spaced at specific intervals.","The distance between the wires, in concert with the curved shape of the cane, finalizes the contour of the reed, which determines how it vibrates.","One the wires are correctly positioned, he wraps the tube end of the reed with strong synthetic string.","This will contain the tube dimensions when the reed is resoaked.","He coats the string with glue to further strengthen the tube.","Once the glue dries, he reams the inside of the tube to fit perfectly into the bassoon's lead pipe.","He places a ruler against the first wire and makes a mark of just over an inch out toward the folded tip.","Then, he clips off the folded tip.","The reed now has double blades that vibrate when a musician blows air through them.","because cane is a plant, not a synthetic material, there are slight natural variations from reed to reed.","So bassoonists make the last minor adjustments themselves with profilers and other tools until their reed vibrates beautifully."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Thai Barbecues","Diving Masks & Fins","Bassoons"]},"text":["The word barbecue seems to originate in haiti where indigenous people developed a method of cooking meat outdoors over a wooden structure long before columbus arrived.","Nobody knows exactly when humans started grilling.","But it's safe to assume that we've been cooking outdoors longer than indoors.","In thailand, many homes and restaurants have a popular kind of barbecue.","It's a small portable charcoal burner.","This new, more efficient design has become increasingly popular both in thailand and abroad.","Workers start by adding the raw materials to a mixer, beginning with clay.","They add a fiber derived from ground-up rice husks.","This fiber reinforces the clay, giving it added strength and helping to prevent the finished product from cracking at high temperatures.","The correct mixture is two parts clay to one part husk.","Once the mixer thoroughly blends the materials, it extrudes the resulting compound in a thick ribbon, ready for the next phase of production.","A worker rolls the clay in a small quantity of a third material also derived from rice.","This is rice husk ash.","And adding it to the clay helps prevent mold growth.","A craftsman places the clay inside a specially shaped mold, which sits on a potter's wheel.","As the wheel turns the mold, the craftsman works with a metal arm and handheld tools to spread and shape the clay.","He then removes the fully formed clay pot.","Having marked out three locations on the rim of the pot, a craftsman now adds some husk ask to a handheld mold to prevent sticking.","He then packs the mold with clay before pressing it into the pot's rim and inner surface.","He smoothes the clay around them, integrating them into the pot.","These three elements will form raised supports for cooking pots, woks and kettles.","At this stage, the pot has air dried enough to safely remove it from the mold.","The craftsman now uses a handheld tool to define and finish the edges of the rim and supports.","He then uses a metal, rectangular template to mark and cut out a small vent for air intake at the base of the pot.","An artisan prepares a small disk of clay for a different stage of production.","He uses a cylindrical metal tool to cut a series of 62 holes in the disk, creating a honeycomb pattern that will allow the passage of air.","He uses a small beveled wooden tool to help smooth the edges of the holes.","When the pots are fully formed, workers transfer them to the walk-in oven.","Once there are a total of 500 pots and honeycombs inside, it's time to fire up the oven.","The pots spend 8 hours in the oven at nearly 2,200 degrees fahrenheit.","The firing process gives the gray clay a reddish tinge.","To assemble the barbecues, a worker starts by creating a layer of rice husk between the clay pot and the zinc bucket.","This insulates the metal from the barbecue's heat.","He cuts out the rectangular vent that will allow air to flow into the bottom of the barbecue and help fuel the fire.","He adds soil to the gap between the pot and the bucket to further insulate the exterior metal from the interior heat.","The craftsman now seals all the gaps in the barbecue with mortar in order to keep the husk and soil firmly in place.","The honeycomb disk fits perfectly into the bottom of the pot.","It will hold charcoal up above the vent hole, allowing air to flow up through it, fueling the fire, while permitting ash to fall down into the cavity below.","A worker carefully mortars the disk in place.","This barbecue is a low-tech but highly effective outdoor stove, useful whenever it's too hot to cook inside.","If you're scuba diving, free diving or snorkeling, you need a mask to maintain a layer of air between your eyes and the water.","Without that barrier, your eyes can't focus under water.","Fins are another diving must-have to let you push away more water when you kick and give you stronger propulsion.","Diving fins consist of a foot pocket and a blade.","The blade has side arms running down its length.","These strengthen the blade and amplify the forward thrust a kicking foot generates.","The parts are made of thermoplastic.","To make the fin blade, the manufacturers mix clear thermoplastic granules with a specific portion of color dye granules and drop them into the feed tank of an injection molding machine.","The factory uses certain types of thermoplastic when making fins with a stiff blade and other types when making more flexible models.","The machine heats the granules until they melt then injects the liquefied thermoplastic into a blade-shaped mold.","The plastic quickly cools and solidifies.","Then the mold opens.","And extractors eject the blade.","A robot grasps the blade with suction and removes it from the mold.","As the robot lifts the blade out of the machine, the mold closes again to receive another injection to make the next blade.","The robot deposits the blade onto a conveyer belt which transports it through a cold-air tunnel.","This cools the thermoplastic enough to enable the upcoming component materials to properly adhere to the blade.","The next robot picks up the cooled blade and moves it to another injection molding machine, which performs a process known as over printing, molding on additional parts until the fin is completed.","The robot first removes the previous completed fin fresh out of the over printing injection mold.","This machine melted down granules of thermoplastic rubber, a more flexible material, and simultaneously injection molded the side arms and the foot pocket onto the blade.","Once the robot pulls off this completed fin, it loads the new blade into the mold.","As the mold closes for the next injection, the robot deposits the finished fin into a conveyer belt.","The over printing process also applied the manufacturer's name and some decorative elements.","By changing the molds on the injection machines and using different types and colors of thermoplastic materials, the factory produces a wide range of fin models.","A diving mask is made up of a flexible silicone facial skirt attached to a rigid frame with lenses.","The skirt, which this injection molding machine produces from liquid silicone, seals the frame to the face, preventing water infiltration.","While thermoplastic must be melted before injection, then cooled to a solid state, silicone must be injected combined with a hardening agent then heated to a solid state.","The frame is made the same way as the fins but using a more rigid type of thermoplastic.","A worker begins assembling the mask by threading a silicone head strap through the frame's buckles.","They attach the silicone skirt, first pressing the nose portion into the bridge of the frame.","Then the worker connects the eye area.","The frame is designed to enable the silicone skirt to slot right in.","Next, the lenses, which are made of tempered glass.","While they're highly resistant, they don't withstand frontal impact.","So the diver shouldn't plunge into the water face first.","The final step is to clip in rigid thermoplastic lens retainers and clamp each one securely to the lens and frame.","The mask is now ready for a final inspection to make sure no water will seep in when you wear it.","Just like fins, there's a wide range of diving mask models designed to see through different types of underwater exploration.","The bassoon was developed in france in the 17th century.","It was a bass woodwind instrument like no other before it.","It extended the range downward by a whole tone.","This was a woodwind instrument that could hold its own against the bass strings.","You could hear the difference.","In the bassoon, the pipe is doubled up into a tight u for an instrument that has the necessary length to produce the low notes but is not unwieldy.","To make a bassoon, they use bosnian maple.","It's a dense wood stable enough to prevent vibrations.","A cutting tool takes off the corners of the wood block as it begins to shape it into the end part of the bassoon, the bell joint.","Using a reaming tool, they drill a cone-shaped air column into the bell joint.","The next automated cutting tool trims the circumference and forms a rim on the end.","From a rough piece of wood to a contoured pipe, this bell joint has taken shape.","At another station, a bassoon technician drills angled finger holes into the wing or tenor joint.","Then he files the ends of metal tubes to shape them to an angle that matches that of the finger holes.","The technician also files down the outside of the tubes and carves grooves into them.","He applications epoxy glue to the grooves and installs the tubes in the finger holes.","The glue seals the tubes to the finger holes.","The technician checks for light around the tube installations.","That would indicate an improper seal.","The next member of the team stains the bell joint to enhance the wood grain.","She applies the same finish to every part of the bassoon.","There are four joints that can be disassembled to fit into a carrying case.","She also brushes a special lacquer over the stain.","This lacquer is believed to effect the instrument's tone, giving it a round resonance.","After a light sanding, the parts are buffed to restore the shine.","The other craftsman now drills tone holes into the long joint.","He drills a groove for the musician to slide his or her finger down to the c key.","He relies on this metal template to correctly place the tone holes and the holes for the key posts.","Over to the next station, a technician drills threads into the key holes.","He injects oil into the holes throughout the drilling process.","This provides lubrication to the drill to prevent splintering of the wood.","He clamps a key post in a special gripping tool to hold it firmly as he files it to the correct length.","The technician screws the key post into the threaded hole.","Once it's installed, he removes the gripping tool.","Using a long drill aimed laterally, he carves holes into the sides of the key posts.","The technician installs a key by fitting a hinge tube into the holes in the post.","He confirms that the pad cup on the end covers the tone hole completely.","Satisfied with the positioning, he unpins the key and solders the hinge tube to it.","When the solder solidifies, he files down the bulge.","Silver plating gives it a uniform finish.","A technician then glues the back of a piece of cork sized to fit the rim of the bassoon's long joint.","He wraps the cork around the rim.","And he files it to make the seam disappear.","He then sands it smooth.","Cork provides a flexible link between the instrument joints.","It will tolerate the expansion and contraction of the wood due to temperature changes.","A computer-controlled laser etches product information onto the instrument's wing and boot joints.","The technician equips the end of the bell joint with a decorative plastic ring.","It's an alternative to ivory, which is in short supply.","Stay tuned for more as they prepare this bassoon for a life of performance.","The bassoon is often called the clown of the orchestra because of its ability to produce impish and almost comical sounds.","It also deepens the symphonic sound with its rich, mellow tones.","It may be the clown, but the bassoon makes a serious contribution to the orchestral ensemble.","A bassoon craftsman glues a silver-plated collar to the end of the bell joint that attaches to the long joint.","The collar reinforces the wood.","And it also gives this end of the bell joint a finished look.","He uses a block of wood to absorb the impact of the blows as he hammers the glued collar snugly in the recess in the bell joint.","Production now moves back to the bassoon's keys, as another craftsman polishes the silver to a mirror finish.","Each bassoon has between 38 and 46 keys, depending on the model.","Finishing these keys is the most intense part of the bassoon-making process.","The technician glues padding to the key cups, spatulas and levers.","The padding will muffle the clicks of the keys so they don't rise above the music.","They use different materials, depending on the length of the keys.","Longer keys make more noise.","So they receive thick cork padding.","The technician files the edges of the pads to make them flush to the key parts.","The shorter keys receive the thinner rubber pads.","Again, filing gets rid of the extra material around the edges.","On the spatula of this medium-length key, the technician installs a felt pad.","Felt is thicker than rubber but thinner than cork.","As you can see, applying pads to the bassoon's keys is a real science.","With that job done, he moves onto the next step, attaching the rubber rollers that enable the musician to play faster.","The technician inserts screws in the hollow of the rollers to secure them to the keys.","And he screws them tightly in place.","He then fastens flat springs to some keys so they'll spring back once played.","The next technician melts wax into the key caps that will close the tone holes of the bassoon.","And while the wax is still molten, she inserts a felt and cardboard pad covered with goat leather.","She secures the key to the long joint.","The wax has hardened a bit by now.","So she heats it up again using a torch.","This softens it so she can manipulate the pad so it sits perfectly in the cup.","The technician props up the end of the key with a piece of cork.","And this stops the key from moving until the wax solidifies.","They install the boot joint keys the same way.","Inside the boot joint are two parallel pipes made of hard rubber.","The bassoon technician places a seal on the end of the joint.","He installs a silver-plated u-shape tube over it.","And this creates a turning point for air.","He caps it to prevent air from escaping.","The technician attaches a hand rest to the boot joint.","He fastens a long clip to the instrument for the bassoon strap.","It's adjustable for different shoulder positions.","The steel bocal or crook connects the reed to the bassoon.","All the parts should now fit together perfectly.","The technician attaches the four joints.","He inserts the wing joints into one of the boot's joint holes.","He installs the long joint in the other.","He locks the wing and long joints together with a little mechanism.","The technician then connects the bell joint to the long joint.","He places the bocal in its socket atop the wing joint.","He then checks the bocal's vent key to confirm that it opens and closes correctly.","And now a professional musician tests the bassoon and tunes it.","With his okay, the bassoon leaves the factory ready to join the orchestra."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Millefiori Glass Paperweights","Road Salt","Nutcrackers","Car Doors"]},"text":["\"millefiori\" is italian for \"a thousand flowers\".","It's also an elaborate glass-making technique developed in 15th-century italy in which pattern-colored glass rods are cut, grouped to form floral shapes, arranged into intricate patterns, then encased in clear crystal.","If a picture's worth a thousand words, these thousand-flower paperweights speak for themselves.","Two canadian artists craft these millefiori masterpieces just as the renowned glass makers of murano, italy, did centuries ago.","A mix containing silica sand, soda ash, and lime is heated to 2,400 degrees fahrenheit, melting it into lead-free liquid crystal.","With a molten-crystal post, they pick up a densely colored bar of glass.","They roll and shape the white color bar while stabilizing the post with cold water.","Then with a torch, they preheat an aluminum mold of a flower or other motif.","Preheating the mold helps the glass flow into it more easily and assume the shape in greater detail.","Once they've molded the colored glass, they return to the furnace to encase it in molten crystal.","Then they repeatedly heat and shape the crystal with tools and with steam on a wad of wet newspaper until the crystal encases the flower-shaped color evenly.","After reheating, they put some molten crystal on the end of another rod and grab the free end of the crystal-encased color.","They wait until the glass cools to a specific consistency.","Then they begin to pull.","They slowly stretch the glass into a thin and even rod, careful not to twist it, as that would distort the flower shape of the colored glass inside.","This produces what's called a murrini cane-- a clear crystal rod with a colored, flower-shaped center.","Once the murrini solidifies, they nip it into manageable lengths.","Then they take murrini of different colors and designs, cut them into short rods, and bundle them into a pattern called a complex murrini.","They preheat the complex murrini in a kiln to prevent shock-induced cracking.","They now pick it up with a hot crystal post and, after removing the bundling wires, heat and work the group of glass rods into one.","They now stretch this complex murrini into what's known as complex murrini cane.","Once the cane stabilizes, they cut it into yardlong lengths, then cool them gradually in a kiln to relieve any stresses in the glass.","Then they slice the lengths into pieces 2/10 of an inch-- the size required for the millefiori paperweights.","Now, using complex murrini pieces of different colors and patterns, they assemble the paperweight design, placing a unique, hand-constructed murrini in the center.","This one is a trillium.","Next, they encircle the setup with a heat-resistant graphite ring.","This holds the pieces in position.","After a final adjustment, the artists preheat a white, lace-patterned glass base they prepared earlier.","This base will serve as a blank canvas for the colorful paperweight pattern.","They push the molten crystal onto the base.","The ring contains it to the base's diameter.","Then they reheat the base, making it smooth and free of air pockets, preheat the complex murrini setup, and stick the base onto it.","Like before, the ring contains the spread.","Another overall reheating softens the glass and fully fuses all the components.","This fills crevices and smoothes the surface.","Now they return to the furnace to encase this paperweight core in molten crystal.","Using standard glass-making techniques, they work the crystal to a bulbous shape.","Then on the bottom, they form a break-off point.","A sharp tap on the rod cracks the glass at that point, separating it from the rod.","They heat the break-off point and insert a piece of cane bearing the artist's initials.","After a 12-hour controlled cooling in the kiln, they grind the base level.","Then they polish away the scratches left by the grinding wheel.","After a thorough inspection, these magnificent millefiori paperweights are ready to be shipped to art-glass collectors worldwide.","When the road ahead is a sheet of ice, rock salt can make the problem melt away.","Salt lowers the melting point of water to thaw ice and also prevents its formation.","Salt was first used to de-ice highways and walkways in the 1930s, but it was only in the 1960s that its use spread.","Unprocessed rock salt actually looks like the ice it will eventually be used to melt.","This salt comes from huge crystalline caverns a thousand feet below the earth's surface along the canada/u.s. border.","That's 2/10 of a mile underground.","These massive deposits were formed hundreds of millions of years ago when saltwater lakes dried up.","The clarity of this rock salt is a sign of its purity.","This mineral is 98% sodium chloride, or salt.","They extract it in chunks from the rock's face by using explosives and drilling.","Then a loader scoops up the broken pieces of salt.","This is called a low-profile loader.","It has a shorter height to fit into tight spaces underground.","It transfers the salt to the primary crusher.","This crusher is a spiked cylinder that spins to break the salt into pieces small enough to be moved on a conveyor.","The conveyor takes the salt to a production elevator known as a skip.","It takes just a minute and a half for the skip to lift its heavy load aboveground and up a tower.","When it stops, the bottom opens to empty the salty cargo.","The salt funnels into two chutes and lands on vibrating screens.","These screens are essentially big automated salt shakers.","As they pulsate, they shake out the smaller bits, while larger chunks move on to be crushed again.","Then it's on to more shaking sifters.","These screen out the very fine particles, and what's left will be used as de-icing salt.","There are several sifters in this room.","They also sift out particles that are about 4/10 of an inch in size to be used as water-softening product.","And for this purpose, the darker bits are seen as undesirable, so they remove those with something called an optical sorter.","The optical sorter bounces light off the salt particles, and a computer reads the reflection to determine if they're light or dark.","Jets of compressed air then target the dark bits and blast them downward, while the white particles continue forward.","A closer look confirms that the optical sorter has done its job effectively.","The salt meant for water softening is pure white, while a few darker speckles is acceptable for road salt.","Outside in the holding area, the salt accumulates in piles that look like huge snow drifts.","If the winter is harsh, road crews will use it as fast as it piles up.","When it comes to bulk purchasing, orders don't come much bigger than this.","Highway maintenance departments buy de-icing salt by the truckload and create their own stockpiles to be prepared for stormy weather.","But individual consumers, of course, buy de-icing salt by the bag.","In the packaging department, automated trays relay plastic bags to grippers overhead, and the system moves them forward.","Suctioning robot arms pry each bag open.","A puff of air inflates the bag, while a nozzle pipes measured amounts of the de-icing salt into the bag.","Once the bag is full, the system moves it forward again, and not a grain of salt is spilled.","Finally, a heat sealer melts the plastic to close the package.","It's taken about an hour for this rock salt to be mined, crushed, sifted, and packaged.","And now they're ready to take it to the street.","The first nutcrackers were plain, purely functional devices.","By the 15th century, european woodcarvers began crafting beautiful nutcrackers shaped like animals and people.","German artisans became known for their majestic nutcracker kings and soldiers, just like the one in tchaikovsky's famous ballet.","This german company has been crafting character nutcrackers since 1928.","Like porcelain figurines, these nutcrackers sell as limited-edition collectibles.","At hundreds of dollars each, people don't actually use them for the intended purpose.","But they can and do perform the job.","You simply manipulate a lever to open, then close the mouth to crack the nutshell.","On the factory floor, they use a multiblade circular saw to cut all the body parts out of linden wood.","Linden is ideal because it's lightweight, easy to carve, and its color is pale enough to mimic skin.","These blocks are on their way to becoming nutcracker torsos.","First, they go through a planer.","It trims the four sides of each block, forming an octagonal shape...","From square to octagonal and next to round.","But first, workers use a circular saw to cut the blocks into torso-length pieces.","A conveyor feeds the pieces one by one into an automatic, multi-station lathe.","The first station rounds out the octagon, then forms the basic torso shape.","The second station finalizes the shape.","Then the next four stations sand the wood smooth so that the wood stain they'll apply later on will penetrate well and evenly.","Then the torsos go three at a time into a vertical router.","It cuts a notch in each one for the lever that opens and closes the nutcracker's mouth.","Next stop is a drilling machine, which simultaneously drills all the holes required to attach the body parts, as well as the lever's axle.","Now they dress the torso in a coat, which they create simply by staining the wood a dark color.","Once the stain dries, they spray on two coats of semigloss lacquer.","Every nutcracker stands on a wooden base, under which they burn the company's logo.","It's a mark of authenticity for collectors.","The automatic lathe also shapes the other body parts, including the head.","Workers attach a nose, then, using a router, cut holes for the eyes.","Then they lightly spray on a touch of red paint to simulate a sun-kissed nose and rosy cheeks.","Then, with a steady hand, they paint the whites of the eyes...","And the eyebrows.","Once the paint dries, they apply some glue to the center of each eye, then affix an iris and pupil made of enameled tin.","Now they align the head with the torso and screw the parts together.","After decorating the coat with buttons and a buckle, they glue a strip of rabbit-fur hair to the head...","A rabbit-fur beard to camouflage the notch for the lever, then they mount the torso onto the legs, which wear painted-on boots and stand on the base.","Then this nutcracker percussionist gets his drum, along with arms and drumsticks.","They top him off with a hat made of spray-painted wood.","Most of the nutcracker's parts join together with wooden dowels.","A large dowel running across the notch in the torso is the axle on which the lever rotates.","This extensive cast of nutcracker characters comes in various sizes, and you can even special-order a life-sized version.","Car doors have come a long way over the last century.","They're lighter for improved fuel efficiency and stronger to better withstand the force of an impact.","They also contain a lot of electronic gadgetry, like speakers and power windows, all of which enhance the daily commute.","A car door is one of the first things many people reach for as they start their day, so let's unlock the mystery of how it's made.","It all starts with carbon steel, an alloy that's strong, yet malleable.","Machinery uncoils and straightens it.","A large blade slices it to the desired length, producing sheets called blanks.","Then it's over to a powerful press.","This particular one is a trial press, which offers a better view of the process than the one on the production line.","The press forces the blank into a die, giving it the basic shape of two car doors.","It's a design that's been engineered for both aerodynamics and strength.","Back on the production line, the main press is churning out car doors.","An automated device with fingers then grips the newly shaped steel and transfers it to a punch cutter.","It separates the two doors and trims the excess metal from the edges.","With the outer door panels now complete, a handler inspects them for bumps, dents, or scratches.","He approves only those that are absolutely flawless.","The next worker arranges the window frame, a reinforcing plate for the hinge, and the inner door panel, all on a special clamping fixture.","Its fingers grip the parts to hold them in position as the fixture rotates and two robots move in to weld them together.","At the next station, the worker arranges steel bars and tubes on a robotic platform.","They add strength to the door so it will better withstand any impact.","He places the inner door panel over the bars and tubes.","The robotic platform angles the parts for welding.","Another robot applies adhesive to the rim of the outer door panel.","More robots dab adhesive at strategic locations.","Those dabs match up to the tubes and bars on the inner panel as they mate it to the outer one.","A special press then folds the lip of the outer panel over the inner one.","This hemming gives the assembled car door a neater edge.","With the inner and outer panels now joined, the car door undergoes rustproofing, paint, and other protective treatments.","Now, over on the assembly line, a worker fits the handle into its niche and bolts it to the door from the other side.","Chrome trim is clipped into place.","Moving down the line, a worker installs a small, fixed window in the groove of the frame.","He uses a plastic protector to prevent scratches as he slides the larger window into its slot in the door and links it to a power-lifting mechanism inside.","He separates the two windows with a metal divider.","At the next station, this car door gets an automated side-view mirror.","They're now ready for the inner panel and its workings.","The employee wires the panel to the door and snaps it into place.","He tests the power windows, and they close to a tight seal, indicating a successful installation.","A special elevator now lowers the completed car doors 6 1/2 yards to the next station.","A worker unloads each door with the help of a pneumatic arm.","This device shoulders the weight of the part and correctly positions the door for installation.","He drives bolts into hinges to attach the door to the car.","On the door side, the heavy-duty reinforcement plate surrounds the hinges and supports them.","The whole weight of the door will hang on this plate as it swings open and shut.","With all the panels installed, it's time for the final adjustments.","They call this finessing.","They examine each panel to confirm that it's flush to the rest of the car body, and they tweak the installation job where needed.","Finally, they're satisfied the assembly is airtight, so it's time to close the door on this production."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carbon Fiber Bicycles","Blood Products","Forged Chandeliers","Ballpoint Pens"]},"text":["Carbon fibers are minute hairs of almost pure carbon.","They may be tiny, but they're three times stronger and four times lighter than steel.","Weaving them together and bonding them with plastic resin, then molding this material into a bike frame creates one lean, mean peddling machine.","This company builds custom-made carbon fiber bicycles for professional athletes and serious amateurs.","The first step is to take detailed measurements-- height, weight, and limb length, as well as shoulder width for handlebar spacing, inseam for the seat placement, and even shoe size for the positioning the pedals, relative to the front wheel.","Computer software translates these data into a geometric diagram of a customized bike frame.","A cutting machine slices out carbon fiber shapes that will become the frame components.","The bicycle frame is made up of nine parts.","They make each one with an aluminum mold and a latex balloon called a bladder.","They wrap the bladder with a layer of carbon fiber.","The fibers in the material all run in one direction.","So to add strength, they apply several layers in a specific crisscross pattern.","After coating the mold cavity with a release agent to prevent sticking, they place the wrapped bladder inside, then install an inflation cap.","They place the mold in a specialized heat press, hook up pressurized gas, then insert a temperature and pressure monitor.","The inflated bladder forces the carbon fiber to take the shape of the mold cavity.","After about 20 minutes, they extract the molded part, then begin the refining process.","First, they sand off any release-agent residue.","Then they machine the part to exact specifications for a precision fit with its connecting parts.","Following the geometric diagram, they assemble the bicycle frame like a puzzle.","Once they're sure everything fits together properly, they disassemble the pieces, then coat the connectors with superstrong aerospace adhesive.","They reassemble the parts, then cure the glue in an oven for about a half-hour.","The bicycle frame now goes onto an inspection table.","A technician uses digital measuring equipment to ensure the alignment is perfect.","The next step is to install test wheels and check that they rotate perfectly straight.","Back to the frame.","They remove any excess glue that oozed out when they slid the part together and give the frame an overall sanding.","The surface must be perfectly smooth before they can paint it.","They do all the painting by hand with spray guns.","First, they coat the frame in a primer and sealer.","Then they use a series of adhesive stencils to apply the paint colors one at a time.","They spray on a coat of clear automotive lacquer.","This protects the paint against u.v. light and chipping.","Next, using this tap, they remove paint that dried inside the threads and the base of the frame, where the gear mechanisms screw on.","They repeat this procedure at the head of the frame, where the handlebars attach.","Now it's just a matter of installing the specific components that the customer ordered.","The carbon fiber frame delivers maximum strength and stiffness with minimal weight.","It's the key to the bicycle's high-end performance.","The average person has 5 1/3 quarts of blood running through their veins.","Out of this blood come three products that can save lives-- red blood cells that carry oxygen, platelets that help stop bleeding, and plasma, a protein-rich liquid that helps us fight infection.","Hospitals need all blood types to help them save lives.","One day, your life could depend on donated blood.","In this setup, an automated machine collects the donor's blood and separates it according to which blood product they need.","The collection machine draws whole blood from a donor's arm and separates out the mixed plasma and platelets, which is the color of straw.","In every setup, some blood is diverted into a pouch for testing.","In this method, they're collecting whole blood that will be separated at the lab.","A worker then draws blood from the pouch for testing at the lab.","Meanwhile, the machine mixes the whole blood with an anticoagulant so it won't clot in the bag.","The donors' blood samples then go to the lab, where they determine the blood type and test for infectious diseases.","This high-volume, high-quality blood-testing machine is unique to the blood-banking world.","Fully automated, it helps ensure the safety of the blood supply by testing donor samples for things like hepatitis b, c, and h.i.v. in eight hours, it runs five different blood tests on 1,000 donations without human intervention.","Between each of these tests, it sterilizes every single probe in a wash solution.","Another machine determines the blood type, of which there are eight.","They scan the donor's collection bag and document what products they will produce from the blood.","Then they weigh it.","Overnight, gravity causes the blood to separate into its three components, so a worker re-mixes it, preparing it for machine separation.","She then packs the blood in the bags for the other components into what's called a liner.","She makes sure the liners are balanced and will put a rubber weight inside when she needs to.","Balancing the liners keeps the centrifuge machine spinning properly at 4,000 rpm, as it separates the blood into layers.","She then hooks up the unit of separated blood to an automated extractor and, once again, matches the unit with the donor.","The extractor fills a bag with just red blood cells.","As the machine fills the bag, it leaves behind a mixture of blood and platelets in the original container.","As it extracts these red blood cells and leaves behind a portion of blood and platelets, it also fills another container with pure plasma.","An incubator keeps the processed platelets well-mixed.","They only have five days to use these platelets.","However, they freeze plasma and can use it for 12 months.","Finally, they filter out the white blood cells from the red blood cells, using what's called a leukoreduction filter.","They also introduce an additive solution into the red blood cells and mix it all together.","The additive helps the red blood cells survive for 42 days, both inside a fridge and during transportation to the hospitals.","Today most forged chandeliers are wired for electricity.","We've replaced the candles used in earlier times with decorative bulbs and lampshades.","But a forged chandelier still relies on traditional blacksmithing techniques and the hand assembly of components used in modern lighting fixtures.","To build this two-tiered chandelier, the artisan begins by making the twist-basket shape.","First, he cuts lengths of steel bar with this shearing machine.","He arranges six of those bars in a bundle, held firmly together by this welding fixture.","He welds the bars together, leaving a hole in the center, through which the wires will pass.","A worker puts the bundle into a forge that softens the steel at more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","She then mounts the softened bundle in a twisting machine, securing it tightly in place.","She turns the wheel, spiraling the bars together.","She then reverses the wheel, causing the center of the bundle to pop out, creating the twist-basket design.","She makes sure the shape is symmetrical.","Then she verifies its length in a gauge.","Next, they clean the basket with tiny steel beads in a process called bead blasting.","Here, they make the j-shaped arms used for the upper tier of the chandelier from metal tubing, which they shape in this rotary bending machine.","With the same machine, they also make the s-shaped arms used for the lower tier of the chandelier.","All the arms are hollow, which will allow wires to pass through them.","A vibrating ceramic medium then polishes all the components that make up the chandelier to give them a smooth finish.","Using a mounting fixture, a worker places the polished upper arms in what's called a distributor.","He welds the arms to the distributor, which both supports them and gives them the proper alignment.","He welds the lower arms to another distributor.","Next, he welds metal tubing onto each end of the twist basket.","This tubing makes it possible to connect all the decorative components.","A worker then attaches those decorative components, which includes a loop to hang the chandelier and an end cap that attaches to the distributor.","She completes what is called the center core by tightening everything in place.","Then they spray the upper and the lower arms, as well as the center cores, with powder coating, a finely ground plastic about the consistency of talcum powder.","The center cores and arms then go into an oven, where heat cures and bonds the powder coating, giving the parts a hard finish.","A worker then connects the upper and lower tiers by fitting the distributors together.","This hides the wiring connections.","He secures the center core to the distributors using a decorative finial ball.","He then puts candle sleeves on to hide the light-bulb sockets and wires.","The twist-basket chandelier is now ready to brighten your day.","Forged chandeliers help establish the mood of a room.","They come in various styles, from classic to ultramodern, and their designs are limited only by an artist's imagination.","In a world where inexpensive, disposable ballpoint pens are the norm, there are still discriminating people who prefer using a deluxe writing instrument.","A fancy, high-quality ballpoint pen is as stylish as it is functional.","It's often paired with a matching pencil in an elegant gift set.","Silver plated, alligator leather, chain mail, rose gold with crystals-- pen casing designs are endless.","This model is decorated with lacquer made from the resin of a particular tree that grows only in china.","They apply it using a special brush made of human hair.","Coating the recessed areas of a brass pen casing creates the effect of black stripes running the length of the pen.","Once the resin dries, they wash the pen several times.","Then, with a cotton wheel and some polishing compound, they buff the lacquer to a high-gloss shine.","Here's another model with an etched design.","A computer-guided machine engraves the fine, intricate pattern with a diamond chisel.","The casing is brass, but they'll plate it in a precious metal such as gold, platinum, or rhodium.","Every pen, regardless of design, has a brass or sheet-steel clip that coordinates with the rest of the pen.","They position the clip on a press, and it applies just enough pressure to push tiny pegs into holes in the cap.","The factory tests every clip for tension resistance.","It has to stretch to a certain extent, then return to its original shape.","The pen's tip is made of brass plated in silver, gold, or rhodium.","This machine drills the hole through which the retractable ballpoint will protrude.","This machine injects ink inside the pen cartridges, which are made of brass.","It then caps the writing end with the tip containing a tiny stainless-steel ball.","As the pen writes, the ball transfers ink to the paper.","The machine then flips the cartridge in the opposite direction and shoots some grease through the other end.","This seals the ink inside.","Now the filled cartridges go for a ride on a centrifuge machine, which pushes the ink down toward the ballpoint.","This machine runs random samples through a quality-control test for ink flow, ensuring each cartridge outputs 8 kilometers of quality writing.","A twist mechanism at the top extends and retracts the cartridge writing tip through the pen tip.","The factory tests the mechanism on each and every model thousands of times.","Now onto another model-- this one decorated in chain mail.","Workers cut the material to pen length, then fasten it around the brass pen casing.","After several washes in water and solvent-free detergent, followed by several rinses, they precision-glue the tip and cap to the casing.","Then they insert the cartridge, along with a spring to provide resistance when the ballpoint presses against the paper.","Finally, they cap the top with either a push-button mechanism like this one or a twist mechanism as we saw before.","Before packaging, every single pen undergoes one last quality-control check under magnification to be absolutely certain that even if your spelling is poor, your writing will be great."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mortars and Pestles","Bowling Lane Conditioners","Crematories","Wood Playsets"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Together, the mortar and pestle form some of the oldest and most useful of humanity's inventions.","Their image adorns many pharmacology symbols because pharmacists have been using them to prepare medicine for centuries.","But it's with food that this simple tool is most closely associated.","The basic principle is simple enough-- put the object you want to crush in a bowl, then take a stick and grind it down.","But not all mortars and pestles are alike.","For one thing, the material used can make all the difference.","Wooden and ceramics work well.","But for many, nothing beats stone.","Granite provides a tough, non-porous surface.","A craftsman prepares to carve.","He starts by using a masonry compass and a liquid called chinese ink to draw the mortar's inner and outer circumference.","He can easily remove the ink if there are any errors.","He roughs out the shape with a hammer and chisel.","He then works with a grinder which is equipped with an extremely hard diamond-tipped blade, making it possible to cut through solid stone.","Once's he's defined the outside edge, he begins to work the inner bowl, carving out the perimeter before cutting a grid.","He turns again to his hammers and chisels to remove material from the inside of the mortar.","He uses the grinder to cut the last chunks and fine-tune the surface, giving it the smooth, consistent shape of a bowl.","He uses a square to transfer a mark to the bottom of the stone.","He marks the based with his compass.","The circumference of the base must be slightly smaller than the top.","He quickly roughs out the base with one of his chisels.","Then it's back to the grinder, which he uses to clean up the circumference and begin making a series of angle cuts into the sides.","With hammer and chisel, he knocks off the pieces left between the angle cuts.","Thanks to years of experience, he makes it look easy.","With the grinder, he works away at all of the surfaces, smoothing them to a consistent finish.","One wrong move with this tool could mean being forced to start over, but this is a highly skilled artisan.","More than 10 years of training make it possible for him to work with unhesitating speed and assurance, completing a finished mortar in less than an hour and a half.","But, of course, there's something missing.","A mortar isn't much good without a pestle.","Once again working with the confident swiftness of an expert, the artisan uses his grinder to hone a chunk of granite down to the shape of a well-balanced pestle.","Wide and blunt on one end and narrow enough to easily grasp on the other, the stone is perfectly calibrated to do its job.","In the days before power tools, it would have taken a craftsman a full day to carve a mortar and pestle.","But a carved mortar and pestle isn't necessarily a finished one.","Here, a painter adds the final touches.","Using a small brush and special varnish, he paints a lotus flower design on the lip of the mortar.","He leaves the bowl itself untouched so that no food products will mix with the varnish when crushed.","He then varnishes the exterior of the mortar.","The varnishing process is purely decorative.","Hard stone like granite needs no protective coating to help it endure.","After all, some granite has been around for millions of years.","It takes just 15 to 20 minutes for the varnish to dry.","And with that, the mortar is completely finished.","The lotus flower design isn't the only one available.","This facility produces a wide range of mortars and pestles.","These mortars and pestles may be attractive.","But their appearance is secondary to their function.","There are few tools in a kitchen more durable or more useful than a good mortar and pestle.","In the early days of bowling, shellac-based conditioners were applied to wooden lanes to protect the surface.","Today, robotic machines apply conditioners in different patterns to mainly synthetic lanes, easier ones for the average bowler and more challenging ones for tournament players.","At most bowling alleys, lane cleaning and condition are done automatically by roaming robots.","They apply different conditioners in specific patterns.","The pattern selections are made by league organizers.","It's all about ensuring consistent scoring.","Computerized tools with different bits produce many of the robot's parts.","Here, they carve a block of aluminum into a mounting part for a handle.","This is the blank before and after.","An employee assembles two of the mounting parts to a handle.","He secures them with heavy duty bolts, ensuring that these pressure points will hold up to the job of lifting the 370-pound robotic machine.","He attaches one handle to each of the two side panels.","He installs a sprocket sensor system on one of the side panels.","This sprocket sensor will detect where the robot is and communicate that information to is computer.","He links it to the front wheel with a second sprocket chain, and closes the loop with a master link.","He now lowers the oil buffer brush assembly into the machine.","He inserts the main drive more and then secures it to an aluminum partition with the shaft protruding through the other side.","He then wraps the drive chain around the sprockets of the shaft.","He loops a rubber belt in front of the buffer brush and connects it to the oil applicator.","The applicator will slide on the belt, dispensing small amounts of conditioner.","He installs whisker sensors to the front on each side.","When these whiskers brush the sides of the lane, they'll send a signal to the computer, which will then direct the robot to move more to the center.","The conditioning solution tanks have been equipped with metering pumps and pressure gauges.","He bolts the assembly to the rear wall of the machine.","He pops in the rechargeable battery and connects it to the motor.","The machine is ready for the computerized system that runs it.","This system includes the control panel.","He installs it in the center of the machine, just above the battery.","He then runs the hose from the conditioning tank over to the applicator and connects it.","Moving to the front, another employee unwinds fabric from one roller and attaches the end to the next.","This is part of the cleaning system.","The cloth will scrub the bowling lane after the robot sprays a cleaning solution onto it.","A suctioning squeegee will vacuum up dirt and leftover cleaner and deposit them in this recovery tank.","He then plugs the wiring harness into the computer at the back of the control panel.","It's time for a dry run.","With no cleaner or conditioner in the system yet, the technician powers up the robot and puts it through its paces.","He confirms that every part is in good working order.","He adds cleaning solution to the tank, and it's time prepare the lane conditioners.","They mix the mineral oil-based conditioners in big blenders.","There are nine different recipes, with up to 16 ingredients in each one.","They test each mixture extensively.","They measure the viscosity because it can affect how the conditioner flows on the lane.","And they evaluate the surface tension.","That's its ability to bond to the lane.","With the conditioners approved, it's time to test the robot in special quality control lanes.","During 50 trips down the lanes, a technician evaluates the robot's performance.","He inspects its turning radius and the effectiveness of the sensors.","He also scrutinizes the cleaning and conditioning job.","Satisfied that the conditioning robot works well on its own, he approves it for shipping.","This bowling lane conditioner should be a real game changer and ensure that the path to victory is a well-oiled one.","A crematory is a machine used to cremate bodies swiftly and safely.","Even though the cremated remains are commonly referred to as ashes, they're actually bone fragments.","The family may choose to inter them, preserve them in an urn, or scatter them in a meaningful place.","This pet crematory has three small chambers.","The human version has a single chamber large enough to accommodate a casket.","Inside, flames from a gas burner engulf the deceased, and the burning body releases fluids and gases which flow to a secondary chamber in the back, where another burner incinerates them.","The crematory's frame is made of ultra-strong tubular steel, because the structure must withstand expansion and contraction, as the chamber heats up to more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit during cremation, then cools down afterward.","Once workers have cut steel tubing to the lengths required, they place the pieces in a jig, which configures them correctly for assembly.","After ensuring the tubes are flush, workers clamp them to the jig to prevent them from shifting out of position.","Then they weld the tubes together, assembling then connecting the multiple sections of the frame.","Next, thick sheets of steel for the crematory's floor and walls.","Workers clamp the sheets in position, then fuse them to the frame with just over 5-inch long welds on the outside and full-length welds along the inside seams to completely seal the unit.","They weld steel airlines for oxygenating the the fire in the chambers.","Now, workers begin insulating the chambers to shield the steel structure from the intense heat.","First, they apply adhesive-backed steel pins to the steel walls and affix insulation boards made of heat-resistant ceramic fibers.","They secure the boards to the pins with steel disks.","Workers nail in a second layer of insulation.","These stiffer boards are made of a higher concentration of ceramic fibers, making them even more heat resistant than the first layer.","After insulating the top of the machine the same way, they install an exhaust chimney above the secondary chamber, then a motorized fan that blows air through a long shaft.","The shaft functions as an air supply highway, with exit pipes going to the airlines and to the gas burners in the chambers.","Workers apply two coats of high temperature paint to the machine's steel exterior.","And then it's time to line the chambers with a third and final layer of insulation.","This insulation material is refractory brick.","The term \"refractory\" means \"heat resistant\".","The bricks are made of a ceramic material called alumina silica, and can withstand temperatures as high as 2,900 degrees, fahrenheit.","The three layers of insulation absorb the intense heat of the cremation process, which can take 1 to 2 hours, depending on the weight of the body.","They protect the machine's steel structure so that it doesn't degrade and weaken.","Once the mortar dries, workers pour the floor and ceiling, then hang the machine's steel door, which operates on a hydraulically powered chain and sprocket.","The door is lined with insulated refractory brick, which, unlike the chamber brick, reflects rather than absorbs heat.","This prevents the door from getting too hot to handle.","The final step is to wire the chamber heat sensors and other electronics to the electrical panel.","The cremation is automated.","Some machines have gauges and indicator lights which enable the operator to monitor combustion and adjust fuel and airflow as required.","Other machines have a computer, which runs, monitors, and regulates the process from start to finish.","The crematory incinerates all but 5% of the body.","What remains are bone fragments, which are then ground into a powder and returned in a container to the family.","Computer game systems may be the rage, but kids still love to play the old fashioned way-- outside, in the fresh air, on a playset.","And today's playsets are quite often elaborate, with a slew of apparatuses that provide a lot more exercise than a game controller does.","Many playsets are modular systems, which let you choose the components and configuration.","This set combines forts, ladders, monkey bars, a climbing wall, swings, rope, and a slide.","The wood is redwood, a species that's safe for little hands because it's splinter-free.","It's also naturally weather resistant, so it doesn't need to be treated with chemicals to prevent rotting.","Workers first cut out any knots and defects.","Then they saw the wood to the lengths required for different parts.","They load several of the same part onto a computer-guided router.","These are the sides for several ladder kits.","The router cuts slots for the ladder's wooden steps and drills holes for the bolts that attach the ladders to their respective playset.","Worker's manually sand every piece of wood that goes into a playset so that the entire surface is smooth for little hands and knees.","When pieces need to be shaped a certain way, workers run them through this machine.","It's called a wood molder.","Inside, it has four spindles with rotary knives that trim the wood on all sides to specific pre-set dimensions and shape.","A wood molder can make relatively complex cuts to make decorative crown moldings.","However, for these playsets, the molder primarily curves edges and shapes adjoining components to fit together like puzzle pieces.","Here's what a piece looks like before and after it's put through the wood molder for sizing and to round the corners.","Several wood components also go through this piece of equipment, called the double-end cut-off machine.","As the name implies, it saws off a preset amount of wood on each end to standardize length and smooth the surface.","The playset's structure has angled braces in the corners for extra reinforcement.","To make these braces, workers notch the wood pieces on this machine.","Then they round the edges with a router and sand the surface.","Once all the wood parts are shaped and sanded, workers put them on a conveyor belt, which ferries them through a machine called a vacuum coater.","It saturates the part with a non-toxic, water-based reddish stain, then suctions off the excess.","Workers staple an identification label on every part.","Then they bundle together all the parts for the module-- this is the ladder kit-- and put them through a plastic banding machine to tie them together.","The bander works by feeding a continuous plastic strap off a spool.","When the operator steps on a foot pedal, the machine shoots the strap tightly around the bundle, then cuts and heat seals the ends.","Swing, slides, and climbing wall footings are made of molded polyethylene, a flexible and durable type of plastic.","To assemble this baby swing, workers bend it to shape and clamp it in an assembly fixture.","Then, one side at a time, they position the galvanized steel hardware and insert the rivets that will fasten it.","They transfer this assembly to a vice, then drive in the rivets with an air-powered impact gun.","The swing hangs on plastic-coated steel chains.","This module is what they call the split ladder.","It combines a wood step ladder with a more challenging chain ladder.","Plastic-coated steel pipes at the top and bottom link the two.","The galvanized steel chain ladder is coated with plastic to make it softer to the touch.","They complete the unit with a wooden side rail, then place the split ladder on a large vertical press, which forces the parts tightly together.","The unit will be further secured with bolts, once assembled to the playset, along with a selection of additional climbing, dangling, sliding, and swinging options for active little monkeys."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Top & Bowler Hats","Solar Water Heaters","Sticky Buns","Electrostatic Speakers"]},"text":["Top hats and bowler hats both originated in england.","The top hat emerged in the late 1700s as a daring new style, radically higher than the flat 3-cornered hat men wore at the time.","Then the bowler was invented around 1850, as a lower alternative to the top hat.","Today, even women wear bowlers.","Top hats remain, by and large, a masculine fashion statement, reserved for formal occasions, although magicians are still known to use them to produce rabbits.","At the hat factory, workers spray a fine mist of water on hoods, pre-cut hat forms made of 100% wool felt.","After the moisture penetrates overnight, they steam them for about two minutes.","The moisture and heat deactivate a chemical stiffener in the felt, making the material malleable.","Then they place the hood in an aluminum top-hat mold, which applies heat and pressure simultaneously.","They place a string in a groove along the perimeter and pull.","This rolls back the edge of the felt to form a rim.","Then they trim off the excess felt.","After about 90 seconds of molding at approximately 230 degrees fahrenheit, they remove the string and open her up.","The top hat is now dry and fully shaped.","However, the felt is still malleable.","So, to re-activate the stiffener and lock in the shape, they set the hat aside for about 30 seconds to cool.","To make a bowler hat, the process up to that point is identical, but with a bowler-shaped mold.","For both hat styles, it takes two sets of hands to pull the hood taut over the bottom part of the mold, to avoid creating pleats or creases.","There's a separate mold not just for each hat style, but for each size of each style.","After the bowler comes off the mold and cools, they give it a second, more precise trimming.","Both styles are finished the same way.","First a seamstress takes a wide ribbon, folds it over the edge of the hat, and sews it down on both sides, encasing the edge.","Another seamstress uses a gold-leaf stamping machine to apply the traditional british milliner's crest and \"made in england\" to the hat's lining.","The lining fabric is a silk/satin blend.","She sews the stamped top piece to the side piece.","The machine automatically pleats at regular intervals, so the lining will lie flat against the hat's crown.","Bowler hats are more rigid than top hats, so they require an extra application of stiffener inside the crown.","Once the stiffener dries thoroughly, which takes the better part of a day, the hat is ready to receive its elegant lining.","They attach it with hot glue, which dries almost instantly.","Next they cut a strip of leather to the hat size and sew the ends together with a decorative zigzag stitch.","The leather has been specially treated to prevent mildew build-up resulting from perspiration.","They sew this leather band to the inside of the hat, at the base of the crown, covering the edge of the lining.","Not only does this produce a neat and classy finish, the leather band also makes the hat more comfortable to wear by cushioning the forehead.","Now it's time to finish the outside of the hat.","First they hot-glue a cotton ribbon around the base of the crown.","Next they glue on a matching bow.","The grand finale is a small silk/satin bow on the interior leather band, then below that, the manufacturer's label.","A few taps with the sticky side of adhesive tape easily removes lint, dust, and wayward strands of hot glue.","These elegant toppers and bowlers are the product of several experienced, skilled craftspeople.","Hats off to them.","Domestic water heaters traditionally run on electricity, natural gas, or oil, for which you have to pay and which have an environmental impact.","A newer alternative is a solar-energy system.","It warms water with the heat of the sun, a resource that's not only renewable but free of charge.","Solar panels absorb the sun's energy, heating water, which a pump circulates in a closed loop to a heat exchanger.","The exchanger then transfers the incoming heat to the potable water in the household tank.","Inside the solar panels are copper strips electroplated with tin, which absorb the sun's heat.","The copper surface must be pristine for the plating to adhere.","Therefore, the first operation is a 3-stage cleaning process.","Tin doesn't adhere directly to copper, so they first electroplate with nickel, then plate the nickel with tin.","The plating is brittle, so to protect it, the next station sprays on a thin coat of liquid glass.","The strip then passes through an infrared oven that hardens the glass into a durable protective shield.","As the strip exits the oven, a fiber-optic instrument measures reflectivity.","The less reflective the surface, the better it absorbs heat.","From there, the strip enters the welding machine that fuses it to copper tubing entering from another feeder.","A nozzle sprays cold water onto the mated components, still hot from the welding process.","They're wound onto a giant reel.","The reel feeds a forming machine, which uses heavy steel rollers to press ridges into the strip.","This increases the surface area, meaning it compacts more heat-absorbing metal into a given length of strip.","Next, the machine cuts this continuous fin tube, as it's now called, into the standard-length pieces required to construct the solar panel's internal piping.","Then, a piece at a time, it slices 7/10 of an inch off each end so the tubing protrudes.","Each solar panel contains 10 fin tubes that connect on either side to a header.","To make each header, workers slide an inch-wide copper tube onto a mandrel.","Then they punch 10 holes in the tube, one for each fin tube.","They fit the protruding ends of the fin tubes into these holes and weld the connections.","The finished assembly is called an absorber plate.","It's the key component of the solar panel.","The fins absorb the sun's heat and warm the water circulating through the tubes, down to the heat exchanger.","They pressure-test the absorber by submerging it in water and injecting air through the tubes.","Any bubbles in the water would indicate a leak to be repaired.","Now they cover the headers with a decorative trim and lay the manifold into the solar panel's insulated aluminum housing.","The front is a sheet of tempered glass that allows sunlight to reach the fins inside.","After putting caps on the headers to protect them during transport, they apply the manufacturer's label.","The solar panel is finished.","Now for the other end of the system-- the heat exchanger.","Its tank is made of welded stainless steel.","It has connections for the heat-exchanger pipes running to and from the water heater, as well as for the pipes running the circulating water to and from the solar panels.","Workers install the heat-exchanger unit in the tank, then test it for leaks by filling the tank with water, injecting air through the pipes, and looking for bubbles.","If the unit passes the leak test, they drain the water, close the top of the tank, and center it in an a.b.s. plastic jacket.","Then they inject expanding foam insulation into the void between the tank and jacket.","How does it all work?","The potable cold water in the home's water heater circulates through the loop inside the exchanger.","It absorbs the heat brought in from the solar panels, via a completely separate set of pipes.","The potable hot water then exits the exchanger and returns to the water tank.","Eat one of these, and you'll be sure to find yourself in a sticky situation.","But no worries--  it's all ooey-gooey fun.","A sticky bun is all about messy eating.","Consuming one is a lip-smacking, finger-licking experience-- no utensils required.","Sticky buns are sometimes called schnecken, due to their german origins.","\"schnecken\" is the german word for snails, which the cinnamon swirl on top resembles.","They start with all-purpose flour, then blend in a pre-mix of sugar, salt, and baking powder.","Cream cheese and butter come next.","These fats are just the right consistency for an automated dough hook to efficiently work them into the dry ingredients.","An employee then pours milk into the blender.","It binds the ingredients, turning the mix into biscuit dough.","The dough needs to stay cool for food-safety reasons, so they monitor the temperature.","The next worker loads the dough into an extruder that squeezes it into a wide, flat strip called the dough band.","The dough band rides a conveyor that slopes down to a narrow channel.","As it enters, the dough folds over from the sides, creating two layers.","A roller squeezes the layers thinner.","A device called the fanner now zigzags back and forth to layer the dough, ribbon-style.","The layers pile up six deep.","And because they were originally two layers, there are now 12 in total.","Metal rollers press the pack down and thin it substantially until it's about 2/10 of an inch thick.","Next up is the sticky-bun filling, called cinnamon schmear.","It starts with blocks of butter and lots of ground cinnamon.","They add brown sugar instead of white.","It has an intense molasses flavor and is stickier than white sugar.","Canola oil loosens and homogenizes the ingredients, transforming the mix into the sugary cinnamon paste known as the schmear.","This cinnamon schmear is the consistency of cake frosting, so it can be easily pumped over to the dough.","A series of nozzles deposit dollops of the cinnamon schmear onto the sticky-bun dough.","The dough travels under a long blade that spreads the cinnamon schmear evenly.","A device called a plow then lifts the outside edges and folds them over.","Rollers press down the curled edges to tighten them.","Each tightly curled edge will now become the center of a sticky-bun roll.","Angled rollers called rollwinders pick up the curled edges of the dough and fold it into two parallel cinnamon rolls.","A guillotine blade slices the parallel rolls into buns, creating sets of two.","Meanwhile, the sweet and sticky topping is bubbling away in a big kettle.","It's made of honey, brown sugar, and butter.","This topping actually goes on the bottom of the baking tray.","They pump it into the container and then toss in pecans to give it some crunch.","Putting the topping on the bottom of the baking tray means, of course, that these sticky buns are to be baked upside down, once purchased by the consumer.","It's a strategic baking technique.","Cooked upside down, the sticky topping will saturate the buns for added moisture.","And by not exposing the topping to direct heat, it won't burn as it caramelizes into a sugary glaze.","The sticky buns now head into a tunnel chilled by liquid nitrogen for a very fast freeze.","After about four minutes, the buns emerge frozen solid, with the freshness locked in.","The sticky buns then ride another conveyor to the wrapping station.","Here, machinery quickly seals plastic film around each box of buns, after which it's into an oven to heat-shrink the plastic.","It all happens in seconds, giving the frozen buns no time to thaw.","It has taken hours of prep work at the factory, but these frozen sticky buns are ready for baking.","All the cook has to do is pop the tray in the oven, and the buns will be ready in 20 minutes.","No need to get your hands sticky by making them from scratch.","Electrostatic speakers added a whole new vibe to the home-music scene.","Unlike traditional box speakers, electrostatic speakers are usually tall and skinny.","And instead of using an electromagnet to produce sound, they rely on conductive layers of plastic and metal.","Electrostatic speakers generate rich audio in the high- and mid-frequency range, but they lack the thumping bass needed for full sound reproduction.","To compensate, most are now equipped with a woofer.","To make the woofer, a computer-driven router cuts out cabinetry parts from veneered mdf.","The router carves long grooves.","They'll be used to fold it into the woofer box.","It also cuts out holes for a speaker cone and hardware.","A worker glues and drills screws into the bottom of the cabinetry for installing the speaker feet.","He trims the excess from the edges of the cabinetry panel.","He beads high-strength glue along the joints and folds the grooved panel to create the cabinet box.","The glue is stronger than screws and acts as a kind of cement to hold the cabinet together.","He sands the wood veneer at the joints for a seamless look.","And now it's into the spray booth for the finishing touch-- a dark, glossy varnish that accentuates the wood grain.","Once the paint dries, a technician pads the inside with a poly-cotton baffle to reduce resonance.","He then installs the crossover unit.","It splits the audio signal to send low notes to the woofer and the rest to the electrostatic panel.","Next up is the power supply and a step-up transformer for boosting the amplifier signal.","He attaches the assembly to the interior wall of the woofer.","He now wires the speaker cone to the crossover unit.","He inserts the cone in the slot machined for it, and it's a perfect fit.","He boosts the bass with the built-in amplifier.","He wires it to the crossover and pops it into the back of the woofer box.","This woofer is now ready to be paired up with its electrostatic mate.","They make the electrostatic speaker from two perforated metal panels.","A technician applies a charge to them to check for thin spots.","Next she bends each one to a 30-degree curve.","This will allow sound to be more widely dispersed in a room.","She presses heavy-duty double-sided tape on to the edges and applies rigid plastic strips, called spars, crosswise.","They stiffen the panels to withstand electrostatic forces.","She now unfurls thin but super-tough plastic and stretches it to a precise tension.","This plastic is the speaker diaphragm.","It's been impregnated with a conductive coating to respond to an electrical charge.","She positions one of the perforated panels under the diaphragm.","And with the backing of the adhesive tape removed, she jacks up the table to press the panel to the plastic.","She attaches wiring that will deliver the charge to the diaphragm and make it vibrate.","She applies more double-sided tape to the other side of the diaphragm and peels off the backing.","Workers position the second speaker panel on the diaphragm and align its fine mesh with that of the panel below.","They place the speaker sandwich in a metal capsule to vacuum-press it together.","They then frame the speaker with an aluminum border and add a strut to the middle for reinforcement.","And now it's time for the electrostatic speaker to be joined to the woofer.","The tall, slim electrostatic speaker will deliver the high and mid frequencies.","The short, boxy woofer will thump out the bass.","Then it's into the test booth to confirm that the speaker has the correct range.","The technician runs an audio-tone sweep and checks for any dropouts in the frequency.","Using a special tool, he verifies that the sound waves of the speaker set are in sync, a process called phasing.","He then places the speaker in a padded room to test a full range of tones.","a computer analyzes the tones.","Once it passes all the tests, this electrostatic speaker links up with the rest of the sound system.","It's now ready for its audience."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Turntables","Steam Engines","Playground Equipment","Non"]},"text":["As the music industry went digital, the turntable seemed destined for the scrap heap.","But this analog technology defied predictions and survived.","With a sound that's arguably fuller and more natural than compressed digital formats, this retro technology is attracting new fans.","In an age when media players are digitized and pocket-sized, the turntable plays on.","The use of high-tech composites like carbon fiber puts a modern spin on this technology, bringing the record player into the 21st century.","[ classical music plays] production starts with a thick square of cast acrylic.","The technician drills a hole in the center.","It will be a reference point as he transforms this square into the turntable platter.","A computerized tool cuts a circle shape out of the square.","The disc then spins while another computer-guided tool enlarges the center hole to size it for the platter's main bearing.","The next tool precisely cuts the surface of the disc to give it the correct angle.","Computerized tools transform this small aluminum disc into the counterweight's main component.","The counterweight balances the tone arm to keep the stylus in the groove of an l.p. they slope the surface and cut holes for attachments and for installing the part.","Finally, they cut a triangle out of the circle.","This takes the part to its final shape and weight...","From a flat disc to a precisely crafted counterweight.","Next, the platform for the tone arm takes shape.","It's designed to cradle all the parts at the end of the tone arm, including a cylindrical housing for a spring mechanism and an egg-shaped housing containing a bearing.","A technician now assembles the tone arm, beginning with a tapered tube made of carbon fiber.","It's a high-tech composite that's extremely stiff, so there should be no structural weakness in this crucial part.","The technician threads a preassembled wiring loom through the arm tube.","It's special wire for high-frequency transfer.","These wires have been encased in copper to keep out ambient radiation that would interfere with the tone arm's operation.","The carbon-fiber tube also acts as a radiation shield.","He mixes epoxy resin that he then dabs around the inner rim of the bearing housing, which has by now been equipped with the bearing.","He inserts the tone arm tube into the housing.","The tube adheres to the glue-coated rim, but before it totally bonds, the technician scrutinizes the alignment.","He makes adjustments if needed, and then he'll clamp the assembly to allow the glue to cure.","With the turntable tone arm now upright, he solders the wires that are protruding from the joint to external wiring for the amplifier.","And once all the connections have been made, he inserts the wires into the metal joint.","Ensconced in this joint, the connections are well-protected and can't be pulled apart.","He equips the main counterweight component with two thick steel beams for balance.","He slides the counterweight onto a third beam, which has been installed in the egg-shaped housing.","This completes the turntable tone arm.","Next, they encase the electric motor in its metal housing.","And they build the record deck.","They mount the motor to the two-tiered deck, designed to absorb any vibration.","The aluminum sub-chassis is next.","They link it to the motor with a drive belt, then they give the belt-drive system a test spin to confirm that it runs smoothly.","They now install the acrylic platter, felt mat, and tone arm.","With this turntable now fully assembled, it's time for the vinyl test.","The record spins, and the stylus traces the grooves.","The analog sound fills the room...","Proving this technology stands the test of time.","[ classical music plays] the first modern steam engine was invented in england in the early 1700s, helping launch the industrial revolution.","Today there's a return to steam power.","Due to its different configuration and combustion process, a steam engine produces less pollution than a regular internal-combustion engine.","This steam engine burns fuel in an external combustion chamber.","The resulting heat turns water into pressurized steam that enters the cylinders, pushing pistons, turning a crankshaft that powers the drive train.","Because this engine doesn't burn fuel inside the cylinders like a traditional car engine, it can run on any type or mixture of fuels with fewer emissions.","The circular engine block is made of aluminum.","Technicians install studs to hold six stainless-steel cylinders.","Due to the constant exposure to steam, all engine parts are made of rustproof materials.","The technicians insert a piston into each cylinder.","The piston is aluminum with a heat-resistant carbon cap and glider to isolate it from the cylinder wall.","They connect the piston rods to the crankshaft in the center with a specially designed component called a spider bearing.","This bearing is designed to modify the piston stroke, producing a smoother rotation of the crankshaft and more power to the engine.","Unlike a traditional car engine, with cylinders arranged in line, these cylinders are in a radial configuration and therefore equidistant from the center.","This prevents the engine from warping under high temperatures.","They place a counterbalance over their spider bearing to further smooth the motion of the crankshaft.","Now they install a pushrod over each cylinder.","It operates a valve, which lets steam enter the cylinder and move the piston.","They insert the base of each pushrod into a guide ring...","Then attach the cylinder heads, each of which houses a steam-entry valve.","They insert the pushrod into the valve.","Then, to complete the engine assembly, they install the cam, which pushes the pushrods as the shaft spins.","The factory hooks up every completed engine for a couple of rounds of performance testing.","First, a trial run using air pressure to check for leaks and to verify that all components operate correctly.","If everything's fine, then they repeat the process with steam pressure.","This type of steam engine can power many types of machines, from cars, trucks, and boats, to electric generators as we see here.","In a vehicle, it doesn't require a transmission because it produces so much rotational power.","Now for the heat exchanger, the component which turns water into engine-powering steam.","Technicians use a motorized wheel to wind 20 feet of stainless-steel tubing into a coil.","They bind the coil with steel thread, putting a stitch in between each tube to create a minute gap.","That way, when fuel burns in the combustion chamber, the heat can travel over and in between the tubes, heating the water inside faster and more efficiently than if the heat would contact only the coils' top and bottom surfaces.","The result-- superheated steam in just five seconds.","They stack six of these coils, one to feed steam to each cylinder.","This nest of tubes form the engine's primary heat exchanger.","They test it using any number of fuels, even waste fuels which would otherwise be discarded, such as used motor oil and used vegetable oil from restaurant fryers.","Virtually anything that burns will do the job.","The fuel combusts at low pressure, not at high pressure as in a gas or diesel engine.","That means burning fossil fuels to make steam produces far fewer greenhouse gases, and most hydrocarbons burn off completely within the sealed combustion chamber.","You never have to refill or top off the water because a condenser cools the steam back into water, which then recirculates.","Water is not only the working fluid-- it also acts as the engine lubricant, so the steam engine doesn't require motor oil.","Besides fuel combustion, this modern steam engine can run off other heat sources, such as solar heat and exhaust heat from furnaces or engines.","There was a time when the playground equipment in the local park or schoolyard was pretty basic stuff-- a set of swings, a slide, maybe a see-saw or two.","Today's playground equipment is far more varied, imaginative, and colorful, designed to stimulate children's minds as well as exercise their bodies.","Slide down, climb on, wriggle through.","There's no end to how kids can frolic on modular play structures or on this bubble-belly dinosaur.","To make the dinosaur's neck and legs, an automated band saw cuts long steel tubes to specific lengths.","The tube for the neck is 5 1/2 feet long.","Workers curve it in a bending press.","A level helps them get it just right.","Next, they weld on two steel plates.","These will support plastic seats on which kiddies can sit.","Workers also weld on bars for attaching the neck to the body.","They weld anchoring tabs and supporting bars to the four steel-tube legs.","Workers sandblast the legs and neck with stainless-steel grit.","The sandblasting gun shoots the grit at a speed of 435 miles an hour.","This roughens the surface, enabling paint to better adhere.","After applying an undercoat of gray primer, workers spray on a coat of plastic-based paint.","The paint is then baked on, which maximizes its durability.","Meanwhile, a computer-guided engraving machine carves an educational design into a panel made of triple-layered polyethylene plastic.","Panels like this block the open sides of playground equipment, preventing children from falling through.","To construct the dinosaur's bubble-shaped body, workers bolt together two half-spheres made of molded polyethylene plastic.","They position the bubble body on the legs...","Then bolt them together from the inside.","They bolt the neck to the body.","The neck has since been outfitted with plastic seats and the dino's plastic head.","They finish off the dinosaur with a metal label bearing product information.","This factory produces several components for its modular play structures, such as a climbing net made of galvanized steel cable.","The hard cable is padded in polyurethane.","Workers use hydraulic scissors to cut the required lengths of cable...","Then a cable stripper to slice off a little more than an inch of polyurethane from the ends of certain cables.","Workers then cap each exposed end with a sleeved aluminum ring.","They crimp the sleeve with a 44-ton press.","The rings will be bolted to the play structure's frame and anchoring system.","Finally, workers assemble the cables into a grid, locking each intersection with a plastic connector.","To ensure they won't rust from exposure to the elements, the connectors' central screw and corner rivets are made of stainless steel.","On the modular play structure, the children walk on a platform.","It's constructed from thick steel sheets, perforated by a robotic laser cutter.","After bending the sheet in a press to the required shape-- this is the corner section of the platform-- workers heat it in an oven...","Then submerge it in a vat of polyvinyl, which instantly adheres to the hot metal.","They build up a good coat--  about a 10th of an inch thick-- then let the excess drip off.","They blast the entire piece with an airgun.","This clears the holes and produces a textured, anti-slip surface.","Since playground equipment remains outdoors, all the paints and plastics are u.v.-treated to resist fading.","Besides being durable, the equipment is designed to meet all required safety standards so that parents can have peace of mind while their children have fun.","Food just slides off nonstick cookware's remarkably slippery surface.","In 1938, an american chemist was experimenting with refrigeration gases.","A waxy substance formed.","Years later, when bonded to cookware, it gained a nonstick reputation.","When it's time to fry, using a nonstick pan averts a messy situation.","The nonstick coating is one of the slipperiest solid materials on earth.","Called polytetrafluoroethylene, the name is a bit of a mouthful, but the appeal is simple.","Food won't get stuck on this nonstick surface.","To make the aluminum pan, they use 70% raw material and 30% leftovers from prior production of pots and pans.","They fire it to a molten state and filter it to remove contaminants.","The liquid aluminum flows into vertical rectangular molds.","A jacket of water around the molds cools the aluminum to take it from a liquid to a solid.","A crane extracts the cast slabs.","They're heading to a heating chamber to soften the slabs.","This will allow the metal to be shaped and formed.","A saw slices the slabs in two and trims the ends.","More blades scrape the top and bottom to remove impurities.","A conveyor repeatedly feeds the shorter slabs to heated rollers.","Guides at the side maintain the width, while the rollers compress the aluminum, taking the thickness down to about .","2 of an inch.","The rolling also elongates the slab substantially.","It starts out at 6 1/2 feet long, and after a few minutes of rolling, it's been stretched to well over 100 yards.","Pizza-cutter-style blades trim the edges of the aluminum sheet.","Another roller winds the aluminum into a big coil.","They then unwind it and squeeze the aluminum to flatten it.","Machinery now pulls the long aluminum sheet forward to a 132-ton punch press.","This powerful press forces the metal around a frying-pan-shaped die and then punches out the shape.","The freshly formed aluminum frying pan falls onto a conveyor below.","The leftover aluminum will be used to make new frying pans.","The pans now ride a conveyor through a washing station, where they're cleaned and then treated with sodium hydroxide.","This opens the pores of the metal to allow an enamel coating to stick to the outside and the nonstick finish to adhere to the inside.","A worker inspects the pans and places them upside-down on spray fixtures.","It's a tight fit to shield the inside from the enamel spray that comes next.","The pans spin on the fixtures and twirl by the spray nozzles for an even application of enamel to the exterior of the pans.","A clear, glossy coat follows.","The frying pans transfer to a dryer conveyor.","The hot air pulls out water from the enamel coating, and the color goes from gray to chalky white.","An automated squeegee silk-screens the company's name and other information onto the pan bottoms.","They now enter a long curing oven heated to 1,040 degrees fahrenheit.","The cure toughens the enamel, deepens the color so it turns gray again, and it adds gloss.","A suctioning device picks up the pan and turns it around for the inside coatings.","A sprayer applies a special primer that will make the nonstick coating adhere to the pan.","It then applies the nonstick coating.","The pans receive two layers of this nonstick synthetic substance.","The suctioning device releases the pan, and it lands upside down.","Then the pans journey through the oven again to cure the nonstick finish at around 800 degrees fahrenheit.","On exit, water rains down to cool the pans and rinse off any contaminants.","Then they go through an infrared-light chamber to dry off.","From a plain shell to a pan with an enamel finish on the outside and a nonstick coating on the inside, the transformation has taken just one hour.","A worker now aims a laser and aligns it with lettering on the bottom, allowing him to punch holes in a precise location on the side of the pan.","He slides pins into the holes and slots them through holes in the handle fitting.","Using a ram, he flattens the pins to rivet the handle to the pan.","Now, no matter what's cooking, cleanup should go smoothly."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Decorative Sombreros","Salad Dressings & Marinades","Cap Guns","Regenerative Medicine"]},"text":["The sombrero is a traditional mexican hat with a large brim that's designed to cast a wide shadow over the face and shoulders.","Everyday sombreros are made of straw, but mariachi bands and other folkloric performers wear fancier ones made of velvet, wool, or felt, with elaborate decorations.","These fancy sombreros are produced primarily as decorative tourist souvenirs.","Artisans construct and decorate each one entirely by hand.","They start by positioning a sun-shaped cutting die at the center of a large sheet of thick paper.","As the press closes, the die slices through, making a hole.","Next, they sandwich the sheet between two fiery hot sombrero-shaped forms.","These mold the paper to the shape of the hat's brim.","Then they trim off the excess and stitch the perimeter to reinforce the edge.","Now they soak the brim in a gelatin solution and lay it out in the sun to dry to stiffen the paper.","Next, they fold a sheet of paper and die-cut another shape.","They sew the far ends together to form a circle.","This will form the top of the sombrero, called the cup.","They spread glue along the base, where it attaches to the brim.","They also apply glue to a paper circle.","Then they place the cup on the same hot form they use to mold the brim.","After shaping the cup, they reinforce the top with the paper circle.","The sombrero is now fully constructed.","The next step is to cover it in fabric.","They coat the surface with glue, then, section by section, adhere pieces of velvet or felt.","They start with the cup.","The fabric has been pre-cut and sewn to the correct shape.","The next section is the brim's underside.","They trim off the excess fabric with a razor blade...","And cut away the fabric over the cup.","Next, a piece to cover the top of the brim.","Throughout the fabric-application process, he's careful to pull the material taut and smooth it down.","A final trimming, and the sombrero is fully covered.","Elsewhere in the factory, automated machines weave spools of polypropylene string and metallic plastic string into colorful trim.","Artisans in the decoration department cut out paper motifs and cover them in trim.","Then, they make colorful appliqués by sewing the motifs and sequins onto velvet-covered paper shapes.","They glue these appliqués onto the sombrero.","Finally, they glue trim where the appliqué edges and hat surface meet.","This holds the edges down and finishes them off nicely.","On pricier sombreros, all the decorations are sewn by hand-- no glued-on appliqués.","The artisans complete every sombrero with the fabric lining in the cup, then an under-the-chin drawstring, handy for wearing or hanging this mexican memento.","Supermarket shelves are stocked with a vast selection of tasty, ready-made salad dressings and marinades.","Dressing adds instant pizzazz to the salad, whereas marinade flavors and tenderizes raw food by slow penetration over a few hours prior to cooking.","Salad dressings can be cream- or mayonnaise-based or oil-and-vinegar-based.","This particular line of dressings and marinades is made entirely of certified organic ingredients.","It's also gluten-free and sugar-free for those with celiac disease or diabetes.","While the salad dressing's base stays much the same, the seasoning ingredients vary to create different flavors, such as the one we're about to see being made-- sun-dried tomato and garlic vinaigrette.","On the production floor, they start by heating water, then adding tomato paste.","Next, they add dried basil.","They pour all ingredients directly into the vortex created by the mixing blade to ensure thorough blending.","Next, they add sun-dried tomatoes...","Minced garlic...","And salt.","After 15 more minutes of mixing, they add soybean oil and extra virgin olive oil, both expeller-pressed, meaning extracted from the source naturally using a mechanical press and not the conventional chemical process.","The last ingredient is gluten-free red wine vinegar.","Whereas the oils provide both taste and texture, this vinegar produces a full-bodied flavor.","Cooking another 20 minutes or so on high heat stabilizes the product, giving unopened dressing a shelf life of up to a year.","On the bottling line, a machine called the inverter flips the empty glass bottles upside down.","Then, from underneath, an air nozzle shoots in a blast of filtered air.","This loosens any dust or dirt particles inside the bottle, enabling a vacuum to then suction them out.","Another inverter flips the bottles right side up again as they enter the filling machine.","Exiting the filler, the bottles pass through a machine which dispenses plastic caps, then, with a row of spinning disks, twists them on.","Finally, a tamper-proof seal and labels.","The marinade-production process is much the same, but with different ingredients, of course.","This batch is sesame teriyaki flavor, of which a key component is gluten-free tamari, a japanese soy sauce made without wheat.","Again, the process begins by heating water in a cook kettle.","They pump in tamari...","Pour in salt...","Then powdered ginger.","Next, minced garlic and sesame seeds.","Then, agave nectar, a natural sweetener that's low-glycemic.","They add pureed ginger...","Then, expeller-press soybean oil mixed with xanthan gum, a natural thickener.","About 20 minutes' cooking on high heat, and this sesame teriyaki marinade is ready for bottling.","Like before, the glass bottles undergo a vacuum cleaning en route to the filler.","There, pistons suck up the marinade like a syringe, then inject it into the bottles.","The filled bottles go through the capper, then travel on a conveyor belt to the next machine, which slips a plastic neckband over each cap.","A shot of hot steam shrinks the neckband tightly around the cap, creating a tamper seal.","Finally, the labeling machine applies glue to the back of a paper label, then wraps it around the passing bottle.","Besides flavoring and tenderizing raw food before cooking, you can also pour marinade over meat, fish, or vegetables while cooking, a surefire way to let the gourmet out of the bottle.","A cap gun is a toy revolver which, when you pull its trigger, makes an explosive sound like a gunshot and emits a small puff of smoke.","The caps--  tiny dots of gunpowder on either a plastic ring or a strip of paper inserted in the gun-- produce these realistic effects.","Cowboy-style cap guns were the rage in the 1950s and '60s during the golden age of westerns.","This small american factory uses the molds the major toy companies of the day discarded when they stopped making cap guns long ago.","Caps are little dots of gunpowder about 1/16 of an inch in diameter, sandwiched between two strips of paper.","Pulling the trigger releases a hammer, which strikes the cap, exploding it.","This injection-molding machine makes the grips, the faces of the gun handle.","It shoots hot liquid plastic into 10 grip molds simultaneously.","The plastic cools and solidifies in just seconds.","The color and design of grips vary by model.","The ones on this rancher-style cap gun feature a steer's head.","The rest of the gun is made of cast zinc.","Workers load a zinc bar into a smelting pot heated to about 750 degrees fahrenheit.","The bar melts within a couple of minutes.","The molten zinc travels through heated pipes to a plunger, which injects the zinc into a gun-parts mold.","The zinc takes just 10 seconds to cool and harden.","Then it's just a matter of separating the parts.","The gun's main body, which contains the right side of the barrel...","The loading gate, which covers the cap box...","The cylinder...","The left side of the barrel...","And toy bullets which load into the cartridge but don't shoot out of the gun.","The trigger and hammer are cast in a separate mold.","Every piece has flashing, excess metal that forms in the gap between the two halves of the mold.","After removing as much as they can with pliers, workers file down the rest.","Some flashing is quite thick, so they use a sander to remove it.","Workers rinse the smooth parts in acid to clean the surface, then electroplate them with zinc.","They dip the parts in a clear liquid coating to make the mat surface shiny.","Now assembly can begin.","First, they install the spring which opens the loading gate.","They take the left side of the barrel, add the latch that holds the loading gate closed and the spring which puts tension on that latch.","Then the cylinder, and, finally, the guiding disk which turns the cylinder when you squeeze the trigger.","They screw all that to the main body, which contains the right side of the barrel.","Next, they insert an orange plastic safety tip into the end of the barrel.","Laws require this to prevent cap guns from being mistaken for real firearms.","They hook the loading-gate spring to the gate's latch to hold it closed.","Then, they install the hammer spring...","And hammer.","Two brass grommets secure the cylinder-turning arm and the pusher which feeds the caps one by one out of the cap box into striking position.","The trigger spring keeps tension on both the cap pusher and the trigger.","Next, they install the loading gate.","After hooking up additional springs, workers attach the top part of the hammer spring to the holding pin on the hammer...","Then, the bottom part of the hammer spring to the holding pin on the frame.","Finally, the plastic grips--  one for each side of the handle.","Being cast from vintage molds, these cap guns feature intricate scrollwork, a degree of craftsmanship rarely seen in toys nowadays-- something perhaps better appreciated by the parents of the wild west cowboys than by the pint-sized gunslingers themselves.","When parts of the human body break down or are damaged, options are limited.","Scientists are working on providing replacement parts on demand, like fingers, ears, and bladders.","Laboratory-engineered bladders have already been successfully implanted in humans.","The stuff of science fiction may soon be a reality.","They begin with a mold, a finger mold on the right and an ear on the left.","These molds could be made of synthetic polymers or natural materials such as collagen.","Scientists will grow real cells on the molds.","To obtain those cells, a scientists first extracts a small piece of cartilage, which is a type of connective tissue in the body.","She chops it into little bits.","She transfers the minced cartilage to a test tube partially filled with a special enzyme.","This enzyme dissolves tissue, leaving only the cartilage cells.","She then places the test tube in a centrifuge for a high-speed spin.","This causes the cartilage cells to separate from the enzyme solution and settle on the bottom.","She siphons off the liquid, and the tiny cells remain in the test tube.","Next, she adds a red liquid.","It's a culture medium.","It will act as a fertilizer to stimulate cell growth.","Transferred to a petri dish, she swishes the mix to dispense the cells.","Then it's into an incubator warmed to 98.6 degrees fahrenheit, body temperature.","It's the perfect environment to spur more cell growth.","Meanwhile, a computer-controlled machine builds the mold of the ear.","It layers synthetic polymer to produce an authentic-looking shape.","This process takes about five hours.","In the meantime, the microscopic cells have multiplied 20 times.","The scientist drips them onto the completed mold, where they continue to grow.","In the future, cell-covered ear molds could be implanted under a patient's skin.","Cartilage would form, and the body would accept the part as its own.","Other scientists are working on growing blood vessels and heart valves.","They start by extracting a type of stem cell from human blood.","The researcher first fills a test tube with the clear, high-density solution.","He adds diluted blood to the clear solution.","Almost instantly, the different components of the blood begin to separate.","The heavier red blood cells plummet and the lighter stem cells rise to the top of the test tube.","A spin in the centrifuge leaves the components visibly separated, allowing scientists to retrieve the desired cells.","They'll convert them to endothelial cells, which line the inside of blood vessels and heart valves.","In the meantime, they construct the blood-vessel mold.","The scientist adds solvent to liquid collagen, causing it to instantly dissolve.","He adds little white beads.","They're synthetic polymers.","And they liquefy over a period of about an hour.","They spray the collagen concoction onto a rod that spins as a carriage moves it to and fro for even coverage.","The collagen-and-polymer mixture quickly solidifies around the rod.","The scientist slides off the now-hardened biomaterial.","He now has a mold for shaping a human blood vessel.","He coats the mold with the microscopic endothelial cells, which, by now, have grown and multiplied.","He then pumps fluid through it to simulate blood flow.","This conditions the cells to go with the flow and collectively operate as a real blood vessel.","To grow a heart valve, they don't actually build a mold-- they use a real valve from a pig.","The scientist plunges the pig valve into a container filled with a mild detergent.","It goes into a machine that shakes it up.","The agitation helps scrub off the cells, leaving only the valve skeleton.","He saturates the valve skeleton with human cells, where they grow and thrive.","The research team then pumps fluid through the valve, just like they did with the blood vessel.","This trains the cells to do the work they would need to do in the human body.","Even dr.","Frankenstein would be impressed."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Retractable Ballpoint Pens","Solar Salt","Tubas"]},"text":["The ballpoint pen was designed as the answer to the fountain pen's many annoyances-- the hassle of having to manually refill the barrel with ink that dried slowly and often smudged.","The ballpoint has a tiny steel ball in its tip that applies quick-drying ink from a ready-made cartridge.","When the ink cartridge inside these retractable pens runs out, you simply replace it with a new one.","Working from the initial design, the pen factory makes molds for all the pens' plastic components.","The injection molder first shoots hot liquid plastic into molds for the barrel's rigid core, then into other molds for its soft rubber grip.","The tubes for the ink cartridges are also made of plastic.","Machinery aligns them in the same direction, then prints on the company name, model number, and tip size.","Here, a filling machine injects 0.8 grams of ink through the tip.","To prevent the ink from evaporating, it plugs the other end with 0.1 grams of silicone paste.","Meanwhile, high-precision machines progressively shape the pen's tip out of stainless-steel blanks.","The equipment drills a 1-millimeter channel through the blank, then, in quick succession, fashions the tip into a cone, cuts five tiny ink-flow channels in the ball socket, and seats a 1-millimeter-diameter stainless-steel ball in the center.","Another machine then inserts a finished tip in each ink-filled tube.","A scanner then checks the length and the ball of each cartridge.","This magnification shows the width of the five ink-flow channels next to a human hair.","Random samples undergo an air-pressure test to check the ball's position and movement.","Anything less than perfect will clog the pen.","They close off the end of the cartridge with a plastic cap.","The cartridge is now going to a centrifuge, which forces the ink to the tip, eliminating any air bubbles that would obstruct ink flow.","Every cartridge passes through this writing-test machine.","That blue light is a sensor that triggers the machine to reject any defective cartridge.","The components now come together in the assembly department.","The machine assembles the clip, sleeve, and barrel.","The clip is made of chrome-plated spring steel, a strong metal that regains its shape when flexed.","The machine then flips the assembly over to receive the internal components.","First, the pen's two-part push-button mechanism.","Part one--  the plastic push button.","Part two--  a device called a rotor.","Which each click, it rotates the refill 45 degrees so the tip wears evenly.","The ink cartridge goes in tip-side up, the plug on the back fitting into the rotor.","This device forces spring-steel wire through a coiling block.","This produces a tiny spring that provides resistance to the push-button mechanism.","A grabber places the spring over the cartridge tip.","Now they close up the pen by adjoining the barrel's bottom part.","The machine screws the two parts together to a specific tightness.","The final assembly machine tests the push-button mechanism to ensure it retracts the tip properly.","This also prepares the pens for packaging, as they go into the boxes with tips retracted.","The factory subjects random samples to endurance testing.","This device clicks the push button 100,000 times.","Only then does a printer put the logo on the barrel.","This company's engineering of its ink-flow channels and tip delivers on average 2.5 miles of writing per cartridge.","Salt comes from three sources-- salt mines, land that at one time was seabed, and from oceans and saltwater lakes.","Factories extract salt from water by evaporation, either mechanically or naturally by letting the sun work its magic and produce what's called solar salt.","This large hunk of salt crystals comes from great salt lake in utah.","At full water level, the lake is seven times saltier than the ocean.","Harvesters scoop up salt from shallow crystallization ponds and load it into trucks.","It's the end result of a two-year evaporation cycle, which has seen the lake water, called brine, slowly give off its moisture in a series of concentrating ponds.","What remains is a bed of salt crystals about 12 inches deep.","The truck dumps its cargo onto the factory's conveyor system.","First stop is a rinsing station to remove contaminants such as algae and dust.","Using freshwater would dissolve the salt, so they flush the crystals with lake brine.","Next, hot-air dryers remove the moisture and salt dust within about 3.5 minutes.","The salt crystals then roll across a series of sorting screens with progressively smaller openings.","This classifies the salt crystals into three grades-- coarse, medium, and fine.","Each grade goes onto a separate conveyor that transports it to a designated storage bin.","The factory uses medium-grade salt to make pellets for water-softening equipment.","This press compresses the crystals into pellet shapes along with certain additives to help the water-softening equipment perform better.","Some municipal water supplies have a high mineral content.","This hard water makes soap difficult to lather and leaves stains on sinks, bathtubs, and toilets.","Salt triggers a chemical reaction that dissolves the problem minerals.","The factory packages water-softening solar salt in bags, as well.","It also produces a variety of other solar-salt products such as swimming-pool salt, road salt for melting ice in the winter, and, of course, culinary salt.","The factory's automated packaging equipment fills both paper and plastic bags.","This company also sells solar salt to several industries for use as an ingredient in products such as detergent.","There's also the agricultural market.","Farmers buy blocks of solar salt plain or enriched with minerals as a nutrient for their cattle.","The factory produces different salt and mineral formulations, each dyed a different color for easy identification.","To produce salt for cattle, the machinery drops 50 pounds at a time into a block-shaped mold.","A press applies 750 tons of pressure, binding the crystals into a block.","The farmer simply sets out blocks among the cattle, and the animals lick away to get their dose of sodium.","A label identifies the type of salt block.","This one contains iodine to prevent a thyroid disorder called goiter, a tasty and therapeutic bovine snack courtesy of a saltwater lake and sunshine.","The tuba is the largest instrument in the brass family and the one with the lowest pitch.","Famous orchestral composers from stravinsky to gershwin have included significant parts for tuba in some of their best-known works.","Some composers have even written full concertos for tuba.","Tubas are made of brass, sometimes silver- or gold-plated.","The instrument consists of valves and tubing, ending in a flared bell.","The bell flare begins as a brass disk 22 inches in diameter.","They use a range of tools and various mandrels to work the brass into a preliminary bell-flare shape.","They use sandpaper to remove any marks left by the tools, then cut a hole in the center.","To make the conical tail that leads to the bell flare, they bend and hammer a thin brass sheet around a tail-shaped mandrel.","To join the seam, they cut notches along one edge, then hammer them over the other edge.","The artisan then melts filler metal over the seam with a high-temperature gas torch, a process known as braising.","Then they use a wooden mallet to round out the shape.","They use a pressure roller to flatten out the mallet dents and further refine the surface.","After notching the wider end of the tail, they assemble it to the bell flare.","They dab on flux, a chemical that prepares the surface for braising, then tack the parts together.","They hammer down the notches and braise the seam all around.","This assembly, now called the bell, goes back on the lathe.","Using a belt sander, they flatten all the seams flush with the surface.","On another mandrel, with lubricant assisting the process, they finalize the bell's shape.","Now they trim the edge to the correct diameter...","Bend it back a bit...","Polish the perimeter with the sanding head, then use a special tool to roll the edge over itself.","This forms what's called the bell bead, a lip that reinforces the bell and gives this end of the instrument a finished look.","A computer-guided engraving machine puts the company logo and model number on the bell.","Each of the tuba's 100 or so tubes must be bent into a specific shape.","The first step is to fill them with hot liquid pitch, which hardens as it cools.","This keeps the tubes from collapsing as they're bent.","After bending, the tubes go into an oven to melt out the pitch.","Certain bent tubes are enlarged in a machine called a hydraulic blowout press.","It pumps oil into it at high pressure.","This blows the tube walls outward against the dye, forcing it to assume the new shape.","Certain bent tubes are conical, others, cylindrical.","The cylindrical ones go through what's called a ball-out operation.","This machine forces steel balls of the proper diameter through the tube.","This enlarges any spots that are too narrow.","Before bending, certain tubes have to go through a drawing machine for resizing.","With lubricant easing the way, it draws the tube between an inner mandrel and an outer washer.","This forms the tube to the correct diameters and wall thickness, while also stretching it lengthwise.","Coming up next, we'll see where this tube fits in the finished instrument.","Tubas come in different versions.","A b-flat tuba, for example, is nearly 18 feet long, whereas an f tuba is about 11.5 feet long.","Tubas have anywhere from three to six valves.","Pressing different valve combinations produces different notes.","To build the valve section, they insert parts called knuckles into the valve cases.","Spacers hold the valve cases the proper distance apart, while this alignment plate positions the cases in the correct configuration.","Next, they insert connectors to later link the valve section to the rest of the instrument.","After braising the parts together, they run a cutter through the valve cases to hollow them out.","Here, you can see what the case interiors look like before cutting and after.","Now they begin soldering on the valve section's tubing, working from the valve cases outward.","The tuba's frame section is made up of several u-shaped parts.","Workers assemble them with connecting rings.","They insert a support brace inside this frame piece...","Then position tabs onto which they'll later mount the valve section.","They clamp the tabs in place, then solder them on.","Then they attach the bell section to the frame.","Before adding the valve section, they give a preliminary buffing to what they've assembled so far.","They brush some liquid polishing compound into the places that they couldn't access with the wheel and buff those areas with a rag.","Then a final overall buffing until the brass reflects like a mirror.","Meanwhile, the valve-section assembly continues.","First, they close off the bottom of each valve case with a screw-on cap...","Then drop in a spring to provide resistance for the valve piston.","Then the piston.","A felt to cushion it, a top cap, another cushioning felt, and, finally, the finger button.","A little oil ensures all the buttons move smoothly.","The felts inside prevent the pistons from making a clanging sound as they move up and down.","Now for the tuba's tuning slides.","A coat of grease helps them move in and out to increase or decrease the overall length of the tubing.","Shortening tunes the instrument higher.","Lengthening tunes it lower.","Now they screw the finished valve section to the assembled frame and bell sections and insert the main tuning slide.","Finally, the tuba's mouthpipe, made not of brass like the rest, but of nickel silver.","They spray the entire instrument with cleaning solution to remove any grease residue and fingerprints.","Prior to assembly, each section was cleaned and coated with a clear lacquer to ensure the tuba will always look as good as it sounds."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sulkies","Bagpipes","Yule Logs","Fishing Lures"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Sulkies...","Bagpipes...","Yule logs...","And fishing lures.","In the sport of harness racing, the horse, known as a standardbred, pulls its driver in a sulky.","A sulky is a cart on two wheels that attaches to each side of the horse's harness.","It has to be sturdy enough to withstand the rough ride, but it also has to be lightweight so that it won't slow the horse down.","Step one in sulky production is to cut an aluminum tube 1 1/2 inches in diameter for the frame.","Most of the parts are aluminum because it's a lightweight metal.","Using a manually operated tube bender, workers shape the angles of the sulky's shaft, the piece that attaches to the harness.","Now they weld together the eight aluminum parts that make up the sulky's frame.","All this welding takes approximately 2 1/2 hours.","Once that's done, they insert the shaft into the bridge on which the driver sits, making sure they align with each other.","Next come the clamps-- 3-inch-long steel pieces with a hole on each end.","They fasten certain non-welded parts of the sulky together.","Each clamp starts off straight.","A worker mounts it on a machine called the bender, then pulls the lever almost 360 degrees to curve it.","Next a tool called a multipress drill fashions the aluminum flange-- the part of the wheel hub to which the spokes attach.","The multipress has six bits.","It rotates three times to drill a total of 18 holes.","The flange has another nine holes to remove weight and six smaller holes to which a plastic wheel protector will later attach.","Now they position the flange on the aluminum hub and hammer it on snugly.","They do this using a tool called a punch to avoid leaving impact marks.","Next, a sleeve goes inside the hub, and the bearing goes in between the two.","Again, with the help of a punch, they knock on the bearing snugly.","Finally, they install a cap to prevent dust from getting in and causing damage.","The hub is now complete, and it took only about five minutes to assemble.","Now they attach aluminum spokes, 18 of them on each side of the wheel.","Every spoke attaches to the flange on one end and to an aluminum rim on the other.","Workers hand-tighten a nipple on the rim end of each spoke.","The nipples are made of brass because it resists rust quite well.","It's essential to tighten all the nipples equally to ensure the wheel will be properly aligned.","After tightening them further with the screwdriver, on goes some rim tape, then the tube and tire.","They pump up the tube with up to 78 pounds of air.","Then they install a plastic protector disc.","This prevents competing horses from putting their hooves through the spokes.","Meanwhile, the sulky has been sandblasted, painted, and decorated.","Now it's time to put stirrups on the shafts.","These aluminum and stainless-steel fittings on the end of the shafts are what attach the sulky to the horse's harness.","Should the harness break, a backup safety strap on each shaft keeps the sulky attached to the horse.","Now they fasten a padded leather seat to an aluminum plate mounted on the bridge.","On each side, they attach the wheel to the bridge with a simple axle.","Even though these look like bicycle wheels, they're stronger and far more durable.","Next, they assemble what's called the tree-- the rigid stainless-steel structure that goes on the horse's back.","The outer part is made of plastic.","They stitch velcro to the underside.","To that, they attach a nylon-covered foam padding that protects the horse's back from irritation.","The finished harness with all its hooks and turrets weighs 10 pounds.","It's taken 20 hours to make.","This is what's called a quick-hitch fitting.","It hooks on to the fitting on the end of each shaft, tying the sulky to the horse's harness.","A sulky takes 40 hours to assemble.","It weighs between just 50 and 60 pounds.","Harness racing is one of the few sports where being a lightweight is key to a good track record.","The bagpipe is one of the oldest instruments.","To play it, you blow into a pipe attached to a leather or synthetic bag, then press on the bag to force the air out through other pipes to create sound.","You transform this sound into a melody using finger holes on a reeded pipe called a chanter.","they start by carving an 8-inch-long block of wood, rounding it to a diameter of a little more than 1 1/2 inches.","It's part of a drone-- one of three on the bagpipe that create bass and tenor harmonies.","They drill a hole that will later become an air channel.","Using a lathe and a plastic template as a guide, a craftsman spins the wood to carve it, a process called turning.","The lathe has a stationary carbide-tip cutter strong and precise enough to cut this hard african blackwood.","It's a very heavy and dry wood, perfect for turning.","For more intricate, decorative cuts, he uses a handheld device called a combing tool.","Next, he uses what's called a parting-off tool to make additional decorative grooves.","He measures these grooves using a caliper to ensure they meet the specifications of the design.","The craftsman drills a hole to create what's called a projecting mount.","It's made of imitation ivory, and at 2 inches in diameter, it fits on the drone like a washer.","But it's just for decoration--  one of seven on the bagpipe.","He adds a metal component called a slide, also for decoration.","Next, he turns what's called a blowpipe.","This one's made of plastic to withstand moisture from saliva.","Traditionalists prefer blowpipes made of wood.","He adds a mouthpiece.","It retracts by almost eight inches, depending on the player's height.","The player blows into the mouthpiece to inflate the bag.","A small metal tube between two plastic blades forms the chanter reed.","When air strikes it, the reed vibrates inside the chanter-- a pipe at the bottom of the instrument that has eight finger holes for notes and two for pitch adjustment.","To secure it, the craftsman wraps the reed with hemp string and winds teflon tape over the string for an airtight seal.","Then a brass wire called a bridle to control the shape of the reed.","Narrowing the opening produces a higher-pitched sound.","The craftsman ties hemp string to create traction between the drone segments, holding them together.","Hemp string is especially durable, yet easily replaced if damaged.","Here's the completed tenor drone.","Next, the craftsman inserts what's called a stock through the zippered opening of the pipe bag.","The pipe bag's made of a synthetic, breathable material.","The five stocks fit through a rubber collar in the bag, attaching to the three drones, the chanter, and the blowpipe.","The craftsman inserts the chanter through a sleeve in the bottom of the pipe bag.","He secures it with string, tightening it around the bag.","He closes the zipper to form an airtight seal.","Next, he places the pipe bag into a decorative velveteen bag cover.","He inserts the stocks through holes trimmed with wool or silk fringe.","A rubber valve prevents the player's air from coming back up through the blowpipe, channeling it through the chanter instead.","Another part, called a drone reed, acts like a plastic tongue.","It vibrates over a long hole to create the bagpipe's humming sound.","The craftsman inserts the drone reed into the drone and then into its stock.","Wool cords keep the drones in place while the player plays.","Finally, the craftsman fits the chanter reed into the chanter, then slides it into its stock.","A bagpiper must have a strong set of lungs because some songs can run for 20 minutes.","Now that'slong-winded.","a yule log is a traditional dessert for reveillant, the christmas-eve meal that follows midnight mass in france and other french-speaking countries.","It's a rolled sponge cake covered in chocolate frosting and decorated to look like a tree log.","It's supposed to represent a real yule log, the burning of which was once a popular christmas ritual.","This company uses vanilla or chocolate ice cream instead of frosting.","The cake itself is chocolate sponge cake.","Workers start by making chocolate cake batter in a machine called a liquefier.","They add flavoring, exactly what is a trade secret, and liquid eggs...","Binding agents...","Butter oil...","Sugar...","Flour...","And cocoa.","After mixing the batter for 20 minutes, a machine called the cake depositor pumps it into a 13-gallon vat.","The cake depositor distributes the batter evenly through nozzles spaced 3 1/2 inches apart.","Then it spreads the batter onto brown craft paper that's a little more than three feet wide.","The paper's waxed so the cake won't stick after baking.","The machine funnels the batter into an even layer that's 1/4 of an inch thick and 36 inches wide.","Workers make between 8,000 to 10,000 yule logs daily, depending on the size.","After baking for seven minutes at 500 degrees fahrenheit, a conveyor moves the cake out of the oven at six feet per minute.","Next, a circular saw separates the cake right down the middle.","Every 17 seconds, another blade, appropriately called a guillotine, drops down, slicing the cake into smaller segments.","A machine pours strawberry jam onto a thick layer of ice cream.","This creates three layers, including the cake slab underneath.","The factory goes through more than 4,000 pounds of jam and 3,000 gallons of ice cream per 8-hour shift.","A worker gently separates the cake slabs, leaving about three inches of excess ice cream and jam, which is thrown away.","She then separates the cake from the craft paper by folding the cake onto itself once, then rolling the cake, ice cream, and jam layers together.","Watch closely and you'll see that she doesn't touch the cake, only the paper.","She wears rubber gloves to prevent her hands from sticking to the paper.","The worker rolls the cake into a machine called a slicer.","It cuts the cake into three 8-inch-long segments called logs.","The slicer deposits the logs into plastic trays.","Another machine now decorates with ice cream.","It covers the surface as well as the ends.","The ice cream decorations are lace and floral designs.","Now for the embellishments.","Workers place two candied maraschino cherries on each log.","Then a machine drizzles on bits of maple sugar as another worker cuts the connecting ice cream, separating the logs.","This factory uses maple sugar bits instead of nuts on its logs out of concern for allergies.","Next, a plastic poinsettia on each log.","Then, a plastic \"joyeuses fêtes,\" which is french for \"happy holidays\".","A conveyor belt moves the logs through a machine called a co2 tunnel.","Inside, sprayers blast the logs with a mist that instantly freezes them.","This mist is carbon dioxide refrigerated to minus 185 degrees fahrenheit.","Five minutes in the co2 tunnel superfreezes the outer layer so workers can handle it easily.","A wrapping machine covers the logs in a clear plastic film.","Then another machine simultaneously cuts and heat-seals the plastic, enclosing the logs in bags.","Finally, a worker packs the bags into boxes for shipping.","The factory stores the boxes in its warehouse freezers at minus 95 degrees fahrenheit.","Then, as christmas approaches, these holiday desserts go out to the stores, where they sell for $5 to $8 each.","If you take your fishing seriously, chances are you're hooked on lures.","If worm bait is like hamburger, then lures are like filet mignon.","They attract fish by either mimicking the food they like-- impersonating a minnow, for example-- or by reflecting light.","Lures come in many shapes and sizes.","They can measure up to a foot long and weigh as much as 3/4 of a pound.","They're usually made of brass.","This model is from a brass sheet that's less than 3/100 of an inch thick.","It goes into a press that's outfitted with a series of dies to progressively cut and shape the lures, turning out 2,000 of them per hour.","This looks like one fast operation, but it's really four consecutive steps.","The first die stamps the company name and lure model number, punches a slot down the middle, and punctures a hole on each end.","The second die scores the outline.","The third cuts it out.","The fourth and final die forms the piece into a spoon shape, which is why this type of lure is called a spoon.","This shape makes it move in the water like a small fish.","That blue object at the bottom right is an air jet.","It blows the lures coming off the press into a collection bin.","Lures vary in size, shape, and texture, and plating them in different metals creates reflective effects in the water.","All these factors determine the type of fish the lures attract.","The metal-plating process is called electroplating because electricity is the key to it all.","Workers wire up the lures, submerge them in an acid solution, then run a negative current through them.","They run a positive current to the plating metal, in this case, copper nuggets.","The acid dissolves the copper into particles laced with a positive charge.","This draws them to the negative-charged lures, which they coat in an even layer of copper.","After a thorough rinse, the racks go into the next tank for nickel-plating, then another rinse and into another tank for silver-plating--  the final finish.","Silver-plating requires undercoats of copper and nickel.","To prevent the silver from tarnishing, workers coat the lures in clear lacquer, using the same plating process.","Lures plated in 24-karat gold don't need lacquering because gold doesn't tarnish.","Now for the cosmetics.","One way to decorate the lure is by what's called pad printing.","An automated machine applies ink to a metal plate with a design etched into it.","A silicone pad stamps the plate, picking up the design, then stamps the lure, transferring it.","This is a 2-color design, so there are two pads at work.","It's quick-dry ink, so the colors don't smudge.","Another way to decorate lures is to apply decals.","They adhere with waterproof glue that's specially designed for the fishing industry.","After decorating, workers attach a 3-pronged hook-- a treble hook--  to a split ring.","That's the ring at both ends of the lure to which the fishing line and the hook will be attached.","Some models have decorated hooks, known as dressed hooks.","The idea is to add a color accent to make the lure look more like the fishes' prey.","To do this, they first wind a nylon thread around the shaft of the hook, then trim off the loose end.","Next, they lay together two different-colored hackles.","Hackles are the filaments of a rooster's neck feathers.","They wrap them around the shaft of the hook on top of the nylon thread.","The different-colored feathers blend together.","The filaments project from the head of the hook to disguise it.","Workers wrap them with more nylon thread to secure them in place.","Here, a decal is applied to a different style of lure called a spinner because it spins like a disco ball, reflecting light to attract a fish.","The final step is to attach the hook to the lure.","Depending on its complexity and number of platings, a lure takes between 45 minutes and two hours to make.","That's a lot of specialized time and effort for fish bait that's nothing short of alluring."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Metal Golf Clubs","Waffles","Custom Wires and Cables","Train Wheels"]},"text":["Golfers use different types of clubs for different types of shots-- woods for long-distance shots off a tee, putters to gently roll the ball into the cup, and irons for everything in between.","That's why in golf, choosing the right club for the shot is a key part of game strategy.","The heads of these golf clubs are made from aerospace-grade stainless steel.","To produce them, the factory begins with a wax replica of the clubhead.","To make this wax pattern, as it's called, they inject hot wax into a mold.","They extract the pattern and snip off the bulk of the excess wax.","Using hot wax as an adhesive, a robot joins several patterns to other wax parts in the shape of gates and runners, the term for the channels that guide molten metal into the casting mold.","Then the robot dips these patterns into liquid ceramic material four times, with a shower of silica sand in between each coat.","The ceramic and sand harden, forming a shell around the wax patterns.","Then the factory melts out the wax.","The shell is now a mold with which to cast the metal clubheads.","On the casting floor, a furnace heats steel bars to 3,000 degrees fahrenheit-- well beyond the melting point.","Meanwhile, another furnace heats the molds to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This burns out any remaining wax.","It also fires the ceramic, making it strong enough to withstand molten metal.","The pouring technique is critical.","The metal must flow at a consistent rate to prevent the formation of air bubbles.","After five hours, a pneumatic hammer breaks apart the mold.","Workers saw off the gates and runners, separating the clubheads.","Then they grind off the last remnants of the gates and runners.","A turntable runs the clubheads through a sandblaster, which gives the metal a particular finish.","Next, they stick on a metal badge bearing the club's model name.","They apply a dot of automotive paint.","The color identifies the angle of the club.","There are 12 different angles.","Now they line the neck of the clubhead with epoxy, then coat the end of the shaft with epoxy and slip it into the neck.","A pneumatic hammer pushes the shaft in as as far as it can go.","The shaft is made of either extruded steel or carbon fiber.","Now it's time to work on the shaft.","First, they cut it to the right length, depending on the model.","Then they put the shaft on a spindle and wrap the top 10 inches in double-sided tape to hold the club's rubber grip.","They lubricate the tape and the inside of the grip before sliding the grip over the shaft.","A laser line helps them align the grip in the right position.","This is critical, because the grip is the golfer's guide to correct hand positioning, which is essential to a good swing.","Next, a computer reads the lie, the term for the clubhead's angle relative to the ground.","Then it reads the loft-- the term for the angle of the clubhead's face.","The computer then tells the technician what adjustments to make.","Once he's made the adjustments, the computer reanalyzes the new loft and lie to ensure they're perfect.","Finally, the golf club goes for a weigh-in.","The scale shows that this club needs another 18 grams to bring it up to spec, so they affix an 18-gram weight made of thermoplastic and metal.","Actually, it weighs slightly less than 18 grams, because they factor in the weight of the epoxy glue.","It's this type of precision that ensure these golf clubs fit the quality specifications to a \"t\".","The waffle started out in the middle ages as a flat wafer made not from wheat flour, but from oats or barley.","As its popularity spread throughout europe, many variations of shape and recipe developed.","The introduction of leavening ingredients gave rise to the fluffy honeycomb breakfast cake we know today.","The introduction of frozen waffles in the 1950s marked the dawn of a new era for these breakfast batter cakes.","Making your morning waffles was suddenly a snap.","All the big prep work takes place at the big factory.","They add flavorings like berries to a flour-based waffle mix, and then turn to the liquid ingredients-- water, canola oil, and liquid cane sugar.","They pour them into a big tank and mix thoroughly.","Then they're ready to thicken it into a batter with a flour-based waffle premix.","It also includes baking powder, which reacts with water to cause pockets of carbon dioxide to form for a leavening affect that will continue during baking.","After adding more berries, this batter is complete, and there's enough in this one tank to produce 3,600 waffles.","Hot waffle irons move past a sprayer for a misting with a nonstick coating.","Down the line, an automated pump deposits measured amounts of batter onto each grid plate.","The top grid plates encase the batter.","This production line is computerized, which ensures the plates are filled quickly and without any spills.","As they move towards the oven, the waffle irons rotate, allowing the batter to reach all the crevices inside.","They now move through a long gas oven.","It takes about two minutes for them to cook.","They emerge from the oven piping-hot, where a machine called a picking drum removes them from the irons.","As the picking drum revolves, needles grab the waffles and pull them off the hot grid plates.","The picking drum transports the waffles up to another level.","The needles retract, transferring to a series of conveyors.","At the other side of the factory, the waffles enter a blast freezer.","The temperature inside is minus 19 degrees fahrenheit.","Fans blow frigid air onto the waffles as they spiral through the freezer.","It takes just 20 minutes to freeze and preserve these freshly baked waffles.","The frozen waffles now merge into lanes to be sorted for stacking.","A kind of trap-door system releases them three at a time to grippers that move them onto a conveyor.","The conveyor lane narrows, which forces the waffle stacks into a single row.","A sensor-activated gate releases the stacks two at a time to the packaging station.","It takes just a second for the two stacks of frozen waffles to be wrapped and sealed in a tight cellophane package.","Then it's into a metal detector.","To demonstrate how it works, we place a quarter on one of the packages.","The system senses it immediately, and a blower blasts the package off the conveyor.","Suctioning fingers now pick up the outer paperboard box and open it as they place it on the conveyor.","A ram then shoves the wrapped waffles into the box.","Incredibly, they churn out more than 8,600 waffles an hour at this factory, catering to different tastes and dietary requirements, and that merits a toast.","Much of today's high-tech equipment requires specialty wires and cables, from stage lighting to medical devices to robotics.","Wires and cables have to be custom designed and expertly manufactured to perform in a specific way and withstand various environmental conditions.","Cables can be designed to withstand high temperatures or perform special functions such as sensing ph levels or proximity to objects.","At the heart of a cable are electrical wires called conductors.","A conductor begins as a bare copper wire.","This extrusion machine coats it in plastic.","Chilled water solidifies the plastic around the wire as insulation.","This isolates each wire from its neighbors.","Every conductor passes through a machine called a spark tester.","It runs current through the conductor to ensure the insulation is flawless.","If there's even the smallest break in the insulation, the machine will sound the alarm and locate the spot.","The conductor then enters a machine called a cabler.","It unrolls spools of insulated conductors and unites them with other components to form the cable's inner workings.","At the center of this particular cable is a twisted pair of insulated conductors.","Around them go color-coated insulated conductors and fillers to fill in the gaps between the conductors, giving the cable a smooth, cylindrical shape.","Here the fillers are strands of polypropylene foam.","An orientation plate aligns the components in the proper configuration as they enter the cable-assembly die.","The components exit the die with the fillers wound around the insulated conductors, which wrap around the central wire.","The next machine, called a taping head, wraps binder tape around the cable.","This tape holds everything tightly in position so that the assembled components don't unravel.","This is a different type of cable assembly machine.","Like before, all the insulated conductors unroll from their reels and travel through the holes of an orientation plate.","Dies divide the six conductors of this cable into three groups of two, twisting the conductors of each pair together.","The machine then wraps each twisted pair in a shield made of aluminum-coated polyester.","Shielding eliminates what's known as cross talk-- signals interfering with each other.","The next die joins additional wires that don't need to be shielded to the shielded ones.","Then everything gets twisted into one cable.","Then a final twisting, seen here in slow motion.","The actual speed is 1,000 revolutions per minute.","The next machine wraps tissue paper around the cable.","Then an extruder applies a jacket made of a plastic and rubber compound.","The tissue paper acts as a separator, preventing the jacket from sticking to the cable inside.","Sometimes, instead of tissue paper, the cable runs through a bath of talc.","Talc is a mineral that absorbs heat, so just like tissue paper, it prevents the jacket from sticking.","Once again, as the cable exits the extruder, chilled water solidifies the molten material into a jacket.","A wheel with raised lettering imprints the manufacturer's name and technical specifications into the jacket.","Certain jacketed cables need a braided shield to eliminate electrical interference.","This machine has 48 carrier spools, each of which holds 10 wires made of tin-plated copper.","As they jacketed cable moves upward through the machine, the spools move in a programmed pattern, weaving the shield around the cable.","From there, a last trip through the extruder for a final thermoplastic jacket...","And the custom-made cable is ready to be connected and powered up.","Train wheels are used on railcars around the world.","Passenger trains rely on them to transport people.","Freight cars depend on them for hauling products.","And the locomotives that pull these trains and freight cars count on them to keep people and products moving smoothly.","This company has been making train wheels and axles for over 150 years.","To start, an electric furnace melts recycled steel at about 2,900 degrees fahrenheit.","A gigantic bucket then transfers the liquid metal into what's called a mold pit.","Inside the pit, the metal fills eight holes from the bottom up, creating steel ingots 20-feet-long.","A band saw cuts the cooled ingots into sections called wheel molts.","Each molt weighs about 1,000 pounds.","To prepare the molts for forming into train wheels, automated machinery loads them into one door of this rotary furnace...","And they exit the other side at around 2,400 degrees fahrenheit.","A machine then places the molts into a high-pressure water-descaling unit that removes the outermost layer of metal.","A press then squashes each molt like a marshmallow with 9,000 tons of pressure, forging it into the rough shape of a train wheel.","The train wheel is 30 inches in diameter when a robot removes it from the press and delivers it to a rolling mill.","The mill squeezes and shapes the wheel until it expands to 36 inches in diameter, a 20% increase.","The train wheel then enters a final shaping press that punches out the hole where the axle will go.","All excess material goes back to the melt shop for recycling.","After heat treatment, a machine sprays the outside of the wheel with cold water, which hardens the steel.","Next, they machine the rim of the wheel and the axle hole.","A worker then ensures they meet all specifications.","Identified and labeled, the wheels are now ready for the axles.","Axles start off as steel ingots that a manipulator feeds into a rotary forging machine.","The machine rotates and hammers the piece, gradually shaping the hot metal into an axle.","The manipulator and the forging machine work as a team, ultimately shaping the axle to the required diameter and length.","The axles then go through a heat-treating process.","Next, they machine the entire axle, removing all excess material, and prepare it to accept the train wheel.","Here, a wheel mounting press fits a wheel onto each end of the axle.","A worker lubricates the axle and attaches a bearing.","He then bolts on the end cap and secures it using a torque wrench.","A crimper tool locks the bolts in place.","Finally, the mounted wheel set rolls off the assembly line, ready to install under a rail car."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pencils","Metal Recycling","Coffee"]},"text":["The lead inside a pencil isn't actually lead.","It's mostly graphite, which was discovered in england in the mid-1500s, giving birth to the pencil industry.","In 1795, a french chemist invented a new type of pencil lead, made of graphite powder and clay fired in an oven, making it possible to produce leads with different hardness.","For the pencil's body, you need a type of wood that's soft enough to sharpen, yet strong enough not to bend under the writer's hand pressure.","This german pencil factory uses cedar from california.","The wood is .","2 inches thick and arrives precut in slats of 7 x 2 1/2 inches.","One by one, the slats pass under a giant cutting wheel.","It carves grooves that will become the channel down the middle that holds the lead.","The next machine fills the grooves with glue, a special formulation that's slightly elastic.","This cushions the lead so that it's less likely to break inside the channel.","Every second slat moves onto another conveyor belt.","The ones that stay on this line head toward the machine that lays in the lead.","The lead is made of a graphite-and-clay mixture, baked in an oven at almost 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","The lead-laying machine's wheel loads itself with leads, their spacing matching the grooves in the slats.","It's the same process for colored pencils, only the leads are made of wax, clay, and pigments with no baking required.","Now for the slats that move to that other conveyor belt.","An automated arm flips each one over, slides it across a glue applicator, then drops it onto a leaded slat on the other conveyor belt.","All the steps to this point have culminated in what is effectively a lead sandwich.","Now a plunger squeezes those sandwiches together with a full ton of pressure.","It compresses them for an hour while the glue dries.","After that, it's just a matter of slicing the sandwiches into pencils.","The shaping machine makes the hexagonal profile in two steps.","First, its upper cutter forms three sides on top, then its lower cutter shapes three sides on the bottom.","As soon as the bottom side is cut, the pencils separate.","A worker pulls a sample pencil from each batch coming off the line and manually sharpens it to spot-check lead quality.","Then he applies force to the tip until it breaks.","For a pencil to pass this strength test, it has to withstand at least 4 1/2 pounds of force.","Now it's time to dress that bare wood.","One at a time, the pencils shoot through a device called a lacquering head.","It coats the wood in paint, yellow in this case.","It takes four coats of paint to completely hide the wood grain.","A fifth lacquering head paints a black stripe, this company's trademark.","Then a sixth head seals the paint job with a transparent lacquer.","From the paint line, the pencils make their way to a stamping machine at an astounding rate of 500 pencils a minute.","The machine heat-transfers foil lettering from a plastic film to the painted wood.","Last stop-- the rubber-tip assembly machine.","First, it squeezes the top of the pencil to slide on an aluminum ferrule.","Then it inserts a rubber eraser into the ferrule's other end and squeezes that tight.","European-style pencils have a painted cap instead, the color indicating how hard the lead is.","After a coat of transparent sealer, the pencils take a series of dips in the first color, then, once that dries, in the second color.","The final coat is a high-gloss lacquer.","The pencils are finally ready to roll...","Across a grinding drum for sharpening.","By the time they roll off, they're pointed perfection.","Looking as good as they perform, today's pencils sure have the right stuff.","There are two types of scrap metal-- ferrous and nonferrous.","Ferrous scrap is scrap iron and steel that comes mainly from old cars.","Nonferrous scrap metal includes aluminum, copper, lead, and nickel.","And the best part is metals can be recycled indefinitely without losing any of their properties.","Each year, north american auto plants build millions of cars.","Eventually, they end up here, at a scrap-metal-recycling facility.","It takes about two days to process the raw material, mostly old cars and appliances.","Crane and bulldozer operators scan the raw material as they gather and stack it.","They're looking for anything they can't process-- propane tanks, glass, or heavy iron that will not shred and that could cause damage to the machinery.","An inspector goes into the stockpile to check the material more closely, then signals the crane operator that he can proceed with the next load.","The crane's grapple delivers load after load onto a conveyor belt that leads into a shredder.","The belt speeds up or slows down according to the weight of the material to feed just the right amount into the shredder.","Here's the feed box that contains the shredder laid open.","An inspector checks it daily for damage.","There's a lot of wear and tear on this machinery.","A 4,000-pound drum grabs the material as it comes off the conveyor and forces it into the shredder.","Its giant hammers pound away at the cars, mattresses, and other recyclable items, shredding them into fist-sized chunks.","An industrial vacuum sucks out bits of rubber or glass mixed in with the shredded steel.","The steel pieces stick to these magnetic drums.","Anything else falls through to a conveyor belt below.","Here, pickers remove any unwanted material caught on the steel pieces, and the clean shredded steel is ready for shipping to customers like steel mills and foundries.","The material the magnetic drums don't collect goes on for more processing.","There's precious nonferrous metals such as copper or brass mixed in with shredded debris.","It all goes into a machine called a trommel, where a rotating drum separates the material by size.","Any leftover residue is just trash.","But before it goes to a landfill, an inspector checks it to make sure no valuable material has slipped through.","The material from the trommel is evenly dispersed onto a conveyor that takes it to a machine called an eddy current separator.","Inside, a rotating magnetic drum creates a strong magnetic field that repels nonferrous metals right up and over a barrier into a storage bin.","Any material that doesn't make it over the barrier goes through the separator one more time, just in case there's still some valuable nonferrous metals mixed in.","A conveyor belt carries out the worthless residue to a trash heap.","A different conveyor belt carries the nonferrous metal out of the separator and loads it into a bin for sale.","It will go to another plant where they'll separate it by type of metal-- mainly copper, brass, and aluminum.","After all that shredding, sifting, and separating, here's what's left of the average used car.","Take away the rubber, plastic, and upholstery, and you have some shredded steel...","And some valuable nonferrous metals.","That's a lot of useful material thanks to some efficient recycling.","According to legend, a goat herder in ethiopia discovered coffee around 850 a.d. eventually, the beverage reached italy, where the first european coffeehouse opened in 1645.","Today, about 2 billion cups of coffee are drunk each day around the world, making coffee the second-most valuable trading commodity after oil.","Coffee's flavor depends on the region where it grows and the way coffee makers roast and blend the beans.","Here in costa rica, they grow coffee plants from sprouted seeds kept in containers for a full year before they transplant them into the field.","From seed to first harvest takes about two years.","Coffee plants flower over the course of three days, covering the fields with fragrant jasmine-like blooms.","Over six months' time, the buds grow and ripen into red cherries that contain the coffee bean.","Pickers harvest the red cherries, leaving the green ones to ripen.","They'll return to pick the cherries from the same plant five times in three months as they ripen.","Pickers do their best to have no more than 2 green for every 100 red cherries they harvest.","They empty their bins into bags and load them into trucks.","Each bin produces about 4 1/2 pounds of coffee beans, enough to make about 200 cups of coffee.","The fresher the berry, the better the flavor.","Cherries picked in the morning are at the wet mill, ready for processing that afternoon.","At the wet mill, water channels wash the cherries and drop them off at a worm screw.","It loads them into a pulping machine to remove the outer skin and fruit.","A rotating drum presses the cherries against the wall of the pulper and squeezes out the bean.","From the pulping machine, the beans flow in water to two large rotating cylinders.","They sift the beans to separate them from any of the hard green cherries that pass through the pulping machine.","Next, the beans bathe in more water, which draws out a thick sugary substance known as miel, \"honey\" in spanish.","The coffee maker then feeds the washed beans to make sure they're no longer sticky.","The beans then drop into the drying bin below.","Workers now lay out the beans to dry in the traditional way-- outdoors on a cement patio.","For four days, they rake over the beans as they dry in the hot sun.","At night, they let the beans rest to extract the most flavor.","Once the beans are dry, they go into a milling machine.","Inside, large stones grind away the parchment-like hull from the bean.","Drying methods vary among coffee makers.","They're a closely guarded secret.","The beans can also dry mechanically in rotating drums that pump in heated air.","Workers closely monitor the process and empty the drums when the beans are dry.","A supervisor smells them to check for a vinegar-like odor.","That would mean the beans are fermenting, a result of improper drying.","The dry beans have their husks removed, then go on to an oscillating table that separates them by weight into three grades, the heaviest being the first-grade beans.","Workers pour out each grade into burlap bags.","Their contents must weigh in at 152 pounds per bag.","Finally, they stitch them up and stack them for shipping.","Next, we'll see the whole process that turns these green coffee beans into a steaming cup of gourmet coffee.","Coffee boasts more than 800 flavor characteristics, at least double those of wine.","Roasting reduces the amount of caffeine in the bean.","To achieve a dark-espresso roast, the beans remain in the roaster the longest, so they have the least caffeine.","It's the concentrated brew that packs espresso's punch.","These green coffee beans have just arrived from the wet mill.","Workers pour them out into a blending bin that feeds a roasting machine heated to 356 degrees fahrenheit.","At that temperature, the oils in the beans combust, and the beans roast in less than 20 minutes.","The master roaster must regularly check their progress.","When he determines they're ready, he sets off a light spray of water in the roaster to extinguish the beans.","Then they pour into a bin where they're cooled by forced air.","As they roast, the beans go from green to golden brown, then black.","Before roasting an entire shipment of beans, coffee makers first test a small batch.","They follow a standardized procedure at the plant's testing laboratory.","First, they roast a half-pound of beans in a small gas oven for a few minutes.","Then a professional taster measures out the beans and feeds them into an electric grinder.","She prepares four separate cups of coffee with the same coarse grind.","It takes 4 tastes to make sure all is well, 20 to detect the source of a problem roast.","She begins by pushing aside the foam at the surface to release the intense aromas, a technique known as breaking the cup.","She smells each cup in turn, a sure way to know if something is wrong with the roast.","Next, she skims the surface to remove the grounds.","She takes a sip, slipping the coffee over her tongue to get the full flavor before spitting it out.","Now she can determine how she will balance the blend of beans to create a recipe for the perfect cup of coffee.","Back on the factory floor, the various beans for the blend go into a grinder.","It will produce the desired grind-- coarse, medium, or a fine espresso like this.","Now the coffee is ready for packaging.","It's a fully-automated process thanks to this machine that forms, fills, and seals the bags.","Gourmet coffee must go piping hot from the grinder to the bag to ensure freshness.","As the machine seals each bag, it pumps in nitrogen to replace the oxygen that makes coffee stale.","The machine separates the bags, and they fall onto a custom-designed conveyor belt that weighs each one as it passes through.","Over at the espresso machine, the barista demonstrates the technique required for a perfect espresso.","She puts a quarter-ounce of ground coffee into the holder, tamps it down firmly, then wedges it in place.","The machine applies water pressure to extract the espresso.","The distinctive foam is a sign this coffee's first-rate.","The barista also demonstrates how to use a french press or cafetière.","She adds boiling water to the coffee grounds, then pushes them down to the base.","Again, she applies pressure, manually this time, to extract the coffee's aroma.","Finally, she demonstrates how costa ricans make a traditional cup of coffee.","She places a chorreador, a fine cotton sieve, over the cup, pressing on the ground coffee with a spoon as she pours in boiling water.","No matter which one you choose, with the right gourmet roast, all three methods will produce an outstanding cup of rich, flavorful coffee."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Combination Squares","Farmed Shrimp","Ball Valves","String Trimmers"]},"text":["A combination square is a measuring tool you use when building with wood, masonry or metal to make sure something's straight, even and level.","It's essentially a ruler with interchangeable sliding heads.","The most basic head, called a square, measures 90 and 45 degree angles.","This combination square comes with three heads.","They lock into a groove on one side of the blade.","The blade starts out grooved but blank.","So to etch the graduations into it, they first coat the surfaces with photoresist, a chemical that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light.","Then they flash uv light on both sides of the blade through polyester film negatives of the graduations.","The light hardens only the photo resistant hits through the clear parts.","The rest remain soft.","After manually masking the groove, workers put the blade through a photochemical etching machine.","It washes off the soft photoresist that's in the pattern of the graduations, then hits that bared steel with a metal-eating salt solution, etching the graduations into the blade.","Everything else is masked by hardened photo resist, which they wash off afterward.","The blade measures in imperial units.","They set it in this machine, which registers the location of the 1-inch mark, then grinds down the end of the blade until it's precisely 1 inch from that line.","They run the blade through a sandblaster.","It shoots glass beads onto the steel surface to make it microscopically rough.","This will give the chrome plating a matte, rather than glossy finish, making the graduations easier to read.","Before plating, they clean the blade by dipping it in acid.","Then they submerge it in the electroplating tank for about 15 seconds.","Now, the steel blade, with its graduations on both sides, is plated in chrome.","The next step is called black filling.","They apply black enamel paint to both sides of the blade, then wipe the surface clean.","The black remains in the recessed graduations, making the numbers and lines easier to read.","Fifteen minutes in an oven to bake on the blackfill, then a quality control inspection and the blade is finished.","Meanwhile, in another part of the factory, this computer guided machine uses both milling and drilling tools to machine forged pieces of steel into heads.","This is the forged square head, before and after machining to its finished shape.","The next step is to harden the steel.","They place the head into the furnace for 3 minutes at more than 1,472 degrees fahrenheit.","The head comes out covered in black soot.","So they sandblast it clean.","The surface is now prepped for painting.","The apply powdered paint electrostatically, running a positive electrical charge to the head and a negative one to the paint.","This draws the paint to the part like a magnet, coating the entire service in an even layer.","A 45 minute trip through an oven bakes on the paint.","Then, they mount the head on a computer-guided machine that grinds that paint off the head's angle-measuring surfaces.","They install the head's bubble level.","First, they insert a white paper background, which makes it easier to see the air bubble.","Then they insert the glass vial containing the bubble floating in a glucose solution.","A dab of plaster at both ends holds the vial in its designated slot.","They assemble the lock bolt that holds the head in the blade's groove.","They mount it with a spring and a washer to prevent the lock from rotating and secure it with a nut.","Then they close up the bubble level slot with an endcap.","They run the unpainted angle measuring surfaces against the buffing wheel to polish the steel to a shine.","The last step, inserting a scribing awl into its slot.","You use the awl to make a scratch mark when you take a measurement.","Now, the final assembly, the square head, the protractor head and the center head.","All three come on the combination square.","But when using the tool, you install only one at a time.","By the late 1960s, fishermen just couldn't keep up with a growing global demand for shrimp.","This gave birth to commercial shrimp farming.","Most shrimp farms are located near the sea for access to salt water.","The greatest producer of farmed shrimp is asia, with thailand being the largest exporter.","Shrimp hatcheries raise the offspring of their breeding stock through three larval stages, then sell them to shrimp farms, which grow them to market size.","As this model demonstrates, the shrimp farm first purifies the seawater it uses, through a system of treatment ponds containing fish that feed on microorganisms.","Then the farm pumps the treated water to a culture pond, in which the juvenile shrimp grow to maturity.","This is what the shrimp look like at about 2 months old.","Shrimp farms are typically located on a coast for seawater access.","Workers spread organic fertilizer before filling the culture pond to restore the soil bottom to optimum conditions between harvests.","They pump seawater into the first treatment pond, where tilapia fish naturally purify the water by consuming floating microscopic organisms called plankton.","Plant matter in fish feces settle at the bottom of the pond.","A pump moves water from this first treatment pond to a second one.","For another round of this natural cleaning process.","Then a pump transfers the water from the second treatment pond to the cultural pond.","Once the pond is full, they release the juvenile shrimp purchased from the hatchery.","Workers regularly monitor the water's oxygen level and run aeration propellers when it drops too low.","The agitation also helps debris settle at the bottom of the pond.","Workers run a weekly water quality test on samples drawn from the treatment and culture ponds.","Regularly monitoring the cultural pond is particularly critical because shrimp feces and urine break down into ammonia, which is toxic at high level.","The test solution reacts to the concentration of ammonia in the water sample, turning a shade of yellow or green.","They consult a color chart to translate this into a milligrams of ammonia per meter reading.","Then they consult a table showing safe, dangerous and toxic levels.","If the reading is above the safe range, they dilute the ammonia by pumping more treated water into the culture pond.","Once a week, they also pull a few shrimp from the culture pond to extract their livers.","First, they examine the shape of the organ.","They examine it under a microscope to see how fatty it is.","A well-shaped liver with sufficient fat indicates the shrimp was in good health, and, therefore, the others back in the pond are too.","The growing shrimp are fed an all-natural diet, which includes probiotics, tamarind, which is soaked in water...","And garlic.","Workers add these three ingredients to the shrimp feed, which is a mixture of fish meal, fish oil, soy bean pulp and rice flour.","Tamarind maintains the right level of acidity in the shrimp's gut.","Garlic prevents bacteria buildup in the colon.","And the probiotic solution provides beneficial bacteria, which prevents infections and improves how the shrimp digests nutrients.","After blending and liquefying the three ingredients, they mix in 6 fluid ounces per 2 pounds of shrimp feed.","Four times a day, at 8 am, noon, 4 pm and 8 pm, workers pour food onto an automatic feeding machine, which distributes it evenly throughout the culture pond.","The shrimp feed over the entire 12 hour period, eating the equivalent of about 4% to 5% of their body weight.","After 4 to 5 months in the cultural pond, the shrimp mature to market size, which is 20 to 30 grams.","Once they're harvested, the farm drains the culture pond and starts the process all over again.","The ball valve came into large scale industrial use during the 20th century.","With a hollow and pivoting ball to control the flow of fluids, this valve is durable and resistant to contamination.","It's why many industries rely on ball valves to keep production flowing.","Ball valves control the flow of gases.","In machinery used to produce high-tech products like led lights.","It's just one way they contribute to the modern world.","Making ball valves for led manufacturing starts with an 11-foot long steel bar stock.","As coolant, a saw carves it up like salami, producing 50 or 60 steel pucks.","Computerized tooling then drills holes in the pucks, as it begins to transform them into the valve center parts.","The system changes tool bits automatically.","Cutters square up the pucks, so that they'll fit in the led chip making machinery.","A grinding tool mills the tops of the parts to a precise tolerance.","Once the final shape has been achieved, a worker gives the part a sanding.","He removes rough bits, known as burrs, and smoothes the entire surface.","With a narrow blade, he then scrapes off any burrs in the holes that could impede the valve's function.","With the deburring complete, he measures each valve body.","Ceramic bits that look like aquarium gravel will now be used to polish the steel valve parts.","The operator places the valve bodies in the cells of a drum tumbler.","He puts the lid on the tumbler and sets it in motion.","The friction polishes the steel, creating a smooth surface that won't block the movement of gas molecules.","Next, they assemble flanges to the endcaps.","After tack welding the two parts together, an operator places them in a revolving fixture.","He welds them together, creating a substantial inside seam that will hold up to vacuum conditions.","He scrubs off the heat stain inside the part, using a wire brush.","The stain has also spread around the seams on the outside of the parts.","So a worker rinses the outside of the seam with water.","He washes off the stain using an electrified carbon brush and an acid cleaning solution.","Then it's in to an ultrasonic cleaner, where soundwaves ripple through water to remove dust and cleaning solution residue.","To assemble the ball valve, the technician places two rubber o-rings on top of an endcap.","Next is a thick synthetic ring, which will secure the ball in the valve.","He seats the valve body over it.","He cleanses the hollow steel ball and inserts it in the valve body.","He stacks more rubber sealers, another synthetic sealer and another endcap on top.","He inserts long bolts into the four corners of the valve and secures them tightly with nuts to keep air from seeping into the valve.","He attaches a handle to the stem, protruding from the valve body.","He installs a stop pin to prevent the handle from opening beyond a quarter turn.","Finally, he tightens the nut that locks the handle to the valve stem.","He now secures the ball valve in a vise to hold it steady while he tests its function.","When the whole of the ball is aligned with flanges of the endcaps, the valve is open.","And when it's perpendicular to it, it's shut.","Satisfied with its function, he transfers the ball valve to the laser engraver.","The laser etches the serial number and other information onto the valve body.","And now, one final test, the technician connects the valve to a vacuum pumping system and activates a leak-detecting device.","While the pump draws a vacuum, he sprays helium gas onto the valve to detect any leaks.","This ensures the valve will operate properly in a high vacuum environment.","Some of these ball valves are manually operated.","And others are computerized.","Both versions are designed to hold up to high vacuum conditions and handle the flow.","If you have grass or weeds to cut, but can't access the spot with your lawn mower, you need a string trimmer for the job.","It's compact, letting you cut around and in between objects, and doesn't ride on the ground.","So you can easily use it on a steep terrain.","A string trimmer slices the vegetation in its path with a rotating nylon line.","The motor that turns the spool of line is protected by a two-part housing made of polymer.","The polymer pellets are pumped through pipes to the hopper, that feeds an injection molding machine.","The machine melts them, then shoots the liquid plastic into housing-shaped molds.","The machine then cools the molds to solidify the plastic and ejects the molded parts, which a robot grabs and places in a collection box.","To make other plastic parts of the string trimmer, they install different molds on the injection molding machine and hook up the feed line for whichever color pellets they're using.","To make the cutting line, an extrusion machine melts down plastic pellets, then forces the liquid plastic through a round die to form line.","A cold water bath cools and solidifies the shape.","Then, heated rollers stretch the line until its reduced to 3 millimeters in diameter.","The line is wound onto large spools, which feed the machines that wind the finished trimmer spools.","On the engine assembly line, an automated machine applies sealant to the magnesium engine pan.","They place the cylinder on an assembly fixture, apply a gasket, then insert the piston.","Already assembled to the crankcase, its up and down motion turns.","Then they mate the engine pan to the crankcase.","The sealant in between making that connection airtight.","An automated machine screws the components together, then closes off the exhaust ports and pulls a vacuum to test the seal.","If the engine assembly passes the test, it continues down the assembly line.","They install a gasket...","The carburetor...","Another gasket and the housing for the air filter.","Then they install a baffle, which distributes air so that it enters the air filter evenly.","They attach a gasket under the muffler and screw the muffler onto the cylinder.","The gasket and sealant on the screws ensure the only exhaust gases can escape through the muffler.","Next, the flywheel.","When it rotates, magnets inside produce an electromagnetic field the ignition uses to set off the spark plug that starts the engine combustion cycle.","After mounting the clutch on the flywheel, they install the spark plug on the cylinder.","This automated machine simultaneously tightens the spark plug, the clutch and the flywheel to specified torques.","By this point, workers have welded a fuel tank to the motor housing.","They've also installed a trigger, a trigger release, and a stop switch.","They place the assembled engine into the housing.","They also place the air filter into the filter housing.","At the next station, they attach the other half of the motor housing.","A robot tightens the screws to a specific torque.","Next, they screw a cover on to the filter housing.","Then they create the trimmer's powerhead by installing the starter cover.","It contains the cord you pull to start the engine.","Elsewhere in the factory, they build the shaft assembly, to which they'll later attach the powerhead.","First, they put together the handle in the gearhead that turns the spool of line.","Then they install the spool.","When the cutting line wears down from use, you tap the spool against the ground to automatically advance more line.","They insert the shaft assembly into the powerhead.","The other end of the drive shaft connects to the gearhead.","The last step is to attach the gearhead's deflector, which is designed to help prevent what you're trimming from flying up at you.","To use the string trimmer, you fill the fuel tank with a gas and oil mixture.","Then, just pull the cord to start her up."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Watches","Steel Bicycles","Raw Pet Food","Replica Police Lanterns"]},"text":["Sure, your mobile phone will give you the time, but not nearly as conveniently or fashionably as a wristwatch does.","Watches come in a variety of materials, often combined with stainless steel.","But one of the more creative pairings is stainless steel with wood.","This company makes wristwatches which feature exotic hardwood accents.","This particular model is a limited-edition series designed for new york yankees baseball fans.","The blue-painted maple comes from wooden seats salvaged from the original yankee stadium, which opened in 1923.","At the watch factory, a worker first cuts a strip of wood just over a third of an inch thick, then cuts it into blocks measuring around three fourths of an inch by a third of an inch each.","Manufacturers will ultimately use these blocks to make the wood inlays in the links of the watch bracelet.","The worker then cuts another strip from a piece of wood, this one nearly a quarter of an inch thick.","The worker then cuts this strip into nearly 2-by-2-inch squares.","Each one will become a ring called a bezel that goes around the watch dial.","Another worker mounts one square at a time on a lathe and bores a hole through the middle.","She mounts several board squares onto a steel mandrill that attaches to the lathe along with the bezel template.","As the lathe turns, a steel roughing gouge rounds the squares to the diameter of the template.","She takes one bezel at a time and cuts it to the required thickness, about a tenth of an inch.","She then shaves wood from the underside so as not to remove the historic blue paint on top.","To make the watch case, which houses the dial and movement, the manufacturers cut a blank piece of extruded stainless steel, then place it in a computer-guided machine.","Under a continuous shower of lubricant, the machine's 12 different tools take turns shaping the piece into a watch case.","The first tools bore a hole in the middle for the movement and carve a groove around the hole for the wood bezel.","The next tools cut the outside profile of the case and the lugs for attaching the watch band.","Then, the final tool drills holes in the lugs for the spring-loaded pins that attach the watch band to the case.","Another computer-guided machine makes the watch band and links out of a bar of stainless steel.","This machine reduces the bar and width, carves out the links and bores holes for the connecting pins.","A process called ion plating puts a black finish on all the stainless-steel parts.","Then, a worker assembles two bands and connects one to the watch clasp.","Next, he attaches the watch case window.","It's made of sapphire glass, a crystal that's exceptionally durable.","He inserts the self-winding movement and dial.","The dial is a sheet of brass with cut-out numbers and indices over a base.","Coated in luminescent paint, the watch glows in the dark.","He secures the movement to the case with a retaining ring, then inserts the crown, which sets the dial's hands.","The worker screws on the stainless-steel case back.","The watch's window of sapphire glass allows you to see the working movement inside.","The case back is engraved with the name of the limited-edition collection and this watch's number in the series.","He attaches the watch band to the case with spring pins.","With the watch now fully assembled, it's time to inlay the yankee stadium wooden chair accents.","Using a toothpick, a worker applies epoxy glue to the rectangular recess in each link.","Then he places a wooden link piece in each recess.","He follows the same process for the dial's wooden bezel.","A worker sets the watch aside for 24 hours to let the adhesive set.","Then the worker buffs the entire surface on a cloth polishing wheel.","This process removes the fingerprints and dust and smoothes those historic wood accents.","The watch automatically winds with wrist movement to reliably tell the time while nostalgically going back in time.","If you're looking for an affordable bicycle that's durable and has great shock absorption capabilities, then a bike made of steel is for you.","It's a bit heavier than a high-end bicycle made of aluminum or carbon fiber, but this rugged material buys you a smoother ride at a significantly lower price.","This three-speed steel bicycle is sturdy and comfortable enough to ride recreationally or daily to school or work.","A cargo rack in the rear can hold your purse, backpack or briefcase.","The bike is made of chromoly steel, which is, pound-for-pound, stronger than standard steel.","To prepare the bike's tubular parts including the frame, a worker cuts steel tube with a horizontal band saw into specific-length pieces.","He then clamps certain frame pieces into a milling machine, which will cut a curve into one or both ends depending on the piece's location in the final assembly.","This notch, as it's called, will let the tube butt up against the side of an adjacent tube when the bike's frame is assembled.","The notched edge is ragged, so the worker smoothes it out with a small belt sander.","Certain frame parts are straight, others bent.","To make the bent ones, another worker places the piece of tube in a tube bender, a press that forces the tube against a curved dye.","Once all the frame parts are ready, a welder clamps them in a fixture, which correctly positions them for assembly.","He works with a welding torch in one hand and a rod of filler metal in the other.","The torch melts adjacent tubes at their meeting point so that they fuse together.","The welder also melts in some filler metal to strengthen the joint.","The bicycle frame is made up of nine major parts.","And the welder welds them to each other in two sections, forming the rear triangle and the front triangle.","This is the rear one, which alone requires nine meticulous welds.","Once each triangle is separately assembled, he welds them together.","Another worker sprays the frame with powder-coat primer, then color.","Powder coat is an industrial-grade, paint-like finish, which he bakes onto the metal at almost 400 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes.","When the frame comes out of the oven, another worker presses steel caps into what's called the head tube, that vertical tube at the front of the frame which holds the handlebars on top and the fork for the front wheel at the bottom.","Bearings inside the caps let the handlebars and fork turn left and right with ease.","To put the bicycle together, the worker suspends the frame in an assembly stand and then inserts the bottom bracket, which will ultimately support the bike's drivetrain system.","The bike's fenders are made of sheet steel that's shaped with pressure-applying rollers.","The rear fender attaches to the rear dropout and at fender mounts at two other locations on the frame's rear triangle.","He screws the cargo rack to middle and rear rack supports.","Then, he inserts and bolts the rear wheel into the rear dropout.","The wheel hub has three built-in gears.","The hub and rim are made of aluminum, which is lightweight and doesn't rust.","The wheel spokes are stainless steel.","Next, the worker installs the drivetrain system, inserting the crank arms, already mounted to the chain ring, onto the bottom bracket.","He tightens the bolt securely with a torque wrench.","Workers then insert the fork into the bottom of the head tube and chrome-plated steel handlebars into the top mount, the front fender and front wheel, then install the pedals, vinyl seat, chain and chain guard.","With the gear shifter and front brake lever on the handlebars, this steel bicycle is ready to hit the road.","For some pet owners, feeding raw food to fido is a natural choice.","It harkens back to the common ancestor of all dog breeds, the wolf.","In the wild, wolves eat raw meat and occasionally some greens, so the theory goes that dogs are genetically predisposed to thrive on a raw-meat diet.","Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, but when it comes to their diet, they can still go a little wild.","Raw canine cuisine may be a foreign concept to some pet owners, but it's becoming more mainstream.","The makers of raw dog food often mix fruits and vegetables with meat to provide fiber and create a balanced meal.","The process starts with a lot of slicing and dicing.","A food worker chops the fruits and veggies into smaller pieces so they'll be able to go through a grinder more easily.","He also removes the seeds from the apples and the squash because the seeds aren't as easily digested as the rest of the fruit and provide no additional nutrition.","This raw pet food recipe calls for a variety of fruits and vegetables.","Though, in total, they will comprise just 5% of the meal.","The rest of the raw blend will consist of meat, bones, organs and fish.","Another food worker chops up the chicken, which has been organically raised and has even been approved for human consumption.","Except for the breasts, all the parts of the chicken will be used in the main recipe.","This includes the heart, liver, gizzards and the bones.","Raw, whole sardines, anchovies and mackerel will add essential fatty acids to the raw chicken blend.","All the ingredients have been prepared and are now ready for grinding.","A worker feeds the components to the grinder in small batches interspersing the meat, fish and the vegetables.","This ensures even distribution, as the grinder minces everything to a uniform particle size.","The result is a thick emulsion of finely ground chicken meat, bones, vegetables, fruits and fish.","She transfers the minced raw ingredients to a mixer.","The revolving paddles further blend the food.","After about 5 minutes in the mixer, all the ingredients have been combined into one homogeneous raw mass.","This chicken blend is now complete.","The worker divides it into 5-pound batches and scoops it into bags.","She vacuum seals the bag.","Removing all the air inside will allow the raw blend to stay fresh longer.","Refrigerated, it should last for up to 10 days and, if frozen, it should be good for several months.","For the furry members of the family, dinner is ready to be served.","To make some raw pet snacks, a worker de-shells new zealand green-lipped mussels, a species that is believed to have fast-acting anti-inflammatory properties.","After she cuts the mussels free from the shells, she places them on racks for air-drying.","She transfers the rack into a drying tent where fans keep air circulating 24 hours a day.","As the mussels dry, they shrink.","After 72 hours in the tent, the moisture content is substantially reduced.","Air drying has preserved the flesh of the mussels in the raw state while preventing damage to the nutrients and enzymes they contain.","Now preserved, she packs the mussels into plastic bags and adds an iron oxide packet to absorb oxygen and prevent spoilage.","This raw pet food is now ready to nourish the wolf in your dog.","Before the invention of electricity, criminal acts were hidden by darkness.","Police officers carried special lanterns as they pursued suspects.","Today, craftsmen replicate these lanterns for the movie and television industries.","These props are authentically replicated pieces of police history.","With a thick bull's-eye lens to magnify the light from the flame, the 19th-century police lantern helped find bad guys on shadowy streets.","To replicate a vintage police lantern, the craftsman starts with a piece of steel.","Using a scribe, he traces around a pattern to transfer the outline to the blank.","He marks notches for hinges and for the latch and etches the shape of the lens hole in the center.","He draws two diagonal lines in the lens hole area.","The point where the lines intersect determines the exact center.","He punches a divot into the steel at this cross point.","He scribes lines along the edges for bending into a reinforced border later on.","He cuts out the hinge and latch notches following the transferred pattern lines.","Next, he aligns the center divot with a punch and then activates the punch to cut out the hole for the lantern lens.","The craftsman now bends wire to match the profile of the lantern door.","He aligns the wire with the scribed lines on the edge of the door and folds the metal over it.","Bending the door to the correct curvature completes the part.","Following another pattern, the craftsman marks the location for vent holes in the blank that will become the lantern's main structure.","He cuts out the vent holes where he's made the marks using a hand-operated punch.","He then rolls the blank into a cylinder.","It takes a couple of passes to achieve the correct curvature.","Moving on to the lantern's lens holder, the craftsman crimps a bead around one end.","This bead helps to retain the bull's-eye lens in the holder.","Returning to the lantern body, he hammers the top rim around the cap.","He preps the surface for soldering with a chemical cleaning agent known as flux.","He then solders the joint to secure the top to the lantern.","He also solders a raised panel to the back.","This substantial panel serves as support for handles.","He then cleans the solder joints with acetone.","Next, he wraps metal hinges around the wire that runs through the notches in the door.","He crimps the hinges together at the ends and positions the door on the lantern body.","He adjusts the hinges so the ends sit level on the lantern.","He solders the hinges to the steel structure.","The craftsman inserts the bull's-eye lens assembly into the hole in the center of the lantern door, and he solders the joint.","He pins and solders the two tiers of a copper chimney.","He places the chimney over the hole in the top of the lantern and tucks more pins into holes in the chimney.","The craftsman installs a decorative part in the top, one that won't obstruct the chimney hole.","He assembles the handles to the raised panel at the back of the lantern.","Once the soldered seam hardens, he files it down.","The craftsman tests the latch on the door and confirms that it operates perfectly.","After taping up the lens and handles, he spray paints the lantern black.","Now it's time to assemble the oil-burning mechanism.","First, the craftsman melts solder onto a threaded brass collar and transfers it to the oil tank.","He reheats the solder to melt it into the joint.","He inserts the wick in the tank and screws the burner to the collar.","And that completes the lantern's light source.","This replica police lantern will be a working prop designed to shine on tv and the movies."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Corn Tortillas","Crankshafts & Camshafts","Bush Planes","Aluminum Bike Wheels"]},"text":["The corn tortilla is the original flatbread invented, legend has it, thousands of years ago by a mayan peasant to feed his king.","A royal appetite may have been the inspiration for this unleavened creation, but it soon gained mass appeal and became a staple of the mexican diet.","The corn tortilla has been popular for thousands of years.","In the last century, demand has grown as people in many countries acquire a taste for tex-mex cuisine, like tacos, enchiladas, and nachos.","Corn tortillas are now mass-produced in factories, and the process starts with grade-\"a\" corn-- dehusked and removed from the cob.","There are millions of kernels in one truckload.","They unload onto an elevator that takes them several stories up to deposit them in a silo.","They're stored here until the factory is ready to start production.","They then spill out of the silo and into big steel cooking vats.","A worker adds water, completely immersing the corn.","He activates a steam-injection heating system, and as the temperature rises, he tosses in numerous scoops of powdered limestone.","It acts as a preservative and helps soften the kernels during cooking.","As they soften, the outer skin, or pericarp, loosens, releasing starch and creating a foamy effect.","After 45 minutes, they turn off the heat, and the corn steeps for eight hours.","With the kernels softened even more by the long soak, it's time to wash off a lot of the loosened pericarp.","A little pericarp still clings to the cooked corn, but that's part of the plan.","It will act as a bonding agent when the corn is shaped into tortillas.","The corn now funnels into a spiraling blade that delivers it to a grinder.","They add water and a preservative.","The auger moves the ingredients between two volcanic stones that grind everything into a corn mash.","The mash has a grainy texture similar to couscous.","That changes when they press it through an extruder.","The extruder kneads it into a dough called masa.","As the masa exits the machine, it's collected by a worker.","He transfers the corn dough to a machine called a pre-sheeter.","Here, automated paddles push the masa between two sets of rollers.","The rollers press it into a thick sheet.","The sheet of dough travels through another machine called the sheeter cutter.","In this machine, more rollers squeeze the dough paper-thin as a die cuts out round tortilla shapes.","They roll and cut 84,000 tortillas an hour on the sheet cutter.","Another big roller takes up the matrix to be reused in the next batch of dough, as the cut tortillas head into the oven.","Once inside, the tortillas zigzag back and forth on three tiers of conveyors.","The lowest tier has the lowest temperature, and the top tier, the highest.","This three-tiered approach gradually bakes the tortillas in just 21 seconds, producing corn tortillas with just the right consistency.","A vacuum system suctions the tortillas to the next conveyor to keep them from falling off, as they now head to a cooling station.","Here, the tortillas again move to and fro-- this time on nine conveyor tiers to cool.","From a handful of corn kernels to a piece of round unleavened bread, once the corn has been cooked, the transformation happens in just minutes.","Whether the tortilla is made from white corn, yellow corn, or dyed other colors, the taste will be much the same.","Exiting the cooling zone, the tortillas move into lanes.","These lanes orient the tortillas in single file so they land in slots and stack up neatly.","A sensor keeps a running count, and when there's a pile of 40, a trapdoor opens and sends them to the packaging line.","These tortillas are now ready to add a little latin sizzle to the menu.","Packaged in stacks of 80, they're headed for restaurants and cafeterias-- fried, steamed, or just warmed in the oven.","When they start adding the fillings, things could get spicy.","In every vehicle, there are rotating shafts.","The crankshaft converts the pistons' vertical action into the circular motion that drives the wheels.","At the same time, the camshaft turns to open and close airflow valves.","These precision parts are behind every successful start-up.","Life on the road can be tough, and a good crankshaft has to keep on turning when the engine is under stress.","The crankshaft starts with a forged steel shape.","A computerized blade shaves off excess metal from sections called counterweights.","They offset the load of the engine's pistons and connecting rods, and this process slims them down to create a balance.","A computerized drill bores holes into one of the bearings to reduce the overall weight.","Next a worker removes marks the computerized tools have left on the metal.","He sands the entire crankshaft.","The surface must be completely flawless for it to operate smoothly.","Fine glass beads blast the part as it revolves in a rotisserie-like device to knock off sharp edges and give the crankshaft a consistent finish.","The crankshaft then spins in a lathe, as a blade slices away a precise amount of metal from each of the counterweights.","This machining provides enough clearance for the engine's pistons and rods to function.","The crankshaft then takes another spin in a device that has sensors to detect any imbalance.","It calculates that just over 29 grams of metal still needs to be removed.","Once the adjustment has been made, he measures the degree of straightness.","If it's off even slightly, he corrects it by applying pressure with a press and tapping a special radius chisel.","He then measures again to confirm he's done an even job.","On the left is a crankshaft that hasn't been balanced or straightened.","On the right is one that has.","Production now moves to the engine's other rotating shaft-- the camshaft.","Machining transforms a steel billet into the basic shape.","Like the crankshaft, this camshaft will need a lot of fine-tuning.","An automated tool first etches the part number and date onto one end, and then they get down to the precision work.","The camshaft must also be completely straight, so the technician measures it from one end to the other and makes adjustments where needed.","Next he selects a master template of a camshaft lobe and places it in a grinding machine.","This master is the pattern to be copied by a grinding wheel.","Once it's been locked in place, he activates the grinder.","It carves into the camshaft as it rotates and rocks back and forth in the machine.","The grinding wheel moves down the camshaft to shape all 16 lobes to the exact contours of the template.","This is how the camshaft looked before the master grinding...","And after.","Next a computerized probe measures the profile of each lobe and confirms that the dimensions and lift are identical.","At the next station, the camshaft spins to allow a worker to completely coat the journal bearings with a blue dye.","The dye masks the bearings to keep them smooth while the rest of the camshaft is being parkerized.","Parkerizing will give the camshaft an etched finish, which protects against wear.","They start with a quick rinse.","Then they plunge the camshafts into hot phosphorus acid.","The acid microscopically etches the metal while other chemicals in the bath add a thin graphite coating.","They rinse the residue.","After the finish has dried, a worker buffs the journal bearings as the camshaft spins.","This completely rubs off the blue dye and polishes the metal.","He then wipes down the entire camshaft with a dry rag.","He places the camshaft on a perforated metal shelf and floods it with oil.","Some oil drains away, but a residue clings to the part, and that residue will prevent rusting.","Once packaged, this rotating shaft is on its way to a garage or car factory, where, ultimately, it will do its part to help set the wheels in motion.","Bush planes are designed to fly in and out of remote areas.","They're engineered to be able to take off and land on short runways.","They can also be outfitted with floats to be able to land on water or skis to land on snow.","Some are made of metal, and others of tube and fabric construction.","A bush plane starts out as a design on paper.","This company handcrafts four-seater tube and fabric models-- the tubes forming the airplane's skeleton, the fabric, its skin.","Welders construct a tubular frame for the fuselage, the plane's main body.","The tubes are chromoly, a type of steel that contains chromium and molybdenum, which makes it stronger than standard steel.","Machinists make the aluminum fuel-tank components...","And prepare the landing gear.","Here, they're threading the axle for the tail wheel-- a small, rugged wheel at the back, which helps steer the airplane on the ground.","The landing gear consists of this tail wheel and two bigger wheels at the front.","They all have large low-pressure tires, which enable the plane to take off and land on rough terrain.","Workers spray aluminum pieces called ribs and spars with anti-corrosion paint, then rivet them together to build the internal structure of the wings.","Using a crimping tool, they make tiny indentations in the ribs to perfect the alignment.","Then they rivet on a skin of aluminum panels, about 1/50 of an inch thick in most areas.","They construct the wing's hinged surface, the flaps, and ailerons the same way.","The factory's paint shop sprays the wings, flaps, and ailerons with highly durable urethane paint, and the fuselage frame with powder-coat paint, which is then baked on for extra durability.","Now for the meticulous job of applying the fabric skin.","The material is heat-shrinkable polyester, commonly used in the aircraft industry because it's thin, lightweight, and exceptionally strong.","Workers brush an adhesive similar to contact cement onto the painted tubing, then adhere the fabric, working around the frame section by section.","Once the fuselage is completely covered, they run a hot iron over the fabric.","This shrinks it taut around the framework.","After letting the adhesive dry for a couple of hours, they take strips of fabric, coat them with a urethane-based adhesive, and reinforce the seams.","It's the same construction process for the tail components.","At the front of the fuselage now, they install the pedals, which control both the brakes and the rudder, which moves the tail from right to left.","Then the cockpit instrument panel, a thin sheet of aluminum with laser-cut openings for all the flight instrumentation.","Next two linked control yokes.","They move a series of chains, which maneuver certain components such as the aileron control sprockets.","Mechanics ran the fuel lines and most of the wiring within the fuselage frame prior to the fabric application.","Now they install a stainless-steel fire wall between the cockpit and the engine.","This seals the cockpit from engine heat, noise, and exhaust gases.","After installing the landing gear, brakes, and windshield, workers mount the engine and exhaust system.","Next the plane's aluminum propeller.","Other workers are busy installing the fuel tanks inside the wings.","The fuselage now goes to the paint shop.","When it comes back, workers bolt on the wings, supporting them from underneath with steel wing struts.","The wings on a bush plane are positioned higher than those on other types of aircraft to give the pilot better ground visibility.","After rigging up the flight controls and installing the interior trim, workers install the doors, plexiglas windows, and cockpit seating.","Each bush plane is inspected at every stage of the production process.","When it's completed, it undergoes a nose-to-tail final inspection.","And then a company pilot takes it out for a test flight.","A serious cyclist won't pedal just any bike.","It's got to have wheels made of strong-yet-lightweight material such as carbon fiber or aluminum.","Advanced bicycle wheels have tubing and spokes, shaped as aerodynamically as possible to lower wind resistance.","These elite-level racing wheels are made of aluminum.","They're designed to generate a smooth ride with optimum responsiveness to the rider's acceleration.","The starting material-- long, straight tubes of extruded aluminum, preshaped with a wheel-rim profile.","Workers load one extruded tube at a time into a metal bender.","The machine coils the tube around and around, forming four connected rims.","After measuring to ensure the diameter is exactly what it should be, they mount the coil tube onto a cutter.","With a single downward slice, it separates the four rims.","They fuse the cut ends later on.","First the rims need a bath in a tank of acid.","The acid removes dust and other contaminants and etches the surface of the metal, both of which help ensure full adhesion of the anti-corrosion coating they later apply.","Next a multiphase heat-treatment process.","This restructures the aluminum molecules, making the metal harder and stronger.","They join the two ends of the rim by riveting on an aluminum connector tab.","Then they weld the joint to reinforce it.","Using a sharp, vibrating cutting tool, a computer-guided machine smooths the weld line until it's nearly invisible.","This makes the rim appear seamless.","Now for that anti-corrosion coating.","The process is called anodization.","In a tank, they plate the aluminum with a protective chemical, using an electrical charge to draw the coating particles onto the rim surface.","For this model, the anodized coating is black.","However, there are several color choices.","Next a computer-guided machine shaves off a minute amount of anodized metal from nearly a third of the rim surface.","This creates a smooth, perfectly flat area for the brake pads to grip.","The next computer-guided machine drills holes for the tiny aluminum nipples, which hold the aluminum spokes to the rim.","Now it's time to assemble the wheel-- a manual task entrusted to specialized bicycle technicians, as it requires a level of craftsmanship no machine can perform.","The first technician inserts a spoke into each slot of a carbon-fiber-and-aluminum flange-- part of the hub at the center of the wheel.","Once every spoke is in its respective spoke seat, as it's called, he sandwiches them with a locking ring.","Now for the rim end of the spokes.","The next technician places a small steel plug inside a spoke nipple to make it magnetic.","Then she puts the nipple into the rim, and, using a magnet, draws it to a spoke hole, then through the hole toward the inside of the wheel.","Then she removes the steel plug and inserts the free end of a spoke into the nipple.","She repeats the procedure for each spoke hole.","This is known as lacing the wheel.","The next technician holds each spoke steady while tightening its nipple with a spoke wrench.","Tightening the nipple straightens the spoke.","The process of perfectly aligning the wheel by straightening every spoke is called trueing the wheel.","This gauge tells him when the wheel is finally trued.","For quality-control assurance, this robotic machine inspects each spoke and makes any necessary tensioning adjustments.","Depending on the model, a high-end bicycle wheel can have anywhere from 10 to 46 spokes.","Different spokes for different folks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Levels","Hot Dogs","Abrasive Grains","Sandpaper"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Levels...","Hot dogs...","Abrasive grain...","And sandpaper.","The level was invented in the 17th century to keep structures plumb and true.","Without it, buildings would lean, floors would be crooked, and maps would have inaccurate elevation information.","No matter what you're making, this critical tool always gives it to you straight.","It's a centuries-old concept, but still measures up.","Center the little bubble, and you're perfectly straight.","Production begins with a length of laminated birchwood.","An automated router carves out several holes, three of which will enclose the vials.","The other two will serve as handgrips.","Next, it's time to tackle the wood's perimeter.","Grooves are cut along the length of the wood for the level's brass binding.","Strips of brass are unwound into a forming machine.","Rollers iron out the curl from the coiling.","Other rollers then crimp the brass.","This process will allow the strip to fit into those grooves in the wood.","Lengths of brass binding are loaded into a machine that slides them into place.","This reinforces the edges of the wood.","Over at another station, a machine melts and molds the plastic for the vials.","Each one is slightly curved inside so the bubble has a place to sit.","The vials wind their way through a vibratory feeder.","It takes them to a gripper that rotates each one so the open end faces up.","In goes a squirt of yellow mineral spirits, leaving just enough room for a bubble to form.","A robotic arm plugs the vials with plastic caps.","Then this sonic welder melts the caps onto the vials using high-frequency sound waves.","Now it's time for inspection.","A tiny camera photographs the bubble and sends the picture to a computer that makes sure the bubbles are the right size.","For this production run, the bubble should be about half an inch wide.","If it's on the mark, the computer allows the vial to move on.","A printer then hot-stamps centering marks onto the vial.","But this spirit vial isn't quite ready for business.","First it needs to bake for 24 hours.","The heat exposes any flaws, and the defective vials are rejected.","The vial is illuminated with a bright red light as it slowly spins between rollers.","A camera photographs the bubble, and a computer scans the image to check for shifting.","Too much shifting could compromise the level's accuracy.","The vials that pass the test then go on to a molding system.","Melted plastic is injected into the crevices to make a cradle for each vial.","Next, a technician glues the cradled vials in the openings in the wooden framework.","This is precision work.","Each vial has to sit perfectly level, so technicians rely on a magnified image to check their progress.","Some vials are installed vertically to gauge if the walls are plumb, while the horizontal ones let you know if the floor is level.","Acrylic-rimmed windows are fitted over the vials to protect them.","Rubber caps are screwed on to both ends of the level.","And finally, the trademark stamp goes on.","These levels are now ready to straighten up any jobsite.","When we return, the real skinny on an all-american favorite.","Hot dogs are an all-american fare.","But most likely it was german sausage makers who first came up with the idea.","In fact, there are reports of german immigrants selling them from pushcarts in new york's bowery as far back as the 1860s.","A century and a half later, hot dogs are still the number-one treat on the street.","Traditional hot dogs are made from a mix of pork, beef, and chicken.","The cuts they start with are called trimmings-- pieces of meat left over from cutting steaks or pork chops.","The trimmings are ground the same way butchers chop up hamburger meat-- by pushing the cuts through grated metal plates.","Processed chicken trimmings are added to the ground meat, followed by food starch, salt, and other flavorings.","These flavorings vary depending on where the hot dogs are to be sold because people in different regions have different tastes.","Water is sprayed into the mix, and everything is blended together in a big vat.","Corn syrup adds a dash of sweetness.","The addition of even more water helps to disperse the ingredients and make the hot dogs juicier.","Another machine then purees the meat batter into a fine emulsion and vacuums out any air.","Long rolls of cellulose tubing are loaded into the stuffing machine.","It pumps the meat puree into these casings, twisting it every 5 1/4 inches-- the length of one hot dog.","It takes just 35 seconds to make a chain of hot dogs that would span a soccer field twice.","Then three of those hot-dog chains are linked together to make an even longer string, and they're loaded several at a time into another machine, which drapes the hot dogs onto moving racks.","The process is carefully timed so that a twist always lands on the bar.","The racks shunt the hot dogs through a liquid smoke shower, then into an oven with several cooking zones.","The liquid smoke seeps through the casing and adds flavor to the dogs as they bake.","Hot out of the oven, these franks are drenched in cold, salty water to chill them in preparation for packaging.","The hot dogs then file down to an unloading zone.","Here, a machine pulls them off the bars onto a conveyor.","Then the hot dogs slide off the conveyor into metal containers.","If you've been wondering about those black stripes on the casings, all is about to be revealed.","The stripe is a marker attached to the casing.","The absence of a black stripe means the hot dog is cooked and ready for packaging.","Inside the peeler machine, a tiny knife slits each casing along the top.","Then steamy air blows the casings right off the dogs.","This machine peels 700 hot dogs a minute.","An inspector makes sure the casing has been completely removed and that there are no defects in the dogs.","Then it's into a device that looks like a plastic bicycle chain.","The sprockets position the hot dogs for packaging.","This factory manufactures an incredible 300,000 hot dogs an hour.","That's close to 2 1/2 million per shift.","They really do churn them out like sausages.","Fire up the grill, and a mouthwatering meal is just minutes away.","Up next, the hot scoop on abrasive grains.","It takes true grit to make sandpaper, as in abrasive grains.","People have been using abrasive minerals to sand and polish things for centuries.","Today, these minerals undergo heavy processing to make the grade, from very superfine to very coarse.","Whether you're working on metal or wood, the right grade of abrasive grit is essential for finishing the job.","The factory starts with bauxite, a naturally occurring mineral that resembles clay.","They add alumina, a white powdery material that's actually derived from bauxite.","The bauxite and alumina are blended with other minerals, then released into an electric arc furnace.","Here, three large electrodes use intense electrical current to heat the mix to over 3,600 degrees fahrenheit.","That's hotter than an active volcano.","In fact, the mixture looks a lot like lava as the minerals melt and blend together.","Standing well back and using a long ladle, a technician takes a sample for chemical analysis.","If the mix is right, the molten minerals are emptied into a big steel pot.","The searing liquid weighs several tons, so a crane is needed to transport it to a cooling area.","24 hours later, with the material hardened, it's time to bring in the wrecking ball.","It cracks open the hardened concoction, which is still quite hot at the core.","The wrecking ball is dropped repeatedly to break up the hardened minerals.","Next, the lumps of abrasive material are transferred to a conveyor system.","Metal-plated crushers break them up into fist-sized chunks.","A magnet picks up any excess iron.","And then it's into the roll crusher, where iron cylinders grind the chunks to bits.","Workers assemble screens in decreasing mesh sizes to make a kind of shaking sieve.","It sifts the mineral particles through the screen with largest mesh first, then continues to sort the grits in progressively smaller sizes.","For some perspective, we placed a quarter against the various mesh sizes.","As you can see, only the finest particles could pass through tightest weave.","The bits of grit bounce across the screens and fall into hoppers--  a different one for each size.","The coarsest grains will be used for rough-sanding jobs.","The smaller the grain, the finer the finish.","The finest grits are virtually microscopic.","The next step is to inspect the grain's shape.","A sample is funneled into a cup.","Then it's weighed.","A higher weight means the bits are densely stacked and therefore blockish in shape with blunt edges.","A lower weight means they're flat and sharp.","A different test is used for the most minuscule grits.","The particles are suspended in an an electrolyte solution.","Then an electrical charge is applied.","This allows inspectors to count and evaluate the grits via computer.","Now these abrasive grits are ready to be packaged and shipped out.","Coming up, we'll go to the sandpaper factory, where the abrasive grits meet their ultimate destiny.","We'll have the nitty-gritty on that process next.","To make sandpaper, you need a lot of grit.","There are thousands of tiny abrasive grains on a single sheet.","The whole idea is to create friction.","By rubbing the sandpaper against wood or metal, you can remove defects and create a uniform surface.","It's ironic that something so abrasive can make things look so smooth and polished.","Sandpaper often isn't made from paper at all, but fabric like poly cotton.","The cloth is unwound into a machine with a printing press.","Rollers lined with rubber printers stamp product information onto the cloth.","The cloth then travels underneath the printing press, where more rollers apply a heat-setting adhesive to the unprinted side.","A computerized system measures the density of the coating to ensure that it's been applied correctly.","Then the cloth is pulled one floor down to the electrostatic pit.","Here, the environment is kept hot and humid-- perfect for applying abrasive grains to the cloth electrostatically.","The grains are poured onto a conveyor belt in the pit.","The conveyor moves the grains under the rolling cloth and between electrodes and ground plates.","The system generates an electrical field that triggers a mini sandstorm.","Once airborne, the abrasive grains stick to the adhesive-coated cloth and become embedded in it.","This method allows for even distribution of the grains across the cloth.","The grain-coated cloth now rolls out of the pit and back up to the main level of the factory.","A technician cuts a swatch of the sandpaper, then peels away layers and makes three different cutouts-- one of the cloth alone, another of the cloth with the adhesive coating, and a third, the grain- and adhesive-coated cloth.","He weighs each cutout to confirm that the sandpaper has been formulated precisely to specification.","He also examines the gritty surface under a microscope to make sure the grains are standing up evenly.","This production run gets the go-ahead, so workers move the sandpaper through a hundred-yard-long oven.","It has three different heating zones, each progressively hotter.","The increasing heat bakes the grains into the adhesive.","The sandpaper is now rough enough, but it's not quite ready for use.","In the next step, a coat of resin is rolled over the gritty surface, binding the grains to the base.","After the resin is cured to the surface, these jumbo rolls of sandpaper are stored in a warehouse until it's time to cut them down to size.","Some rolls are sliced into big sheets.","These will be made into commercial sanding belts-- the kind used in heavy manufacturing.","Another machine punches out sanding discs.","And at this station, four rolls of sandpaper are simultaneously unwound into a machine.","It carves the four layers into rectangles.","These rectangles won't be used for sanding, but as grip tape for skateboards.","From refinishing your furniture to nose-grinding at the skate park, sandpaper will always give you an edge.","And with so many grits to choose from, there really is a sandpaper for every job."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Miniature Furniture","Garden Steam Locomotives","Hovercraft","Folding Bicycles"]},"text":["Selecting furniture is a matter of scale, especially when it's a dollhouse room.","Miniature furniture is sized for really small spaces.","A popular scale is 1/12 of full-sized furnishings.","But as far as attention to detail, there's no need to scale down one's expectations.","These are replicas of full-sized antiques, meticulously copied in miniature.","This grandfather clock is modeled on an 18th-century one, and for the craftsman, no detail is too small.","He first measures and cuts numerous components from pear-tree wood.","This wood's small grain scales down well to make the miniature clock look more authentic.","The parts are too thin and small to nail, so he glues them together, beginning with the front of the clock's trunk.","He applies the glue sparingly with a tiny brass tool to prevent messy overflow.","He installs the sides on the front of the clock trunk.","And he adds a substantial-looking pearwood base.","He spiffs up the front of the base with veneer paneling that's protected by a layer of tape for now.","He carves angles and trim to make it fit neatly around the paneling.","He now peels away the tape to reveal the swirled burl of the veneer wood, which has been cut from the root of a south-asian tree.","He rubs the paneling against sandpaper to smooth its surface and expose more of the wood grain.","Once the feet have been installed on the clock, he applies a strip of molding above the trunk.","The crisp profile of this limewood trim is a classic touch.","Carving a mini gable with the thin blade of a fretsaw is tricky, especially with this intricate design, called a swan neck.","He sands the edges to finish off the job.","The swan-neck gable is one of numerous little parts that, when pieced together, form the hood of the clock, which holds the face and clockworks.","He joins the hood to the trunk, and with the basic structure now complete, he glues a tiny wooden crest to the center of the swan neck.","He tapers it with a surgical scalpel.","After staining the clock a deep antique mahogany, he sands it to make it look more authentic.","He then brushes on coats of shellac sealer.","It both protects the wood and provides a smooth surface for the next finish.","After the sealer dries, he sands it a little and then applies two coats of traditional french polish.","This mix of alcohol and shellac gives the cabinetry a high-gloss finish.","Once it dries, he buffs the wood with wax to enhance the sheen.","The clock door with its exotic veneer is also stained, polished, and waxed.","Then, using tweezers, he positions tiny brass hinges on the door.","He presses little brass pins into holes in the hinge to secure it to the door.","He files the pinheads until their flush to the hinge.","He now dips the pendulum and its weights in acid, which gives them an antiqued finish.","He installs them in their compartment in the cabinetry.","He now sets the clock upright...","And paints the back basic black.","He inserts a piece of clear acrylic into the opening of the clock hood.","Acrylic has a slight wave to it that looks like old glass.","This small watch movement is what will make this miniature grandfather clock tick.","Using double-sided tape, he attaches it to the dial.","He fastens the hands to the clockwork shafts, and then he lowers the dial and clockworks into the hood compartment.","He signs the back with a paint-filled pen which makes his signature stand out against the black background.","And finally, he glues a tiny tassel to the door handle.","Including drying time for the various finishes, it has taken over three days to make this miniature grandfather clock.","No small effort, but it's the little details that make a difference in a small space.","It's out of the basement and into the backyard for the model train set.","This trend is called garden railroading, and it merges two hobbies--  gardening and model trains.","These outdoor train sets are often larger and more rugged than indoor ones, so people can hop aboard for a tour of the perennials.","These garden-variety train sets have become the fastest-growing segment of model railroading.","People design gardens to the scale of these trains to provide the perfect backdrop.","This particular locomotive is a quarter of the size of the 19th-century original.","It starts with a sheet of copper, cut to precise measurements with a guillotine blade.","An employee then turns the crank of a machine to curl the sheet into a cylinder shape.","This cylinder will serve as the barrel or outer casing of the boiler.","The next worker assembles the boiler's internal components.","He groups together numerous copper tubes and welds them to a firebox at one end and a copper plate at the other.","He's now ready to enclose the firebox.","He installs it on a base plate and then builds a protective shell around it.","He then encases the heat tubes in the barrel.","These boilers come in various sizes, depending on the scale of the locomotive being made.","Next, a lathe spins as tools contour a bronze cylinder.","This sizes it to fit a piston that sets the steam engine's wheels in motion.","The cylinder on the right is the one that's just been machined.","More tools transform basic steel disks into the train wheels.","They make four wheels per locomotive.","The next worker inserts a pre-cut sheet of steel in a device that, when activated, bends it in two places.","The folding action shapes the sheet into the locomotive cab.","Then it's into the paint booth for seven coats of epoxy paint.","This gives this model train cab a heavy-duty gloss.","With a steady hand, a painter now applies plastic tape around the perimeter of the cab to create a kind of linear stencil.","He arcs the tape at the corners to soften the look.","And then he brushes two coats of oil-based paint into the tape stencil.","He allows three days for each coat to dry.","Then he peels off the tape to reveal the crisp, clean lines that now frame the cab.","He adds black border next to the white to give more depth to this custom paint job.","They carve a piece of bronze into a valve to control the flow of steam to the piston.","They assemble the locomotive chassis and paint it.","They install the wheels and the network of pipes and parts that make them turn.","They run compressed air through the system to confirm everything works.","The worker adds a little oil to lubricate the wheels and the rest of the parts.","He then opens the steam chamber to check the valve-and-piston action, which is the driving force of this steam locomotive.","He pulls the forward and reverse lever to confirm that the wheels run in both directions.","He applies the brakes, and the wheels grind to a halt.","Now that everything on the chassis is checked out, this steam locomotive is ready for the chimney and boiler.","The steam dome and a safety valve go on next, followed by the cab and roof.","And this garden steam locomotive is now complete.","A worker now shines a light through the boiler tubes to examine them for any obstructions.","He pokes a brush through them to be certain and then gives them the all-clear.","It's time to fire up the boiler using real coal.","Hot gases flow through the tubes to heat the water in the boiler.","Like a big kettle, this locomotive builds up steam.","The pressure increases until it's ready to roll.","Aboard one of these garden locomotive replicas, one can relive the heady days of steam engines.","A hovercraft rides on a cushion of air created by powerful fans.","This enables the craft to travel over both land and sea.","The concept actually dates back to 1870, but it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that a british inventor perfected it and the idea got off the ground.","This model of hovercraft is equipped with a single fan.","It both inflates the skirt, lifting the vessel about 10 inches, and creates thrust to propel the hovercraft over virtually any surface.","Production begins with a hull made of lightweight polyethylene.","The fabricator installs aluminum skids on the bottom to protect the hull during landings on rough surfaces.","He screws plastic attachments for the hovercraft skirt into pre-marked positions on the hull.","The technician drills 65 holes around the hull.","The fan's air will pass through these holes to fill the hovercraft skirt.","The hull consists of a thick, hard outer layer and a low-density inner layer that makes the material buoyant.","It's what keeps the hovercraft afloat during stops on water.","The crew now fastens the seat base and console in the front of the hull.","Once it's secure, they fit the gauge panel in its slot.","The team then moves to the back of the hull to install the drive belt, pulley, and the main drive frame.","This pulley will transfer power from the engine to the fan.","Once they confirm everything moves freely, they assemble the fan to the main drive frame with high-tension bolts.","This duct will divide the fan's air into two streams.","One stream will be directed under the craft to provide lift.","The other will be routed out the back to generate thrust.","They now return to the cockpit to attach handlebars to a steering mechanism.","The engine can be either a two-stroke or four-stroke, depending on the amount of power desired.","They connect it to the drive assembly and protect that connection with metal casing.","Once the engine has been bolted into place, they equip it with a radiator...","An air filter...","An exhaust system...","And a waterproof box containing the electrical components.","Then they connect the fuel tank to the engine and cover the engine with a polyethylene hood to keep it dry.","They install seating, including a rear bench, that accommodates three.","Then the installer attaches two rudders to the fan duct.","He links them with a bar so they'll move in tandem.","These steering parts are made of marine-grade steel to prevent rusting.","A quick check confirms the rudders are operational.","The hovercraft's skirt is made of the same material used on shoe soles--  sturdy polyurethane nylon.","They assemble the skirt to the hull in 65 different pieces.","The worker loops each segment over a side bumper and secures it with a steel clip.","He then attaches the bottom of each skirt piece to the little hooks on the hull.","He uses plastic cable ties for this job, and there's a good reason.","If the skirt becomes snagged on something, these ties will break and free that section.","Then other parts of the skirt will balloon out to fill the breach and maintain the air cushion.","And they also won't have to replace the whole skirt, just the section that's been damaged.","After a final inspection, they take this hovercraft for a test spin.","They check the steering and overall performance and enjoy gliding on air.","A folding bicycle is a compact set of wheels.","In seconds, it folds up into a neat little bundle, less than a third of its full size.","The concept has been around for well over a century, and in recent years, it's on the comeback trail as urban commuters discover the advantages of downsizing this mode of transportation.","A few quick folds and this bike no longer carries the rider.","He carries it.","The bike can then be carted onto public transit or into the office, and that makes it a handy way to get around town.","They lubricate the rim of tubing, which makes it easier for machinery to pinch that end.","The next machine uses several blades to trim the pinched end and cut a small groove.","These exact cuts will enable the team to precisely install a hinge to the tube.","Hinges are now gripped by a moving clamp that angles them for contouring and the drilling of holes for bolts.","It's computer choreographed to produce a hinge that will attach snugly to the main tube.","Once the hinge has been bonded to the main tube, a technician checks the job by exposing it to a magnetic field.","Variations in the field would indicate a flaw, but he finds none.","So next, he secures the tube on a work table so a tool can make scoops in the other end.","Scooping this end will enable it to interconnect with another part of the bike frame.","A hydraulic tool then bends the main tube to give it a slight curve so it will arch around a bicycle wheel.","You can see the difference in this before-and-after shot.","The main tube of the bike frame now undergoes a process called shot blasting.","An operator turns a crank to make the tube revolve in an enclosed chamber as nozzles blow fine grit at the hinge point.","This cleans up some of the rough patches.","A little manual filing smoothes the area around the hinge.","Smaller parts of the bicycle frame take a tumble with ceramic bits, and this agitation action improves the finish on these parts.","Further down the production line, a worker locks the main tube in a jig.","He butts a bracing tube to it at just the right angle...","And then melts metal into the joint in a process called brazing.","As the metal cools and solidifies, it seals the two parts.","He now fits the bottom bracket onto the scooped end of the main tube and brazes them together.","The frame of a folding bicycle is much more complex than that of a conventional one-piece a-frame bike.","There are six parts to assemble in tight alignment, and that means there's absolutely no room for error.","Once the main frame assembly has been painted, it's ready to be joined to the rear frame.","He attaches it by bolting the hinge.","He twists the bolts to just the right torque.","He tests the folding and unfolding action of the rear assembly and then checks the lock to confirm that it functions properly.","He installs the steering mechanism and wheel fork in the front of the frame...","And bolts the front wheel to the fork.","He verifies that the assembled steering column and handlebars are in working order...","And then slides them into place at the front of the bicycle.","He adjusts the position of the column so it folds at just the right angle.","He then attaches the rear wheel, along with the gear hub, to the frame.","He secures the chain wheel and pedals to the bicycle and fits the chain into the sprockets, joining the two ends so the chain will travel in a perpetual loop.","He flips the bicycle around to install the seat, and it's time to fold.","The rear frame flips neatly under the main tube assembly.","The front wheel locks on to the rear frame.","Sliding the seat pillar down locks the fold, and he lowers the steering column.","After a final inspection, this folding bicycle is ready for the big city.","And when dodging traffic becomes too much of a hassle, its owner can always fold it and take public transit."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Navajo Rugs","Crude Oil","Kaleidoscopes","Titanium Dental Implants"]},"text":["Rug weaving is a traditional art practiced by the navajo, an indian nation located in the united states where colorado, new mexico, utah, and arizona intersect.","They originally wove blankets and clothing.","Then, in the early 1800s, they began weaving rugs for sale.","While many weavers create contemporary designs, navajo rugs typically feature bold geometric patterns.","The wool-preparation and weaving techniques developed by the weavers' ancestors have been proudly passed down from generation to generation.","Everything in a navajo rug comes from nature, starting with fleece--  raw wool sheared from a sheep.","Working a handful at a time, the weaver removes the mats and tangles and places the wool on carders-- wooden paddles with metal teeth.","By pulling one carder against the other, she straightens the wool fibers, lining them up in the same direction.","This prepares them to be spun into one continuous strand of yarn.","After three or four pulls, she flips the carders to straighten the fibers on the underside.","Then she rolls up the fleece and adds it to the other rolls in the spinning pile.","She spins the fleece one roll at a time with the traditional spindle that she lays against her thigh and rotates towards her with one hand.","This movement twists the carded roll of fleece into a strand.","When she reaches the end of the roll, she connects another and resumes spinning and keeps repeating this process until she's produced one long, continuous strand from about 50 rolls.","Then she respins the strand to thin it out to the final weaving size.","When she's done, she checks the entire length of the strand, pulling on the thicker areas to thin them out so that the entire strand is a consistent size from one end to the other.","Here you can see the difference in thickness between the first spinning and the second.","To infuse her wool with color, she prepares natural dyes-- sunflowers for yellow, walnuts for tan and brown hues, and cactus bugs for bright red.","She puts the bugs in a stocking and soaks them in warm water overnight.","Then, she submerges them in a pot of water, pours in the presoak water, as well, and simmers for 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how vibrant she wants the red dye to be.","Meanwhile, she soaks the yarn in warm water for at least a half-hour to open up the fibers so that they'll absorb the dye.","After wringing out the yarn, she immerses it in the pot of hot dye and simmers for at least 45 minutes, depending on the amount of bugs, water, and wool.","She stirs frequently to ensure it dyes evenly throughout.","It's the same process with plant dyes, except that she doesn't presoak the plants overnight before boiling them in water.","The shade of color depends on the ratio of plants to water during dye preparation, then of dye to the quantity of wool.","Proportionally more plants than dye, the darker the shade.","Proportionately less, the lighter the shade.","Sunflowers and walnuts are just two of many plants the navajo have traditionally used to produce a rainbow of dyes for their textiles.","With her wool now spun and dyed, the weaver picks up her weaving comb and begins.","Navajo ancestors used trees as the sides of their looms.","Today's weavers make looms from lumber or metal pipes.","After stringing tight, vertical strands of wool called the warp, she uses a flat, handmade stick called a batten to pry a wide enough opening through which to pass her hand with the colored weaving wool.","She weaves horizontally in and out between the warp first in one direction, then in the other.","Then, she packs down the wool tightly with her comb so that the warp doesn't show.","She mostly eyeballs the emerging unique pattern, occasionally counting vertical strands to calculate the symmetry, a signature feature of traditional navajo rugs.","Crude oil, also called petroleum, is unprocessed oil found deep in the ground.","It forms naturally from decomposed, prehistoric plants and animals.","The color can range from clear to black, the consistency from very watery to very thick.","Oil companies drill wells deep into the ground then install pumping units to draw up the fluid that contains crude oil and salty water.","This oil field in central california has 6,000 producing wells.","The pumping units can run 24 hours a day.","However, a sensor triggers them to pump only when the fluid flow stops.","Here's what goes on inside the well.","With each downstroke, the pumping unit pushes a steel rod down the steel tube lining the well.","With each upstroke, the rod rises, and the pressure difference between the fluid on the outside and fluid on the inside opens a ball-shaped valve plugging the bottom, letting the fluid flow up the tube.","Another valve at the top releases the fluid out of the well.","To drill a new well, workers first erect a drilling rig at the site then hoist a giant pipe with a drill bit on the end.","They feed this drill pipe through the center of a spinning disk called a rotary table.","As the table turns, the drill pipe turns, its weight bearing down and boring a hole through the ground.","Once the drill pipe descends its full 30-foot length, they connect another pipe then keep repeating with subsequent drill pipes until they bore into the reservoir containing fluid.","Throughout the drilling process, they pump a mud mixture down the drill pipe.","It comes out the drill bit at the end, hits the bottom of the hole, then backs up to the top, bringing the drilled-out rock with it.","After lining the well with a steel tube to keep the walls from collapsing inward, they mount the pumping unit and install the valves we saw in the model.","The pumping unit pushes the rod up and down through the well head at the surface.","As a safety measure, workers take readings to check the air for any hazardous underground gases that may be exiting the well.","Once they determine the area is safe, they draw a sample of fluid to test the well's water-to-oil ratio.","The typical ratio is 90% water to 10% oil.","The fluid from each well exits via a pipe, and the pipes from all the wells feed a main line leading to a gas-removal vessel.","The fluid contains carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and natural gas.","They naturally rise to the top of the vessel and exit via a pipe which runs to the company's gas-treatment plant.","There, equipment removes and treats the hydrogen sulfide, transforming it into sulfur, which a local farm buys to use as fertilizer.","The natural gas and co2, meanwhile, are piped to another area, where they fuel the company's steam generator.","The generator boils the water extracted from the fluid to produce steam.","The company injects steam into the wells to heat the fluid, thinning it so that it flows faster.","Once gasless, the fluid is piped to the treatment plant that extracts the salty water.","In this big tank, appropriately called the free-water knockout, the separation of oil and water happens naturally, the oil floating to the top.","However, to hasten that natural process, they add a chemical called an emulsion breaker.","The extracted water exits via a pipe leading to the steam generator.","The oil goes to a clarification tank in which a chemical process filters out sand, which the fluid brought up from the reservoir.","The emulsion breaker added in the previous tank continues to extract water.","By the end, when the ratio is 98% oil to 2% water or better, the crude oil is ready to sell.","Built-in meters give instantaneous water-content readings.","As an additional quality-control measure, however, the company also draws samples for analysis in its onsite lab.","In fact, there's testing throughout production to ensure sufficient water is being extracted at each phase of processing.","Refineries buy crude oil as a raw material for producing gasoline, asphalt, plastics, and many other products.","Invented in the early 19th century by a scottish scientist studying light, the kaleidoscope can still compete when it comes to producing stunning visual effects.","Peer inside and witness dazzling geometric images produced as mirrors multiply objects.","The images are spectacular and fleeting, each one lasting just seconds before the next appears.","Many years after its invention, the kaleidoscope is still worth looking into.","To make a kaleidoscope, this craftsman starts with a mirror sheet that has adhesive backing.","He scores it to create long and narrow rectangles and gently breaks it along the scored lines.","The mirror's reflective coating is on the front instead of the underside.","A mirror like this produces sharper reflections than a regular household mirror.","He slices the adhesive backing to separate the mirrored rectangles.","He snaps off the scored ends, creating perfectly linear edges.","Next, he peels backing from a strip of black-out felt paper and wraps it around a glass rectangle.","This felt-wrapped glass will be the third wall of a two-mirror system-- one with a triangular configuration.","He removes the adhesive film from the mirrors then builds the triangles with the mirrors' reflective surfaces facing inward towards the felt-wrapped rectangle.","This arrangement will reflect objects to create a circular image known as a mandala.","He aims the mirror system at a light box with a two-line drawing in it.","One line is curved, and the other is straight.","Peering into it, he adjusts the alignment of the mirrors until the lines morph into a five-point star.","This means the corners of the mirror triangle are precisely 36 degrees and it is multiplying images correctly.","He hot-glues the mirrors to the opaque part and applies metal tape to the top seam to complete the kaleidoscope mirror system.","Over in the art department, the artist assembles decorative objects against a black background in an acrylic cell.","With every placement, she checks the effect through the triangular mirror system.","She glues dichroic glass onto the backdrop.","It's a kind of glass that's been treated with metal oxides, and it appears to have different hues.","Other objects include jewelry parts, colored wire, buttons, and even paper clips.","She follows no specific design but works freestyle.","While she glues some down, she leaves others loose to simply tumble around.","A sprinkle of tiny beads completes the grouping.","As the mirror system multiplies these objects, they will create the mandalas.","These are photographs of actual mandalas, and they'll be used to decorate the outside of the kaleidoscope.","The other member of the team now applies an acrylic adhesive to the rim of the cell and presses a clear lid onto it.","The lid fuses to the cell body.","But it's not yet completely sealed.","There's a tiny hole in the side of the cell through which he now dispenses heavy mineral oil.","Submerged in mineral oil, the objects will float and move through the cell for greater effect.","He plugs the hole with an acrylic adhesive and screw.","He is now ready to assemble all the parts of the kaleidoscope.","He slides the mirror system into a heavy cardboard tube decorated by the mandala photos.","He cushions the mirror system with foam, and this stabilizes it.","He installs a metal eyepiece and glass lens on one end of the kaleidoscope tube.","He slides the object cell into a protective metal cage that rotates.","He places a transparent glass disk over the cell.","He applies adhesive to the cage and inserts the assembly into the other end of the kaleidoscope tube.","This kaleidoscope is now ready for a viewing.","Light passes through the object cell, illuminating the trinkets.","Reflections bounce off the mirrors to create one spectacular illusion after another.","Two centuries after its invention, the view through the kaleidoscope still fascinates.","The ancient mayans hammered seashells into their jaws to replace missing teeth.","Those seashells were likely the first dental implants.","Today, titanium tooth implants fill the gaps nicely, and, usually, the patient's jawbone will actually bond to them.","In the middle of the 20th century, it was discovered that titanium is a metal that bonds with bone.","It revolutionized restorative dentistry, making enduring tooth implants possible.","To make these implants, they start with a solid titanium rod.","This 13-foot rod will be used to make more than 200 implants.","The technician inserts the rod in a long tubular device that keeps it straight as it feeds to a lathe system.","The titanium rod spins as computerized tools slim it down and cut threads into it.","These threads will help anchor the implants in the patient's jaw.","The lathe pushes the rod out and then pulls it back in repeatedly to facilitate the shaping process.","A tool now grips the implant while another cuts it to length.","Then, a computerized drill hollows out the implant and carves threads inside for attaching the ceramic tooth.","In minutes, a solid, metal cylinder becomes a hollowed and threaded implant.","A robot now retrieves the implant from the clutches of another one.","It transfers it to a cleaning station and then over to what's known as a vision measuring system.","Here, a camera takes pictures of the implant from all angles and sends the images to a computer for analysis.","The computer confirms the dimensions are exactly right.","Then, the robot collects the implant and places it into a slot in a tray.","Once filled with implants, a technician screws a mesh lid on the tray and slides it into a metal basket.","The basket positions them for cleaning in a special washing machine known as a vapor degreaser.","Inside, solvent vapors envelop the parts to clean off residual lubricant oils used during the cutting process.","A robot transfers an implant to a holding device.","The device secures the implant for the next robot to press a plastic collar onto it.","This collar is temporary.","It will serve as a mask to protect the outside of the implant as the top undergoes a process of colorization.","A robot places the implant upside down in a mild acid.","They apply an electrical charge.","Different colors will appear at different voltages to color-code the part and indicate the diameter.","The process is called anodizing.","A robot now pulls off the masking collar.","It transfers the implants to another tray and screws them onto it.","This keeps them from falling off as machinery turns the tray upside down to immerse the implants in acid and anodize the exterior.","This time, the anodizing serves another purpose.","It changes the surface to make it more porous.","This will improve the bonding of the patient's jawbone to the implant.","The implant sparkles in the solution as it undergoes a transformation.","Here's the new porous surface magnified by a microscope.","A robot transfers the dental implants to another tray.","They're now ready for a final cleaning.","A technician puts a lid on the tray and lowers it into a tank full of hot, purified water.","A generator sends high-frequency sound waves into the water, creating bubbles and waves that gently scrub the implants.","After sterilization, these titanium dental implants are ready to take root in human jaws.","The clinician screws the implant into the patient's jawbone and then secures a made-to-match ceramic tooth to it.","Over time, bone will fuse to this artificial tooth, providing a long-lasting tooth replacement and giving the patient a reason to smile."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Digital Dentistry","Nail Clippers","Poster Restoration","Canola Oil"]},"text":["Digital technology is revolutionizing dental treatment.","3-d cameras and computers can now be used to produce crowns and other prosthetic restorations on site, eliminating the need to send the work to an outside lab.","For the patient, it means one appointment instead of two and less time in the dentist's chair.","With computer-driven tools, custom restorations take shape in a matter of minutes while the patient waits.","After donning dark safety glasses, the patient is ready for her close-up.","The dental assistant inserts a small video camera in her mouth to examine the problem area.","She then inserts a strip of carbon paper between the patient's teeth and instructs her to clench her teeth.","This leaves markings that indicate her bite profile.","The dentist meets the patient and reviews her case.","They agree to replace the silver filling with a ceramic inlay that will strengthen the tooth for much longer than a regular filling would.","He anesthetizes the tooth and the gums that surround it.","He then stretches a rubber dam across her mouth and exposes the area to be treated through a slit.","This keeps filling fragments out of the patient's mouth as he drills.","He switches to a smaller drill bit to excavate the remaining filling particles and to remove decay.","Each cavity must be completely clear before the restorative work can begin.","The dental assistant then scrubs an antimicrobial solution into the tooth.","Then she brushes an acidic conditioner into the cavity.","The dentist activates the conditioner with a halogen light.","He points a high-resolution l.e.d. camera at the tooth and downloads the image onto a computer, which converts it to 3-d.","Next, the dentist fills the cavity with the silicone putty.","When her teeth come together, they leave an impression in the putty that indicates her bite profile.","Once the putty hardens, the dentist and his assistant chip off the excess.","He downloads the image of the bite impression and then superimposes the images as he designs a custom dental inlay digitally.","The dental assistant selects a glass ceramic block of the appropriate size and color.","She anchors the block in a milling chamber and shuts the lid.","Two computerized drills now sculpt the block into the dental inlay, guided by the digitally produced design.","This process takes less than 10 minutes.","The dentist then pulls the ceramic inlay from the base.","This leaves a small nub that he then grinds away.","Next, using rubber wheels and diamond-impregnated brushes, he polishes the entire restoration to a high gloss.","He conditions the inlay with hydrofluoric acid to prepare it for adhesion to the tooth.","He dips the filling in water, and the hardened solution flakes off.","He then thoroughly dries the inlay.","Next, he adds a drop of silane that will promote the bonding of the inlay to the tooth.","The dentist injects tooth-colored resin cement into the cavity.","He presses the digitally designed and milled inlay into the cement, then scrapes away the overflow.","Halogen light on the dental work hardens the cement.","He takes another impression of the patient's bite to confirm the new inlay is perfect.","Finally, the dentist polishes the contours of the ceramic inlay.","And it's time for the reveal.","He uses the camera to magnify the new dental work for the patient's scrutiny.","It's taken just an hour and a quarter for her custom restoration to be designed, milled, and installed, all thanks to digital dentistry.","The nail clipper was invented in 1896 in the united states, and soon it was at everyone's fingertips.","By 1902 it, ads marketed it as the \"gem,\" and it was sold by the dozen for $2.","As an alternative to scissors, it was the idea that just clicked.","More than a century after its invention, the nail clipper is still behind many a well-groomed hand.","Its popularity numbers in the millions, and no manicure set would be complete without one.","Production begins with this elaborate dye.","It's about a yard in length and has 12 different-shaped openings.","Hydraulic machinery repeatedly forces a steel sheet through the various openings as the sheet moves forward.","With each stroke, the parts look more like nail-clipper jaws.","The clipping edge starts out straight and blunt and gradually becomes concave.","The machinery also cuts and shapes the holes for assembling the nail clippers.","In just one minute, a total of 80 strokes generate a dozen nail-clipper jaws.","Here, the clipper jaws vibrate with abrasive stones and organic acid for up to 20 hours.","This gentle polishing makes the parts gleam, but doesn't ruin the edges and contours.","At the next station, a worker aligns pairs of clipper jaws for assembly.","Using a mechanical press, he drives a rivet into the hole at the gripping end of the jaws.","He flips the assembled clipper jaws over, inserts the other half of the rivet, and then presses the two tightly together.","The rivet locks the gripping end of the nail clippers together so that the two jaws can't be twisted apart.","Next, a worker smoothes the edges of the clipper's gripping end against an abrasive wheel.","This grinding evens out any irregularities and makes the two clipper jaws appear as one at the gripping end.","Attention now turns to the cutting end of the clippers.","After locking them in a device, a worker grinds the concave edges until they match up.","These nail-clipper jaws are now ready for the lever, but the lever itself still needs some work.","Using a little press, they make a whole and an indentation between its two prongs, allowing the lever to sit more comfortably on the clipper.","Levers are then fed one at a time to a set of drills that carve little holes into the prongs of the fork.","The holes are just big enough for a pin that's 0.05 of an inch in diameter.","Here's the view from the side before and after drilling.","A worker now inserts a bolt in the cutting end of the clipper jaws.","This bolt has a little hole in the end of it.","He presses the jaws together, and it's now time to attach the lever.","He inserts the pin in the holes in the lever and the bolt.","He pinches the pin with pliers to secure it, and the lever now pivots freely on the cutting jaws.","All the pieces of the nail clipper have come together, but the assembly processes have left oil and other residues on this tool.","It's time for a cleaning in a special tub.","Sound waves keep the water moving to distribute the soap and scrub them clean.","Once they dry, a worker uses a combination of acid and positive electrodes to etch the company name and item number onto the nail clipper.","The next employee sands the cutting edges to sharpen them.","It takes skill and practice to get them just right.","He holds the nail clipper to a light and scrutinizes the alignment of the jaws as he opens and closes them.","This cardboard test confirms that these nail clippers are up to the job.","From a blunt clipper on the left to a really sharp tool on the right, what a difference the sanding has made.","The lever swivels for various clipping angles and then folds down neatly when not in use.","It takes 11 people to manufacture 100 of these clippers an hour, and that means they've been working at a very fast clip.","Long before the internet and electronic media, the poster was an important means of communication.","These lithographed notices were used to sell everything from soap to political propaganda.","Today they're being painstakingly restored to preserve both the artistry and history behind them.","These are the signs of a different time.","And decades later, the bold artistry of these poster lithographs is still an attention grabber.","Some vintage posters can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, which makes them worth restoring and preserving.","Posters often become brittle and break along the fold lines.","So first, this restoration specialist reassembles the torn sections and examines them to determine if this poster can be saved.","He decides to proceed.","He loosens old tape with solvent and carefully peels it away.","Next, he separates the poster sections with plastic mesh-- to keep them from sticking together-- in a bleach bath.","The bleach gently removes dirt and mildew to reveal the vintage poster's original colors.","He presses out air pockets between the layers to maximize its effect.","While the pieces of this poster dry, he prepares a paste of water, wheat, and calcium.","The calcium will counteract the acid in the vintage paper, preventing further deterioration.","He rolls the wheat paste onto a big sheet of acid-free paper.","And he spreads more paste on a piece of linen-textured cotton.","He then presses the paper to the fabric, and they adhere.","He now has a big piece of fabric-backed paper.","He rolls out the air bubbles and excess paste for a more even surface.","He now reconstructs the poster on the fabric-backed paper, which is now saturated with glue.","He works carefully and quickly to put the pieces together before the glue dries.","One false move and he could make a real mess of things.","But experience pays off.","He aligns the four sections perfectly.","The glue dries, giving the vintage poster a solid backing.","He flips through a collection of paper scraps in search of one that's similar in texture and thickness to the posters.","He'll now use it to repair the poster's ripped corner.","He traces the outline of the tear onto transparent paper.","He cuts the scrap paper along the traced line, producing a new corner for the poster-- one with exactly the right profile.","He sands the edge a bit to give it a more gradual slope.","He brushes vegetable-based glue onto the cutout.","He aligns it with the torn edge and glues it in place, then flattens the new corner to make it level with the rest of the poster.","It's now time to complete the picture by repairing the torn images.","The tricky part is mixing the paint to match the poster's vintage colors.","It sometimes takes a few tries to get it right and make the repair blend in.","Even the white on the border has to match.","No detail is overlooked as he restores the corner of this poster to its original condition.","He touches up the rest of the artwork with watercolor pencils, applying color heavily or lightly where needed.","And with a practiced hand, he makes all the flaws and fold lines disappear.","By the time he's done, the vintage poster will look good enough to frame.","With all the details now covered, he trims the poster on all sides and examines his work for imperfections.","The repairs have to both look and feel real.","From a tattered relic of the past to one that looks fresh off the press, a restored vintage poster is an important piece of history, now preserved for future generations.","Canola oil is a commonly used type of cooking oil.","It's derived from the seed of the canola plant, which north american farmers have been growing for about 30 years now.","The plant blooms in the summer, producing bright yellow flowers.","Farmers harvest the seeds from pods which form after those flowers die off.","Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils.","Compared to olive, sunflower, and soybean oils, it has the lowest level of saturated fat-- 7%.","It also contains more healthy omega-3 fatty acids and is high in monounsaturated fat, which lowers cholesterol.","When the canola seed arrives at the processing factory, it contains foreign material-- mostly plant pieces.","So the first step is to clean the seeds in a vibrating sieve.","The seeds-- smaller than the openings in the sieve's mesh-- fall through to a conveyor below.","The foreign material remains on top.","A conveyor moves it to a storage bin, where it's collected for sale as cattle feed.","The seeds pass by a magnet.","It removes any metal that may have fallen in during the journey from field to factory.","Next, the seeds enter a roller mill.","They pass between two steel rollers, which crush them into thin flakes.","A conveyor then feeds the flakes into a screw press.","It has a large revolving screw-shaped shaft enclosed within a slotted cage.","As the shaft turns, its threads squeeze the flakes with high pressure, forcing out the oil, which then drains out through the slots.","42% of canola seed is oil.","This group press extracts nearly 3/4 of that.","The remainder is still trapped in the pressed flakes, now referred to as canola cake.","The cake exits the other end of the press and moves on to a second extraction, this one a 70-minute wash with a solvent.","This chemical-extraction process removes all but a trace of oil.","The factory then grinds the cake into protein-rich meal that it sells as animal feed.","The extracted oil, stored in large tanks, now enters the refining phase.","First, they wash the oil for 20 minutes with sodium hydroxide.","During this wash cycle, they spin the oil at high speed so that the centrifugal force separates the natural impurities, which the factory later sells to soap manufacturers.","After this cleaning process, the canola oil is visibly clearer.","However, it still contains natural waxes, which makes it look cloudy.","So the next step is to cool the oil to 41 degrees fahrenheit.","This thickens those waxes so that they can be filtered out.","The waxes don't go to waste, either.","The factory uses them to produce vegetable shortening.","In the factory's lab, technicians recreate production on a small scale to ensure performance and quality.","Meanwhile, back in the factory, after washing and filtering the oil, they bleach it to lighten the color, then use a steam-injection heating process to remove the canola odor.","The oil is now fully refined and ready for bottling.","The equipment first turns the plastic bottles upside down and injects filtered pressurized air to blow out any dust or dirt inside.","Then it turns the bottles right side up again to position for filling.","Just before a nozzle starts filling, it applies a vacuum.","If there's no suction, indicating a leak in the bottle, the machine automatically ejects that bottle from the line.","Each bottling machine in the factory fills 22,000 bottles per hour.","The labeling machines work at the same speed.","They spread glue on the back of each label, then apply the label's edge to the bottle.","The bottle spins, wrapping the rest of the label around itself.","As the bottles come off the labeler, a robot separates them into groups of 12.","Then it picks up and deposits each dozen in a shipping box-- from field to factory to your pantry, where, once opened, canola oil has a shelf life of about a year."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Industrial Wire Ropes","Living Walls","Large Format Cameras","Gemstones"]},"text":["Industrial machines often have heavy loads to lift or pull.","Whether it's a dragline excavator working in an open-pit mine, an oil-drilling rig, a construction crane, or farm machinery, the weight is borne by ultrastrong wire ropes.","Industrial-wire ropes typically range from 8/10\" to 5\" in diameter.","Besides machinery applications, they also serve as support cables for large static structures, such as bridges and stadium roofs.","Manufacturing a wire rope begins with steel wire that's anywhere from 3/1,000\" to 3/10\" in diameter.","The first step is to wind several of these wires together into a strand.","How many wires per strand depends on the job the rope will perform, because different applications require different degrees of flexibility and strength.","Each wire is spooled onto a steel bobbin and loaded onto a stranding machine, which is essentially a giant winder.","There can be as many as 64 wires in a strand, although the typical range is between 19 and 36.","The twisting wires converge in a die that forms them to the required diameter.","Lubrication is critical, and not merely to help the wires move smoothly through the die.","It also penetrates within to allow slight movement between the wires.","This increases their life span and prevents the strand from seizing.","The strand exits the machine saturated in lubricant.","A large rubber band skims the excess off the surface.","The strand now travels through a row of straighteners.","These heavy rollers apply vertical pressure, effectively erasing the wire's memory of being spooled on a bobbin prior to stranding.","This prevents the wires from unraveling.","This cross-section shows all the wires inside the finished strand.","The clothespin gives you a sense of its size.","Wire strands are by themselves typically used as structural support cables.","To make wire ropes used in machinery and for heavy lifting, they take several of these wire strands and wind them together on a far bigger and stronger machine called a closer.","They make this particular rope from six wire strands.","Before the strands converge in the die, rollers pre-shape them into a corkscrew-like form.","The strands then enter the die, twisting together over a core, which is itself a small steel-wire rope.","A core at the center of the cable provides additional strength.","This cable's finished diameter is 3 1/2\".","However, there are always small variations here and there, so now four calibration rollers, two compressing vertically, two horizontally, correct the cable to the right diameter all along its length.","The finished cable winds onto a big steel reel, ready for shipping.","The factory tests random samples in its quality-control lab.","There, a machine measures the tensile strength-- how much pulling force the cable can withstand.","The machine pulls the cable at both ends until it snaps.","for this mega cable, the breaking point was 104 tons.","To pass the test, a cable must exceed the tensile strength it's designed to withstand.","For certain demanding applications, such as mining, wire ropes are double-coated in plastic to protect against wear and tear.","To prepare the plastic, the factory mixes a recipe of clear and colored plastic pellets.","An extrusion machine heats the pellets until they liquefy, then forces the molten plastic through a die, coating the rope as it passes through.","As the rope exits the extrusion machine, it passes through water, which cools and hardens the hot plastic.","The plastic not only jackets the rope's surface, it also provides cushioning when on the jobsite, the strands inside rub against each other as the rope moves.","By reducing wear and tear on the steel both internally and externally, plastic coating can extend the life of a rope by up to 50%.","A cable's internal construction determines its strength and flexibility.","A structural one needs to be strong, immobile, and taut, so it's a single strand made of large wires, whereas a moving rope and large machinery contains many strands made of smaller wires.","A living wall is a vertical structure covered with fully grown plants.","This green screen serves many purposes, such as hiding an eyesore or shielding an area for privacy.","Some are installed in the ground, while others are mounted on building facades and have integrated irrigation systems.","Living walls are modular systems.","Each module contains fully grown plants, so upon installation, the green-screen effect is immediate.","The plants are hedera helix woerner, a variety of ivy that's highly resistant to cold and drought.","In the manufacturer's greenhouses, horticulturalists take cuttings from the mother plants...","Then cut off the foliage and separate the leaves, leaving each with a small stem.","Then they plant the cuttings five leaves to a pot.","The soil is a secret recipe of organic and nonorganic materials and feed.","Over the next month to six weeks, each stem develops a good root system.","Meanwhile, workers construct a welded frame out of high-strength carbon steel.","The metal is galvanized so it's rust-proof.","Once the frame is ready, they take a mat made from biodegradable, recycled coconut husks and fold it into a planter box, which fits inside the bottom of the frame.","Two side wires hold the box securely in place.","An automated machine fills the box with the same soil mix used for the cuttings.","Then the horticulturalists plant 13 pots of plants.","That's 65 ivies per box.","They wrap the longer stems around the uprights of the frame.","The frames now move to the greenhouse, where they're hooked up to an irrigation system.","For the next 18 months or so, the plants grow, and as they do, the horticulturalists keep wrapping the ends around the uprights.","This is called training the plants.","As the plants thicken, the nursery workers prune them to promote upward growth.","The factory produces these green-screen modules in 3 heights, ranging from about 3 to 7 feet.","After installation, the plants can grow on-site to a total height of 13 feet.","Each frame-- one module of the living-wall system-- is 4 feet wide, making it easily transportable.","At shipping time, workers load the screens 10 to a pallet and truck them to the installation site.","Each module of the system installs just like a fence.","Workers embed a wooden post on either side of where each screen will go and dig a trench that's the width and depth of the planter box running in between.","They sit the screen in the trench, then, with galvanized-steel brackets, clip it to the side posts at the top and bottom.","Then they fill in the gaps with dirt.","The screens have a 45-year life expectancy, and the leaves remain on them year-round.","This variety is used on living walls in europe and warmer regions.","In colder climates, the manufacturer uses a hardier species of ivy that stays green even throughout harsh, snowy winters.","A large-format camera is essentially great-granddad's camera, the one with accordion-style bellows, the big film, and the curtain draped around the viewfinder-- 19th century technology with some modern refinements.","For many serious photographers, the basic concept still clicks.","In an age when cameras are miniaturized and digitized, the large-format camera might seem to be a relic.","But for pros, it's a creative tool.","The flexible bellows allow for a wide range of movements for incredible control of the image.","Image quality is another attraction.","This camera uses big sheet film, 4\" x 5\" and up, generating big negatives that don't need to be enlarged as much during printing, so the image has better resolution.","At this factory, they mold many of the camera's parts out of plastic.","They inject liquid plastic into molds, and the parts quickly solidify.","Other parts are made of laser-cut aluminum and stainless steel.","The camera maker assembles the base first, attaching rails that slide back and forth for focusing.","The next parts allow for swing and shift action-- movements that come in handy when composing a shot.","He attaches the camera's molded, plastic body to the swing and shift assembly.","Next, he assembles the front part of the camera, which holds the lens and shutter.","It has a swing and tilt mechanism for changing a shot's depth of field.","He slides the lens holder into place and secures it.","It can be raised and lowered when composing the shot.","He inserts spirit levels into the slots in the front and rear sections of the camera.","These levels will be used to check the angle of the shot.","Moving now to the focusing screen, it's made of ground acrylic to diffuse light.","He protects the acrylic from scratches with a glass plate and secures the assembly with stainless-steel clips.","He snaps the completed focusing screen to the body of the camera, where it can be easily switched from portrait to landscape position.","He tests the focus mechanism and confirms it's operational.","He now folds and glues fabric in an accordion configuration to create expanding bellows that will link the front and rear parts of the camera.","He applies double-sided tape around the inner lip of the folded bellows.","He sticks more double-sided tape onto a plastic frame...","And peels away the tape backing in strategic locations.","He inserts the frame into the bellows and aligns it with the taped inner border.","He then completely peels off the taped backing and presses the frame to the bellows' taped rim.","This frame adds crucial rigidity to the bellows.","Using more double-sided tape and adhesive, he secures the bellows' accordion to a larger fabric bag.","Next, he glues plastic flanges to each end of the bellows.","The flanges are connector pieces for attaching the bellows to the front and rear sections of the camera.","There are two kinds of bellows.","The one with the bag attached is usually used with a lens of short focal length.","An accordion without the bag has a much longer range of extension to accommodate a bigger lens.","He now connects the back of the camera to the front with the bellows.","They are a flexible link between the two.","By expanding or retracting the bellows, the photographer can adjust the distance between the lens and film to focus the shot.","Finally, he attaches the lens to the front of the camera.","It's now ready for a film test.","He loads the film into the holder.","Normally, this is done in complete darkness to prevent exposure of the film.","But he's left the lights on for our camera.","The film slides into the holder into the camera back.","And while film still rules in large-format photography, there are now digital camera backs for photographers who want instant results with traditional focus movements of the bellows camera.","It's all a matter of focus.","Man has used gemstones since ancient times.","Genuine gemstones come from nature-- minerals, rocks, or even certain organic materials.","Shaped, cut, and polished to bring out their colors and brilliance, the rarest ones are classified as precious gems, the others as semiprecious.","This semiprecious stone is called blue john.","It's a variety of the mineral fluorite, also known as fluorspar.","While common fluorspar is cream or white, blue john also has magnificent bands of purple, blue, and yellow.","There's only one place in the world where blue john is found, and that's in the village of castleton, derbyshire, in central england.","The stone comes from a cavern located some 55 yards deep in a hillside.","The miners don't use explosives, because the stone is quite soft and brittle in its natural state, and blasting would simply shatter it.","Instead, they use drills to carefully dislodge pieces of blue john from the rock wall.","They carry the blue john to the surface to the mine's workshop, where stone processors manually wash off the clay.","The stone is wet due to having been underground for some 240 million years, so they put it into an oven at low heat-- 176 degrees fahrenheit.","When the stone comes out of the oven a couple of weeks later, all its moisture has evaporated.","The dried stone, however, is still brittle, so they submerge it in a bowl of liquid resin, then place the bowl into a vacuum oven at 176 degrees fahrenheit.","This process draws out all the air and forces the resin deep into the stone's pores.","The stone then goes into another oven at 122 degrees fahrenheit for about 12 hours.","This hardens the resin, stabilizing the stone so that it can be worked without crumbling.","To create large items, such as goblets and bowls, the workshop's artisans turn the stone on a lathe.","To avoid fracturing it, they must work the blue john slowly and with diamond-tipped tools.","Diamond, being harder than all other rocks, cuts with less force and stress.","To supply jewelry makers, the mine workshop saws stones into slices using a diamond-edged saw.","At the jewelry workshop, a gemologist examines the slices on a light box to highlight the coloring and any flaws.","This helps determine which parts of the slice will yield the most striking gemstones.","Meanwhile, in another part of the workshop, a silversmith crafts the piece of jewelry-- in this case, a sterling-silver ring which will receive the blue john gemstone.","She bends, then solders together the ends of the ring's shank, the part that encircles the finger.","After grinding the solder seam flat, she fuses the top of the ring, called the setting, onto the shank.","Then she polishes the ring and passes it onto the gemologist, who takes a slice of blue john and, with a diamond-edged lapidary saw, cuts out the gemstone's shape, making it slightly larger than the setting.","Next, she glues on a backing cut from mother-of-pearl.","Just like the white light on which the gemologist examined the blue john slices, this mother-of-pearl backing highlights the colors in the stone.","Now, using a diamond-grit grinding wheel, she shapes the stone to perfectly fit in the setting.","She applies glue to the setting and fits the gemstone snugly inside.","Once the glue dries, she uses a diamond-grit sanding belt to smooth down the edges, gradually transforming the rough oval into a sleek dome.","This gem shape is known as a cabochon.","Finally, she polishes the entire ring's surface until the silver and richly hued blue john glisten.","Whether it's one of several, the shape funky or traditional, a gemstone sure makes a piece of jewelry rock."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Nails and Staples","Safety Glasses","Fabrics","Bicycles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Nails and staples-- a fascinating manufacturing process.","Safety glasses-- focused on protecting your eyesight.","Fabrics-- we'll weave our way through a textile mill.","And bicycles-- we gear up to see how they're made.","If you've ever needed to attach two pieces of wood, you know there's no shortage of fasteners.","You can choose from common nails, spiral nails, finishing nails, and even staples.","And if you've ever wondered where these useful little items come from, well, we've got it all nailed down for you.","There are hundreds of varieties of nails being made, and they're made of very durable carbon steel, all starting from steel wire.","Rolled up on a drum, this steel wire weighs in at 5,500 pounds.","The wire's diameter is a quarter of an inch.","And that's too large, so they'll have to reduce its size.","Using many drums, they're going to pull the wire successively to gradually thin it.","Then they'll roll it up again.","When full, this roll will contain almost 80,000 feet of wire weighing 2,500 pounds.","The wire now has a diameter of 1/10 of an inch, so it will have to be reduced by half.","Now they're going to cut the wire into little rods.","The cut rods are gathered up with this electromagnet and dumped into a machine that will process them.","Here, the rods are made into nails.","The metal rods move along slowly, and a blade forms the nail points.","These blades are changed every 600 hours.","This machine forms nailheads by flattening them with great pressure on the rod ends.","Nailheads are formed at a rate of 1,400 per minute.","The manufacturing of nails is now finished.","They fall into a chute, then into this collecting bin.","Nails are sold by the pound or embedded in plastic rolls, as we see here.","This machine inserts 167 nails into each roll.","The plastic strip has teeth, and the nails hook into these.","They handle the rolls with gloves, since the coating applied to the nails is not yet dry.","This machine produces five rolls a minute for a total of 835 nails.","Making spiral nails requires an extra processing step.","This machine puts the spirals into the nails with these cylinders and welds them.","It makes 1,200 nails a minute.","Then the nails are put together into strips for use in pneumatic nailing guns.","Each strip contains 30 spiral nails.","To help them in place, the nails are coated with a resin that dries in four minutes.","This is the nailing device that uses nails on a strip.","It sets the nails in one strike with the user's trigger finger.","Now we move on to the fabrication of staples.","The staple press binds 80 iron wires, which have been well-lined up.","The 80 small wires are placed side by side.","The wires are glued together.","Then the wires come out well-adhered to one another.","The staple strips are fed into this machine.","It cuts the staples to the desired length and folds them in one stroke of this press, which applies 40 tons of pressure.","Staples are formed on this gauge, and the staple strips are then ready for packaging.","Every day they produce a total of some 25 million nails here, which require the processing of 11,000 tons of metal annually.","At work and at play, our precious vision can be at risk.","For instance, we need to protect our eyes when we're using power tools and when we're playing squash.","Thankfully, all we need to do is wear safety glasses.","How do they make them so resistant?","Let's have a look.","Many sports and trades require the wearing of safety glasses.","These glasses are made with plastic molding.","Here we see the interior of a mold.","The optical part of the lens is mirrored in order to be as transparent as possible without being deformed.","The glasses are made by melting the primary material, a plastic resin called polycarbonate.","The resin granules are poured into this machine.","It becomes liquefied at a temperature of 450 degrees.","The liquid plastic is injected into the mold under pressure over a 30- to 60-second period.","The plastic hardens rapidly, and the glasses are then removed from the mold.","They mold several glasses at a time.","The glasses are separated by hand and then are given an initial visual inspection.","The glasses are placed on this support.","They're then taken to the laboratory, where they'll be given a surface treatment.","But before beginning the treatment, they're washed to eliminate any impurities and to assure that the coating treatment adheres well to the lens.","When they've been washed, the glasses are then rinsed in clear water.","The glasses are now gently soaked in a chemical solution, which prevents misting and scratching of the lens.","This coating now has to be cooked.","They direct the glasses toward an oven heated to 480 degrees.","The soaking and cooking processes vary between 30 minutes and 2 hours.","Each pair of glasses is inspected to make sure there are no imperfections or distortions in the lenses.","Then the glasses are placed on this support.","This milling machine automatically removes the last piece of polycarbonate.","This one was left in place so that they would be able to handle the glasses without having to touch the lenses.","At this stage of the production of the glasses, the nosepiece is glued on.","Certain pairs of glasses are selected from each production run.","Here they evaluate the resistance of glasses to a racquetball hurled at them at 90 miles per hour.","Here a hockey visor is tested against a puck traveling at 60 miles an hour.","To conform to safety standards, the glasses must withstand these tests.","It confirms that they're truly safe.","They now proceed to final assembly steps in making the glasses.","The last few pieces of the glasses, such as the plastic ear stems, are installed.","Now completed, the glasses are placed in cases.","It's the final step in their fabrication.","They make several types of safety glasses here-- industrial, hockey and football visors, swimming goggles, and racquetball glasses.","This facility turns out thousands of safety glasses every day, and the polycarbonate resin used to make those safety glasses could very well save your eyes one day.","Early man relied on animal skins to protect himself against the elements.","Eventually, fabrics were invented, giving us a bit more choice in the matter and eliminating the need to hunt or go naked.","Today textile mills make fabrics in every conceivable pattern and color.","Fabric is made from thousands of braided threads.","This mill has 700 bobbins of polyester.","Each bobbin contains 155 miles of thread.","We begin by separating the threads.","This warp unit takes the 700 strands and assembles them.","Then this comb separates them.","Other strands are added, and in total there will be 7,000 of them.","One fabric is composed of threads braided at 90 degrees.","The warp threads are assembled lengthwise, while the weft threads are joined transversely.","To prevent the threads from tearing, they pass through a bin of glue.","These rollers eliminate the surplus.","The glue will be removed with water before dyeing the threads.","The glued-together threads exit this machine.","These large green cylinders are heated and dry the glue on the threads.","Knitting will soon begin.","The 700 strands are newly separated on this loom roller.","Each thread must pass through a blade to produce a specific design.","This machine takes the 7,000 strands of thread, one by one, and they pass through the blade.","It's a highly precise operation.","The threads pass through a blade, and the weaving finally begins.","On this jacquard-type loom roller, the warped thread is inserted by a jet of air.","The weaving machine assembles two loom rollers made of 7,000 strands.","The fabric reaches a width of 12 feet.","The dark threads are inserted into the weave.","They insert 600 weft strands per minute.","The blades remove the weft strands to insert the warp ones between the two.","A comb pushes the weft.","The plate of the breakage chain stops the machine if a thread should break.","This bobbin contains 155 miles of thread.","The weft thread is in the insertion nozzle.","When a weft is inserted, an air jet nudges it in.","The loom roller operates at full tilt.","It makes 600 thread intersections a minute.","Weaving is now over.","We move on to the following steps-- washing and dyeing.","Washing is done in a soapy solution at 175 degrees and at a speed of 195 feet of fabric a minute.","The fabric is rinsed in clear water of about 85 degrees.","Now it's on to dyeing.","This is done with jets.","Up to 7 1/2 miles of fabric is placed in clean water into which colorants have been added.","The solution is heated, and the fabric soaks here for about six hours.","Then it will be rinsed in lukewarm water.","The fabric is placed in a bin.","This machine is called an opener.","It unfolds and stretches the material before rolling it up on an immense roller.","And now the roll is almost full.","We now move to thermosetting in a high-temperature oven that dries the fabric.","The temperature is almost 400 degrees at the oven's entrance.","The fabric circulates here for 45 seconds.","The bobbin that we saw at the beginning has produced 15 miles of fabric.","This finished roll weighs 3,300 pounds.","Bicycles have come a long way from the original basic design.","Now they feature multiple gears, high-tech materials like carbon-fiber frames and featherlight metal alloys.","And they're made to tackle everything from quiet bike paths to the most rugged mountain trails.","A french invention of 1790, the first bicycle resembled a 2-wheeled wooden horse without pedals or handlebars.","In 1817, a german gave it direction control.","The addition of pedals to the front wheels came from france in 1861.","The british contributed as well, adding the large front wheel in 1870.","By 1903, all countries participated in the first bicycle tour de france.","A bicycle is a beautiful piece of engineering.","The frames are made of steel or a chromium-molybdenum alloy known as chromoly.","Fabrication begins with these hollow tubes.","The tube cutter cuts the steel before sending it to the bender.","The bender curves the tubes cold, exerting strong pressure against the bending jig.","The tubes must now be machined-- that is, cut into lengths so that they correctly fit into one another.","During this operation, cutting oil cools the tube.","The tube is cut, taking into consideration the insertion angle of the other pieces.","Tubes to be welded together are placed in this support.","They insert a piece in an alloy of silver and bronze, which increases the strength and produces a better finish at the welding point.","Welding now takes place.","Welding of the frame requires about two minutes at a temperature of over 1,400 degrees.","Once welded, the part takes four minutes to cool.","They proceed in the same way with all the tubes that form the frame of the bicycle.","At this stage, it's important to straighten the frame, which could have deformed during welding.","They verify the alignment of the tubes and straighten it out cold with a tool that sets it to the right dimensions.","Now they're going to paint the frames.","Paint is applied with a spray gun and adheres to the frame by static contact.","Then the paint will be baked in a natural-gas oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.","The frame is now cooled, and we can begin the assembly.","The labels are now applied.","In another department, an employee assembles the handlebars.","He installs the mechanism for the brakes and the gears.","Now we move on to the wheel rims.","The 36 stainless-steel spokes of each aluminum wheel are installed manually.","The dexterity of these workers allows them to install spokes on 65 wheel rims in an hour.","This spoke tool allows them to screw the spokes into the rim.","This machine exerts a pressure on the spokes so that they'll have the desired tension.","If there's too much or not enough tension, the rim will be crooked.","This machine aligns the rims, essential for proper functioning of the bicycle.","It automatically adjusts the spokes so that the wheel will be truly straight.","Next step-- placing of the tubes and the tires on the wheel rims.","Set upside down, the bicycle circulates from one workshop to another, where they will install the last mechanical parts.","These accessories are not made here.","The handlebars, the pedals, the fork, the brake, and chain mechanisms are all installed manually.","Here they screw on the rear brake plate.","Finally they inspect each bicycle to make sure that the bolts are well-tightened and that everything's working properly.","Then it's on to packaging.","This factory makes 2,500 bicycles each day.","Assembled from various tubes of chromoly, each one weighs about 25 pounds and will run for thousands of miles."]}
{"meta":{"things":["3D Commercial Signs","Hardwood Floors","Corrugated Polyethylene Pipe","Mattresses"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Three-dimensional commercial sighs...","Hardwood floors...","Corrugated polyethylene pipe...","And mattresses.","There's nothing like an eye-catching sign to attract customers.","Many signs have three-dimensional lettering or decoration.","Whether you hang a small plaque, an old-fashioned shingle, or a huge overhead sign, a business name in 3-d really stands out.","These signs are made of high-density polyurethane foam-- a material that's waterproof and very durable.","The sign starts out as a line drawing, which they render into three dimensions using specialized software.","They send the file to a computer-controlled router that carves the design into a piece of foam.","The router can be outfitted with various blades to get different effects, such as rounded edges or this faceted effect known as prismatic lettering.","Once they've finished carving the design, they switch the router blade to an end mill-- a cutting tool that slices straight down through the foam.","Guided once again by the computer, the router gradually detaches the design's components.","After coating the pieces with primer, they spray them with two to three coats of polyurethane paint.","It dries to a durable, hard-as-plastic finish.","This design calls for gold and black lettering.","They'll use gold leaf instead of gold paint because it lasts longer and has finer color and luster.","First, they brush on a special glue for gold leaf called size.","They wait 12 hours until it becomes tacky.","Wet glue would merely absorb the gold, producing a dull finish.","Gold leaf crumbles at the slightest touch, so it comes on a paper backing, making it easier to apply.","Gold leaf is available in different qualities.","The lower the karat level, the more alloy it contains.","This is 23-karat leaf-- the closest you can get to pure gold.","Because it contains no other metals, it won't oxidize, tarnish, or dull despite acid rain, road salt, or other harsh elements.","Using silicone and screws, they mount the lettering onto a painted aluminum frame.","Another option would be to mount them on a painted background plaque made of the same foam as the letters.","Designs can also be engraved directly into a plaque and then highlighted using either paint or gold leaf.","They use vinyl film to mask the parts that won't be decorated.","This time they apply loose gold leaf because it's easier to brush into small areas.","When the gold leafing is done, they carefully remove the film.","This factory makes signs out of a variety of materials-- everything from wood to stainless steel to plexiglas.","The material used is determined primarily by whether the sign will hang indoors or out.","Besides lettering, signs often incorporate 3-d objects made of resin or fiberglass.","The factory casts these components in molds, then paints and mounts them.","They'll create this sign in various thicknesses of aluminum.","The same computer-guided router does the cutting, but now they have to continually douse its blade with coolant to prevent the friction-generated heat from melting the metal.","They coat the components with metal primer before applying polyurethane paint.","Assembly is simple.","They screw aluminum studs to the back of all the pieces, then bolt them onto the background plaque.","Thanks to the wonders of computer technology, design possibilities are virtually endless-- a true sign of the times.","There was a time when exposing your hardwood floors meant you couldn't afford wall-to-wall carpeting.","Not anymore.","Hardwood floors are definitely in, and today there are so many wood and stain color choices, hardwood floors can suit any decor.","The types of wood commonly used for flooring include red oak...","Beech...","Maple...","White oak...","Walnut...","Birch...","And ash.","As soon as the wood arrives from the sawmill, workers at the floor factory stack it on racks, then pile the racks floor to ceiling in a dryer that's the size of a large barn.","There, large fans circulate hot air around the racks.","The wood's moisture content is between 40% and 60%, depending on the season.","When that drops to about 7%, the wood is ready to come out.","This drying process takes anywhere from 10 days to a month.","The length of time varies because some types of wood dry much slower than others.","The wood is in random lengths and widths, so the first step after drying is to cut it to standard sizes.","On the way to the ripsaw, the planks pass under an optical device called an optimizer.","In mere seconds, it reads the dimensions of each plank and sends that information to a computer.","The computer calculates the greatest number of standard-size pieces that can be cut from the plank, then guides the ripsaw to cut accordingly.","This maximizes the yield and limits waste.","Flooring is made from medium-quality rather than top-quality lumber to keep prices competitive.","As the pieces exit the saw, workers manually cut out any large knots or other defects-- weak points at which a piece could potentially snap and jam up the equipment.","The pieces now travel to a machine called the molder.","Its revolving steel knives spin at a rate of 6,000 rotations per minute, carving a tongue down one side of each piece and a groove down the other.","Workers do frequent spot checks to make sure the tongues and grooves fit together snugly.","The next machine carves grooves on what will be the underside of the pieces.","This is for air circulation and stability.","Using crosscut saws, workers remove any faults in the wood and divide pieces that have noticeable color variations.","This is the first step towards sorting the wood by grade.","Now a machine called an end matcher carves a tongue and groove on the two ends.","Here's the view from inside the machine.","Workers check again for faults, then, assessing quality and color, sort each piece by grade.","This will be prefinished flooring, so the pieces now run through a sander to prepare them to receive eight coats of varnish.","For certain finishes, the first coat contains wood stain.","All subsequent coats are colorless.","Between each application, ultraviolet lamps dry the varnish in just seconds.","As the flooring exits the last drying oven, it's ready for packaging.","Unfinished hardwood flooring has to be sanded, stained, and varnished after it's installed.","Prefinished flooring eliminates that extra work, sparing you the dust, the drying time, and the smell.","Drainage pipes are vital to many industries.","The pipes are generally made out of plastic, and they're an important component of municipal infrastructure.","Cities use them to prevent streets from flooding in heavy rain.","Forestry companies use them as culverts when building logging roads over streams.","This corrugated pipe is made from a type of plastic called high-density polyethylene, or h.d.p.e.","The pipe factory combines three varieties of h.d.p.e.","Pellets-- plain pellets, recycled pellets, and pellets with a colorant that provides u.v. protection.","The proportions vary depending on the pipe's intended use.","The mixer transfers the pellets to a machine called the extruder.","It first heats them to about 450 degrees fahrenheit.","This melts them into a thick liquid.","Then it assembles what's called the corrugator-- a mold whose cavity is the shape of a corrugated pipe.","The extruder injects the liquefied h.d.p.e.","Into the corrugator, applying vacuum pressure to spread it evenly into all the crevices.","A built-in cooling system hardens the plastic just enough to set the shape, enabling them to extract the pipe from the mold.","The pipe then passes through a cold-water shower, which hardens the plastic completely.","The pipe now enters a machine called the perforator, which punches holes around the circumference.","These holes, whose size varies by model, serve two purposes.","First, they make the pipe lighter and therefore easier to transport and install.","Second, they enable water to enter the pipe constantly at virtually any location, then flow to the end and drain out.","It's crucial to prevent soil from clogging these holes, so this next machine wraps the pipe in a filter cloth made of polyester.","They don't want this filter cloth to unravel, so the machine heat-seals it closed.","This corrugated polyethylene pipe is finished and ready to be packaged and shipped.","The packaging line is highly automated.","Robotic equipment first coils the length of pipe that the customer ordered.","Then it cuts the end.","The robots tie the coil at several points so that it doesn't unravel.","Workers now transfer the coiled pipe to a machine that covers it in plastic stretch wrap.","This covering will protect the filter cloth from the damaging effects of dirt, moisture, and light.","This factory also produces what's called double-wall pipe, which has a corrugated outside wall and a smooth inside wall.","This type of pipe drains more efficiently because water flows faster over a flat surface than over the repeated peaks and valleys of a corrugated one.","Making this type of pipe requires two extruders-- one to form each wall.","Samples from every production run go through several quality-control tests.","This compression strength test ensures the pipe won't buckle under the weight of the earth above it.","High-density polyethylene pipe may be lightweight compared to cement pipe, but it's equally resistant to pressure, chemicals, and abrasion.","Mattress anatomy 101.","The comfort layer is the quilted fabric top and the underlying foam.","The support layer is made up of the interior coils and heavy-gauge wire along the perimeter.","The foundation, or box spring, is a separate bottom unit that acts like a giant shock absorber.","For thousands of years, people slept on the floor on palettes stuffed with natural material such as straw, wool, or feathers.","During the middle ages, family members would set down their palettes around the home's central fireplace.","Only royalty and the wealthy had separate sleeping quarters and mattresses that sat off the floor on a wooden frame called a bedstead.","Beds didn't become common in middle-class homes until the 1600s.","The comfort layer, or quilt, starts with ticking-- a cover fabric made of polyester or cotton polyester.","Under that are layers of polyester cloth, foam, and fiber.","Luxury mattresses contain wool, silk, or cashmere fiber.","The assembled layers go into an automated sewing machine.","It's computer programmed to stitch one of several quilted designs.","A roller compresses the thick pile to enable the 3-inch-long needles to pierce through all the layers.","The two polyester sheets inside the quilt are essential.","One is directly under the ticking.","It acts as a barrier to prevent scratchy fibers from poking through the top of the mattress.","The other is at the bottom of the quilt.","It holds the stitches in place, preventing the thread from moving around inside and ripping the foam.","A cutting wheel now trims the quilt to twin, double, queen, or king size, leaving an extra 2 inches all around.","This surplus ensures the foam will reach all the way to the edge once the quilt's sewn up.","The sewing table is air-cushioned, like an air hockey table.","This floats the quilt, enabling the seamstress to maneuver it easily.","As she stitches the quilt closed, she trims off the excess and sews a polyester band to the underside along the perimeter.","Meanwhile, an automated sewing machine produces the mattress sides from the same ticking used for the quilt.","It stitches the fabric to a foam sheet 4/10 of an inch thick, making a quilted design.","Low-end mattresses have unquilted side fabric.","Elsewhere in the factory, as we see here in slow motion, automated machines produce the guts of the mattress-- the coils.","Low-end mattresses contain continuous coils-- rows of springs formed out of one long strip of steel wire.","Better mattresses contain individual coils, each formed from a separate piece of wire.","This machine is producing open coils-- a type of individual coil used in mid-quality mattresses.","Open coils have an hourglass shape and are made of steel.","Luxury mattresses contain pocket coils-- individual coils that are barrel-shaped and made of steel, manganese, and carbon-- a high-strength combination of metals.","The coils are individually wrapped in cloth pockets to prevent them from tangling together.","This machine is producing open coils.","It first heats the wire with an electric current to make the metal flexible.","Once it forms the coil, it curls the two ends of the wire like a pig's tail.","This pigtail finishing prevents the sharp ends from poking through the mattress surface.","They line up the open coils in rows, then feed them into a machine that connects them by running long strips of pigtailed wire along the tops and bottoms.","Using pigtailed wire again, workers attach thick, steel edge wire along the top and bottom perimeters and steel brackets called edge guards at strategic points along the sides.","These supports are what keep the mattress firm when you sit on the edge.","Pocket coils are glued to each other at the center.","This enables them to move independently so that motion on one side of the bed won't affect the other side.","A reinforcement netting holds the coils in position.","Workers attach the edge wires and edge guards to the outer coils with thick staples.","The rest of the assembly process is the same for all types of mattresses.","After adding two layers of foam, workers attach a quilt to the top and bottom by stapling the polyester band on the quilt's underside to the metal components.","The final step is to attach the sides.","A special machine called a mattress closer joins them to the quilts with a reinforcement strip made of durable fabric."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Footballs","Electric Guitar Amplifiers","Marbles","Airplane Propellers"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Footballs...","Electric-guitar amplifiers...","Marbles...","And airplane propellers.","In 1869, players in the first football game used a round ball, like in soccer.","It was tough to carry and awkward to throw, so they changed it to look more like a watermelon.","The current shape enables a better grip and passing on an arc that's unique to football.","A lot of people handle a football before it ever gets to the field.","They start with cowhide.","Footballs are traditionally made of this leather because it wears well over time.","With a die, a worker cuts out the four sections that make up the ball's skin.","A stamping machine then brands the skin with the company logo.","They may put other markings elsewhere on the ball, depending on the design of the model they're making.","Each of the sections goes into a machine that trims the pieces' combined weight down to spec.","To strengthen the skin, a seamstress sews cotton and vinyl linings onto all four sections.","Then she places them in a die that positions them for another set of markings.","These four white lines will form two stripes when the sections come together.","This is purely aesthetic and varies according to the football model.","Now it's time to sew the top sections together and then the bottom ones to each other.","Exactly how many stitches this takes is this company's closely guarded secret.","This press makes a hole in one of the top sections for the air valve.","They make eight holes in the top sections for laces that will hold the skin tightly around an inflated bag called a bladder.","To join the ball's top and bottom sections, the seamstress first cups them and then joins the edges together.","She sews the leather inside out to make the stitches less visible.","Later, workers will turn the skin right-side out by reaching through the opening between the lace holes.","This is also where they'll insert the bladder.","It's important to flatten the four seams.","To do this, a worker places each one on a wheel, as a roller passes over the top.","This keeps the ball from being bumpy when they stretch the skin over the bladder.","A 15-second steam softens the leather and makes it easier to manipulate.","A concave press flattens the seams at the tips.","This will also keep the ball smooth when they inflate it.","Time to turn the skin right-side out.","The worker places it on a metal bar, then, reaching through the opening between the lace holes, he grabs the other side of the skin and pulls it through.","Then he runs the bar along the inside to reshape the skin.","The bladder is made of polyurethane, a type of plastic, with a vinyl patch reinforcing the lacing area.","After squeezing the bladder inside the skin, a worker snips off the end of the air valve to keep it out of the way.","Then she inflates the bladder a bit to make it rigid enough for lacing.","After steadying the ball with clamps, she uses an awl to thread the lace through the holes-- just one vinyl lace, measuring four feet.","It worms through both sides and then down the center and through all the holes once again.","The lacing is spaced about a half inch apart-- wide enough to comfortably grip for that magic pass you've got in mind.","Next, workers temporarily overinflate the balls.","Steel molds surround them to ensure they'll assume the correct shape.","After 90 seconds, the extra air seeps out.","Finally, the factory inspects the balls to ensure they're up to standard.","Fully inflated, a ball must weigh no more than 15 ounces.","It should measure 21 1/2 inches through the middle and 28 inches around both ends.","After a five-day manufacturing process, these balls are ready for the field.","You have to plug an electrical guitar into an amplifier if you want it to be more than barely audible.","A guitar amplifier is typically a boxed unit, containing an amp to boost the electronic signal and a loudspeaker.","Some amplifiers use state-of-the-art silicon-chip circuitry, while others use traditional vacuum tubes.","the amp's electronics are housed inside a metal chassis.","This model's chassis is made from a sheet of metal that's less than .","04 inches thick.","A computer-guided machine called a turret punch cuts the contour and pierces a series of holes and slots for the controls.","A worker then uses a computer-guided bender to shape the chassis cutout.","Elsewhere in the factory, the amp's circuit board takes shape.","It'll go inside the chassis.","A computer-guided drill makes tiny holes in a laminate board that's coated with copper.","The holes are for the board's various electronic components.","An automated silk-screen printer now applies a diagram of the electrical circuitry in ammonia-resistant ink.","Then the board goes into a machine called an etcher, which uses ammonia to dissolve the copper coating.","Copper shielded by the ink diagram stays intact.","The machine then rinses the board with sodium hydroxide to dissolve the ink, leaving behind just the circuitry diagram and copper.","This copper configuration will conduct electricity to the circuit-board components.","Automated machines insert the smaller components.","Here's what that looks like in slow motion...","And at actual speed.","As a worker provides counterpressure, a machine folds over the leaves of some larger components to secure them to the board until they're soldered.","Workers then install large, irregular parts by hand, among them--  the sockets that hold the tubes which power the amp...","The ribbon connecters that join different areas of the circuit board...","And the wires that connect external components to the board.","The factory permanently affixes everything in one shot, using a process called wave soldering.","The circuit board runs through a bath of molten tin and lead.","In just a couple of seconds, the liquefied metal hardens, bonding the components securely.","Back to that steel chassis we saw them bend into shape earlier.","Since then, they've painted it black.","With a silk screen printer, they apply the control markings, logos, and other information.","They begin the final assembly.","First, they screw the circuit board into the chassis.","Then they plug the preamp tube into the appropriate socket on the board.","This tube boosts the electrical signal coming from the guitar and feeds it to the output tubes, which up the voltage level, making the signal stronger and louder.","After installing control knobs and covering the bottom of the chassis, workers insert and clamp the output tubes, the number of which usually varies according to how many watts of power the amp is designed to produce.","The chassis housing the electronics goes into a box.","This factory builds its boxes from high-grade baltic birch plywood, but other companies often use domestic plywood, mdf, or even plastic.","After covering the box in leatherette and adding corner reinforcements, they install the two remaining components-- the spring reverb...","And the speaker.","As the guitar's electrical signals run through the amp, part of the electrical signal diverts to one end of the spring, vibrating it.","The spring's other end picks up this vibration and sends it back through the amp as a delayed signal.","That reverberation combines with the original signal to produce a bigger sound.","people have been playing with small balls of stone, clay, or marble since ancient egyptian and roman times.","Today's marbles are actually made of glass and used for industrial tasks as well as games.","Glass is not only inexpensive and durable, but also quite beautiful.","To make marbles, this company melts recycled glass with marbles made earlier but rejected for being the wrong size.","All this goes into a kiln heated to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit.","After 16 hours, they open a door at the bottom of the kiln, and the molten glass flows out.","A shearing device cuts the stream every half a second, forming segments called slugs that become marbles.","To make different-sized marbles, they adjust the device to cut at shorter or longer intervals.","The slugs slide down chutes, landing between grooves on spinning cast-iron rolls.","The spinning keeps the slugs from sticking.","They'll need 72 hours to cool completely, but their final appearance is already set.","That was determined back in the kiln, when the airflow drove the heat to melt the glass and mix the colors.","These channels separate the good from the bad.","Openings along the way weed out the ones that are too big or too small and collect the ones that are just right.","More intricate marbles are handmade.","This craftsman first preheats some clear glass in a small oven.","Then he breaks off a piece of colored glass.","After the clear glass has melted in the furnace overnight, he gathers some on a steel rod then picks up a chunk of preheated colored glass with it.","He forms a knob and works the mass into a long string that's up to 16 1/2 feet long and thin as a noodle.","He'll use them in various colors to decorate the clear glass cores of the marbles.","He gathers a clump of melted clear glass on the rod and shapes it with wet newspaper, which won't stick to hot glass.","After shaping the end, he rolls the clump on several preheated colored glass strings.","Then it's back in the furnace.","He repeats these steps up to three times and rolls the clump on a metal table to even out the surface between each trip to the furnace.","Then he adds a layer of clear glass on top.","With another tool now, he stretches the clump to about 1 1/2 feet long.","He'll use this to make several cores.","To make the second layer of the core, he rolls a 2-inch-long segment onto colored glass slivers called ribbons.","After rolling them in the furnace to melt them, he flattens the ribbons with pliers and snips off the excess at the ends.","He wraps the core and the ribbons in a layer of clear glass, then hand-shapes it.","Now he rolls the core on more glass strings.","Then it's back in the furnace to meld them.","He adds one more clear glass layer, and the inside is finished.","That's a total of six layers for this marble.","Other models have fewer or more.","The craftsman shapes the glass with several metal and wooden tools.","He measures the diameter with metal calipers and gradually sculpts a sphere.","He'll make up to five marbles from this segment, ranging up to the size of a golf ball.","After scoring the glass with a knife, he places it in the open end of a pipe to hold it.","Then he gently taps the rod, which breaks the glass and releases the sphere.","He melts away the bump left at the spot where the glass broke.","Next, the marble goes into an oven at 986 degrees fahrenheit.","The oven slowly cools overnight to strengthen the glass.","Clearly a cut above, this eye-catching, handcrafted marble is already an object of art.","An airplane propeller usually has two, three, or four blades, the angles of which the pilot can adjust in response to airspeed and flight conditions.","A propeller's main parts are made of aluminum because it's critical to keep it as lightweight as possible.","The blades and hub are made of aerospace-grade aluminum that resist corrosion and metal fatigue.","The propeller's blades attach to a hub.","This piece of aluminum is on its way to becoming that hub.","Like the starting pieces for all parts, it was forged beforehand into a rough version of the final shape.","This sophisticated, computer-guided mill now machines the piece.","40 minutes later, the hub is finished and ready for assembly to the engine.","This roughly shaped piece is about to become one of the propeller's blades.","A computer-guided lathe machines it to the final shape.","Liquid lubricant washes away the metal shavings and cools the friction-generated heat.","The lathe first forms the shank-- the end of the blade that fits into the hub.","The next milling machine cuts the blade's shape.","Now the finishing steps-- done manually because they require a keen eye.","Workers use a rotary sander, then a belt sander to grind away the marks the machining process left behind.","They buff the metal with a polishing wheel...","Then clean the blades by dipping them in a strong detergent.","This acidic solution eats away any dirt, oil, or grease on the surface of the metal.","After that, they dip the blades in a bath of water and chromic acid.","This seals the pores in the metal, fending off corrosion.","The factory tests all critical parts for surface defects by dipping them in a fluorescent solution that leaches into any imperfections.","After rinsing, an inspection under black light.","A blue glow means the parts are a-okay.","Any imperfections show up as bright, fluorescent green.","The defective part is either repaired or rejected from the production line.","Blades that make the cut move onto the paint shop-- a coat of black on the back side to prevent sun reflection into the pilot's eyes and stripes for safety, to make the spinning blades visible.","Next comes a de-icing boot-- a rubber-encased electric heating element that prevents ice buildup.","The rubber is highly durable, yet flexible enough to mold to the curve of the blade.","Next, they lubricate a part of the blade shank with grease, then install a strong steel-ball-bearing system.","This will hold the blade securely in the hub, yet still enable it to pivot to change its angle.","The shanks of the three blades fit right into this steel part called the fork.","It keeps all the blades at the same angle.","Now for what's called the pitch change rod.","The term \"pitch\" refers to the angle of the blades.","Engine oil will exert hydraulic pressure on a piston that moves the pitch rod, which advances the fork, rotating the blades to the required angle.","After removing the pitch change rod temporarily, they apply sealant to the top half of the hub and place it over the bottom half that contains the ball-bearing set.","A rubber o-ring seal, then a sturdy spring to provide the required counterpressure.","Workers thread and torque the piston and pitch change rod-- now attached to each other--  to the fork.","Another rubber o-ring-- this one to prevent leaks out of the top of the cylinder that will contain the engine oil.","They use a special tool to tightly torque the cylinder down against the hub.","With assembly complete, this propeller is ready to be installed on today's airplanes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fur Coats","Hearses","Outdoor Lighting Fixtures","Golf Tees"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fur coats...","Hearses...","Outdoor lighting fixtures...","And golf tees.","Fur coats have been around through thick and thin.","They used to be very bulky, but today's garment is much thinner because of new manufacturing techniques.","The new lightweight fur coats are also cut closer to the body, but they still provide old-fashioned warmth.","Today fur coats are made for a changing market that values less bulk and more texture.","The beaver pelt now undergoes multiple transformations until it doesn't even resemble the original pelt.","They steam the fur to fluff it up.","Then they give it a static charge to make the hair stand on end.","The pelt then goes under a row of little blades several times.","This shears the fur so the hairs are uniform and the pelt less bulky.","But because the downy undercoat is the most insulating part, this fur will still be warm.","Grooving is a new technique that involves carving a pattern into the dyed fur.","The blades cut a zigzag pattern down the length of the fur, giving the beaver pelt a unique look and feel.","Now the furrier demonstrates a process called letting out.","He feeds a pelt to a machine that slices it into diagonal ribbons.","Yes, he's cutting it to shreds, but when this process is complete, they'll have a new and improved fur.","They sew the diagonal strips together, arranging each a little lower than the last.","They use a special fur-sewing machine.","As the operator feeds the strips, he pushes the fur down so it doesn't get caught in the seam and ruin the look.","It's something that takes skill and experience.","The narrow strips of fur created by this letting-out process will run the full length of a coat.","It's a more flowing look than simply sewing whole pelts together, but it also makes the fur a bit rippled.","A process called blocking will correct that.","They wet down the leather of the pelt.","Then they split it a bit at the end to fit the pattern that's been traced onto a board underneath.","They staple the fur onto the pattern.","After leaving it to dry overnight, they trace the original pattern onto the leather side of the fur, now smoothed out from the stretching.","They mark a spot for a pocket and trim the fur to the pattern so the dimensions are now exact.","Specialized finishers sew a cloth pocket into the slit prepared for it.","They stitch in the zipper and then cut out pieces of silk to line the coat.","Before they sew in that lining, they build up the front edges of the garment by tacking lamb's wool on the inside edging.","This will add structure and help the fur hold its form as they put it in the lining.","Starch-cotton tape now goes into the hem of the coat to keep the fur from stretching.","Handcraftsmanship has always been a key element of the fur industry.","Every fur gets these hand-stitched finishing touches.","Once the label goes on, this fur coat is ready for a night on the town.","We all have to go sometime, and when it's our time, a hearse will likely be waiting to take us away in style.","Hearses are all about luxury, because luxury says dignity and respect.","From the plush custom interior to the stretched and streamlined design, it's nothing but the best for our dearly departed.","It's the final journey, and the vehicle is custom-made for the occasion.","They start with a cadillac chassis.","It's been built without rear doors, rear windows, backseats, trunk, or rear bumper.","They park in a master-framer jig and immediately slice it in two, using a reciprocating saw that cuts through metal like butter.","The jig allows the two halves to be pulled apart so there's just under 31 inches between them.","Then they weld rails to join the two halves.","They encase each new frame rail with a support piece.","The framework for a hearse has to be extremely solid because it will carry heavy loads for many years.","The base cadillac also has more structural reinforcements than a regular vehicle, like stronger wheels and suspension.","They hoist the steel rear cage and roof frame onto the car, and they build up the roof with steel rails.","The framework for the casket-loading door goes on next.","Once the rear cage and chassis extensions are in position, they mount the panels, which are made of a blend of fiberglass and space-age materials.","Adhesive seals the panels to the steel skeleton...","And they secure all the panels in place with screws.","This is a made-to-measure job.","The panels precisely fit to the welded cage.","Meanwhile, over in the press room, they roll a nonstick coating onto a die, then place a sheet of steel over it.","They also give the steel a coat of the nonstick agent.","An 850-ton press then pushes the steel into the die to shape the door of the funeral coach.","The nonstick coating allows them to remove the door easily without damaging it.","They attach the door to the back of the hearse using superstrong hinges because they'll have to stand up to a lot of wear.","This door is high and wide and opens 135 degrees to allow for easy loading of the casket.","After smoothing out the seams in the body and giving it a high-gloss paint job, they cover the roof with a foam pad.","They place vinyl material over it and pull it snugly around the corners.","They line the deck of the hearse with a heavy-duty laminate.","Next they put up the head liner, the fabric that covers the ceiling of the hearse.","They mount the hardware that will allow the casket to easily roll in and out of the coach.","Finally, the \"custom built\" sign.","From the lustrous paint job to the lush, curtained interior, the funeral coach has an ethereal look-- appropriate since it's designed to make an exit that's out of this world.","Day or night, streetlights light up our lives.","Typically standing as high as 26 feet above the sidewalk, they cast a warm glow in the darkness and continue to provide street decor during the day.","This fixture, called a luminaire, starts as a technical drawing.","To make certain parts of the luminaire, the factory uses a process called sand-casting.","To create the internal features of the sand mold, workers take a wooden mold for the part and fill it with a mixture made of white sand.","They insert a wire into the center to make an opening...","Then inject carbon dioxide into the opening.","This causes a chemical reaction that hardens the sand.","They remove the white-sand piece, called the core, from the wooden mold.","To cast the external parts of the luminaire, workers start with a mold made of aluminum.","Inside it, they build another mold made of brown soil.","They place a wood block on top and pack down the soil.","They do the same on the other half of the mold.","Now, with a copper pipe, they make holes in the soil mold-- one in which they pour molten aluminum, the other to vent air.","They spray the inside with compressed air so no particles will stick to the cast piece.","They position the core into the soil mold.","Keys in the soil mold help them position it exactly.","Then they pour molten aluminum into the mold.","Aluminum is an ideal metal for streetlights because it's lightweight, rust-resistant, and it won't stick to the soil mold.","After two to five minutes, they open the metal frame and shatter the mold.","They use a drill to remove the white sand piece from the inside of the cast-aluminum part.","Next they sand down the part to make it smooth.","Automated drills then pierce pilot holes for various hardware.","A welder places a bracket in a vise, then welds a decorative tube onto it.","Next he welds an anchor plate onto a pole.","The upper part of the pole is welded to a larger bottom part.","All the poles, brackets, and luminaire parts go into a series of chemical baths to prepare them for painting.","The model shown here comes with tempered-glass or polycarbonate lens finishes on all four sides.","They install the lighting system.","First they position the bowl-shaped aluminum piece.","Then the lamp socket is mounted with the electrical components inside the aluminum bowl.","Finally they install a reflector inside the hood to project the light toward the street.","They apply labels with product and maintenance information into the fixture's hood.","Now they can close up the luminaire and mount it on a pole or bracket.","And let there be light.","Before golf tees became popular, players would tee up their ball on a little mound of sand.","The first peg-style tees were invented more than a century ago, but they didn't really catch on until the 1920s, when one company marketed them aggressively, using professional golfers to promote them.","That wooden peg you stick in the ground to hold the ball is almost as important as your golf club.","You use a tee on the first stroke of each hole to give your drive shot extra distance.","At the sawmill, white birch logs are scaled at the small end.","Just one 8-inch diameter log yields close to 3,000 golf tees.","The logs go into what's called a step feeder.","This conveyor transports them to a debarking machine.","Then a slasher saws the log into shorter lengths.","The thumper roll, a roller with steel teeth, secures each log to a sharp chain.","This holds the log in place as it heads for the saws.","Four saws work their magic, carving the 4-1/2-foot boards into shorter dowel boards, each measuring 18 inches.","Then a series of chains lay down the dowel boards in a single file on what's called a molder-and-feed roll.","The molder's two rotating heads transform the rectangular board into round dowels.","An outfeed roll drops each dowel onto a belt for several quality-control checks.","An inspector examines the dowels, removing defective pieces and setting aside dowels that need more cutting.","A single inspector sorts close to 19,000 dowels per hour.","They go into racks that hold 8,900 dowels each.","Rack after rack now travels into a lathe.","A blade whittles the dowel to a preliminary shape.","This tool, called a trumpet, moves over the dowels, sculpting the tee's final shape.","A blade simultaneously slices the tee from the dowel and forms the cup.","The metamorphosis is almost complete from wooden boards...","To dowels...","To tees.","Next the tees go for a tumble in a sanding drum.","This cascading action has the tees sanding each other's surface until they're smooth.","The slots on this machine separate the good tees from the bad ones and screen out the waste.","Long, nail-like bumps on the machine divide the tees so that only one drops down at a time.","The tee fits through only if it's perfectly shaped.","The rejects and wood shavings roll across the top and land elsewhere.","The good tees land in a big bin, called a tote.","Golf tees come in a few different lengths, but your average one is 2 1/2 inches long and weighs .","02 grams, so a tote typically holds some 100,000 tees.","A tote dumper then dumps two totes of tees into a paint drum.","Small steel flights inside the drum send the tees cascading in a uniform direction.","With each turn, they pick up paint.","It takes 2 hours and 10 gallons of water-based paint to fully coat the tees, then another two hours to dry the paint.","A trapdoor releases the tees into a vibrating conveyor and into a tote.","If these tees will have printing on them, there's still one more step.","They get an extra coat of enamel paint to create a smooth surface for the ink.","Shiny or mat, plain or printed, the golf tee has sure come a long way since the days of teeing off on a mound of sand."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ceramic Grills","Pneumatic Punchers","Water Jet Fountains","Hollow Wooden Surfboards"]},"text":["Ceramic is one of the best insulation materials in the world.","Grills made with ceramic bodies can bake, roast, smoke, and, of course, grill food.","Ceramic grills retain more heat than metal ones, resulting in a juicier, more flavorful meal.","Ceramic grills use natural-lump charcoal.","Natural charcoal is made by carbonizing wood through a specialized heating process.","Cooking with natural charcoal is just like cooking over a campfire.","At this factory, they begin by making a slurry.","The main ingredients are water, clay, feldspar, and other raw materials.","When the slurry is fired at a high temperature, it hardens into ceramic material.","Another team assembles the two-part plaster mold to cast the base of the grill.","After cleaning off residue from the previous casting, they clamp the parts together.","The mold has two funnels.","One funnel pumps the slurry into the mold.","The other allows air to exit as the slurry fills the gap between the two parts of the mold.","They let the slurry set for several hours.","The plaster mold absorbs 80% of the water, leaving a firm but damp casting.","They remove the top part of the mold and trim off any excess material.","They cut out a rectangular hull for the sliding draft door.","The door allows cold air to enter the grill.","Then a worker uses a vacuum attached to a hoist to remove the heavy grill base from the mold.","They repeat this casting process for the other ceramic parts of the grill, including the top called the dome and the fire box, which sits inside the base and holds the charcoal.","After each casting, they scrape and sand away the excess material.","They roll the cast parts into a dryer to remove the remaining moisture.","For the next 30 hours, blowers circulate air that's heated to 180 degrees fahrenheit.","After the parts cool, the base and dome undergo a final touch up to perfect their exterior surfaces.","Next, the parts are taken to an automated glazing station.","A conveyor spins the parts under a shower of ceramic glaze.","A worker checks the coverage and sprays a touch up where required.","The glaze dries in about 20 seconds.","Workers vacuum up the excess...","Then temporarily assemble the grill for firing.","They place the fire box inside the base, the base plate at the bottom of the fire box, and the dome on top of the base.","They fire the grills in a huge kiln for 24 hours.","They gradually increase the temperature to more than 2,300 degrees fahrenheit, hold it there for a set time, then gradually cool it down.","This firing process triggers a chemical reaction that transforms the clay-based slurry into hard, heat-resistant ceramic.","It also turns the glaze on the surface into black glass.","After firing, they attach the stainless steel draft door to the base.","They spread adhesive on the top edge of the base...","And apply a gasket made of heat-resistant material.","This creates an air seal between the base and the dome.","Then they attach the two parts with a hinge.","They insert the fire box and stamp it.","Then they glue a gasket around the neck of the dome and install the top vent.","They place the cast-iron grate that holds the charcoal and the porcelain-coated cooking grates inside the grill.","The cast-iron grate holds the charcoal.","The porcelain-coated grate is for cooking.","Finally, they install the thermometer.","After lighting the charcoal, grillers can adjust the air flow with the draft door and top vent.","The draft door and top vent must be fully closed to shut off the grill.","This cuts off the air supply and extinguishes the fire.","Many factories use punching machines to make the parts they need.","Older punching machines consisted of a large press powered by a separate hydraulic or pneumatic system.","Today's smaller punching machines contain both of these components in a single device.","These punching machines are used in factories that make aluminum window and door frames.","A factory worker inserts a strip of extruded aluminum in the machine and presses a foot pedal.","The punch strikes the die, making the required cut.","They construct the machine out of steel and aluminum, both of which arrive at the factory as solid bars.","First they saw the bars into smaller pieces so they can make the machine's various components.","They place the aluminum pieces in a computer-guided milling machine.","It uses a series of tools to shape the metal into a specific component.","This piece is called a punch guide.","Its job is to align the punch tool so that it strikes the die correctly.","A worker grinds the edges of the part until they're smooth.","A different milling machine cuts more resilient parts out of steel bars.","It, too, is computer guided and follows technical specifications.","This steel component is the punch tool.","It strikes through a steel die manufactured the same way.","Every machine part undergoes a meticulous quality-control inspection.","This computer-guided sensor checks each piece.","Once all the parts have passed testing, workers begin assembling.","The machine's base houses the air cylinder.","They position the die on top of the base and screw it in place.","Then they install the punch, carefully centering it over the die.","A worker hooks up hoses to the air cylinder.","He tests everything to make sure it's properly aligned with the die, then he fastens it with screws.","They install the floor of the machine's second level.","A machine can hold up to three different dies on three separate levels.","They position the second die on the guide pins, then install the ceiling of the second level.","They glue the punches to the ceiling.","This level has several punches, allowing the machine to make different cuts using the same die.","The cuts can be simultaneous or continuous.","They install a punch selector which allows users to activate or deactivate each punch.","Once installation is complete, they test the alignment of the punches.","Then they mount safety covers on the machine.","They prevent workers' hands from accidentally getting caught between a punch and die.","Next, they make the pneumatic system that powers the machine.","First, they attach air hoses to the foot pedal.","The operator will step on the pedal to punch out the metal.","Then they hook up the other end of the hoses to the compressed air-supply line.","Now the pneumatic punching machine is ready to be used at the window-and-door factory.","A worker inserts a strip of extruded aluminum into the first die to notch the end, then into the second die to punch three holes to join the window-frame parts.","Finally, the third die punches three screw holes on the opposite side.","The machine saves time because they don't have to switch dies between each cut.","Water is essential to life on earth.","We need it to survive, but we also use it for entertainment.","Water-jet fountains captivate audiences with incredible displays.","Some even use lights to change the appearance of the water's color.","These water-jet fountains send spiraling ribbons of color into the air.","The effect is magical.","Production starts with this cast-bronze part.","Computerized tools transform it it into a flange that will be installed on-site.","The flange is designed to prevent leaks where the pipe meets the concrete pool.","The next part is a stainless-steel faceplate for the fountain.","An employee places it on a template, closes a u.v.-light shield, and activates a laser.","The laser etches product information into the steel.","This branding is permanent and won't wear off.","Next, a technician assembles the colored l.e.d. lights.","He connects the circuitry to a cable, then slides the bulb and its housing on to the circuitry.","He screws a metal ring on to the base to keep the light watertight.","He immerses the light in a clear water tank to test it.","He switches on a vacuum to suck air out of the tank, simulating underwater pressure.","He checks for bubbles around the light, which would indicate a leak.","He programs the light for the water show so that different colors flash on cue.","The next employee prepares an epoxy sealant.","He pours the epoxy into the solenoid controller for the water-fountain jets.","It takes two hours to dry.","Once solidified, it will protect the components from water damage.","Then he assembles the carriage for the fountain jets.","He places the carriage on a spring-loaded slide and secures it with long-threaded rods.","The worker applies sealant to the ends of the rods and screws on the nuts.","He installs a plastic nozzle cup.","He secures it to the carriage with a center pin that has a swiveling mechanism.","He transfers the carriage assembly to a water-distribution manifold and screws it in place.","He tests the carriage and confirms that it slides freely on the springs.","Then he runs plastic tubing from the water-distribution manifold to the spouts of the nozzle cups.","The worker secures the joints with plastic zip ties.","Then he trims the ties using a special gun.","He attaches the solenoid controller to the carriage and connects the controller to the various air tubes that lead to the waterspouts.","He places the water-jet assembly on the back of a steel mounting plate and secures it with screws.","He inserts two l.e.d. lights in specially designed slots, then screws them in place.","This water-jet fountain is now complete.","He hooks it up to a compressed air source for a dry-bench test.","He confirms that the compressed air moves the carriage correctly in the programmed sequence.","He also connects the water jet to a mechanical sequencer to verify that it's functional.","After it passes the tests, he seals the perimeter of the jet with a rubber gasket and the faceplate.","This water-jet fountain is ready for installation.","When combined with other fountains, it will put on quite a show.","Onlookers will be so engaged, they won't mind getting a little wet.","People have been surfing on wooden boards for thousands of years.","These early surfboards were heavy because they were made of solid wood.","Today, surfers are taking this classic material and giving it a modern twist, creating beautiful, lightweight boards from sustainable resources.","When most people think of surfboards, they picture brightly colored boards made of foam and fiberglass.","But wooden surfboards are making a not-so-surprising comeback.","Every waterborne vessel was originally made from trees because, no matter what, wood floats.","They start by gluing two planks of poplar to a strip of oak.","Using a template, a craftsman draws the shape he wants for the surfboard.","He uses a japanese pull saw to cut the shape out by hand.","This is the basic outline of the surfboard.","A cnc router quickly and accurately cuts the inner support framework from poplar plywood.","The builder sources wood from suppliers who use sustainable forestry practices.","Using his pull saw, the craftsman carefully frees the pieces of the support framework.","Then he smoothes the edges with a block sander.","He begins fitting the pieces together to form the framework.","For the spine, the builder uses fast-drying superglue.","It bonds powerfully and quickly, allowing him to work fast.","After completing the spine, he starts gluing and inserting the ribs.","The finished frame resembles the skeleton of a large fish.","Once the support structure has dried, the craftsman places it on the bottom skin of the surfboard.","He positions it carefully and securely clamps it in place on a purpose-built jig.","Then he traces the lines of the frame on to the skin.","He measures and marks a set distance from the end of each rib.","He squeezes a bead of epoxy-based glue over the network of lines before lifting the frame into position on the skin.","He clamps everything down and lets it dry overnight.","The sides of the surfboard, called the rails, consist of 12 strips of wood glued and clamped together.","The rails take several days to make.","After that process is complete, the builder lays a bead of polyurethane glue on the frame and rails.","Then he lowers the surfboard's top skin into position and secures it with dozens of clamps.","He lets the fully assembled board dry overnight.","Now the board is ready for the last phase of production.","First, the craftsman shapes and smoothes the wood to give the object its final shape.","He trims the excess wood off the sides using the rails as a cutting guide.","He rounds the top edges of the board with a small, japanese-made wood plane.","The builder also uses a special tool called a saw rasp to finish the edges.","He uses a square to make sure the bottom and top are even when shaping the nose and tail.","The saw rasp allows him to quickly and efficiently bring the board to its final shape.","Next, the craftsman uses a sanding block with increasingly finer grits of sandpaper to create a smooth surface.","He signs the bottom of the board with a pencil, then burns it into the wood with a tool called a pyrography pen.","He adds a layer of fiberglass and epoxy to give the wood a tough outer shell.","Customers can choose to have a fin box with a removable fin or they can opt for a permanent wooden one.","Traditional material plus an innovative design results in wooden surfboards that are built to last."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Whips","Automated Pizza Makers","Incense Cones","Model Jet Engines"]},"text":["In the old days, ranchers used the sound of the whip to move cattle.","Today, collectors buy different types as functional works of art while others practice the sport of whip cracking, training to compete in competitions.","There are even entertainers who perform eye-popping tricks with whips.","In the world of whip-cracking, the best whips are made of kangaroo leather because it's 10 times stronger than cowhide of equal thickness.","Modern whips have four main parts-- the handle, the thong, which is the flexible, braided portion, the fall, a replaceable strip of leather, and the cracker, the thin string which amplifies the sound of the crack.","After carefully selecting the hide to be used for the specific whip, they begin by trimming away the ragged edges of the kangaroo hide with a razor-sharp knife.","This leaves a smooth edge with which to work.","They now begin cutting out all the whip's leather components, most of which have strands which they'll later braid.","The internal construction of the whip is made of two layers of braiding called plaited bellies.","Separating each braided layer is a solid piece of leather called a bolster.","It encircles the braided belly layer under it.","Then, covering everything is a final outer layer of braiding called the overlay.","They cut the strands for the bellies and overlay by hand using a tapering cutter that's specially designed for whip-making.","The finished overlay and bellies have a flat portion at the top called the yoke and strands tapering continuously along their entire length.","They stretch each strand as much as possible to ensure the braid will be tight and uniform.","Then, they resize each strand and bevel its edges.","This helps the strands fit into each other snugly and create a smoother, gapless braid.","Then, using a tool called a hand splitter, they shave the backside of each strand to a uniform thickness.","This prevents lumps in the taper of the finished whip.","Next, they take waxed cord and tightly bind a tapered strip of leather around a handle foundation.","The leather strip called the core will extend into the center of the thong.","They attach the first belly yoke over the handle and core, then braid the strands to begin forming the thong.","This compresses the core into a solid, round center.","Over the braided first belly, they wrap the first bolster, then attach and braid the second belly.","Over that, they wrap the second bolster, each layer compressing the ones underneath.","Then, at last, the final layer-- the overlay.","First, they lubricate the strands with homemade animal-fat-based soap.","This not only enables a tighter braid, the animal fat also conditions the leather.","This particular whip has a 12-strand overlay, but more intricate overlays can have as many as 72 strands, forming complex patterns.","While braiding, it's critical to see and align the inner layers and pull the strands tightly.","When the thong reaches the finished length, they feed the end of the braiding through a slit in the next part of the whip, the fall.","They tie the remaining strands in sequence around the fall, using what's known as a half-hitch knot.","Then they seat the fall into place and trim the loose strands.","This creates a secure connection between these two sections of the whip.","Now they roll the thong between a hard surface and a block of marble.","This compacts the braiding and rounds out the overall shape.","Then they tie the cracker onto the tip of the fall.","In the old days, they used horsehair for the cracker, also known as the popper.","Nowadays, whip makers are more likely to use nylon string.","They wrap a piece of leather to build a knot foundation at the base of the handle.","For longer and thicker whips, they form the knot foundation with a piece of lead to properly balance the whip.","They fold the yoke from the overlay over the foundation, then, with a separate strand of leather, cover the foundation with what's known as a turk's head knot.","After trimming the knot strands, they shape the knot with a soft mallet, then more rolling.","Lastly, they apply a coat of natural shellac to the entire whip.","This protects the materials and produces a nice sheen.","No whip leaves the shop without a round of hands-on testing to make absolutely sure it's all it's cracked up to be.","if you have a craving for italian and there's no restaurant in sight, you can always buy a pizza from a vending machine-- not something pre-made and packaged that you have to reheat in the microwave but a fresh pizza, made from scratch right inside the machine and served to you piping hot.","This automatic pizza-making machine produces a fresh pizza in less than three minutes.","You simply insert money, then select one of four different pizza toppings.","The machine then makes the dough, applies the toppings, and bakes the pizza right before your eyes.","When it's ready, your made-to-order 10-inch round meal is ready for pickup at the exit slot.","To build the machine, they first construct a three-section steel frame.","Technicians install a refrigerator in the middle section.","The fridge houses four dispensers, one for each of the four topping ingredients.","The machine presses and dresses the pizza dough on a nonstick plate, around which they assemble a housing.","A motorized tray moves the plate in and out of the housing to transfer the dough from one preparation stage to the next.","Technicians install this assembled unit into the left section of the frame.","Next, they install the dough mixer above it...","And just below the mixer, a plastic cup that receives the kneaded dough, then drops it onto the press plate.","Next, the flour dispenser.","It holds enough flour to make dough for 100 pizzas.","Still in the left section, behind the flour dispenser, they install and load the tomato-sauce dispenser and a bag of water.","Then, in the right section, they install the oven and, below that, the pizza exit slot.","Once everything's hooked up, a test run.","The action begins in the left section.","The flour dispenser releases a dose of flour, which is actually a mix of various flours, instant yeast, and salt.","Then, the water bag releases a dose of water.","The mixer blends and kneads all the ingredients.","Once the wad of dough is ready, it drops from the mixer into the cup.","A descending arm pushes it from the cup onto the press plate, forming a 4-inch disk.","Then a large press flattens it out to 10 inches, the finished pizza size.","Now the tomato-sauce dispenser rotates, squirting tomato sauce onto the dough in concentric circles.","Next, the pizza travels through the middle section, passing beneath the refrigerator to receive the selected toppings-- in this case, cheese.","Then, a large automated spatula, called a conveyor plate, moves the pizza to the right-side section into the machine's infrared oven.","Infrared radiation works faster than traditional heating because it cooks food from the inside out rather than from the outside in, so the pizza bakes in just one minute.","The conveyor plate returns, removes the hot pizza from the oven...","And deposits it in a cardboard tray waiting in the exit slot...","Cueing flashing lights, inviting you to come and get it.","Once a test run produces a perfect pizza, the final step is to mount the doors on this self-service pizzeria.","Buon appetito.","Burning incense is a ritual as old as time itself.","It likely began with the discovery that burning certain plants and tree barks generated pleasant aromas.","Eventually, people began compressing those sweet smells into cone incense that burned slowly, giving the user more time to relax.","Lighting an incense cone can instantly change the mood in a room.","As the cone smolders, it releases a bouquet of scents from the powdered flowers, herbs, and other plants used to make it.","The fragrances released create a soothing atmosphere.","An incense cone starts with bins of aromatic raw materials, like dried flower petals, spruce-tree needles, and blossoms that have been ground to a fine powder to release their perfumes.","Other ingredients in the bins include tree barks and tree resins.","Everything comes from nature.","The factory combines the ingredients in various formulations, depending on the incense-cone recipe.","The exact amounts in each recipe are closely guarded company secrets.","They follow each recipe to the letter, measuring all the ingredients with a traditional balance scale.","There's no room for error.","Otherwise, the product will smell off.","This particular blend is called forest honey.","The combination of ingredients includes berries and a pungent balsamic tree resin called olibanum.","The batch should emit a sweet, woodsy aroma.","They add buckets of the measured ingredients to a mixer and then turn the switch to activate the auger.","The auger spirals to evenly distribute all the aromatic ingredients.","While that's happening, a worker scoops up something that looks a lot like pastry flour but is actually a plant-based binding agent.","He mixes it with cold water to liquefy the binder.","Then, in a separate pot, he adds orange food coloring to boiling water, and an automated whisk mixes thoroughly.","He pours the thick binder liquid into the orange-colored water.","The whisk kneads it to a pudding-like consistency.","It's thick and sticky, so it's ready to add to the dried fragrance mix.","The auger works it into a cakey orange dough that's as malleable as putty.","They'll now use this two-part die to shape the dough into cones.","The worker manually presses the fragrant dough into the cavities of the die.","He compacts the dough with this handy tool.","This eliminates air pockets and ensures the dough takes the cone shape.","He levels the bottoms of the incense cones and then opens the die carefully.","The shapes are soft and delicate.","One false move, and he could destroy some of the cones.","The cautionary approach pays off, and the cones are intact.","Now it's into the drying chamber.","The temperature in here is around 100 degrees fahrenheit-- hot enough to toughen up these soft and crumbly cones.","After four days in the drying chamber, the incense cones have hardened and solidified.","The cones now bounce along a conveyor past an inspector who sorts out any defective ones.","The good ones move forward and tumble down a chute.","They land in a plastic bag, and a device moves in to heat-seal it.","An automated counter overhead portions out the cones to ensure the correct number is deposited in each package.","After a worker puts the bag in a box, an automated device folds down the lid.","From start to finish, it takes about 14 days to produce a package of incense cones.","All that hard work is about to go up in sweet-smelling smoke, which, of course, is the whole idea.","The model jet engine is a scaled-down version of the real thing.","It's essentially the same technology that lifts enormous aircraft off the ground and propels them through the sky.","These engines were first developed for model aircraft in the 1980s, and they created an immediate sensation on the runway.","For some model-aircraft enthusiasts, tiny turbines are now the only way to fly because they look and sound like a real turbo jet.","It's a touch of authenticity that can allow the imagination to really take off.","These mini jets start with the base plate.","It's the piece that all the other turbine parts will be attached to.","Automated tools transform a piece of aluminum into an aerodynamic shape.","The little blades cut into the perimeter will act as air foils, contributing to lift and thrust.","It takes just minutes to go from a metal disk the size of a hockey puck to a precision part.","Next, a worker laser-welds the seams of a steal canister, creating what looks like a large can with holes.","This is the jet engine's combustion chamber, where a mix of fuel and air will be ignited to drive the turbine.","He now inserts a hollow cylinder into the base plate and then presses a fuel-distribution ring into the plate.","With the parts correctly aligned, he places the assembly in a metal stand.","He dips screws in a thread-locking compound and drives them into threaded slots in the base plate.","This secures and cements the base-plate assembly.","He now holds the base-plate unit above the combustion chamber while he inserts the tiny fuel-delivery tubes into the chamber.","He flips the chamber around to slide the tubes further inside and complete the job.","The stator vane, pressed onto the other end of the chamber, will redirect the flow of gases to the turbine wheel.","And now the glow plug-- so named because it glows to ignite the fuel inside.","He pops it into a threaded slot on the side of the combustion chamber, which is, by now, encased in an outer shell.","Next, he installs the turbine and shaft, sliding the shaft into the center cylinder.","He supports the shaft on both ends with thrust bearings and washers, pressing the parts into place.","Next is the compressor wheel, which pressurizes air on its way into the chamber.","Once installed, the compressor wheel spins at a blurring speed, and a computer analyzes it for the slightest vibration.","Any vibration will signify an imbalance.","The technician drills away tiny bits of metal to lighten the areas of imbalance.","The exact spot was pinpointed by the computer.","He gives the compressor wheel another spin.","Again, the computer detects a small imbalance, and more material must be removed.","The process is repeated several times until the compressor wheel is perfectly balanced and the computer gives it the green light.","After that, he balances the turbine wheel on the other end of the shaft.","This mini jet engine is now ready for the starter motor.","He installs it on the shaft protruding from the compressor and anchors it with screws.","Once in place, it will spin the shaft until enough compressed air is produced to ignite the fuel.","This plastic tubing will deliver gas to the engine and oil for lubrication.","He adds a little of the oil for the initial lubrication of the bearings.","Next, he heats one end with a lighter.","This makes the plastic supple so it easily fits onto the connector.","He wires the starter to a battery and tests the motor.","It works...","So he snaps an aluminum cover onto the assembly.","This model jet engine is ready for the final test.","Locked down in a test box, they pump fuel into it and bring it up to full throttle.","using computerized equipment, the technician monitors the output and confirms the engine is producing an adequate amount of thrust.","That means it's ready to leave the factory and take flight.","In total, it takes about six hours to make a model jet engine, but after that, the sky is the limit."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Motorcycles","Clay Pipes","Drum Sticks","Whistles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Motorcycles...","Clay pipes...","Drumsticks...","And whistles.","The invention of the motorcycle late in the 19th century was speed driven.","People wanted to go places faster than they could on a bicycle.","So they strapped an engine on a bike-- a simple concept.","Today's motorbike is much more complex, and it leaves the earlier versions in the dust.","These motorbikes are an engineering feat.","They start by welding the frame out of lightweight aluminum, an advantage for speed and fuel efficiency.","The frames are cleaned, powder-painted, then baked to cure the paint.","They fit a crankshaft and pistons into the engine's left block.","They tighten the bearings and caps, then slide in a u-shaped tool called a fork that orients the pistons in an upright position.","Next, they compress the piston rings with another tool so that the pistons easily slide into place as they install the other half of the engine block.","They place a gasket on the top of the block...","And then install the cylinder head.","Using torque-controlled electric tools, they tighten the bolts to attach the cylinder head to the block assembly.","They install the camshaft in the cylinder head unit.","The camshaft will drive the valves that bring in air and fuel and let out the exhaust.","They rotate the crankshaft to fine-tune its action.","Now it's time to give this engine a little test run.","They fill the engine with coolant and fuel, then run through the gears.","They check for leaks and overall function.","When it passes inspection, they purge the coolant from the engine.","A motorbike engine isn't only about function.","It also has to look good, because it won't be totally hidden under a hood.","Now they lower the 225-pound engine onto a cradle that sits on a conveyor.","They mount the frame onto it.","They attach the rear wheel assembly...","And then the front wheel.","They attach the handlebar using torque-controlled tools.","And they tighten the brake assemblies.","Next, they fill the radiator with antifreeze.","Meanwhile, over in the paint department, robots are hard at work.","They attach the painted pieces to the bike-- first the saddlebag body, then the lid, and finally, the trunk body.","Then they assemble the instrumentation.","The speedometer, fuel gauges, and many other things all go onto one unit.","This part is called the front cowl, and it goes right in front of the instrumentation.","They lower the front cowl with a meter panel onto the bike.","And then they bolt everything to the frame.","Finally, they install a cover for the exhaust pipe.","They check everything to make sure it's solidly put together.","And then they pull up to a dynamometer, a machine that measures mechanical power.","They check the bike's speed, brakes, horn, navigation system, and the cruise control.","Every motorbike undergoes this scrutiny, and if it passes, it's ready for life on the road.","Clay pipes are part of a major underground network, one that's dedicated to proper drainage.","We flush without thinking, but it may surprise you to learn that clay pipes have been serving us well for thousands of years, ever since the days of ancient babylonia.","They're the sanitary sewer system's oldest secret.","These pipes can take a lot of stress.","They bear the weight of soil and structures overhead, and they won't corrode.","They start with scrap clay from manufacturing, raw clay, and shale.","After these materials have been roughly processed, a loader scoops the mix onto a conveyor that takes it to a mill for a finer grinding.","At this point, the mix has about 10% natural moisture, but it's not enough for it to stick together, so they add more water as it falls into a mixer.","The mixer evenly distributes the water in the mix, then moves it towards an extruder that pushes the clay through a pipe-shaped eye.","The clay pipe that emerges is 7.8 inches in diameter, the size that typically serves a residential side street.","It has a bell-shaped opening.","It's the female part of a joint that will fit to the male end of another pipe.","A rotating blade trims away the ragged edges.","Then an automated system loads several pipes at a time onto a rack to await the next step.","Over on another production line, they're making flue liners for chimneys.","The clay is fairly soft at this point, so lettering wheels easily engrave information, and they can cut it to size using only a thin wire.","An upender lift stacks it on a pallet to await further processing.","Elsewhere in the plant, a main trunk sewer pipe is born.","With a diameter of over 15 inches, it's big and needs a substantial trim job to get rid of the rough edges.","It weighs well over 660 pounds, nearly five times that of the residential pipe.","Once they're fabricated, every clay pipe goes into a big dryer for at least 24 hours.","A trip through a kiln will toughen them up even more.","They'll spend about 50 hours in here, exposed to very high temperatures.","This step is called vitrification.","It fuses the mineral particles together.","They tap each pipe with a hammer to test it if it's solid...","And perform a thorough visual inspection.","To join lengths of pipe together, they pour polyester resin into the female joint molds that have been placed in the bell-shape pipes.","The resin hardens, forming an o-ring, and the primer brushed on earlier helps the new resin joint adhere to the clay pipe.","Next, they make a male joint by pouring resin around its spigot end.","This will make for a joint with a tight seal.","They test the joints by pumping water into the pipe.","Then they raise it as they place a load on the joint.","How much pressure will this joint take without failing?","Over a ton, which more than meets industry requirements.","Now they do another type of test on a basic clay pipe.","A hydraulic jack applies pressure on the pipe.","The number on the gauge far exceeds the burden of being buried underground.","And so these pipes are now ready for civic duty down in the sewers.","Drumsticks are designed for a life of hard knocks.","They're usually made of hickory, which is heavier and sturdier than other woods.","Hickory can also absorb a lot of shock, which means a drumstick made from it is easier on the hands and wrists, so the drummer doesn't have to suffer for his music.","Hickory drumsticks also have good balance and feel, so it's easier to hit the right note.","To make them, automated arms serve up hickory dowels to a three-bladed cutting device that moves on a rail.","As the blades shape the spinning dowels, they form a round tip, a narrow shoulder, and a shaft that gradually widens.","They spray each stick with a protective coating.","These round blades lob off the stubs, the ends where the sticks were held during their initial machining.","It's just a rough trim, and the ends need more work.","So they feed them to spinning chucks with blades.","The chucks are inside a protective metal housing because they spin very fast and the blades are extremely sharp.","For a demonstration, the housing on one of the chucks has been removed, and they turn it by hand.","The chuck usually rotates at 10,000 rpm, but at this slow speed, you can see just how it shaves an end into the desired shape.","The stick comes out of the chuck with a nicely rounded tip.","Now they test the sticks.","Each one rolls down steel rails that have been specially aligned.","If it rolls straight, it means the stick is straight.","But if it wobbles, it isn't and would be impossible to play with.","They reject those sticks.","Next, a printer embosses the brand name and model number onto each of the drumsticks.","Now they sort each drumstick by weight.","Even if two sticks have been made exactly the same shape and size, their weight can vary because wood has different densities, and that's something that affects the stick's feel and tone.","For example, this drumstick weighs 53 grams.","But the next one comes in at 55.","Over at another work station, they're making a different kind of drumstick-- a felt-tip mount that will have a softer sound.","They press a wooden shaft into the glue-filled hole of the felt ball.","The hole is a bit smaller than the shaft, resulting in a tight bond between the stick and felt head.","They do a sound check on the other sticks.","Even though they've been sorted by weight, there are still subtle differences in tone.","A computer analyzes their sound and matches pairs.","It's a bit like a dating game.","The unmated sticks go back into the mix, and they try to match them up again.","This matching process is critical.","If one stick has a different pitch, the sound will be off-balance.","They assign a numerical value to each pair of drumsticks.","A cardboard sleeve holds each matched pair together.","From a rough wooden dowel to a sleek drumstick, a process that's designed for impact.","When you blow into a whistle, part of the air stream exits the slot in a swirling motion, generating sound.","The rest of the air stream travels through the whistle chamber, then exits the slot, reinforcing the sound.","The little ball rolling inside puts the trill in the whistle blast.","Quality whistles are made of solid brass because nothing beats its resonance.","production begins with a narrow brass sheet not quite 4/100 of an inch thick.","A punch press slices through the sheet, cutting a square connected to two circles.","The factory calls these pieces the mickey mouse ears.","One by one they go into a second press that folds the circles inward to form the sides of the whistle's barrel and bends the edges of the square inward to form the top and sides of the mouthpiece.","At the same time, it strikes the mouthpiece against a die that embosses the company logo into the metal.","Another brass sheet feeds a third press.","This machine punches out and partially shapes the part that forms the rest of the whistle.","It notches the tapered end, which will be the underside of the mouthpiece, giving your teeth something to grip.","Now a fourth press finishes shaping these pieces.","It bends the other end into a circle to form the barrel.","The two main parts of the whistle are now ready.","A worker snaps them together with pliers.","Note that on the bottom piece the barrel stops short of meeting the top of the mouthpiece.","This creates the whistle's air slot.","This press cuts and folds a brass sheet into the third and final part of the whistle, called the tip.","It's a piece on the back that holds a ring for hanging the whistle.","The tips go into a bowl feeder.","The vibration orients them in the same direction so that a robotic arm can pick them up and put them in a holder.","Tin and silver solder is applied to each tip.","This will bond it to the whistle.","To fuse all the parts together, solder is applied in six different spots.","The solder liquifies as a gas flame heats it to about 1,100 degrees fahrenheit.","It flows around all the seams, filling them in a matter of seconds.","A blast of cold air solidifies the solder.","Even then, it's still steaming as the whistle comes off the machine.","The ball that goes inside the barrel is about a half inch in diameter and made of synthetic cork, which doesn't absorb moisture, so the ball never gets soggy and stuck.","A worker holds each whistle, now plated with nickel, against the insertion machine.","The device works like these pliers, squeezing a ball through the whistle's air slot.","With one side of the barrel cut away, you can see how the ball regains its shape as soon as it clears the slot.","The last step is to hook a steel ring onto each tip.","The factory packages its whistles with a nylon cord called a lanyard.","A hook on one end attaches to the whistle's ring.","Another accessory in the package is a rubber cover for the mouthpiece.","It makes holding the whistle in your mouth for a long time more comfortable.","This factory also makes customized whistles.","You can order them with your own logo.","Or to really blow someone away, you can present them with a 24-karat gold-plated award whistle."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Winter Jackets","Animation","Mushrooms","Gold Rings"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Winter jackets, animation, mushrooms, and gold rings.","As anyone who's shivered through a cold winter knows, you've got your run-of-the-mill winter jackets and then, those really warm winter jackets that can run up to $1,000.","The difference is what they're made of and how they're made.","A top-of-the-line winter jacket gives you the warmth without the weight.","It's waterproof and comfortable-- no bulky stuffing or constrictive styling.","The designer draws a pattern by computer.","A software program then adapts the pattern to different sizes.","A giant printer puts it to paper.","The tailor spreads out several layers of each of the fabrics that'll make up the jacket.","He lays out the pattern...","Then pins it in place.","Next, he cuts through several layers of fabric at a time with electric scissors.","These scissors maneuver much like a jigsaw around the lines and curves of the pattern pieces.","The finished jacket will actually be made up of two jackets sewn together-- an insulation jacket on the inside and a windbreaker on the outside.","The inner insulation jacket begins with a nylon lining.","Then they layer the key components-- a film to stabilize and protect the insulation, then the thick polyester insulation itself.","At this point, the insulation layer is larger than the lining.","This ensures that every inch of the jacket will have insulation.","Working with one piece at a time, they stitch the layers together.","Each line of stitching is tacked at the beginning and at the end for added strength.","They cut off the excess insulation, then sew an overlock around each piece to hold the remaining insulation solidly in place.","Once they've completed each piece of the insulation jacket, they sew it all together.","Next step-- the windbreaker.","The outer fabric is heavy nylon.","The lining is a special fabric with tiny holes, large enough to let humidity escape, but small enough to stop water droplets and wind from penetrating.","This is what will allow the jacket to breath, while at the same time, making it windproof and waterproof.","Finally, it's time to put the two jacket components together.","Using two separate strong threads, they sew seams made of knotted stitches.","No seams go through the jacket because that would break the insulation barrier and let in cold air.","They join the two jackets together only where they have to--  at the collar, the cuffs, the hem, and along the zipper.","And this isn't any ordinary zipper.","It's made of corrosion-resistant nylon with a nickel-plated slider that lasts seven times longer than a normal slider.","Until now, they've been sewing the jacket turned inside out.","Now they turn it right-side in for finishing.","These heavy-duty snaps have sturdy grips that anchor themselves between the fibers in the material so they won't tear the fabric with repeated use.","Some jackets have decorative embroidery.","Designers use a computer program to prepare the pattern.","The automatic machine embroiders five jackets at once.","This intricate owl pattern takes 1 1/4 hours to complete.","The final result is a stylish jacket whose secret weapon is that hidden layer of insulation.","It traps air inside your body, then heats it up, creating a cushion of warmth against the cold of winter.","What is biophotonics?","Well, bio is short for biology.","Photonics is the physics of light.","Biophotonics uses sophisticated imaging and other sensitive optical instruments to conduct biomedical research.","Biophotonics has a range of uses from medical diagnosis to drug screening.","In the golden years of animated film, teams of animators would draw every single illustration by hand.","Today, they do much of their work by computer, but that doesn't mean it's any less artistic.","It all starts with a screenplay-- a script containing not just dialogue, but also physical descriptions of the characters and background scenery.","The art director begins creating the characters.","He draws in pencil.","When he's finished, he traces the drawing in felt pen.","Then he erases the pencil marks.","He adds shadowing to create relief.","Once he's drawn all the characters, he starts the backgrounds...","And then the objects that appear in the backgrounds.","The storyboard artist blocks out the film on paper, drawing by drawing.","The production team will follow this storyboard the way a dressmaker follows a pattern.","They blow up the drawings, scan them into the computer, then play them back in chronological order.","This creates what's called an \"animatic\"-- a two-dimensional version of the film, minus the animation.","Should the director now decide to change, say, a ground-level view of the street to an aerial view, he has the artist redraw the street from that new angle.","Meanwhile, the animators work on bringing the characters to life.","Using specialized software, they build a skeleton to fit inside the character's body.","When they move the skeleton, the software makes the body move with it.","They make the characters three-dimensional using a technique called wireframe animation.","First, they build the shape of the character using a wire structure.","Then they add color and clothing.","They further refine the character by modifying facial features, by adding texture, and by shadowing.","They use specialized software to synchronize the character's mouth with the dialogue.","The technician works syllable by syllable, picking the mouth movement that matches each sound.","It's a painstaking process that takes many months.","Another animator applies the lighting effects.","Lighting is as important in an animated cartoon as it is in a movie with real people.","It creates relief, making everything look more realistic.","The animators cut and paste the characters and objects onto the backgrounds.","With the characters' movements programmed into the computer, the animators turn a two-dimensional still version of the film into a three-dimensional animation, essentially a rough cut of the film.","Meanwhile, in the studio, the soundtrack takes shape.","Actors record the characters' dialogue.","The sound technician weaves together the voices, the music, and the sound effects using specially designed software.","They sync the soundtrack to the rough cut of the film.","Then they refine the rough cut, playing with colors and textures and smoothing out the characters' movements.","After a full year's work and more than 42,000 drawings, this 24-minute computer-animated film is finally finished.","Have you ever dined on fungus?","Well, if you've eaten mushrooms, you have.","We like to think of those tasty little umbrella-shaped things as vegetables, but technically, they're fungi.","Fungus omelette, anyone?","Mushrooms grow in compost, and preparing that compost is a science in itself.","It starts with horse manure and straw.","The correct balance of moisture and air is critical, because mushrooms need both to grow, so mushroom farmers have to turn the pile frequently to air it out, and they water it daily for about a week.","This kicks up plenty of chemical and biological activity.","Ammonia forms, and microorganisms grow and reproduce, releasing heat.","Good compost requires a nitrogen content of about 2%, so farmers add a nitrogen supplement-- chicken manure.","They also add gypsum-- a mineral that improves the structure of the compost and neutralizes its acidity.","At the week to two-week mark, depending on how the compost is progressing, it goes into the composter, which waters, aerates, and blends it.","The compost comes out chocolate brown, smelling of ammonia.","Next, they pasteurize it, to kill off any insects or insect eggs.","They heat the compost at 136 degrees for eight hours, then at 113 degrees for five days.","Then, over several more days, they gradually cool it to 77 degrees as microorganisms turn the ammonia into a nitrogen protein--  a mushroom nutrient.","The compost is finally ready.","The farmer sows grains of wheat inoculated with mushroom mycelium-- fine threads of fungi that act as the mushrooms' roots.","A layer of soil and peat moss goes on top of the compost.","The mycelium draws water from the soil and nutrients from the compost.","After about two weeks, tiny mushrooms begin to develop.","They grow fast, doubling their size every 24 hours, and this in relative darkness.","Green plants need sunlight for photosynthesis but mushrooms don't.","What mushrooms do need is air, because they breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.","Green plants do the opposite.","Another three days, and the tiny mushrooms are fully grown and ready for harvesting.","Pickers have to be careful not to remove the roots because left intact, they'll sprout a new batch of mushrooms every three to five days for about three weeks.","They put the harvested mushrooms in a refrigerator just above freezing temperature, for about a half-hour, to stop the growing process.","On the packaging line, they weigh the mushrooms and arrange them in a container, buttons up.","A machine perforates the plastic covering to let the mushrooms breathe.","This ensures a longer shelf life.","The mushrooms stay in a fridge until they leave for the store the following day.","It's taken about 12 weeks from the start of composting to your supermarket shelf.","Gold jewelry has been a symbol of wealth and status throughout the ages.","Today, though, it isn't just for the rich.","Even ordinary people are likely to have a gold ring or necklace, just a little less diamond-studded.","As early as 2,000 b.c., egyptian kings and queens adorned themselves in golden jewelry encrusted with precious gems.","When the spanish sailed to the new world in 1492, they discovered mayan and aztec masterpieces of colored stones and pure gold.","Today, elaborate gold jewelry and precious gems are well beyond the reach of the average person, except for the diamond ring-- still the customary symbol of engagements.","The client and the jewelry designer first decide how the ring will look.","The designer then measures the client's finger to determine her ring size.","He then sketches out the design they've agreed upon-- a grooved band with three diamonds.","The model maker works with a special carving wax.","Using a compass, he measures and marks the width of the band, then carefully saws it off.","He takes his gauge and puts it on a stick with ring-size markings, called a mandrel.","He adjusts his compass to the ring size, then scores the finger hole on the block of wax.","He then takes his drill and carefully carves out the hole he scored.","Then he grinds off the wax on the outside of the band.","Using the compass again, he scores the middle of the band, where he'll make the groove.","Then, using a fine drill bit, he carves out the groove.","With a file, he then refines the groove and shapes the curves of the ring according to the design.","After putting wax prongs on the band, he attaches a wax stem to the model.","He then positions the stem into the base of the cylinder that the jeweler will use to cast the ring.","The base goes onto the platform of a vacuum machine.","The jeweler puts a cylinder on top of the base, then pours in a special plaster.","The vacuum sucks all the air out of the plaster.","This is a key part of the process, because if any air bubbles remain, the finished ring will be out of shape.","In less than a minute, the vacuuming is done, and the cylinder goes into the furnace at 1,350 degrees fahrenheit.","The wax model evaporates, leaving a void the exact shape of the ring in the hardened plaster.","Next, they melt the gold.","The gold content of jewelry is measured by karat.","The lower the karat, the less gold and the more alloy, or cheaper metals such as nickel, silver, and copper.","After five hours, the cylinder comes out of the furnace and goes into the casting machine.","The machine spins for about a minute.","The centrifugal force shoots the liquefied gold into the plaster mold that's inside the cylinder.","The jeweler then immerses the cylinder in cold water.","This cools the gold and makes the plaster disintegrate.","What's left is the cast gold ring, but its surface is rough, so on to the finishing process.","The jeweler saws off the stem and gets to work.","He files and grinds the ring until the surface is smooth.","Then he stamps on his trademark and the karat marking.","Then he hammers the ring on the mandrel to make it perfectly round.","The jeweler then hands it off to a specialist in polishing.","The polisher runs the ring against a series of buffing wheels until it's bright and shiny.","The polisher then hands it off to a specialist in setting gemstones.","The setter straightens the prongs that'll hold the diamonds.","Then, with a delicate drill bit, he carefully carves out the inside of the prongs.","The edges of the diamonds will fit directly into these slots.","He readjusts the prongs, then sets the diamonds, making sure the prongs hold them down securely.","That's a 1-carat diamond in the middle, a 1/2-carat diamond on each side.","The jeweler then immerses the finished ring into the ultrasonic machine.","The vibrations in the water penetrate every nook and cranny, washing the ring.","Finally, he puts the ring under a jet of hot steam to blast away any remaining residue.","And voilà.","With a ring like that, who wouldn't say \"i do\"?"]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ultra"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Thinner than a human hair, ultrathin glass flexes like plastic.","It can also have greater electrical sensitivity, making it useful for things like fingerprint scanning on smartphones.","Manufacturers have only just begun to explore the potential of this new class of glass.","When it comes to sheer flexibility, thin is in.","Ultrathin glass bends like a sheet of paper and a chemical process ensures that it's extremely robust.","To make ultrathin glass, manufacturers use standard materials, such as lime, sand, soda, and potash.","They store the ingredients in separate silos, until it's time for production.","Then, inside the factory, a long cable delivers electricity to power a weigh cart.","As the dry ingredients flow out of the silos and down chutes, the cart moves forward to collect them.","It weighs the ingredients until it has the correct amounts for the glass recipe and then closes the lid automatically.","A worker measures the secondary, smaller, ingredients manually and adds them to the batch.","These ingredients enhance qualities like optical clarity or electrical sensitivity.","The cart transfers the batch to a mixer.","As it blends everything together, they add bits of broken, or waste, glass to it for recycling purposes.","Once it's been thoroughly mixed, a lift raises a funnel-shaped container up to the base of the mixer and the mixer releases the batch into it.","A worker hauls the batch-laden funnel tank to the next station.","There, a crane takes over and lowers the tank onto a feeder system just above a gas-and-electric furnace.","A trapdoor opens at the funnel's base and the mixture flows into the feeder mechanism.","It's a kind of shovel that slowly pushes the mixture into the furnace, which has been fired to a blazing 2,732° fahrenheit.","The shovel continuously adds more ingredients to keep production flowing.","Glass production runs 24/7.","The melting glass reaches the consistency of honey.","The molten glass flows out through a narrow slit and this slit establishes the ultrathin dimensions of the glass.","Cooling the glass slowly relieves internal stresses as the glass solidifies.","Ultrathin glass can be just 25 microns thick.","That's finer than a hair.","And it's this thinness that makes it so flexible.","The glass bends to loop down and up across rollers as it journeys forward in a continuous, nearly 2-foot-wide sheet and, unlike ordinary glass, it doesn't crack.","It then travels past tiny cameras and laser sensors that look for defects, like bubbles.","A computer maps any flaws, so they can be avoided when the glass is cut into smaller pieces.","A revolving spool rolls up the glass, along with a plastic liner, which keeps the glass layers from sticking to one another.","Once 546 yards of thin glass has been wound onto the spool, an automated system cuts the glass and slides the spool partway off the core and onto a rack.","The operator gives it a push to complete the transfer and then rolls the rack to the next station.","A lab technician slices off a fragment of the glass and inserts it in a micrometer.","It gauges the thickness of the specimen and confirms that it's superthin.","Another lab worker places a bigger segment of the glass under a cutter.","He aligns it correctly and then activates the cutter.","It scribes the glass, so it can be broken on this line, creating small screens for smartphones and smartwatches.","A lab technician examines the glass for scratches under a bright light and confirms that it's undamaged.","With that out of the way, it's time to have a little fun with a strip of this ultrathin glass.","A worker bends it into a circle and ties it.","It's hard to believe this is glass.","Later, a chemical treatment will further strengthen the ultrathin glass, so that the chance of cracks or breaks will be very thin.","When wooden shipping pallets break and need repair, or outlive their usefulness, they can be taken apart by pallet-dismantling machines, which saw through the nails to separate the wood blocks and planks.","Salvageable pieces become new pallets, while broken pieces go into a wood chipper.","With its powerful band saw, this pallet-dismantling machine slices through the nails that fasten the pallet's wood blocks to its transversal planks.","The machine's shell, the equivalent of the body panels on a car, is made of steel sheets.","A computer-guided laser cutter cuts them to the required shape.","Then, workers bend the ends on a brake press to make edges with perfectly formed corners.","Once shaped, the shell parts go to a paint shop.","Workers build the structure of the machine out of heavy-duty steel tubes.","After sawing them to the length required, they smooth the rough-cut edge with a hand-grinder.","Workers mark where they have to make openings for various parts and drill the holes.","They weld the tubes together to assemble the structure.","They clean the surface with acid to remove traces of lubricant.","Then, they spray paint the structure.","The workers assemble the mechanical parts to the structure.","They bolt on a plate to support the machine's electric engine.","Then, on each side, they install a wheel.","Next, workers install the motor reducer.","To that, they bolt the machine's 2,800-rpm engine.","The motor reducer decreases the speed of the engine to the sawing speed required to dismantle the pallet.","Just above the tires on both sides, they bolt a blade guide to the structure.","They install the front of the machine's shell and lower the machine's heavy, steel worktable.","Now, the band-saw blade, which has a safety cover over its sharp teeth until the machine is operational.","On each side of the worktable, workers align the blade with a tire and insert it between the wheels of the blade guide.","The blade is steel, with carbide tips for added strength and resistance to wear.","They turn this bolt to adjust the tension.","They enclose the tire and blade guides in the side sections of the machine's shell.","Then, workers install two pneumatic cylinders for raising and lowering a safety cage that goes over the worktable to protect the machine operator.","Next, another pneumatic cylinder, this one, at the rear for the machine's guide arm.","The guide arm, installed next, helps move the pallet around while the machine's band-saw blade cuts it apart.","They install the safety cage over the worktable, then hook up the cables that feed compressed air to the pneumatic cylinders.","They install another safety cage over the back of the machine, then, a pressure regulator for pneumatic cylinders.","They mount the machine's control panel on the shell.","It's wired to the engine and pneumatic system, as well as a set of foot pedals that moves the table up and down and another pedal that moves the guide arm.","The operator places the pallet on the worktable and lowers the safety cage.","With the foot pedal, he moves the arm to the right to angle the pallet against the blade.","This lets it slice through multiple nails holding the wood planks and blocks together.","Often frosted and adorned with sprinkles, a cupcake is a sugary indulgence that you don't have to share.","We don't really know who invented them, but cupcakes have been around for a century or more, much to the satisfaction of those who want a little cake all to themselves.","These minicupcakes are the sweetest little things and there's plenty for everyone because they're mass-produced in a factory.","The dairy and nut-free recipe starts with canola oil.","A worker pours a measured amount into a huger mixer bowl.","A blend of baking power, sea salt, and other microingredients is next.","He then adds a big bag of sugar.","They'll be making 15,000 minicupcakes in this batch.","Pastry flour flows into the mixer from a silo nearby.","He adds cocoa, for chocolate flavoring, then, activates the mixer, to blend it all together.","Next are the eggs.","They'll act as a binding agent for the chocolate batter and will have a leavening effect during baking.","A quick mix folds the eggs into the chocolatey blend.","A pump now transfers the batter to the next station.","The bakery's temperature is critical during pumping.","Too warm, and the mixture will be too thin to pump.","Too cool, and it will be too thick.","The pump delivers the batter to a hopper.","Down the line a bit, a conveyor moves baking trays forward.","A machine uses suctioning devices to pick up paper liners, flip them right-side-up, and insert them in the baking trays.","Valves open and dispense the batter in the hopper into the cupcake liners in the pans.","The system controls the flow of batter, so it only fills the liners one-third of the way.","This leaves room for the cake to rise during baking.","The pans move through different levels, with a range of temperature zones over a period of 25 minutes, finally emerging from the other side.","During baking, the cupcakes have risen above the liners.","They now head into a cooling chamber.","They stay in here for 20 minutes, while fans blow air onto them to cool them down.","The cooling firms up the cakes.","A robot plunges pinlike tentacles into the cupcakes to lift them out of the pans with the paper liners attached.","It transfers them to the packaging conveyor line.","Workers pack them in clamshell plastic containers, a dozen to each one.","They leave the containers open because they still need to decorate these cupcakes.","Ahead, fluffy chocolate icing flows out of a hopper into applicators.","They deposit the icing in a swirl onto the cupcakes, adding nearly an inch of height and a lot more sweetness.","Down the line, workers load sugary sprinkles into another hopper.","A feeder dispenses a few more of the sprinkles onto each of the frosted cupcakes.","The containers then ride by a rail that folds the lids over.","A pusher device presses down on the lids to close them tightly.","The containers of minicupcakes then meet up with a roller that applies the adhesive-backed labeling.","Before the cupcakes can leave the factory, a technician tests a sample from the production line.","He crumbles some of the cake into pods and places them in a machine.","The machine probes the water content at a microscopic level to determine if the cupcake is moist enough.","Another test evaluates the cupcake's texture.","When the samples pass this technological scrutiny, the cupcakes are ready for human taste buds.","As a component of mechanical equipment, seamless tube is stronger, and therefore more resistant to pressure and tension, than tube with a welded seam.","That's because seamless tube is manufactured from a solid bar of stainless steel, rather than from a strip of stainless that's rolled and welded into a tube.","Seamless stainless-steel tube is used when reliability is critical; for example, in aerospace engines, nuclear equipment, and medical devices.","The manufacturer purchases stainless-steel tubes in a range of lengths, diameters, and thicknesses.","Workers select the right starting size for the specific tube the customer has ordered.","They check the length with a measuring tape, then use a large micrometer to measure the outside diameter.","They switch to a smaller micrometer to measure the wall thickness.","Then, they weigh the tubes.","If the raw material meets all the specs, production can begin.","They insert one end of each tube into this rotary swager.","It shapes the end to a point, to enable it to fit through a die with a smaller diameter.","Workers spread lubricant into a steel bar, insert it into the other end of the tube, then insert the pointed end through a draw die.","This carriage then grabs the protruding point and draws the full length of the tube through the die and over the steel bar.","The die reduces the tube to a smaller outside diameter, while the bar sets the desired inside diameter.","The tube walls thin out and the tube elongates in the process.","The next machine's two rollers apply pressure to the outside of the tube as it passes.","This expands the tube slightly, creating a slight gap between the tube walls and the bar inside.","This enables the next machine to extract the bar.","Finally, workers saw the point off the tube.","They place several tubes at a time in a degreasing unit, which uses a cleaning solution to remove all traces of lubricant the tubes picked up during the draw process.","Workers then transfer the tubes to drying tanks, positioning them at a slight downward angle.","As air blows through the tubes for about a half hour, all of the cleaning solution either drains or evaporates.","To further clean the inside of the tubes, workers insert a felt wad into each one, then squirt in some cleaning solvent.","They shoot in compressed air to force the wad down the tube.","As the wad travels the length of the tube, it wipes the inside wall with the cleaning solvent.","Next, workers strap the tubes to a belt that takes them on a 30-minute trip through a furnace.","The temperature inside is more than 1,800° fahrenheit.","This intense heat softens the steel, which had hardened as a result of having been pulled through the draw die earlier.","This process is called annealing and it slightly warps the tubes, so, next, they pass through a straightening machine.","Then, the entire cycle repeats, until it's reduced to precisely the diameter and wall thickness the customer ordered.","The finished tube can be up to 40 times its original starting length.","To ensure the structural integrity of each tube, workers run an electrical current around the circumference.","A break in the current indicates a defect, which workers then cut out with a saw before cutting the tube into the specific lengths the customer ordered.","The saw cuts leave burns, rough edges, so workers insert the cut ends in a deburring machine which grinds the edges smooth.","The last step is to submerge the tubes in an acid solution, to remove any iron particles picked up from the processing.","This prevents the tubes from rusting.","In addition to inspecting every tube that leaves the factory, quality-control testing of random samples ensures the product meets all technical specifications."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Baseball Gloves","Medical Electrodes","Stetson Hats"]},"text":["A baseball glove is an extraordinary thing.","Each and every one starts out brand spanking new and ends up fitting its owner like a second skin.","Before long, the player and his glove are inseparable.","The glove helps him live his dreams and fills his imagination with lifelong memories.","Baseball gloves have evolved from hard, leather mitts to the sophisticated design players depend on today.","It all starts with a hydraulic press that punches out the felt padding that will cushion the fingers and thumb.","The holes will be used to lace the glove.","Another press cuts out the palm section of the glove from a side of leather.","The palm section also has lacing holes cut into it.","The hydraulic press then cuts out the web, or pocket, of the glove, preparing it for lacing, as well.","Meanwhile, a machine heat embosses the palm section with the company logo.","Embossing also helps identify different leathers and glove styles.","Another worker hand-weaves the front and back pieces of the pocket.","This special basket-weave web gives the glove additional flexibility and control.","Pockets first appeared in gloves in the 1930s.","She stitches the pocket together.","Then, she applies glue to secure the tail ends, closes the flap, and stitches the web shut.","Another worker then sews the palm lining and the finger lining together.","By stitching the palm and finger linings together, she completes the interior piece of the glove that touches a player's hand.","She then sews the felt finger pads to the lining.","These pads give the glove extra comfort and control.","To build the outer shell of the glove, she sews welting leather between the fingers.","This makes the seam stronger.","Then, she sews the fingers and the palm piece together to complete the back part of the outer shell.","Some leather softener helps prevent tearing as she stitches the back and the front parts of the outer shell together.","She also uses welting leather to add strength and rigidity to the outer shell.","A worker mounts the finished outer shell on to a finger form, heated to about 248 degrees fahrenheit.","It takes heat and leather softener to allow the worker to manipulate the shell without damaging the leather.","The worker then transfers the softened outer shell on to a stationary turning stick in order to turn the outer shell inside out.","He works the outer shell one finger at a time so he doesn't spoil the leather or the stitching.","He makes sure all is perfect.","Another worker slips the interior lining on to a mounting support, then covers the lining with the outer shell.","He works the leather to make sure the lining and the shell fit together properly.","Then he applies a special paste that makes the palm more flexible.","He inserts a felt pad into the thumb...","Then another cushioning pad into the pinky finger, using a metal rod to fully insert both pads.","He then starts lacing the glove with a long strip of leather.","Lacing the glove is a labor-intensive skill that can take up to an hour.","No machine can do this.","He makes sure the lacing gets the right tension and the attractive side of the leather faces upwards.","Using special knots and loops, he laces the entire glove by hand.","A worker inserts wooden dowels and mounts the glove on more hot fingers to open up the fingers and thumb.","This helps the player's hand fit into the glove more easily.","Now this truly looks and fits like a glove.","Today's baseball gloves come in all different colors and styles.","They are so finely hand-crafted, they could be called works of art.","Medical electrodes can help your doctor find out what's going on with your health in a heartbeat.","These little sensors detect electrical currents in the heart, brain, and other parts of the body, and they're wired to monitoring equipment that records it.","They're inexpensive, disposable, and essential to healthcare.","When the nurse says this won't hurt a bit, you can trust her, if the test she's about to give you involves medical electrodes.","These electrodes stick to the skin and probe beneath the surface without actually piercing it.","They send information to monitoring equipment so specialists can assess it.","These electrodes start with a roll of foam.","The foam is coated with medical-grade adhesive and has a paper backing to keep the layers from sticking together.","Machinery pulls the foam over a punch cutter which make small holes in it.","But first, razors slit the paper, and equipment pulls it away from the thumb to expose the adhesive.","The process leaves strips of paper along the edge.","The thumb moves forward, sticky side up, as plastic elements and metal snaps cascade into a feeder system.","They're cueing up to be installed in the holes punched in the foam earlier.","Vacuum heads picked up the elements and insert them into those holes.","The elements are coated with silver chloride, which makes them electrically conductive so they'll help pick up electrical activity in the body.","Next, pneumatic equipment press-fits the metal snaps onto the elements.","These snaps are also electrically conductive.","Down the line, a blade slices through gel that's sandwiched between two thin plastic liners.","Machinery pulls those liners away from the gel.","This gel is water-based and contains salt, which will seep into the skin to help establish electrical contact.","Another blade cuts the gel into small rectangles, and they land on a thicker plastic liner.","The gel liner and foam with its elements and snaps come together, and the gels land directly on the elements.","Rollers press everything together in a tight sandwich.","Equipment pushes that sandwich forward into a cutting station.","That's protective padding you see around the cutters.","It protects the blades from the adhesive on the foam as they punch out electrode shapes.","Blades now lightly perforate the plastic liner around the electrodes, while below, equipment pulls away the scrap.","The perforations will allow the electrodes to be torn into individual units later, and it also makes it easier to fold up for packaging.","Remember that paper left along the edge of the foam early on?","It serves as pull tabs on some of the electrodes.","The tab makes it easier to apply the electrode to the patient and then remove it.","They package the electrodes in a special material made of plastic, aluminum, and paper.","Hot metal plates melt and seal the material to form an airtight pouch.","Finally, a long blade cuts the pouches into individual units.","It has taken less than a minute to make this package of medical electrodes.","They'll use many of them in just one test.","With the gel side of the electrode pressed against the skin, they wire it to the monitoring equipment.","And within minutes, these electrodes can signal problems, and that could save a life.","After the test, the electrodes will be discarded-- disposable and yet indispensable in the world of medicine.","The cowboy hat was made popular in 1865 by the stetson hat company and its founder, john b. stetson.","Part of its attractiveness in the american old west was the wide brim that protected the cowboy from the elements, a high crown that kept a pocket of warm air on his head, and the ability to carry water if he needed to.","All models of stetson hats are made from blends of pretreated fur, including beaver, rabbit, and wild hare.","First, a worker gathers the mixture of different fur and deposits it into a picker machine that begins blending the fur together.","The picker roller, which dates from the 1890s, sends the fur into a mixer.","Inside the mixer, compressed air blows the fur around.","This settles and removes any dust and dirt that may be trapped in the fur.","After about an hour, the blended fur settles into a collection box.","A worker puts it through a rotating loader machine that sends the fur into a multichambered blower.","A look inside the blower reveals a series of picker rollers.","These rollers, along with blowing air, allow the lighter fur to flow through the chambers while the heavier hair and the impurities fall to the bottom.","At the back of the blower, the worker gathers and weighs the amount of fur needed to make just one hat.","That amount varies depending on the size and style.","The proper amount of fur then moves by conveyor belt into a forming machine.","Here, a vacuum sucks the fur onto a cone form.","The fur builds up like a fragile blanket of dust that must be held down by wet cotton mesh.","For extra protection, a worker wraps burlap onto the cone and puts a metal cover over it.","He weighs it down and gives the fur cone a good soaking in a vat of hot, soapy water to make the fur fibers curl up and lock together.","Shortly after, the worker peels the newly formed felted fur blanket off the cone.","At this stage, the interlocked fur fibers are still very fragile, so a worker protects the cones from damage by wrapping them in cloth.","Then, she puts them through a hardening process which consists of a series of massaging rollers and hot-water baths.","The rollers in the hot-water baths increasingly shrink and tighten the fur fibers together.","The final and most aggressive massage makes the fibers felt together even tighter, and the cone is now strong enough to manipulate by hand.","But the cones must be even stronger than this, so she puts them through a final hardening stage that shrinks and tightens the fur fibers to the maximum.","At last, the fragile cone that came out of the forming machine becomes the desired hat size.","Tearing the felt by hand is now impossible.","After the cones are dyed, they're placed on a crown machine.","Here he works the top of the cone and makes the felt more flexible.","Another machine softens the brim.","Together, the machines form the cone into more of a hat shape.","After soaking the cone again, a worker puts it on a wet blocker machine.","Its brass fingers secure and stretch out the felt while it forces a crown shape into the hat body.","Then he puts the hat body into a hat sucker or vacuum that sucks out most of the water.","He then sets the hat bodies aside to dry for 24 hours.","Up next, we'll see how these hat bodies are transformed into classic stetson hats.","Making a stetson hat takes almost as much work now as it did since the early 1900s.","Every hat made is still handled from start to finish by hand.","Even some of the machines used are the same as in the past.","The stetson hat is an icon of the american cowboy lifestyle.","A worker steams a hat body to make it supple.","He puts it into a blocker machine with brass fingers that secure it in place.","He steams it again, then inserts a wooden block and presses it into the crown.","This gives the hat a specific head size.","He puts another hat into the blocker, this time making another hat size.","This is called blocking a hat.","Blocking transforms the brim diameter and the crown from an almost shapeless cut of felt into a more solid body and precise hat size.","A worker puts the blocked hat on a brim stiffener which applies shellack.","This shellack gives the brim extra firmness, making it easier to shape and style.","He completes the brim-stiffening operation and readies the correct number of hats to fill an order.","A worker hangs up the hats for a natural air dry.","Two days later, a worker inserts blocks into the hat, which are color-coded for size.","The blocks fit the hat on a pouncing machine that gently spins and sands the felt.","This unsanded felt gets buffed until the hat ends up with the smoothest finish possible.","Then a worker puts the hat onto a hydraulic crown press.","Inside it, he places a piece of ink transfer paper and a heated aluminum mold.","He lowers the press and applies the exact amount of pressure needed to mold a specific shape into the crown.","On this particular hat, the press imprints the logo inside.","Now the crown has a distinct shape.","A worker then puts the hat on a brim cutter and holds it down flat with a cutting guide.","She cuts the brim to the required dimension and removes the excess felt and the guide.","A worker then puts the hat into a brim flanger-- an aluminum mold that heats and shapes the brim.","He then puts the hat onto an identical wooden shape and covers it to keep its form while cooling.","Once cooled, this hat will keep its symmetrical curves that will make it so distinctively western.","A worker then marks the center of the hat.","She lines up a leather sweatband with the chalk mark and sews it in along the bottom edge of the crown.","She then folds the sweat band in and makes sure the hat is perfect.","She ties the classic ribbon band into a knot and secures it around the outside of the hat.","She trims the ribbon to the appropriate size, which completes the work on the exterior of the hat.","Then another worker puts it into a holder and peels up the sweatband.","She places a lining inside the hat, applying drops of glue all the way around to keep it in place.","She then puts the hat inside a box for shipping anywhere in the world.","Authentic stetson hats.","Looking good, partner!"]}
{"meta":{"things":["Toothpicks","Acrylic Bathtubs","Helicopters","Beer"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Toothpicks...","Acrylic bathtubs...","Helicopters...","And beer.","Some people use them to hold hors d'oeuvres together.","Kids make scale models of famous buildings and bridges out of them.","And some people actually use them for their primary purpose-- to remove food caught between their teeth.","What are we talking about?","Why, the humble toothpick, of course.","Logs-- lots of birch logs are delivered to this factory.","They're the raw material from which toothpicks will be made.","The heavy logs are lifted by grippers and placed into a debarker.","Bark isn't part of the toothpick-fabrication process and is recovered by this machine.","But the bark isn't thrown away.","It's sold to a neighboring factory where it will be used as fuel.","The debarker works in two steps.","With two passes, it produces a log roll that's perfectly cylindrical and easier to mill.","This log is being transported to the next processing stage.","This unraveling machine unravels the log as if it were a roll of paper, cutting it with 12 fine blades each .","04 of an inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide.","These same blades will be used later to cut toothpicks.","Then these 12 blades, positioned side by side on the unraveling machine, will form rolls of strips called \"billets\".","These tiny cutters are used to trim the ends of the toothpicks.","Knives placed here and there on the machine thin the ends of the toothpicks.","The roller rolls up the cut strips, forming a billet.","Completed strips, or billets, are taken out manually.","Each billet weighs 4 pounds.","The billets are carried to the puncher, the flat-toothpick puncher cuts the billet strips into small, equal-sized pieces.","The cut pieces come out at this end of the machine.","The punch works very rapidly.","Knives come down 2,000 times per minute to cut a total of 8,000 toothpicks in just 60 seconds.","Cut toothpicks fall into this chute, then into a container.","At this stage, they're soft.","They have to be hardened in a dryer for four hours at 250 degrees fahrenheit.","Then the toothpicks are transferred to the polisher.","Talcum powder and friction help make the toothpicks perfectly smooth.","This operation takes four hours.","Toothpicks exit the polisher and pass through this sifter, which filters out broken ones.","Those in good condition continue on to an air-blower system.","Damaged ones are rejected.","Perfect toothpicks are placed onto two conveyers by an air-blowing system.","Drums at the end of the conveyors assure quantity distribution, then they're carried to the automatic packagers.","This machine counts the toothpicks.","Boxes are made up, ready for filling.","The number of toothpicks included in each box matters.","The packager is calibrated to place 650 toothpicks in each container, and it produces about 1,150 boxes an hour.","It handles 747,500 toothpicks an hour.","Some toothpicks are individually wrapped for distribution to restaurants and airlines.","This machine wraps 1,200 toothpicks per minute.","It automatically wraps, glues, and cuts the paper.","This facility can manufacture more than 20 million toothpicks every day.","And it all started from several birch logs.","Bathing daily is a relatively new phenomenon, historically speaking.","People used to take baths only when necessary.","Today whiling away the afternoon in the tub is more than a way to wash our bodies.","With bubbles and bath oils, it can be an experience in luxury.","Modern bathtubs look nothing like tubs of the middle ages or those wooden tubs we see in western films.","To achieve supreme comfort, the designer explores new shapes via computer and design software, tools which make for a speedy review of various shapes.","Then a model is produced.","This one, produced on a 1/6 scale, is made of cardboard.","But other models can be made of clay, polystyrene, or by stereolithography.","Manufacturing begins with an acrylic sheet.","It is heated to about 390 degrees fahrenheit with ceramic elements.","The sheet becomes soft and malleable.","So that it takes the form of the mold, thousands of tiny holes in the shell suction the sheet by vacuum.","The mold must cool before it can be opened.","Powerful ventilators blow air directly onto the mold, lowering the temperature to 170 degrees in 4 to 6 minutes.","The ventilators are then withdrawn.","Then the shell is easily removed from the mold.","It weighs a mere 35 pounds.","To make a tub in another shape, they change the mold.","They put in another acrylic sheet.","The sheet is heated on the ceramic and fiberglass mold, the little holes vacuum out air, and the job is done.","The molded acrylic sheet is not sturdy enough to be filled with water, so it must be reinforced with fiberglass.","This is the fiberglass.","Mixed with resin, it is blown onto the mold by a robotic unit.","Stored in reservoirs, the resin is carried to the robot by pumps.","Here it produces a chemical reaction between the fiberglass and the resin, which produces a reinforced shell.","Laminating is one of the most important steps.","With brush and roller, they eliminate all air bubbles that could weaken the tub.","This makes the fiberglass resin adhere perfectly to the acrylic shell.","The process takes 75 minutes.","The shell is then transported to the milling department.","The shell is dry and hard.","They can extract it manually, but here they use digitally controlled machines.","The operation begins with the trimming of the edges of the bathtub.","During this process, the robot will pierce openings for the drains, the whirlpool jets, and the air jets for the overflow and for ambient light.","The bathtub, almost completed, is now sent to another workshop.","They can now install the pump, the piping, and the blower.","These last operations are done manually.","The pump is installed for the whirlpool system, as well as the pvc pipes, whose joints have been hermetically sealed to prevent any leaks.","Finally, to make sure that everything is functioning well, each bathtub undergoes a water test.","The tub is finally ready.","After 13 steps and anywhere from three to five hours of work, depending on the type of tub.","It almost invites you to climb in.","In the world of aeronautics, the helicopter is the ideal go-anywhere machine.","Unlike airplanes, choppers can move in almost any direction and take off and land straight up and down.","Now that we've \"coptered\" your attention, let's see what goes into building these whirlybirds.","Man has always wanted to fly.","And the versatility of the helicopter has allowed him to reach unexpected heights.","Plans for a helicopter are created with catia 3-d design-assisting computer software.","It takes 700 hours of work between the drawing stage and the assembly of the pattern.","The helicopter is made of carbon fiber, a composite material lighter and stronger than steel, protected by two layers of green plastic.","The fiber is cut with a blade controlled by ultrasound.","They lay on several thicknesses of fiber to make the rear fuselage.","The green light of a laser helps position the parts.","Then with a heat gun, they apply a beehive web which increases the solidity of the structure.","But the carbon fiber is still soft.","To harden, it must be baked under pressure for 10 hours in this autoclave oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit.","The pieces exit the oven and head for machining.","The door of the motor housing is kept in a cutting jig and is shaped with a manual shaper.","Before installing the parts, they strike the carbon fiber with a resonance hammer to detect any faults.","The electrical harness is mounted on a pattern before being installed in the aircraft.","This particular helicopter has 2,570 yards of wiring, but others can have almost 6 miles.","The wiring will be connected to the flight-instruments panel, the brain of the helicopter.","This aircraft has 9,964 rivets fastened with a gun and a ram.","They also apply a sealant to prevent corrosion-creating humidity.","They now assemble the helicopter's rear fuselage.","Piece by piece, the aircraft takes shape.","They will install mechanical components later.","The motor arrives.","This one weighs 260 pounds and has to be carefully handled.","Among the other parts to be installed is the circular plate on which the blades will be attached.","Safety is primary.","The screw-nut holes are perforated, allowing for the insertion of the brake cable.","This tightly braided metal wire prevents the nut from loosening, due to strong vibrations.","Now they bolt on the four blades, which makes the helicopter fly.","Weighing 90 pounds each, they're made of composite materials and an aluminum alloy.","They're attached to the main rotor.","The dashboard is installed in the cockpit, and all the wires are hooked up.","Contact is established, and all is functioning properly.","The last step-- finishing the interior of the craft.","They install seats, safety belts, the consoles, bulkheads, windows and doors, as well as the trimmings.","The helicopter is almost completed, but it still has to be painted.","When done, the helicopter is towed outside the assembly hangar.","Flight tests are performed to make sure that mechanical and electrical components are functioning properly.","It requires an average of 110 days to assemble the more than 3,000 parts of a helicopter like this one, and they turn out almost 185 units each year.","These 3-ton engines are capable of reaching speeds of 140 knots and flying at a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet.","Beer has been around for as long as civilization itself.","Historical records show that ancient peoples made beer with barley, hops, water, and yeast.","We still use the same ingredients, but as you'll see, today's production technology is far more complex.","Beer has been drunk since 4,000 b.c. in mesopotamia.","The sikaru made it as a sacred beverage from grains but without hops.","The gauls and the celts drank a beverage made with barley, wheat, and rye.","During the crusades, europeans discovered spices and flavored the beverage with cinnamon and laurel.","In the 15th century, nordic peoples used hops as a spice, giving rise to the beer we know today.","Beer is a fermented beverage made with cereals and water.","The company has its own water-filtration plant.","It will be refiltered before being used to eliminate chlorine.","This materials tanks can hold 21,000 gallons of water.","Between 11 and 16 tons of malt and another grain are added.","They use dark malt, which has been heat-treated to a high temperature.","The mixture will spend two hours here.","An agitator prevents malt husks from settling to the bottom of the tank.","Turbulence from the pumps during the transfer causes the formation of this protein foam.","The wort is in the process of being extracted and will be boiled.","About five hours have passed since the brewing process began.","Here they draw off a sample.","They will make other control tests at various stages of brewing.","This is the draff, a solid residue extracted from the wort.","It will be used as cattle feed.","Here is a close-up view of the draff.","Then the liquid is filtered.","Here's the filtration tank where the wort is separated from the malt husks.","A sample is withdrawn from the wort heater to verify the density of sugars and the quality of the wort.","Now another ingredient--  the hops-- is added into the wort heater.","The hops impart the bitterness and aroma particular to beer.","The hops looks like this.","They can now start the brewing.","In the control room, an operator handles the data-control system of the brewing process.","They add in the yeast, which starts off the fermentation.","This process lasts between 7 and 10 days.","This foam indicates that fermentation has begun, and sugars will now transform into alcohol.","Each fermentation tank is computer-controlled to maintain a specific temperature.","During fermentation, chemical reactions create the scum that we see.","Now aged for three weeks, the beer is almost finished.","We see here the bottling tanks.","The beer has to be filtered once more.","Exiting these filters, the wort is clarified, then rid of the components responsible for the cloudiness of the beer.","Here's the beer filtered a second time...","And finally finished, as a clear product.","Used bottles are now washed.","After their wash cycle, the bottles have become sterilized.","Empty bottles arrive on this plate, ready to be filled.","About 1,000 bottles a minute are filled while on the move.","Then they pass to the capper before being sent to the pasteurizer.","Only two steps remain.","Labels are glued onto the bottles, then they're sent by conveyor to be put in cases.","Made from water and cereal grains, the beer is now ready to be consumed and enjoyed."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Nail Nippers","Jade Putters","Ice Cider","Water Skis"]},"text":["And water skis.","Whether it's a hangnail that needs fixing or it's simply time for a trim, a nail nipper is a good thing to have at your fingertips.","A nipper is a precision tool, one that offers a bit more control than lever-style clippers.","The result is usually a more manicured look.","Heavy duty and made of stainless steel, the nipper nail cutter looks as if it belongs in a tool chest and it actually works like cutter pliers.","Squeezing the handles brings the curved blades at the end together for a well-rounded trim job.","The handles offer a bit moore maneuverability than the lever mechanism on a standard nail clipper.","Production begins with these forged-steel blanks.","They'll make two pairs of nail nippers from each one.","They load the blanks onto a carriage that transports them into a furnace.","Subjected to intense heat, the steel blanks become white-hot and malleable in minutes.","The foundry worker transfers a blank to a die.","He moves it across the die and flips it over as a hammer slams it into the shape of two nail-nipper shanks, each with a cutting head.","It takes several strikes to create the right impression on both sides of the blank.","The process transforms the narrow blank into a wider piece with two nail-nipper formations.","This is the blank before forging and now.","Once the two shanks have been separated and trimmed, a drill cuts a hole under the blade end.","This is the area where the nipper shanks are to be joined.","A milling tool shaves down the area for a neat and level joint.","This is the nail-nipper shank before the joint work and after.","They transfer the nipper shanks to a finishing machine.","They bounce around in a stream of abrasive ceramic pebbles for a few hours.","This rubs off the rough bits.","A magnetized conveyor pulls out the steel shanks, leaving the ceramics behind and carries the shanks forward.","An employee sands the entire surface of each shank until it looks completely smooth.","He brushes oil onto a shank joint to prevent rust and abrasion.","It's time to rivet the two nail-nipper shanks together.","The rivets funnel into tooling above and below the nail-nipper shanks.","The machinery drives the rivets into the holes in the shanks.","Once joined, they cannot be pulled apart without completely destroying the nail nippers.","At this point, the rivets protrude slightly and could snag on clothing or other things.","An employee sands each rivet until it's on the same plane as the rest of the nipper joint.","The vigorous sanding makes the rivet seem to almost disappear.","He polishes the inside of the nipper blades to completely smooth the surfaces.","An even surface can be more thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between manicures.","The blades are still blunt at this point.","The next member of the team files them on an angle to give them a cutting edge.","Filing too little could hamper the clearance between the blades.","Filing too much would ruin the nippers entirely.","He tests them on paper.","If the cutting edge slips, the blades may need more work.","If they slice right through, they're just right.","Next, he clamps the nail nippers onto a circular bench.","It revolves to meet up with a laser that etches the company logo and other information onto the shanks.","After that, they drill holes and attach a spring to make the nippers easier to open and close.","For the professional who will be opening and closing these nail nippers a few hundred times a day, this is a nifty feature.","They manufacture these nail nippers in batches of 300 or 400 over a period of about two weeks, so they're should always be plenty on hand.","This putter is made of jade, a precious stone traditionally used in jewelry and sculpture.","Long coveted for its beauty, jade is in demand on the putting green.","As tough as steel with a feel that's distinctly different, a putter made of jade is definitely up to par.","The jade putter is among a number of new clubs on the green...","Along with crystal quartz and fossilized vegetation, known as petrified wood.","To make a jade putter, they head for the hills-- specifically, a nephrite jade outcrop in wyoming.","Here, the putter maker finds a 20-foot wide vein of nephrite.","This stone has taken 2½ billion years to form and develop a very hard and fibrous crystalline structure.","The carver selects slabs that are thick enough to shape into four or five putter heads.","This one has weathered to a rusty color, but it should clean up nicely.","The color of wyoming jade ranges from white to green to black.","He strikes the slab with a sledgehammer a few times to break it down to a more manageable size.","He slices through one of the cut pieces with a rock saw while flushing it with coolant to save the diamond blade.","He makes 9 or 10 cuts to rough out the triangular mallet shape of the putter head.","He slices off the ends to complete the basic shape.","Next, he anchors the jade in a wooden jig and cuts on an angle to profile the sides of the putter head.","He slices off a back section to give the putter clearance from the ground when swung.","This putter has really taken shape.","He removes material from the corners to center the mass behind the golf ball for more striking energy.","He sands the edges to round and soften them.","He's careful not to remove too much in one place because that would affect the symmetry.","He then polishes the entire piece of jade against diamond-abrasive belts.","It's an intensive process that takes about two hours.","He aims a drill and cores into the putter head on a 20° angle to make a hole for inserting the putter shaft.","A perpetual flow of water keeps the diamond core bit cool and also flushes out the little bits of filings.","He gently taps the drilled core to jar it so it falls out of the putter head.","A laser emblazons the product name onto the jade, swiftly etching it into the surface.","The putters can be customized with a customer's name and logo.","He swabs gold-colored paint into the laser etching to make the letters really stand out.","The swabbing leaves a lot of residual paint around the letters, so he rubs it off.","He sprays the putter with a wax-based gloss to seal the stone.","He then buffs it against a felt belt to give the jade a satiny sheen.","He mixes epoxy ingredients to attach the shaft to the jade putter's head.","He deposits epoxy in the hole in the shaft.","He inserts the steel shaft into the 20°-angle hole.","The angle of the hole positions the putter shaft to match the golfer's upright stance.","Once the pistol-style grip has been slipped on, he applies a metallic-look decal just below it.","The decal displays company contact information in the event of a problem that doesn't have to do with the golfer's technique.","After cleaning and inspection, this jade putter is ready for action.","Putters carved from jade and other materials are crafty editions to the golf-club arsenal and could lead to some artful moves on the green.","Ice cider is an alcoholic drink made from fermented, frozen apples or apple juice.","It's also known as apple ice wine and is produced the same way as ice wine but with apples instead of grapes.","It's typically served with food such as foie gras, cheese, fruit, and dark chocolate.","There's a world of difference between ice cider and regular cider.","Regular cider is made from fresh apples, whereas ice cider is made from frozen apples or frozen apple juice.","And while cider can be a non-alcoholic beverage, ice cider is always alcoholic.","There are two methods to making ice cider.","One is to leave the apples on the tree to freeze over the winter, then pick them and press them.","The other method, which we're about to see, is to harvest the apples in the fall when they're ripe, press them, then freeze the juice.","The apples are always handpicked at perfect maturity and always right off the tree.","An ice-cider producer never uses fallen apples because they often get damaged when they hit the ground and then pick up bacteria from lying there.","This producer uses different varieties of apples to make several types of ice cider.","The one we're about to see is made from empire, spartan, cortland, mcintosh, and golden russet.","Straight from the orchard, the apples go onto a conveyor belt which feeds them into a multistage press.","The first part of the press crushes the apples into what's known as pumice.","A screw conveyor moves the pumice onto a mesh conveyor belt that transports it through five stainless-steel rollers.","Each roller applies 275 pounds of pressure, progressively extracting the apple juice.","The juice drains down through the mesh conveyor belt to a vat below.","From the vat, the juice is pumped into a large container made of food-safe plastic.","The container holds 264 gallons.","However, they leave 13 to 26 gallons of air space to leave room for expansion when the juice freezes.","At the end of december, they haul the containers outdoors.","The juice stays outside from 40 to 50 days, during which time the water in it freezes, leaving unfrozen, concentrated juice at the bottom of the container.","Workers measure the sugar content daily, and once it reaches a certain level, they pump the juice indoors into temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks.","Then they add yeast to kick-start fermentation-- the conversion of those natural sugars to alcohol.","Every day, they measure the sugar level to monitor the fermentation process.","When they hit their target, which typically takes between 40 and 50 days, the juice has transformed into ice cider with an alcohol content of 10.5% to 11%.","Ice cider is bottled just like wine.","The corking machine automatically pops in a cork as soon as its sensor detects the presence of a bottle.","The next machine slips a plastic seal over the mouth of the bottle, then heats the plastic to shrink the seal tightly around the cork.","Finally, an automated labeling machine simultaneously applies self-sticking labels to the front and back.","It isn't only the apple variety that determines the flavor.","It's also the production method.","The process we've just seen, called cryoconcentration, produces ice cider with a strong, fruity flavor.","The other method, called cryoextraction-- letting apples freeze on the tree, then pressing them-- produces ice cider which tastes like baked apples.","Water skiing was invented in 1922 by an american teenager named ralph samuelson.","With his brother pulling him by motorboat, he experimented first with skis made of barrel staves, then with snow skis, then with skis he had made out of pine boards 94\" long.","This type of water skiing is known as slalom, winding through a course on a single water ski, one foot behind the other, in boots mounted to the ski.","The core of these top-of-the-line competition slalom skis is high-density pvc foam-- exceptionally strong, yet lightweight.","A computer-guided machine cuts the ski shape, then pockets to receive various components.","Workers flip the core upside down, and the machine shapes the bottom.","Workers then turn the core right-side up again and fill the pockets with glue.","They insert an alignment tab in the tail pocket to help correctly position the core in the mold.","They install fiberglassed, reinforced nylon blocks in the others.","These will anchor threaded inserts for mounting the boots and the ski's fin.","Now they begin building up the water ski with multiple layers of carbon fiber, an ultra-strong fabric.","They apply the first layer to the bottom, wrapping it around to the top.","This will prevent the ski from twisting.","After stapling down the carbon fiber and trimming off the excess, they saturate it with resin and apply carbon fiber to the top of the ski.","Depending on the model and its performance specifications, they wrap the core in up to seven layers of resin-saturated carbon fiber, controlling the flex in select areas along the way with additional patches.","Then they top the ski with a layer of woven, synthetic fabric to prime the surface for the decorative graphics.","On the bottom of the ski, they apply a sheet of super-lightweight polymer.","It creates a white background to highlight the printed polyester sheet of decorative graphics.","They coat it with a special resin that cures into a hard, hydrodynamic surface that increase the ski's speed.","The graphic design that decorates the top of the ski is printed on nylon.","They mount it to the top part of a ski-shaped mold, then lay the wrapped core into the bottom part.","A heated press closes the mold, compressing the contents under high pressure for nine minutes.","This bonds the layers, forms contours in the ski, and adheres the graphics.","The pressure squeezes out excess resin along the perimeter so once they remove the ski from the mold, they cut off the excess with a band saw.","Then with a custom-made router bit, they precision-trim to exact specifications.","Next, a three-phase filing of the ski's edge-- first with a large file, then a small file, then with either a razor blade or medium-grit sandpaper.","Then with the help of a template, they drill 18 holes into those fiberglass-reinforced nylon blocks in the core.","They screw a threaded insert into each hole, and it locks into the block.","There are more inserts that are actually required for mounting the fin and attaching the ski boots.","This gives the skier different positioning options.","Now the last edge-sanding with fine-grit paper.","After wiping down the entire ski with an alcohol-based cleaner, they install the final and most important component-- the fin.","It's made of aluminum that's chemically treated to be corrosion-resistant and ultra-durable.","The fin's position critically affects the ski's traction and stability, so they use a micrometer to measure to the millimeter, securing the fin precisely where the design engineer specified in the performance-maximization sweet spot.","Nonetheless, competitive water-skiers typically readjust the fin to their own preferences in hopes of leaving competitors in their wake."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Motorcycle Engines","Glass Enamel Sculptures","Hand"]},"text":["The v-twin motorcycle engine actually dates back more than a century.","Talk about staying power.","Central to the design are two cylinders that form a \"v\" around the crankshaft.","This configuration is more compact than a straight-line engine, and its appeal is timeless.","With its throttle cranked, the v-twin can take you on an exciting ride and leave sedans in its dust.","To make one, a robot loads a cylinder into a machine equipped with cutting tools.","The tools mill the cylinder's metal slats to highlight them.","The slats are called cooling fins.","They allow the engine's heat to dissipate.","This cutting tool bores into the center of the cylinder, carving it to precise dimensions to allow engine components a perfect fit.","Next, an operator assembles the crankshaft.","He aligns connecting rods and slides them over bearings.","He then assembles the rods and bearings to the crankshaft.","A machine press-fits everything together.","Next, a lift scoops up the crankshaft assembly and transfers it to the lower half of the crankcase.","At the next station, an automated dispenser precisely applies sealant to the inner edge of the crankcase.","They then arrange the upper half of the crankcase on the lower assembly and bolt the two together.","It's now time to link the crankcase and shaft assembly to the transmission.","This chrome-plated cover is the finishing touch.","Next, they fit the camshaft into the crankcase.","Its job is to maintain valve timing.","They position the pistons on the connecting rods now installed in the crankcase.","Remember those highlighted cylinders made earlier?","Workers now slide them over the pistons.","These are the cylinder-head castings.","Technicians paint them and then machine them to fit on the cylinders.","A robot bolts them together with just the right amount of torque.","The operator then installs tubing that will house pushrods.","He snaps them into the cylinder heads.","Then he clips on metal covers to secure them.","He now inserts the pushrods in the tubing.","Up next is the electronic fuel-injection system, which controls the flow of fuel to the engine.","They install it between the two cylinders.","A special bracket holds the injection system in place.","He bolts the rocker boxes to the cylinder heads, then tops off the assembly with more gleaming chrome covers.","The operator now screws the oil filter onto the engine case and secures it with a special wrench.","This is the electrical charging system.","It goes on the crankshaft.","Now it's time to pump oil into this v-twin engine and put it through its paces.","Computerized testing equipment moves in and mates to the engine.","The engine rotates, and they shift the transmission through all the gears.","This allows the testing equipment to analyze every aspect of its performance.","Next, they insert spark plugs into the cylinder heads.","And these 1584cc motorcycle engines are now revved and ready for their wheels.","Enameling is the process of fusing colored glass to metal with intense heat.","This decorative art developed more than 3,000 years ago.","The earliest enameled objects archeologists have found are pieces of jewelry made in ancient greece.","Today, artisans most often produce glass enamel on copper.","Artisans handcraft these magnificent sculptures by fusing vibrant colors of finely ground glass to solid copper.","First, the artist draws the design, then chooses the glass colors from a palette of hundreds of shades.","She takes one element at a time and makes multiple copies of it on a sheet of paper.","She has a lab produce a film negative, which she lays in an exposure machine.","On top, she lays a silk screen coated with a light-sensitive chemical.","Then it exposes them to halogen light for 90 seconds.","The film negative works like a stencil.","Its dark parts block the light from hitting the screen while its clear parts allow light through.","Where light penetrates, the light-sensitive chemical reacts and hardens.","The unhardened chemical rinses away, leaving just the image behind.","In the next department, they lay the screen in a silk-screen printer, apply chemical-resistant ink, then load a sheet of solid copper about half a millimeter thick.","The machine automatically prints the images onto the copper.","They cure the ink in an oven for 20 minutes, then repeat the entire exposure process for the back side of the sheet.","Next, they feed the sheet into a two-step milling machine.","It applies chemicals that eat away any copper that isn't coated with the chemical-resistant ink.","This cuts out the shapes.","Then it strips off the ink, which, by this point, has served its purpose.","Now they have a blank shape, but it's completely flat.","To give it dimension, they stamp it with a forming dye.","Now the enameling process can finally begin.","For each color grouping of the design, there's an aluminum stencil.","They lay down the first one and sprinkle glass powder in the first base-coat color, which looks white now, but comes out clear.","Then a second stencil for the second base-coat color-- white.","The shape then goes into a kiln for about a minute to liquefy the glass powder and fuse it to the copper.","Once the base coat cools, they create the detail work with additional stencils and colors.","This is where the true artistry comes in.","Each shake of powdered glass is like a painter's brushstroke.","Too much, and the color will come out too dark.","Too little, and it'll come out too light.","It takes an experienced enameler to get it just right.","They craft dimension by blending colors and by combining different types of glass in the design-- some transparent, some opaque, some opalescent.","After every few powder applications, they return the piece to the kiln, where the intense heat--  1,600 degrees fahrenheit-- liquefies and fuses the glass to the copper.","Slowly but surely, they turn what was a blank copper shape into a vibrant work of art.","Meanwhile, an artistic welder skillfully creates the sculpture's metal framework-- in this case, branches on which copper-enamel birds will perch.","He's using steel, but frameworks can also be made of copper, bronze, or brass.","Besides birds, this sculpture features copper-enameled leaves and flowers.","Their stems are bronze because bronze fuses easily to steel.","With the framework and background elements in place, it's just a matter of attaching the main design elements.","Some industrial-strength hot glue does the trick.","A modern twist on an ancient craft, these glass-enamel sculptures make a glistening impression.","Today, most commercially made paper is made from wood pulp treated with chemicals and mechanically processed.","Making paper by hand is a craft that involves techniques and materials that go back over 2,000 years in china.","These techniques have evolved over time, but the main ingredient remains the same-- imagination.","Handmade paper is a distinctive choice for a variety of uses, from fine stationery to limited-edition prints.","Natural fibers, like linen or these cotton remnants, are the raw materials for handmade paper.","Workers place the cotton rag and put it on a conveyer, which leads into a machine that chops it up into small pieces.","It collects in a bin, ready for the next step, called beating the rag.","Workers pour out the chopped-up rag into a tub called a hollander that is filling with water.","This machine beats the material into a pulp.","Its only moving part-- a large roll weighing several tons, equipped with metal blades.","Workers fill the hollander with up to 800 pounds of rag.","Once all the rag is in, the giant roll descends to begin the beating.","Water pours down to soak the fabric, as workers push it toward the roll.","They sometimes take paper from previous batches, known as broke, and add it to the mix.","They may also add a little dye to adjust the color, depending on the desired effect.","After eight hours of beating, workers feel the pulp's consistency.","They will then take samples from this batch to make sure it doesn't contain any unbeaten rag or knots.","Next, they add colorful scraps of paper to the pulp to create a decorative pattern.","To make a sheet of paper, the vat man plunges a wooden mold into the pulp.","As he lifts out the mold, he shakes it to even out the pulp.","Water pours out, leaving only fibers caught on the mold's surface.","He removes the mold's frame, known as the deckle, and lowers the corner of the mold to drain away more water.","He places the mold facedown on a wet felt, then carefully lifts it away.","A sheet of paper now lies on the felt, which he then covers with another wet felt.","When pulp pours through the mold's metal screen, it traps the fiber and lets the water through.","The vat man plunges the mold once again into the pulp and couches another sheet of this distinctive paper.","At this point, the paper is 99% water.","Workers bring a stack over to a hydraulic press to draw the water from the paper and link the fibers together.","They press the papers with care so they don't burst right out of the felts.","They brush any leftover pulp from the felts, leaving them clean and ready for the next batch of sheets.","Now workers can handle the paper without it falling apart.","They take the sheets from the felts and hang them to dry on plastic tubes.","Once dry, they collect the sheets according to type and stack them for a final finishing press before they go on for shipment to customers around the world.","The mold's frame leaves a feathery edge-- a distinctive feature of handmade paper.","These papers are available in more than 30 colors in various finishes, from smooth to rugged.","There's a paper for every project, whether it's etching...","Watercolor...","Drawing...","Or even folding.","Pole-vaulting began as a mode of transportation, not a sport.","In europe, men would use poles to propel themselves across bridgeless canals.","In the late 1800s, pole-vaulting caught on as a college sport.","The athletes used bamboo poles to vault themselves over a horizontal bar.","Today's poles are incredibly lightweight, yet strong enough to absorb the vaulter's energy, then throw it back to propel him over the bar.","Some poles are made of carbon fiber, others out of thismaterial--  resin-impregnated fiberglass.","The first step is to spread out the material and cut out the pole pattern.","Meanwhile, a slitter machine cuts the same material into strips of a specific width.","Then it winds each strip into its own roll.","This spiral-wrap machine automatically unravels the strip and wraps it around a hollow steel tube called a mandrel.","This first layer of fiberglass gives the pole its flexibility.","They wrap a second layer in the opposite direction, employing a crisscross pattern to increase durability.","The second layer fortifies the pole's circumference.","For the next layers, they remove the mandrel and lay it on the table.","Now it's time for those fiberglass patterns they cut earlier.","They heat the edge of the first one with an iron, melting the resin in the fiberglass until it's tacky.","They stick this edge to the mandrel, then slide the other end between heated rollers.","The rollers wrap the rest of the material around the mandrel, the heat activating the resin in the process.","The same procedure, now with the second pattern.","This piece is critical, because the way it's cut controls the way the pole bends.","The mandrel and its multilayer fiberglass coat now go into an oven.","The heat, generated by steam, starts at 175 degrees fahrenheit.","This liquefies the resin so that it re-saturates the fiberglass.","Then the temperature gradually rises to nearly 300 degrees, solidifying the resin again, curing it.","This entire process takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.","And when it finishes, a pole extractor slides the mandrel out of what's now a fiberglass pole.","The pole moves onto a flex machine.","In part, this is a stress test.","If there's any type of defect, the pole will crack or break.","But the flexor also permanently puts a specific degree of curve in the pole, which helps the athlete vault higher.","Now they make what's called the soft-side mark.","This helps the pole vaulter locate the bend, in order to know where to grip the pole.","Next, they apply a maximum-weight label, indicating how heavy the vaulter can be.","To finish the surface now, they mount the pole on a spindle, then run a polishing pad over it.","Then, using a solvent, they clean off the debris.","Now that the surface is pristine, they wrap it in thin, lightweight tape.","Different-colored tapes designate different pole styles.","They cap the top of the pole with plastic, then, at the bottom, mallet on a molded tip made of hard rubber.","The finishing touch is the manufacturer's decal.","Vaulting poles come in various lengths, between 10 and 16 feet.","A pole designed for a heavier vaulter has to be stiffer than one designed for a lighter vaulter because the pole has to propel more weight with the same degree of bending."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gummies","Aluminum Cans","Fish Farming","Bronze Sculptures"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" gummies, aluminum cans, fish farming, and bronze sculptures.","There's nothing kids love more than candies they can pull and stretch, which probably explains why gummy candies and licorice have always been stick-to-your-teeth favorites, except with parents who don't have a family dental plan.","Everyone calls this red licorice, but there's actually no licorice root in it.","The ingredients are wheat, sugar, and corn syrup, with red food dye and both artificial and natural strawberry flavoring.","They cook the mixture for 2 hours at 216 degrees.","This slowly forms a thick paste.","They cool it down, then put it through extruders.","The extruders work like icing nozzles, shaping the paste into a design such as the twirls we see here.","A water-lubricated knife slices the continuous strips into 7- and 8-inch lengths.","The water also rinses off any licorice buildup on the blade.","The cut licorice goes on aluminum trays.","The stacks of trays then go into an oven to dry for 8 hours at 140 degrees.","As the excess moisture evaporates, the licorice shrivels.","Workers weigh the correct amount of licorice for each package.","To make gummy candies, they use what are called printing boards-- large sheets with raised shapes.","To make gummy worms, for example, they mount the gummy-worm board on a stamping machine.","The machine then stamps the worm shapes onto trays of cornstarch.","This creates a series of cornstarch molds for the gummy worms.","While that's going on, another machine mixes gelatin, sugar, corn syrup, color, and flavoring and cooks the mixture at 240 degrees.","A machine called the depositor pours the mixture into the cornstarch worm molds.","The molds then go into a refrigerated room.","In 12 to 15 hours, the candies cool and solidify.","A machine then flips the candies out of the trays.","The cornstarch molds disintegrate.","As they fall downward, the machine sifts out the lumps, then recycles the used cornstarch into new cornstarch trays for the next batch.","The candies go through a cleaner.","As they spin, air nozzles blast off the cornstarch.","The next drum coats the candies with mineral oil to make them shiny.","Children love gummy worms because they're gooey and slippery and wiggly, but it's not just kids who are hooked on them.","Many fishermen actually use them for bait.","Before packaging the candies, the workers weed out any that are stretched out or stuck together.","Wonder if they get to eat the rejects?","A prion is what causes killer neurological diseases such as mad cow in animals and creutzfeldt-jakob in humans.","It's a protein normally found in the membranes of cells.","Scientists are trying to determine what changes that protein to an abnormal form to cause these fatal brain diseases.","The next time you buy a canned soft drink, consider this-- that aluminum can will always be recyclable.","Unlike plastic, aluminum never deteriorates, no matter how often it's melted down and used again.","Aluminum cans are so lightweight that it's hard to believe they're made from a huge roll of aluminum sheeting that weighs almost 10 tons.","The sheet is about 5 feet wide and as thin as construction paper.","A roll like this is long enough to make three-quarters of a million drink cans.","The sheet feeds into a press that punches out round pieces that will be formed into cans.","The punch press actually performs two operations.","It punches out a disc 5 1/2 inches in diameter, then bends it into a cup.","What's left of the sheet gets compacted and sent back to the aluminum factory, where it's recycled into new rolls.","The cup goes into a machine called the draw-and-iron body maker.","A tool draws out the aluminum, forming the body of the can.","The tool is lubricated so it won't tear the aluminum while stretching it.","The lubricant also acts as a coolant because the aluminum heats up as it's being worked.","Once the body is formed, a trimmer cleans and straightens the edge.","Now the cans move along upside down on the conveyer belt over to the washer.","The washer performs a 6-stage cleaning.","The first two washes are in hydrofluoric acid at 140 degrees.","The last four washes are in deionized water, neutral water with no ph, also at 140 degrees.","The cans come out of the washer and go under a hot-air dryer.","They're now shiny because the hydrofluoric-acid wash removed a thin surface layer of aluminum.","Next, a roller passes over the cans, coating the bottom rims with varnish.","This varnish coating allows the cans to slide easily on the conveyer belts and into vending machines.","It shows up as a blue ring under an ultraviolet light.","The cans are now ready to be printed.","This rotation printing system can apply up to five colors, one at a time.","The machine then applies a layer of varnish to protect the ink.","This is what the print and varnish process looks like in slow motion, and here's the actual speed--  1,800 cans per minute.","Next, the cans fly through an oven that instantly hardens the ink and dries the protective varnish.","The next machine sprays a water-based varnish on the inside of the cans.","This creates a barrier between the drink and the aluminum, so the drink won't end up tasting like metal.","It also prevents the aluminum from being eaten away from the inside by the acid in carbonated drinks.","Next, the cans go through a machine called the necker which forms a 2-inch neck on the can.","This is done gradually in 11 steps, so as not to puncture the paper-thin aluminum.","The next machine, called the flanger, forms a curved-over edge at the top of the can, which will later attach to the pull-tab cover.","The cans pass through a sophisticated vision system that photographs the inside of each can.","Any can that doesn't meet standards, that has a bump or ink inside, for example, is automatically removed from the production line.","They strap the finished cans onto a pallet.","From here, they're shipped to the drink company, which fills them and then attaches the pull-tab cover.","Fish farming generates about 20% of the world's fish production.","Some fish farms are very high tech, while others use more traditional methods.","Fish farming began in 2000 b.c. if these rainbow trout are going to have the energy to make baby trout, they'll have to be well fed.","On today's menu-- brown shrimp.","The fish farmer gives the mating process a hand.","He takes the female fish and presses on her belly to squeeze out her eggs.","A 1-pound fish has about 1,000 eggs.","It takes about a minute to get them out.","Next, he takes the male fish and squeezes out his sperm.","This also takes about a minute.","The fertilization process is pretty low tech-- no microscopes, no test tubes.","The farmer mixes the eggs and sperm by hand.","He then rinses the eggs with clean water.","He repeats this step seven or eight times until the water runs clear.","The eggs that stay at the surface are duds, so they're discarded.","The farmer transfers the good eggs to bottles, then fills the bottles to the top with water.","The eggs incubate for about a month.","By the 25-day mark, if an egg is alive, two little black dots appear--  fish eyes.","After the incubation period, the farmer empties the bottles and spreads the eggs on a surface with slats.","The eggs lie here underwater...","Until they hatch 10 to 15 days later.","The newly hatched trout swim down through the slats into the basin below.","The baby trout feed off their placenta for the first 18 days.","After that, they eat special trout food made of fish meal.","The trout grow to about 8 inches long by the age of 8 months.","At that point, the smaller trout swimming around them start looking pretty appetizing.","So the farmer has to classify the fish by size and move them into separate basins.","Trout reach adulthood at the age of a year and a half.","Now the farmer transfers them into his man-made lake.","From here, the fish will go to market.","But before they leave, the farmer mates them, starting the cycle all over again.","Bronze is the oldest metal alloy known to man.","It is ideal for casting works of art because, when molten, it flows into even the tiniest crevices of a mold.","This allows sculptors to achieve incredible detail in their work.","Man first discovered how to cast metal around 3500 b.c., during the period known as the bronze age.","Many civilizations honored their royalty and gods with bronze statues.","When it comes to art, the late 19th-century french sculptor auguste rodin was the master.","They say his bronzes were more lifelike than the subjects themselves.","Bronze is also a popular medium for modern art.","Sculptors first carve a replica of their sculpture from wood or shape it out of a plaster or clay.","They coat it with a lubricant...","Then with silicone rubber.","When the rubber hardens about six hours later, the lubricated replica slips out easily, leaving a detailed rubber mold.","Next, they pour hot wax into the mold.","The wax cools in about 15 minutes, leaving an exact wax replica of the sculpture.","Next, they attach what's called a sprew-- a wax channel that will funnel the molten bronze into the mold.","They dip the wax replica into a ceramic material.","Then coat it with powdered silicone, a common mineral, to strengthen the ceramic.","Next stop-- an autoclave.","In about 10 minutes, under the machine's hot steam pressure, the wax inside the ceramic shell melts away, leaving a hardened and hollow ceramic mold.","That mold goes into a kiln at 1,560 degrees.","After two hours, it's fired.","This is the finished mold into which the bronze will be cast.","At the foundry, they heat the bronze to 2,084 degrees...","Then carefully pour it into the mold.","The molten metal takes just a few minutes to solidify.","Then they chisel off the ceramic casing to reveal the bronze statue inside.","They sandblast the statue to remove the ceramic residue.","Then, they saw off the sprew.","They weld shut any holes or other imperfections...","Then polish the statue using various abrasive heads.","They heat the statue, then spray on an acid coating.","This coating, called patina, gives the bronze its shimmer and richness of color.","Finally, a coat of wax makes the statue shine."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Dragster Tires","Icing","Floating Docks","Spiral Pipes"]},"text":["A dragster's tires take quite a beating during the brief, but fast run down the racetrack.","The tires have to face full-on acceleration right out of the starting gate, then heavy-duty braking after the finish line, with the car deploying a rear parachute and slowing to an eventual stop.","A drag race is the ultimate automotive sprint, with rapid acceleration to speeds topping 310 miles per hour.","Optimal tire traction can give a car the winning edge.","Dragster tires, like most tires, are made from rubber, which hasn't been cured to a firm and permanent state.","For most parts of the tire, they reinforce the rubber with nylon fabric.","The machine heats and kneads rubber slabs until they melt, then coats both sides of the material with a molten rubber.","When the fabric-reinforced sheet of rubber cools, the machine slices it into pieces of a specific length, making the cuts at a diagonal, called a bias angle.","A skilled tire builder then joins the edges of the piece to form a band, sticks it to an identical band made of an opposite bias piece-- layering increases strength-- then stretches this two-ply band over a tire-building machine.","Next, he applies the belts, two opposing bias pieces of fabric-reinforced rubber, which he lays diagonally onto the tread area of the tire.","A laser guide marks the edges so that he can match the belts to each other.","These belts help give the tire stiffness, strength, and stability.","He uses a roller to press out any trapped air between the plies and belts.","This helps ensure a thorough bond.","After a stitcher wheel folds down the plies, he folds the ends of the material into the machine.","Then, he applies a contact cement-type material to enhance the natural adhesion of uncured rubber.","Meanwhile, an automated machine makes the tires' beads, the rigid hoops around both sides of the opening, which holds the tire firmly to the wheel.","Each bead is made from a thick, steel wire.","The machine first encapsulates it in rubber.","Then, it winds the bead around a mandrill up to 50 times, forming a hoop.","The machine forms four beads at a time.","The next machine wraps the hoop in a piece of fabric-reinforced rubber.","This additional layer will stiffen the sidewall, the non-treaded area of the tire.","The builder uses a tool called a bead server to mount the finished bead.","While the tire is spinning, he applies the contact cement-type material to help the rubber-to-rubber adhesion when he wraps the plies around the bead to secure it further.","The stitcher wheel smoothes the plies flat and pushes out trapped air.","Then, the tire builder applies a strip of fabric-reinforced rubber on top and rolls it flat.","This strip will make the bead area more durable when the tire is mounted on a wheel.","He applies a layer of non-reinforced rubber on the sidewall.","This covers the edges of the plies and will help the tire retain air once it's inflated.","This machine makes the tread by extruding molten rubber through a dye into a continuous strip, then applying it onto the spinning tire.","The fully constructed tire now goes into a press to cure.","Inside, a hot mold closes around the perimeter, while a bag inflates in the middle, pushing the tire outward against the walls of the mold.","When the tire comes out, about half an hour later, the rubber is no longer soft and pliable, and its chemical structure is stabilized, locking in the final dimensions.","Workers seal the wheel opening and inflate the tire to hold the shape until the rubber cools.","Once the rubber has cooled to room temperature, which takes about an hour, the tire undergoes a series of quality-control checks.","Here, a worker performs a visual inspection while trimming off excess rubber from the bead area.","Before the decals go on, they also x-ray the tire, looking for any internal flaws.","Life in the fast lane, while exciting, is short.","Dragster tires need to be replaced every four to six trips down the drag strip.","Icing dates back to 17th-century england.","Early versions were poured directly onto cake.","The cake was then put back in the oven until the topping cooked into an icelike glaze, hence the term icing.","Hundreds of years later, success never tasted sweeter.","Today, icing comes ready-made in cans and tubes.","No need to make a sticky mess in the kitchen.","Just press the nozzle to transform a plain cupcake into an elaborate dessert.","It takes a dozen different ingredients to make icing, beginning with vegetable-oil shortening.","They encapsulate food coloring in the block of shortening.","This keeps the food coloring from becoming airborne, as a mixture creams the shortening with sugar, which they pipe directly into the mixer basin.","Sugar is the main ingredient in icing.","Corn syrup is the next ingredient.","It adds more sweetness and liquidity to the mix.","The mixer arm spirals around the basin for a few minutes to blend everything.","Then, they add cornstarch, which will act as a thickening agent.","They pour warm water into the mixture and beat until smooth.","If the icing consistency is too thin, they thicken it with more sugar.","This 1,000-pound batch of icing is done, and there's enough to fill 2,000 aluminum cans.","A conveyor delivers the cans to fillers that inject half a pound of icing into each can.","The system fills 3,600 cans an hour, and no one has to get their fingers sticky.","Plastic nozzles now funnel toward the containers, and with perfect timing, a press seals one to each of the icing-filled cans.","At the same time, a pump shoots air into a small hole in the bottom of the can.","This pressurizes the icing so it can be pumped out when needed.","The burst of air carries a tiny, rubber cap with it, and it plugs the hole to maintain the pressure.","The cans move forward and meet up with the applicator tips.","There are four tips per can, held together by little, plastic connectors.","The four applicator clusters fall out of the feeder and land on the can nozzles.","Clear caps then fall into place on the cans.","A blade cuts a labeled plastic sleeve to the correct length.","The sleeve drops onto the cans, draping them loosely for the moment.","They ride by a spinning plastic disk that tucks the sleeves all the way down.","Then, it's into a drier, where the heat shrinks the wrap to the cans, sealing the icing.","It's a perfect fit.","Next, they make icing for packaging in squeeze tubes.","They blend together the same ingredients, but in different amounts and in a different order.","This achieves a thicker consistency.","Thicker icing can be more easily squeezed out of tubes.","For ready-made icing, it really is all in the packaging.","A mechanized arm picks up the squeeze tube and delivers it to the filling machine.","A vacuum pump sucks out air and any contaminants.","Another mechanism orients the tube for filling.","Nozzles now inject thick, yellow icing into the tubes, but stop short at a complete fill-up, leaving space for the open ends to be closed and sealed by hot jaws.","Once closed, the machine ejects the tubes.","Each one contains four ounces of icing.","It's about half as much as the can.","To decorate with icing from a tube, the consumer squeezes it out of the bottom tip.","To apply icing from a can, you pump it out of the top.","No matter how you ice it, the result will be sweet.","The egyptians built the earliest known docks on the shores of the red sea around 2500 bc.","More than 4,000 years later, our lakes and rivers are dotted with floating structures where boaters can dock their crafts, go for a dip, or just lounge in the sun.","Floating docks can be much more than just walkways where you tie up your boat.","They can be waterborne buildings with slips, jet-ski ports, and even a rooftop deck.","This facility has created its own computer-aided design software.","With it, they can quickly design each component of a dock in 3-d.","The program will even calculate how many floats are needed and where they should be placed to keep the dock level in the water.","Thanks to its lightweight, rustproof strength, aluminum is the ideal material for building docks.","All the aluminum here has been extruded in unique shapes according to the design requirements.","The plans are printed, and workers consult them closely as they cut and form the material.","The blades they use are specially designed for cutting aluminum.","They use a variety of methods to form the shapes, including drill presses equipped with components called hole saws.","Workers lay the material out on the factory floor in preparation for assembling the structure.","The final assembly of the floating docks will happen on the water at the site.","They tack-weld the parts to each other, then make sure everything is perfectly square before doing the final weld.","Unlike steel, aluminum loses strength when it's welded.","For this reason, the designers of these docks have created special aluminum sleeves for every major joint.","That means there's extra metal supporting the weld and strengthening the structure.","To make sure everything fits properly, the workers join the sections to each other with stainless-steel bolts and lock nuts.","There is minimal reaction between the different metals, because there is so little stainless steel relative to the quantity of aluminum being used.","Once the bottom section of the dock is assembled, workers build up from there.","For this test phase, they use shortened, temporary roof poles to make the process easier.","The blue material on the poles is polyethylene bushing, which prevents creaking when the dock is stressed in turbulent water.","Because aluminum is so lightweight, there's no need for cranes in an aluminum dock facility.","Manpower is enough.","Workers attach a series of narrow, aluminum tubes, called purlins, to the roof and deck.","Workers install the roofing by screwing it into the purlins.","In most cases, the roof won't be installed until the dock is assembled on-site.","Satisfied that everything assembles correctly, the workers take it all apart.","They flip the lower sections over and attach the floats.","These floats consist of roto-molded polyethylene shells.","Styrofoam has been expanded in place to fit inside the shell perfectly.","Even if the outer shell breaks, the dock will still float.","This facility offers a range of decking options from aluminum to concrete to plastic composite to specialty woods like this one, which is called ipe.","Like teak, ipe is incredibly durable and extremely stable.","In other words, it won't rot, swell, or contract, despite extended exposure to a high-humidity environment.","If the dock has an upper deck, it needs a railing.","It's important to have something to lean against when you're sipping cocktails and watching the sunset after a long boat ride.","Of course, it's also a crucial safety feature.","There are 12 different components to assemble for just this one section, and there might be as many as 15 different sections of varying lengths for an entire dock.","Customers can choose to add a range of accessories to floating docks made at this facility.","To make things like safety railings and ladders, workers use a hydraulic bending machine to shape aluminum tubing to the required contours.","All the aluminum these manufacturers use in their floating docks is a marine-grade alloy especially resistant to degradation when exposed to water.","Finally, it's time to build the docks in place.","Thanks to careful planning on the part of the manufacturers, assembly is a breeze.","The crew doesn't need much more than a ratchet set to pull it all together.","It's smooth sailing from here on out.","In the modern world, steel pipes form an underground network to deliver necessities like drinking water or fuel.","These pipes are often spirally welded and can be made in any size.","In fact, longer pipe means fewer joints and less work to install them underground.","Spirally welded pipes can be short, or they can go on and on.","The potential length is limitless, because, unlike other kinds of pipes, spiral pipes don't have to conform to the size of a forming roll or the dimensions of a steel plate.","They can spiral-weld these coils of steel sheets endlessly.","But first they have to take the kink out of the coiled steel.","A machine unwinds it and pushes it between rollers to completely flatten it.","A fixed arm then presses the steel against rollers to round it to a precise diameter, and an automated system welds the formed pipe from the inside.","A barely visible mantel of powdered flux protects the welding process.","Copper-coated steel wire acts as both an electrode for the welding process and as filler material.","With the inside weld complete, a second welder device works on the outside of the pipe to give it a double-welded seam.","A plasma torch cuts the pipe to length cleanly by melting it.","In this case, they're making a water pipe that's 6 feet in diameter and 50 feet in length.","The pipe then rolls over to the next station.","Here, a worker grinds both ends of the pipe to improve the profile.","Then it's over to a die.","It stretches one end of the pipe to create a slight flare, or bell.","This will allow it to be connected to the narrower end of another pipe, forming what's known as a lap joint.","Next, they cap the ends of the pipe and pump in water to a highly pressurized state.","They look for leaks in the weld and confirm that it's watertight.","Another worker installs rubber dams at both ends of the pipe.","A cement fixture then flows into a long applicator with a nozzle.","The nozzle applies the cement to the pipe's inner wall as the pipe spins and generates a centrifugal effect that's 70 times the force of gravity.","This causes the cement to be distributed uniformly.","The rubber dams contain the cement during this process.","The spinning displaces water in the cement, and a blower forces that water out of the pipe.","Next, a worker drapes plastic onto both ends of the pipe.","He tacks it with magnets and then secures it tightly with an elastic cord.","He pumps hot steam into the pipe.","Over a period of 18 hours, the steam cures the cement.","It's a slow cure for better structural integrity.","For our camera, they open one end of the pipe for an inside look at the steaming action.","18 hours later, they remove the rubber dams.","The spiral-welded pipe now has a tough, protective inner liner.","Next, the pipe moves into a blast chamber, where fine, steel shot bombards the outside of the pipe to clean it thoroughly.","This prepares it for the next step.","A sprayer applies a liquid adhesive.","Over the adhesive, they wrap a polyethylene-backed tape.","They apply a total of three layers of tape.","The first one provides corrosion protection to the spirally welded steel.","The other two layers protect the first.","They give the spirally welded pipe a tough outer skin.","The three tapes are color-coded.","This will allow the depth of any damage to be quickly assessed on-site.","They produce approximately 15 spirally welded water pipes per eight-hour shift at this factory.","They should last for a century underground."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Spiral Stairs","Pita Bread","Exhaust Headers","Molded Limestone Artwork"]},"text":["spiral stairs were part of a strategy to defend the towers of medieval castles.","Attackers had to climb single-file and couldn't storm the castle all at once.","And at the top of the stairs, the guardsmen could more easily maneuver their swords, giving them the upper hand.","Spiral stairs take people to the next level without taking up a lot of space.","They're compact, and with their corkscrew curvature, they can also be architectural features.","Production starts with the steel hubs cut to the desired riser height.","A worker files the sharp edges smooth and drills a threaded hole which will be used to fasten the treads in place.","A computer-driven plasma system cuts through a sheet of steel to produce the pie-shaped stair treads.","A worker nestles a tread to the hub and clamps them in a weld fixture.","He also clamps structural supports to the base of the tread.","With everything in the right configuration, he welds the supports to the tread and the hub.","He'll make 12 of these hub and tread assemblies.","He chips off the weld slag for cleaner seams.","A team slides the hub and tread assemblies on to the center pole and rotates them to the correct position.","The design geometry dictates the rotation.","Once rotated correctly, the workers fasten the hubs to the pole and add a platform for the top step.","A baluster spins in a lathe, as tools cut it to length and round the end to the correct diameter.","The operator measures the diameter.","He inserts the rounded end in a dye that carves the thread into it.","A worker welds a steel cup just above the threaded part of the baluster.","This cup will support the baluster once it's been installed on the thread.","He grinds the weld scale from the cup.","He inserts the baluster through holes in a metal spacer in the tread.","He screws a nut on to the end to secure it.","Using rollers now, another worker twists long strips of metal into spiraling hand rails that match the rise of the stairs.","He fits the rail to the top balusters and clamps it in place.","He then welds the balusters to the rail.","He adds more railing until it spirals all the way down to the first step.","The team secures it to the platform.","The spiral staircase's metal structure is now complete.","It's ready for the wooden accents.","A worker applies glue to pieces of red oak.","He'll use two of them to make one stair tread.","He clamps two tread sets in a fixture while the glue sets.","He inserts a shim and tightens the clamp to apply downward pressure.","Once the glue has cured, a planer shaves the tread perfectly flat and to the desired thickness.","After refining the profile, a worker rounds the edge of the stair tread using a router.","After gluing strips of wood together to create a curved railing, he sands the excess adhesive, and with a file, removes more of the glue.","He turns the railing over and carves a groove in the wood.","This will enable the railing to be installed over the metal rail support.","He adds some detailing along the edge.","A team then fits the wooden railing to the metal support structure.","All of the rail sections fit together perfectly.","After the pre-fit, they remove the railing and sculpt the edges to be rounder.","The rounded edges complement the overall spiral design.","A worker pre-fits the wooden treads to the metal structure and then disassembles the entire spiral staircase for painting and staining.","The spiral stairs are then ready for reassembly in the building they were designed for.","They'll definitely add a certain twist to the interior design.","Originating in the middle east, pita bread has been around for thousands of years.","Today, its popularity continues to grow around the globe.","Part of its appeal is its versatility.","People can stuff their pita's pockets, use it as a sandwich wrap, or slice it for dipping.","Pita bread may be flat, but that doesn't mean it's boring.","Anyone can use pita to make any number of interesting lunchtime combinations.","Making pita bread starts with silos full of flour.","A blower system delivers the flour to an automated sifter.","The sifter shakes the flour through three levels of mesh to filter out impurities.","Magnets extract any metal contaminants.","Workers prepare a pre-mix of sugar, salt, yeast, and preservatives.","They combine these ingredients with the sifted flour in a big mixer and add water.","The mixer is equipped with numerous bars that rotate horizontally to blend the ingredients.","The operator opens the mixer and spins it one more time to eject the dough into a bin.","He rolls the bin to the next station.","Here the pita dough goes into a hopper.","And from there, it drops into a machine called a dough divider.","This machine turns big chunks of dough into many small blobs.","To do this, it forces the dough through a round hole, and a guillotine blade chops it to the correct thickness.","The dough blobs ride a conveyor and pass under a roller that flattens them.","Flour from an overhead sifter dusts the dough blobs to keep them from sticking to the machinery.","Each one of these flattened dough blobs will eventually become a pita.","The round pieces of dough now ride a conveyor up to a warm zone.","Over a period of 15 minutes, the yeast ferments, causing the dough to rise.","Out of the fermentation station, a roller flattens the pita dough segments again.","They're now ready to be rolled very thin in a process known as sheeting.","The next roller presses the pita dough much thinner.","Rolling it in one direction makes the dough segments oval-shaped.","The oval pitas ride by a pusher that now shoves them towards the final roller.","It rolls the dough in the other direction to round out the shape and make it even thinner.","Perfectly round and thin, the pitas now travel up to another fermentation operation.","Inside, the temperature is toasty.","It's warm enough to reawaken the yeast and cause the dough to rise again.","Conveyors move in criss-cross directions to take the pitas back and forth.","This zig-zagging journey lasts about 15 minutes.","When the pitas emerge from the chamber, they have thickened up substantially.","They head into an oven where the magic happens.","The oven's temperature is between 750 and 930 degrees fahrenheit.","They spend just 15 seconds in it.","This flash-baking causes the water in the dough to turn to steam.","The steam puffs the pitas, creating pockets inside.","The pitas then travel on conveyors for a 20 minute cool down.","As they cool, they deflate.","The process has created pockets in the pitas.","Once sliced open, the pockets can be stuffed to create sandwiches.","Workers stack the pitas six high for packaging.","The next conveyor delivers the stacks into the clutch of an automated arm.","Just ahead, a burst of air opens a bag and the arm inserts the pitas into it.","At the same time, it pushes the bag on to the next conveyor.","Moving forward, another device automatically twists the open end of the bag.","The device applies a plastic lock tab to the twisted end of the bag, sealing the pita breads inside.","The bags pass by a metal detector, and then they're on their way to the supermarket.","This pita bread has taken 45 minutes to make and package, but it should enable lunch to come together very quickly.","Installing exhaust headers will add extra power from a car's engine.","They bolt on to the engine, giving each cylinder its own exhaust pipe leading to the collector, which connects to the car's main exhaust pipe.","That's more efficient than having all the cylinders exhaust into a common manifold.","A header draws out significantly more spent exhaust gasses after combustion, leaving room for a greater amount of new gas and fresh air to enter the cylinder for the next combustion cycle.","Headers are made of steel or stainless steel.","A worker uses a roll cutter to slice tubes into nearly 6-inch-long pieces for the header's collector.","A forming tool on a press stretches one side of the collector outward.","Then the worker places the same side on an end-forming machine, which shapes it like a four-leaf clover.","He slips a flange over the unshaped side and widens that side to create the ball portion of the gasketless ball and socket connection to the car's main exhaust pipe.","Meanwhile, another worker roll cuts narrower tubes into 32-inch-long pieces to make the header's primary tubes, the ones that attach at the top to engine's cylinders.","A worker slides a tube on to a mandrel, then the computer-guided mandrel bender bends the tube in four places.","The mandrel fills the inside of the tube just up to the bend point, preventing the tube from compressing or collapsing under pressure.","The header they're making here is for a four-cylinder engine, so it has four primary tubes.","An eight-cylinder engine requires a pair of headers, whereas a six-cylinder engine requires a pair of three-tube headers.","A worker trims the bent primary tubes to the required length with a bandsaw.","The sawed edges of the tube are ragged, so the next step is to grind them smooth.","After grinding, the edge no longer looks like this.","Workers heat the top end of the tube with a torch to soften the steel.","They place the end into an end-forming machine.","The machine shapes the end to match the top profile of the cylinder, to which the tube will be mounted.","Cylinder profiles vary from engine to engine, so workers simply change the forming tool on the machine.","A worker clamps the header flange with its four exhaust ports on to an assembly jig and positions the top end of a primary tube in each port.","He inserts the bottom ends into the four-leaf-clover-shaped collector.","He then welds the top end of each tube to its exhaust port on the header flange.","Then he welds a tag with the company name on to one of the tubes.","Finally, he welds the bottom end of the tubes to the collector.","The header's three sections--  flange, tubes, and collector-- are now fused.","The worker grinds down the weld around the ports until it's nearly flush.","The remaining bit of weld material encircling the port will act as a seal to prevent leakage.","During the welding, some welding material drips into the header flange's openings, so a worker reams the bolt holes with a drill and grinds the edges of each port.","He mounts the header on the corresponding engine's cylinder head to make sure bolt holes are sufficiently cleared.","Then he runs a torch over all the joints to check the welds.","The flame would shoot through any hole in a weld, alerting them to repair it.","This factory applies one of two finishes on its exhaust headers.","The basic one is a coat of black water-based paint sprayed on and air-dried.","It prevents surface rust from forming while the part is warehoused.","The higher-end finish is an aerospace-grade ceramic coating, available in black or silver.","This baked-on finish protects the headers from rust for many years of high-performance driving.","This may look like ivory, but it's actually limestone.","It looks as though it's a sculpted work of art, but it's actually molded.","How does one mold limestone?","200 years ago, some people in france figured out how, and their descendents are still molding limestone artwork today.","This unique art form exists because, two centuries ago, a family in france discovered springs amid volcanic rock, springs with water so rich in calcium carbonate that it petrified into stone.","That is limestone.","The family carved out caves, then invented a way to capture the calcium carbonate and mold sculptures with it.","The descendents of the family continue that tradition today.","The springwater contains two grams of calcium carbonate per liter and a lot of iron oxide, which makes the water orange.","The original troughs direct the water on to a bed of wood shavings.","The shavings trap the iron oxide, and the calcium carbonate floats to the surface.","In the workshop, the owner of the company-- the seventh generation of the founding family-- makes the mold.","He heats something called gutta-percha in a pot of water to soften it up.","Gutta-percha is a natural latex made from the sap of the gutta tree.","Once it's soft, he weighs out the required amount using the workshop's original scale.","Then he kneads it to force out trapped air and make it more malleable.","After forming it into a ball, he places it in an old press made my his great-grandfather.","The press shapes the gutta-percha into a rectangle measuring 7-by-10 inches.","After cooling in the press for 30 minutes, the gutta-percha has hardened just enough to maintain the rectangular shape.","He removes it from the press and places a silicone-designed template on top.","He cuts the gutta-percha to the shape of the template.","He places the gutta-percha on top of a pattern created by an artist.","He places the template on the gutta-percha, then a plank of wood on top of that.","He puts the entire assembly under an old screw press.","An hour later, he removes the assembly from the press and gently separates the layers.","The artwork design is now transferred from the pattern to the gutta-percha.","He sets it aside to cool to a hard state.","When the work of art is either too wide or high to fit into the traditional screw press, the artisan then sculpts the pattern out of clay.","Once the clay hardens, he coats it in silicone to make the mold.","This modern mold-making technique is a bit trickier because silicone can't be reheated and reworked like gutta-percha.","The silicone takes about 24 hours to harden into a flexible mold.","A silicone mold can be used only once.","And because it's so flexible, it has to sit on a support tray so that it doesn't buckle when filled or moved.","Now it's time to mold the limestone.","A craftsman positions the molds under these liquid limestone waterfalls.","The carbonic gas in the liquid gradually evaporates, leaving accumulating deposits of calcium carbonate in the molds.","An artisan moves every mold to a new position daily so that the dripping water hits all parts of it.","Artwork just one 1/5 of an inch thick requires six months under the fountain.","Artwork 4/5 of an inch thick requires two years.","To extract the limestone artwork from a traditional mold, the artisan immerses it in hot water to soften the gutta-percha so that he can gently peel it off.","Every intricate detail of the design in the gutta-percha is now replicated in limestone.","This molded rock is as strong and hard as marble.","To extra the artwork from a silicone mold, an artisan removes the support tray and lifts off the silicone.","The company has more than 500 artwork patterns in stock dating back to 1821.","Not all the molded limestone looks the same.","The artisans can tailor the shade from white to ivory by controlling how much iron oxide they remove from the water."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wheel Loaders","Vegetable Oil","Hand Tools","Cotton Swabs"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Wheel loaders...","Vegetable oil...","Hand tools...","And cotton swabs.","They're big, they're bulky, and boy, can they move stuff.","Wheel loaders are drivable heavy machines.","You see them on construction sites moving dirt, at landfill sites moving garbage, and in the winter, you see them all over, clearing large quantities of snow.","They start by assembling the 100-odd steel components that make up the front frame.","These parts are so heavy that workers have to use industrial-strength magnets to move them.","Take note of those pieces with the holes in them.","We'll come back to them later.","Workers measure and mark exactly where they'll weld the front frame parts together.","You might not think precision is all that important when it comes to building a 20-ton hunk of machinery, but it is.","Being just a few hundredths of an inch off can cause major problems.","The preliminary welding is done by hand.","Workers tack the parts together.","They do the same with the 100-plus steel parts that make up the loader's three other sections-- the rear frame, the driver's cab, and the moving arm at the front called the boom arm.","Once the manual welding is completed, robots take over to do the major welding.","They weld about 90% of the wheel loader.","Now that the front frame is solidly fused, it undergoes a final machining.","Remember those parts with the holes in them?","They're what enable the boom arm to move.","A computerized sensor now measures those holes and calculates how to cut them to the exact specifications of the engineering design.","The computer then guides the machining tool to tailor the holes to spec.","First, a preliminary cut.","Then, after some oil lubrication, the final cut.","When this operation's complete, the front frame will join the other sections at the paint shop.","After painting, workers begin the final assembly.","They position an axle under the front frame and another under the rear.","Then, they affix the frames to the axles with heavy-duty bolts.","They mount the diesel engine and transmission in the rear frame.","After assembling the cab, they install it onto the rear frame...","Then connect the wiring for the controls.","Now comes the boom arm.","Remember those front frame parts with the holes?","Workers line them up with the holes on the boom arm, then insert giant steel pins.","This creates a pivot mechanism, enabling the arm to move up and down.","The moving parts must fit together snugly, but not so tightly as to restrict movement, which explains why welding and machining precision was so crucial.","Once they've tested the boom arm's hydraulic lift system...","Workers install the tires, which are almost 6 1/2 feet tall.","Using a specially calibrated torque gun, they bolt the tires to the rim...","32 bolts in all.","The wheel loader is fully assembled.","Now the boom arm can be equipped with a forklift, a broom, or a big shovel called a bucket.","Vegetable oil is a fat extracted from the fruit or seeds of certain plants, such as corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, or soybean.","There are various ways to extract the oil.","The method we're about to see is called cold pressing.","It all starts with seeds-- in this case, a dark variety of sunflower seeds.","Cold pressing yields less oil than other methods, so it's usually just smaller specialty companies that use the process.","The big vegetable-oil makers tend to use solvents and high-pressure, high-speed presses.","That is much more productive.","But it also generates heat, which darkens the oil and diminishes its flavor and nutritional value.","These seeds, shells and all, will go through this low-pressure press.","The temperature inside is kept below 104 degrees fahrenheit-- hence the term \"cold pressed\".","The press operator has to carefully monitor and adjust the speed, pressure, and temperature...","Because keeping a press cool is no easy task, given the heat that mashing seeds naturally generates.","The pressing mechanism, the screw press, is made up of several sections.","They can shorten or lengthen it according to the type of seeds they're pressing to allow for more or less room for the seeds within the chamber.","220 pounds of seeds go through the press every hour, producing about 10 gallons of oil...","Low volume, but high quality.","The seed residue, called seed cakes, is later sold for animal feed.","Now, though, they're the key to monitoring temperature.","If the seed cakes are too warm, that means heat is building up and they have to open the exit wider to reduce the inside pressure and bring the temperature down.","Once the oil is extracted, they pump it through a filtration system.","These cloth filters allow the oil to pass through, but any remaining seed residue gets caught in the fibers.","The oil runs through the filters repeatedly until it becomes clear.","Mastering the art of cold pressing takes a lot of know-how and experience, but it results in oil that's healthier and tastier.","Cold-pressed oils made from other seeds pose different production challenges.","Flaxseed and hempseed are extremely sensitive to heat, so workers have to cool the press during the process to offset the heat that pressing generates.","Canola, on the other hand, isn't particularly sensitive to heat, nor is sesame.","All-natural, no-preservative vegetable oils like these have to be babied because exposure to air makes them prematurely spoil.","Plastic isn't airtight, so they bottle these oils in glass-- dark glass to block the oil's other enemy, light.","They seal the bottles with a flow-control cap.","Without preservatives, sunflower, canola, and sesame oils have an 18-month shelf life.","Flaxseed and hempseed oils have to be refrigerated.","Even then, they go bad after just a few months.","You don't have to be a do-it-yourselfer to own a few basic hand tools.","Even the renovationally challenged are likely to posses a hammer, a screwdriver, maybe even a pair of pliers-- if not in a toolbox, then at least crammed into a messy drawer somewhere.","Here's a look at how some hand tools are made.","Every screwdriver and chisel has to have a handle.","This factory makes handles from acetate, a synthetic resin.","These acetate bars are 6 feet long and come in many colors and contours.","They arrive here ready-made.","Workers load the bars onto a machine that feeds them into a lathe.","As the lathe spins, an automated knife cuts one handle after another, rounding off what will be the top of the handle.","Then, it sculpts the other end.","Then, a drill makes the hole into which they'll later insert the blade.","All this takes just a few seconds.","Now the handles travel to their next stop, the dipping machine.","Acetate becomes dull and opaque when it's cut, so the machine dips them in acetone, a chemical solvent.","This brings back their translucence and shine.","It also removes any acetate shavings stuck to the ends.","Here's what the handles look like before the acetone bath.","And here's what they look like after.","The handles air-dry on their way to the next stop on the production line-- printing.","The hot-stamp printer works in conjunction with an ink ribbon.","It applies about 55 pounds of pressure, engraving the product code and brand name, while the heat, about 160 degrees fahrenheit, transfers the ink from the ribbon into the engraved lettering.","The handles are finished, and it's finally time to insert the blades-- in this case, phillips head screwdriver blades.","Blades are made of carbon steel, an automated machine forces them into the handle with about 80 pounds of pressure.","Workers insert chisel blades manually in order to protect their sharp edge.","At the same time, they top the handle with a steel cap to give the chisel extra striking power.","Another common hand tool is the drywall square, also known as a t-square.","They cut two strips of aluminum, the first 4 1/2 feet long, the second 22 inches long.","Then, they apply the markings by silk-screen printing.","Next, they use a bending machine to hold over the top edge of the piece that will form the horizontal part of the \"t\".","This will allow the tool to hook onto the edge of a drywall panel.","Finally, they rivet the two pieces together.","The drywall square is finished.","Factories can alter the size of the tools they produce to meet their clients' specifications.","Standard screwdrivers have handles measuring 3 1/2 to just over 4 inches long with blades that are 1 1/2 to almost 8 inches in length.","Some screwdrivers, on the other hand, have extra-long blades, while stubby screwdrivers have short handles for getting into tight places.","Then, there are those skinny pocket screwdrivers and precision screwdrivers for jewelers and electronic technicians...","All of which proves there's a tool that's the right size for every job.","We use them to apply and blend our makeup, we use them in a pinch to pry dirt out of tight crevices, and of course, we use them to clean our ears, though doctors say never to insert them into the ear canal.","Cotton swabs are just one of those little things that are really handy to have around the house.","Cotton swabs were invented in 1926 by leo gerstenzang, a polish-born american.","He got the idea from watching his wife clean out their baby's ears using a flimsy toothpick stuck into a piece of cotton.","Leo set out to design a safer device.","He took a thicker wooden stick and wrapped the ends with cotton in such a way that it wouldn't come off and get stuck in the ear.","The leo gerstenzang infant novelty company marketed this invention under the trade name baby gays.","Many cotton-swab makers also produce cosmetic pads.","Both start with bleached cotton.","It arrives at the factory compressed in large bales.","The cotton first goes into a machine called the feeder...","From there, into a machine called the opener, which shreds the bales, pulling the cotton fibers apart.","Next stop, the carding machine.","Its large rollers comb the cotton fibers out.","Then, guided by weight-detecting sensors, it produces a uniformly thick ribbon of cotton called a web.","This web is now ready to be processed into either cotton swabs or cosmetic pads.","To make pads, they layer several webs-- just how many, though, is a closely guarded company secret.","And so is how much pressure they apply to those layers to compress them.","This secret recipe of layers and pressure is what ultimately determines the weight of the pad.","The heavier it is, the higher the quality because it's thicker.","The now-compressed layers of web go through a machine called the slitter.","It cuts the wide roll into several narrower rolls called header rolls.","Each header roll then goes through a machine that stamps on a quilt-like pattern, purely for aesthetics.","Finally, using a punching die, they cut the pads.","On this production run, each pad weighs about 2/100 of an ounce, but the factory can produce whatever weight the client requests.","The cosmetic pads are ready to be packaged.","This client wants them in bags of 100.","The blue light shows the workers the 100-pad cutoff point.","To make cotton swabs, the initial web is divided into four narrower webs, each weighing about 5/100 of an ounce per yard.","Each narrow web travels through a funnel, which transforms its shape from flat to round.","Then, it coils into a barrel.","The swab-making machine then takes cotton strands from two barrels at a time, feeding a line of cotton to each end of the stick.","Like the cosmetic pads, the amount of cotton per stick varies according to the client's specifications.","The stick feeder prepares the sticks.","Then, as we see here in slow motion, the machine cuts the cotton strand and rolls a piece onto both ends of the stick simultaneously.","Just prior, a heating device melted the tips of the plastic sticks so the cotton would adhere.","With wood or cardboard sticks, they glue the cotton on.","The finished swabs are sprayed with an antibacterial solution.","Here's that action in slow motion.","Now in real time-- 2,000 swabs per minute.","Sensors detect any defective swabs and automatically toss them off the production line.","If you look closely, every so often, you'll see one missing.","Finally, a robotic arm grabs the exact number of swabs per box, again determined by the customer's specs, and packages them.","The company's lab does spot checks on its swabs to ensure that the antibacterial solution is working...","And that the products are germfree."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Solid State Drives","Eye Shadow","Limousines","Dead Blow Hammers"]},"text":["The drive in your computer saves and stores your data-- everything from documents to photos to software programs.","The newer generation drives are solid state drives.","They're gradually replacing traditional hard disk drives because they're compact, more durable, and process information much faster.","Just like portable usb drives and camera memory cards, solid state drives store information on several memory chips installed on a circuit board.","Each chip contains highly complex circuitry comprised of electrical pathways 2,000 times narrower than a human hair.","To make those memory chips, they begin with a disk-shaped silicon wafer.","Silicon is a non-metallic natural element that conducts electricity.","It's highly susceptible to contamination, so the production area is virtually sterile to the point of being 1,000 times cleaner than the air in a hospital operating room.","An automated robotic system moves the wafers through more than 800 operations, which take more than a month to complete.","Each wafer receives layer after layer of materials-- some conductive, such as copper, some nonconductive, such as silicon dioxide.","After applying each layer, the machine coats the wafer with a light-sensitive fluid then flashes u.v. light onto it through a glass stencil of the electrical circuitry pattern.","In the areas where the fluid is exposed to the light, the chemicals break down and dissolve.","Where the fluid was shielded from light by the stencil, the materials remain intact, effectively printing the circuitry pattern on the wafer.","Chemical baths then wash away the exposed fluid and material.","Each foot-wide wafer yields hundreds of microchips, which now have to be sliced apart.","The robotic cutting machine covers the wafer with an adhesive film to hold the chips in place while they're being cut loose from each other.","The next machine inserts each clip in a protective plastic housing.","Meanwhile, six circuit boards at a time enter a machine which applies a thin layer of tin alloy solder paste onto the areas where the memory chips and other components will go.","As the boards exit the machine, a robotic arm picks off the components required for each drive from feeder spools and deposits them at their respective locations on the circuit board.","This particular model has 8 microchips, each able to store 64 gigabytes of data, giving the drive a capacity of 5,012 gigs.","The circuit boards now enter a tunnel-shaped oven which melts the solder paste, fusing the components to the board.","The brain of the solid state drive is now complete and ready for the first phase of quality-control testing.","This machine performs an optical scan to verify that every component on the board is set in the right place.","The next machine x-rays the board to verify that each component is securely soldered in the correct location.","A later phase of quality-control testing will verify the drive's performance.","Until now, six circuit boards have been attached to each other.","An automated router now cuts them apart, and workers insert each board into a protective plastic housing.","A slot on the outside of this housing reveals the board's connector by which the drive links to the computer.","Solid state drives come in different sizes.","This particular model is large enough to replace a traditional hard disk drive.","However, many models are smaller, designed to fit where disk drives can't-- for example, in ultra-slim laptops.","Every drive is labeled with its technical specs, model, and serial numbers and so on, along with a barcode for production tracking.","Then they plug the drive's connector into a tester, which, after verifying that everything functions electronically, installs the drive's operating system.","The drive moves to the next station, where it undergoes up to 60 hours of extensive performance testing to ensure that it stores and retrieves data correctly and at target speed.","Packaging is twofold.","First, a foil shield to prevent static electricity from damaging the drive, then a carton, and finally into a shipping box headed for a destination somewhere around the world.","In ancient egypt, both men and women painted their eyes.","It was thought that eye makeup made one less vulnerable to the evil eye, a gaze or stare meant to cause harm.","Today, mostly women wear it.","And of course, repelling evil is no longer a reason to wear eye shadow.","With a palette of eye shadow, a woman can work a certain kind of magic.","Skillful shading can add depth and drama to the eyes.","This makeup can also create the illusion that the eyes are much larger than they really are.","To make eye shadow, they follow specific recipes.","A technician weighs the ingredients, beginning with mica, a mineral that acts as filler.","The next ingredient is zinc stearate.","It's a binder.","A combination of pigments provides the desired color.","These particular pigments are different shades of the mineral iron oxide.","He transfers the measured ingredients to a big blender jar.","As he pours the ingredients, they dust up, and a gas mask keeps him from breathing in the particles.","He places the jar on the blender base, covers the top, and activates the blades.","The blender mixes and grinds the powdered ingredients to a very fine state.","Then it's into a very large mixer.","He adds coconut oil-- just enough for the powdered ingredients to eventually coagulate into a cake form.","More mica is next-- a lot more.","Eye shadow is 80% mica.","This mica is darker to add intensity to the color.","It also has a bit of shimmer.","He latches the lid to contain the ingredients and powers up this high-speed mixer.","Inside, the mixing paddles swivel around for about 15 minutes to thoroughly mix the ingredients.","The eye shadow mixture flows into a plastic bag.","A technician examines it to confirm that the color has been evenly dispersed and that the powder is sufficiently moist.","Another worker now pieces four eye shadow tins in pods on a metal platter.","The platter rotates to deliver the tins to a mixing dispenser that's been filled with the eye shadow ingredients.","The mixer pushes precise amounts through holes in the bottom and into the tins.","A scraper levels off the tops.","The next stop is a press with four circular heads.","A ribbon of fabric keeps things hygienic as the press compresses the moist eye shadow powder and turns it into a cake-like form.","Moving forward, the pods eject the tins, and an automated device pulls them off the machine.","What a difference the compression has made.","No longer a loose powder, the eye shadow ingredients have caked up nicely.","The tins now move into a lane and come up against an abrasive belt that cleans the loose powder from the sides.","A blast of air also gets rid of some of the residual powder.","For one out of every 100 eye shadows produced, a technician does a drop test from a height of 18 inches.","He checks for chipping or damage.","And if he finds any, he'll add power to the press.","For a color test, he brushes some eye shadow onto his arm, beginning with a laboratory standard.","He then applies newly manufactured eye shadow to his arm and compares the two.","It's a match.","And with his approval, the batch is almost ready for retail.","Another worker inserts the tins into more substantial plastic containers with magnets on the bottom to secure them.","She screws the clear caps onto the jars, and the eye shadow is on its way to the cosmetic counter.","They also manufacture entire palettes of eye shadow for a rainbow of choices.","It takes about a day to manufacture eye shadow.","And the result is truly a thing of beauty.","The first stretch limousines, built around 1928, usually transported big bands and their musical equipment.","Luxury sedans with an extended chassis are typically associated with special occasions such as weddings, proms, or a night on the town.","It takes about 475 hours of work and painstaking detail to transform a luxury sedan into a stretch limo.","Workers cut an ordinary-size car in half using cutting wheels.","Before cutting begins, the inside of the car is stripped away, along with other components such as the gas tank and drive shaft.","Workers cut away the inner support structure and cut across the floor of the car with a reciprocating saw.","The car is now completely cut in half.","Workers wheel the back half of the car away from the front half.","They place the back half on the exact spot where the limousine will gradually be assembled.","The construction department employees insert steel frame rails into the front half of the car.","They insert the rails on both sides of the front half before inserting the rails into the back half of the car.","They measure the length of the frame rails to make sure that the frame is square and that the two halves are the correct distance apart to build the limousine.","A worker welds the rails to the frames of the front and back halves of the original car.","They position the drive shaft tunnel, which houses the steel drive shaft and exhaust pipes, and weld it to the original vehicle tunnel.","They position the floor, which is made of galvanized steel, and weld it to the frame rails and tunnel.","They weld the steel roof rails into place.","They connect the new rails to the roof rails in the original vehicle.","A worked welds a vertical side post into place.","With a level, he checks that the post of hardened steel is perfectly vertical before welding the base of the post to the floor frame.","A roof panel made of galvanized steel is put in place.","Workers install the limousine's bar.","They've already installed the steel seat frames.","Next, they install an outer body panel complete with a hardened steel crash bar.","They screw the panel into place.","The screws will be removed once the panel has bonded solidly to the limousine frame.","A worker sprays on three coats of paint, then applies two coats of protective clear coating.","Once the painting process is complete, workers install the laminated safety side glass.","Another worker sprays contact cement on the roof of the limousine in preparation for the vinyl top.","He stretches the vinyl across the roof and with his hand presses the fabric down into the crevices.","Then he carefully trims off the excess.","He presses a strip of chrome molding into place on the top of the vinyl.","Workers in the interior department install the back of a leather seat...","And the leather bench seat.","After reupholstering the original rear seat to match, they return it to its original spot in the back of the limousine.","A systems installer connects the electrical systems for the control center, located behind the driver's seat.","A panel lists relays and fuses.","The original center console is then reinstalled.","A worker installs a video monitor in the limousine.","Next, he rolls out the floor mats.","The acrylic disco bar lighting system is tested.","In just 21 days, the original car is transformed into a luxurious limousine.","With test drives and quality-control checks complete, enjoy a ride in the lap of luxury.","A hammer is one of the most useful tools out there.","The only problem is you have to control the rebound.","That is, unless you have a dead blow hammer.","These tools are accurate and easy to use because this particular type absorbs the bounce.","This facility makes a variety of dead blow hammers.","Some are soft-faced and some are ball-peens, which are used by machinists.","All in all, they come in handy everywhere from nascar racetracks to operating rooms.","To first create the internal structure of the hammer, they drill through a short length of welded steel tubing with a drill press.","The worker drills straight through the tube, creating a hole on both sides.","This tube will become the internal head of the hammer.","The head needs a handle.","A worker places the tube on a jig and then positions a rod on the hole.","A press forces the rod through the tube.","At the next station, a worker places the internal hammer assemblage behind a pane of tinted glass to protect her eyes as she welds the head and handle together.","She only welds the top of the tube so as not to alter the metal.","A machine drills a set of small conical indents in the handle.","Fitting a set of pins inside the mold, these indents will be crucial to the process.","Because the internal handle is round, the urethane exterior could twist on it when the hammer is being used.","To prevent this, a worker welds on a flat tab.","The urethane will lock in place around the tab.","Next, a worker crimps a metal cap on one end of the tube.","This creates an open canister, which the worker partially fills with a crucial ingredient-- hardened steel shot.","He then crimps a cap on the open end, sealing in the shot.","With the head canister done, the core of the dead blow hammer is now complete.","While the basic components are simple, workers must assemble every element with precision.","The mold has a set of pins inside it.","A worker aligns the indents on the metal handle with these pins.","The pins ensure that the internal hammer hangs in a perfectly centered position inside the mold.","Workers secure the mold in a support frame before placing it on a conveyor that will take it through a preheating oven.","Ball-peen hammers are assembled differently.","Instead of crimping a cap on, they screw the face of the hammer onto a threaded tube.","The metal core of the ball-peen is placed in a mold that leaves the metal face and ball exposed.","After the molds go through the preheater, they arrive at the filling station.","A high-speed mix head blends urethane with hardeners and catalysts and pumps the mix through a flexible hose.","A worker uses the hose to fill the molds to the brim with the orange fluid.","She then sends them into the oven, where they'll spend 30 minutes curing at about 300 degrees fahrenheit.","On the other side of the oven, a worker removes the molds from their frames and then releases the newly formed hammers.","Thanks to a special release agent that was sprayed inside the mold, the hammers come out easily.","At the finishing station, workers use a high-speed circular brush to remove the excess material, or flash, produced by the molding process.","This is the most difficult operation in the making of dead blow hammers, and these workers are highly skilled.","When molding ball-peen hammers, the front and back of the head are left exposed.","For performance reasons, this steel is not stainless.","Workers dip the exposed steel in hot wax.","The wax coating will protect the hammer from rust until it's taken off the store shelf and put to use.","Soft-faced ball-peens and sledges are among the 20 models of dead blow hammers manufactured here.","A worker attaches a label which includes all the relevant information and warnings.","The labeled hammers then go in a box ready for shipping.","Dead blow hammers have many applications, from food processing plants to woodworking shops to the oil industry.","Some surgeons even use them to drive artificial hips into place."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Engine Blocks","Jawbreakers","Drum Shells","Drums"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Engine blocks...","Jawbreakers...","Drum shells...","And drums.","The engine block is the largest single piece of metal in a car and also one of the most intricate.","It houses and links all the engine components, such as the cylinders and pistons, and it contains passages for circulating coolant.","The engine block is where combustion converts into mechanical energy that drives the transmission, propelling the car.","Engine blocks used to be made of iron.","Today, most are made of lightweight aluminum alloy for fuel efficiency.","An engine block is a one-piece component cast from a sand mold.","To make the mold, the factory mixes glue...","And a hardener...","With zircon sand.","This combination of materials can withstand the intense heat of molten metal, but only for one casting.","Each mold is made up of sections called cores that fit together.","To make each core, a machine blows the sand-and-glue mixture into a master mold made of iron.","It injects a gas that activates the hardener, which solidifies the mixture.","This is the base core to which other cores will attach.","The base core travels down an assembly line to receive the other cores.","The next core molds the engine-block cylinder bores, which will house the motor's pistons.","A robot inserts iron liners into six holes in the core.","They prevent the aluminum walls of the bores from wearing out from abrasion.","The base core receives 17 other cores.","The ones for engine-block areas through which oil will flow are coated with talcum powder.","This keeps sand particles from sticking to the aluminum and getting into the oil.","The machines glue certain cores so they'll stay intact when the robots flip them upside down and attach them to the rest.","These are the last two cores.","The mold is now fully assembled and ready for casting.","Workers load aluminum ingots into a device called an elevator bucket.","It positions them above the jet melter-- a gas-fired furnace.","The bucket drops the ingots into the fire that's 1,500 degrees fahrenheit, liquefying the aluminum.","Just before casting, they heat the cylinder-bore liners using high-frequency electric current.","Aluminum will bond better to hot metal.","They fill the molds from the bottom to avoid contaminating the metal with aluminum oxide.","Oxide forms when molten aluminum comes into contact with the air.","Pouring into the top of the mold would expose the metal to oxygen, and the pouring action itself would mix in the oxide.","After the casting, the mold spends six hours in what's called a thermal sand reclaim oven.","That breaks down the glue so the sand falls away.","The heat also strengthens the metal.","The cast aluminum engine blocks emerge, needing just some minor finishing.","Robots turn them upside down to spill out loose sand.","Machines saw off the risers-- extra metal that fed the mold cavity to compensate for the 7% shrinkage that occurs when liquid aluminum solidifies.","Finally, computer-guided tooling equipment performs a rough machining of the metal.","This brings the engine blocks to a near-finished state.","The engine plant that buys them does the final machining before installing the engine parts.","Every engine block this factory produces passes through an automated vision system that inspects the engine block to ensure they have no defects whatsoever.","Jawbreakers, also known as gobstoppers, have preoccupied candy lovers for decades.","You pop one in and slowly suck or chew through up to 10 layers of colors and flavors.","Sometimes there's bubble gum in the middle for an even longer-lasting finish.","The larger ones are just for show.","Most jawbreakers are about the size of a golf ball.","To make their bubble gum centers, a worker blends synthetic rubber with powdered resin, which will dissolve the rubber.","He adds a thickener, a preservative, and an oil called soya palm stearin so the candy won't stick to your teeth.","After mixing and steaming at 300 degrees fahrenheit for four hours, the batter pours into trays to cool.","Sugar, coloring, and flavoring would deteriorate in the heat, so workers add those later.","There's enough of this base to make gum centers for 450,000 small jawbreakers.","After 24 hours, the batter is hard.","Workers chop it up and blend it with corn syrup to make it softer and sweeter.","They add just under 100 pounds of finished gum that didn't make it into jawbreakers before because it wasn't the right shape.","Now they add natural and artificial flavors, which can include lemon, orange, strawberry, grape, even tutti-frutti.","Then they add icing sugar.","It makes the gum smoother to chew than regular sugar would.","Workers dump the batch into an extruder that shapes two continuous streams of batter, called rope.","Another extruder divides each rope into six hollow tubes.","The cavity inside will become pockets of air inside the gum centers.","The next machine slices the tubes into segments that are three feet, three inches long.","A mechanical arm pushes the segments into the channel of a forming machine.","Steel rolls then slice through the tubes and shape them into balls.","The balls range in diameter, depending on the size of the jawbreakers being produced.","Air blows through perforations in a cooling tunnel to cool and firm the centers.","Then they fall into another forming machine, which restores their round shape.","Other jawbreakers have hard candy in the center.","The machine that makes them works like the presses drug companies use to make pills.","It feeds candy powder into dies, then applies up to five tons of force to compress the powder into a solid candy.","Now for the rest of the jawbreaker.","First, they dump the candy centers into what's called a coating pan.","They add a hot mixture of water, corn syrup, and food coloring...","Then dextrose, a type of powdered sugar.","The pan rotates for 20 minutes as warm air dries the ingredients over the centers.","The factory repeats this step 10 times for each layer.","Talk about a sweet ordeal-- making a jawbreaker takes four days.","Workers give this batch special treatment.","They speckle these jawbreakers with different colors, giving them what this company calls the psychedelic look.","After letting the candies dry for 24 hours, a worker adds pinches of powdered carnauba wax.","This gives the jawbreakers a shiny finish.","Sliced open, you can see these jawbreakers have 10 layers of flavors and sugar surrounding either hard candy or bubble gum cores.","They measure 2 1/4 inches in diameter-- as big as a billiard ball.","And if you're counting calories, forget it.","A jawbreaker is 90% sugar.","Almost every culture has used drums in some way.","Drums have been a part of different civilizations for thousands of years.","The earliest drum shells were hollowed-out logs or gourds.","Different sizes created different sounds.","Today, drum shells are more sophisticated and consistent.","To make drum shells, they slice an enormous rock maple log into several boards.","Maple is ideal for making drum shells because its hardness allows sound to resonate fully.","Each of these maple boards will be transformed into one drum shell.","Workers feed the boards to a ripsaw, which cuts them to the correct width.","This varies depending on the size of the drum being made.","Then each board goes into a planer, which shaves it thinner.","A worker aligns the board with markings on a saw table.","This positions the board to be cut to the correct length.","A radial arm saw does the job neatly.","Now he sizes up each board in preparation for tapering.","He places a board on an angle in a jig and then moves the end against a router cutter to taper it.","It takes a few passes to get it just right.","The taper needs to be about six inches long.","He thins the other end of the board to the same dimension.","These tapered ends will make it easier to bend the wood into a drum shape later.","They'll also act as scarf joints which will fasten the ends of the board together when it's bent round.","But first this board needs some softening up.","An hour in the steam box does the trick.","It's pliable enough to wind around a hot cylindrical form.","Steel banding secures the board to the bending form, where it will spend 10 to 15 minutes.","A worker pries apart the ends...","And applies a generous amount of glue between the tapered tips.","Then he removes the shim that was holding the ends apart, so that they stick together.","He places a wooden guard over the glued joint.","This nylon mesh band is a clamp.","He wraps it around the drum shell and turns a screw to pull the band tightly around the wood until it reaches 14 inches in diameter.","Then he fastens over a dozen steel clamps onto the joint.","All these clamps will prevent any gaps from occurring in the joint as the glue sets overnight.","With the joint sealed, the drum shell now spins while a cutter shaves down the edges to make it a true round shell.","Then they bring in another cutter.","It bores into the shell, making a smooth edge and rounding the inside.","He turns the drum shell around to cut it from another angle.","As the shell spins, a high-speed cutter shaves the outside from top to bottom.","This makes the surface very smooth.","It takes about a week to make a drum shell from solid wood, and it will be able to stand up to some loud playing.","There's more than one way to beat a drum, and there's more than one way to make one.","Earlier, we showed you how they create a drum shell from a maple plank.","But a newer technique involves layering multiple plies of wood.","This process is called laminating, and you can hear the difference.","The laminated drum is an instrument of change.","Its sound is crisper than a drum crafted from a single piece of wood.","To make one, they layer 11 sheets of maple.","Here, a worker glues on the final ply using a special adhesive.","This outer layer is a luxurious bird's-eye maple.","Rollers press all the layers together to ensure they stick without any gaps.","Then they cut through the overlap to create a perfect seam.","A robotic drill now takes over.","It drills holes of various diameters.","The small ones will hold hardware.","This larger one is an air vent.","A computerized router then cuts the bearing edges to a 45-degree angle, and a worker sands it smooth.","He uses a level surface to ensure that all the edges are perfect.","If they're not, the drumheads won't fit properly.","He applies an adhesive to the air hole and inserts a plastic vent.","Next, he inserts brackets, called lugs, into the other holes and screws them in.","There are 10 lugs, spaced 36 degrees apart.","They'll hold the rods that will attach the heads to the drum shell and also enable the drummer to adjust the tension on the heads.","Here he attaches a lever to control wires, called snares, that are to be strung across the bottom head.","It's called a snare strainer.","Then he fits a plastic drumhead over the bottom of the shell.","The counter hoop goes on next.","It has little tabs which he aligns with each lug.","He slides tension rods into the holes in the tabs.","Using a drum key, he tightens the head to an even tension across the shell.","Now he blasts it with a heat gun to shrink the plastic and remove any wrinkles.","Now he places another plastic head on the top bearing edge.","Since this head is the one that gets played, it's twice as thick as the bottom one.","He places the chrome rim on it and tightens the tension rods.","These brass brackets will hold the snare wires.","He slides them under the snares that are stretched tightly across a jig, putting one at each end.","He measures the length, then solders the snare wires to the brackets.","He snips the wires on both ends...","And unlocks each wire from the holding device.","When he removes the snares, they're held together by the brackets.","He slides a nylon strap into one of the brackets, then attaches the strap to a fixture just above the bottom head.","The other end of the snare is attached to the strainer-- the lever that will apply tension and release it, controlling its distinctive buzz.","For a bigger sound, there's the bass drum.","It's made with wooden hoops.","They attach the hoops to the drum shell with steel claws.","As they screw the claws to the hoop, the drumhead is pulled just tightly enough to produce that low-pitched bass drum sound.","Now it's off to be played."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Firefighter Helmets","Nautical Compasses","Packaging Tubes","Hand Saws"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Firefighter helmets.","Nautical compasses.","Packaging tubes.","And handsaws.","In the early 1800s, luggage maker henry gratacap created one of the first firefighter hats.","The leather helmet had a long rear brim and curved sides as a shield against falling debris and water running down the neck.","Except for a few high-tech additions, this basic design is still used today.","Leather is surprisingly flame-resistant.","When reinforced, it also becomes a remarkable hard hat, protecting from heat, liquids, and sudden impact.","On this newer model, the accessories shield the eyes and ears, too.","A helmet starts with four die-cut leather sections.","They sew them together to make what's called the skull of the helmet.","This piece will become the brim of the helmet.","To give the skull structure, a worker folds and sews each section, then flattens the crease with a special hammer.","He uses a template to score a sewing line in the leather.","Then he uses a powerful sewing machine to join the sections together.","He now joins the two halves together, reinforcing them with double stitching.","The resulting eight ridges give the skull stiffness and strength.","He stretches the leather over a plastic mold and trims excess leather from the ridges.","Then he clamps four vise grips to the rim.","These attach to a hydraulic jack that stretches the skull overnight.","After applying glue to the ridges, he runs them through compression rollers for a tight bond.","They wet the brim piece several times to make it more pliable.","Then they stamp it with the design used by this company since 1846.","But first, a worker inserts a wire that will give the brim some structural support, then a temporary plastic cover and a lid to ensure an even spread of pressure across the brim.","She stuffs the edges of the leather inside before the press applies 10 tons of force to imprint the design.","Next, a worker sews the skull to the brim.","He removes the excess leather at the base of the skull...","And cuts out the center of the brim.","Then he removes the plastic mold.","To seal the leather, they dip the hats in a vat of hot rosin, a type of tree sap.","After 55 minutes, they remove them and let them dry at room temperature for eight weeks.","This slow-drying process makes the leather about as hard as wood.","Drying it mechanically would make it brittle.","Now for the inside.","They insert a plastic cap to reinforce the structure.","The fit is intentionally tight, so they use a mallet to tap it into place.","Inside that they add another plastic cap with nylon straps to resist the impact of falling objects.","Here a worker uses an acetylene torch to burn off any loose threads and soften the leather in order to bend the brim and straighten the ridges later on.","Turning up the sides is basically for aesthetics, but the longer edge in the back is to direct water away from the neck.","After adding a synthetic, fire-retardant liner, he sands the outer surface to prep it for painting.","First, a fire-retardant chemical primer.","Then they use a semigloss latex paint in firefighter's black or white for the chief...","Or, if you prefer, a clear varnish to show off the natural leather.","Add a front piece with the firefighters' signature brass eagle on top and some fluorescent stickers for extra visibility, and you've got the right headgear for a hero's job.","For more than 1,700 years, the compass has been helping people find their way.","It was first developed in china, but when the far east met the far west, european sailors adopted the technology, using it to chart their own courses.","To make a nautical compass, they use this device to magnetize a special metal alloy.","A technician slips a retainer ring onto a jig and positions the magnet on top of it.","She places an aluminum skirt over the magnet.","This will support the compass dial, which goes on next.","She inserts a pivot needle in the center, which will allow the dial to rotate.","Then she press-fits all the pieces together.","She carefully inspects the fit, and it looks solid.","She sprays a chemical cleaner into the pivot cavity.","It has to be spotless because any dirt would impede its function.","She also cleans a little jewel post that contains a tiny sapphire.","Then she fixes the jewel post in the dial.","The jewel post will support the dial while allowing the pivot needle to move easily as it's pulled by magnetic forces.","She places the dial on a machine that mimics the earth's pull.","It's a crucial step because magnetic force varies depending on where you are in the world.","She brushes a weighted paint onto the back of the dial to counteract the pull.","This balances the compass dial, preventing false readings due to differences in the planet's magnetic force.","These are lubber lines--  little direction markers.","She inserts them into holes in a jig.","Then she lines them up with holes in an aluminum gimbal pan and press-fits the lubber lines to the pan.","Now she inserts two pins into the gimbal ring that allow the ring to flip around the gimbal pan.","Then she attaches the compass dial to the gimbal assembly.","The technician spray-paints the metal compass bowl black and pops a rubber diaphragm into it.","A bronze ring will hold it in place.","This flexible rubber liner will contain the compass fluid and allow it to expand and contract.","She snaps the dial and gimbal setup to the bowl.","She just has to bend a little tab to level it out.","She positions an acrylic dome on top.","Using another jig, she puts a rubber o-ring over the dome to seal it, followed by a metal collar.","With a power screwdriver, she anchors these pieces to the rest of the compass.","Then she pumps fluid into the bowl, filling it right up to the dome.","The fluid makes the numbers on the dial look bigger.","Next, they magnetically charge two metal rods and install them in a compass base.","They'll compensate for magnetic fields on the boat.","She mounts a big metal housing unit on the base.","Then she attaches shock absorbers to cushion the compass against engine vibrations.","She installs the compass in the housing and taps the dome to test the shocks.","A decorative aluminum cover fits around the dome.","Then she installs a light to allow the navigator to see at night.","She attaches iron spheres, another tactic to counter magnetic interference.","Our journey through the plan is now over, and the compass is ready to be used.","Artists first used flexible metal containers for their paints back in 1841.","Nowadays, we use them for a range of things, like toothpaste, glue, and skin cream.","The tube's design lets us squeeze out most of the product and yet still read that important fine print on the twisted package.","These packaging tubes are made of aluminum because it's affordable, lightweight, and malleable.","This company makes each tube from an aluminum slug about the size of a coin.","A worker dumps a batch of slugs in a container, then adds a lubricating powder called zinc stearate.","The container spins, causing the powder to coat the slugs evenly and prep the metal for stretching later on.","The slugs then spin around in another container, which orients them horizontally so they'll fit through a channel at the bottom.","The channel feeds the slugs into a forming press.","In a process called impact extrusion, each slug moves onto a die, which gives it the exterior shape of a tube, including the neck.","At the same time, a mandrel forms the interior.","This process hardens the metal, something they'll correct later on by heating it.","The machine applies 200 tons of pressure to as many as 150 slugs per minute.","They can be as narrow as a half-inch and as long as 8 1/2 inches.","This machine uses compressed air to align the tubes for the next step.","A trimming machine cuts threads into the necks by passing each one between two synchronized rollers.","Stationary blades trim the top of the neck, making the surface smooth and safe to handle.","The neck on most models remains sealed until the consumer pierces it.","Another company eventually seals the tube by rolling up the other end after they've inserted their product.","After heating them to soften the metal, the tubes move through another machine.","Here nozzles spray the inside with two coats of epoxy lacquer.","This creates a protective barrier between the aluminum and the eventual contents.","Rollers apply a coat of polyester enamel paint, which is flexible when dry and resistant to most solvents and sun damage.","Grippers place the tubes on long pins, which move them through an oven for seven minutes so the paint can dry.","From there, it's off to the printing machine.","Each tube makes one complete rotation against a printing plate.","The plate applies a colored image and information that describes the tube's contents.","Then they go back in the oven to dry the ink.","The printing's legible even when twisted because the polyester ink remains flexible.","Another machine applies 2.2 pounds of torque to screw on the plastic caps.","Most of the caps have pointy tops, used to pierce the sealed neck of the tube.","They use flat caps to close off tubes with open necks.","On the next machine, nozzles spray on a strip of latex sealant inside the open end of the tube.","The latex is like a gasket.","After the product is inserted, it seals the tube when they fold the end over.","After a machine packs boxes with an average of 300 tubes each, a worker inspects the inside of every tube.","A bright spotlight reveals any chip in the paint that makes the packaging deficient.","About one in every 500 tubes is flawed.","A sheet of sticky paper over the open ends of the tubes keeps them from twisting during shipping, and a label on the box provides tracking information and a way to show if someone has tampered with it en route.","Empty, each tube sells for about 12 cents each, a great bargain for such a useful item.","Even though it was invented thousands of years ago, the handsaw is still used today.","You'll find it at every building site, always at the ready.","Power tools are higher-tech, but the handsaw has a basic appeal.","It doesn't need an extension cord and almost never breaks down.","It's a time-tested building tool.","Handsaws come in many sizes.","To make them, a machine uncoils steel and draws it into a mechanized punch.","The punch works at a blurring speed to cut teeth in the steel--  140 notches per minute.","Here it is in slow motion.","It makes two cuts for each sawtooth.","A reel takes up the newly serrated steel and then will feed it back to cut teeth on the other side.","Next, a fingerlike device unrolls the steel and pushes it to automated jaws.","The jaws bend the teeth, alternating the direction of each one.","Here's a slow-motion look.","This is called setting the teeth, and it will allow the handsaw to operate smoothly.","Now a die punch cuts the steel coil into pieces called double blanks-- double because two saw blades will be made from them.","The die also makes holes in one end of the double blank for attaching handles.","They feed the double blanks to a sheer machine.","A long blade descends and cuts it in half on the diagonal, making two saw blades.","Finally, they press the saw blades up against a sand belt to smooth out the edges.","This is called deburring.","Here they're making a higher-end saw blade.","They flush a piece of steel with coolant as a machine plunge-grinds it to make teeth.","This method is more time-consuming but results in a superior tool.","Again, they set the teeth, but this time, mechanical jaws do the job a blade at a time, rather than working on one long coil of steel.","The sawteeth will need to be strengthened in order to perform, so rollers move the blades to an electrical coil.","Within milliseconds, the temperature of the blade shoots up to 1,600 degrees fahrenheit.","This tempers the steel.","The blades drop off the conveyer into a bin.","Here's a look at a blade before heat-treating.","And this is after.","The black burn line is a sign this saw can take the pressure.","A conveyer wheel dunks them in a pool of clear protectant.","This will keep them looking shiny.","When they're dry, the blades undergo a trademark technique.","They place one on a table.","It rises and a squeegee silk-screens the company name onto it.","At this point, the ink is still wet.","They spend 30 seconds in an infrared oven-- enough time to bake on the brand name.","They slide cardboard sleeves over the blades, and now it's time to attach the handle.","A worker fits two plastic parts together and places them on a carousel.","An ultrasonic sealer moves in.","It emits a high-frequency sound, and the vibrations melt the two plastic pieces together, forming a handle.","A worker fits the handle onto a blade, and a machine rivets it in place.","Some saws have wooden handles.","Because riveting could split the wood, they bolt it on with screws and rivnuts.","And now you have the finished product."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aluminum Screw Caps","Chocolate","Pills","Pasta"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Aluminum screw caps-- we'll pop the top off this manufacturing secret.","Chocolate-- there's nothing like the taste of sweet success.","Pills-- watch as directed.","And pasta-- we'll visit a factory that churns out oodles of noodles.","Twisting off an aluminum screw cap may lack the style and sophistication of uncorking a fine bottle of wine.","But as devices go, these caps are one of the easiest ways to put an airtight seal on a bottle or jar, and the added bonus is that they're entirely recyclable.","There are hundreds of everyday objects that are capped.","This plant makes 250 million metal screw caps yearly in 12 different sizes.","The caps are made from these 11-square-foot sheets of aluminum weighing one pound.","Some 3,500 thin aluminum sheets pass through this feeder.","They begin by coloring the aluminum sheet with a colored varnish--  a lacquer and an ink.","Then 12 minutes of drying is needed.","The colored sheets set off on a conveyor for drying.","Then designs are produced.","The coloring is applied by this varnisher.","The aluminum sheets pass through the varnisher one at a time.","Here we see the sheet printed.","Above are the colors used.","They are highly colored inks that adhere well to metal.","Suction cups grab the sheets and send them toward the transport system of the punch press.","This press will give the caps the required shape.","But the caps have to be machined in successive steps by molds, such as this one.","The punches first cut the caps.","Over 500 caps a minute can be produced.","The blades of the punches are made of carbide, a very hard metal that can cut tens of millions of caps.","At the exit point of the punch press, the caps are formed, but don't yet have the right dimension.","This stretching press performs the last two cold-forming steps so that the tube will have the required length.","Now for the second stretching.","This achieves the desired diameter.","When the cap exits the press, it will finally have the desired dimensions.","At this point, the cap now has the required shape.","The caps now have to be decorated to the client's requirements.","The lateral imprint is made with this silk-screen-type decorator which colors some 100 caps in 60 seconds.","The decorator uses an ink specially formulated to adhere to metal.","The caps will then dry in a warm-air oven.","The dried caps are ejected and fall into a container.","This other flexographic type of decorator prints 155 caps a minute.","We can clearly see the ink roller, which imprints the side of the caps as they rotate against it in a steady stream.","All that's required now is to form the cap and make the cut.","The profiling and jointing machine makes the cuts and reliefs on 200 caps per minute.","Machining the cap takes but a fraction of a second.","They sometimes have to assure the watertightness of a container such as a wine bottle.","For this, a polypropylene liner is inserted, which hermetically seals the container.","A check is carried out under a light to verify whether the cut has been properly made and the ridges well-formed.","At last, the final steps-- this screw-tightening machine hermetically seals the caps onto the bottles.","The 250 million screw caps made here each year call for the machining of 1,000 tons of aluminum.","Working in a chocolate factory-- talk about a childhood fantasy.","Well, \"how it's made\" is about to take a bite out of one of the all-time great dream jobs.","Just beware of the occupational hazards-- stomachache, weight gain, and cavities.","These delicious chocolate confections are made from melted chocolate flowing into molds.","The master molds are first made of wood or plaster of paris.","They are then reproduced as copies in an epoxy material.","To allow them to become flexible and give them the desired shape, the sheets of epoxy are first heated to 350 degrees.","The epoxy sheet is then placed onto the original molds.","The sheet is heated, then lifted off.","Suction from a vacuum system makes it adhere perfectly to the shapes of the molds.","Here we see the epoxy adhering to the master molds.","Still hot and malleable, the plastic has to be cooled.","A jet of compressed air effectively lowers its temperature.","The mold undergoes a visual inspection to make certain of its quality.","And now we move on to the chocolate.","This melting unit, whose shell is fed by boiling water, is like a double boiler and melts 1 1/2 tons of chocolate in 12 hours at about 100 degrees.","The ready-to-be-filled plastic molds are placed onto a conveyor.","Filling is done automatically.","Liquid chocolate runs directly into the molds.","This particular machine produces 400 hearts a minute.","The hearts are filled with a concoction of chocolate, cream, and coffee that has been brewed for several minutes.","It takes 20 minutes for the chocolate to set as the molds move along on this 9-level conveyor.","Well-hardened, the hearts arrive at the unmolding point.","The molds are turned over, and a rod lightly taps them on the bottom to allow the chocolates to fall out without being broken.","The chocolates fall out onto a sheet.","As soon as they've been emptied, the molds return to the starting point on the line to be newly filled.","During their transport on the line, the chocolates complete their cooling and hardening.","Now they're going to be prepared for packaging.","Packaging depends on customers' preferences.","The chocolates can be sold in bulk or placed in boxes.","Here, 185 hearts are put into each box.","Like the pure chocolate, white chocolate comes in as slabs before melting.","Milk chocolate is often delivered in the form of one-inch pastilles.","Some chocolates are hollow.","They have to be molded in two halves.","These chocolate bears need special decorations applied by hand before the pouring of liquid chocolate.","This decoration is made of white chocolate with an added colorant.","In just one hour, they will make 1,200 bears.","They're made by joining two hollow chocolate halves.","The assembly is done using a refrigerated rotating machine.","This machine turns the molds a full 360 degrees on two axes and vibrates the chocolates to prevent the formation of air bubbles.","The chocolates rotate for five minutes before being sent to the cooling conveyor, where they will remain for another 20-minute period.","And now they're ready.","At this point, the bears are unmolded, and they head off for packaging.","Each year, this company processes 550 tons of pure chocolate.","Many thousands of products are made here using 400 different molds in a variety of sizes.","Now, here's a topic that's easy to swallow-- how drug companies make the pills we take.","It's a carefully-monitored process in which quality control is paramount.","So stand by-- we're going to give you a taste of your own medicine, or at least what goes into making it.","Medications are essential in the treatment of illnesses.","It begins by a grinding process where the active ingredient in a tablet or pill is ground and mixed with a binding agent.","The quantity of the ingredient needed to be ground is transported to the dryer in this container.","Like all the other equipment, this container is made of stainless steel so as not to contaminate the product.","The temperature of the dryer and the airflow are programmed with this interface.","The granulation has to be dried at around 100 or 120 degrees before being shaped into the desired tablet form.","Molding of the pills is done by this press, which crushes the powder.","The press exerts a pressure varying between two and five tons.","Here's how the molding is done-- the press magazine distributes the powder in molds made of steel disks.","Two stampers, one above and the other below, crush the powder and form the pill.","Here the press operates at full capacity.","It can produce 5,000 pills per minute.","Quality testing is carried out on 5 pills every 15 minutes.","Their hardness is verified with this apparatus in which jaws crush it with a force varying between .","3 and 3 psi, or pounds per square inch.","The pills must now be coated so that they won't crumble.","A coating solution made of water and coloring pigments is used.","This is the coating unit.","It can hold 350 pounds of pills.","Three plastic tubes, strategically positioned, will spray the solution onto the pills in motion.","The quantity of dry pills to be coated is put into the unit.","Then the door of the coating unit is carefully closed.","A drum turns inside the unit, tumbling the pills.","Then nozzles spray the solution in the form of a mist that quickly dries, preventing the pills from sticking to one another.","This spraying operation lasts 40 minutes.","Here we can compare pills.","On the left are those made only of powder, while on the right are the spray-coated ones.","The finished pills move down a chute to enter a counter prior to filling bottles.","They are lined up in grooves to make filling easier.","The quantity of pills to be placed into bottles is controlled by this automated unit connected to the counter.","In this instance, 500 pills are poured into each bottle.","This plant also makes capsules where the ingredient is not crushed, but encapsulated in a gelatin casing.","The distributor places the two halves of the capsules in the proper position for filling, with the wider half situated above.","The top and the bottom portions of the capsule are separated.","The lower half is then filled with powder.","When well-filled, the two halves of the capsule are joined together.","The completed capsules are then ejected from the filling unit.","Then, via centrifugal force, they are positioned for the packaging process.","The weight of each capsule is verified by this counter.","Each capsule must have the precise weight.","The final step is packaging.","A sheet of transparent pvc is heat-embossed, forming an impression to receive capsules.","Then a preglued aluminum foil sheet is adhered to the back side, sealing everything in.","This plant turns out millions of pills and capsules every year.","Ever since marco polo brought the noodle back from china some 700 years ago, pasta has earned its place on tables around the world.","Pasta comes in an array of shapes and sizes, like the diehard pasta lovers who just can't seem to get enough.","Pasta is actually chinese in origin.","When marco polo returned to venice in 1295 after spending 24 years in the far east, he brought back with him chinese pasta noodles.","Pasta became popular so quickly that by the 15th century, it occupied a prime position in italian cooking.","In this same era, commercial production began in naples.","Italians today favor macaronis and raviolis with garlic and cheese.","Pastas are generally made from semolina and water.","These silos contain more than 33 tons of semolina, derived from durum wheat.","The semolina heads toward the high-speed premixer, where it will be vigorously mixed with water for 5 to 10 seconds.","This machine can treat between one and two tons of semolina per hour.","The dough is extracted from the premixer and falls into a first-blade mixer open to the air.","Then the dough goes into this vacuum-blade mixer.","The mix is now ready to go through the brass molds.","Here's a spaghetti mold and a mold for mafalda-- very narrow lasagna.","Here are molds used to make lined shells...","And stars for soups...","As well as cresto di gallo.","The dough is injected into the mold under pressure.","This rotating blade machine cuts some 12,000 rotinis per minute.","That's 720,000 per hour.","With the dough being still quite fresh, the rotinis are soft.","They will dry somewhat on this plate.","Now we move to the lasagnas.","The dough goes through this brass mold, and the strips of fresh dough, 42 inches long, are placed on these sticks to dry at 150 degrees.","They dry vertically so as to retain their nice, flat shape.","After drying for 15 hours, the strips are then cut in four-- thus making four strips measuring about 10 inches each.","To minimize losses and make cutting the dry lasagna easier, scissors trim the dough pieces into equal lengths on the sticks.","The long lasagna-drying process begins.","Once dry, the lengths of lasagnas are finally cut.","They're now ready for packaging.","To make some of the other pastas, the mix has to be worked a bit more in order for it to have the required shape.","The dough goes through this roller, which gives it the desired thickness.","And now butterflies are formed.","This mold cuts 7,500 of them a minute for a total of 450,000 an hour.","The sheet of dough is two feet wide.","It is produced in a steady stream and goes right to the cutting mold.","The butterflies fall onto this conveyor to dry somewhat.","Then they head toward the next production step.","Certain short pastas, such as these butterflies and fusillis, have to be dried, so they're then put into this full dryer.","Coming out of the dryer, the pastas are hard and ready for packaging.","Here we see the ever-popular spaghettis being made.","As with lasagnas, spaghettis are also dried vertically.","Now this automated machine places the spaghettis onto a cutting table and breaks them to the proper length.","The spaghettis are now ready for packaging.","Exact quantities to be bagged are determined by computer.","Then the spaghettis go gently down the chute.","The amount of spaghetti going into each bag is transported and emptied out by this moving container.","To make filling easier, the spaghettis are properly positioned by this chute.","In just one minute, this machine can package 10 8.8-pound bags.","Whenever needed, it can handle up to 60 bags a minute.","Pastas are a favorite meal the world over.","This plant makes over 100 different products and every day uses between 60 and 360 tons, or between 2 and 12 truckloads of semolina made from hard wheat."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Old West Holsters","Underwater Video Housings","Soy Beverages","Pet Nail Trimmers"]},"text":["In the days of the american wild west, you didn't leave home without a gun.","Both the sheriffs and outlaws carried guns and ammunition.","It was important to have your gun easily accessible.","Wearing a holster around the waist putts a gun in the perfect position for a quick draw.","These handcrafted leather belts and holsters are modeled after those made in the late 1800s.","They're made for movies, cowboy shooting competitions, and historical reenactments.","A craftsman starts by using a press and a series of dies to cut out out the holster and belt components.","This is vegetable-tanned leather, the only type of leather that's flexible enough to carve or stamp.","He lays a paper template over one end of the holster piece and marks tiny dots with an awl.","He connects the dots with a straight line using a small knife.","He punches a hole at each dot.","The lines and holes form two wide loops.","Next, he carves a groove for stitches along what will be the main seam of the holster body.","He sprays water onto the leather to soften it.","He makes decorative lines with a compass.","Then, he imprints a design into the leather by striking a stamp with a mallet.","Because the leather is moist, it compresses easily, assuming the shape of the stamp.","These stamps are modern-day copies of the ones used in the late 19th century.","A rosette is a common motif of that era.","He uses one tool for the outline, one for the petals, and another for the center of the flower.","Then, he adds details with a small chisel-edged knife and stamps on his maker's mark.","He shaves any sharp corners and smoothly finishes the edge.","The holster piece is now cut, embellished, and finished.","The next step is to sew it.","He marks the stitch holes across the bottom where he will later sew the toe plug.","Then, he pierces the holes with an awl.","He soaks some sheep's wool in neatsfoot oil and rubs it in.","This nourishes and conditions the leather, preserving the impressions and enhancing the color.","Once the oil is soaked in, he applies a smoothing solution onto the edges and rubs them with a piece of canvas.","Now the sewing can begin.","He folds one end of the holster piece to form a pouch.","Then, he sews inside the groove he cut for the main seam.","Stitches sunken in a groove are far stronger than surface stitches.","When he completes the seam, he burns the end of the polyester thread with a lighter.","Then, he sews on the toe plug and inserts the pouch into the double loops at the other end of the piece.","Next, he works on the belt.","After piercing stitch holes in the main belt strip, he sews on a thinner, flexible strip, bending it into loops to hold ammo.","He glues on a leather lining to make the belt more durable.","Then, he sews on the billets.","They're the pieces that go on each end of the main belt strip.","One billet has the buckle, and the other has the adjustment holes.","After applying some decorative nickle studs known as spots, he threads the belt through the holster...","And inserts the ammo.","This double-loop holster is a copy of an 1880s holster designed to hold a single-action army pistol.","The craftsman can make several different authentic styles from this era, customizing the holster to carry a weapon of any size or shape.","From ocean wildlife to shipwrecks, the undersea world is breathtaking.","Many recreational scuba divers want to capture what they see on video.","They can do this with an ordinary video camera, encased in a specially designed watertight housing unit.","This underwater housing has remote camera controls and a built-in monitor that shows you what the video camera sees.","At the factory, a computer-guided mill uses a variety of bits to shape a tube of extruded aluminum.","The machine prepares the ends to receive front and back pieces.","It forms a groove for a rubber o-ring to keep water out and makes attachment points on each side of the housing for handles.","Then, the mill cuts the front and back pieces out of two blocks of aluminum.","The machining process leaves tool marks, so they polish the housing parts by putting them in a tumbler full of ceramic stones.","After about an hour of rubbing against the stones, the aluminum is smooth and ready to be anodized.","This process etches, dyes, and seals the metal surface, protecting it from the corrosive effects of salt water.","Next, a computer-guided laser etches in the manufacturer's logo.","Laser etching is far more durable than printing because it bleaches the black anodized surface white so the lettering can't rub off over time.","Several parts of the housing are made of plastic.","Workers pour plastic pellets into an injection-molding machine.","The machine melts the pellets, then shoots the liquefied plastic into a mold.","After about 15 seconds, the machine opens the mold and ejects a newly formed part.","This part is a latch that allows you to open the housing to insert a video camera.","The handles are made of rubber-covered aluminum.","Each of its camera-control buttons has an o-ring around it to keep out water.","The controls are powered by two lithium batteries that sit inside a separate sealed compartment.","When you press a control button, the post underneath it makes contact with electronics inside.","This produces an infrared signal that communicates with the camera through tiny glass windows.","The back of the housing has a built-in lcd monitor, which displays what the camera sees.","Both the monitor and camera plug into the same circuit board.","The handles fasten to the housing with a threaded ring.","There are also holes on top of the housing for attaching a carrying handle.","Before attaching the front and back of the housing, they apply rubber o-rings to keep water out.","Then, they install the flip filter.","It attaches magnetically to a pivot on the inside of the housing and is operated by an arm on the outside.","This filter is essential because water absorbs certain light wave lengths, eliminating the appearance of red, orange, yellow, and green, depending on how deep you go.","To restore these colors in the video, the diver flips the filter over the camera lens.","The factory tests every housing to make sure it's completely watertight.","The tester inserts a video camera and submerges the housing in a water-filled tank.","He pressurizes the tank to simulate the underwater pressure the housing will experience at a depth of about 300 feet.","The housing passes the test only if all the seals hold up and no water leaks inside, ruining the camera.","In addition to a flip filter, divers sometimes use lights to counter the muting effect that underwater depth has on colors.","The housing has attachment points on the handles for mounting lights, enabling the video camera to capture the true vivid colors of the undersea world.","Soy beverages originated in china centuries ago, long before lactose intolerance and dairy allergies.","Recently, this dairy-free drink has become a popular alternative to milk, allowing people to order a latte, but hold the lactose.","It's not milk, but it's a good substitute.","A soy beverage is made from liquefied soy beans.","It has the look and consistency of animal milk, but is an entirely different product.","It starts with a specific kind of soybean, one that has just the right amount of protein and carbohydrates.","They harvest these soybeans when the plants are dry.","Less moisture means the beans will be less prone to spoiling.","They dehull the soybeans and crack them into small bits.","A lift carries the heavy bag of bean bits to a scale to weigh them for processing.","The operator cuts open the bottom of the bag, releasing the cracked soybeans into a hopper.","Here, augers move the cracked beans up to two large grinders.","The system pipes in hot water, and the grinders whip the beans and water into a creamy soy-beverage concentrate.","The beverage travels through steam-heated pipes.","This kills off any bacteria that may have come from the field.","Then, it's into a vacuum chamber for a cooldown.","Most of the manufacturing equipment is sealed from the air to prevent contamination.","The soy-beverage concentrate leaves the vacuum chamber and enters a centrifuge.","It spins out much of the chunky insoluble fiber, leaving smoother, thinner liquid.","The soybean fiber won't be wasted.","It will be used in food products and animal feed.","The soy liquid flows into a big blender.","They pipe in filtered water, add refined sugar, vanilla extract, as well as various vitamins and minerals.","He closes the lid while the blender mixes the ingredients into a frothy soy beverage.","The soy beverage exits the blender and flows into a huge storage tank, where an agitator keeps the various ingredients well-mixed.","The tank is refrigerated to preserve the beverage while it's held for testing.","The operator takes a sample to test the consistency and nutritional value of the beverage.","With his approval, the beverage is released from the tanks.","It flows through pipes injected with very hot steam.","This kills off any microorganisms that may remain.","After a quick cooling, the soy beverage goes into a homogenizer.","It pushes the beverage through small holes to break down the fat, reducing the size of the particles.","The soy beverage accumulates in a sterile tank until it's ready to be packaged.","The soy beverages are packaged without any exposure to contaminants in the environment.","The packaging material is made of a polyethylene laminate.","Machinery takes the laminate up to a steel ring that forms it into a tubular shape.","Hot jaws seal the sides and bottom, then inject the soy beverage and seal the top.","The cartons land on the conveyor on their side.","They're liquid-tight so nothing spills.","Then, a conveyor transfers them to a revolving wheel that turns them right-side-up.","Now that they are oriented correctly, they ride a windy conveyor to a capping station.","Plastic caps land on spouts that have been molded to the packages.","A system of rubber belts screw the caps onto the spouts.","This packaging can preserve a soy beverage for up to a year.","It probably won't be on the shelf for that long because someone is always looking for a dietary alternative.","Dogs and cats have round nails, while humans have flat ones.","Special trimming tools have been developed to give them the perfect pedicure.","Guillotine-style clippers have a hole for the pet's nail and a sliding blade that cuts it so the pet will be back on its feet in no time.","Long nails can damage a dog's foot pads, so they must be trimmed from time to time.","Pets usually don't like having their nails done, but a guillotine-style trimmer can make the experience less of an ordeal.","Its sliding blade trims their nails quickly so it's over before they know it.","Production of guillotine-style pet-nail trimmers starts with a feeder system.","The feeder system uncoils a strip of steel into a punch press.","The press cuts out two handle blanks at once.","It also makes holes for screws and rivets, as well as a hook for a spring.","A second press rounds the handle to make it easier to grip.","Here is a large handle before and after the shaping.","The handle now goes into a third press.","This one folds the tabs down to create a pocket for the blades.","Here is a handle before and after this forming.","Next, a narrow strip of steel unwinds into a press.","The press cuts and shapes it into the main sliding blade.","The half-moon-shaped end will be the cutting edge.","A worker slides the blades onto a rack with the half-moon edge facing downward.","This makes it easier to load the blades into a grinding fixture.","She places two in each slot with the half-moon facing up.","A carriage moves the fixture back and forth under a grinding stone.","It grinds the entire row of blades at once.","This improves the strength and sharpness of the cutting edge.","She inspects every blade to confirm that each one has been ground to the correct profile.","On the left is a blade before grinding and on the right is one after.","She dips the blades in a cleaning solution and rinses them.","This cleaning removes lubricating-oil residue and metal filings.","She transfers the blades to a perforated tray.","She spreads them evenly, switches on an overhead fan, and leaves them to dry for several minutes.","Heat treatment hardens the blades, and polishing finishes them.","Next up is the retainer blade.","It's the one with the hole for the nail.","She arranges the circular blades on a magnetized tray.","The blades cling to the tray as a carriage moves them back and forth under a grinder.","The grinding sharpens the front of the blades and removes scale left by a heat treatment.","This is the retainer blade before and after grinding.","The pet-nail-trimmer parts are ready for assembly.","The employee rivets a metal link for the sliding blade to the smaller handle.","Once the parts have been chrome-plated, another worker hinges the large handle to the smaller one.","He hooks one end of a spring to the metal link.","He inserts the sliding blade into the track in the large handle, lifting the link to hook it into the blade.","He adds the circular retainer blade.","He places a metal plate over the track and screws it in place.","This secures the top blade, while allowing the link to move the sliding blade.","He hooks the other end of the spring to the larger handle and bends the circular blade slightly to give it the correct profile.","Now a worker tests the trimmer on dried buffalo hide.","Dried buffalo hide is tougher than pet nails.","With his okay, this cutting tool is ready for the paws and claws for our furry friends.","The main blade can be replaced if it becomes dull, which means this pet-nail trimmer can be used for many years to come."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Matches","Carousel Horses","Fine Porcelain","Automobile Fuel Tanks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"-- matches.","Carousel horses.","Fine porcelain.","And automobile fuel tanks.","Lighting a controlled fire was not always easy.","Only 200 years ago, you'd rub a rock on steel to create sparks.","Then a stunning discovery-- that combining certain chemicals can ignite fire.","It wasn't long before matches were invented, putting these chemicals on handy little sticks.","Well, nothing quite matches that.","The first matches left behind a nauseating odor.","But today, they're safer, and the smell dissipates in seconds.","To make matchsticks, this company starts with recycled paperboard, which is inexpensive and thick enough to support the weight of chemicals on one end.","A stamping press partially cuts the paper, creating stems.","As we see in this view from inside the machine, a die first cuts the stems.","And then a blade slices through the sheet widthwise, making strips of 120 stems each.","At actual speed, it's all just a blur, as the press makes nearly 500 strips per minute.","Next, the strips move through a bath of hot wax.","It soaks into the stems about 1/3 of the way up.","Then they dry in an oven for 15 seconds.","When you light a match, the wax slows down the burn speed of the chemicals, sustaining the flame for four or five seconds.","Those chemicals are gelatin and silicone-- to bind the chemicals to the stick...","Potassium chlorate-- an animal protein glue for oxidation...","Sulfur to fuel the flame, and two fillers.","They mix 700 pounds of the chemicals in a large vat with hot water.","This is enough to make the chemical batter for 25 million match heads.","A conveyor runs the matchsticks through the batter to coat their tips.","Three rollers in the tank raise the surface of the batter.","The first two ensure the front and back of the heads get covered.","The third rotates faster to remove excess batter as the heads leave the tank.","From there, the matchsticks travel about a quarter mile while fans air-dry them.","The factory temperature is a comfortable 72 degrees fahrenheit, just what's required for the chemicals to dry and harden.","These minerals are silica and red phosphorus.","Add a little glue, and you've got what's called friction-- the material in the strip you rub the match against to make the head ignite.","To make these striker strips, as they're called, a steel wheel rolls friction onto paper that's moving through a cutting press.","This isn't the same paper from which they make the matchsticks.","It's a higher-quality non-recycled paper, suitable for color graphics, because many clients order custom-printed matchbook covers.","Another press with rotary blades slices through the paper, creating segments that are 4.2 inches long.","That's the length of an unfolded matchbook.","Now back to the matchsticks.","A worker arranges the strips into layers of two.","The conveyor then feeds them into a machine that will attach them to the matchbook covers.","The machine performs several tasks.","It cuts the matchstick strips into rows of 10 matches each.","And it cuts the matchbook covers to their final width of 1.5 inches.","The machine folds the matchbook covers over two rows, or 20 matches, then inserts one strong staple through all four layers.","Next, a conveyor moves the assembled matchbooks to another machine that counts them and creates two side-by-side rows of 25 ready for boxing.","This company also makes its boxes out of recycled paperboard.","Each one holds 50 matchbooks and sells for about a buck.","That's a dollar for 1,000 matches, or just a penny for 10 matches.","Centuries ago, soldiers tested their cavalry skills astride the rim of a large horizontal wheel.","Eventually, europe's wealthy elite saw this as entertainment and turned the practice into a fabulous pageant.","Nowadays, you can ride a whole menagerie of animals.","But the star of the carousel is still the horse.","Their life revolves around a fairground, but they're born here on paper.","A craftsman draws a pattern of the horse's silhouette, then fills it in with the saddle, straps, and a harness.","Some models may include a shield, a coat of arms, or even flowers.","Another craftsman then glues together blocks of linden-- wood that's lightweight and easy to carve.","He stacks four of them to create what's called an end block.","It'll form part of the horse's body, what's known as the core.","He clamps the blocks together to compress them and lets the glue set for 45 minutes.","The finished core includes two end blocks sandwiched by top, bottom, and side panels, plus one wooden piece they'll carve into a saddle.","The middle of the core is hollow.","On a carousel with 50 horses, this trims the overall weight by up to three tons.","After covering the core with carbon paper, the craftsman lays the pattern on top.","He traces the pattern with a leadless pencil called a stylus.","The carbon paper underneath transfers the drawing onto the wood.","He'll follow these lines to cut out the basic shape of the horse.","Later, they'll carve most of the finer details by hand.","Using a band saw, he slices the core carefully along the lines.","Next, he drills a hole for the pole that attaches the horse to the carousel.","Here, a craftsman uses what's called a carving duplicator to create the head.","Following a template, the machine sculpts a block of wood into the horse's head, a painstaking process that takes 90 minutes.","The duplicator can carve up to four heads at once.","It also adjusts to carve some finer details into the larger pieces, such as the core.","They use something called a parting tool to shape the decorative tassels on the bridle.","This one has a fanciful design, what an arabian horse would typically wear.","The craftsman has a huge arsenal of tools at his disposal to create all kinds of special features, such as a flowing, windblown mane.","The tools are sharp, and they're precise enough to sculpt even tiny, intricate parts such as eye sockets, nostrils, and teeth.","After applying polyester adhesive putty in the eye sockets, he adds two glass eyes.","Unlike real horses' pupils, which are oval in shape, these have round pupils for a friendlier look.","A carousel horse is roughly half the height of a real horse, but the size of its feet is true to life, so workers nail on authentic iron horseshoes.","These prevent the wood from chipping under the feet of riders who get rowdy in the saddle.","Wooden pegs temporarily connect the head and tail to the body.","Once workers verify the alignment, they'll glue the sections together.","After sanding down the entire surface, the paint job begins.","First, three coats of white primer.","This highlights any imperfections the sanding missed.","Once that's done, the artwork begins.","This horse will wear a bright, multicolored harness.","Its coat will be in different shades of the same color for a realistic look.","It takes up to five coats of paint to get it just right.","Up to seven coats of varnish will keep the horse looking beautiful for decades.","After a lengthy production process that takes about two months, these striking creatures are ready for the fairground.","Porcelain is often called china after the country that invented it more than 1,200 years ago.","It looks delicate but is actually the hardest type of ceramic material.","It's even used in electrical insulators because it withstands very high heat.","But most people think of porcelain as decorative.","This company makes 40 different porcelain items.","It all starts with a sketch of the piece-- in this case, a teapot.","After that, a master mold of the piece-- a negative made of plaster.","Craftsmen use it to make a production mold.","Porcelain begins as powder, a blend of three minerals-- quartz, kaolin, and feldspar.","The workshop mixes this powder with water to make a wet paste called slip.","A craftswoman fills the mold with slip.","Within 10 minutes or so, the porous plaster absorbs the water, leaving a crust of hardened slip.","After pouring the rest out, she waits another 30 minutes for the crust to continue hardening.","Then she peels away the mold and gets a first look at her teapot.","Here, she removes excess crust from a different mold for the spout.","She waits about 10 minutes, until the spout is hard enough to handle but still soft enough to sculpt.","With a utility knife, she carves open the end of the spout.","With a little water and a sponge, she smoothes out the edges and curves the rim.","Next, she extracts the handle from a third mold.","Then she pierces 12 holes in the spout side of the teapot to filter out the tea leaves when you pour.","She brushes on some slip to attach the spout and the handle.","This model has a wedge along the collar to help align the handle correctly.","Other designs have small notches instead.","She brushes on more slip to ensure the parts will bond, then sponges the surrounding surface to smooth out the drips.","After the piece dries for two more days, she carves away the lines along the handle and under the spout and sands down the rim.","They make some pieces using a pressure-casting system-- the mold's made of resin and tiny polyester beads that create pores, which absorb the water in the slip.","After a hydraulic press closes the mold, the machine injects slip into the cavity.","12 minutes later, a craftsman uses a suction plate to remove what will become a serving platter.","He places the piece on a plaster block.","The porous plaster lets the underside dry without leaving marks.","They fire the items in a giant kiln.","The kiln heats up gradually, taking eight hours to reach a searing 1,800 degrees fahrenheit, then 12 more hours to cool down.","Firing hardens the porcelain and enables it to better absorb a coat of enamel.","After brushing off any dust, the craftsman dunks each piece in enamel-- a protective coating.","The porcelain absorbs it right away, and this glaze turns into a shiny skin once the pieces are fired again.","She handles each piece in a particular way to avoid leaving drip marks.","In the second firing, they make the porcelain pure white by carefully controlling the air in the kiln.","Reducing the oxygen level removes any undesirable colors.","This time, the temperature is higher-- 2,500 degrees fahrenheit.","It shrinks the pieces by about 15%.","After a quality check, a craftsman applies the company logo with a transfer decal.","The logo melts in when the plate goes back in the kiln for another 12 hours at 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","In the end, the porcelain is translucent enough for light to shine right through.","Other pieces offer more illustrated displays for an elegant dining experience.","Considering how much it costs to fill them, it's no wonder today's gas tanks are made to be tough.","Factories design a gas tank to safely fit a wide range of vehicles.","Worldwide, the industry makes 60 million tanks a year for new cars and trucks and millions more to replace old or damaged tanks in existing cars.","Making a gas tank begins with a simple sheet of steel.","It's nickel-plated to make the tank rust-resistant.","A worker places the steel in a hydraulic press that applies 800 tons of pressure.","This compresses the sheet between two dies that shape the bottom half of the tank.","The press forces the male die up against the sheet and into the cavity of the female die.","To make the top half of the tank or different-size tanks, they simply change dies.","On the tank's top section, a stamping press imprints information such as the product and lot numbers, and the manufacturer's name.","A hydraulic punch then pierces two holes-- one for a tube to fill the tank and another to vent it.","This machine makes an opening for a component called the fuel-delivery module, or fdm.","It will send fuel to the motor.","A conveyor moves as many as 180 top sections per hour to the next production phase.","There, a worker uses a steel and nylon jig to install a steel ring that will position the fdm.","He spot-welds the ring in six spots, fusing it to the top section.","Two notches on the ring will align the fdm properly.","Workers tack the top and bottom sections together, aligning them properly for comprehensive welding that follows.","Two metal wheels compress the sections together, and water cools the area as a machine called a seam-welder fuses the upper and lower halves of the tank.","Using a gas torch, a worker fuses steel tube to the tank with lead solder.","This is the filler tube into which you insert the gas nozzle when you fill up at the pump.","Fuel flows in and air vents out through the tube simultaneously.","A sensor automatically shuts off the gas pump when the air pressure inside the tube reaches a certain point.","Most tanks fill only to about 80% capacity to leave room for vapors caused by hot weather.","Robots weld the tanks destined for brand-new vehicles, because the work has to be precise and consistent in order to aid the assembly-line robots at the auto plant.","The human-welded models are sold to auto-repair shops as replacements for damaged tanks.","They don't require the same precision because a mechanic does a custom installation.","When the robots finish welding the tanks, they transfer them to a conveyor belt that moves them to the next production phase.","There, a worker attaches a tin-plated venting tube.","Tin makes it rust-resistant.","He adds a steel component called a baffle to the bottom section of the tank.","This reduces the sloshing of fuel inside the tank.","The result-- less noise for the driver and less metal fatigue for the tank.","They're usually just for tanks found in larger vehicles, like suvs and small trucks.","A worker now places the top section onto the bottom section, pulling the hose through the opening in the top.","This hose will connect to the fdm.","After a welding machine fuses both halves together, another machine bends the sides downward.","This gives designers extra space to work with.","They test every tank for leaks by dunking it underwater.","After blocking all the holes in the tank, they pump a little extra air inside it.","They shine bright spotlights and look for bubbles in the water.","If air can escape, so can gasoline.","No bubbles, and the gas tank passes inspection.","Only then is it ready for shipping and a starring role in your car."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cast Iron Stoves","Ultralight Aircraft","Snow Groomers","Rubber Bands"]},"text":["Cast-iron stoves have been adding warmth to people's lives for more than three centuries.","Today there are new reasons to cozy up to this invention.","It's had a major update.","Modern stoves burn wood more cleanly and efficiently, providing heat without the dirty fallout from the chimney.","Modern cast-iron stoves hardly resemble their smoke-belching, soot-spewing predecessors.","The design creates a hotter fire, so it requires less fuel and releases little smoke.","It all starts with a pile of iron scrap, things like old stoves, sinks, brake drums, and rotors.","A magnetized crane transfers the scrap to a propane-fired preheater.","12 minutes spent in the preheater removes moisture from the iron scrap.","The scrap iron spills into a hopper that funnels it into an electric furnace.","The temperature in the furnace is a blistering 2,700 degrees fahrenheit, and the iron melts into a fiery liquid.","The furnace tilts to pour the molten iron into a ladle for transfer.","Next, they make the molds of the stove parts, using a mix of sand, clay, water, and coal.","They blow the ingredients between the aluminum patterns.","A hydraulic system squeezes the patterns together.","The sand mix compacts and takes the shape of the patterns.","They now have sand molds.","The molten iron arrives and flows into a channel leading to the molds.","As the liquid metal cools, it solidifies into the shape of the mold.","A vibrating conveyor shakes and breaks the sand molds to reveal the cast-iron stove parts.","A worker knocks off unwanted bits, and then it's into a blast cleaner.","Inside the blast cleaner, steel grit bombards the stove parts to remove remnants of the sand molds and expose the metal.","Essentially it blasts the dirt off, and they come out clean.","An employee grinds the edges of the metal stove parts.","He blends in the line created where the two parts of the mold came together during casting.","It takes 40 parts to make one woodburning stove, and each one is cast in a sand mold made from a pattern.","Next, a worker drills threads for the bolts that will hold all the parts of the stove together.","Once the surface of the parts has been prepped, they spray an enamel coating onto them and bake it on.","A laser then cuts out a steel heat shield for the back of the wood stove.","The intricate cuts are computer driven.","An employee bends the heat shield to fit the stove.","Next, a worker packs a kind of mortar into a silicone mold of the firebox.","The table its on vibrates to settle the material and eliminate air pockets so the firebox will be able to withstand high temperatures.","The shape of the firebox is crucial to the stove's energy efficiency, and so are the holes that have been molded into it.","These strategically located holes will introduce fresh air to burn gases that would otherwise go up in smoke, preventing energy loss and pollution at the same time.","The parts have all been fabricated, and they're ready to put the pieces together.","They assemble the stove from the bottom up.","They bolt the parts and seal the joints to make them airtight.","The assembly takes about an hour.","This cast-iron stove is now ready to keep these fires burning for many years to come.","An ultralight aircraft is a lightweight, motorized flying machine that looks like a hang glider.","Hang gliding inspired the invention of ultralights back in the late 1970s.","The idea was to create a slow but affordable method of motorized flight subject to minimal aerospace regulations.","They're called ultralights or microlights.","This made-in-france 2-seater model weighs about 485 pounds.","To be classified as an ultralight by the international air sports federation, takeoff weight can't exceed 990 pounds and minimum speed can't surpass 40 miles per hour.","The wing surface, called the sail, is made of a sturdy polyester-based material treated with a special coating that protects it from the sun's ultraviolet rays.","They unroll different colors of this fabric onto a cutting table marked with patterns for the four separate sail sections.","They staple the fabrics to the table to hold them steady while tracing the patterns.","Once they finish tracing, they cut out the pieces, then connect them with double-sided adhesive tape to position them correctly for sewing.","They reinforce select areas with adhesive-backed polyester mesh fabric.","Then a sewer stitches the pieces together with high-strength, u.v.-resistant thread.","In this first stage of the sewing process, they stitch together 1/4 of the sail at a time.","In the second stage of sewing, they sew together the top and undersurfaces of each side.","Then, in the final stage, they stitch the right and left together.","In another part of the factory, the body of the aircraft begins taking shape.","It's called the trike because it sits on three wheels, like a tricycle.","They build it in sections, welding together several stainless-steel tubes.","After the sections receive a baked-on coat of paint, workers assemble them to each other around the fuel tank.","The 17-gallon tank is made of lightweight polypropylene, a type of plastic that's u.v. resistant and impact resistant.","Once the trike is fully assembled, they mount the three small wheels, similar to those on motorized scooters.","Next, they bolt a 100-horsepower gasoline engine, similar to a full-sized motorcycle engine, to the back of the trike.","On the front of the trike, they install pedals for propelling the craft on the ground...","And a motorcycle-style plastic console with windshield.","The console houses the instrumentation panel.","They mount the radiator in the center of the trike, cover it with foam and fabric, then install a pair of upholstered seats for pilot and passenger.","Then they protect the engine with a plastic housing.","They mount an aluminum- and-carbon-fiber propeller on the shaft of the gearbox connected to the engine.","Now for the wing.","Its main structure is made up of hinged aluminum tubes which fold for transport.","Aluminum is lightweight and rustproof, which is essential for flight.","They slip the sail over the tubing, then unfold the wing.","Thin aluminum tubes provide crosswise structural support.","A system of cables keeps the wing in the open position.","Another system of cables, called the corset, manipulates the billowing of the sail.","This enables the pilot to alter the aerodynamics to increase or reduce speed.","Under the wing, they install the a-frame, the ultralight's steering mechanism.","The pilot manipulates the a-frame with a horizontal bar, changing the trike's body position under the wing.","The last step is to bolt the front of the trike to the wing and hook up the safety backup cables.","The pilot steers the ultralight by weight-shifting with the a-frame bar, tilting the trike toward the front to descend, to the right to veer right, and so on.","Typical cruising speed is around 75 miles per hour.","With an open cockpit, air temperature and oxygen levels limit how high an ultralight aircraft can fly.","Maximum altitude is about 3,300 feet, high enough for a thrill ride yet still low enough for a spectacular view.","After a busy day of skiing and snowboarding, ski slopes get worn down and develop ruts, bumps, ice, and bare spots.","Ski resorts typically refresh the slopes overnight by grooming the snow with specialized track machines.","By morning, the runs are as good as new.","A snow groomer is like a bulldozer on tracks, except instead of pushing dirt, it pushes snow.","It uses grooming implements mounted to the front and back.","To build a snow groomer, workers begin by aligning front and rear frames with the vehicle's main frame with the help of positioning jigs.","Then a welder gets to work.","First, he tacks everything together.","Then, with a mechanical lift, he raises and tilts the tacked frame to gain access from various angles.","After welding on additional parts, including 10 axles, they prime and paint the frame.","Then a mechanic installs a heavy-duty suspension system designed to automatically adapt to the type and shape of terrain, maximizing traction.","Next, he greases the 10 axles and installs a wheel hub and bearings on each one.","He then mounts the wheel, tightening the bolts to a specified torque to ensure optimal performance and durability.","Meanwhile, another mechanic installs the hydraulic hoses.","These control the grooming implements and the sprocket on which each track turns.","Then he connects the hoses to the main hydraulic valve.","At another workstation, a mechanic assembles the diesel engine, the transmission, and four hydraulic pumps.","Two of these pumps drive oil to the hydraulic motors, which propel the vehicle forward and backward.","The two others pump hydraulic fluid to operate the implements and the cooling system.","They lower this assembled unit into the frame and make the required electrical and hydraulic connections.","Meanwhile, another team prepares the next unit, starting with the cooling system, two powerful fans which cool the engine and hydraulic fluid.","Next, they install the exhaust system and two batteries to power the engine.","They mount this assembled unit above the transmission and make all the necessary connections.","They lower the cab onto the frame, connect more electrical and hydraulic lines, and fill all systems with their respective fluids.","The vehicle now undergoes extensive testing in a dynamometer, which operates the engine and hydraulic components at maximum capacity.","If all systems perform according to engineering specifications, the vehicle gets the go-ahead to receive the snow-grooming implements.","The rear implement is a tiller, which breaks up the snow into small particles and shapes narrowly spaced parallel lines on the trail surface.","A powerful, built-in hydraulic motor spins the steel-toothed rotors at speeds of up to 1,350 revolutions per minute.","This ensures even grooming throughout.","The groomer's tracks are made of ultra-durable steel.","A mechanic guides the edge of each track onto a high-strength urethane sprocket bolted to the rear of the frame while another mechanic slowly drives the vehicle forward to pull the track over the wheels.","Then they clamp the two ends together and join them with giant hinges, closing the loop.","It's time to mount the snow-grooming implements.","They attach the tiller to the rear mechanism, which carries the hydraulic connections for the implement's onboard motor.","They attach a blade to the identical front mechanism.","The blade plows snow and sculpts features such as half-pipes, those giant, u-shaped bowls of snow in which freestyle skiers and daredevil snowboarders ride.","For safety, the cabin has a steel skeleton with roll-over protection features.","A specially designed joystick gives the driver precision control over the blade and tiller.","The state-of-the-art electronics include three computers, which enable the driver to select and adjust different functions and modes, all of it displaying on a color monitor.","The vehicle never sinks into the snow because its weight is optimally balanced on the tracks.","This 22,000-pound snow groomer actually exerts less pressure on the snow than a single person does on foot.","The rubber band was invented in england in the middle of the 19th century.","The key to its success, of course, is flexibility.","A rubber band can be stretched around items of various shapes and sizes to hold them together, so in the rubber-band industry, the possibilities for expansion are numerous.","Rubber bands come in handy for a whole bunch of things.","If you have a bunch of anything, a rubber band can keep it together.","Production of rubber bands starts with natural rubber.","These spongy slabs have been made from the sap of rubber trees.","Natural rubber has greater elasticity than the synthetic kind, making it a better choice for rubber bands.","A worker measures and pours rubber processing oil into a kneader machine.","He adds powdered pigment--  in this case, yellow and white for a pale yellow shade.","He feeds several rubber slabs to the kneader's spiral-shaped jaws.","The spiraling blades intersect to break up the rubber and blend in the other ingredients.","The kneading process generates heat which softens the rubber, making it easier to form into dough.","The kneader spits out rubber-dough chunks.","Next, a giant rolling pin transforms the dough into wide, thin pieces.","He slices the strips and bundles them.","In this form, it will be easier to control the weight of the rubber in relation to chemicals that are added next.","They roll the rubber with a precise amount of sulfur and other chemicals that strengthen the rubber and make it more elastic.","They then roll the rubber very thin.","A worker twists and cuts it into small bundles that fit into the opening of an extruding machine.","It forces the still-warm and malleable rubber through dies to shape it into long, hollow tubes.","The extruder injects air and talcum powder into the tubes to keep the walls from collapsing and sticking together while warm.","The tubes cool down in a trough of water, and they deflate as the injected air dissipates.","Next, these aluminum poles will serve as molds for the tubes during curing, giving them the correct shape and diameter.","The worker slides the tubes onto the molds.","The talcum powder injected into the tubes during their extrusion will also act as a release agent, keeping them from sticking to the molds during curing.","They load the tubes into a steam oven, and the intense heat vulcanizes the rubber to boost its tensile strength and elasticity.","Out of the oven, workers inject air between the tubes and the molds, making it easier to peel the now-vulcanized tubes off.","They rinse the rubber tubes to remove talcum-powder residue.","There's so much that the water turns milky white.","They hang the rubber tubes to drain away some of the water.","By the time they're ready to cut, they're a bit too dry, so a worker splashes water onto them.","With the tubes moistened, the next operation will run more smoothly.","He feeds several tubes at once to a rotating blade which carves them.","This creates elastic bands that are exactly the same width.","In this case, that's 1.5 millimeters, an average thickness for a rubber band.","With this system, they can cut 1/2 a million rubber bands in an hour.","It doesn't take long for the inventory to pile up.","There are millions of rubber bands here.","A worker scoops them up and examines each one for defects.","Once approved, all that's left is the packaging.","The rubber bands ride a conveyor that releases them in increments into plastic bags.","It has taken about three hours to produce this bag of rubber bands.","On a normal day, this factory generates 40 million elastics.","That's a lot by any stretch of the imagination."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pneumatic Impact Wrenches","Cultured Marble Sinks","Plantain Chips","NASCAR Stock Cars"]},"text":["A pneumatic impact wrench is a power tool that tightens and untightens nuts, bolts, and other fasteners.","You hook it up to the air hose coming off a compressor.","The anvil at the tip turns at high speed to tighten until snug, then switches to a hammering action, called impacting, to tighten even more.","You've probably seen a pneumatic impact wrench in action at your local garage.","It's standard equipment for removing and installing wheels.","Air pressure runs through the tool's motor, spinning a rotor within.","That rotates the tool's anvil, which turns the wheel nut.","At the manufacturing plant, they machine the rotor from a bar of steel mounted on a lathe.","It takes about a minute and a half for the computer-guided precision tools to carve out the basic shape.","The next machine carves teeth on one end of the rotor, creating what's called a hobbed edge.","Now a computer-guided mill cuts eight slots.","This shaping of the steel generates a lot of heat, so coolant flows throughout all these machining phases to prevent the equipment from overheating.","Next, they temper the rotors for 10 hours in a 1,700-degree-fahrenheit furnace.","This hardens and strengthens the steel, but to fortify it further, they pump in carbon from a propane burner.","The carbon impregnates each rotor to a depth of .","7 millimeters.","Once the rotor cools, a computer-controlled grinder shapes it to the final specifications.","Then a machine with nylon bristles smoothes the surface.","This completes the transformation from steel bar to rotor.","Meanwhile, the tool's magnesium housing has been getting a bright coat of paint.","The housing has two parts-- the main section and a back cap.","Both go into an oven where the paint bakes for a half-hour at almost 400 degrees fahrenheit.","Now assembly begins with the trigger and the stem of the main section and then, with this tool, what's called the tipper valve.","When you push the trigger, it tips, letting in air.","This spring keeps the tipper valve closed when you're not pushing the trigger.","And this bushing is where you attach the air hose coming from the compressor.","Next, they install the reversing valve.","It slots into the housing just above the trigger.","When you press the trigger, the anvil rotates clockwise to tighten the fastener, but when you activate the reversing valve, it sends the air into different chambers, turning the tool counter-clockwise to remove the fastener.","They glue a rubber pad to the top of the housing to cushion your grip on the tool.","A laser engraves manufacturing information on the back cap.","To assemble the motor, they start with a back cap and press in a bearing on which the rotor will spin.","Next, a plate to enclose one end of the rotor and an alignment pin to position the plate for enclosing the other end.","And finally, the rotor itself.","Into each of the rotors' slots goes a vein made of resin-imbued fabric.","These veins work like the blades on a windmill.","The air entering the tool turns them, which spins the rotor.","After slipping a steel cylinder over the rotor, they enclose it with a second plate, then a larger plate with a ball bearing.","Now some oil to lubricate what they call the impact mechanism.","This component contains the tool's anvil, as well as the parts that produce the hammering action.","Finally, a press seals the main section of the housing to the back cap.","Every pneumatic impact wrench this factory produces goes through extensive testing in both free speed-- that's when the tool spins like an ordinary drill-- and in impact mode.","So, if you've got a nut or other fastener to drive, take one of these babies for a spin.","Natural marble has a modern alternative-- a composite material known as cultured marble.","It consists of ground marble or limestone mixed with liquid plastic.","Less expensive than natural marble and easier to work with than stone, cultured marble is often used to create unique bathroom and kitchen fixtures.","This vanity top and pedestal sink are both made of cultured marble, cast in fiberglass molds.","To make a vanity top, a worker centers a sink-bowl mold on a counter mold...","Then places a drainpipe attachment over the sink mold's exit drain.","He marks with a grease pencil where the faucet openings will be.","Then, he masks off areas to protect and places a bees'-wax seal all along the bowl's edge where it meets the counter.","He sprays the molds with protective gel that will give the vanity top a shiny protective finish.","Finally, he places cardboard tubes over the faucet-hole marks.","The molds are now ready for casting.","A machine equipped with a mixing pot automatically measures out the resin workers pour into these molds.","Raw pigments like sterling silver, sandbar, wild rose, white titanium, and fawn beige gives the resin its color.","A worker sifts them in measured amounts into the resin as it's mixing.","Next, he adds a catalyst to the resin...","Then some granulated limestone to thicken it.","The catalyst sets off the chemical reaction that causes the resin mix, known as matrix, to harden.","From this moment on, he needs to be swift.","He has only 15 minutes to mix, color, and pour this batch of matrix into the molds before it hardens.","He adds more white pigment to the base color, using a paddle to mix it along the surface.","Then he takes the wild rose pigment, mixes in some resin, and again works it into the surface to streak it with color, an effect known as veining, that mimics the look of marble.","He scoops out some of the surface mix and pours it onto the mold.","As the matrix pulls, the rose-colored veining in the surface mix is visible.","Now he pours out the rest of the matrix.","He casts the sink and counter in a single piece so there won't be any grout lines around the bowl.","A pneumatic tool vibrates the molds, bringing tiny air bubbles to the surface-- the vanity's underside.","Air trapped in the matrix can cause it to break or mar the finish.","A worker lays down a temporary plastic hat over the bowl.","He weighs it down to hold it in place as he pours matrix inside the hat to cast a bowl that's as thick as the base-- about .","8 inches.","He lets the matrix set for 30 minutes, then removes the hat from the bowl.","Next, he drops down the mold's backsplash and puts a hole in the drain.","He shoots in bursts of compressed air while a co-worker carefully wedges under the backsplash to part the mold, revealing the vanity's marbled surface.","To make sure the vanity lies level on its cabinet, a worker grinds down the underside, then the drain area.","Next, he sands down the backsplash and the sides, working at an angle with a hand sander to dull any sharp edges.","He removes the drain mold and buffs the surface to a mirror finish.","Finally, he knocks out the faucet holes.","Here's a finished vanity with a variety of integrated sink bowls on display.","Cultured marble truly is a versatile material that offers endless possibilities.","Many of us take time out to enjoy a tasty snack like plantain chips, but we know we should put limits when treating ourselves to a good thing.","The trick is to learn as much as we can about the snacks we're eating so we can choose a treat that's right for us.","Seeing how plantain chips are made can help us make an informed choice.","This looks like a banana, but it's actually a plantain-- a staple food in many parts of the world.","In tropical countries like costa rica, it's made into a popular snack called plantain chips.","The cycle from fruit to snack begins here.","A worker cleans off the root of an offspring from a mature plantain tree.","He prepares the root for planting as if it were a seed.","In time, this seed will grow into a mature plantain tree.","After about nine months, the plantain is ready to harvest.","When a worker picks the fruit, they wrap it in plastic to protect it against insects and disease.","Each mature tree yields only one bushel of fruit its entire life.","Once he harvests the mature tree, it's the tree's offspring that yield more fruit and continue the life cycle.","The worker then rinses the plantain in treated water that helps wash off sap and kill any possible fungus.","Local workers then load the cases of plantains onto their boat for a full day's trip to the processing plant.","Their hard work is valued by the company which is proud to support the local economy.","At the plant, a worker puts the plantain into boiling water for about a minute.","Boiling the fruit changes its color, but more importantly, it greatly reduces the amount of sap the fruit releases, which makes handling and peeling the otherwise sticky skin possible.","The various lengths and widths of plantain prohibit peeling it by machine.","Workers at this costa rican plant cut more than 50,000 pounds of plantain every day, all by hand.","Each one is then cut into slices of a specific thickness for chips.","To do this, workers push the fruit one at a time into a cutting machine.","The slices of plantain fall through the machine into a deep-fry oven below.","A rotating grill and conveyor system helps ensure uniform cooking of the slices in natural palm oil as they travel on an uninterrupted 30-foot journey.","After cooling, the worker removes any under- or overcooked chips.","The chips then travel into a tumbler that adds salt or other seasonings or flavors, depending on the product.","The chips then exit the tumbler and are ready for packaging.","The packaging machine gently funnels the chips into separate chutes as it calculates the exact amount it needs to fill each bag.","Once filled, the packaging machine then cuts and seals the individual bags, then sends them for distribution across the world.","Plantain chips also come in strips.","They're trans-fat free and come in a variety of formats that make a handy treat.","Nascar is one of the most popular spectator sports in north america.","The national association for stock car auto racing holds a series of 36 races a year, mostly at oval or d-shaped tracks on which the cars make only left turns.","They're built from scratch following nascar's strict technical rules.","Nascar's stock cars are based on certain american-made road cars.","The frame is made out of steel tubing.","The hood, roof, and deck lid-- that's like the regular car's trunk cover-- are made out of sheet steel.","The workers who assemble the body are called body hangers.","They position all the parts according to a nascar-authorized template.","Here they clamp the body panels together.","Then, with an aluminum bracket, to the template for shaping.","To make the wheel openings on the front fender, they use shrinking jaws, a tool that curves metal by squeezing it.","Then they switch to a tool called an english wheel.","It rolls the curved metal into a particular shape.","The car's front suspension is essentially the same as that of a regular car, except for the angle of the tires, which they manipulate by putting shims on this upper control arm.","The right front tire tilts inward and the left front tire tilts outward.","That's because these cars race on an oval track in one direction only, so they're making only left turns.","Next, they install a brake rotor.","Then, a steel spacing plate between the rotor and the wheel.","This sets up the specific distance from wheel to wheel that nascar rules require.","They load a pair of brake pads into a brake caliper and slide the caliper onto the rotor.","The caliper contains different-sized pistons so that it applies the brake pads to the rotor evenly.","Now they move onto the car's inner workings.","They mount the transmission to an aluminum housing that covers the flywheel, clutch, and other components.","Then they install the motor.","It's an eight-cylinder, 750-plus horsepower engine.","They attach the car's plastic windshield with bolted clips.","If air gets into the car, these strong clips will keep the windshield from blowing out.","The car's seat core is made of aluminum, padded for comfort.","Every nascar driver has his car seat custom-built to his body shape.","After bolting in the seat, they install the steering wheel.","It has a safety release that lets the driver remove the wheel with a single pull.","This enables him to get in and out of the car easily and to remove the wheel quickly if he's injured in a crash.","Now, for the finishing touches.","First, a large decal of the car's number centered on each door.","Every nascar racecar is also plastered with decals advertising its driver's sponsors.","Nascar's stock cars have a few key safety features.","Fenders allow side-to-side contact between cars without their wheels hooking together.","Roof flaps direct air downward, keeping the cars close to the ground.","This stops a spinning car from flipping over.","A nascar stock car weighs in at more than 3,300 pounds.","It travels to the track in the top deck of a trailer.","This keeps the bottom level clear as a work space for the driver's mechanical crew."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Paper Umbrellas","Coal","Aircraft Seats","Cremation Urns"]},"text":["Paper umbrellas originated in china and eventually spread throughout asia.","Initially, their purpose was solely practical-- to protect against rain and to provide shade from the scorching sun.","But before long, they took on symbolic significance and were incorporated into many ceremonies and rituals.","They're called oil paper umbrellas because the paper is coated with oil or, like these, with oil paint, making the umbrella waterproof.","At this workshop in northern thailand, they cut a bamboo log to the length of the umbrella's radius, then shave off the bark.","They split the log into strips of equal thickness, then group these ribs, as they're called, into bundles of 28.","Each bundle will become the frame of one umbrella.","Next, they thin out the bottom half of each rib and cut a slit in the top half.","Then, using a traditional drill, they bore tiny holes at specific points.","Taking one bundle at a time, they string the ribs together through the uppermost hole and insert them into slots of a hand-carved wooden hub.","Then they tighten and tie off the string to retain the ribs in position and provide a pivot on which the ribs can move up and down.","Next, they attach the scaffold, a smaller hub with shorter ribs strung on it.","They insert a scaffold rib into the slit of each frame rib, then attach them by threading a string through the aligned holes.","The result?","Raising and lowering the scaffold moves its ribs along the slit-- pushing the frame ribs up to open the umbrella, or pulling them down to close it.","With the umbrella open now, they thread more string through holes in the frame ribs and loop it into a spider-web-type pattern.","This produces a sturdy base to support the umbrella's paper skin.","After mounting the frame on a wood and bamboo umbrella handle, they wrap two lines of string along the frame perimeter.","This will support the paper skin at the edge of the umbrella.","They make the paper from the bark of the native saa tree.","The first step is to soften the bark by soaking it in water for about 12 hours, then boiling it for another three or four.","Next, they mash it with wooden mallets for about an hour, turning it into pulp.","They bleach the pulp and wash it again to remove the bleach.","Only then is the pulp ready to become paper.","They dump the pulp in a large basin of water and stir so that it floats in suspension while they move a plastic screen through the water, catching enough floating pulp to coat the screen in a thin layer.","They lay the screen out in the sun for three to four hours until the layer of pulp dries into a thin, fragile sheet of paper.","They cut the sheets to the shapes required, then saturate each piece with glue made from cassava, a tropical root vegetable.","After applying a circular piece around the hub, they glue pie-shaped pieces onto the rest of the frame.","Once they cover the entire frame, they repeat the process to add a second layer.","They fold all the pie-shaped pieces over the end to thicken and, thereby, reinforce the edge of the umbrella.","After about four hours out in the sun, the glue dries, bonding the now stiff and strengthened paper securely to the frame.","They apply three coats of oil paint, allowing four hours of drying time between coats.","This is a key step because aside from providing the background color, the oil paint waterproofs the paper.","Next, they varnish the handle to make it moisture-resistant.","And now for the grand finale-- an artist paints a design in vibrant waterproof oils.","The themes are traditional-- flowers, animals, landscapes, people.","No stencils to trace or patterns to follow-- the artist works entirely freehand, the result being that no two umbrellas are ever exactly alike.","Each oil paper umbrella is a portable work of art.","Pretty yet practical, rain or shine.","The most-used fuel for producing electricity in the world today is coal.","Power plants burn it in their furnaces to heat water into steam that spins giant turbines which generate electricity.","At least 40% of the world's electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants.","Coal developed from prehistoric vegetation that wound up buried underground due to geological changes.","Over millions of years, these decayed plants transformed into combustible rock.","This is why we refer to coal as a fossil fuel.","Coal runs in seams through other rock layers.","Miners drill holes through the seam at several locations, then mix together ammonium nitrate and diesel and pour a precise quantity of this liquid explosive into each bored hole.","The plug the holes with dirt to contain the upcoming explosion.","This directs the force of the blast sideways so that it'll fracture rock as much horizontally as vertically.","They place a blasting cap in each plugged hole, then connect all the blasting cap wires to detonation lines through which they'll send an electrical charge to ignite the explosives.","They install detonation delays to time the blast one after another because successive explosions have greater impact than simultaneous ones.","The blast dislodge and break up the layers of rock between the surface and the coal seam deep below.","Workers clear away the rocks and dirt with a mammoth machine called a dragline.","Removing the blasted rock and dirt exposes the coal, which is still a solid, hard seam.","The side of the mine pit shows how much rock is on top of this particular coal seam.","Once miners blast and clear away that rock, they drill and load the holes to set off more explosives to fracture the coal seam itself.","Then front-end loaders load the coal into specialized trucks called coal haulers.","In one trip, a coal hauler can transport about 220 tons of coal out of the pit to the coal stockpile.","From there, railcars transport the coal to the nearby power plant.","When this company prepares to mine an area, it removes the topsoil on which vegetation grows.","As part of a land reclamation program, the company stockpiles the topsoil until it finishes mining out the coal.","Then it refills the pit with rock and dirt it blasted away, returns the topsoil, and plants native vegetation.","The power plant is situated by a man-made lake, the water source for the steam with which it generates electricity.","When the coal arrives, crushers grind it up into baseball-sized pieces.","After a strategic blending of different grades of coal, to optimize heat output, the coal travels by a conveyor belt to indoor silos.","Each silo feeds crushers, which pulverize the coal into powder.","Now the coal is ready to fuel the furnace.","Meanwhile, huge intake pumps draw lake water.","The furnace heats the water to 1,000° fahrenheit, well beyond the boiling point, transforming it into high-pressure steam.","The steam then enters and rotates turbines, generating electricity.","By the time the steam exits the turbines, it's thermally depleted down to just 120° fahrenheit and depressurized to a vacuum state.","It then passes through a condenser containing cold lake water.","The water absorbs the remaining heat, converting the steam back to water, which is then recycled into new steam.","The combustion process itself creates sulfur dioxide.","The plant runs this gas waste through vessels containing a lime solution to neutralize the sulfur.","This chemical reaction creates water vapor, which exits the plant's stack.","Wires coming off the turbine generators carry the electricity to outdoor transformers.","The outdoor transformers convert it to higher voltage in order to have less energy loss, as the power from coal travels through transmission lines to some 350,000 households.","When you're traveling by air, you want to be sitting in a comfortable seat.","Private aircraft take comfort to a level far above that of commercial airlines with seats that are as cozy and luxurious as fine furniture.","They must also be lightweight and fire-resistant.","On private and corporate aircraft, it's all about luxury seating.","Armchairs often swivel and, at the push of a button, recline with an extending footrest.","The cushions are constructed from layers of fireproof foam containing carbon fiber for optimum support and durability.","Workers cut the cushion pieces using a band saw with a round blade that slices through foam without tearing or shredding it.","They spray adjoining surfaces with water-based contact cement and assemble them.","The assembly combines different thicknesses and three different densities to make the cushion soft in certain areas and rigid in others.","The densities are color-coded.","After letting the glue dry for 12 hours, workers begin the final shaping.","This is the seat-cushion assembly.","They first saw through it laterally to make the right thickness.","Then they temporarily adhere a plastic template of the final cushion shape, trace it, then saw along the trace line.","Next, using the technical drawing as a guide, they mark, then grind the cushion's rounded profile.","Holding the next layer of foam over the edge, they verify the shape with another template.","Then with yet another template, they mark lines for the cushion's creases and, with a foam saw, cut them two inches deep, just enough to insert velcro strips, the backsides of which they glue to the foam with water-based contact cement.","Workers construct the backrest cushion just like the seat cushion-- assembling foam pieces of different thicknesses and densities, shaping the perimeter, grinding the edge profile, cutting and velcroing creases.","Then they apply a final layer of soft foam, 1/2 inch thick, folding the edges onto the velcro inside the creases.","They do the same with the seat cushion, armrests, and footrest.","All the foam cushions are now ready to be covered in genuine leather.","In accordance with safety regulations, the supplier rendered the leather fireproof by treating it with a calcium-based solution.","Seamstresses trace patterns for the cover pieces, then cut them out.","They line the perimeter of each piece with double-faced tape...","Fold over the edges to create a neat hem...","And trim the corners flat.","Then they sew on velcro strips where required.","Finally, they assemble the pieces into covers, sewing an identification label on each one.","They hammer every seam flat to prevent bulges.","Then they sew what's called a french stitch, a line of straight stitches on either side of each seam.","Meanwhile, workers glue fireproof polyester batting to the foam.","This layer between foam and leather will even out the surface.","They tear the perimeter of the batting to thin it out.","Finally, it's time to dress the cushions in their covers.","Workers use a metal rod to help push the leather deep into the creases without bunching up.","Velcro strips on the cover adhere to the velcro strips inside the creases.","The covers also have velcro closures, and certain cushions have velcro strips on the bottom which attach to the seat structure.","Once all the covers are on, workers can complete the seat assembly.","They attach the armrest to the structure with screws, then install the footrest, which attaches with velcro.","It contains a cavity for storing the life vest.","The seat cushion also attaches with velcro.","The passenger seats and pilot seat are constructed the same way, except for the pilot seat often has a sheepskin insert on the sitting surface to absorb sweat and keep the pilot cool and comfortable.","It was the ancient romans who first began using cremation urns.","Today the custom continues.","The remains are stored in urns permanently or sometimes temporarily before burial.","And with cremation, one's final resting place doesn't have to be six feet under.","The cremation urn has an important place in some households.","It's a constant reminder of the dearly departed, helping to keep the memories alive.","The urn starts with a concept.","The potter draws a large-scale design, which he'll use as a reference as he shapes a prototype urn from clay.","He slaps a lump of clay onto the potter's wheel.","The wheel spins, and the potter begins to transform the shapeless lump into the desired form.","The process is called throwing, a potter's term for shaping.","He leaves the bottom open so the walls can be more easily formed into the desired shape.","He'll add a base to the urn later.","As he pulls up the clay to produce the walls, he works it to a uniformed thickness.","He gathers top to narrow the opening, a technique known as collaring.","Then with the potter's wheel at a stop, he takes the shape from round to rectangular and tapers it at the neck.","Then it's into a casting box, which exposes only half of the urn prototype.","He brushes a release agent onto that half.","Using a mixer, he whips up a mix of plaster and water.","He blends it until it thickens to the consistency of pancake batter.","The liquefied plaster will harden in minutes, so he quickly pours it into the box with the urn prototype and fills it right to the top.","As the plaster hardens, the exposed urn prototype makes an impression of half the urn.","He'll make another one exactly like it for the other half of the urn.","He'll attach them with a key system.","For this, he drills notches in one mold half.","The notches match up with raised areas on the other mold half to align them.","He ties the molds together with suspender-like straps, cinching them tightly together.","He adds a base to the urn and straps it to the other two pieces.","He sets the assembled mold upright, exposing the opening of the urn.","He's now ready to make a copy of the original urn.","In fact, he'll make 20 at once using 20 identical plaster molds.","He pumps liquid clay into each one, filling it to the brim.","Over three to four hours, the plaster absorbs water in the clay it comes into contact with, causing it to solidify.","The clay in the center remains liquid.","He pours that into a barrel to be strained and reused.","And now the big reveal-- he opens the mold and removes the urn.","It's exactly like the prototype sculpted by the potter.","He lifts a lid from another plaster mold and checks the fit to the urn.","After drying and an initial firing to harden the clay, a worker coats the urn and lid with a glaze, working from the inside out.","The glaze is a mixture of finely milled minerals and water.","It adds color and a glass-like nonporous surface when fired a second time.","Cremation urns come in a range of styles and colors.","Customers often make a selection that reflects the taste of the deceased.","Another worker now brushes a mixture of wax and alumina onto the neck of the urn and lid.","This will keep them from fusing together during the final firing.","They fire the cremation urns at a very intense 2,200° fahrenheit for about 15 hours.","This transforms the clay into a durable ceramic.","They cool the urns slowly for 13 hours to prevent cracking.","Four days in the making, these urns are now ready to contain a loved one's remains and, in so doing, honor a life."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Leather Sculptures","Travel Hot Plates","Ochre","Hurdy"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","The use of leather as an artist medium dates back to the middle ages, when it was crafted into fierce animal shapes that were then affixed to battle helmets.","Fast-forward several centuries, and some artists are rediscovering leather as a sculpting material and redefining the art of sculpture.","This is leather reimagined.","In this studio, cowhides become art instead of a sofa or a pair of shoes.","It's artistry over utility.","The artist starts by developing a pattern.","He draws imagery within a paper fish shape.","It represents the life cycle of a rainbow trout.","He places the pattern on a cowhide, and using a scriber, he lightly etches the fish shape into the leather.","Using a razor blade, he follows the etched lines to cut out the fish shape.","He dampens the entire piece with a wet cloth.","This softens the leather to prepare it for the drawings on the pattern, which will be transferred to it.","He places the pattern on the dampened leather double.","Using a round-tip tool, he traces the drawings.","The tool makes light impressions on the supple leather.","Following those lines with a swivel knife, he carves the imagery into the leather.","When the leather starts to dry, he redampens it.","Then, with a wedge tool and mallet, he depresses the leather around the main artwork.","This raises the images above the background.","He hammers a disc-tip tool into the leather to make a fish-eye indentation.","Then, using an actual stone, he lightly pounds the rocks in the image.","This transfers the stone's texture to the leather.","He also uses the rock to create shading on the trout and the foliage.","For the fish-scale detail, he pounds a tool with a crescent-shaped tip into the leather.","He works in a linear fashion, row on row, to punch tight scales across much of the art.","This creates a textural symmetry throughout the piece.","Turning to a second matching fish shape, he shaves leather from the back of the fins to give them a lighter, more realistic look.","He applies glue to the edges.","This plain fish shape will serve as the back of the sculpture.","He applies more fins to the glued areas in the underbelly of the fish art.","He then brings the two sides of the fish together and glues them, leaving the bottom fins and the mouth open.","Using an industrial sewing machine for leather, he stitches the fish together with heavy nylon thread.","This fish art is now ready to go from flat to 3d.","He stuffs polyester fill into it.","The leather has been moistened again so that, when it dries, it will shrink tight to the filling.","As he stuffs the leather, he uses a wooden rod to distribute the filling.","He then glues a carved leather fish mask onto the face.","This adds drama to the piece.","He trims the mask.","Then he applies a rainbow of color to the trout, beginning with a silvery shade of white.","He paints an olive-green shade on the top of the fish sculpture and a pinkish-red hue in the middle.","This reflects the colors of the rainbow trout.","He dabs black paint on the fish sculpture to replicate the spots normally found on trout.","He then marks the fish sculpture extensively with silvery white speckles.","He defines some of the etched lines with the same paint to make the imagery bolder.","The artist signs the leather fish.","Making the entire leather sculpture takes over a month.","Now it's ready for public viewing.","With a travel hot plate, who needs room service?","Just unpack this single-burner appliance and plug it into an electrical outlet in the hotel room.","It can be used to warm up soup, fry eggs or make espresso.","It's economical and convenient, no tips necessary.","A travel hot plate offers another way to eat on the road.","Travelers can whip up something to eat pretty much anywhere there is an electrical outlet.","Production starts with steel wire for the heating element.","The wire unwinds and travels over rollers.","The rollers keep the wire at an even tension as machinery pulls it forward.","The machinery winds the wire around a mandrel to produce a tight coil.","A blade then chops the coil to the correct length.","Each coil will serve as a heating element.","A worker slides the coils' ends onto hooks attached to a fixture.","The fixture revolves and meets up with an automated welder, which fuses the hook to the heating coil.","It welds one hook to each end of the coil.","To demonstrate the coil's heating capacity, a technician connects it to an electrical source, and it very quickly becomes so hot it glows.","A worker is now ready to install the coil in the cast-iron burner.","Robots pick up the burners using magnetic power and transfer them to a conveyor system.","The conveyor pushes the burners forward.","In the meantime, a worker threads the coil between posts in an applicator head.","This puts the coil in the correct configuration.","An automated system then moves the applicator head forward on the production line.","A vibrating device applies 16 1/2 tons of pressure to pack an insulating compound into the cast-iron burners.","This compound is made of talcum, magnesite, water, and other ingredients.","The applicator head embeds the heating coil within the insulation, allowing the hooks to protrude.","This isolates the coil from the cast-iron burner to prevent short circuits.","A worker coats each burner with a rustproofing varnish.","The burners bake at a temperature of 212 degrees fahrenheit for 12 hours.","This dries the varnish and hardens the insulation in the burners.","Out of the oven, a worker welds wires to the protruding hooks, which will connect to a thermostat later.","She attaches ceramic sleeves to the wires for electrical insulation.","She then spot-welds metal connectors to the ends of the wires.","She installs an intermediate backplate through which the insulated connectors protrude, and screws the backplate in place.","Another worker installs the cover plate with numerous holes to vent heat from the burner.","She screws a threaded bolt into the hot plate and attaches a ground wire to the center screw.","She slides the thermostat onto the threaded bolt and secures the ground wire.","She adjusts the position of the thermostat and connects the wires.","She now attaches a plastic base and screws a temperature knob into it.","She joins the wires to a power cord and stabilizes the connection with a plastic clamp and cover.","She installs a metal plate over the exposed wires to encase them within the base structure.","She slides rubber feet onto the nubs in the plastic base and applies a label with all the technical details.","Using a probe, she confirms that the hot plate is functional, that there is no current leakage and the wiring is properly isolated from the cast-iron burner.","A technician brings water to a boil on a randomly selected hot plate and measures the temperature to confirm it heats water consistently.","He also aims an infrared camera at the hot burner.","The image proves that heat is evenly disseminated across the surface.","Once it passes all these tests, this travel hot plate is ready to hit the road.","It should provide the means to cook food wherever in the world it happens to land.","Ocher is the original earth tone because it's actually colored earth, yellow, orange, red or brown, depending on its specific mineral composition.","Humans have used ocher as a pigment since prehistoric times and still use it today to tint paint, plaster, and other materials.","From prehistoric cave paintings to renaissance frescoes, the natural hues of ocher endure to this day.","The natural color of ocher depends on the amount and type of iron oxide it contains.","Yellow ocher can also be baked to a shade of red.","There was a time when men mined ocher ore underground with picks and shovels.","Today the old mines are a tourist attraction in roussillon and gargas in the provence region of france, home of the world's largest ocher deposits and where the industrial process for making ocher pigment was invented in the late 1700s.","Today at the last active mine in gargas, france, workers quarry-mine ocher using heavy machinery rather than manual tools.","The ocher ore contains about 10% pure ocher.","The rest is stones and sand, which is why the ore requires processing.","The first step is to wash it.","This turns it into liquid unrefined ocher.","Next the liquid flows through sieves.","Then the liquid ocher flows into troughs leading to a collection basin.","Pumps transfer the liquid ocher at high pressure to the separator, which spins it at high speed.","The centrifugal force separates the sand.","The pure liquid ocher is pumped to drying tanks.","Over several months, the ocher gradually settles to the bottom.","Workers drain the water, then collect the coarse ocher powder that remains.","Traditional processing machinery is on display at the old ocher factory in roussillon, france.","The crusher would reduce blocks of ore into fist-sized pieces for the mill to grind.","The ground ore would then drop through three consecutive sieves, which allowed only fine ocher powder to pass through, and collect in a barrel below.","At this modern factory, this mill grinds the coarse ocher powder until the particles are no more than 30 microns in size, the consistency of flour.","To make red ocher, workers put yellow ocher in a gas-fired oven and bake it for 15 minutes at 1,380 degrees fahrenheit.","The heat dehydrates the iron oxides, which turns the color to red.","When an order comes into the factory, a worker releases the required amount of ocher from the storage silos to the packaging machine.","This factory has packaging machines for several retail sizes.","Ocher isn't merely a red or a yellow pigment.","One can produce a wide range of colors by playing with the percentages of those two base colors as well as by adding other types of natural pigments.","For centuries, artists have mixed ocher into oil and other media to make paint.","This artist is making what's known as tempera.","She cracks an egg, separates the white and sets aside the yolk to use.","She drops a few spoonfuls of ocher on her palette.","Then adds some stirred egg yolk to bind it.","She mixes the ingredients thoroughly with her palette knife and crushes lumps with a mortar until the tempera is just the right smooth consistency to begin applying to her canvas.","Another medium one can pigment with ocher is cheese.","This is known as casein painting, casein being the milk protein that's a major component of cheese.","It must be fresh fat-free white cheese.","And an artist mixes it with lime to make it water-soluble.","Casein paint resembles oil paint once dry.","However, it's inflexible and too brittle to use on canvas, so it's suitable only for rigid surfaces such as artist board, furniture, woodwork, and walls.","Ocher can also pigment plaster, concrete, ceramic, and other construction materials for an authentic earth-tone palette that only nature can create.","A hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument with a unique sound.","To play it, musicians do two thubgs simultaneously-- turn a crank and play a keyboard.","The crank turns a wheel that rubs against the strings like a violin bow.","The keys press on the strings, changing their pitch.","This french hurdy-gurdy maker specializes in restoring antiques like this instrument crafted in 1918 and this very damaged gem from 1882.","The artisan carves new support struts using the original ones as templates.","The struts are curved outward, making the soundboard convex.","He uses spruce because it's a lightweight wood which vibrates well to conduct sound.","Constructing a different instrument now, he runs a strip of maple through a sander to reduce the thickness to less than a tenth of an inch.","This will become the two ribs which form the sides of this instrument.","He cuts the strip in half and marks the direction of the wood grain, so he can butt the ribs in mirror image.","He dampens each rib with water and runs it against a hot iron.","This steams a curve into the wood.","He repeats this process again and again until the curve fits a wooden form that's the exact shape of the instrument.","He clamps both ribs to the form and lets them set for a full week.","French hurdy-gurdies are traditionally guitar-shaped or lute-shaped.","To construct a new lute-shaped body, the artisan removes the ribs from the antique instrument he's restoring, traces each one onto a strip of maple, then cuts out the shape with a band saw.","He constructs a lute-shaped wooden form, then uses the hot iron to curve the new ribs to the shape of the form.","This instrument has nine ribs.","He alternates between maple and pearwood.","He tapes the ribs together and lets them set for a week.","This hurdy-gurdy was made in 1741.","The original crank-driven wheel rubbed against the strings to produce sound like a violin bow.","The wheel is all warped now, so he crafts a new one, on a lathe, out of pearwood.","The keyboard's black keys are made of ebony wood.","He cuts the basic shape with a small circular saw.","Then he refines the dimensions with a small router.","These new keys are part of the restoration of this 1893 instrument.","He lightly files the original key-box slots so that the new keys will insert smoothly.","The bottom row has 13 black keys, the top row, 10 black keys with white tops made of bone.","Just below the key box, the top third of the wheel sticks out through a slot in the soundboard.","And just below that is this component, the main bridge.","The artisan traces a template on a block of maple, drills an access hole for his fine marquetry saw, then cuts it out.","The main bridge props up the instrument's two main melody strings.","He checks the height and shaves off excess wood with a small plane.","He'll stain the bridge to match the rest of the instrument and glue it onto the soundboard.","This hurdy-gurdy has new keys and a new wheel-and-crank mechanism.","He installs new strings, starting with the two melody strings.","Attached to a tailpiece at the bottom, they pass over the bridge, the wheel and through the key box, wrapping around new steel tuning pegs at the top.","This restoration also requires new tangents, two wedges of maple set into each key.","Playing a key presses the tangents against the strings.","The artisan installs four more strings which hit the sides of the wheel, pass over smaller bridges and attach to the bottom of the instrument.","They make a buzzing background sound, so they're called drone strings."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Lighters","Fossils","Hockey Pucks","High"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Lighters...","Fossils...","Hockey pucks...","And high-pressure cylinders.","It's a case for combustion.","Spin the wheel, and you have an instant flame.","Flip the lid, and the flame is extinguished.","A version of the lighter first appeared in the 19th century.","At the time, it was more of a conversation piece than anything, a curiosity that received plenty of interest.","Lighters aren't a novelty anymore, but they're still used every day.","To make lighter cases, a machine uncoils brass from a spool, pulling it to a press.","The press stamps the brass repeatedly to shape both the top and bottom parts of the case.","A worker collects them and places them on a revolving table.","Another worker slides on a hinge to link the top and bottom pieces.","An electrode welds the hinge to the case.","Then a mechanical arm knocks them down a chute to a worker who inspects the welding job.","As the cases move on a conveyor system, they get a quick buff to prepare them for plating.","The lighter cases are now plunged into a series of washing solutions and rinses, followed by a nickel solution...","Then a chrome one.","It's the finishing touch for the lighter cases.","It's time to move on to the inner workings.","A die shapes a piece of steel to make the inside cases.","Mechanized arms then place a tube and plate in the case.","The tube will hold the flint stone, and the plate will form the top of the inner case.","Epoxy seals them in place, and the cases move through a curing oven to harden the epoxy.","A worker arranges a pile of flint wheels so that the teeth are in the proper direction.","Grippers load the flint wheels into an assembly jig.","These cams will eventually act as a catch for the lighter lid.","A gripper places the cam in the jig beside the flint wheel.","The assembly jig now receives little brass eyelets between the flint wheel and the cam.","The machine slides the inner case over the flint wheel, cam, and eyelet.","And an automated device rivets it all together.","A machine lowers a wick to the eyelet and threads it through.","Blades move in from the side and snip the wick.","This machine stuffs pieces of cotton into the inner case.","The cotton will soak up and retain fuel when the consumer adds it later.","Steel plungers tamp down the wick and cotton.","Here a die punch cuts a piece of felt to size.","Automated arms pick up the felt and shove it into the top of the inner case.","Here grippers place a flint spring in the case just over the flint stone.","Pneumatic screwdrivers drive the screw home.","A rubber wheel spins the flint, and sparks fly as a light sensor checks their intensity.","After the flint check, technicians install the inner unit in the case.","They check the fit.","They test the function.","And they're off to be shipped.","It takes many hours of work to make a fossil replica.","Real dinosaur bones, millions of years old, are used to make life-size renditions.","You'll find these fossil facsimiles on display in museums.","They're very exact, almost indistinguishable from the real thing.","The dinosaur looms large once again, brought back to life thanks to an evolution in casting techniques.","Building these replicas is a job that can involve both high-tech know-how and hands-on skill.","They start with the real thing, an ancient fossil.","This is a dinosaur's upper jawbone.","They laser-scan it, producing a three-dimensional image.","The scanner feeds the image to a computer.","Then it's time to go to print.","But this isn't an ink-and-paper job.","This tray is filled with plaster powder.","The printer outlines the jawbone shape with a liquid hardener.","The result is this plaster cast of the jawbone.","There is a more traditional way to make a fossil replica.","They arrange plywood around a fossil of this dinosaur foot.","Then they lay sheets of clay on the wood and press it to the dinosaur bone.","With a clay pick, they make a 90-degree angle at the bone to give it a clean line.","Using more clay, they build a spout and a riser at one end of the bone.","They etch an i.d. number into the clay.","Then they paint liquid rubber onto the fossil and the abutting clay.","They place fiber-glass sheets on the rubber, wetting it down with a polyester mix first.","They work the fiber glass into the shape of the fossil, then paint a red gel coat onto it.","It's a color code to identify the species-- a duckbilled dinosaur called a lambeosaurus.","Now they have one side of a mold.","When both sides of the mold are fabricated, they pair them up, and this fossil mold is complete.","The rubber layer inside picks up the fossil's detail, while the outer fiber-glass one will hold the rubber rigid as they pour a polyester- and-water mix into the spout.","It takes 45 minutes to harden.","And now it's time for the big reveal.","It's an exact replica.","Next they form part of the skull.","They make this part with hollow fiber glass instead of solid polyester.","This will ease the load on the steel framework later.","All the larger bones are cast with hollow fiber glass because of weight issues.","This is a mastodon head.","They mold up to 300 pieces to produce these skeletal replicas.","On one side of the skeleton, they literally flesh out some details.","They sculpt scales onto a clay-like fill to demonstrate how a dinosaur would look with some skin.","The other side remains bare bones to give the viewer an inside look.","A little glue completes the spine work.","Then they mount the skull.","When the front leg goes on, this 2-sided fossil is ready to go.","It's a real museum piece.","Early hockey pucks were made of wood.","But for informal games, even objects like stones would suffice.","Eventually rubber became the puck material of choice.","The modern puck is three inches wide by one inch thick.","Pucks are usually frozen before games to reduce their bounce on the ice.","11 different ingredients go into making these rubber hockey pucks.","The recipe begins with natural rubber.","Two types of oil make the rubber durable.","Certain minerals act as curing agents and antiaging agents.","And a form of coal dust, called carbon black, serves as a filler.","Workers feed the ingredients into a preliminary mixer-- first the slabs of natural rubber, then antioxidants to lengthen the rubber's life-span, then one type of oil to help blend in the dry chemicals, then another type to refine the rubber's rigidity level, then additives such as calcium carbonate and sulfur to help cure the rubber during the molding process, and finally, the carbon black filler.","After 10 to 15 minutes of this preliminary blending, the mixture goes down a chute and onto a conveyor belt, which transports it to a machine called the mill mixer.","It will perform the final mix.","At this point, workers add more natural rubber.","Then they add another, harder rubber that will make the hockey pucks more resilient.","The recipe is formulated to produce a very hard rubber, one that can stand up to the rigors of repeated blows from a hockey stick.","It's critical that the ingredients blend evenly.","That's why workers continually cut the rubber while it's mixing.","In the company lab, technicians evaluate a sample from each batch.","This device is called a rheometer.","It analyzes what's called the curing curve-- how the rubber hardens and to what degree.","A computer compares the curing curve to the quality model.","If they match, the batch gets the go-ahead.","The rubber hasn't yet gone through the curing process, so it's still malleable.","An extrusion machine squeezes it through a round die.","This produces logs about 40 inches long and 3 inches wide-- the exact diameter of the hockey puck.","The next machine slices each log like a loaf of bread into 39 pieces.","Each piece is 1.1 inches thick.","These pieces are called preforms because at this stage they're not quite fully formed pucks.","Workers put them into compression molds that look like giant muffin pans.","Each mold cavity is the exact size of the finished hockey puck.","A cover goes on.","Then the molds go into a curing press, which compresses the preforms and heats them to 300 degrees fahrenheit.","It takes 18 minutes for the rubber to cure.","The preforms come out as hockey pucks-- rock-hard and 1/8 of an inch thinner than before.","They cool for 24 hours.","During the compression phase, excess rubber oozed out and stuck to the pucks, so workers run each and every puck manually through a trimming machine.","There is excess rubber stuck to the molds, as well.","The factory scrapes it off, grinds it up, and uses it as filler in subsequent batches.","The mold embedded a dimple pattern on the puck's edge.","This texture creates friction between the puck and hockey stick.","The more friction, the better stickhandling and the greater control the players have.","High-pressure cylinders are metal containers designed for storing gases and for dispensing them at high pressure.","Think fire extinguishers and oxygen tanks.","The contents are often flammable, so the challenge is how to make these often lifesaving cylinders safe yet still easy enough to use.","These cylinders are made out of chromoly, a steel alloy containing chromium and molybdenum.","They start with disks that have already been heat-treated at 1,300 degrees fahrenheit for 36 hours.","Now they go into the first of five hot chemical baths that will help the metal flex.","After a quick drying period, each disk moves over a die.","This process is known as deep drawing because a series of machines will gradually draw out the disk to the shape of a cylinder.","A mandrel press begins stretching the metal, applying up to 800 tons of force-- the weight of two fully loaded jumbo jets.","Shaping the cylinder from just one piece of metal means it will be seamless, and that's a key safety feature.","After the disk comes through, steel jaws clamp down on the mandrel, and the cylinder slips off.","Now another press stretches it even more.","This machine applies 250 tons of force to continue forming the walls of the cylinder.","That liquid is a coolant to prevent overheating.","The cylinder goes through as many as three presses, each one stretching it another 60%.","This press forms the closed bottom end into a concave shape.","That reinforces the base, helping the cylinder withstand up to a thousand times more pressure than a can of cooking spray.","A band saw now slices up to 4 inches off the other end, which will become the top of the cylinder.","Next, a torch heats that end to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit for 90 seconds.","In a process called hot spinning, a worker then places the cylinder in a device that spins it at 1,000 rpm.","As a torch maintains the temperature, the machine shapes the edge of the searing-hot metal into a curve.","In this way, the machine gradually closes off the top end and shapes two rounded areas called the shoulder and neck.","Making these areas curved is the best way to contain pressurized gases.","Curves spread out the stress on the metal.","A sharp corner would focus the stress in one spot.","The only exit for gases will be through a valve at the top.","Workers then place 18 cylinders in a furnace heated to more than 1,600 degrees fahrenheit.","After 90 minutes, a machine then dunks them in a chemical bath to cool for six minutes.","The cylinders are then reheated to 1,200 degrees fahrenheit for 90 minutes, then left to cool for two hours.","These transitions between hot and cold-- a process called tempering-- strengthen the metal and make it somewhat flexible.","A cutting tool carves open the neck and cuts threads inside it.","This provides the best seal when the valve screws into the neck.","Workers clean the cylinder's surface using a process called shotblasting.","A machine shoots these tiny steel pellets at the cylinders at very high speed.","They test the cylinder by filling it with water.","Then they seal it off and immerse it in water.","The machine then adds more water to the cylinder and gauges how well it withstands the extra pressure.","They rinse the inside with hot water, then dry and clean it by blowing in some purified air.","Next, a hydraulic press indents the shoulder of the cylinder with legally required markings, such as the manufacturing date and the serial number.","A machine then stretches a steel collar over the neck.","Another device, called a valver, tightly screws on the valve, creating a leakproof seal.","After a trip to the paint shop, these high-pressure cylinders are ready to be filled and keep it all under control."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cotton","Rodeo Roping Chutes","Asian Noodles","Rotary Engines"]},"text":["The exact origins of the cotton plant are unknown, although archeologists have unearthed pieces of cotton cloth over 7,000 years old.","Through the centuries, cotton fiber was traditionally processed by hand until the first 18th century, when the first automated processing machine was invented.","Before cotton arrives at the textile mill to be spun into thread and woven into fabric, it makes the journey from field to bale.","Cotton takes about five months to grow from a planted seed to a ripe plant.","This harvesting machine, called a cotton picker, plucks fluffy seed cotton out of the plant's bowl, leaving a trail of burrs and sticks behind.","The machine empties the plucked cotton into a tractor-drawn buggy.","This machine builds the seed cotton into a humongous rectangular block called a module.","A truck transports the module to the processing plant, known as a cotton gin.","Once the cotton arrives to the processing plant, sticks and burrs are removed, as well as any lingering debris and seeds.","A truck dumps the module into a feeder, which moves the packed seed cotton into a dispenser.","The ground seed cotton falls onto a conveyor belt, which leads to the hot box.","The hot box mixes the seed cotton with hot air, which allows the moisture to evaporate, making the seed cotton easier to clean.","A machine called the wad buster breaks up the clumps of seed cotton by tossing it against a screen.","Loose debris falls through the screen openings, down a narrow shoot.","Then the seed cotton moves through a machine called the steady flow, which divides it equally between two processing lines.","On each line, the seed cotton enters a burr machine, which grabs the seed cotton with a circular saw and swings it against metal bars.","The centrifugal force shakes off the heavier debris.","The seed cotton exits the machine through one pipe, and the debris through another.","A large auger transfers the debris to a waste chute and out of the plant.","The seed cotton is ready for the final stage of processing.","A network of pipes feeds a row of machines called gin stands.","The gin stand separates the seed from the fluffy stuff, called the lint.","Inside each stand are 116 circular saws, which are arranged horizontally, each separated by a steel rib.","The saw teeth grab the seed cotton and pull the lint through the narrow gap between saw and rib.","The seed is too large to pass through, so it spins in front of the rib, then drops into a conveyor.","The lint goes into a flue which leads to the packing area.","Cotton seed is sold as livestock feed, particularly for dairy cows.","It contains 23% protein, 20% fat, and 25% fiber.","Cotton seed is also milled into cotton seed oil, a cooking oil that's a common ingredient in salad dressings and mayonnaise.","The cotton lint is now ready to be formed into bales.","Pipes feed the loose lint to the press area.","When it arrives, a pusher moves the lint into a machine called the tramper, which shoves it down into a bale-shaped box.","Once the box reaches 500 pounds of cotton lint, a press compacts the lint...","And tie-wraps the bale.","Next, a conveyor moves the bale to a bagging machine and past grippers, which pull a sample from each side.","While the bale slides into a protective plastic bag, the grippers deposit the sample into a bin.","Technicians label the bale with an i.d. number, then open the bin to retrieve the corresponding sample.","Then the sample is bagged and labeled with the bale i.d. number.","The factory submits the sample to the united states department of agriculture, where it's analyzed for fiber length, cleanliness, color, and other criteria.","Once the analysis is complete, the bale is given a grade and processed accordingly.","A roping chute is a temporary stall with a spring-loaded gate.","During roping competitions, livestock are placed in this holding device until the gate opens, releasing the steer.","The steer is given a head start while a professional rider follows on horseback while another steer enters the chute, ready for the next chase.","In a roping competition at the rodeo, the chute is the starting point and holding gate for the steer.","An operator opens the gate to release the animal into the arena, signaling the games to begin.","To make a roping chute, technicians start with a coil of steel.","The coil unwinds, moving between rollers.","The rollers form the coil into tubing that will be used for the chute's framework.","A constant flow of coolant prevents overheating and flushes away dirt and contaminants.","Next, the tubing travels through a welding operation.","Rollers close the gap, and a welder fuses the seam.","Then the tubing travels through a channel with flowing coolant.","Once out of the channel, a blade cuts it to size.","An operator loads the tubing into a rotary bending machine.","He activates the machine, which rotates to form rounded corners.","The operator makes two bends in the tubing, which creates the frame for a gate.","He will need to make two of these to complete the gate.","An automated shear cuts steel sheets, creating panels for the walls.","At the next station, a computerized laser cuts out parts on another steel sheet to make a control box.","The laser cuts holes for components and perforates the steel.","The perforations map out the locations for folds and make it easier to fold the steel.","Next, a technician works on parts called linkages, welding rivets to each end.","These linkages will connect the tailgate to the frame, allowing the gate to slide open.","The technician locks the tailgate frame in a fixture.","The fixture holds the frame steady as he welds one end of the linkages.","The other end is riveted.","The rivet has a head to allow a pivoting action as the gate slides open.","He welds steel panels to the tailgate.","They'll serve as shields, keeping the animal's legs protected from becoming trapped in the chute.","He also welds a shield to the threshold.","At the next station, another technician begins construction on the head gate.","He welds steel pipes to the upper part to create grating for ventilation.","He creates steel panel enclosures instead of more open grating to protect the animal's legs.","On the top of the two doors, he welds more paneling, which will keep the animal's head inside the gate when it's closed.","The roping chute's head gate is now complete.","It operates like a saloon door, swinging open to release the animal into the arena.","Next, the parts are placed in a welding jig.","One of the welders installs a release mechanism for the head gate while the other welds the tailgate to the sidebars.","At the front, the assembler adds a braking device that will keep the gate open when needed.","They align side panels to the frame...","And open the gates to gain access to the chute as they weld the panels to the frame.","This completes the structural components of the rodeo roping chute.","Springs are installed to support the opening and closing of the head gate.","The tension is adjusted accordingly.","Then the roping chute is immersed in vat of blue paint.","A crane lifts the chute out of the vat, and it's set aside to dry.","The operating levers are painted separately.","Once try, operators bold them to the release mechanism and brakes.","During a roping competition, the operator will turn the head gate levers to release the animal at specifically timed intervals.","Then, it's up to competing professionals to grab the bull by the horns as fast as they can.","The word noodle is derived from the german word nudel, but the food itself was invented in china as early as 4,000 years ago.","Even though cooking with noodles originated in china, cultures from around the globe have used noodles in an array of unique and tasty dishes.","Noodles seem simple.","They're just unleavened dough formed into different shapes and sizes and then cooked, but manufacturing them isn't as simple as you'd think.","Noodle recipes always start with flour.","At this facility, a food-processing technician pours wheat flour and water into a large mixer.","The technician makes sure the ratio equals 80.4% flour to 17% water.","The remaining 2.6% is salt.","The dough is flattened and rolled in a molding machine.","Once the molding machine has finished flattening and winding the dough into big rolls, they're set aside to mature.","Then each roll goes through this machine, called a calendar mill.","A calendar mill is a series of pressure rollers designed to reduce a material to a uniform thickness.","The dough is flattened and rolled six more times in the molding machine until it reaches its desired thickness.","The calendar mill quickly and accurately slices the dough into slender noodles before cutting them to 47 inches.","It's important for dough to mature.","This helps give it strength and elasticity.","The noodles fold over hangers and head to the next station.","A food-processing technician transfers seven hangers of noodles to one hanger, which is the appropriate density needed for the final maturation phase of noodle production.","The technician wheels the hangers into a device called a steam boiler.","The noodles will spend 3 1/2 hours steaming at temperatures up to 212 degree fahrenheit.","Once thoroughly steamed, the noodles are moved to a station to cool and dry for 24 hours before they're ready for packaging.","The workers who package these noodles are specially trained using a scale, which helps them determine how many noodles should be bundled together.","Once their training is complete, the technician can bundle the right quantity of noodles by eye.","This facility relies on a traditional, manual process to manufacture their noodle.","According to the facility, this allows workers an opportunity to closely inspect the quality of the noodles.","This facility also manufactures a dry noodle.","The process is nearly the same, except that rather than go through a maturation phase in a steam oven, these noodles dry, step by step, in a thermostatic room.","The production line manufactures the noodles at 45 inches before transferring them to small bins where large, stainless steel blades chop them down to 7 inches.","For these noodles, the manufacturers have added turmeric, a spice which provides both color and flavor and is also believed to have health benefits.","While this facility packages certain noodle varieties by hand, it also has a fully automated packaging line for other types of noodles.","Manufacturers produce different varieties of noodles based on customer demands.","They sell them packaged and in bundles.","This line is packaging them in 3-ounce bundles.","After thousands of years, people all over the world still can't get enough of eating a variety of dishes made up of noodles.","Throughout the 20th century, multiple versions of the rotary engine were manufactured.","Even though they were small, light, and fast, those produced had high fuel consumption and released large amounts of emissions.","Today, the rotary engine has been redesigned, revving up for a comeback.","The rotary engine that powers this go-kart is one-fifth the size and weight of the piston engine it has replaced.","With less to weigh it down in the engine department, this go-kart can gain some major speed.","This rotary engine aims to boost fuel efficiency and cut emissions.","Produced on a limited scale, this prototype is small enough to fit in a backpack.","The housing is made from a solid block of aluminum.","Computer models are used to generate the machining instructions.","Traditional rotary engines have an oblong shaped housing and a triangular rotor that spins within the interior.","This new design performs differently.","Computerized tools profile the triangular housing, creating combustion chambers on the inside and cooling fins on the outside.","They transform a solid hardened steel cylinder into a hollow crank shaft.","The cylinder turns in a lathe as a series of cutters sculpt it together, creating a hollow crankshaft that will funnel air and fuel into the engine.","Computerized tools mill a piece of steel to a precise geometry.","This peanut-shaped rotor is the heart of the rotary engine.","The rotor is immersed in de-ionized water as an electrified brass wire generates a spark that cuts into the steel.","This step forms a ridged hole in the center that will connect to a gear.","A technician inserts the pinion gear in a vessel which will engage with the ridged profile in the center of the rotor.","Then the technician fills the vessel with liquid nitrogen, which freezes to negative 374 degrees fahrenheit.","The liquid nitrogen causes the gear to shrink.","He transfers the frozen pinion gear to the rotor.","Using a press, he drives the pinion gear into the rotor to a specific depth.","As the pinion gear thaws to room temperature, it expands to its original size, allowing it to fit snugly in the rotor gear.","Another computerized machine carves into a piece of cast iron steel, held in the fixture by bolts.","This piece will be the seal for the engine.","The seal is sliver thin and tightly engineered.","It's a critical part that will keep the rotary engine's working chambers air-tight.","The seals will slide between the rotor and one of the engine's chrome-plated side plates.","An automated grinding wheel gives the side plate a level and mirrored finish.","Heating the side plate causes the center board to temporarily widen.","A technician inserts a bearing into the bore and, as it cools, it shrinks to the bearing.","The assembler inserts the crank shaft in the side cover.","He turns the assembly over and slides a ring gear into the cover.","He sets the fixture in an upright position and turns the crankshaft to confirm that it revolves smoothly.","He slides the rotor, equipped with one of the seals, onto the crankshaft.","Next, the technician assembles the housing to the motor...","And tests the rotation of the rotor.","As the rotor turns, it forms chambers where the combustion cycle will take place.","He slips a bearing and a counterweight onto the shaft, followed by a bell mouth.","The exhaust cover has three ports to release gasses.","The port in the center is the opening for the bell mouth.","The technician attaches an engine intake adaptor to the bell mouth.","After the components have been secured with bolts, a dynamometer machine runs the engine and measures its performance.","Capable of running on a variety of fuels, this new rotary engine is ready to start powering things."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Skateboard Wheels","Baklava & Galactoboureko","CO2 Scrubbers","Honeycomb Candles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","The invention of polyurethane skateboard wheels in the early 1970s suddenly made jumps and tight cornering possible because these wheels had a better grip on riding surfaces than the old metal or ceramic wheels.","They were more durable, and the shock absorption was greatly improved.","Skateboard wheels come in different sizes, hardness, colors and graphic designs.","For the rider, there are may practical and aesthetic considerations.","Making skateboard wheels starts with a computer design.","A designer uses the software to guide cutting tools.","The tools carve into a solid aluminum puck and transform it into one half of a wheel mold.","Next, the other half of the mold takes shape as the computerized tooling sculpts another puck to a profile that fits to the first one perfectly.","Not all of the skateboard wheel molds are two-part versions.","Others are one-piece structures, each with a pin in the center to form a bearing cavity.","A nozzle dispenses freshly mixed polyurethane liquid into the wheel molds.","The liquid starts to solidify immediately.","To complete the process, a worker loads the polyurethane-filled molds into an oven and bakes them at almost 240 degrees fahrenheit for 40 minutes.","During baking, any bubbles in the polyurethane rise to the top and are diffused, leaving solid forms with no weak spots.","Workers remove the pins from the molds.","Then it's on to the next station.","Here, a worker blasts compressed air between the wheels and the molds to pry the wheels free and pop them out.","Another worker probes the wheel using a durometer gauge to ensure the urethane has cured to the right degree of hardness.","If the sample wheel is sufficiently hard, the batch is ready for the next step.","The worker clamps the skateboard wheel in a lathe.","The lathe spins the wheel while an automatic cutter contours the edges to a softer, more rounded profile.","To give the skateboard wheels some visual impact, an artists selects and arranges graphic designs on a computer.","He prints a film negative of the images he's chosen.","A worker will use this negative to produce a printing plate from a piece of metal that's been coated with a light-sensitive substance known as emulsion.","He places the film negative on the plate inside a uv light chamber.","He closes the lid and activates the uv light.","This triggers a photochemical reaction that transfers the image from the negative to the plate.","The worker then applies a solution that removes unexposed emulsion and, in the process, etches the image into the printing plate.","He rinses off the chemicals.","Next, he dries the plate to reveal the etched artwork.","Another worker positions a magnetized ink cup overview the image and installs it in a pad printing machine.","An operator loads skateboard wheels onto posts that index them forward for printing.","The ink cup deposits ink on the printing plate.","A silicone pad picks up the inked image and stamps it onto the skateboard wheel.","The operator removes the printed wheel and sets it on a tray.","A technician now clamps one of the wheels in a testing device, which will gauge the rebound.","He drops a metal ball onto the wheel and measures how high it bounces or rebounds.","A high rebound is desirable.","These skateboard wheels are now cleared for shipping.","A worker wraps the wheels in plastic and heat shrinks it.","It takes about 3 days to make these skateboard wheels.","But how long they'll last depends a lot on the rider and how he or she rolls.","Galaktoboureko and baklava are traditional greek desserts.","Although several european and middle eastern countries have versions of baklava, most consist of filo pastry filled with nuts drenched in honey or syrup.","Galaktoboureko is filo filled with custard and coated with sweet syrup.","This variety of baklava called burma is made not with filo dough, like classic baklava, but with kataifi, shredded wheat dough.","Burma, like classic filo baklava, contains whole pistachios, never pistachio powder.","This burma chef pours granulated sugar over the pistachio kernels.","Next, he sprinkles rose water, although this ingredient is optional, then syrup made with sugar, water, cinnamon and nutmeg as well as lemon to prevent the sugar from later crystallizing.","He mixes by hand to thoroughly coat the kernels.","The kataifi is made of all-purpose flour, milk and water.","The chef lays out a section of dough, then takes a handful of pistachio filling and places it on the dough, forming a line running down the middle.","For a burma loaf this size, the filling is about an inch wide and high.","He folds the end closed and rolls the dough at an angle down the length of the burma, tightly encasing the filling as he goes.","At the end, he folds the opposite end closed.","It takes a burma chef months to perfect this technique.","He places it on a tray to air-dry for 24 hours to ensure the dough maintains its rolled shape.","Unlike classic baklava, which is baked, burma is fried.","And the risk of burning the pistachios makes this the most technically challenging type of baklava to make.","The chef fries the loaves for 3 minutes in oil heated to around 350 degrees fahrenheit, turning them once per minute.","He lets the oil drain off for half an hour.","Then, he pours warm caramelized sugar over the loaves and lets them soak for 20 minutes.","The sugar-to-water ratio and the boiling time of the caramelized sugar have to be just right.","Otherwise, it will become either too hard or to gooey when it cools.","After letting the excess drain off, the loaves rest for about 3 hours.","Then the chef rolls the loaf to flatten out the bumps and slices it into equal pieces.","But if there's a protracted battle waging between your sweet tooth and your willpower, you've got plenty of time to work your way through a box of burma because it stays fresh for 2 weeks.","To make galaktoboureko, the chef begins with two ingredients, milk and semolina.","After bringing the milk to a boil, he gradually adds the semolina while whisking and lowering the temperature.","Once the mix thickens, he sets it aside to cool.","In a separate bowl, the chef whisks eggs, adds vanilla, then lemon or orange rind.","Other options are orange blossom or rose water extract.","He transfers the ingredients to an electric mixer, adds butter and sugar.","Then he adds the semolina and milk mixture.","This mixture must be cool so that the eggs don't cook.","Once everything is thoroughly blended, the galaktoboureko custard is ready.","The chef now turns his attention to the filo dough.","He stacks 24 parchment-thin sheets of filo and slices them into squares.","He places one scoopful of custard in the center of each square.","The traditional greek way is to roll the squares or bake a large galaktoboureko in a pan and then cut it into squares.","However, this chef folds over each square to make lebanese-style triangles.","He douses the top with clarified butter, butter that's been boiled to separate out the solids and leave just the oil.","Then he bakes the pastries for 45 minutes at 325 degrees fahrenheit.","The golden-baked top shines thanks to the clarified butter.","The chef cooks the same syrup he made for the baklava, sugar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon and generously drizzles the mixture all over the galaktobourekos.","He sprinkles on cinnamon for traditional flavor and some crushed pistachios for decoration.","The annual apple harvest is just 2 months long.","To keep apples fresh in storage for several months, growers lower the storeroom oxygen level to put the apples into hibernation.","Then they use machines called co2 scrubbers to absorb and remove the carbon dioxide gas the apples give off.","This co2 scrubber pulls air from the airtight apple storage room through carbon pellets, which absorb the co2 gas molecules.","The machine then blows the co2-free air back into the room.","Workers build the machine's frame out of tubular steel.","The frame supports all the components, including two sealed vessels filled with carbon pellets.","The first vessel starts absorbing co2, a process called scrubbing, until its pellets are saturated.","Then the second vessel takes over the scrubbing.","The first vessel automatically kicks into a regeneration cycle, which blows fresh air through the pellets to remove the co2 molecules and exhaust them out the building.","When the second vessel's pellets max out, vessel one resumes scrubbing while vessel two regenerates.","To construct each vessel, workers weld a steel sheet into a circular shape, then weld on a base and a top ring.","The ring has holes along its perimeter for bolting on a lid.","They use a ring template to make corresponding holes in the lid, making the exact center of each hole with a punch tool.","Then a worker mounts the lid on a fixture and following those marks, uses an automated steel punch to perforate the steel.","The vessels go to the paint booth for a coat of powder paint, then into an oven to bake the paint.","When they come out, the vessels are ready to be filled with carbon pellets and sealed.","Once filled to the top, workers lay in a steel baffle.","Its holes evenly distribute air passing through the vessel.","A worker then places a foam rubber gasket around the perimeter and bolts on the lid tightly.","This seals the vessel and prevents the air being blown through it from leaking out.","The sealed lid also prevents oxygen from getting into the machine and from there into the apple storage room.","Next, workers install the pvc piping that feeds air through the vessels along with two blowers.","One blower pulls air from the apple storage room into the machine for scrubbing.","The other sends it back to the room after scrubbing.","The air flow through the pipes is controlled by valves, which are wired to the machine's electrical panel.","That electrical panel, consisting of relays, pumps, gas analyzers and a touch screen, is built in-house in accordance with the required electrical standards of the customer's country.","The panel is wired to a computer which controls the entire operation.","Then a worker installs an electrical box into the machine's frame.","And he installs the electrical panel inside the box.","Next, the worker connects the wires to the valves, installs the touch screen and hooks it up to the computer.","The touch screen lets the machine's operator program oxygen and co2 target levels specific to the type of apple stored in the room.","This is critical, as different varieties of apples give off more co2 than others.","How does it all work?","The grower stacks bins of apples in an airtight storeroom.","A nitrogen generator feeds in nitrogen to reduce the room's oxygen level to 1.8%.","When that happens, the nitrogen feed automatically stops, and the continuous co2 scrubbing automatically begins.","Many growers have in-house labs which conduct quality control tests on samples taken from each lot of scrubbed apples coming out of storage.","No apples would pass these tests after the 2-month harvest season if not for the co2 scrubbers.","Co2 scrubbers lengthen an apple's freshness by about 8 months, making it possible to bite into crispy apples year-round.","Honeycomb candles are glowing reminders of the cleverness of the honeybee.","These candles are embossed with a hexagonal pattern that mimics the cell structures bees build to store their honey.","And interestingly, these candles are actually made from the wax foundation sheets used for beekeepers' hive frames.","Honeycomb candles create a certain ambiance.","They shine brightly.","And the hexagonal pattern that's borrowed from the bees adds visual interest.","The candle makers start with beeswax that has had the impurities filtered out and has been bleached.","A worker first pours the beeswax into a big gas-heated kettle until it melts.","It only takes around 1/10 of an ounce of powdered dye to tint the big vat of wax.","He measures the amount carefully.","The worker adds the dye and, as it dissolves in the liquid beeswax, he stirs it to distribute it evenly.","He then opens a valve, and the wax flows into a trough beneath a large drum.","This drum is cooled by a system of chillers.","As it rotates, it picks up the wax.","And the wax solidifies on contact with the drum's cool surface.","The system then pulls the wax sheets through a narrow aperture to squeeze it thinner.","At this point, the consistency of the wax is similar to that of taffy.","But unlike taffy, it's not very sticky, so the layers don't adhere when rolled onto a shaft.","The next member of the team now prepares a bath of warm water and soap.","He then loosens up the coil of beeswax by hand.","The roll slackens.","The wax layers separate, leaving spaces between them.","He immerses the wax in warm water.","And it flows between the layers.","The warm water softens the edges as a thinning machine reduces the thickness of the wax by half.","Using blocks of ice, the operator then cools the softened wax to firm it up again.","He constantly adds liquid soap for lubrication.","This keeps the beeswax moving through the thinning machine and prevents snags.","Using a measuring instrument called a caliper, he gauges the thickness of the wax to confirm that it's 0.16 of a centimeter.","Next, the operator removes the roll of beeswax from the thinning machine spindle and transfers it to the spindle for the next machine.","This machine pulls the wax through a bath of icy water to firm it up even more.","This will top the wax from sticking to embossing rollers that now impress the hexagonal pattern onto it.","Each of the embossing rollers is studded with 3,500 hexagonal-shaped rivets.","They stamp the pattern onto both sides of the wax.","A blade slices the embossed beeswax into sheets that are 16 inches in length.","The sheets pass under another roller.","And this one propels them off the track.","The sheets are briefly airborne and then, they land in a neat stack.","To make them into candles, another member of the team cuts the sheets to the desired length and width.","The dimensions will vary depending on the size of the candles to be made.","Leftover remnants will be melted down to make new candles.","These beeswax sheets are now ready to be rolled by hand.","The candle maker places a cotton wick on one edge of the sheet.","She then wraps the wax around the wick, applying gentle pressure as she works.","She presses the layers firmly together because the tighter the roll, the longer the candle will burn.","At room temperature, the wax is warm, so the layers of the candle adhere.","Finally, she packages them in plastic cellophane and applies all the necessary labels.","These honeycomb beeswax candles are now ready to light up a space and help set the mood.","They should burn for 8 or 9 hours or until it's time to call it a night."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Stainless Steel","Football Helmets","Resin Figurines","Laboratory Glassware"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" stainless steel...","Football helmets...","Resin figurines...","And laboratory glassware.","Stainless steel was invented in the early part of the 20th century.","The key ingredient is chrome, which forms a protective oxide film on the surface.","Originally called nonrusting steel, it amazed consumers because it didn't need to be polished and today, the concept hasn't lost its luster.","Stainless steel is made to look shiny and new even though it starts from scrap.","Old stainless steel is recycled to make new, giving trashed sinks, pots, and other refuse a new lease on life.","Tons of scrap steel are fed into a roaring furnace along with chrome and nickel alloys for added strength and rust-proofing.","Enormous electrodes heat the mix to the melting point, creating a dramatic fireworks display in the process.","After several hours, the molten mix goes into a refining furnace.","Pipes blast in argon gas and oxygen, converting some impurities to gas and causing others to float to the surface for easy removal.","A technician regularly checks the temperature and takes samples to make sure the chemistry is right.","A bit more scrap is added to bulk up the mixture as it melts.","The scrap also causes a chemical reaction that helps to fuel the refiner.","The bubbling steel soup now flows out of the refining furnace.","Rollers guide it as it's cast into a long mold.","The result is a 75-yard-long ribbon of steel.","Torches cut it into shorter chunks called slabs.","A worker writes identification information on each one using chalk designed for hot surfaces.","Then, the slabs are hoisted over to another station to await further processing.","After this break in production, the slabs are reheated to soften them up for more processing.","By now, a rusty scale has accumulated on the steel surface.","Workers pressure wash it away without cooling the hot metal.","The slab shoots back and forth through a machine with rollers.","A constant spray cools the rollers as they stretch the steel longer and thinner.","It's now over 650 yards long, the length of a couple of city blocks.","A spray of water cools the stretched steel a little, but not too much because it needs to be soft and flexible enough for coiling.","This spool coils the strip tightly like a roll of toilet paper.","Then, the roll is transferred to another station.","Here, the steel goes into a hot acid wash that removes the scale that's built up since the last cleaning.","Burners in this machine also heat the steel, then slowly cool it.","This relieves stress in the metal, softening it for further processing.","The steel is now unwound into a machine that rolls it to the customer's specified thickness.","Rolling the metal when it's cold also hardens it and closes its surface pores, making it shine.","After one last cleaning, the stainless steel strips are gleaming and the chrome in the steel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form that rust-preventing oxide film.","Finally, rotating knives trim the edges and slit the steel to various widths, again, to meet customer's specifications.","This job is now done, and it's a brilliant finish indeed.","Up next, meet the starting lineup at a football helmet factory.","Football helmets cushion the cranium, helping players score touchdowns without sustaining head injuries.","Helmets have been part of the sport for over a century.","First made of leather, then padded plastic, they keep the end zone from becoming a danger zone.","In a game of tackles and tumbles, a helmet is essential equipment.","To make one, plastic pellets are suctioned into a machine that melts and molds them into a dome shape.","This fist-like device shapes the inside of the shell, which hardens in just a matter of seconds.","A robot then collects it and transfers it to a conveyor.","It's quite a lineup.","The shells move into position for a trimming, and the extra plastic from the molding is clipped off.","Next, a robot drills up to nine holes in the shell.","The holes will be used to attach a liner, face guard, and various pieces of hardware.","This robot works far more quickly than a human can, performing all the drilling in just 30 seconds.","This is the ultimate in computerized precision.","A worker collects the drilled shell and moves a new one into position for the robot.","The outside of the helmet shell is roughed up with an orbital sander.","This preps it for priming and painting.","This factory uses a high-grade brand of automotive paint, and it takes three coats to make sure this paint job is rugged enough to survive a go on the gridiron.","The helmets cure in the open air for up to 18 hours.","During this time, a chemical reaction hardens the paint to a glossy finish.","Not every helmet is painted.","Some teams prefer tinted plastic.","It all depends on the look the team is going for.","Labels are attached, including safety information, trademark logos and the date of production.","This padding is made of vinyl and foam.","Workers snap it in place in the crown of the helmet.","The padding for the side and back is made of the same material.","The back is reinforced with a plastic bumper.","A helmet from each production run undergoes an impact test.","It's fitted on a head-shaped form equipped with sensors which are carefully calibrated.","The technician presses a button and the helmeted head falls.","This mimics the effect of a player's head hitting the ground during a tackle.","The computer then measures the force of the impact on the head.","Once the production run gets the okay, the face guard is attached.","It's made of plastic-coated steel and has been custom produced at a different factory.","There are dozens of face guard styles for the player to choose from.","This helmet is now looking pretty fierce.","But it's not ready for action yet.","It needs a chin strap and cup.","This machine uses heat to transfer a foil logo onto the polyester chin straps.","It also cuts them to the correct length.","Once a chin cup has been sewn to the strap, the assembly is loosely fastened to the helmet.","Later, it will be precisely fitted to the player's head.","This helmet is now almost ready for kickoff.","There's a final inspection and then they wrap it up, complete with the manual and fitting instructions.","It's taken less than a day to manufacture a football helmet that can withstand thousands of blows.","Because in the game of football, protection against head injury is a victory in itself.","When we return, bringing resin figurines to life.","Figurines are made of many materials, from porcelain to plaster to resin-- not the kind that comes from trees, but a synthetic resin, a kind of plastic.","It's affordable, lightweight, and easy to use, making it the material of choice for many artists and craftsmen.","Each figurine in this collection is cast from a mold of the original sculpture, then hand painted.","This character is a 19th-century federal marshal.","Working from period photographs of her subject, the artist makes a sketch she'll use as a model.","She needs plastic-based clay so it's easier to sculpt.","She works on the facial features, constantly referring to the photographs.","She usually starts with the figure's head and then adds it to the body.","She works from more photographs to create his rifle.","It's a delicate piece, so she sculpts it separately before setting it onto the figure.","Bearing the artist's signature, it's now ready for casting.","First, the sculpture bakes for 30 minutes at 275 degrees to harden.","Then, workers cover it with a thin layer of releasing agent so it won't stick to the production mold they're about to make.","They place a wall around the piece, tightly seal the base to prevent leaks, then pour in the silicone rubber mix.","In two days, the rubber hardens enough to hold the shape of the sculpture, but is still flexible enough that workers can remove the original artwork without damage.","After removing the retaining wall, suction is used to gently pull the piece from the mold which retains the sculpture's shape down to every last detail.","Now, figurine production can begin.","Workers fill the mold with a mixture of resin and flour made from ground pecan shells.","This colors the resin and makes it stronger.","The mixture sets in less than an hour and out comes the first of many figurines, an exact replica of the original artwork.","The base is sanded to level it.","Then, it's stamped with the figurine's name, i.d. number, and copyright information.","Resin is an ideal material for casting because it captures all the details of the original artwork.","It creates lightweight, durable reproductions that can be finished in a variety of ways.","Here the first artist coats the figurine's broad areas with acrylic paint.","Working color by color, she uses various brushes depending on the area she's painting.","She finishes up with the smaller details.","Then, she passes the figurine on to the next artist.","This second artist fills in the facial features and other fine details.","She starts with the whites of the eyes, then views the figurines from all angles to make sure she hasn't overlooked any tiny details.","Her fine brushwork on the facial features is what truly bring this figurine to life.","Bass reeves, u.s. marshal, is just one figurine in this series that proudly honors the contribution of african-americans in shaping the history of the united states.","Once marshal reeves passes inspection, workers wrap him up in protective bubble plastic.","Each piece in the series comes with a certificate of authenticity bearing the artist's signature as well as the name and life story of the person the figurine portrays.","Collecting this set of resin figurines isn't just for the knickknack lover.","This is indeed affordable art for the history buff, small-scale figures that pay a large-scale tribute to african-americans pioneers.","Coming up, behind the scenes of a real test-tube birth.","Their size, shape and function run the gamut, ranging from beakers and test tubes to petri dishes and vials.","Mixing, measuring, storing, or sampling is all in a day's work for a piece of laboratory glassware, built to withstand even the most potent of chemical concoctions.","Many scientific breakthroughs are born inside laboratory glassware, the containers scientists use to hold samples for chemical experiments.","The glassware starts off as thin glass tubing stacked by size, weight, length, and diameter.","Workers select the correct size for the culture tubes they're about to make and place them in a magazine.","As it spins, it drops a tube into each slot on a cutting bed.","Then comes the flame.","When the heated tubing contacts the wet steel blade, the thermal shock results in a clean separation of the glass.","The tubes get a second thermal shock treatment which cuts them to length.","Then it's on to the glazing bed.","A glazing burner shoots out 1,200-degree flames.","The heat melts each tube at one end, forming a lip called the glass bead.","Just two seconds of heat splits the tubes in half and forces the glass bottom of each tube to close in on itself.","The finishing fire smooths out the closure.","Then, a small amount of air is shot into the open end of the tube to form its round bottom.","Now, the tubes head into an annealing oven side by side.","They bake for about 15 minutes at 1,200 degrees.","This strengthens the glass so it will better resist cracking.","The heat also sterilizes the tubes.","Once the tubes cool, workers collect and pack them.","Here they're making pipettes, long tubes that labs use to transfer fluids.","A flame heats the glass to form an indentation which determines the flow rate through the pipette.","A wider flame then heats the glass, making it soft and malleable.","Large rollers tug at the sides, drawing the soft glass to form the pipette's tip.","Now, for the other end of the pipette.","Thermal shock is used to cut it to length and again, a glazing burner forms a glass bead along the rim.","A cutting wheel slices through the tip end, creating two tubes of identical length.","This production line makes vials.","These gizmos, called top turrets, feed large glass tubes into a machine.","First, a punch-out burner heats the end of the tube to create an opening.","Then, a steel pin widens the hole on the upper part of the vial.","A forming dye squeezes the heated glass to sculpt the shoulder while a steel plug rises from the bottom to open the vial even wider.","Then, a second forming dye shapes the neck.","Next, a parting burner splits the vial into two.","A bottom turret plucks the newly created half and draws out the soft glass to lengthen it.","Fingers inside the turret prevent the glass from breaking.","All that's left now is shaping the bottom of the vial.","A burner forms a concave base in less than a second.","The vials now slide down to what's called an after-former machine.","Here, suction cups lift and place each vial into metal grooves on a printer bed.","It's a basic silk-screening process with a squeegee pushing paint through the screen's holes onto the vial.","Grippers place the vials on a rack headed for the oven where they'll bake for about 20 minutes.","Finally, a robotic arm whisks the finished vials to packaging.","From there, it's off to a blood bank, a hospital, or chemistry class."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Handcrafted Skis","Septic Tanks","Hydroformed Chassis Parts","Aquarium Windows"]},"text":["You can buy mass-produced skis from a large company, or you could choose to purchase a handcrafted set from a small independent.","It's a matter of preference-- much like drinking beer produced by a major brewery versus a microbrewery.","In fact, many ski-buying guides call small, independent brands microbrews.","Handmade skis typically feature exclusive designs with high-end craftsmanship.","They're produced in limited quantities by small, independent companies.","This maker builds the core of the ski from two types of wood-- colorado aspen and colorado pine.","They're harvested from trees killed by pine beetles.","Workers glue together 8 to 10 pieces, depending on the width of the ski.","The pieces form a laminated block that's structurally stronger than a solid piece of wood.","They clamp the block in a press for two hours while the glue dries.","After they remove the block from the press, they use a band saw to cut off strips.","Each strip will be the core of a ski.","One block typically makes six ski cores.","Next, they shape the ski cores with a router, using a template underneath the ski contour.","They apply a blowtorch to strips of ultra-high molecular-weight plastic to make it bondable.","Then they coat the plastic with epoxy and adhere a strip of it to each side of the ski core.","This forms a sturdy sidewall to protect the core from side impact.","After the epoxy sets, they saw 6 inches off the front and back of the ski.","With a hand planer, they taper the thickness of the ends.","Then they heat the sidewalls again to prep them for bonding.","But first, workers glue a plastic core called a tipspacer to the front of the wood core.","This holds the parts together during construction.","Then they use a hand-crank die machine to die-cut the brand name and logo into a strip of ultra-high molecular-weight plastic.","They die-cut the same letters in white, then place them in the black cutout strip.","This is the ski's base.","Now they can begin constructing the skis.","They take a left and right base and spread epoxy over the entire surface.","They lay down a layer of epoxy-saturated fiberglass and position the ski core on top.","Then they spread epoxy on the core and tipspacers, as well as lay extra fiberglass where the bindings will be installed.","They position steel plates for mounting the bindings, then cover the entire ski with another layer of fiberglass.","Finally, they add a nylon top sheet printed with a graphic design.","They cover the assembly with a series of metal sheets and silicone heating blankets, then place everything in a custom-design ski press.","When workers activate the press, rubber air bladders inflate, pressing the wood into a ski shape.","35 minutes later, the skis come out of the press.","A worker separates them with a band saw.","Using a jigsaw, they trim the tip and tail.","The saw leaves a rough edge, so workers sand the entire perimeter.","Then they taper and bevel the sidewall.","This gives the skis a better edge grip on snow.","The final step is to peel off the film that has been protecting the nylon top throughout construction.","These handmade skis come in several different styles, shapes, and sizes.","All they need now are bindings.","Then it's all downhill from here.","Septic tanks are the perfect sewage-treatment solution for houses that aren't connected to a sewage network.","The tank collects and treats domestic wastewater using a bacterial process to decompose waste.","It filters the dirty water before recycling it back into the ground.","Septic tanks are usually made of concrete and have access covers on top.","The waste-treatment process takes place in separate chambers inside the tank.","Steel bars called rebars reinforce the concrete structure of the tank.","A welder assembles the rods to form a cage.","Then he spot-welds the rebar with a mig welding torch.","The welded cage will maintain the structural integrity of the concrete septic tank.","The welder measures the cage's diagonals to make sure it's straight.","Next, the worker places rebar spacers to keep the cage centered in the mold and leveled on the floor.","A crane lowers the cage into a custom formwork made of high-strength steel plates.","Workers close the walls around the form and secure them in place with heavy-duty locks.","The crane lowers machined steel cores to form the interior walls of the tank chambers.","A rigid plastic tube is inserted inside a rubber sleeve to create a flow hole between chambers.","Using an acetylene torch, a worker cuts holes in the rebar for access openings.","The mold allows concrete to flow over the rebar and embed the access-opening covers in the septic-tank lid.","Workers pour over 1,300 gallons of wet concrete into the mold.","They use a stick vibrator to eliminate air pockets and level the walls with a putty knife.","Next, they mix more concrete and pour it over the top-slab rebar.","Concrete blocks are used to keep the plastic covers from floating in the wet concrete.","While one worker pours the concrete in the mold, the other consolidates the mixture with a vibrating stick.","Then a worker levels the top of the slab with a trowel.","Once the concrete tank is cured, workers strip the forms.","They remove the concrete tank using an overhead crane and a compressed-air system, which forces the mold away from the concrete tank.","The crane takes the stripped core away for cleanup.","A worker brushes the top of the walls and sweeps the floor inside the tank.","Then he applies a butyl-rubber tape around the top of the exterior wall.","This forms a watertight seal between the tank and the lid.","An overhead crane lifts the lid out of the formwork and brings it to the tank mold.","The crane slowly lowers the lid onto the tank.","Workers keep it aligned to make sure it seals properly.","Then they label the tank to indicate its capacity.","Next, the mold is opened, revealing a finished septic tank.","The rubber sleeve molded into the wall ensures a watertight connection between the pipe carrying waste from the home and the tank.","This tank is now ready for delivery.","They set the tank in the ground at the client's home using a radio-remote-controlled knuckle-boom crane.","A septic tank like this will provide a three-bedroom house with a fully independent sewage system.","Building a vehicle begins with the chassis.","Chassis used to be made out of welded-steel parts that were very heavy and lowered fuel efficiency.","But thanks to a manufacturing process called hydroforming, steel chassis parts are now much lighter and stronger.","Years ago, this suspension-system component would have been made by stamping a number of parts out of heavy steel, then welding them together.","But today, the same component is made out of a single steel tube at a hydroforming plant.","A solid tube is stronger than welded parts, allowing the component to be made out of lighter steel.","The first step is to insert the steel tube in a computer-guided machine called a rotary draw bender.","The machine inserts a mandrel to prevent the tube walls from collapsing.","Then it bends the tube into a starting shape for the part.","This operation may look effortless, but the machine's hydraulics must generate nearly 9 tons of pressure to bend the steel.","After several bends, the part has its starting shape.","The hydroforming process begins when a robot places the tube in a press for preliminary shaping.","This is called preforming.","The press forces the tube against a die to prepare it for the hydroforming mold.","Here's the tube before preforming...","And after.","Next, a robot places the steel tube in a part mold that's already mounted on the hydroforming press.","The machine fills the tube with water and seals the ends to trap the liquid inside.","Then the machine closes the mold and raises the water pressure to 20,000 p.s.i.-- more than 600 times the air pressure in a car tire.","The high pressure softens the steel tube, allowing it to conform to the shape of the mold cavity.","When the press opens, a robot removes the now-fully-formed part from the mold.","The hydroforming press even punched holes in it for screws and bolts.","Next, a robot transfers the part to a circular saw, which cuts the component in half.","This creates mirror-image right and left suspension parts.","The saw left sharp edges on the ends of the part, so a worker smoothes them out with a handheld grinder.","Then they inspect the parts by putting them in a specially designed dimension-verification fixture.","They use tools called precise-diameter spheres to make sure the clearances between each part meet specifications.","If the parts pass inspection, they're shipped to the assembly plant.","There, workers position these parts and adjacent suspension parts in an assembly jig.","An automated machine welds them together.","Then a worker positions the next part and welds it to the rear-suspension unit.","He repeats this process until the entire assembly is complete.","To make the suspension unit corrosion-resistant, they apply a chemical coating which is bonded to the steel with an electrical charge.","Once the coating dries, automated machines insert bushings for parts that will be installed on the suspension later.","Bushings are rubber or polyurethane pieces that go in between two metal components to absorb shock and reduce noise.","Workers put the finished rear suspension into a shipping cradle for delivery to the auto plant.","At the plant, assembly-line workers install springs and shock absorbers.","They also mount struts, wheels, and brakes.","Then they install the entire unit on the vehicle.","Hydroforming allows auto manufacturers the ability to produce chassis parts in shapes impossible to achieve by the older method of stamping steel and reduces the weight of the car.","Acrylic aquarium windows are designed to be transparent.","But they also need to be virtually indestructible and able to hold back several hundred gallons of water.","Some of the largest ones are built to withstand repeated hits from sharks or other big fish that are swimming around inside the tank.","Acrylic aquarium windows can be molded into different shapes and sizes.","They can also be made to various thicknesses.","Round, flat, or just slightly curved, these windows are worth looking into, because they offer close-up views of aquatic ecosystems.","Each acrylic window starts with an engineer's design.","He takes into account the anticipated water volume and the type of marine life to be housed in the tank.","Next, a technician measures specific amounts of chemicals to be added to the acrylic.","Two are strengthening agents and another is a u.v.-light stabilizer to counteract the damaging effects of the sun's rays.","After the chemicals have been mixed with the binding agent, they add them to a small amount of acrylic.","This premix will be added to a much larger amount of acrylic later.","They blend in some dye to offset the yellowish tone that's common in acrylic.","The result is a homogenous mixture with a syrupy consistency.","Using a crane, they bring two halves of a steel mold together and place them on supports.","Once the walls of the mold are in place, they lock them together with bolts.","The final acrylic mixture is ready.","It now flows into the mold cavity.","A thermostat for heat coils located in the walls is activated.","They roll the mold into an autoclave.","The acrylic slowly bakes under pressure to ensure a consistent cure.","It takes five days for the acrylic to turn into a solid slab.","An employee monitors the temperature readings daily.","Once the acrylic cures, they slice a piece off and bend it with a hydraulic tool until it breaks.","If the piece can withstand 14,000 pounds per square inch without breaking, it passes the test.","At another station, they test the elasticity of the acrylic.","They do a few more compression tests to prove that the acrylic holds strong under heavy pressure.","After testing, they're ready to cut the acrylic slab.","Acrylic shrinks unevenly during the curing process, so they need to cut it to the desired size and shape afterwards.","As you can see, aquarium windows are a lot thicker than normal windows.","To make a contoured aquarium window, they lower a flat acrylic slab onto a curved molding bed.","Then they heat it in an oven for up to a month.","This causes the acrylic to soften and conform to the rounded shape of the molding bed.","Once again, they've made the slab oversized to account for the distortion and shrinkage that can occur during the curing process.","A worker cuts the curved slab to the engineer's specifications.","He cuts off big chunks.","They're so heavy that it takes three people to carry them away.","They test the optical clarity of each window.","To do this, a worker on one side of the window moves a grid pattern around while a worker on the other side scrutinizes the grid lines for distortion.","Satisfied that the aquarium window offers a clear view, they clean and polish it thoroughly.","They'll do a final clean after the window is installed on-site.","The time it takes to manufacture an aquarium window depends on the complexity of its design and the window's thickness.","Some can be produced in as little as four weeks.","No matter how long it takes, there's no doubt that the views will be well worth the wait."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Replica Foods","Traffic Cone Dispensers","Rocking Horses","London Taxis"]},"text":["This meal may look delicious, but it actually tastes like plastic.","This is fake food.","It's not for tasting--  it's for tempting.","Restaurants and food stores use these imitations to entice customers.","Fake food is also used as props in movies and tv because the camera loves it.","This fake food will keep that fresh-cooked look forever.","That means there will be no waste from the restaurant display case.","These authentic-looking fakes start out with the real thing.","In this case, it's a sea bass.","The worker blots up excess oil from the skin.","He then uses an adhesive to glue the fish to the base of a wooden box.","Next, he immerses the fish in liquid silicone.","24 hours later, after the silicone is set, he breaks open the box and removes the fish.","This detailed silicone negative can now be used to mold exact replicas of the original fish.","They preheat the mold until it's warm to the touch.","This kick-starts the curing of this liquid plastic, which they pour into the mold.","Once the mold is filled, they zap it in a microwave oven for 45 seconds.","It solidifies the plastic significantly, but it still needs a bit more curing, so the worker transfers it to a conveyor.","It carries the mold under a lamp, whose intense energy completes the curing of the plastic.","The worker now extracts the mold and plastic replica.","Spillover from the molding has created a few ragged edges, so he trims them with a pair of scissors...","Then grinds the edges to smooth away the rest.","He also uses the grinder to do some contouring.","Now for the real artistry.","The worker sprays silvery paint onto the plastic bass.","It gives the fish scales a lifelike, luminous texture.","A bit of dark-gray paint brings out the silvery undercoat.","Brown paint on the tail and fins make them look more realistic.","Using an artist's brush, he paints the eyes.","He brushes on fine lines that look like natural creases and adds some other typical sea-bass markings.","A coat of lacquer keeps the paint from chipping and makes the sea bass look moist.","Now the sea bass will always look like the catch of the day.","And unlike a real fish, it won't start to decompose.","At this faux-food factory, there are 3,500 molds.","Each one can be used hundreds of times and will produce an exact copy of the original every time.","For things like meat and potatoes, they add color to the liquid plastic before they do the molding.","This reduces the amount of painting they'll need to do later.","It takes some trial and error to get the pigments just right, but when they do, this fake meal looks good enough to eat.","They drizzle the beef and side dishes with gravy-colored glue that makes the fake food adhere to the plate.","Now that they've pulled this meal together, it should never come apart.","It takes a couple of days to produce all these dishes, but it should be worth it because, compared to real food, it will last forever.","Traffic cones create a necessary diversion.","They keep drivers away from dangerous situations.","But sending workers out onto the highway to set up those cones can be a perilous job.","Now there's an automated machine that both dispenses and collects cones to keep everyone out of harm's way.","The automated traffic cone dispenser goes where some might fear to tread-- the middle of the highway.","Its robotic arm swings back and forth for a speedy deployment of traffic cones.","To make one, workers slide three big metal disks onto a shaft and space them evenly apart.","They pull a string from disk to disk to confirm all three are aligned.","Once they're in place, a worker welds the disks to the shaft.","They reinforce this installation job with several braces, welding five to each disk at the point where it meets the shaft.","They spin the shaft and inspect the work.","Next, they install the tracks that will shuttle the traffic cones to the robotic arm.","They weld 13 of them to the disks.","The framework for the automatic traffic cone dispenser is now complete, so it's over to the paint booth.","They prime and paint it bright yellow, so it will be clearly visible on the highway.","Here, a technician then assembles the main control panel.","It's the brains behind the cone-dispensing robot.","The technician connects cables that deliver power to the motors.","He installs a series of switches and relays that will activate the motors that rotate the drum, swing the robotic arm, and deliver the traffic cones.","Finally, he tests the circuit breakers to confirm that all systems are go.","Down the production line, this worker attaches the gripper to the arm.","A pivot bolt allows the gripper to open and close, and this chain will keep it pointed downward, so it's always in position to deploy a traffic cone.","He tightens the turnbuckles and then checks the chain's tension.","He swings the arm to confirm that it and the gripper move freely.","Now he installs the transmission for the motor that will move this robotic arm.","Finally, he snaps a retainer ring onto the transmission shaft.","Two workers then carry a heavy extender mechanism over to the gripper arm and bolt the mechanism to it.","This extender will both support the arm and allow it to move easily from one side of the dispenser to the other.","A sensor device, called an encoder, will keep track of the gripper arm's position when it's moving.","The technician then installs the motor that will power the gripper arm to oscillate and deploy the traffic cones.","Once the gripper arm has been attached to the cone dispenser, they mount the whole unit on a trailer, with the main control box on the front.","They adjust the settings for traffic-cone deployment and put the machine through all its paces.","This test run ensures that all the parts are functioning properly.","A technician tweaks the machine's computer program to fine-tune the drop-off coordinates.","After all, releasing the cones too soon could cause them to topple.","Every automatic cone dispenser undergoes a road test on the open highway to confirm that it will perform in real conditions.","The driver activates it from the safety of the truck cab, while the robotic system is at center line, doing all the lifting and taking all the risks.","If they find a problem now, they'll send it back to the factory for modifications, but this machine handles the drop-offs and pickups with precision, and that means it's ready for traffic duty.","The ancestors of toy rocking horses may be the wooden horses on wheels of the middle ages, on which knights would practice their jousting skills.","Child-sized wooden horses on bow-shaped rockers emerged in england and germany in the 1700s, when queen victoria famously had dapple-gray rocking horses made for her children.","This rocking-horse company in the u.k. handcrafts antique reproductions and originals.","Some have traditional bow rockers, but most glide back and forth on a safety stand.","The horses are made of durable hardwoods, such as oak, maple, and tulipwood.","After cutting off knots and other defects, workers run each piece through a ripsaw, slicing off the rough and discolored wood directly under the bar.","Then they cut the pieces into 12-inch-wide blocks, and with a planer, slice off a thin layer of wood.","This makes the surfaces nice and smooth.","These are the blocks with which they'll construct the horse's main body.","To make the legs, an artisan lays a template on an as-yet-unplaned piece of wood and traces it.","Then he cuts along the trace line with a band saw and runs the leg through the planer.","Each leg has a protruding piece on top called a tenon that fits into a slot called a mortise beneath the main body.","To build the body, they roll glue onto the body blocks and assemble one to the other, building a large rectangular box with a hole at the center.","This hole reduces the horse's weight and relieves structural stress.","In some models, the hole also serves as a secret locking compartment.","After clamping the assembly and letting it set for 24 hours, they coat each leg tenon with glue and insert it into a mortise.","After rough-carving the body, a highly skilled craftsman outlines the head features in pencil-- cheekbones, nostrils, eyes, teeth.","Then he begins the meticulous task of carving the horse to completion, hitting a mallet against a u-shaped gouge.","This painstaking carving process takes 2 to 3 days.","Now, after inserting a glass eye, he rough-files the whole horse using a rasp to remove all the gouge marks.","This takes another few hours.","Then he smoothes the entire surface with an electric sander four times over, using progressively finer sandpapers.","He does the final sanding touch-ups by hand.","The wood is now ready to be either stained or painted to the customer's specifications.","If it's the latter, the artist first applies a coat of water-based primer, then, for this client's custom order, a coat of light-blue paint that turns gray when varnished.","Once the background color dries, he hand-stipples a pattern.","After the surface is varnished and waxed, he dresses the horse in a suede saddle blanket.","He uses brass tacks to affix it along the leather trim.","Next, he nails the leather saddle in place.","He squeezes globs of glue into a slot running down the horse's neck and inserts the mane, a weft of genuine horsehair.","Then he nails it in place.","Now he applies glue to the tail hole and fits a tail, also made of real horsehair.","Now they begin constructing the safety stand, on which the rocking horse will glide.","To make the posts, they turn cylindrical blocks of wood on a lathe.","Then they assemble the posts to the other parts of the stand and stain the wood.","They apply two coats of varnish and let the stand dry overnight.","They install the stand's stained and varnished gliders and mount the horse.","They drill a hole through each hoof and glider, then join them with a nut and bolt.","The gliders connect to the front and back of the frame with plated steel swing irons.","The angle at which the irons are set ensures a continuous smooth glide.","So even though these rocking horses are built to withstand the weight of two adults, riding them is child's play.","With curved lines and classic styling, the black cabs of london are internationally recognized as british icons.","Many say the london taxi system is the best in the world, and for many london visitors, a taxi ride is more than just transportation-- it's a tourist attraction unto itself.","The modern black cab was born in 1948.","Today, there are about 20,000 black cabs on the streets of london.","Because the taxi can easily be driven 30,000 miles each year, the cars need to be robust.","To start, operators position steel panels into a press that uses hydraulics and air pressure to fold them.","The press can apply up to 800 tons of force to fold and form each chassis component.","Once they get their 3-dimensional shape, the supple panels become stiff side rails.","Welders then assemble two side rail with a cruciform to create the chassis assembly.","They clamp the side rails firmly in place before welding them.","The taxi uses a 4-cylinder, direct-injection, turbodiesel engine that is hoisted in with the gearbox.","Then they connect the radiator hoses and pipes to the engine.","The axles, wheels, suspension, and exhaust system are now in place.","To build the components of the taxi's body, welders assemble sheet metal using a spot welder.","The device has two copper electrodes that clamp the sheets together and concentrate electric current into a small spot.","Forcing a large current through the spot melts the metal and forms the weld.","Now it's time to assemble the taxi's sides and floor.","Since the floor is completely flat and the roof is high, passengers with reduced mobility can easily enter and exit the taxi.","The body has been covered with an anticorrosion coat and a gray primer.","Before the car gets its final color, a worker inspects it for any surface damage.","Infrared lamps warm the body shell to 122 degrees fahrenheit to make paint application easier.","Not all london taxis are black.","They spray this one with yellow paint.","Later, they apply a shiny clear coat.","Each painted car moves to the polishing room.","The bright lights allow the technicians to check for any dirt, runs, dry spray, or other paint defects as they carefully polish the car.","A worker bolts the hire sign to the roof.","A rubber seal prevents water leaks.","They carry the front windshield with rubber suction pads and carefully put it in place.","They seal the rubber sides to ensure they are watertight.","The body is covered with plastic casing to protect it from damage as it's hoisted down onto the chassis.","Although these taxis are large and roomy, their mandatory 28-foot curb-to-curb turning circle allows them to easily perform u-turns.","A driver tests the car at different speeds, changing gears, and testing the a.b.s. brakes.","Each taxi also undergoes a water test.","They check for leaks through the glass and around the doors.","With an access ramp and fold-down seats, it's easy for wheelchairs to board the taxi.","The taxi offers enough space for five seated passengers.","It takes about two weeks to build a taxi.","Then it's off to navigate the streets of london."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Champagne","ATMs","Marine Turbochargers"]},"text":["The word champagne is often used to describe sparkling white wines.","But true champagne can only come from the champagne region of france.","It must meet a long list of special requirements before receiving the coveted label.","The champagne industry is heavily regulated.","The grapes must be locally grown in the champagne region of france.","They can only use three types of grapes, black pinot noir, pinot meunier, or white chardonnay, to produce champagne.","Additional rules regulate how the grapes can be pruned, picked, pressed, fermented and aged.","Workers harvest the grapes in mid-september.","They use aerated crates to transfer the crops to a grape press.","They crush the grapes and immediately filter the juice.","The grape skins and pulp can alter the juice's flavor, so they have to be removed quickly.","Vintage champagne is fermented in old oak barrels.","They use a sulfur disk to disinfect the barrels between uses.","First, a worker lights the disk and inserts it through a hole on the side.","The flame goes out once it's sealed inside the barrel.","The sulfur smoke fills the barrel and kills off any bacteria.","Non-vintage champagnes are produced in these stainless steel tanks.","They start the fermentation process by adding yeast to the grape juice.","In about 10 days, the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas.","The alcohol level of the wine is now about 10 1/2 percent.","There are no bubbles yet because the co2 escaped through the top of the tank.","Each fermentation barrel and tank is labeled based on where the juice inside originated.","The grape juices from each village have distinctive tastes, caused by differences in soil composition and sun exposure.","Blending begins after the first fermentation.","The winery's experts experiment with different combinations until they find the taste and aroma they're looking for.","They bottle the mixture with yeast and sugar, and place it in a cold, damp cellar for 5 weeks.","This second fermentation raises the alcohol content to 12 1/2 percent.","After fermentation, they lie the bottles down horizontally and let the champagne age for up to 10 years.","After the aging, the bottles go into a machine that freezes the neck.","The yeast residue freezes in a small ice cube under the cork.","The carbon dioxide is invented during the second fermentation.","When workers open each bottle, the gas pressure ejects the ice cube.","This procedure is called disgorging.","A worker turns the bottle to minimize the amount of champagne that escapes.","Then he smells it to make sure the champagne hasn't spoiled.","The winery makes a special liqueur out of wine and cane sugar, which they add to the champagne.","The amount of liqueur added brings the champagne to one of three sweetness levels, known as brut, sec, or demi-sec.","The filling machine secures the new cork with a wire cap.","The next machine rotate the bottles to mix in the liqueur.","Then the bottles go into the cellar for at least 3 months.","After they come out of the cellar, the bottles go through an automated washing machine.","A worker inspects every bottle for floating cork particles or flaws in the glass.","The labeling machine's first station places gold foil over the neck.","The foil label bears the winery's name.","The second station fires a shot of compressed air to mold the foil to the shape of the cork.","The third station glues on the neck label.","It's made of varnished paper.","Then, the last station applies an adhesive label to the front of the bottle.","A scanner makes sure the foil and labels are in the correct place.","This bottle of champagne is finally ready to drink.","When you pop the cork, the gas trapped inside gently escapes.","Shaking the bottle just before opening will cause an even more dramatic champagne explosion.","Either way, it's the perfect drink to celebrate any occasion.","Cheers.","Before the automated teller machine, withdrawals and deposits were made in person.","Then, in the 1960s, simple cash machines started to appear all over europe.","Later, more sophisticated versions were developed.","Today's atms make it easy and convenient to bank outside of normal business hours.","Atms are made of two sections.","The bottom is a steel safe that houses the cash dispenser.","The head module contains all the user features on top.","Most of the atm's non-electronic parts are cut from steel sheets.","Workers load the steel sheets into a computer-guided laser cutting machine.","The laser uses focused light to generate intense heat.","The heat melts the steel to make the cuts.","The simpler parts are stamped with a die and a press.","Next, a robot loads the piece into a fully-automated computer-guided bending press.","The press bends the part into the required shape.","A computer guided spot welder fuses the simple parts together at set intervals.","For more complex parts, a computer guided 3-d laser welds the entire joint.","An automated transport system dips the steel parts in a metal primer to prevent corrosion.","After dipping, they dry the parts in an oven.","The housing parts are sprayed with liquid or powder paint.","Then they go into an oven to bake on the color.","This is the internal structure for the atm's head module.","Workers assemble all the module's internal components, including the power unit and the atm's computer.","Then, they lower the head module onto the atm's steel safe.","The safe's walls can be up to 2 inches thick.","There's a separate assembly line for the operation panel.","This panel goes on the front of the head module.","It contains everything used in an atm transaction, from the card reader, to the key pad, and even the speaker system.","The key pad encrypts the user's personal identification number inside the atm.","The machine has up to three security cameras.","They record the key pad, the cash tray and the atm user.","Workers connect the monitor to the internal computer.","They also install the card reader and the receipt slot.","At the bank's request, they can install a separate module for deposits.","However, this atm uses the cash out slot to accept deposits.","Workers also install the shutter, a computer-controlled flap on the cash out slot.","It opens when the machine accepts a deposit or dispenses money.","Next, workers mount the operation panel to the head module.","On a separate assembly line, they prepare the electronic mechanical unit.","It dispenses the money and accepts cash and checks for deposits.","Workers load cassettes into the unit for each cash denomination.","The bank will separate and stock the cash for their atm.","Before they install the unit in the atm, they hook it up to a test computer.","They test a few different transactions with fake bills to make sure it dispenses the correct amount.","If the unit passes testing, workers install it in the atm safe.","They run a couple of the finished machines through several quality control tests.","First, a shake test ensures the atm can withstand a bumpy ride during transport.","Next, they conduct a shower test to ensure that rain won't damage an outdoor atm.","There's also a climate test.","They place the atm in a chamber that simulates temperature ranging from negative 40 degrees to over 120 degrees fahrenheit.","Atms designed for extreme temperatures usually have built-in heating or cooling systems.","Every atm comes with basic operating software installed.","The banks then install their custom software or have the manufacturer do it for them.","It takes a powerful engine to move a cruise liner or a cargo vessel.","Turbochargers help make it possible.","They double the diesel engine's output to 100,000 horsepower or more.","Turbochargers also use exhaust gases to run the compressor.","In a ship's engine, the turbocharger is a welcome breath of fresh air.","It's capable of significantly boosting the engine's performance.","It does this by compressing almost 200 feet of air per second, then thrusting that air into the engine's combustion chamber.","First, they make the turbine wheel.","It's used to extract the exhaust gases.","A long cutting tool known as a broach carves a tree-shaped pattern around the edge of a steel disk.","The pine tree shapes are designed to interlock with the matching blades.","Next, a computer-guided saw slices a brass alloy cylinder into small bearings.","These bearings will support the turbine shaft.","They make several bearings in a range of sizes and materials for different turbochargers.","Computerized tools mill the surface of the axial bearing.","They also drill holes to connect the turbine rotor and the casing.","This is the completed bearing.","A worker inserts one of the turbochargers nickel alloy blades in a mold.","He leaves the foot of the blade sticking out.","He slides the mold directly under a spout, which dispenses a hot liquefied tin alloy.","He fills the mold to the top.","The tin alloy solidifies, encasing the blade just below the foot.","This structure will fit into a clamping device in the grinding operation.","An employee inserts the tin-encased blades into tensioning devices in the grinding machine.","Inside the tensioning device, a clamping mechanism grips the blades.","As coolant flows, a computerized grinder carves grooves in the feet.","They're specially designed to engage with the tree pattern on the turbine disk.","They pull the tin alloy blocks out of the machine.","They break the tin alloy, and remove the blade inside.","Now, it's ready to be connected to the turbine wheel.","A worker slides the blade foot into place on the turbine disk.","Then he bends a clip back halfway, with pliers.","He tightens the alignment with a clamp.","He hammers the clamp down further, until it lays flat against the blade foot and turbine wheel.","This secures the blade to the wheel.","He continues until the blades are in place.","It takes 41 blades to complete the job.","Next, computerized tools mill the aluminum compressor wheel and prepare it for cutting.","The tools carve blades and grooves in the compressor.","The design makes the compressor more aerodynamic.","An aerodynamic compressor is important because it allows more air to reach the ship's engine.","Here's the compressor wheel before and after the milling operation.","Next, they run through compressor through a safety test.","They lower it into a chamber and spin it a lot faster than it would normally operate.","They confirm that the compressor can withstand a speed of 27,000 revolutions per minute without breaking.","Next, the compressor wheel receives an ultrasonic cleaning.","High frequency sound waves ripple through the water to scrub off any grease and contaminants.","A worker uses a blower to start drying the compressor wheel.","Then, he lowers it into a dryer to get rid of any residual moisture.","When we return, this marine turbocharger will become seaworthy.","Stay tuned.","Turbochargers deliver fresh air to big ship engines.","This enhances their combustion and adds to their mechanical might.","Turbochargers help make these diesel engines among the most powerful in the world, allowing them to move gigantic vessels swiftly through the water.","A technician shines an ultraviolet light onto the surface of the compressor wheel.","This illuminates any fine cracks that could compromise its quality.","If no cracks are found, they start assembling the rotor.","The employee slides bearings onto the main shaft and turbine.","He uses a crane to align the center hole of the compressor wheel with the shaft.","He guides it into place and fits it to the bearing.","Then he screws a cone-shaped cap onto the end.","The turbine wheel is connected to one end of the shaft, and the compressor is connected to the other.","The core parts of this turbocharger are now assembled.","A technician locks the rotor in a balancing machine.","When he activates the machine, the rotor starts spinning.","Sensors detect the speed and the angular position of the rotor.","They also check for any possible imbalances.","The team uses this information to shave down the rotor and bring it into balance.","Then, the final assembly of the turbocharger begins.","The team screws the iron casing to the gas outlet.","They attach three bearings to it.","This insert is called the labyrinth cover.","It will act as a seal for the turbine disk and shaft.","The long bolts fit into holes in the bearing casing.","He moves to the other side, and secures the protruding bolts and nuts.","He removes the compressor wheel temporarily to slide the shaft through the center bearing.","The turbine wheel fits perfectly over the labyrinth cover.","On the other side, he bolts the labyrinth disk to the casing.","The labyrinth disk protects against hot turbine exhaust gas and prevents oil leakage.","Then, he re-installs the compressor wheel.","Meanwhile, an employee wraps rock wool insulation around the gas inlet casing.","It's made of cast iron and built to withstand gases as hot as 900 degrees fahrenheit.","They cover the part with a heat-resistant fabric jacket.","Then it's ready to be mounted to the gas outlet casing.","Workers use a crane to move it into position.","They align the holes in the part with the threads in the casing.","Then they bolt it into place.","They install a cast iron casing around the compressor wheel and secure it with numerous nuts and bolts.","They hoist an insert part into place between the compressor wheel and the casing.","Air will flow between the insert and the compressor before traveling to the engine for combustion.","The turbocharger is now ready to be installed in a ship engine.","This is done in the factory's assembly hall.","Once in place, they fire up the engine and test its performance.","They evaluate how much power the turbocharger adds to the engine.","They also assess the turbocharger's impact on fuel efficiency.","This turbocharger meets expectations.","Some cars and trucks use small turbochargers in their engines, but these behemoths should deliver twice the air pressure of those models, so the ship's captain will have all the power he needs to navigate the high seas."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Swiss Army Knives","Player Piano Rolls","Oil Tankers","Racing Wheels"]},"text":["The swiss army knife is an entire tool kit in a pocket-sized package.","This little multitool actually dates back to 1891 with the original swiss soldier's knife.","It wasn't long before it morphed into other versions for sale to the general public, and a century later, it continues to come in handy.","Lost in the wilderness, or are you a serious multitasker?","Either way, a swiss army knife has tools to help you cope.","Production starts with this big coil of stainless steel.","Equipment pulls the steel between a press and a die.","The press forces the steel against the die to punch out blade shapes.","It also forms the finger groove for pulling the blade out of the handle.","They mass-produce parts like can openers and pliers using the same technique.","They load the blades into a vibrating mix of ceramic stones and water.","The friction polishes the steel.","A little powder keeps the parts from sticking together.","After several hours, they activate a powerful magnet to extract the parts from the vibrating mass.","The process has smoothed the blades significantly.","But the metal is weak and dull.","So a worker arranges the blades on a mesh conveyor which goes into an oven that exposes them to intense heat.","A quick cooldown follows, which toughens the steel considerably.","The hardened blades now ride a carousel into a grinding station, which slims and trims them.","That green liquid keeps them cool during this process.","Afterwards, a computerized tool measures the blades.","If the dimensions are even slightly off, they won't fit into the knife handle.","A quick stamp gives the part its trademark name.","To build the swiss army knife, they slide everything onto brass rivets, beginning with an aluminum spacer.","A flat metal spring goes on next, followed by a can opener, a screwdriver, and an awl, a punch to make holes in leather.","They stack another spacer and spring on top.","They tamp it down and then slide a multipurpose hook and a pair of scissors onto the rivets.","Another divider, another spring.","And then they add a wood saw to this multitool sandwich, because you never know when you might need one.","They press-fit the main blade, a corkscrew, and a smaller blade onto the assembly.","One final spacer, and then they secure the rivets with attachments called bushings.","Incredibly, they've packed nine tools into a bundle that's just under an inch thick.","They chop off the tops of the rivets to make them flush with the bushings, and then this spinning tool flattens them.","The result is a multipronged tool that's virtually impossible to pull apart.","The blade on the swiss army knife is thin compared to other pocket knives to allow it to fit into the casing.","They grind the cutting edge to angle it at just under 15 degrees.","This makes it razor-sharp, ensuring there won't be many dull moments in this blade's lifetime.","They measure the angled edge with a laser to verify that it's on the mark.","And now it's time for the handle.","It comes in two parts.","They sandwich the tool bundle between them and press everything together.","This embeds the bushings in the handle's holes for a tight installation.","Amazingly, there's still space in this swiss army knife for a set of tweezers and a toothpick.","Finally, they inspect every tool to confirm that it's in perfect condition and that it springs out of the handle as it's designed to.","Making a swiss army knife is a job performed with almost military precision.","There's no room for error when it comes to packing all these tools into a pocket-sized unit.","And once they do, this multitool is ready to spring into action.","The first self-playing piano system was invented around 1895.","It sat in front of a regular piano, and the machine's wooden fingers would play the keys.","Guiding those fingers was a roll of perforated paper.","By the early 20th century, piano companies incorporated the roll mechanism right into the piano itself.","The player-piano rage petered out around 1930, but there are still plenty of old player pianos around, so there remains a market for the music rolls they play.","The original roll-making method used a recording piano.","as the musician played, each key would trigger a pneumatic valve which pressed the corresponding rod against piano roll paper over carbon paper.","Then they just perforate the carbon marks.","The modern method uses an electronic keyboard and a computer.","As the musician plays, the computer converts the notes to data.","The musician edits the data, then loads it into a computer that's hooked up to the roll perforator, a machine that produces 18 rolls simultaneously.","Like the old recording machine, the roll perforator has a pneumatic valve for each note of the piano keyboard.","As the computer activates each note, the corresponding valve triggers a steel punch to descend and pierce a hole in the passing paper.","The longer the hole, the longer the note.","Most music consists of multi-note chords, so the machine vibrates like crazy, punching many notes simultaneously.","When the machine finishes perforating, the operator cuts off the paper and sticks on a temporary label bearing the song title.","The paper then moves on to another area, where they permanently stamp on the title and other information.","Here, they slice the front end of the paper into a point.","Meanwhile, this machine rivets brass eyelets onto an adhesive-backed polyethylene strip.","Then around each eyelet, a die stamps out a tab.","They stick one eyelet tab to the pointed tip of each roll.","This tab end, as it's called, hooks into the mechanism of the player piano.","A touch of cornstarch over any exposed adhesive prevents the papers from sticking to one another.","When the music has lyrics, they print the words right on the rolls so you can sing along as the piano plays.","The first step is to make a lyric stencil, which requires cranking out each word, letter by letter.","The placement of words on the stencil is tricky because they have to synchronize with the notes.","The stencil goes into a printer which applies the lyrics with an ink roller.","The last step is to roll up the rolls.","They wind each one around a cardboard spool that has a plastic flange on each end.","When you load a roll into the piano, you mount its flanges on holders, then hook the tab end to a spool that pulls the roll through the player mechanism.","A rubber band to keep the roll from unraveling-- then it's into a custom box.","A machine shapes and hot-glues sheets of ornately printed cardboard into the box tops.","The finishing touch is a sticker with the title of the music.","When a roll moves through a player piano, air flows through the perforations, triggering the corresponding pneumatic valves.","Each valve pushes down the corresponding note.","This factory produces more than 4,500 different song titles on player-piano rolls, from classic favorites to top-10 hits.","The first oil tanker was launched by the british in the latter part of the 19th century, and it fueled a revolution in transportation.","These enormous ships now dominate the world's oceans.","They move millions of tons of oil daily.","And without them, most of the world's economies would be powerless.","The life-size version of this tanker ship will be bigger than two football fields.","It's so big that they build it in sections called grand blocks, which they assemble by crane in a dry dock.","The process takes plenty of planning and engineering.","They map out the job on a computer and assign a number to each of the 110,000 parts.","In a big job like this, computer-coordinated labeling is the only way to go.","They weld steel sheets to build the ship's hull.","Sand, placed on the seam, melts during the welding to shield the seam from any contaminants in the air.","Workers ready the structural steel beams.","A robot places them at just the right spot on the welded section of the hull.","Then an operator verifies that the placement is correct.","More robots weld the beams to the hull section.","Next, they submerge a steel plate in water.","The water suppresses the noise and smoke from a plasma cutter as it carves holes in the steel.","This steel plate will be part of the ballast tank.","Some of the holes will allow water to flow through while others lighten up the steel structure.","The superheated plasma also cuts slits to interlock with the structural beams on the hull part.","They then weld the assembly and install a top plate for a double-layered hull.","Double hulls provide extra protection against oil spillage.","After a paint job, powerful machinery transfers the double-hull grand block to its final position on the side of the tanker.","When fully assembled, the hull will have 12 cargo tanks with a total capacity of 14 million gallons.","The engine section is situated at the stern of the tanker.","It will take three diesel generators to power the ship's lighting, ventilation, and computer systems.","They carefully lower each one onto the deck of the ship.","A 10,000-horsepower diesel engine will be the tanker's driving force.","Installing it is a very precise business.","It has to be in just the right position to turn the massive propeller.","Four months later, the hull is complete and the massive propeller is in position.","It's all hands on deck to build the deckhouse, where a crew will live for months at a time.","There will be an incredible 10 miles of piping on this ship.","Here, workers weld and bolt them to the deck grand blocks.","It's an elaborate maze with an impressive master plan.","They connect these pipes to the series of tanks in the hull so they can be used to load and unload cargo.","Meanwhile, inside the hull, those cargo tanks are coming together.","On the very bottom, the crew builds a network of heating coils.","They'll be used to heat crude oil to a more fluid form so it can be pumped out of the tanks.","Other workers grind welded seams on the ship's outer skin.","This evens the surface for painting.","The paint is an epoxy blend that resists corrosion in salt water.","They apply it in three or four layers and measure its thickness with a special ultrasonic gauge.","In total, they spray more than 38,000 gallons of paint on this tanker.","In this time-lapse video, our tanker comes together like toy building blocks in a matter of seconds.","But as you've just learned, this is a complex job.","It actually takes 16 months.","A couple more months of testing, and this tanker should be good for the long haul.","At first glance, a racing wheel doesn't look much different than a standard wheel.","But look a little closer.","There are subtle differences in the angles and contours that set it apart.","They give it the strength to handle the extreme forces of racing and to corner well at high speed, which should have them cheering in the stands.","The driver will get the trophy and the credit, but a good set of wheels is behind every win.","They start with high-strength, low-alloy steel, which is a very stable material.","The first of a series of die presses gives the center disc a concave profile and forms lug holes.","The next press punches a hole for the hub and others called windows.","Windows help cool the brakes while maintaining strength where needed.","They stamp rings around the windows.","This is called coining.","The rings give the windows a nicer look, and the action compresses the steel to further strengthen the part.","The next press is critical.","It forces the disc into a bowl shape and gives it precise dimensions to accommodate brakes.","The specific angles also reinforce the part.","It has taken a lot of punching and pressing, but the center disc of this racing wheel has really taken shape.","A smaller press now punches out the lug holes that were outlined earlier.","These holes will allow the wheel to be mounted to a vehicle.","Then the center disc goes for a spin as a series of tools trim it.","The part is now complete.","To make the rim, a machine unwinds coiled steel, and rollers iron out the curl.","A mechanical arm maintains slack as the flattened steel goes under the knife.","The blade, called a shearer, cuts the steel to length and stamps product information onto it in one swoop.","An operator now winds the steel between three rollers to twist it into a band.","He then places the band into the jaws of a welder, which fuses the two ends together.","He then slides the band into a machine that scrapes off excess material from the well.","It's still warm, so it can be easily removed.","Now the band comes under some serious pressure as a machine forces it around dies at both ends to create flares.","This rack transfers the rim to a series of rollers which shape its inner ledge.","This part of the rim is called the bead seed, and it will be attached to the bead wall of the tire.","They trim the rim to make the edges neater.","This finishes off the part.","They nestled the center disc loosely in the rim.","As the rim spins, they heat the outside with a torch.","This causes the steel to expand, and the center disc drops further into the rim.","As the rim cools, it contracts, shrinking to the center part.","The two parts are now interconnected, and a welding job makes the bond permanent.","A worker drills threaded holes onto the wheel to attach valve stems.","As it exits, the drill turns in reverse so it doesn't wreck the threads.","After a fresh coat of paint, they apply a thread-locking adhesive to the valve stems and screw them into the holes.","The valves will be used to add air to the tires.","The wheel rotates as a small roller paints a stripe onto the rim for accent.","Then a press stamps a number onto it to identify this wheel in the event of a problem.","And now this wheel is on a fast track to the finish line."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wax Figures","Awnings","Sandwich Crackers","Pewter Tankards"]},"text":["We can't all rub shoulders with political greats and movie stars.","But for the price of admission to a wax attraction, anyone can mingle with their wax replicas.","These look-alikes aren't much for conversation, but the likeness can be startling, thanks to a process honed over centuries.","Famous faces come to life in beeswax, so it's almost like seeing them in the flesh.","But how do they do it?","It often starts with a face-to-face meeting with the subject, during which they take more than 200 measurements of the face alone and still more of the body.","Drawing on those measurements and using photos and additional research, an artist sculpts a clay body onto a metal skeleton.","This clay sculpture will be used to make a mold.","The head, of course, receives special attention.","They sculpt it in stages, and this takes about six weeks.","To check the symmetry of the sculptured face, the artist stretches a wire from the temple to the chin.","She measures it from all angles and compares the numbers to measurements of the actual subject.","Every single aspect of the clay face must mirror that of the subject's precisely so if it's even slightly off, she makes adjustments.","Here, she redefines the teeth a bit more.","And then she tweaks the hairline.","They're now ready for the next step-- the making of the head mold.","The worker paints plaster onto the sculpture in 14 different sections.","This multi-part mold can be easily removed from the clay head once the plaster dries.","After the clay head has been discarded, they give the reassembled mold a quick rinse.","The wax artist turns the plaster head mold upside down and slots it into the wax bench, so named because it secures the mold during the wax casting.","They melt blocks of japanese beeswax and funnel the liquid wax into the neck of the plaster cast.","They let it set for an hour, just long enough for the wax to solidify and form a thick crust around the inside of the cast.","The artist removes crust at the neck and pours out the rest of the wax, leaving a hollow wax face inside.","They set it aside for another hour to further solidify.","The wax artist removes the plaster mold and comes face to face with the wax creation.","She examines it thoroughly, confirming that the detail from the mold has been effectively transferred to the wax and that the wax face is a dead ringer for the human subject.","The team then casts the wax figure's hands, and an artist matches the subject's skin tone against a chart.","She mixes paint and dabs the brush in it.","She then strikes her brush with another one so the paint splatters across the hand.","She blots up the paint to blend it in.","This technique gives the wax a speckled look that mimics human pores.","She paints on knuckles, veins, and distinctive markings to mimic those on the subject's hands.","She gives the nails a manicure to make the hands look identical to the subject's.","In the hands of a skilled artist, these wax hands have come to life.","As a medical glass eye spins, the artist blots on a very wide pupil first and then paints the periphery to mimic the person's iris.","Iris color and pattern are unique to the individual, and the artist replicates those qualities as closely as possible.","She glues red silk threads onto the whites of the eyes to simulate broken blood vessels.","It's another touch of realism.","They slot the eyes into sockets in the wax head.","Then the wax figure is ready for its hair-- actual human hair matched to the subject's.","They pierce the wax with a hot needle to insert each hair individually.","The wax melts and closes around the hair.","This process can take four weeks.","They also plug in brows and lashes and then brush on paint like makeup.","With his face on, the wax figure now looks true to life.","Once completed, wax figures get movie-star treatment.","Their hair is washed and styled regularly, and their clothing is routinely dry-cleaned.","After all, even wax versions of famous people have to keep up appearances.","The unfurling of awnings usually marks the roll-out of patio season.","It's a long tradition, one that actually dates back centuries.","Early romans were among the first to seek refuge from the hot sun under fabric awnings.","And today, design innovations mean there's always something new under the sun.","With modern mechanisms, unfolding an awning has never been easier.","This manual crank system is designed for a smooth roll-out.","And for extra convenience, there are motorized awnings operated by remote control.","Production begins with the fabric, which comes in a range of weather-resistant synthetics.","The seamstress cuts out patterns from thick acrylic material and sews the pieces together.","Here she works on the awning's front valance.","A roller keeps the fabric correctly aligned and stops it from bunching up as she sews.","She stitches a long pocket along the border.","A plastic rod will later be channeled through it to connect the valance to the awning framework.","She traces a scalloped edge onto the bottom of the valance and then carefully cuts along the penciled line.","With a steady hand, she follows the outline precisely to give the valance those distinctive curves and notches.","Workers then position the awning panel in front of an aluminum tube.","They thread the pocketed end of the awning into a channel in the tube and then slide a plastic rod into the pocket.","This secures the end of the fabric to the tube.","It takes two people to avoid any buckling of the fabric.","They insert a plastic cap into one end of the tube but leave the other end open for the installation of the motor.","They now wind the awning panel around the tube, synchronizing their efforts so the tension in the roll is equal at both ends.","Next, rollers carry a squared aluminum tube to a circular saw.","Once in position, arms descend to steady the tube, and the saw slices it to the correct length.","The cut tube will be the carrier bar, an important part of the awning framework.","A worker now builds that framework, starting with the carrier bar.","He slides a bracket partway down the tube and uses it to attach the retractable arms, securing the assembly with a heavy-duty steel pin.","Two workers slide connector pieces into the grooves in the drop bar for the valance.","Then they raise the bar and attach the retractable arms.","They install a side bearing in the end of the connector bar.","It's one of two that will support the awning's main tube.","Next up is that fabric-wrapped tube.","They attach it to the framework and tuck the other end of the awning fabric into a round slot in the drop bar.","They slide another long plastic rod through a pocket in the fabric to secure it.","They're now ready for the motor.","It's a tubular model.","He attaches a metal bracket for assembling the motor to the main framework.","He then equips the tubular motor with two plastic rings, one at each end.","Powered by the motor, these rings will revolve to open and close the awning.","A test confirms that it's fully operational.","He slides the tubular motor into the open end of the awning tube.","He attaches the second side bearing to the metal bracket...","And caps the open end of the drop bar.","A few taps with a hammer drives it down the shaft.","He now tests the awning to confirm that everything unfolds as it should.","He tightens some screws.","And when it's perfectly operational, he'll install the valance.","It takes about an hour to manufacture a motorized awning, and it should supply about a decade of shade.","Sandwich crackers are one of life's little conveniences-- crispy wafers with peanut butter or cheese spread between them, all wrapped up in a neat package.","In north america, factories have been mass-producing these snacks since the early part of the 20th century to satisfy the need to nibble.","Sandwich crackers come in handy for a quick refuel.","Just unwrap and snack while continuing on your routine.","They start with the smaller ingredients for the dough, which include baking soda, a powdered cheese additive, and a kind of phosphate, which, like the baking soda, is a leavening agent.","Next are enzyme tablets and the yeast, two ingredients that will later cause the dough to ferment to give the crackers textural strength.","They add water and thicken the liquefied blend with a little flour.","This makes it easier to pump into the next mixer.","This one is a big trough full of flour.","They add ice to chill it and then pipe in the small-ingredient blend.","Cooling the mix with ice preserves the yeast and enzymes to hold off on fermentation.","If fermentation happens too soon, the dough could turn to mush.","They lower a lid equipped with three spiraling blades and set the blades in motion, pumping in more water to augment the moisture from the melting ice and small-ingredient blend.","It's now ready for fermentation, so it's into a warm room to activate the yeast and the enzymes.","The dough swells, and a worker breaks the crust to release gas.","An automated system tips the trough of dough into a chute that takes it one floor down to the rolling station.","The chemical changes caused by fermentation have made this dough less sticky, so it can now be rolled into sheets without adhering to the equipment.","The dough now travels between rollers that flatten it and squeeze it to a specific thickness.","The sheets of dough exit and accumulate.","When several layers have piled up, the dough is on the move again.","Several layers at a time now, it moves between a series of rollers, which compress the dough to its final thickness.","A quick dust with flour, and the dough now goes under a rolling cutter that scores it to cracker-size proportions.","The cutter is also spiked with pins that puncture the dough.","The holes give the crackers a dimpled look, and they have a practical purpose, allowing steam to escape during cooking for a crispier snack.","A sprinkle of salt, and the cracker dough now heads into the oven.","This oven is more than 65 yards long, with several heating zones.","The hottest is around 700 degrees fahrenheit.","A roller breaks them cleanly along the score lines.","A quick spray with vegetable oil adds flavor.","The crackers then transfer from one conveyer to another and land in neat stacks.","They head into an inspection station, where workers pick out any damaged crackers and adjust the alignment of the shingled rows so it's a smooth transition as the crackers move into lanes.","Down the line, workers pull off samples to weigh them.","Then equipment flips the crackers upright, positioning them to enter the filling line.","The peanut-butter filling is ready and kept warm so it's smooth and creamy enough to pump.","The top crackers now head downward in a precise configuration, while below, the bottom crackers whiz by the peanut-butter depositor.","It pumps a dollop of peanut butter onto each bottom cracker.","The peanut-butter-covered bottom crackers now move forward to meet up with the top crackers.","And again, with perfect timing, the top crackers land on the bottom ones in exact alignment.","Equipment separates them into sets of three as they head into packaging.","Plastic wrap envelops them, and a heat sealer cuts and closes the packets.","Suctioning arms collect the packets and transfer them to cardboard boxes.","From mixing to packaging, it has taken about 24 hours to produce a packet of sandwich crackers.","Once it reaches a hungry snacker, it will be gone in no time at all.","A traditional drinking vessel typically used for beer, a tankard often has a hinged lid you raise and lower with a thumb lever.","Dating back to 15th-century england, they were initially made of wood, then silver or pewter.","The tradition of hand-crafting pewter tankards continues today.","This manufacturer makes pewter tankards in many styles, one of which has the legend of the king's shilling engraved on it and a reproduction of a shilling coin from 1816 encased in the glass bottom.","Every step is done by hand, beginning with a sheet of pewter that's just 1/14 of an inch thick.","Using a punch press, they cut it into the shape required to form the tankard's body.","Next, they place the pewter on a copper plate that has on it, in raised lettering, the story of the king's shilling.","They feed this in between two rollers that press the lettering into the pewter.","A soft metal, pewter is composed mostly of tin, along with smaller quantities of two other metals-- antimony and copper.","Next, a metalsmith takes over.","He manually bends the pewter into the cylindrical shape of the tankard's body.","He brushes on flux, a chemical which helps molten metal flow more easily.","Then, with a soldering tool, he fuses the edges of the body with pure tin solder.","Traditionally, both the pewter and solder contained lead, but today, both are lead-free.","Next, the metalsmith slides the cylinder onto a steel form and hammers the solder seam flat, rendering it virtually invisible.","Now a specialized tradesman known as a pewter spinner slips the body onto a lathe.","As the lathe rotates, he uses a series of tools to smooth the surface, trim excess off the top and bottom, and turn the top edge over to form a lip.","Next, a buffer uses pumice and a cloth buffing wheel to remove imperfections and make the surface silky-smooth.","Meanwhile, in the casting department, they heat solid pewter to 465 degrees fahrenheit then carefully pour the now molten metal into a rubber mold.","Inside are several cavities for shillings and large rings.","After about 30 seconds, the pewter solidifies, and the parts can come out.","To make the tankard's handle, the casters pour molten pewter into a steel mold, then tilt the mold in all directions to spread the rapidly setting metal all along the wall of the cavity.","This makes the handle hollow and therefore lightweight.","They grind the ends on an abrasive belt so the handle will fit flush against the tankard body.","Another worker, meanwhile, assembles the tankard's glass base.","A glass disk, a shilling, a ring, then a second glass disk.","The ring acts as a spacer, creating enough of a gap between the glass disks to allow the coin to slide around.","He applies waterproof glue around the perimeter to adhere everything together.","Next, he places this shilling sandwich in a pewter base and adheres a second ring to hide the glue.","Back to the metalsmith now.","He dabs the tankard's body onto a pad impregnated with flux.","He then solders together the body and base.","Once the parts are attached, a final buffing with a soft felt wheel.","Next, the metalsmith dips the handle ends in flux and solders them to the body.","To avoid scorching the tankard's surface, this time he uses a bismuth-and-tin solder, which requires a lower temperature to melt.","The tankard is now fully constructed.","They clean it in a dishwasher, then shine it up.","First, the polisher does the inside, using a rough-grid abrasive compound, producing a matte finish.","Then he polishes the outside, using a finer-grid compound.","This produces a contrasting mirror finish.","In 18th- and 19th-century england, a volunteer for army or naval service accepted a shilling as a bonus upon signing up.","However, volunteers were in short supply, so recruiters are said to have visited pubs and slipped shillings into the pewter tankards of inebriated men, who, upon their last sip, discovered they'd been duped into serving.","It may well be a myth, but it still makes a darn good story to share over a pint."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hammers","Swiss Cheese","Roller Skates","Coloured Pencils"]},"text":["The need to hammer things goes back to prehistoric times when early man used stones as tools.","The modern hammer evolved from those first crude implements.","But with its forged-steel design and user-friendly handle, the hammer of today is strikingly different.","No one-hit wonder, the modern hammer is made to endure.","It maintains its structural integrity despite repeated pounding and pulling.","It starts with a thick steel bar.","An automated system loads it into an induction furnace set at more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","The fierce heat makes the steel malleable.","This forge-hammer pounds the hot steel into a series of hammer-shaped compressions.","Then it's into a punch cutter which trims the ragged edges of the forged steel.","The cutoffs go into a bin for recycling.","A worker sandwiches the newly trimmed shape in a press that fine-tunes the shape.","The hammer is cooled down on this revolving rack.","Then they load the hammers into a tumbler, along with tiny bits of steel-- so tiny, they're hard to see.","But their impact will be very noticeable.","As they toss about, the bits rub off scale and debris on the hammers, for an impressive cleanup.","They then clamp the hammer in a device that spins it against abrasive belts to contour the striking head.","These belts also bevel the hammer's head.","It's a safety feature.","The sloped edge is less likely to chip nails on impact.","Now this jagged cutting wheel carves ridges into the hammer's head.","The device repositions the hammer so the wheel can cut it in a different direction to create a grid.","This surface is less likely to slip off nails on impact.","Next comes the tempering process.","The hammers plunge into a very hot bath.","Then they dip them in quenching oil, which cools the metal so quickly, it hardens.","Now it's time for another polish.","This one makes the steal gleam.","It's the finishing touch.","Next, they assemble leather rings in a tray-- 25 to each one.","They place plastic rings at each end to break up the look and buttress it with a pronged metal disk.","They slide the tray into a compartment and insert the end of the hammer in the rings.","A hydraulic tool rams it through them, encasing the handle in a neat wrap that's comfortable to grasp.","They secure the end of the hammer in a clamp, and then a spinning tool flattens the prongs that protrude from the metal plate, riveting it to the leather wrap.","Then, using a series of sanding belts, they smooth the rough leather for a seamless finish.","This is a tank of heavy lacquer in which they immerse the hammers repeatedly.","When it dries, the lacquer will give the leather wrap a tough, sleek finish, and the leather will look like one textured piece instead of many.","For a different kind of handle, they pour liquid vinyl on the hammer shaft that's encased in a mold.","The vinyl adheres to the hammer as it hardens.","The mold leaves a dimpling impression that will make the hammer easier to grip.","They grind off the hardened vinyl spillover and contour the handle.","These handles are preferred by some tradesmen because the vinyl is an antishock material.","They stamp the model number onto it.","Paint guns mist the steel with lacquer for a little rustproofing.","The hammers then travel through an oven, which cures the lacquer.","After they stamp the company logo onto the vinyl, each hammer is visually inspected.","Only then does it get a seal of approval.","It takes about a day to make a hammer, and with the different handle wraps and sizes, they've really nailed it.","The swiss call this cheese \"fromage d'alpage,\" which means \"cheese from the high-mountain pastures\".","Master cheesemakers retreat to their chalets high in the swiss alps to make this special cheese.","These individuals follow a tradition of cheesemaking that goes back to the middle ages.","Fromage d'alpage is produced by cheesemakers who bring their cows high into the alps for five months-- to this region of gstaad, switzerland.","In the morning, they milk their cows for about seven minutes using an automatic milking machine.","Each cow produces around 2 1/2 gallons of milk, which contains water, protein, and fat.","12 hours later, he removes the fat, which rises to the surface.","He adds a starter culture, which helps preserve the milk.","A wood fire then heats the milk for 20 minutes at a constant 86 degrees fahrenheit.","He then adds an enzyme called rennet and more starter culture to the milk.","After about 40 minutes, these active ingredients coagulate the milk into cheese curd.","He cuts the solidifying curd into smaller pieces.","To maintain an even heat, he keeps blending the curd and the liquid together.","He continues mixing and cutting the curd until the active ingredients separate the curd from the liquid, called whey.","To make cheese, he will use only the grains of curd.","An electric mixer then completes the separation.","He washes his arms and hands thoroughly, because any impurities in the cheese would ruin it.","After heating the mixture for 20 minutes again, the curd is now the perfect texture for making cheese.","Using cheesecloth, they remove the grains of curd.","What started out as 80 gallons of milk will end up producing only 66 pounds of cheese.","The cheesemaker stuffs the sack of curd into a mold and works out some of the whey.","He then puts three molds filled with curd into a wooden press.","And using a wooden block that distributes the pressure evenly, he squeezes out more of the whey.","To get all the excess liquid out of the curd, he turns each 22-pound piece of cheese over so he can press it again.","Too much liquid in the cheese would affect its shape and quality, so he does this a few times, then leaves them in the press overnight.","The next morning, he trims off the excess cheese created around the edge by the pressing mold.","Like every step in this cheesemaking process, this work is also done by hand.","He soaks the cheese in salt water for 24 hours to conserve, harden, and intensify its taste.","The cheese then goes through a salting and maturing process that lasts six months.","During this time, they flip each piece of cheese often so it ages evenly.","After a final surface cleaning, they put the 22-pound pieces on their sides to air-dry.","They'll remain edible for at least 10 years.","But, of course, you don't have to live in the alps to enjoy the taste of swiss cheese.","When roller skates were invented by the dutch in the 18th century, they put a whole new spin on skating.","Before that, people could only skate on iced surfaces, so the sport had definite seasonal limitations.","The wheels of those first roller skates were wooden spools.","But today's manufacturers have come up with some better tricks to make them.","Roller skates have improved by leaps and bounds.","The wheels are made of strong, lightweight polyurethane, so there's nothing to hold you back.","They start with the shoes.","A die press punches out leather patterns, called quarters-- four per shoe.","They place one quarter under a foil strip, and a hot die stamps it with the manufacturer's trademark.","Then, using a template, they mark the locations where components are to be sewn...","Such as these racing stripes.","They stitch them onto the leather quarters in two rows.","The four leather quarters have been partially pieced together.","Here, the operator finishes the job, sewing the shoe's outer layer to the liner.","She then stitches the rest of the liner to the shoe, while a little blade on the machine trims the excess leather.","Now the roller-skate shoe really takes shape, as she folds the leather in two and sews the toe.","This machine punches holes and inserts eyelets for the shoelaces.","This machine, called a laster, glues the shoe to an insole.","They insert a shoe and insole together into the laster.","Its nozzles coat the toe of the insole with cement while pinchers pull the leather around it.","Then automated arms press the leather onto the insole, bonding them together.","Another machine then nails the rest of the shoe around the insole, and a worker pounds them in further.","A final laster folds the edge of the shoe around the heel and then drives nails into it.","The hot lights of this machine activate cement that's been applied to an outsole and the shoe body.","This allows the two to adhere.","As the cement dries, this hydraulic machine presses the outsole to the shoe to aid the adhesion.","They stitch the outsole to the shoe for reinforcement.","After all, roller-skate shoes have to hold up to the rigors of the sport.","They insert nails into holes of this heel-attaching machine...","Then position a fiberboard and leather heel on it, followed by the roller-skate shoe.","Mechanical drivers thrust the nails up into the shoe, firmly attaching the heel.","An operator then forces the rubber sole against a circular cutter to remove the excess material.","Next, they screw a polyurethane toe stop into a skate frame.","They drill through holes in the frame to make corresponding holes in the shoe.","They push bolts into the holes.","Then, using a pneumatic socket wrench, they bolt the skate frame to the shoe.","The bolts are too long, so they cut them down to size with a special breakoff tool.","They slide polyurethane cushions onto kingpins, then install bearings in the hub of each wheel.","A carousel conveyor delivers the wheel and bearings to a tool that presses them together.","With the wheels now linked by axles, these skates are almost ready to roll.","They mount each wheel assembly on a kingpin, then install a second cushion ring.","These cushions can be adjusted by the skater to change the feel of the skate.","A tweak to the axle confirms the wheels spin freely.","It takes about four days for the experts to make a pair of roller skates.","That's somewhat less time than it takes for the average person to master using them.","Colored pencils come in basic color packages for schoolchildren, upgraded sets for architects and other professionals, and elaborate collections of shades for the serious artist.","It isn't so much the color variety that determines the quality, but the pigment concentration in the lead.","The core of a colored pencil doesn't actually contain any lead.","It's composed of pigments, minerals, and binding agents.","This company invented a unique type of colored pencil.","The lead composition is such that it allows you to brush on a bit of water after you draw to create the effect of watercolor paints.","Colored pencils start with a combination of pigments.","Every shade has a specific pigment recipe.","They produce a large quantity of one shade at a time.","Following that color's recipe, they meticulously weigh the different portions of ingredients.","Then they boil a specific quantity of water and additives and add binding agents-- a secret blend of gums, resins, or waxes.","The ingredients expand in hot water, forming a paste.","Workers then mix the pigments into this paste.","The next machine processes the paste into fine chunks, intensifying the color.","The chunks move by conveyor belt with a cylinder that compresses them, then feeds them into an extrusion machine.","The extruder squeezes the paste in a continuous stream that's the diameter of the pencil lead.","In a top-secret process, the next machine chops this long lead into pencil-length leads.","But the leads can't write just yet.","They're bathed in a vat filled with a mixture of chemical waxes.","These waxes coat and impregnate the leads-- in this case, red ones.","Wax is a color-delivery vehicle.","As you write, it rubs off and adheres to the paper, taking pigment with it.","With the leads now finished, the factory subjects random samples to quality control testing, including a break test and a durability test in which each lead must yield 100 yards of writing.","This company makes its pencil bodies from cedar wood.","This machine carves grooves for the leads, then coats the surface with a thin layer of glue.","The planks pass under a wheel that places the leads...","Then through another machine that slips a second grooved plank on top.","The next machine carves the hexagonal shape, then slices the pencils apart.","One at a time, the pencils shoot through a vat of colored varnish.","Their exterior is now the same color as the lead inside.","Once the varnish dries, a heat stamp burns the company name and color number into the wood, filling the lettering with colored film.","Then the pencils roll across an abrasive wheel, sharpening as they go.","The unsharpened end gets a cap of varnish, either in white or the same shade as the pencil lead.","The factory's equipment feeds the appropriate colors to the packaging area.","As the pencils slide into their grooved tray, workers visually inspect each and every one.","From pigments and planks to an artistic medium, the story behind the making of colored pencils is hardly black and white."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Robotic Arms","Tattoos","Sanitary Napkins","Concrete Pipes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" robotic arms...","Tattoos...","Sanitary napkins...","And concrete pipes.","The term \"robot\" comes from the czech word \"robota,\" which means \"forced labor\".","Most robots are designed for repetitive work that's difficult, dangerous, or would just bore human beings to death.","Robotic arms have varying degrees of freedom, meaning they can pivot in different ways.","A robotic arm resembles a human arm.","It has a shoulder, an elbow, a wrist, and a hand.","The shoulder is actually a stationary base to which the rest is attached.","An engineer first designs all the parts on a computer.","Then those plans go into action.","To form the base's outer casing, they bend steel sheeting into shape using a computer-guided press.","Next they paint the casing in powder paint, using an electrostatic process that guarantees a thorough, even coat.","They run a negative electrical charge to the casing and a positive charge to the paint particles.","This makes the casing draw the paint to it like a magnet.","Once the paint on the base casing dries, they use silk-screen printing to apply what's called the \"user diagram\".","It illustrates which parts move where and how.","Now they build the robotic arm's hand, called the end effector.","Robots can be outfitted with all sorts of end effectors.","Here they're making a gripper, whose two claws come together to grasp and carry objects.","To make each claw, an automated metal drill cuts a groove lengthwise and widthwise in a piece of aluminum.","They assemble the electrical circuit board that will later go inside the base.","The robotic arm's six separate motors will plug into it.","Next they assemble the mechanical parts of the base.","First the motor that makes the arm rotate, then the gear that goes on the vertical shaft holding the robotic arm upright.","When the motor makes the gear and the shaft turn, the robotic arm turns with it.","At the arm's shoulder level, they install a system of four pulleys.","Each consists of two plastic wheels on a separate axle with a rubber belt running between them like a clothesline.","The belt has little teeth that grip grooves on the wheels.","It rotates the wheels, making the robotic arm move.","Each joint in the robotic arm is capable of and programmed for a specific range of movement.","Like the human arm, the combination of these movements manipulates the end effector.","They plug an electrical wire that links the gripper to the shoulder into a circuit board located in the shoulder.","Then they screw the entire arm to the base.","They link up the wires from the circuit board in the base to the motors in the shoulder.","To do this, they have to bunch the wires, 48 of them in total, and thread them through the shaft that attaches the base to the arm.","Once everything's connected, they fine-tune and test the gear and pulley systems to see if they run smoothly.","Now they can install the gripper and the shaft and gear system that operates it.","Turning the gear one way opens the grip.","Turning it the other way closes it.","Now they mount the assembled gripper to the forearm, plugging its motor into a circuit board that they've already installed there.","They plug the wires from all six motors into the main circuit board which they then install at the back of the base.","The robot controller--  the brain that runs the arm-- is a separate unit.","It controls everything connected to the circuit.","To move the robot, the computer inside the controller switches on all the necessary motors.","It can control eight motors-- six in the robot and two optional accessories.","You can program it to perform a variety of tasks.","From start to finish, it's taken just under 30 hours to assemble this robotic arm.","It can lift up to 10 pounds-- about the weight of a full-grown cat-- and it can move at a speed of a little over one mile per hour.","Most robots are reprogrammable-- meaning that to change their behavior, you simply write a new program.","From an employer's perspective, robots may be the ideal workers.","Granted, they have no ideas of their own, but their productivity is constant, they never call in sick, and they never take lunch or coffee breaks.","Tattooing dates at least as far back as the bronze age.","A 5,000-year-old body found in a european glacier had several tattoos on his skin.","Archaeologists have even uncovered what they believe are stone age tattooing instruments-- sharp bone needles and clay disks containing mineral pigments.","Walk into a tattoo parlor and the vast selection of elaborate designs will astound you.","Once you make your choice, the tattoo artist traces the image.","Next, he places the traced image on carbon paper and re-traces the lines.","This creates a carbon outline of the tattoo on the reverse side.","The artist will use his blueprint, as it's called, as his guide.","He cleans the customer's skin, then firmly presses on the blueprint.","The carbon image transfers easily because the skin is damp.","Now it's time to construct the needles.","Most tattoos require two needles-- one to make the outline of the image, the other to shade and color it in.","Each needle is made up of as many as 20 smaller needles.","The artist aligns these small needles in a jig, then solders them together onto one end of a steel rod.","There's an eye on the other end.","The number of small needles in a needle depends on the tattoo design-- how thick the lines are, how big its colored areas are.","The finished needles go into an autoclave to be sterilized.","That takes 20 minutes at precisely 338 degrees fahrenheit.","The tattoo artist uses that time to assemble the tattoo gun.","After cleaning the frame with rubbing alcohol, he installs the motor, called the coil.","When an electric current runs through the coil, it oscillates the needle at up to 50 times per second.","Once the two needles are sterilized, he takes the one for outlining, called the liner, and slides it into the tattoo gun.","He hooks the eye on the other end onto the spring.","As the spring moves back and forth, it moves the needle up and down.","The tattoo artist stops and starts it with a foot pedal, like a sewing machine.","Time to tattoo.","He turns on the power supply to 10 volts and dabs the needle in the ink cap.","The gun sucks up the ink.","Some petroleum jelly on the skin helps the needle glide more easily.","He begins by tracing the lines of the blueprint.","The needle punctures the skin at a rate of up to 3,000 times per minute, injecting micro-particles of ink, which intermingle with the cells of the dermis, the skin's second layer.","The artist continually wipes away the excess ink to keep his work area clean.","After finishing the outline, he reapplies petroleum jelly.","This seals the pores of the skin and prevents bleeding.","Then he changes to the other needle and begins shading and coloring the image with a back-and-forth movement.","He applies one color at a time, overlapping them to ensure thorough and even coverage.","The needle can penetrate from .","04 to .","15 of an inch, and a good tattoo artist knows just how deep to go to create the different parts of the image.","For example, he has to inject the outline the deepest, but going too deep can tear the skin and cause excessive pain and bleeding.","But not going deep enough misses the dermis and leaves marks after healing.","The cells of the dermis are remarkably stable, so tattoos last a lifetime.","This tattoo has taken approximately 45 minutes to do from start to finish.","The area will dry and scab over.","Then the scab will fall off, and this body art will be ready for exhibition.","Believe it or not, world war i led to the invention of disposable sanitary napkins.","American nurses serving in france discovered that the bandages they used for the troops could double as very absorbent menstrual pads.","This led the bandage company to introduce disposable sanitary napkins in 1921.","Today's disposable sanitary pads are made of layers of cellulose, combined with super-absorbent polymer powder.","Polymer is a fluid-absorbing chemical derived from either petroleum or wheat.","Cellulose is the fiber that makes up the cell wall of trees and plants.","It also retains fluid.","Pulp and paper companies grind and moisten it to form a product called pulp.","Producing sanitary napkins begins with 20-inch-wide rolls of cellulose pulp.","The rolls feed one long machine that does everything.","First, knives spinning at 3,000 thousand rpm shred the pulp into a fine fluff.","Then the machine sprinkles that fluff with polymer powder.","The polymered fluff then travels through what's called the doser, a device that measures out the required amount of fluff per pad layer.","The machine then suctions each dose into a closed chamber where an air current blows it into a pad-shaped mold.","Then another air current blows it out of the mold onto a wheel that transfers it to a conveyer belt.","The machine simultaneously makes a second pad layer.","This one is smaller, rectangular, and at least double the density of the first layer, meaning it has more cellulose compressed into a smaller size.","The compression roller also embosses a pattern that will disperse the menstrual flow, helping absorption.","This demonstration shows the critical absorption role the polymer powder plays.","It can retain up to 40 times its volume.","As the polymer soaks up the liquid, it transforms from powder to gel.","Different types of polymers have different reaction speeds.","This type absorbs at average speed.","This will be a two-layer pad.","The number of layers and their weight depends on the degree of menstrual flow a pad is designed to absorb.","Now the machine's conveyor belts merge, bringing the two layers together.","Now the machine sandwiches the layers between plastic sheets.","The top one is perforated to allow fluid to pass to the absorbent layers underneath.","The bottom one acts as a leak-proof barrier.","A roller stamps the contour of the pad, sealing the absorbent layers inside.","Now the machine applies glue to a paper strip and to a pair of small paper rectangles.","It slaps the strip on the back of the pad and the rectangles on the side flaps, called the wings.","To secure the pad to underwear, you remove the paper to expose the adhesive.","The pads are still connected to each other.","A cutting die excises each one.","Abrasive foam on either side of the die grips then pulls away the material surrounding the pads.","A vacuum then sucks this excess away.","Now the pads move onto the packaging line.","The equipment first folds over the adhesive wings, then folds each pad in three.","The folded pads now go into plastic wrap.","A hot, iron-like device, called an embossing press, seals the plastic around each pad.","Then a knife cuts in between the pads, separating them into individual pouches.","Next, two belts sandwich the pouches and carry them down to the stacker, where an automated counter lines them up for packaging.","As a vacuum opens the bag, a mechanical arm inserts the pads.","The equipment then seals the bag shut.","Everything you've seen happens at an impressive pace.","From start to finish, it takes just 40 seconds to make and package a sanitary napkin.","Most underground sewer and drainage pipes are made of reinforced dry-mix concrete.","\"reinforced\" refers to the fact the concrete has steel bars inside it for added structural strength.","\"dry-mix\" refers to the type of concrete.","You can mold it then immediately extract it, and it holds its shape.","Concrete pipes can be as small as 10 inches or as large as 11 1/2 feet.","It has a hundred-year life span.","Dry-mix concrete is made of stone, coarse sand, portland cement-- which is a finely-ground blend of clay and limestone-- water, and a chemical that acts as a water reducer.","Trucks unload the sand and stone into outdoor storage bins.","The materials automatically drop onto a conveyor belt which transports them to storage silos above the factory floor.","The cement arrives by cement tanker, which blows it into a silo.","All the silos feed the mixer.","As the ingredients blend, the cement and water combine to form a paste that coats the sand and stone.","The water reducer enables them to use minimal water.","The less water, the stronger and more durable the concrete.","Meanwhile, workers use a special machine to build what's called the cage-- a circular steel frame that will form the pipe's internal structure, its backbone.","They insert 8-foot-long steel rods in a circular configuration, pushing each rod partway through the machine to the other side.","There, an automated spot-welder fuses a steel cable to one rod.","Then the machine begins turning, winding the cable tightly around the rods.","Here a worker is turning the machine manually just to show us the process in slow-motion.","This is what it looks like at the normal automated speed.","As the rods pass through the machine, the welder fuses the cable to them in one continuous spiral.","As the spiraled cable reaches the end of the rods, the machine's claws spread outward, forming a wider section on the end.","This is called the bell section.","Workers position it on a base ring designed to hold the cage in place.","Then they close a hinged steel mold over it.","Now they're ready to pour the concrete.","A forklift transports the mold to a machine called the packer head.","They position the mold directly under it.","A long, drill-like screw descends into the mold.","As concrete pours in, the screw turns at high speed, moving up and down.","Its blades propel the concrete outward against the mold walls, forming the pipe.","This process is called centrifugal projection forming.","The process for making large-diameter pipes is slightly different.","A welder fuses spacers to the cage, both inside and out.","These will center the cage inside the mold.","Workers position the cage onto a base ring, then lower the outer part of the mold-- called the outside form--  over it.","After securing it to the ring, they lower the unit over the smaller, inner part of mold, called the inside form.","An overhead funnel pours concrete into the cavity between the two mold forms.","Powerful electrical vibrators shake the mold.","This forces the thick concrete downward, filling the cavity.","This process is called vibration forming.","With either pipe-forming technique, the molded concrete is quite fragile, so the molds go off to the curing warehouse to harden.","There, workers remove them, leaving the pipes standing upright.","Steam hoses transform the curing warehouse into a sauna.","The temperature rises to 140 degrees fahrenheit, the relative humidity 100%.","The concrete hardens in about 12 hours.","Concrete pipes buried underground have to be able to withstand the weight of the earth above them, so the company subjects sample pipes to extreme pressure to test their maximum resistance.","Concrete pipes join together with watertight rubber gaskets."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Horseshoes","Dishwashers","Graphite Fly Rods","Pizza"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Horseshoes...","Dishwashers...","Graphite fly rods...","And frozen pizzas.","Horses first wore leather and metal shoes around 500 a.d. to protect their hooves from wear and tear.","Today, depending on the animal's vocation, horseshoes are usually made of steel, aluminum, or plastic.","A farrier is someone who makes the horseshoes and carefully applies them.","A horse's hoof has a hard outer wall like a fingernail, only much thicker.","The farrier attaches the horseshoe to this wall with heat and lead nails.","The horse feels no pain because the nails don't reach the sensitive tissues inside.","Horses get new shoes about every five weeks.","After removing the old ones, the farrier uses a file to trim the wall's growth since the last change--  about 1/3 of an inch.","He measures the hoof's contour, marks the measurement on a steel bar, and cuts it to size with a rotary saw.","Steel is the material of choice because it's affordable and durable.","Next, he heats the bar until the middle's white-hot.","He brushes off any dirt, then dips the bar in water to cool it.","Then he hammers the ends to redistribute the metal toward the middle.","This widens and thickens the part of the horseshoe that gets the most wear, since the front of the hoof hits the ground first and hardest.","After reheating the bar, he hammers it again, this time with no cooldown.","For larger shoes, two farriers take turns hammering so that it goes faster, and they can shape the steel while it's still hot and pliable.","Using a drafting compass, the farrier gauges where two grooves for nails will go.","He reheats the bar, then holds a sharp-ended tool against it, while another farrier drives it in with a hammer.","The nails won't protrude when they're embedded in the grooves.","These areas will also fill with dirt to give the horse traction.","The farriers round the sharp edges of the horseshoe so the animal won't cut itself when it's lying down.","They make the nail holes by first driving this tool into the grooves.","Then they use another tool to perforate the steel, hammering it into the shoe over an opening in the anvil that lets the tool pierce through.","The farrier then repeats these steps on the other side.","It takes 2 farriers about 15 minutes to make a pair of horseshoes.","The first farrier heats one shoe, while the second hammers the other.","Like the hooves, the front and back shoes are differently shaped.","The front pair are rounder, the back ones, more oval, because the horse's hind hooves have evolved to dig into the ground for traction.","The farriers also hammer part of both curves, flattening the edges into raised sides called clips.","These help the shoe fit onto the hoof.","For larger workhorses like clydesdales, the farriers bend the ends downward to give the feet more traction.","It's not uncommon for a 2,000-pound horse to have to pull twice its weight.","Now time for the fitting.","After heating the shoe, but not as much this time, the farrier uses it to melt the outer part of the wall.","This makes an imprint on the horseshoe that later helps him place it properly on the hoof.","Horses first wear shoes at about 3 years old, the age when they start working or competing.","The farrier fine-tunes the fitting with a metal filing tool, curving the edges further to make them even safer for the horse.","Next, he shines the steel with a metal brush.","The shine will quickly fade once the horse takes its first steps.","Depending on the foot size, the finished shoe can measure anywhere from 2.5 to 9 inches across.","Now, to attach the shoe, the farrier first files the hoof to remove any dust or sharp edges.","He slips on the shoe, then gently hammers as many as three nails into each side.","The nails are about 2 inches long.","They're made of lead--  a metal that's easy to bend-- and that's he'll do after hammering them through the wall.","He clips off the ends and bends the rest in towards the wall.","Then he uses other tools to gouge small crevices in which to bury the ends.","This makes it easy to straighten out the nails and yank off the shoe when it's time.","He also hammers the hoof against a template to stabilize the shoe.","Next, he files the hoof so that it meets the angle of the shoe.","And, finally, the horse is ready to stroll.","So whether you've got a pony or a stallion, make sure the shoe fits.","When it comes to horse footwear, function, not fashion, dictates.","In 1886, an american woman invented the automatic dishwasher.","Josephine cochran built a motorized wheel with wire compartments for dishes, turning inside a copper tank filled with soapy boiling water.","It was a hit with restaurants and hotels, but it wasn't until the 1950s that affordable dishwashers for home kitchens came on the market.","Building a dishwasher starts with a watertight container called the tub.","Some high-end models have stainless-steel tubs.","The rest have tubs made of molded plastic, usually polypropylene.","Workers screw two pairs of plastic wheels to each side of the tub.","They'll support the sliders on which the upper dish rack moves.","The lower dish rack rolls along the bottom of the tub.","This steel frame helps solidify the tub.","They affix a steel plate at the bottom to shield the plastic from heat of the motor.","Then they attach steel legs to the frame.","Here, they install a rubber reservoir called the sump.","It collects the water that flows to the bottom of the tub.","They screw in a two-part ring to hold the sump in place.","The heating element is a ceramic-insulated iron cable.","This filter traps food particles washing off the dishes.","After fitting an o-ring seal to make the sump leakproof, they secure the heating element by screwing ceramic insulators to the protruding connectors.","Now for the polypropylene wash arms.","This model has one at the bottom, with a tower that juts out for a larger spray span, and a second wash arm at the top.","The motor pumps clean water directly to the bottom wash arm and, through this flexible hose, to the top wash arm.","Once they connect the hose, they spin the wash arm to make sure there's no obstruction.","Meanwhile, workers connect key components to the dishwasher's circuit board.","This metal box is the timer.","It controls the wash and dry cycles.","For example, it activates this green cam lever to trigger the white lever to open the detergent dispenser at the right moment in the wash cycle.","The detergent dispenser is located on a plastic panel that will line the dishwasher's door.","They call this panel the inner door.","This seal will prevent water from leaking out and also provide some soundproofing.","A press runs over the inner door, driving in the seal evenly all around.","Now they screw the inner door to the outer door.","The assembled door hooks onto hinges at the base of the tub.","This machine presses the hook and hinge together so that the door doesn't come unhinged.","The dishwasher's motor is relatively quiet because it uses an inherently low-noise induction drive design.","The white machine attached to the motor is a food disposer.","It grinds up food particles so that they don't clog the drain.","The last technical step is to connect the various wires.","Before applying the finishing touches, workers conduct a seal test.","They flush each tub with water to check for leaks.","In this portable dishwasher, workers install cement blocks as a counterweight so that the washer won't tip forward when you open the door.","And because a portable usually sits in full view, it also needs sides and a top.","The top is decorative laminate on medium-density fiberboard.","They screw it to what's called the wrapper, a three-sided panel made of painted steel that covers the sides and back-- a clean look to go with your clean dishes.","Fishing may not be rocket science, but the graphite fly rod certainly is.","Graphite is a space-age material-- lightweight, flexible, and strong.","The very qualities that make it useful in space also come in handy at the river or lake.","It explains why graphite fly rods are now popular in the fishing world.","To make one, they start with a sheet of graphite.","They cut out shapes, following precise measurements.","One mistake here, and the performance of the rod will be compromised.","This will be a three-piece rod, with a butt piece, midsection, and tip.","They place a shape on a tapered steel mandrel...","And peel away the paper backing.","This machine rolls the graphite shape around the mandrel.","They make all three sections of the fishing rod the same way.","A graphite strip at the end reinforces it all.","The graphite remains on the mandrel for the next step.","They wind polypropylene tape around the graphite to squeeze out any air pockets between the layers.","Then it's into the oven to cook at 257 degrees fahrenheit for an hour and a half.","The tape won't melt, but resins in the graphite will, baking the rolled layers together.","Afterwards, they remove the shrink tape and pull the graphite blank off the steel mandrel.","Then the rod blanks go for a dip in a special finish, which turns it a deep blue.","They bake on the finish for a half-hour at 257 degrees fahrenheit.","Afterwards, they measure the rod sections and cut them to size so they all fit together.","Bending without snapping is the graphite rod's strong point.","They hot-glue the stainless-steel tip to the end.","Then they piece together the retainer for the fishing reel.","This locknut will allow the reel to be tightened.","The plug will keep everything from sliding off.","They glue cork rings together to make a handle.","Then they shape it with a chisel and sandpaper.","The line guides go on next.","They keep things from getting into a tangle.","They wind thread around it to secure it to the rod, one foot at a time.","A final step ensures the handiwork doesn't unravel.","They place the rod in a rotating jig and brush three coats of glossy epoxy onto the thread wrap.","This not only protects it but gives it a nice finish.","Now they slide a metal foot into a groove on the reel retainer, and it's ready for the reel to be attached.","But before you can cast your line, there is some information that needs to go on the rod, like the brand name and serial number.","A final inspection, and it's almost time to test the waters.","The reel snaps into place, and it's easily adjusted with the locknut.","The rest is a matter of luck and the right bait.","Millions of pizzas travel daily from the frozen-food section of the supermarket to the family dinner table.","Thick or thin crust, meat or vegetarian, their convenience makes them a staple in the freezer.","But how do they end up tasting so fresh when they start out so frozen?","Making frozen pizzas requires a maze of machines.","To make the dough for the crust, they combine flour, salt, sugar, water, yeast, and oil in a large mixer...","And they throw in a bit of cornmeal for flavor.","The mixer turns the ingredients for about four minutes.","This is one powerful machine.","A truck transmission drives the steel bars that knead the dough.","The dough rises for about half an hour.","Then they feed it into a chunking machine, which divides the big blob into smaller pieces.","The chunks travel to a sheeting machine that rolls them into a flat sheet one-inch thick.","A light dusting of flour keeps the dough from sticking to the machinery.","A series of rollers called quick reducers gives the dough an even consistency.","A flour brush massages the dough, ensuring a smooth surface.","Next, stainless-steel spikes pierce the dough with holes about a quarter-inch deep.","These holes will stop air pockets from forming in the dough.","A large plastic roller with several round forms cuts the circular shape of the pizza crust.","The machine automatically separates the leftover dough.","The factory remixes it with fresh dough for the next batch.","A conveyor takes the dough circles to their next destination--  the oven.","They bake for two minutes between 390 and 600 degrees fahrenheit.","Six chambers inside the oven automatically control the temperature pattern to ensure that each one bakes evenly.","Next stop-- the tomato sauce.","A tank pumps a steady supply of sauce into a reservoir, drenching a roller turning inside.","A plastic board then scrapes the sauce onto the crusts passing below.","The excess sauce drips down, replenishing the reservoir.","Mounds of preshedded mozzarella are ready to be added.","A cheese-applicator machine controls the output so that the mozzarella forms an even layer.","Large hoppers load heaps of pepperoni, sausage, and other meat toppings into a meat applicator.","As with the tomato sauce and cheese, the meat toppings cascade down on the pizza crusts.","The pizza is now ready for inspection.","Workers take samples off the line and weigh the crust, sauce, cheese, and meat to ensure the equipment dispensed the right amount of each.","Next, the pizzas enter a spiral freezer called a blast cell, where they spend about 20 minutes at minus-25 degrees fahrenheit.","An overwrapping machine applies a clear layer of plastic around each pizza, automatically cutting the wrap to fit.","A vision-control system takes a picture of every pizza, verifying the size, diameter, and checking for any imperfections.","The machine automatically rejects any less-than-perfect pizzas by air-blasting them into a separate tub.","Finally, an arm pushes each pizza into a waiting box.","All that's left now is to heat it up and dig in."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cheese Graters","Hot Sauce","Silver Jewellery","Traditional Mexican Chairs"]},"text":["Many recipes call for shredded ingredients, which is why a cheese grater is an indispensable kitchen tool.","Depending on which type of blade or blades a grater has, you can coarsely shred to finely grate not just cheese but also potatoes and vegetables.","Graters come in different sizes, shapes, and configurations, from flat models with one blade to box graters with a different blade on each side.","The blades are made from a stainless-steel sheet that's just 1/50 of an inch thick.","The sheet enters a shearing machine, where a die descends and cuts the blade shape, holes and all.","The machine's dies are interchangeable, so when it's time to produce a different model, workers simply remove this die and install another one.","Stainless steel is the ideal blade material because it's food-safe, durable, and rust-proof.","For this model, the next step is to curve the blade.","They insert it into a press that bends it with a rounded die.","The press also turns over the edges along three sides, forming a channel for a handle.","The handle is made of stainless-steel wire.","A bending machine wraps it around a grater-shaped form...","Then cuts the end free, releasing what is now a finished handle.","Now for this model's final assembly.","Workers slide a handle into the blade's channels.","Next they put the blade in a press, which forces the channels closed, encasing the wire.","With the handle and blade now locked together, the grater is finished.","Another model has a built-in tray to collect the grated food.","This machine forms the pivoting handle which enables the blade to stand upright in the tray.","First the machine cuts a strip of stainless steel to the required length.","It makes holes for a rivet on each side.","Then it bends the piece to a \"u\" shape.","Meanwhile, a forming press shapes the tray out of a stainless-steel sheet.","The tray moves to the next press, which slices off the excess from the perimeter.","The tray is now completely formed.","All that's left to do is punch a hole on each side for the rivets that attach the handle that props up the blade.","They take the handle and rivet it to one end of the blade.","Next, they rivet the tray to the other end of the blade, and the grater is fully assembled.","This company packaged certain models in blister packs.","Workers put the grater in a clear plastic cover, then position a printed cardboard backing over it.","The backing is coated with transparent, heat-activated glue.","A few seconds under a hot press, and the plastic cover adheres to the backing, encapsulating the grater.","From a basic version on up, a grater is an essential kitchen tool most cooks can't do without.","When it comes to cuisine, some like it hot.","A quick way to satisfy a picante-loving palate is with a splash or two of hot sauce, typically served with mexican food such as nachos, tacos, and burritos.","It can also spice up everyday fare such as eggs, potatoes, and sandwiches.","This american company has been producing hot sauce, also called a pepper sauce, since 1868.","Its signature version is made from tabasco peppers, a type of chile pepper.","The brand also comes in additional varieties, using habanero, chipotle, and green jalapeño peppers.","The company has pepper fields at its home base in louisiana, as well as in central and in south america, using seeds harvested from the louisiana crop.","The company president uses his experienced eye to select the best plants for seed extraction-- those with even and early-ripening, juicy peppers, well-formed, layered branches, and healthy, damage-free leaves.","He marks his selection with a string.","Then pickers harvest those peppers and send them to the seed extractor.","The peppers are hand-picked for sauce production, as well.","To determine which ones are ripe enough, the pickers use what cajuns call a petite baton rouge, french for \"little red stick\".","If a pepper matches the color of the stick, they harvest it.","If not, it stays on the plant.","It's labor-intensive but ensures only the perfect peppers go into the sauce.","Within hours of harvesting, the factory grinds the peppers and mixes them with salt.","This creates a mash which then goes into oak whiskey barrels to ferment and age.","Wooden barrels breathe, letting in just enough air to spur natural yeast growth-- the key to fermentation--  but not too much air, which would discolor the mash and produce a metallic flavor.","After laying paper on top of the mash to prevent surface discoloration, workers seal the barrels.","Then they spread a layer of salt over the top.","The barrels now go to the warehouse, where the mash ferments and ages for three years.","Fermentation releases carbon-dioxide gas, which forces liquid out through a vent hole in the top of the barrel.","The salt absorbs the liquid and hardens.","After the three-year fermentation and aging period, they break up the salt and open the barrel.","What was once pungent and acrid is now aromatic, with a mellow, complex flavor.","However, it still needs significant refining.","So they pump it into large mixing tanks, add vinegar, then churn for three to four weeks.","That's now long it takes for the vinegar to break down the pepper solids into smaller particles.","During that process, the vinegar also takes on the color, flavor, and aroma of the peppers.","The sauce requires no cooking whatsoever because the vinegar acts as a natural preservative.","The next step is a two-stage milling process.","The first mill extracts the pepper pulp.","The second mill removes the seeds.","The sauce is now finished.","The quality-control department analyzes samples from every batch of sauce for viscosity, ph, salt level, and other criteria.","Lab technicians also perform taste tests for flavor, clearing their palate in between with crackers and cooling the fiery heat with ice-cream bars.","Once the batch gets the thumbs-up, it's pumped to the bottling line.","The company uses glass rather than plastic because glass is a better barrier against oxygen.","Oxygen penetration would adversely affect the flavor and color of the sauce.","The capping machine twists on a plastic screw cap.","Then the bottles travel to the labeler, which adheres the main product label, slips on a decorative neck band, and applies a clear plastic seal over the cap.","Hot off the production line and ready to go.","People have been making jewelry and other objects since about 4,000 b.c. silver remains popular today because of its beauty and its affordability compared to gold and platinum.","Pure silver is rather soft, so it's traditionally combined with one or more metals to give it hardness and strength.","The silver used in jewelry is traditionally sterling silver.","Sterling is composed of 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy.","The alloy is usually copper or copper combined with other metals.","This mexican jewelry manufacturer melts the standard ratio of copper and zinc alloy to silver...","Then also remelts silver left over from the jewelry production process.","At 1,760 degrees fahrenheit, it takes just seconds for these solid metals to become molten sterling silver, at which point workers pour it into a stainless-steel mold.","The silver rapidly cools and hardens into a flat bar.","Workers extract the bar and clean it with sulfuric acid, then pass it between two rollers and a press.","The rollers apply more than 3,300 pounds of pressure.","Workers feed the bar into the press repeatedly, each time turning the wheel to narrow the gap between the rollers to progressively thin it out.","Rolling the bar scrambles its molecules, making the silver brittle.","So they reheat it to rearrange the molecules into a regular pattern again and restore flexibility and malleability.","The bar now goes through another rolling press to radically reduce the thickness.","This 4/10-of-an-inch-thick bar becomes a thin strip a mere 1/100 of an inch thick.","In doing so, it also lengthens dramatically from 10 inches to just over 4 yards.","The strip now passes through a series of forming rollers, which progressively curl the edges up and inward until the strip becomes a hollow tube.","Then the machine solders the edges, sealing the tube.","The tube is still way too thick for making earrings and rings, so on it goes to another thinning operation.","The machine grabs one end of the tube and pulls it through a series of circular dies which have progressively narrower diameters.","Once the tube is the required diameter, a winding machine curves it.","Some tubes then move on to a cutting machine which uses a diamond head to engrave a pattern in the surface.","To make hoop earrings, an artisan steadies a piece of curved, engraved tube in locking tweezers and solders on an earring hook, then the latch into which the hook snaps.","Some pieces of jewelry incorporate cubic-zirconia stones.","In this design, a computer-guided laser machine has already cut two patterned pieces out of an ultra-thin silver sheet.","A stamping machine then rounded each piece into a half-sphere.","The artisan now solders the two halves together, encasing the cubic-zirconia stones inside.","Then he solders the rest of the earring components made from silver tubing and silver wire.","Here an artisan is making a pendant.","He locks cubic-zirconia stones in between the front and back frame pieces.","Then he positions the center piece within the frame, soldering it in four spots.","Next, he solders a ring to the top of the pendant...","Then the bail, the loop for the chain, around the ring.","Next, into the finisher, a rotating barrel of abrasive powder that rounds edges and smoothes rough spots.","A buffing with a cloth wheel then polishes the silver to a mirror finish.","The same computerized laser machine that cut the sphere earrings can also etch an elaborate design on the surface of a piece.","It can reproduce virtually any image that can be created or copied with software.","The laser draws by pulverizing a microlayer of silver.","As the laser works, a built-in suction device vacuums the silver powder away.","Besides adding strength and durability, the alloy makes sterling silver less porous and, therefore, shinier.","And the copper in particular has anti-corrosive properties which reduce tarnishing.","The mexican barrel chair is sometimes called montezuma's chair, after the 9th aztec emperor who, as legend has it, enjoyed sitting in one.","After the spanish conquest of the aztec empire, these chairs were deemed seats of honor for visiting v.i.p.s.","Now considered more rustic than regal, anyone can sit in a chair like montezuma's.","There are various versions produced in mexico today, many handcrafted using techniques that date back centuries.","With a sharp, curved blade, the craftsman first splits a chunk of mexican rosewood into long, narrow pieces.","He cuts 36 splints for the chair's distinctive lattice work.","He pares down the ends of each splint, and he carves a round head onto each end.","These heads will stop the rope from sliding off as he ties the splints together.","He pulls the back away from a much longer piece of wood and then trims it to slimmer dimensions.","This wood is fresh from a local shrub called guizema.","It's so pliable, it's almost elastic, allowing the craftsman to bend it around his knee into a \"u\" profile.","Too much force, and he could crack the wood.","Too little, and the curvature won't be right.","A thick nail used on railway tracks is now used as a hammer as he nails a linear piece of wood to a curved one, completing his chair base.","He now loops plastic rope around the tips of the two splints and ties them together.","He lays the tied splints to holes in the guizema wood base.","He angles the top end of the splints diagonally and ties them together to create the chair's trademark lattice.","He then arranges the rounded willow wood frame on top and lashes the tied tips to it.","He reinforces the chair base with willow wood branches that have been scraped flat.","He nails five of these poles to the base of the chair.","The next craftsman secures a rounded bundle of willow branches to the protruding poles.","This completes the back framework.","Another worker now strings rope made of agave plant fiber across the seat framework and ties it to it.","He creates a strong yet flexible webbing to support the seat.","He now splits open some locally grown reeds and flattens them with a stone.","Basket-weave-style, he interlaces the flattened reeds to create a plated material that will be the next layer for the seat.","After cutting it to the exact shape and dimensions, he places it on top of the webbing.","He then stitches a strip of leather along the border.","His co-worker now reinforces the plastic ties at the chair base with leather rope.","The leather ties also give the base a more finished look.","He turns the chair on its side and trims the poles.","He also carves slivers of wood from the base so that it's even all the way around, allowing the chair to sit level on the floor.","The next worker drapes tanned and stretched pig-skin leather over the back framework.","He trims it to the contours of the bent willow wood.","He covers the reed seat with more leather from the same hide and cuts away the excess.","Using a leftover swatch of leather, he applies wax made from pig and cow fat to leather rope.","The wax allows the rope to slide easily through holes in the leather so there are no snags as he stitches the upholstery together.","The leather upholstery is now tight and tailored.","The next worker sprays mineral dye onto the leather.","It's honey-colored for a warmer look, and it also hides any minor flaws.","After the dye, he applies a protective coat of lacquer.","They heat an iron stamp and apply it to the latticed base to brand the wood with the company name.","And with that job done, it's time to take a seat.","But with so many twists on this ancient design, it could be tough to decide which one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Macarons","Pine Needle Baskets","Micrometers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" macarons...","Pine-needle baskets...","And micrometers.","Meringue cookies with a flavored filling, macarons were first produced in the eighth century in venetian monasteries.","In 1533, the recipe came to france with the pastry chefs brought by the italian noblewoman who arrived to marry the king.","Macarons have been considered french ever since.","Macarons are as much a treat for the eyes as for the mouth, with colorful meringue shells sandwiching a flavorful filling.","To prepare what's known as italian meringue for the shells, the bakers combine sugar and water.","They heat the mixture to precisely 222 degrees fahrenheit, slightly above the boiling point.","In a mixing bowl, the bakers combine egg whites with dehydrated egg whites.","Using a combination of liquid and dried egg whites reduces the amount of moisture in the meringue mixture.","When there's less moisture, it's easier to control the baking.","Workers mix the egg whites for about 8 to 10 minutes to make an emulsion, then add the boiling water and sugar.","The combination mixes until the temperature drops to 104 degrees fahrenheit.","No thermometer is necessary.","Bakers can tell by the stiff texture of what is now meringue.","The next step is to flavor and color the meringue.","Workers weigh very precise quantities of almond powder...","Then icing sugar.","They transfer these ingredients to the mixer...","And blend them thoroughly.","The baker adds the blended almond powder and icing sugar to a mixture of egg whites and, in this case, red food coloring because these will be raspberry macarons.","They resume mixing for another two or three minutes until everything is thoroughly blended.","Then the baker adds this mixture to the meringue to color and flavor it.","Five more minutes of blending, and the meringue is ready.","It's time to form the meringue shells.","A worker pours the meringue into the feed vat of the depositer.","The depositer dispenses 5-gram disks of meringue, 60 disks per lined baking sheet.","Using a micrometer, a worker measures each disk to make sure it's between 1.69 and 1.77 inches in diameter.","Meringue expands with baking, so this ensures each disk will bake into a shell that's the correct size.","Then, fans blow air to dry out the tops.","Evaporating the moisture prevents the top of the disks from rising as they bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 249 degrees fahrenheit.","When they come out of the oven, the baked shells are set out to cool.","Meanwhile, the bakers prepare the filling, mixing chocolate with piping-hot 35% cream.","As the chocolate melts, they blend the ingredients thoroughly.","Then the baker refrigerates the filling for 12 hours at 48 degrees fahrenheit.","When the filling comes out of the fridge, it's firm but malleable enough to be scooped up and put in a pastry bag.","With filling and shells now ready, the baker can begin assembling the macarons.","They squeeze about 5 grams of filling onto each shell...","Then place another shell on top, pressing gently to spread the filling outward.","The macarons fit perfectly into the slots of plastic retail trays, thanks to the careful measuring of the meringue disks prior to baking.","The trays pass through a machine which seals them in a pocket of plastic film to keep out moisture.","Then, each tray is packaged in a retail box.","This colorful selection features five flavors of macarons-- raspberry, blueberry, lemon, cherry, and exotic fruits.","When indigenous north americans needed containers, they looked no further than the pine needles that littered the forest floor.","They wove the needles into sturdy baskets for their daily use.","The making of these coniferous containers continues today, ensuring that it doesn't become a lost art.","Pine-needle baskets are beautiful examples of resourcefulness.","They prove that something substantial can be made from needles that would otherwise just end up on the ground and be trampled on.","The norway red pine in the northern united states sheds needles in the fall.","Just before they drop, they can be easily plucked from the branches.","This forager also collects needles that have fallen to the ground.","He tosses some pinecones into the bag too.","Back in the studio, a craftsperson immerses the needles in boiling water and simmers them for five minutes.","This softens the needles so that they're flexible enough to work with.","She selects a pinecone and boils it for 15 or 20 minutes.","This causes the scales to close up, and the cone shrinks.","Here are the pinecones before and after boiling.","The shrunken cone will serve as a handle for a basket lid.","After winding waxed linen thread around the cone's base, the craftsperson loops thread around the strands to hold them firmly together.","She now coils a bundle of pine needles around the cone and sews them to it.","She sets the cone aside for now.","Next, for an effect that is simply decorative, the craftsperson coils pine needles around a colorful piece of stone that's been sealed in acrylic.","Holes around the edge of the acrylic envelope make it easier to stitch the pine-needle coil to the decorative center.","The craftsperson gives each stitch a gentle tug to pull the coils snuggly so that it encompasses the acrylic edge.","This decorative center is now ready to be used as a starting point for a basket or a lid.","Using another technique, she crafts a basket center using only softened pine needles and thread.","This will be a bit trickier.","Using pliers, she pulls off the sheaths that hold the groupings of needles together.","Without the sheaths in the way, it will be easier to work with the needles.","The craftsperson now takes a bundle that's almost the thickness of a pencil and forms a small loop.","She ties a knot at the cross point.","She stitches the bundle all the way around, creating a spiral with a threaded pattern that radiates outward, like spokes on a wheel.","The craftsperson continually tucks more pine needles into the tail of the spiral to make it thicker and more even.","She then weaves a basket base from the center spiral outward.","She stitches each coil of pine needles to the one before it.","And she aligns the stitching to create a decorative pattern that adds to the appeal of the basket.","The craftsperson now tucks in pine needles with the black sheaths still on, to add even more visual interest.","She artfully arranges them around the basket base and stitches them to it.","From start to finish, it takes about 12 hours to craft the entire basket.","After completing the lid with the decorative stone, the craftsperson tests the fit.","For an alternative embellishment, she weaves red dogwood twigs into a pine-needle basket.","It's another way to be creative with the materials that nature offers up in abundance.","Each one of these pine-needle baskets is an original, handcrafted by an artisan.","And that makes them worth holding on to.","A micrometer is a handheld precision-measuring tool typically used in manufacturing.","A toolmaker producing parts for factory equipment or a machinist making parts for a product would use a micrometer to take precision measurements to make sure the part dimensions confirm to engineering specifications.","Micrometers come in different types and ranges of measurement.","This model is designed to measure the outside diameter of an object.","The graduations are in imperial units up to 1 inch.","The micrometer's frame starts out as a forged-steel part that needs to be machined to the final shape.","Workers secure the part on a mechanical milling machine.","The machine first squares the ends...","Then slices the part down the middle, dividing it into frames for two micrometers.","A computer-guided mill profiles the frame.","This is the forged frame before this step and after.","Another computer-guided mill reduces the inside and outside diameters of the frame's hollow stem.","Workers insert a nut in the stem, then dip a piece of solder into a soldering chemical called flux and insert it through a hole in the stem.","They hold the stem inside a soldering coil.","The heat instantly melts the solder, fusing the nut to the stem.","Workers remove excess solder with a wire brush.","Then, they grind the stem to finalize the diameter.","Here's what the stem looks like before this last grinding and after.","Next, on the opposite end of the frame, they mill a notch.","This is for the lock nut that locks the micrometer against the object while you read the measurement.","Workers now sandblast the entire frame.","This removes all traces of metal dust and machining lubricant, leaving the surface pristine, a requirement for the next step-- electroplating the frame with chrome.","They complete the micrometer's frame by laser-marking the brand name and a reference chart of measurements in fractions of an inch and the decimal equivalents.","This machine shapes a long steel rod into the micrometer's inside shell, which, in conjunction with the outside shell, displays the measurement reading.","The machine first drills through the rod to form a hollow cylinder.","Next, it reams the inside and grinds the outside to the required diameter.","The same machine also shapes a steel rod into the micrometer's outside shell.","It carves a diamond pattern onto it called a knurl.","This textures the surface, making it easier to grip.","Then the machines reams the inside to the required diameter.","After sandblasting both shells, workers hang them on a rack, then dip the rack into a tank of chromic acid.","Copper prongs on the rack deliver a positive electrical current to the shells while the chromic acid is charged with a negative current.","This magnetically draws a chrome layer onto the surface of the shells.","Then a computer-guided laser marks the brand name and the graduations on the inside and outside shells.","This computer-guided mill shapes a steel rod into the micrometer's key measuring component, the spindle.","The machine first profiles the outside.","Then it drills a hole 1/2 inch deep and reams it to the correct diameter.","It's critical that the spindle not wear down with long-term use, as this would effect the micrometer's measuring accuracy.","To prevent this, they harden the steel through a heat-treatment process.","First, workers put the spindles in a furnace at a temperature of 1,526 degrees fahrenheit.","After an hour, they submerge the spindles in oil, then freeze them overnight to stabilize the steel.","The next day, workers temper the steel by putting the spindles back in the furnace for an hour, this time at a lower temperature.","Once the spindles cool, a machining tool grinds threads into them.","The precision of that threading determines the micrometer's measurement accuracy.","To use a micrometer, you place the object you're measuring against the stationary end of the frame called the anvil.","Then you rotate the spindle on the opposite end until it's seated against the object.","You turn the nut to lock that position and read the measurement.","The spindle for this model has 40 threads per inch.","So turning it one revolution in either direction moves it 25/1,000 inch.","If the steel hadn't been hardened, those threads would wear down over time, causing inaccurate measurements.","For the same reason, this disk they now prepare to solder onto the face of the spindle is made of tungsten carbide, the hardest type of steel.","After fluxing the face of the spindle, topping it with the disk of solder, and positioning the fluxed carbide disk on top of that, workers place the spindle inside the hot soldering machine to fuse the carbide to the face of the spindle.","They grind the diameter of the carbide disk to reduce it to the same diameter as the spindle.","After this grinding, the disk becomes integrated with the rest of the spindle.","They grind the face of the carbide disk flat.","Then this lapping machine polishes the face to perfect the flatness and produces a mirror finish.","They perform a quality-control check with an optical parallel made of sapphire.","It projects bands of light which detect flatness to a degree the human eye can't perceive.","This second test reflects light off the mirror-finish face.","When rotating the spindle, the light should stand still.","This indicates the face is perfectly perpendicular to the diameter.","The micrometer's anvil, the fixed surface opposite the spindle against which you place the object you're measuring, is also machined from carbide.","To assemble the micrometer, a worker places a spring in a recessed area of the frame stem, then the inside shell onto the stem.","The spring applies enough tension to hold the shell in place.","The inside of the stem will have female threads to match male threads on the spindle.","This adjusting nut on the end of the stem controls the thread engagement between the two, enabling the spindle to move more tightly or loosely.","The next step is cutting those female threads into the inside of the stem.","First, a worker reams the stem to the required diameter, then switch the reaming tool on the lathe for a tapping tool.","Tapping is the term for cutting threads.","They put the stem back on the lathe and tap 40 female threads per inch.","Now, workers can assemble the spindle to the stem.","They mount the spindle on an automatic lapping machine.","Then a worker slides the stem over the spindle, going back and forth multiple times to fit both sets of threads together.","They lubricate the threads with instrument oil so they'll glide smoothly against each other.","After assembling the lock nut in its notch, the worker cleans the spindle face with alcohol and glues the anvil to it temporarily.","Then they rotate the spindle until the anvil reaches its adhesive-coated position at the opposite end of the frame.","When the adhesive sets, the worker separates the spindle and anvil.","Using an optical parallel, they check the spindle and anvil faces to make sure they're perfectly parallel to each other.","The worker completes the assembly by fitting the outside shell to the frame.","It covers the end of the spindle that's protruding from the stem.","A steel ratchet locks it into position.","A final round of quality-control testing ensures the device works smoothly and measures accurately.","In this test, they measure four different-sized measuring blocks.","In this one, they bring out those optical parallels again to check flatness and parallelism.","They also perform a cosmetic inspection and check that the graduations are all legible because, of course, no one wants a micrometer that doesn't measure up."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Kitchen Knives","Mannequins","Socks","Hypodermic Needles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Kitchen knives...","Mannequins...","Socks...","And hypodermic needles.","Any good cook knows that you're only as good as your tools, so using the right kitchen knife for the job is essential.","From chef's knives and cleavers to boning knives, filleting knives, and paring knives, a serious cook buys only quality cutting utensils and stores them in a block to keep their blades sharp.","Today's blades are truly a cut above the stone tools the cavemen used.","Knife-making is now a science, producing tools that really give you that edge in the kitchen.","First, they roll out steel by the sheet from a big coil.","Then this machine, called a press, cuts out the blades with a punch.","And it really does pack a punch.","It presses down with 110 tons of pressure in order to make these steel cutouts.","Next, things get really hot.","They roll baskets full of the blade cutouts into a high-temperature furnace.","The blades bake at almost 1,600 degrees fahrenheit for 2 hours.","This hardens the steel.","Out of the fire and into the freezer, the blades chill out at subzero temperatures-- negative 56 degrees fahrenheit for two hours.","This freezer is cooled by liquid nitrogen.","Now we have what they call \"cold, hard steel\".","Next, they douse each blade with water while a belt grinder smooths the back of the blade and sparks fly.","Continuous water keeps the steel cool and hard while a sander smooths the back of the blade.","Now a robot moves in.","This robotic arm has vacuum grippers like an octopus.","It picks up a blade by suctioning, then it transports it to a grinding machine.","The machine grinds the blade to give it that cutting edge.","Water flows continuously through the grinder, again to keep the steel cool.","The robot keeps everything moving, putting a paring blade through the grinder every 12 seconds.","The automated process for this bigger blade is a bit different.","This robotic arm holds the blade in a grip, rather than through fast-action suctioning.","That's because it takes more time to grind this big blade, called a cook's knife.","So this arm holds onto this blade a few seconds longer.","But if this makes you nervous, relax.","The robot doesn't have a habit of dropping them.","Some blades require a personal touch, like this shiny chef's knife, used for chopping vegetables.","The worker runs the blade over the grinding stone very carefully.","This gives it a very thin edge.","Then a laser burns the brand name onto the side of the blade.","Next, a piece of wood goes into a clamp, and a router shaves it into the shape of a handle.","The end of the blade now fits neatly into the handle.","A worker clamps the knife onto a riveting machine.","Those things that look like bullets on an ammunition belt are actually the rivets.","The machine forces the rivets into the handle from both sides.","The rivets lock together inside the handle so they can never be taken apart.","Now they grind down any protruding steel from the handle.","This makes the wood flush with the steel from the blade.","The piece of metal that extends into the handle is called the tang.","It gives the knife weight and balance.","Finally, they hone the knife between two stone grinding wheels.","With this kind of an edge, these knives will slice paper.","But these knives will do their best work on the cutting board, where they'll make the cook's life easier and meals tastier, no matter how you slice it.","They strike alluring poses in store windows, motionless models flaunting the latest fashions.","For clothing retailers, mannequins are a vital sales tool.","They come in fixed or flexible versions, the bodies realistic or abstract.","And they can be made out of a range of materials, from wood to fiberglass.","Meet lady swing and mr.","X-- not flesh and bone, but polyurethane foam.","These fully flexible fashion figures start out as humongous blocks of soft polyurethane foam.","Using a band saw, workers divide them into smaller blocks, about the size of a large refrigerator.","A worker creates a pressed-wood mold using both a grinder and a sander to soften the inside.","She applies a layer of putty over rough or damaged areas.","This will harden and prevent the foam from clinging.","She'll make separate molds for the arms, legs, head, and torso.","A 3-square-foot slab of foam goes on top of the mold, then a slab of harder foam, called a pattern, on top of that.","The foam layers and wood mold now go through what's called a pressure cutting machine.","Pressure forces the slabs together, while a thin blade slices the excess foam away.","Exactly how much pressure the machine applies is a closely guarded trade secret.","The foam arms pop right out on the other side.","For the head and torso, they use a foam slab measuring 58\"x17\"x5 1/2\", and a foam pattern that includes shapes for breasts and a belly button, and grommets to shape the nipples.","This foam pattern is impressionistic.","This mannequins are not meant to be anatomically correct.","Here's the pressure-cutting machine close up.","Nine rollers compress the mold, soft foam, and pattern slabs together, forcing them through a paper-thin opening, and slicing away up to six inches of foam.","True to form, lady swing pops up on the other side.","Her flexibility is her best trait.","She and mr.","X are often displayed on sports equipment, like snowmobiles and bikes.","Their manufacturer first named them in the 1970s, and the monikers just stuck.","Workers inspect the mannequin and trim the excess material.","They extract her easily because they sprayed the empty mold cavity with lubricant.","Next, a worker assembles a quarter-inch-thick steel skeleton to give the mannequin some structure.","Workers will insert the skeleton between the half-sections of the foam body.","A welder fuses together 16 joints in the ankles, knees, thighs, hips, elbows, and shoulders.","Another worker sprays slow-drying, water-based glue on the skeleton and on the foam body sections that'll cover it.","This will make them adhere together snugly.","The hand skeletons are thin and pliable, like coat hangers, so they'll bend.","A worker places the skeleton between the torso halves, positioning the foam so the edges meet evenly.","These dummies don't come cheap.","They sell for between $600 and $800 each, depending on the market value of the foam's main ingredient, oil.","Still, that's a bargain compared to their more realistic-looking, but much less flexible, fiberglass cousins.","They cost up to $2,000 each.","After letting the parts dry and set overnight, a worker tests the limbs for flexibility.","She joins together the lower leg portions.","The skeleton protrudes at the heel so that it can be secured to the floor when the dummy goes on display.","Now, here's a scene worthy of a horror movie.","Using an electric carving knife, a worker slices of 2 1/2 inches from the front of the head.","She glues on a hollow face mask made of plastic, using solvent-based glue for an extra-strong bond.","Next, they spray the mannequin with a flesh-colored water-based glue, then sprinkle it with a fine powder made of tiny cloth particles.","This is called flocking.","It takes 12 hours to dry and gives the mannequin a protective fire-retardant skin.","This factory's flocking comes in 18 different colors, from a variety of skin tones to several vibrant colors.","Before lady swing makes her debut, a makeup session-- powder blush to color her lips and cheeks, and water-based paint on her eyes, lashes, and brows.","They add a wig, and voilà-- she's ready for her date with mr.","X. socks are something we put on without thinking.","But consider this-- the very first socks were strips of cloth or hide wrapped around the feet.","Imagine walking around in those.","Thankfully, that's ancient history, and today's socks are much better for the sole.","With so many styles and fibers for sock these days, it's no problem putting your best foot forward.","But you have to step into this room of knitting machines to truly understand what a science sock-making has become.","Here's a machine with the top open so we can get a view of the knitting action.","An automated whirling cylinder pulls yarn from spools through holes in metal spokes.","Little hooks on the needles grab the yarn.","The hooks have latches.","The latches open as the hooks snare the yarn and close as they knit so you don't lose a stitch.","As you can see, this machine knits socks a lot faster than grandma, sometimes making over 360 pairs a day.","As the layers are added, a sock emerges from a tube at the bottom.","The knitting machine is fully computerized.","It automatically switches to a different color of yarn to make a stripe or a company logo.","Now the machine changes gears to make a heel.","It does a half rotation instead of a whole one to knit the heel shape.","The needles go up and down as the latches open, and the needles pick up the yarn, pulling it in.","Knit one, purl two.","Here it is in slow motion.","This is about the speed at which a human could knit at, but this machine normally runs at a speed of over 200 revolutions a minute.","A tension mechanism moves back and forth, keeping the yarn from going slack and getting tangled.","Now a sock shoots out of a vacuum tube, and a worker turns it inside out.","She sews the toe closed and cuts off the extra fabric.","Then she turns the sock right side out again, and it's sucked up by the vacuum.","Next, the vacuum tube deposits the sock into a bin.","The trapdoor on the end of the tube ensures that vacuum pressure isn't lost.","But there's more than one way to close a sock toe-- a more automated way.","A worker slides the sock between two metal plates.","Pressure holds them in place.","Then a motorized conveyer system transports the sock to a sewing head.","A blade cuts off excess fabric, and a needle goes up and down like an oil rig, stitching one row and then another as reinforcement.","This automated system produces a finer seam than a sewing machine that's run manually.","Now that the toe is closed, a robotic arm moves in and feeds the sock to a set of rollers.","A blade pushes the sock down while the rollers turn the sock right side out.","A vacuum chute fires the sock into a bin.","Then it's on to the rotary dying machine.","He loads 1,800 pairs or more, depending on the size of the dying machine.","The socks toss around in a bath of dyes, chemicals, and softeners.","For athletic socks, they add antimicrobial treatment to the mix.","It will help prevent fungus or bacteria that cause foot odor.","Now they slide the sock onto a foot form made of polished aluminum that won't cause snags.","The aluminum leg forms stretch the socks to the prescribed size as they travel down a conveyer belt into a boarding machine.","The boarding machine is like a gigantic iron, and the heat seals the stretch in the nylon so the sock stays that size.","Once out, a robotic arm grips the sock and pulls it off the aluminum form.","It's called a stripper.","Then an automated rack with protruding pins collects the socks.","The worker removes them a bunch at a time, and the socks are ready for packaging.","And then, all you have to do is pull up your socks.","A hypodermic needle is the proper term for a syringe and needle.","It's used to draw blood or inject medication.","This indispensable tool was invented back in 1853, but it wasn't until 1954 that mass-produced disposable syringes came on the market, developed for the vast immunization campaign against polio.","A syringe may make you cringe, but the treatment it delivers could be a lifesaver.","To make a hypodermic needle, they start with a flat strip of stainless steel.","The milling machine rolls it into a tube shape.","A laser welds the seam together.","But what makes the steel stiff enough to use is something called cold-work, in which they press the tubing through a die several times.","This also slims the tube dramatically, so now you have a thinner, tougher tube.","It takes about a couple of days to turn this stainless-steel strip into a tube with needle potential.","But it will have to be sharp to perform, and the next steps will focus on getting the steel tube to a point where it's more than just a blunt object.","An electrically powered blade scores the walls of the tubes as rubber pads bear down and roll.","This rolling causes the tubes to finally break at the score line.","The tubes are being cut down to size-- about two inches long.","The tubes fall into a bin, a tangled mess.","The bin, driven by air pressure, agitates, and this shaking motion straightens them out.","An operator bundles them together with a plastic band, but removes a few to check the specs.","This micrometer uses laser light to measure the outside diameter.","The tube is supposed to be 8/100 of an inch, and it's right on.","Next, a mechanically driven drum rolls superadhesive tape onto the tubes.","The tape will hold the tubes in place as more work is done on them.","They razor cut five-inch strips of the tape tubes so that there are about 100 tubes per strip.","Then they spray aluminum oxide on the ends of the tubes.","This roughs them up so that the surface will be easier to work with.","Now they place the strips of tubes into the grinding fixture, and then they snap it shut.","Coolant flushes over the tube tips as the fixture moves across a grinding wheel.","The wheel grinds through the tops of the tubes, shaping them into a rough point.","This is only the first grind, so it's not yet needle-sharp.","Now the fixture rolls and rotates the tubes.","Then it's back to the grind.","The angle of the wheel is changed so that it sands the sides of the tubes.","These two secondary grinds sharpen the tubes into a finer point.","This is how they look before grinding, and this is after, with their sharp needle tips.","Now it's time for the big inspection.","She pushes the ends of the needles with the back of her tweezers to make sure they're even, and then pulls out a needle for sampling.","She measures the length of the grind.","It should be a few hundredths of an inch long.","Next, she sizes up the needle's outside diameter with a micrometer.","Holding the needle between posts, it measures the space between them.","Then she checks the inside diameter by inserting a plug gage into the tube.","Now she inspects a whole bundle of needles for irregularities or burrs.","Using tweezers, she removes one for a closeup look under the microscope.","Once they pass inspection, it's on to the big wheel, or the automated assembly machine.","Brass- and nickel-plated fittings, called hubs, drop onto pins on the wheel.","Then needles fall into the hubs.","Metal fingers align them so they fit together precisely.","The hub is the piece that will connect the needle to the syringe.","Automated crimpers press the needle into the hub.","Sheer friction bonds them.","Now two metal pads on the same wheel position the needle.","A plastic sleeve drops down, encasing the pointed tip.","Finally, a robotic arm lifts the needle off the wheel and drops it into a bin.","The needles are now ready for you, but are you ready for them?"]}
{"meta":{"things":["Anatomical Models","Jukeboxes","Tortilla Chips","Spark Plugs"]},"text":["In the 18th century, anatomical models became widely used for educational purposes.","However, they were unique pieces carved in wax, which made them expensive and fragile.","Today, they're made of plastic-based resin and are found in medical schools, doctors' offices, even art schools.","This model of a human torso has 20 removable parts.","The front, sides, and back all provide different views of the body's inner and outer structure.","Workers cast each part of the model using a plastic-based polymer resin.","They pour the resin into nickel molds of the different parts, like this skullcap mold...","Or this heart mold.","Then they join the two molds that make up each part and clamp them shut.","The molds go into a gas oven set to 437 degrees fahrenheit.","As the heat penetrates the molds, the resin evenly coats the entire inner surface.","After about 10 to 12 minutes, they come out piping hot.","Workers spray them with water to cool them down before they unclamp the mold and release the warm casting.","Here are some shoulder muscles fresh from their mold...","The cross-section of a heart...","An arm...","And a leg that workers set to cool into shape on a form made of heat-resistant gypsum.","Using a needle, a worker punctures the resin to release trapped air so the part doesn't shatter.","Then he drills small holes for the pins that will hold the parts together.","Each part is hand-painted to single out key features.","An artist carefully paints in the veins in blue on this leg...","And then uses yellow for the nerve endings...","And red for the arteries.","Even the toenails get some color.","Before they can assemble the model, workers must first insert metal pins into each part.","They help attach the parts to one another.","Now the artist can finish painting in the arteries on this shoulder muscle.","The gray areas indicate the ligaments.","Next, she turns her attention to the head, painting in the eyes first to give the figure some life.","It's all in the details.","This final touch really makes the eyes come alive.","The parts go into a warm oven for about 15 minutes to soften the plastic.","This makes them easier to assemble.","Here, a worker lowers the model's head onto a metal pin set in the torso.","She puts the brain inside the model's skull and covers it with the skullcap.","Next, she adds muscles to an arm, guiding the pin into a hole on the adjoining part.","She adds the bicep, a muscle that helps flex the hand...","And, finally, the deltoid, the muscle that lifts the arm at the shoulder joint.","She tapes up the arm to keep all parts together as she attaches it to the torso.","Nickel-plated hooks and fasteners hold the removable parts in place on the assembled model.","This life-size muscular figure measures in at 4 1/2 feet.","It has 45 separate parts, all anatomically correct.","The human body-- truly an extraordinary structure.","The jukebox actually started out as a memo-recording device for executives.","That phonograph recorder was invented by thomas edison back in the 19th century.","It evolved into a coin-operated music machine because music is a lot more fun to dance to than the boss' orders--  \"take a memo\".","Put a coin in the slot and people will dance to your tune.","Records replaced the phonographic cylinder early in the 20th century.","Amplifiers were added in the 1930s and gave the big box a big sound.","In the 1980s, compact discs came along, putting a different spin on the jukebox.","With those smaller discs, manufacturers could pack a lot more music into a machine.","Now compact-disc technology is becoming outdated, and the latest jukeboxes contain computers that download songs from the internet.","To make a modern jukebox, they start with the door.","They sandwich a red panel with swirled designs on it between layers of plastic.","The assembler aligns them, then screws them together.","He snaps the jukebox name into a snazzy piece of plastic, then fits it in one of the cutouts in the front of the door.","Next, he installs aluminum framework around the door.","He supports it at the corners with metal brackets.","He screws a little metal wheel on the latch so the door will open and close smoothly.","He mounts the touch screen in the big cutout on the door.","He strings wiring for lighting around the perimeter of the door and fastens two long panels equipped with l.e.d. lights to the back.","He plugs in the lights for a test, and it proves this door is flashy enough for the entertainment biz.","He runs plastic trim along the perimeter of the door and screws a long metal hinge to one side of it.","This jukebox door is now complete, and the rest is an inside job.","The assembler installs an exhaust fan in the jukebox cabinet.","He screws an audio amplifier to the back wall.","The wireless router that allows the jukebox to connect to the internet goes in next.","He mounts the power-supply system to the sidewall of the cabinet.","He tucks the computer into a lower corner of the box.","The power transformer for the amplifier goes on the back wall.","He installs an audio-control system just below the transformer.","He connects the amplifier to the audio-control system, and then he wires the computer to the router.","He hooks up a communication system that passes information between all the devices in the jukebox.","And he installs a transformer for the speaker system.","Now the jukebox is ready for the showpiece-- that light-studded door with the touch screen.","He screws the door's long hinge to the cabinet.","He inspects his installation job and determines no adjustments are needed.","So he fastens the bill box to the back of the door...","And installs the computer hard drive in the cabinet.","And, finally, the money test.","He feeds the jukebox some cash and makes musical selections to check its function.","At the jukebox factory, when the job is done, it really is party time.","On their own, dipped in salsa or guacamole, or topped with chili and melted cheese, tortilla chips are the quintessential mexican snack, even though they're actually an american invention.","In the late 1940s, a los angeles tortilla factory began cutting and frying leftover tortillas, selling the first tortilla chips.","When the chips are down, they usually go fast.","Tortilla chips start out as raw yellow corn.","The supplier cleans the kernels and dries them to a moisture content of 14%, then ships them to the chip factory.","There, the corn goes into large stainless-steel cooking kettles filled with almost-boiling water.","Workers then add lime, an ingredient that does many things.","It's antibacterial, it gives the corn a parched flavor, it helps loosen the hull--  the kernel's shell-- so it will come off later on, and lets moisture penetrate the kernel.","Each cook kettle contains more than 650 pounds of corn and almost 200 pounds of water and lime combined.","Next stop is a soak tank.","The cooked corn sits there for 12 hours to further absorb water.","Once the moisture content hits 45% and the hulls are soft and loose, a pumping system moves the corn to the washer.","This machine strains the water so that what's left is just soft, hydrated corn.","The next stop is the tumbler, a rotating drum with perforated walls.","Water jets blow off the loose hulls.","The corn travels on a conveyor from the tumbler to the mill.","An auger feeds the corn into a stone grinder.","It literally pulverizes the corn kernels between two stones, producing a soft corn dough called masa.","The masa exits the mill through a narrow nozzle that shapes the dough into a thin sheet.","The sheet then runs through rollers that have triangular dies on their surface.","The triangles move into an oven heated to 644 degrees fahrenheit.","They spend just 16 seconds inside, but that's enough time to dry the dough to the point where it won't break apart when handled.","The heat also traps tiny pockets of moisture in the dough, creating little blisters.","This gives the tortilla chips their trademark bumpy texture.","From the oven, a conveyor belt transports the triangles to the fryer.","The corn oil is 360 degrees fahrenheit.","They take just 55 seconds to fry into chips.","A mesh conveyor belt then lifts them out.","As they leave, the excess oil drains back into the fryer.","At the next stop, augers feed nacho-flavor seasoning into a tumbler.","The seasoning's main ingredients are powdered cheddar, parmesan and romano cheeses, and spices.","Nozzles spray the chips with corn oil to make the surface adhesive.","Then the seasoning tumbles on and sticks.","After exiting the tumbler, the chips travel to the packaging department.","Chutes route them to different packaging machines.","The packaging equipment represents technical choreography at its finest.","Each machine has 14 bucket-shaped scales.","When there's enough for one package, a trap door opens.","The chips drop just as a forming device shapes a piece of foil and plastic film into a bag.","The chips land in the bag.","Then a heat sealer immediately closes the top and cuts it free while simultaneously sealing the bottom of the next bag.","From bucket to bag to bowl.","It takes a spark to get your motor running.","The spark plug was invented in the 19th century to fire the internal-combustion engine.","There are usually several in an engine, and they fit into the cylinder head.","When the plugs are all working, it means your trip will have a good start.","The spark plug produces what looks like a mini lightning bolt to ignite the gas that runs your car.","To make spark plugs, they blend alumina ceramic powder and other ingredients with water.","After a thorough mixing, the milky-looking brew drains into a big dryer, which converts it back to powder.","The powder funnels into a mold.","It closes to press the powder into the shape of spark-plug insulators, and a binding ingredient in the mix helps them keep their shape.","An automated system loads them onto mandrels that spin the ceramic insulators against a grinding wheel.","It grinds them into a more graduated shape and does a very precise job.","These ceramic shapes are quite fragile, and they'll need to be baked in order to harden.","But first, a tester double-checks the measurements with a laser tool.","Then they bake in this very hot kiln until they're extremely hard.","This takes up to 24 hours.","While the insulators are in the kiln, tools ram steel through shaped cavities called dies.","They're essentially punching out shells that will be the spark-plug casings.","Other tools bore into the upper part of the shells to give them a hexagonal profile.","This will later enable mechanics to wrench them into a vehicle's engine block.","More tooling contours the spark-plug shells, and the result is quite a transformation.","A conveyor now shuttles the spark-plug shells forward, as nickel-alloy wire unwinds overhead.","An automated welder fuses the wire to the shells.","This wire will serve as the spark plug's ground electrode, and it will be bent towards a firing electrode later.","The space between them will contain the spark.","Ridged rollers carve threads in the steel shells so they can be screwed into the engine block.","The shell then gets a protective silvery finish.","The ceramic insulators are now out of the kiln, and it's time to roll on the insignia.","The insulators then brush by a rubber wheel that coats them with glaze as a protective finish.","They install center electrodes in the insulators, and powder funnels into them to fill the space around the electrodes.","The powder is a mix of glass and metal.","Automated prongs compress it in the insulators.","Grippers then insert the terminal studs into the insulator.","The stud will act as the electrical connection to the center electrode.","The insulators now go into an oven.","The black powder melts around the studs and center electrodes to seal them inside the insulator cavity.","Nozzles squirt oil onto the metal shells to lubricate them.","The insulators funnel into the grip of robots which will install them in the shells.","They slide in easily because of the lubrication job.","Tools called shrinking punches apply an electrical current to each shell to fit it tightly to the insulator.","A robot positions the assembly right side up with the side electrode protruding, then bends that side electrode towards the center one.","The robot then collects the spark plugs and sends them down the line.","It's time for an inspection.","She looks for imperfections in the glaze, the inscription, and the nickel plating.","She measures the space between the two electrodes before sending them over to the packaging department.","And now these spark plugs are ready to keep your engine firing on all cylinders."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pewter Flasks","Potato Salad","Hydrogen Fuel Cells","Engineered Wood Siding"]},"text":["Long before the plastic water bottle, there was the hip flask, carried in a pocket or strapped to the waist or hip.","Unlike a water bottle or earlier canteen, the flask was used for carrying a very different type of thirst quencher-- several ounces of hard liquor.","In the 18th century, it became quite fashionable for well-to-do europeans to carry elegant flasks crafted from silver or pewter.","Today, flasks are typically given as gifts, often engraved with monograms or messages.","Pewter is an ideal metal for flask making because it's so malleable.","They begin with a sheet of raw pewter that's about 8/100\" thick.","With a guillotine cutter, they slice a rectangular starting piece called a blank.","They lay this blank onto a copperplate, which has the flask decorations on it in raised form.","They feed the plate and blank through a rolling press.","The compression stamps the design into the malleable pewter.","Next, they place the imprinted blank in a hydraulic press outfitted with flask-shaped forming dyes.","In a single strike, the press shapes the blank into half a flask.","They transfer it to a trim press and clip off the excess pewter around the perimeter.","They repeat the entire process to produce the other half of the flask, then solder the two parts together.","They shape certain styles manually.","A metalsmith heats the blank with a gas torch to make the pewter pliable, then wraps it around a flask-shaped aluminum block.","He hammers the adjoining edges flat with a wooden mallet and removes the block.","He fuses the edges by running a line of pure tin solder down the entire length of the joint.","Meanwhile, on another press, workers stamp out pewter-sheet rectangles.","The metalsmith solders one rectangle to the top of the flask...","Then cuts it to the right shape with jeweler scissors.","Next, he solders on a pewter thread for the cap.","Before fusing a pewter rectangle to the bottom of the flask, he stamps it with a maker's mark.","Then he dabs the bottom of the flask in flux, a chemical which helps solder run smoothly without globs.","Then, just as he did with the top, he solders on the bottom, then contours it.","Next, he puts a drill through the cap thread and bores a hole for filling and boring.","Then, with an abrasive belt, he grinds all the solder seams flat, making them barely noticeable.","Workers now fill the finished flask with water to check for leaks and rinse out the interior.","Then they screw a pewter cap onto each thread.","Now a buffer takes over.","With a cloth wheel and pumice, he removes any surface imperfections, such as marks left by the abrasive belt they used earlier to grind down the solder seams.","Once the buffing's complete, the flasks go through a dishwasher cycle to clean off pumice residue, then the finishing touch.","A polisher shines up the pewter until it has a reflective-mirror finish.","They pour out whatever water's still inside, emptying the flask for its new vocation.","Unlike the flasks used to conceal liquor under clothing back in the days of prohibition, these modern-day pewter flasks are meant to be seen and treasured.","In many families, a potato-salad recipe is a closely guarded secret passed down through the generations.","The family barbecue just wouldn't be the same without it.","But when there's no time to whip up a homemade batch, there's always the factory-made kind.","The appeal of potato salad knows no boundaries.","People around the globe have cooked up various versions of this dish over the years.","There are so many different recipes, they could fill an entire cookbook.","But no matter how you toss it, potato salad is always pure comfort food.","Of course, it's all about the potato.","At this factory, they use varieties with low water content so the potato salad doesn't end up soggy.","They arrive fresh from the field and funnel out of the truck trailer onto a conveyer for an efficient and gentle unloading.","They head up to a washer to clean off the dirt and remove stones and pebbles.","The potatoes then bounce across rollers covered with fine grit abrasive.","This scrapes off the skins.","Once peeled, a worker inspects the white flesh for bruises or other flaws.","They then tumble down a chute towards the dicing machine.","It's equipped with these cutting cylinders.","The blades are positioned vertically on one, while they're in a horizontal configuration on another.","As they revolve in sync, they carve the potatoes into cubes.","The blades can be adjusted to cut the cubes larger or smaller, depending on the recipe.","Here they turn out medium chunks for a creamy, american-style potato salad.","Workers roll trays full of potato cubes into a big pressure cooker to steam-cook for 6 to 10 minutes.","Pressure cooking preserves the nutrients and original flavor of the potatoes.","While the potatoes are cooking, they prepare the crunchy component-- the celery.","The celery sticks first go for a sudsy ride to scrub them clean.","Along the way, an inspector sorts out leaves and over-ripe pieces.","They set cutting cylinders to dice more finely than with the potatoes.","Out of the washer and thoroughly rinsed, the celery sticks tumble into the dicer, and it chops them into small bits.","The minced celery exits into a vibrating trough and tosses about in a peroxide solution for a second cleaning.","It's an extra precaution because the celery won't be cooked, and cooking kills bacteria.","After another rinse, the soaked celery lands in a perforated drum that fits into another drum.","The colander rotates within the drum to spin-dry the celery.","The next ingredient is the eggs.","They arrive at the factory already hard-boiled and de-shelled by the supplier, so all that's left is the slicing and dicing.","The egg whites cube nicely.","The yolk separates and crumbles completely.","With so many yolk crumbs, their favor will permeate the entire potato salad.","They're now ready to combine some of the ingredients.","A worker adds finely cut onion to the egg, followed by diced red pepper and then celery.","They weigh the mix with each new ingredient to confirm that the portions are right.","And now for the dressing.","They pump the ingredients out of big storage tanks.","They include vegetable oil, sugar, vinegar, and egg yolks.","Whipped into a frothy mayonnaise, the dressing flows into an enormous, steel mixing vat.","They add the chopped-egg-and-vegetable combination.","The now cooked potato cubes join the other ingredients in the vat.","Blades spiral slowly for a gentle mixing to ensure the potato salad doesn't turn to mush.","With the salad now ready, suctioning devices set plastic tubs on a track conveyer.","Sensors signal their approach to dispenser nozzles, and the tubs stop right on cue for a fill-up of creamy potato salad.","Suctioning arms then flip the lids onto the tubs, and once sealed, they're on their way.","In just 40 minutes, they've manufactured enough potato salad at this factory to feed 500 people.","It should be quite a picnic.","A hydrogen fuel cell runs vehicles and other machines by directly converting the chemical energy in hydrogen gas into electrical power.","Hydrogen is an abundant fuel source.","It can be extracted from water, enabling almost any country to produce it domestically.","Hydrogen-fuel-cell engines can power vehicles and run backup generators for large computer operations.","They produce electrical power without any emissions.","At the heart of the engine is a stack of super-thin hydrogen fuel cells.","The engine's blower blows in air.","The fuel tank feeds in hydrogen gas.","Hydrogen and oxygen react and create electricity.","Each fuel cell is made of five parts.","On each end, there's a channelled plate made primarily of carbon, a material which conducts electricity.","Hydrogen enters the cell through the first plate, which channels it through the next component-- a chemically treated paper which conducts both gas and electricity.","Then the hydrogen enters this membrane, where it splits into protons and electrons.","The protons react with the drawn-in oxygen, producing water.","The water passes through another paper to the cell's outer plate, where a pump draws it away.","Meanwhile, the electrons travel to the end of the stack of fuel cells to electrical wires.","After assembling the stack, technicians compress the fuel cells in a hydraulic press.","Compression helps the current flow smoothly from cell to cell.","It also presses the rubber casket around each plate to the adjacent one, sealing the stack so that hydrogen can't leak out.","The technicians run a quality-control test with nitrogen gas to verify the seal.","Before releasing the press, they install high-strength steel rods to bind the compressed cells together.","For a stack this size, the rods apply 3 1/3 tons of pressure.","With a stack now off the press, they hook up an electric circuit board which monitors the voltage of each fuel cell.","After securing the connectors to the stack with an adhesive strip, it's just a matter of connecting one to each fuel cell...","And securing that connection with a special type of epoxy which contains silver to conduct electricity.","Next, they mount the circuit board in a plastic cover to protect it.","The fuel-cell stack is now fully assembled and moves to the factory's test area.","A technologist mounts it on a test station and, simulating installation in an engine, hooks up a hydrogen line, an air line, and a water line for cooling.","The testing machine runs a three-hour, automated performance test.","They mount the stack onto the engine's structural frame, then install the hydrogen recirculation pump.","Next, a water-recirculation pump, which cools the fuel cell by pumping in cool water.","Then they mount the components, which feed hydrogen stored at high pressure in the fuel tank.","That pressure pushes the gas through stainless-steel fuel lines to the cell.","Next, the fan that blows outside air into the fuel cell to react with the hydrogen.","This filter removes dust and other contaminants from the air the fan draws into the fuel cell.","Meanwhile, technicians have assembled the computer that controls the whole engine.","They now connect the wires from the fan, the pumps, and the other engine components to the computer.","They hook up the fuel-cell output wiring, the wires which carry the current the fuel cell creates, and sends it to whatever vehicle or device the engine is powering.","A tiny portion of the cell's output runs the pumps and other engine components.","Now fully assembled, the engine undergoes extensive performance and safety testing.","Once it passes every test, technicians perform a final visual inspection, then install the sheet-metal cover.","The hydrogen-fuel-cell engine is now ready to be shipped to the customer and installed in the machine it'll be powering.","Whether running a vehicle like this forklift or powering computer servers, the only by-product is waste heat and water, which is why hydrogen power is clean energy.","Engineered wood siding is essentially clapboard reinvented.","With its rough grain, it resembles natural wood.","Each board contains wood strands that are resin-bonded for strength and durability.","They're also treated to resist rot and termites.","Engineered wood siding is a chip off the old block-- or a lot of chips, for that matter.","But how do they transform a bunch of wood chips into a solid piece of wood?","It starts with aspen and other kinds of wood.","They transfer the logs to ponds to maintain a consistent moisture content and temperature until production.","The logs land soaking-wet on a conveyer.","Grooved rollers feed them into a debarker.","It shaves off both the tree bark and the cambium-- the soft, green layer beneath the bark.","This exposes the white aspen wood.","The logs land on the next conveyer in a horizontal configuration.","Circular saws cut the logs into smaller chunks, known as bolts.","The bolts head towards a machine called the waferizer.","Here's a look under the waferizer hood.","A 10-ton steel disk holds 48 razor-sharp knives.","When the disc spins, the knives slice the bolts into wafer-thin chips, known as strands, in just seconds.","The strands are the same length, but slightly different widths.","Most are roughly the size of a business card.","They remain flat and don't curl up because of the stability of the aspen wood itself.","A conveyer delivers the wood strands to big, steel bins, and from here, they're fed at a controlled rate to a dryer one floor below.","Heated by a furnace, the cyllindrical dryer is superhot.","It rotates to tumble-dry the aspen strands.","A blender coats the strands with resin adhesive, wax for moisture resistance, and a preservative to ward off rot and termites.","They spray a release agent onto the next conveyor to keep the strands from sticking to it.","Rotating disks orient the first layer so the strands all land in the same direction.","The next layer lands in a more random configuration.","The third layer is again uniform and parallel.","The result is a loosely interwoven mat of wood.","Layering the strands will provide dimensional stability in the finished siding boards.","A carriage now moves a large, circular saw back and forth to cut the mat into sections approximately 16 feet in length.","The sections transfer to a faster conveyor that pulls them forward.","A steel carriage stretches a sheet of heavy, industrial-grade paper across the mat of wood strands.","The paper has been coated with a primer and saturated with a durable adhesive that bonds with the wood strands.","A multitiered press closes to compact the mats and bake them.","The heat and residual moisture activate the resins to turn wood strands and paper into one solid piece of engineered wood.","At the same time, the press embosses the paper topping with a deep, cedar-like grain.","The press opens, revealing the cured and compacted composite sheets.","The thickness has gone from roughly 4\" to just under 4/10\" a conveyer doubles as a scale to confirm the content of each sheet is exact.","Saws trim the sides and slice the sheets in two.","A pusher pushes then shoves the smaller sheets forward, and another saw trims the ends.","The trimmings don't go to waste.","They're ground up and used as fuel for the dryer.","They now have a stack of 40 engineered wood sheets.","They're ready to be turned into siding boards.","Rollers push the sheets one at a time into saws that slice them to siding dimensions.","Now separate strips, they exit in a cluster and separate.","A paint gun coats the trimmed edges with primer.","This seals any exposed wood from the elements.","After a trip through the oven to dry the primer, the engineered siding boards head towards an inspection station.","Here, a worker scrutinizes each board for blemishes or damage.","If he finds any, the board is rejected.","The siding will be painted postproduction to the homeowner's preference, and once installed, this engineered wood product is sure to fit into the neighborhood."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Scalpels","Oil Paints","British Police Helmets","Ice Axes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Scalpels...","Oil paints...","British police helmets...","And ice axes.","The scalpel is the surgeon's trademark tool.","Its short blade is razor-sharp and designed to slice swiftly and cleanly.","This little knife may seem like a simple instrument, but its incredible precision, along with a surgeon's steady hands, is key to a safe and accurate medical procedure.","Scalpel handles are made from rods of stainless steel.","The blades are made of either carbon steel or stainless steel.","They're sterile and designed for one-time use only.","The blade steel is extremely thin, less than .","02 of an inch.","It arrives at the scalpel factory in coiled strips.","The first machine feeds the strips into a press.","A die inside punches out unfinished blades, called blanks.","Blades will vary in size and contour, but they all have the same center slot for attaching the handle.","When you flex a blank, it bends entirely out of shape.","That's because the steel still needs to be tempered.","The blanks pass through a furnace for about 30 seconds.","The heat alters the molecular structure of the metal, hardening it.","Now the blank has the flexibility a scalpel blade requires.","Next, the blanks move through a punching tool that pops them from the strip...","And stacks them on a peg.","A worker threads a metal ring through the slots to keep them together, then sends the whole set of blanks for surface polishing.","This process will restore the metal's original sheen, which was dulled by the heat treatment.","Next, workers visually inspect every blank, discarding any defective ones.","They transfer the blanks from the ring to a metal rod using a gauge to measure out the right number.","From here, the rods are mounted onto grinding machines.","Each one picks up a blank with a magnet, then places it in a holder.","The holder runs the blank against a wheel coated with diamond particles.","This powerful abrasive shapes and sharpens a cutting angle, transforming the blank into a blade.","As the blades come off the grinder, they cling together because the magnet that fed them into the machine magnetized them.","To cancel this effect, a demagnetizing machine passes an electromagnet behind the stacks of blades.","After a thorough washing in an ultrasonic cleaning tank, the blades move on to final inspection.","Wearing protective rubber gear, workers carefully scrutinize the cutting edges, discarding any blade that's less than perfect.","Each and every blade passes through two different inspectors.","In the packaging department, a machine covers each blade with a brown paper strip that contains an anti-corrosion chemical.","This provides extra protection against rust.","A second machine slips each blade into a foil packet, then cuts the packets apart.","Each packet bears the blade model number and tracking code.","As the blades come off the packing machine, an inspector does one last quality check.","Then he counts the blades and boxes them.","Of course, it's critical that surgical blades be sterile, so the boxes go into a cobalt radiation chamber for about six hours.","This obliterates any lingering contaminants.","When the boxes exit the chamber, they're hospital-ready.","In the operating room, it's simply a matter of sliding the blade onto the protruding part of the handle, called the bayonet.","Surgeons make the most of their dexterity by choosing a handle that best fits their hands and best suits the procedure their hands will be performing.","Coming up, mixing up a wide palette of colors at an oil-paint factory.","Oil paint dates back to ancient times when artists mixed minerals and other elements with wax or oil.","In the 1400s, they discovered that linseed oil was ideal as a pigment binder because it allowed blending and glazing in layers.","Centuries later, the colors in those paintings are still vibrant.","Today, many oil paint pigments still come from natural sources, though most are synthetically made.","Factories buy both types of pigments in powdered form to make their paints.","Cuttlefish ink yields brown pigment, lead produces a specific yellow, and mercury ore makes red.","In the past, pigments have also come from stones, tree bark, plant gum, ground up glass, and even arsenic.","This company's research laboratory spends about two years developing a color recipe.","A chemist mixes specific amounts of linseed oil and pigment into a machine called an automatic mueller.","It rubs the ingredients together, dispersing the pigment particles throughout the oil.","For each sample, the formulation is altered slightly in search of the perfect result.","The research team compares the resulting colors and selects the best one.","To produce a color on a large scale, workers start by pumping a specified amount of linseed oil into a mixer.","Then they add the precise amount of pigment.","Most colors are made with just one pigment.","The precise mixing time and speed depends on the kind of pigment formulation being created.","Next, the mixture is spooned into a mill.","Three dispersion rollers rub the ingredients, separating pigment particles and coating them in oil.","The recipe specifies how much pressure the rollers apply, how fast they turn, and how long they work the mixture.","Milling can take hours or even days, depending on the texture of the pigment.","The quality-control lab takes samples from each batch coming off the mill and subjects them to a series of tests.","Technicians scrutinize paint from both sides of the mill to ensure the mixture is being processed evenly.","First, a spread test.","A heavy brass weight goes onto a blob of paint for a prescribed period of time.","Then, inspectors evaluate the volume of color and measure the distance it spread.","If it doesn't spread far enough, it needs more milling.","Next, a dispersion test.","The markings on this gauge indicate the size of the paint's particles in microns, millionths of a meter.","If the particles are too big, the paint hasn't been milled enough.","Finally, inspectors time how long it takes the paint to dry to the touch.","Each color has a specified drying time, ranging from two days to two weeks.","The factory produces a chart that displays its 120 paint colors.","Workers brush each color onto a primer-coated paper.","When the paint dries, they cut each bar into rectangular swatches called chips.","The chart is assembled using this mounting machine.","The bottom has a section for chips of each color.","And the top contains a cardboard chart coated in glue.","As the machine closes, each chip aligns perfectly with its designated spot on the chart.","Back in the production line, the factory packages one color at a time in toothpaste-style tubes that will be finished off with twist caps.","Once the labels go on, the tubes make their way to the filling machine.","There, the tubes have their tops screwed on.","A nozzle squirts in the paint.","Then clamps flatten the edges shut.","A roller folds over the edge to strengthen the seal against squeeze pressure.","Now these oil paints are finally ready to meet the canvas.","When we return, a new twist on the traditional british police helmet.","British bobbies are used to standing tall because of their distinctive hats.","These traditional police helmets are almost a foot high.","That added height can't hurt when you're staring down a bad guy.","Bobbies' helmets have looked the same way for a century and a half.","Today, hatmakers use a metal mold to create that signature shape in fortified plastic.","The mold descends into an oven.","A worker places a sheet of plastic overhead.","He lowers the lid and slides the heated cover over it.","It takes a couple of minutes for the heat to soften the plastic.","The mold rises.","A vacuum below pulls the plastic into shape.","It hardens almost instantly.","A firm tap with a rubber mallet releases the shell from the mold.","A band saw slices away the excess plastic along the brim.","And now the helmet is ready to be covered.","For that, the factory uses water-repellant wool.","The helmet pattern is cut out in two pieces.","These halves are stitched together, making a raised seam, which gives the helmet a smoother line.","The insides of the fabric covers are covered with glue.","Then they're steamed.","A coating of glue is brushed all over the helmet's shell.","The fabric cover has now reached the perfect dampness, making it easier to pull over the glued surface of the plastic helmet shell.","The fabric gets stretched a bit so it'll fit tightly without buckling.","Then, a wooden tool is used to smooth away any remaining air bubbles.","The excess fabric is trimmed away.","Then, rubber piping is sewn around the brim to reinforce it and give it a neater edge.","The prong ends of the helmet's decorative metalwork are dipped in a chalky powder, which mark its positioning on the crown.","Holes are drilled through the markings.","Then the ornament is installed and its prongs are folded against the inside of the helmet.","Next, workers stitch together strips of tape, plastic, and foam to make the helmet's harness and chinstrap.","They fit the harness assembly inside the helmet, then secure it with an industrial stapler.","Metal banding is wrapped around the helmet and pinned down.","Not only does this banding hide the staples, it gives the helmet a snazzier look.","An ornate helmet plate featuring the police department's insignia goes on the front.","Next, a sponge liner is tucked inside the helmet to protect the officer in the event of a blow to the head.","Ventilation holes are punched in the sides.","Now it's time to size the helmet with a special gauge.","Any excess fluff is tweezed away and the wool is brushed to bring up the pile.","Finally, workers attach the label that assures the product meets all specifications.","This police helmet is now ready to report for duty.","It takes about half an hour to make one of these helmets, but it should keep a bobby on the beat safe and stylish for much, much longer.","Up next, ice-axe production begins with a little heat.","When it comes to mountain climbing, the ice axe is a fundamental tool.","Ice axes were invented in the mid 19th century to help mountaineers get a grip on slippery slopes, pull themselves to the summit, and stop a fall.","They're designed for peak performance.","Talk about a steep learning curve.","Climbing with an ice axe takes a bit of practice and a lot of courage.","Production of an ice axe starts with an aluminum rod.","A powerful press bends it into a curve, giving it the basic contour of an ice axe.","It's flattened and shaped in two fiery dies.","Each die has a top and a bottom half, which are lubricated between forgings.","The hot forging transforms the metal rod.","It starts to look a lot more like the shaft of an ice axe.","The long ridges add strength to the metal while other indentations mark where the attachments are to go.","The forging creates a lip around the perimeter of the shaft.","They call this excess metal flash.","This press takes care of it in a snap.","Now, the ice-axe shaft has a cleaner edge and it's quite a bit lighter than the original rod, an advantage when you're toting it up a mountain.","That aluminum rod has gone through quite a few stages, and now it has a whole new profile.","This tub of vibrating ceramic cones will smooth the shaft's rough edges.","Here, a computerized drill makes holes into recesses that were stamped into the shaft earlier.","These holes will be used to attach other parts.","The machine changes the drill bit to a circular blade.","Then, guided by the computer, it cuts a slot for the ice-axe pick.","Next, the saw moves to the other end and thins out the area where the handle will be attached.","Using another drill bit, the saw carves out a hole for the adjustable finger rest.","Here's a shaft that's already been milled and drilled compared with one yet to undergo the process.","The shaft gets a protective coating.","Then, it's time to bring all the pieces of the ice axe together.","A worker applies epoxy to the inside of the rubber handle and slides it onto the shaft.","The handle has an open end.","He beads a little more epoxy onto it and inserts a steel spike.","The spike is then riveted to the ice-axe shaft.","This spike will come in very handy on the mountain side.","Plunging it into a snowy slope can help a climber maintain his or her balance on a slippery uphill trek.","Next, the adz slides into the slot at the head of the shaft.","Climbers use this tool to chop steps in hard snow and ice.","The worker secures the adz with nuts and bolts, and then he installs the pick.","This hooked and jagged attachment will help get the climber up a mountain of hard ice.","The bolts are tightened with a torque wrench.","After all, a solid job here could be a lifesaver.","And finally, the adjustable finger rest is screwed to the shaft just above the handle.","And now you have a tool that can help you scale new heights."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hearing Aids","3"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Hearing aids.","We're turning up the volume for this one.","3-d puzzles-- a traditional pastime enters a new dimension.","Rubber mats-- we bring you a step-by-step explanation.","And toilets-- this fascinating report leaves us flushed with pride.","When you stop and listen to all the sounds around you, you suddenly realize how easy it is to take your hearing for granted.","If you ever develop a hearing disorder, you'll undoubtedly feel the loss.","Thankfully, though, hearing aids are tinier and more effective than ever before.","Loss of hearing causes a serious handicap, but, happily, it can be remedied thanks to hearing aids.","But before fabricating the aid, the degree of hearing loss must be precisely measured with this apparatus called an audiometer.","So they make a mold of the ear canal.","To protect the eardrum, an autoblock is inserted.","The next step is to pour in a silicon impression-making material.","It solidifies and is then removed from the ear.","This congealed mass representing the ear canal is then soaked in warm wax to obtain a positive imprint.","Then the silicon container is filled.","The silicon hardens in only 10 minutes.","The hardened silicon block is removed, and the excess of the imprint is trimmed away so that only the essential part is retained.","The imprint must slip easily into the ear.","It's now the molding stage for the hearing aid.","Acrylic is poured into the mold before placing it into this ultraviolet oven.","Without emitting any heat, this oven hardens the acrylic.","Here is the raw prosthesis without its electronic components.","This plan details the electric circuit of the amplifier.","Holes are pierced for the volume control.","These components are tiny.","Here is the volume control...","The miniature microphone that captures sounds...","And the earphone, which functions as a speaker.","This tiny braided wire of seven conductors is soldered to the amplifier and other parts of the prosthesis with pewter.","The hybrid circuit is inserted into a silicon casing, which assures its protection.","Then the wires are soldered to the speaker.","And they verify the proper functioning of the volume control.","A hearing aid must be very discreet.","That's why they cut the excess with a diamond disk.","They also remove the roughness with fine sandpaper.","The holes we see here are used to vent air from the earphone.","This silicone tube is used to make the vent.","Acrylic is poured onto the tube to form a tunnel.","Ultraviolet light is used to harden the acrylic.","Afterwards, the tube is removed.","This hole is used to position the fastener, a small wire which allows for removing the hearing aid from the ear.","Then the battery is installed.","Only a few parts, such as the microphone, remain to be put in place.","Then everything is delicately assembled into the interior of the prosthesis.","The two parts of the hearing aid are then glued together.","Ultraviolet hardens the glue.","The plate used to position the prosthesis components is cut away with the drill.","Then the hearing aid is manually polished to make it perfectly smooth and comfortable.","The prosthesis is now completed.","There remains one important step-- verifying its electroacoustic characteristic.","It's with this analyzer that they validate that the hearing aid conforms to the original prescription.","These minute prostheses allow us to solve the main hearing problems.","Microfabrication of a single unit requires a little more than two days of work.","Remember spending lazy afternoons putting together simple 60-piece jigsaw puzzles?","Well, put that image out of your mind, because today's sophisticated puzzles can have 1,500 3-d pieces that go up, down, and even sideways.","Are you up for the challenge?","Flat puzzles are well known by everyone, but 3-d puzzles present a different challenge.","These 3-dimensional puzzles are first conceived with computer software.","Good blades are needed to cut puzzle pieces.","Here are the blades for the master die which will cut out printed sheets of different models.","This rubber will be used to eject the die.","The master cutting die is unique to each puzzle.","It is the specific pattern used to make the puzzle.","They measure it meticulously to obtain a perfect register.","It's imperative that the die not move during the cutting, otherwise the pieces would be cut at the wrong points, so they very firmly secure it in place.","The carbon of the die is positioned.","It's somewhat like printing the master.","Alignment is again verified, a highly important step which assures the quality of the final product.","Finally, they install this large metallic plate, which is the cutting base.","It will be on this surface that the master die will strike.","Once measurements are finished, the drawer of the die is slid into place.","This press cuts the pattern seen on the puzzle.","Here's how it works.","The sheets, or printed cardboards, go into the drawer one by one, where they are cut according to the master model.","We clearly see the press making the cut in the puzzle sheet.","The cut sheets pile up on one another.","At this checkpoint, they verify the precision of the cut.","They make sure that every piece is correctly shaped.","Now they go to the foam support of the puzzle.","This guillotine is used to cut the polyethylene sheets onto which they will glue the cut images.","Foam sheets are inserted into this laminator heated to 450 degrees.","The sheet with the design on it is glued onto the foam with a thermosetting adhesive.","Now they glue the printed sheet onto the foam sheet.","Once the adhesion is finished, the puzzles are stacked on one another, and they proceed to the unbuckling operation.","By pulling, they remove the surplus cuttings.","The same design is printed several times on a sheet, so they must separate each puzzle.","This step is called the reduction of the models.","Now the pieces have to be separated.","This decorticator handles this task and sends the pieces down a chute.","Packing cartons arrive already made up, and the puzzle pieces are placed in their boxes.","No less than 15,000 puzzles are produced here each day.","Since it began operations, the company has created more than 300 different puzzle models from quite simple ones to much more complex designs.","The largest of them contain a total of more than 3,000 pieces.","And you need real patience for this one.","Ever wonder what happens to the millions of used tires we throw out every year?","Well, you'll be relieved to know that burning tires is a thing of the past.","Today's tires are often given new life as rubber mats.","Some are even big enough to cover whole arenas.","Now, that's recycling.","Used tires are a real source of pollution.","This pile represents about 100,000 of them.","At any rate, these tires will have a second life.","They'll be recycled to make rubber mats.","Each day in this factory, they recycle 15,000 tires into mats.","Tires have to be reduced to little granules, but first this conveyor feeds the tires into the washer.","Tires are washed with a water-based biodegradable preparation.","Then they're sent to the shredder.","The shredder has two rows of large teeth.","These grind up the tires into pieces.","This shredder is able to cut up almost 1,000 tires an hour.","They come out as fairly good-sized pieces of tires, which are then shredded a second time.","Metal is magnetically separated from the rubber, and the metal pieces are recycled at another factory.","Other components of the tires, such as fiberglass and nylon, also have to be separated.","They use a sifter to get out unwanted rubbish.","Recuperated rubber particles purged of foreign materials measure about 1/10 of an inch.","Some 16 tons of tire particles are piled up in this recycling depot.","But the particles are still too large to be used.","They're sent to a secondary shredder supply tank, where they'll be reduced even further.","This tractor feeds the secondary shredder.","Grinding action produces a kind of rubber powder.","The powder is spread out on these enormous molds.","This mold has a length of 23 feet and a width of 4 feet.","Thickness varies according to the product being made.","The molds filled with rubber powder are stored in this loading magazine of the press.","Once full, the molds are sent to the rubber-mat press.","Here's the mat press.","The powder has to be cooked at a very high temperature for about 30 minutes.","Cooking time depends on the product being made.","The cooked mat goes to the unmolding unit before being sent off to cool.","The rubber mats are still extremely hot.","They're cooled with jets of water for a period of several minutes.","The cooled mats can now be sent to the next department.","This conveyor in the cutting center positions the mat before it's cut.","The mat is vibrated to eliminate any surplus water.","Each rubber mat is now cut up into three pieces.","The cut mats are then stacked into a pile and stored before being shipped.","The company also makes mudguards.","These are fabricated the same way as the preceding mats.","After having been cooled in water, but while they're still warm, they remove the surplus rubber.","This operation is called \"notching\".","Hard rubber rings are also produced at this facility with the same fabrication methods and, as always, from old, used tires.","Over a 12-hour period, this facility makes no less than 12,000 rubber mats from old, recycled tires.","This translates into good news for our environment.","We tend not to put much thought into this humblest of household appliances as long as it keeps doing what it was built to do.","But like most of the machines we've invented to do our dirty work, we may take it for granted, but it's next to impossible to imagine life without the toilet.","The first public restrooms appeared in ancient rome when the emperor vespasian built latrines.","Such public urinals became widely known as vespasiennes by 1840.","In 1775, the invention of a water-flush system created toilets somewhat resembling today's convenience.","The valve and siphon were added in 1784 and the septic tank in 1896.","A toilet is an everyday object whose fabrication requires several days of work.","It involves assembling several molds called \"tools\".","Each new product requires the design of a master plaster mold from which they will produce a plastic tool.","This latter will be used to create plaster duplicates used as production molds.","The plaster production mold of a toilet is made from six different tools which have to be assembled.","Their life-span is only two months.","The process begins with a mixture of water and plaster according to a precise recipe.","Then the liquid is poured into this filling hole of the tool.","Once the plaster hardens, they can proceed with unmolding.","They strike the end at the junction of the plaster mold and the tool with a rubber hammer so as not to damage the plaster.","Pieces are gently assembled.","The toilet softly takes its shape.","It is in this same mold that they will later color the clay.","Then they install tensioning straps.","Little blocks are inserted between the mold and the strap to increase the tension.","The mold will soon be filled with liquid, and they thus prevent any distortion.","Here a new recipe is being prepared.","This time it's a slurry, a composite of clay and silica.","This preparation is spread out over 48 hours.","Now they install the core, the upper part of the mold.","They can now proceed with the filling.","This copper distribution pipe connected to the tank containing the slurry permits the filling of several molds at a time.","They need about 45 pounds of the mix per bowl mold.","After an hour, the slurry has attained a thickness of 4/10 of an inch.","The plug is pulled to allow the excess slurry to run out.","They can now unmold the still-fragile piece.","This thicker slurry is used to adhere these two pieces together.","They cut the holes and unmold the ensemble.","The toilet is now molded.","Then, to obtain a perfect appearance, they remove the little fillet formed by the surplus adhesive slurry.","The toilets air-dry for 36 hours, then in a warm-air dryer for 12 hours.","Finishing must be impeccable.","They carefully sand the surface to make it perfectly smooth.","A vacuum draws up the dust.","Then, with a jet of compressed air, dust and debris are blown away.","Bowls are hand-painted in a special room.","As for the water tanks, they are painted by an automated robot.","This truck carries the different parts to the final fabrication stage-- baking.","The toilets remain in this oven at the very high temperature of 2,150 degrees for 23 hours.","It takes this long to fuse the clay and silicone.","The paint then becomes hard and shiny, and it's all done.","The toilets and the different bowls now take on shapes more elegant than in the past, but the fabrication of each one of them will have the same basic construction steps involving 45 pounds of slurry and almost 4 days of labor."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Motorcycle Sidecars","Frozen French Toast","Refrigerator Compressors","Superchargers"]},"text":["A sidecar is a passenger attachment that bolts to a motorcycle.","Sidecars are aftermarket products, meaning a separate company--  not the motorcycle maker-- manufactures and markets them.","You buy a model that's compatible with your motorcycle.","A motorcycle sidecar carries one passenger or two, if they're small children or pets.","Manufacturers typically produce several models, designed to fit the most popular bikes on the market.","This one has a fiberglass body, surrounded by a steel perimeter chassis.","Workers construct the chassis using several sections of steel tubing.","They form each section to the required shape on a hydraulic bender, measuring as they go.","There are sections in the front and back, along the sides, and underneath.","Once the sections are each bent to specifications, workers clamp them into a jig, which aligns them all in the correct configuration.","The smaller-diameter sections fit into adjoining larger-diameter ones.","Once all the parts are in position, a welder fuses them.","The structure of the perimeter chassis is now complete and ready for a coat of baked-on powder paint to prevent the steel from rusting.","Next, workers mount the suspension and wheel to the chassis, then install a fiberglass mudguard that has a reflector, a taillight, and a turn signal.","They make the sidecar's fiberglass body with upper and lower molds, first painting each one with gel coat, a polyester resin that creates a smooth and shiny surface over fiberglass.","When the gel coat dries, about 45 minutes later, they lay fiberglass mat over it, then saturate the fiberglass with resin.","They lay two fiberglass layers in most parts of the mold and a few extra layers in areas that need a bit more strength to support attached components.","In the lower mold, they re-enforce the floor with plywood and, in specific locations, bond in steel mounting plates for bolting components to the fiberglass later on.","24 hours later, once the resin has cured, they extract the upper- and lower-body halves from their respective molds, trim the rough edges, and join the halves on the inside with more fiberglass and resin.","Then they place the now-assembled body inside the perimeter chassis to check the alignment.","But they don't connect the chassis just yet.","First, to snazz up the body, they mount a nose badge made of stainless steel and anodized aluminum.","Then they attach aluminum strips to the nose badge, affixing them to the fiberglass with rivets.","They gently tap the strips with a mallet, shaping them to the contour of the body.","Then they set a rubber insert into each strip.","This adds a decorative touch, while hiding the rivets.","Next, the sidecar's windscreen.","It's made of polycarbonate, an ultra-thin yet strong type of plastic, encased in a durable aluminum frame.","They finish off the body by installing carpeting and an upholstered vinyl seat.","Workers position the sidecar so that its wheel is turned slightly inward.","This ensures the bike and sidecar handle correctly.","Then they bolt the chassis to the bike frame with four steel arms-- two at the front and two at the back.","Next they fit a steering damper.","This prevents the sidecar from causing a wobble in the steering.","The final step is to connect the electrical wiring to the lights and the mudguard.","The perimeter chassis is now ready to receive the body.","They thread bolts into the holes of those mounting plates that were bonded in with the fiberglass during the molding process-- two bolts at the front and two at the back, through the floor.","With that, this motorcycle sidecar is ready to hit the road.","Love french toast for breakfast but don't have the time or patience to make it from scratch?","That's why there's ready-made frozen french toast that you simply pop into the toaster-- no cracking eggs, pouring milk, or dipping bread required.","Just pour on the syrup and enjoy.","A breakfast favorite for generations, it's easy to get sentimental about french toast.","To get that traditional taste without the traditional mess, there's frozen french toast.","They go from your freezer to your breakfast table in just minutes.","French toast starts with freshly baked bread.","A local bakery supplies this factory with custom-made 16-inch-long loaves.","When those fresh-baked loaves arrive, workers load them horizontally onto a conveyor belt.","The belt winds its way to the first machine on the production line--  the slicer.","The slicer has several vertical blades, crossed in a figure eight over two drums that drive them.","Because each blade crisscrosses, it cuts two slices at once.","For this production run, the slicer cuts each loaf into 28 slices almost half an inch thick.","At the output end of the slicer, workers discard the two end pieces.","However, these heels, as they're called, aren't wasted.","They're used for animal feed.","Workers load the cut loaves into side-by-side vertical columns.","The slices drop down onto a wire conveyor belt.","The spacing between rows and slices is perfectly positioned to align with the upcoming stations, which will transform them from bread to frozen french toast.","First, the slicer enters the batter station, which bathes their underside in a mixture of eggs, milk, water, and sugar.","The slices then pass under a batter waterfall, which thoroughly coats their top surface.","The slices exit the batter station onto a wire belt, which feeds them onto cast-iron griddle plates.","Gas flames underneath heat the plates to 275 degrees fahrenheit.","After several seconds, the underside is cooked, and a row of automated spatulas, appropriately called flippers, turns the slices over to cook the reverse side.","Seconds later, the fully cooked french toast slices are removed from the griddle plates...","And deposited onto a conveyor belt.","All of the single-file conveyors now converge on a larger conveyor belt, which transports the slices into the freezer.","The temperature inside--  negative 4 degrees fahrenheit.","After a frosty 23-minute ride, the french toast is completely frozen.","It exits the freezer, ready to be sorted into packaging portions.","For this order, workers stack the slices in fours.","Each package will contain two stacks.","The packaging machine inserts each portion into a continuous plastic-film pouch.","Then, at both ends of each portion, it simultaneously heat-seals the film and cuts the pouch free.","An automated arm picks up each pouch and inserts it, either into small retail cartons destined for supermarkets or into large boxes for bulk orders to cafeterias, hospital kitchens, and restaurants.","All packaging, warehousing, and shipping occurs in temperature-controlled facilities to keep the product frozen until it's time to toast this breakfast tradition.","Behind every chilled beverage, there's a compressor, a crucial component in refrigeration systems.","It pressurizes and pumps refrigerant to the condenser so the cooling process can begin.","With a well-functioning compressor, a refrigerator is more likely to keep its cool.","Behind the glossy exterior of a supermarket refrigerator, there's a substantial compressor doing its part to chill the merchandise.","They often remanufacture old compressors to save resources and money.","They immerse the cast-iron body in a chemical bath to remove the grime and rinse off the residue with hot water.","That old compressor already looks a lot less tired.","A worker polishes the cylinder bore with an abrasive pad attached to an air drill.","He sands the surfaces around the openings so that all the parts will fit without leaking.","Smaller parts bounce around in a vibratory bowl with steel pellets and cleaning compound for a good scouring.","Out of the bowl, a worker places a valve plate on a magnetized turntable to keep it in one place, as a grinder smoothes the surface.","This makes it look new.","He screws two new valves to the plate.","These valves will open and close to move refrigerant in and out of the compressor.","The next worker assembles the terminal plate for the compressor's electrical motor.","Most of the components have been reconditioned, including the lugs for the wires.","He slots the lugs in the terminal plate from the back and flips the plate around.","He slides new rubber seals onto all the lugs...","And then installs rubber insulators and metal washers.","He secures the lugs with screws, using a precisely calibrated torque wrench.","The compressor's original crankshaft has also been thoroughly cleaned.","As it now spins in a chuck, a worker polishes it until it's completely smooth.","This will allow bearings and connecting rods to operate efficiently.","He measures the shaft to confirm that the circumference is right.","With many parts now reconditioned and partially assembled, they're ready to reconstruct the compressor.","The worker installs new bearings and the refurbished crankshaft into the compressor body.","He inserts the connecting-rod and piston assemblies.","Moved by the crankshaft, these pistons will compress the refrigerant gas to pump it through the system.","He slides the rotor part of the motor into the compressor, and it links up to the crankshaft.","He aligns the rotor to the crankshaft with a long pin.","He secures the rotor to the hub with a substantial bolt.","The next part is the stator.","It's the magnetized mechanism that drives the rotor and, subsequently, the crankshaft.","He connects protruding wires to the lugs on the terminal board we saw reassembled earlier.","He sets the terminal board flush to the compressor and bolts it to it.","He fits the valve plate on the cylinders, adjacent to the terminal plate.","He places the cylinder head over the valve plate and bolts it to it.","The remanufacture of this compressor is complete.","To test the compressor, they pump dry nitrogen through it.","A machine measures the suction and discharge pressure, as well as the electrical draw.","And still running dry nitrogen through it, they immerse the compressor in water and check for bubbles that would indicate leaks.","They make repairs if needed and then spray the compressor with enamel paint to protect it from rust.","Remanufacturing this refrigeration compressor has taken 24 hours.","It's given it a whole new lease on life.","An engine naturally takes in air from the atmosphere to burn the fuel with oxygen.","If you're looking to give your car a boost, a supercharger compresses air and force-feeds it into the engine.","The increased mass of oxygen burns more fuel, giving the engine more power.","A supercharger is particularly popular in drag-car racing.","It attaches with a belt to the engine's crankshaft, and, voilà, the car's on steroids.","They begin with a plate that forms the rear of the supercharger's aluminum housing.","Using a press that applies several tons of pressure, they install two steel ball bearings.","These will enable the supercharger's two rotors to spin, which is what compresses air and forces it into the engine.","After bolting the steel cap over each bearing, workers insert steel dowels into holes along the perimeter of the plate.","These dowels, which they now fully seat with the press, will align with receiving holes on the adjoining housings.","They take the plate that forms the front end of the housing and press a steel ball bearing into it.","This bearing will enable the supercharger's input shaft to rotate and, by doing so, spin the rotors.","They press a rubber-lip seal on top of the bearing to keep oil in and dirt out.","Next, they apply a retaining clip to hold the seal in position.","Using the press, they seat the clip in its groove.","Next, they insert the input shaft.","Its flanged end will protrude out of the supercharger, where a belt and pulley will rotate it so that it turns gears which spin the rotors.","A computer-guided mill machines each rotor out of extruded aluminum.","Once both rotors are ready, workers take the central section of the supercharger housing and apply sealant to one end of it.","They affix the rear plate containing the two bearings for the rotors.","They secure the plate to the main housing using socket-headed screws, which they tighten with an air driver.","Flipping the housing to the other side now, they install the first of the two rotors, inserting its shaft into the first bearing in the just-attached rear plate.","Then they install the second rotor, inserting its shaft into the second bearing in the plate.","The second rotor lies perpendicular to the first.","This positioning allows the spinning rotors to capture air at the top of the housing, compress it, and force it downward to the bottom of the housing.","They close up the housing with another plate which also contains bearings for the rotor shafts.","However, on this end, the shafts protrude beyond the bearings in order to receive gears.","Then to this, they'll attach the housing containing the input shaft, which, driven by the belt and pulley, rotates these gears to spin the rotors.","Before continuing further, the team puts the supercharger through a performance test.","The machine, called a dynamometer, assesses the ratio of speed to air flow to ensure the rotors are compressing air the way they should be and therefore outputting the required boost.","If the rotors pass the test with flying colors, workers then hand-polish the aluminum housing to a shiny finish.","A key component in the supercharger is a feeler gauge-- that fan-shaped part shown on the lower left.","It ensures that the distance between the rotors is correct, which is critical, because if the rotors are too far apart, they don't compress air adequately.","And if they're too close together, they jam.","It's the customer who, when installing the supercharger, attaches a pulley to the end of the input shaft, then a belt onto the pulley.","The other end of the belt loops around the car engine's crankshaft pulley, connecting the supercharger to the engine for a mega boost of power."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Power Steering Pumps","Asian Bowl Meals","Walking Canes"]},"text":["In the first half of the 20th century, power steering was not an option.","Prototypes were too expensive for production.","During world war ii, the british and american armies began to use power steering in heavy vehicles like armored cars, and auto makers soon began adding it to passenger vehicles.","These hydraulic steering pumps are the steering muscle in muscle cars, providing a power assist to give the driver more control.","Using computer software, manufacturers design the pumps to fit specific classes of vehicles.","They print a plastic model using a 3-d printer.","This is a time-lapse video of the process.","The designer removes the plastic model and he sends it, along with the computer design, to a casting facility, which produces aluminum pump-housing parts.","Back at the factory, a worker mounts 12 of the castings in a machine with computer-controlled tooling.","He activates the system, and it moves the rack of castings into position.","The tools machine the face of the castings.","They bore center-bearing holes and drill threaded holes for bolts.","This is precision work, which will now be double-checked by a device known as a coordinate measuring machine.","A worker clamps the pump housing in the machine.","Then, a ruby-tipped probe scans its dimensions.","The machine analyzes the information.","It verifies that every part of the housing meets the precise specifications.","With that confirmation, he unclamps the part.","This is the pump housing in the various stages of production.","Other tools turn a solid aluminum dowel into a fitting for the pump's pressure bore.","They sculpt the circumference and carve a complex geometry in the center for controlling the flow of power steering fluid.","Another tool carves the thread to screw the fitting into the pressure bore, and the final one drills the fluid bypass hole.","A blue anodized coating protects it from corrosion.","A worker now locks the pump housing in a honing machine.","The machine floods the pressure relief bore with lubricant as the stone hones the inner diameter to a precise tolerance.","He then transfers the pump housing to a press.","He inserts a bearing and shaft in the center bore.","He places an aluminum tool over the bearing and shaft to align them correctly as he manually presses them into the bore.","Once the bearing has been solidly entrenched, he removes the tool.","He inserts a metal snap ring in a groove to retain the bearing and shaft.","He turns the power steering pump over an installs o-rings to seal the pressure section.","Then the worker installs the cam ring and the rotor with the veins.","As the rotor spins, the veins will move in and out, collecting hydraulic fluid.","This process adds pressure, taking the load off the steering wheel.","The worker installs this critical sub-assembly in the pump housing.","He screws the device in place in the four corners.","He turns the power steering pump over and seals the end of the pressure bore with an aluminum plug and copper washer.","He now tucks the pressure relief valve in the open part of the pressure bore.","He secures it with the special flow fitting we saw machined earlier on.","He tightens the fitting with a torque wrench.","He turns the power steering pump onto its side.","He attaches a fitting to the intake port for the hydraulic fluid.","The power steering pump is now equipped with all the working parts.","Here's a look at the transformation.","A display model with a cutout offers a peak inside.","At the test station, a technician makes all the connections and runs it as if it was in an actual racecar.","A computer measures its performance and confirms that it meets all the technical requirements.","The power steering pump is now ready for the twists and turns of professional racing.","Across asia, rice bowl meals are an enduring tradition.","By combining protein and vegetable elements with rice in a bowl, people have a meal.","It's asian comfort food, and somehow it just tastes better in a bowl.","And people around the world are discovering the appeal of these one-bowl meals.","Asian bowl meals start with the rice.","Then people add whatever they want.","At food bars like this, there's any number of choices.","The bowls can be served up fast, and the food is healthy.","Because there are many possible combinations, these one-bowl meals never get boring.","Preparations start with the rice.","This food worker measures enough for 40 portions.","After rinsing the grains repeatedly, he adds it to a rice cooker.","He then measures the water for cooking.","He adds it to the cooker.","It will steam the grains so they cook uniformly for one hour.","While the rice is cooking, the food worker then pours peeled garlic cloves into a food processor.","He adds a half cup of vegetable oil.","The garlic will flavor several dishes in the asian food bar.","The food processor chops the garlic to a fine consistency.","Using a mandolin vegetable slicer, he slices slivers of carrots.","Along with chopped onions, the carrots will enhance the flavor of fried rice.","He now removes some rice from the cooker, in order to make fried rice.","He separates the grains so they'll fry more uniformly.","The food worker is now ready to fry.","He heats the wok to a very high temperature.","He adds cooking oil, and it starts to sizzle.","He tosses in the carrot slivers, chopped onion, garlic and frozen peas.","He constantly stirs the ingredients, and the flavors sweeten and deepen.","He turns down the heat a bit an adds the rice.","He mixes the rice with the other ingredients as the cooking continues at a slightly lower temperature.","He measures the temperature.","For food safety reasons, it needs to be over 143 degrees fahrenheit.","The food worker pours soy sauce onto the hot wok.","It trickles down to permeate the rice, adding flavor and color.","That completes the fried rice component of the food bar.","Next up are the vegetable and protein choices.","The food worker cubes sushi-grade tuna.","It will be marinated with a spicy saucy shortly.","He places the tuna in a food bar container.","He peels cucumber and then juliennes it.","The cucumber will be a raw food choice that will offset the strong flavor of the tuna.","The food worker then prepares the tuna's spicy marinade.","He adds chili sauce and a smaller amount of chili oil to mayonnaise.","It's hot stuff.","A seaweed salad dish is another refreshing choice that will cool the palate.","He adds the chili mayonnaise to the tuna.","And he turns up the heat a little more with some extra chili oil.","A thorough mixing completely saturates the raw fish with the spicy sauce.","Next, the food worker prepares the dressing for a cabbage salad.","He starts with a white miso paste.","A generous amount of soy sauce follows.","Sushi vinegar and vegetable oil are the next ingredients.","After adding some sesame oil, he blends all the components.","He coats the shredded cabbage with the miso dressing.","He sprinkles black sesame seeds onto the cabbage salad.","Teriyaki beef is the next option.","The main ingredients are shaved filet steak, chopped ginger, and shredded onion.","The food worker sautés the onion and ginger to provide a flavor base.","He adds the shaved steak, and as it cooks, it takes up the essence of the onion and ginger.","The soy-based teriyaki sauce provides the final layer of flavor.","With this dish now complete, it's time for the fun part-- mixing and matching components for the asian food bowl.","There was a time when an elegant walking cane was a status symbol for fashionable gentlemen.","Today, a cane is no longer considered an accessory, but rather a utilitarian medical aid for people with mobility issues.","However, one can still find canes which combine both function and fashion.","Walking canes can indeed be stylish, with straight or crook handles made of exotic wood or bone, elegant knob handles, or elaborate figurative handles.","This family enterprise has been hand-crafting walking canes since 1909.","Making a crook handle requires bending the handle material.","After heating a curved steel form in a fire, workers insert a square stick of ebony in a steel spring and mount it on the central axis of the machine.","The clamp the machine's guide wheel against the form, then clamp the part of the stick that will remain straight.","Using their body weight, the worker forces the machine's lever forward, wrapping the top part of the stick around the hot, curved form.","It's critical to do this slowly to prevent the wood from snapping.","Workers then lock the bent stick against the form with a brace...","And remove it from the machine.","They set it aside for a week.","One week later, they remove the brace and spring and mount the curved stick on a lathe.","As the stick spins, a carriage moves a saw down the straight part of the cane, known as the shaft, reducing the diameter and rounding it out.","This is the shaft before and after this step.","A worker runs the handle against a coarse grit sanding belt to pare it down and begin rounding it out.","He uses a router to refine the shape and works on the harder-to-access inner part of the curve.","Once the handle is rounded, and its diameter equal to that of the shaft, he performs a final fine sanding.","Then he polishes the entire cane with polishing compound against a cotton buffing wheel.","Slowly but surely, this makes the ebony sleek and lustrous.","All wooden canes--  these here are made of maple-- warp a bit during woodworking.","Another worker heats the cane to make the wood flexible, then inserts it in a v-shaped holder and peers down the length of the shaft to assess the direction of the deformity.","Then he manually straightens out the cane.","These canes undergo a final step to add a decorative feature.","A worker sands off some wood on the crook handle, creating a flat, oval surface.","He applies glue, then he adheres a piece of cow horn.","Once the glue dries, he grinds the horn flush with the surrounding wood.","The result is a horn inlay.","Wooden canes also need protection against moisture and wear.","The factory submerges them in varnish for a half hour, so that the varnish deeply penetrates the pores of the wood.","Hanging the canes to dry would leave varnish drip marks, so the factory uses this ingenious pulley-driven contraption that dates back to the 1900s.","With its wood wheels and leather belts, the machine continuously rotates the canes to prevent the wet varnish from dripping as it air dries.","That's how to make a wooden crook-handled cane.","As you'll see next, fancier walking canes require additional steps.","Whether it's decorated with ornately carved wood, sleek horn or gleaning metal, brandishing a fancy walking cane is like wearing a bold pair of eyeglasses.","What might otherwise be a bland necessity can be elevated to a fashion statement.","Elegant canes can have horn or knob handles, or silver-plated figural handles.","The figural ones are molded two at a time.","After placing a screw mechanism in each cavity, a worker closes the mold and places it in a centrifuge machine.","As the mold spins, he ladles pewter into a funnel that feeds the channels leading into the mould cavities.","The centrifugal force shoots the pewter onto the cavity walls in an even layer, where it cools and solidifies in about five minutes.","Then he stops the machine and removes the mould.","The worker opens the mold and extracts the two pewter castings, each with it's screw mechanism securely embedded.","One is a cobra handle.","The other is a dog and boar handle.","They require a bit of refinement, so the next step is to remove the excess metal with a rotating wire brush.","A worker then shines up the surface with some polishing compound and a cloth buffing wheel.","He washes off the polishing compound and silver-plates the pewter.","The handle will top an equally elegant ebony shaft.","A worker places the square stick of ebony in a lathe, which rounds it.","The shaft goes through several sanding and polishing steps.","Then a worker drills a two-inch-deep hole in the top of it.","He puts some glue in the hole and screws in the handle.","If silver-plated cobras aren't your style, how about a handle made of white cow horn?","First, a worker heats all but the tip of the horn in a fire.","This destroy the nerves in the bone inside the horn's shell.","This horn will be shaped into a crooked handle using the same bending machine the workers use for wood crook handles.","The base of the horn is hot, so they use a small block of wood as a buffer.","After clamping the machine's guide wheel against the middle of the horn, they use their body weight to move the lever forward, and wrap the top half of the horn against the curved form.","Before heating the horn, the worker drilled a small hole through its tip.","Now he inserts a thin steel wire through that hole and ties the wire tightly around the opposite side to hold the horn to the round form.","He sets it aside for a week.","A horn handle undergoes the same multi-step sanding process as a wood handle, however, a worker drills a hole into the bottom and screws in an aluminum rod.","This makes the handle easier to hold while sanding.","The worker removes the final traces of the outer layer with a router and finalizes the crook's shape.","He removes the handle from the metal rod and finishes it off with a fine sanding.","The horn surface is now as smooth as silk.","He then polishes the handle on a cotton buffing wheel using a polishing compound specially formulated for horn.","That brings out the color and sheen.","Then the worker screws and exotic-wood shaft into the same hole used for the metal rod.","This fashionable cane, which has taken 4-6 hours to craft, is ready to be modeled on the walkway."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Upright Pianos","Flags","Wet"]},"text":["Unlike a grand piano, an upright piano is vertical, so you can place it against a wall.","Uprights come in various heights.","The taller ones have longer strings and a larger soundboard, so their sound is closer to that of a grand piano.","Around four feet tall, this is the largest upright piano on the market.","It's designed for those who lack the budget or space of a grand piano.","A piano technician spends several days calibrating the pre-assembled action stack.","It has 88 wooden hammers with heads wrapped in felt.","Pressing a piano key causes the corresponding hammer to strike a particular string.","The string vibrates, producing a specific musical note.","A damper stops the string vibration a split second later, ending the sound.","Each key has two slots called mortises.","They are lined with a felt bushing to protect the wood from wear.","At the back of each key, there's a height adjustment rod called a capstan.","Each key has an embedded lead disc.","This disc equalizes the pressure that's needed to play an individual key.","Without this pressure equalization, you would have to press harder on the bass keys because their hammers and strings are heavier.","The soundboard is already installed in the piano cabinet under a cast iron frame.","The technician checks the clearance between soundboard components.","He verifies that each steel string is properly wound to a tuning pin at the top, loops over a hitch pin at the bottom, and passes over a wooden bridge in between.","After making necessary adjustments, he measures the pressure of each string over the bridge, a critical factor producing fine tone.","then he tunes below the bridge, adjusting string tension as needed.","the technician assembles the keyboard by aligning each key with corresponding pins on the key frame.","He uses round spacers called punchings to equalize height so the black and white keys are level.","He checks the tightness of each key's bushings.","If a key needs to be loosened, he compresses the bushing and widens the mortise.","Then he installs the action stack directly above the keyboard, attaching it to bolts mounted on the cast iron frame.","He presses each key a few times to make sure it functions properly.","If it doesn't, he adjusts the capstan to better strike the key.","Then he connects the pedals to the components they control.","The right pedal pulls the dampers away from the strings to let the sound continue.","The left pedal draws the hammers closer to the strings, which reduces the volume of the sound.","Then several more calibrations-- each hammer to make sure it moves correct, each backcheck so that it doesn't rebound and strike again.","And finally, each key is checked to ensure that the pressing depth is identical across the keyboard.","If a key needs adjustment, he adds or removes punchings.","They come in a range of thicknesses from heavy felt to ultra-thin tissue paper.","He plays with different combinations until the pressing depth is perfect.","now he strikes a tuning fork to sound an \"a\" and tunes the corresponding \"a\" key.","Then he tunes all the other keys in relation to that note, tweaking each tuning pin with a special wrench.","an assembler completes the piano by mounting the remaining sections of the cabinet.","This cabinet is made of wood and laminates, coated in high-gloss polyester resin-- an elegant yet simple exterior, enclosing very complex internal workings.","Flags bring strangers together to support a cause or a nation.","For many centuries, a flag fluttering above the fighting was a visible communication signal.","Flags eventually became patriotic symbols away from the battlefield.","And today there is one for every country and almost every cause.","Flags bring strangers together to support a cause or a nation.","Rippling in the breeze, flags have a kinetic energy that draws people to them.","At this factory, they make flags from special polyester.","It's extra strong, but it's also translucent to make the design visible from both sides.","A machine unwinds the fabric over rollers that pull it straight and tight.","It then enters a digital printer.","The first printing head lays down the image and a second one deepens it.","Printing in two steps keeps the dyes from running.","The employee transfers the printed fabric to the next machine.","He loops it through guide rollers and secures the end.","The flag material travels over a larger cylinder that's heated to 419 degrees.","This bakes or fixates the dye into the fabric.","At the wash line, a worker aligns the flag with a sheet of leader fabric and trims the end.","A sewing machine stitches the fabrics together in a chain lock configuration.","This seam is tough enough to withstand a series of wash cycles.","The first wash removes any excess dye that wasn't fixated on the fabric.","They add special chemicals to this wash because ordinary soap isn't strong enough.","The second bath contains chemicals that neutralize the cleaning substances.","Finally, the fabric travels through a rinse station to remove the residual chemicals.","Pressurized rollers wring out the water.","The damp fabric travels over steamed heated cylinders that dry and iron the fabric.","The flag material winds around rollers before reaching the cutting table.","The worker first cuts out the color code printed on the side of the fabric.","She uses a spectrometer to confirm that the colors are correct and haven't faded during the wash.","Then she cuts out the flags using a pair of industrial scissors.","The polyester material is strong and doesn't unravel or fray during the cutting.","The next worker stitches a sleeve onto the fabric for the banner hardware.","She also hems the other three sides.","At another station, a machine installs a grommet on the front and a washer on the back to make an eyelet.","An employee inserts a fiberglass rod in the sleeve and threads a bungee cord through the eyelet.","He inspects the fit and confirms that the flag will withstand strong winds.","From conception to completion, it takes about three days to manufacture flags.","Then the sky's the limit.","You can use a wet/dry vacuum both inside and out, to clean up messes that an ordinary cleaner can't handle.","This powerful picker-upper can suction everything from leaves to small pieces of wood, and if you remove the filter bag from the tank, it can vacuum liquids, too.","A wet/dry vacuum is lightweight, yet can handle heavy-duty pickups that would ruin an ordinary vacuum cleaner.","Most of the components are plastic.","This machine produces them by shooting molten plastic into molds, then cooling it to a solid state.","A robot extracts the finished parts.","All the vacuum's parts are injection-molded except for the electric motor.","The motor has two fans.","One cools the motor itself with ambient air and the other creates a vacuum to suck debris through the hose.","The vacuum fan is in a separate chamber so that liquid never comes in contact with the motor's electrical components.","Workers place the motor in a plastic housing with the drive shaft facing upward.","They put a spacer on the shaft, then mount the vacuum fan, securing it with a nut.","They close up the housing with a grid plate.","This prevents fingers from accidentally touching the fan.","They now take the head assembly to a testing area.","They'll run the motor for up to 10 minutes to make sure everything functions correctly.","Then they plug it into a second test station, which verifies that there's adequate suction and no electrical short circuits.","If everything checks out, they send the head assembly to the packaging area.","There, workers assemble the rest of the vacuum.","At the first station, a press locks the inlet securely in a hole at the front of the tank.","At the next stop, a worker places a package of screws, an instruction manual, and four casters to be installed by the purchaser in the tank.","Next, workers take the head assembly and add it to the vac's top cover.","They load the vacuum's lid onto a carousel along with a pleated paper filter.","The filter prevents dust and fine debris from getting into the vacuum fan chamber.","Then they mount the head assembly on an automated screw-driving machine and place the lid on top after first removing the filter.","Once the lid is screwed to the head assembly, they put the filter back on.","Now they place the assembled lid onto the tank...","And snap down the latches to secure it.","The final stop on the line checks the suction power, the electrical system, and makes sure the on/off switch works correctly.","If the vacuum passes testing, a robot picks up the unit and places it in a retail box.","Workers add extension wands, a nozzle, and a hose, then finally a filter bag is added, which is only used when vacuuming up dry debris.","Consumer wet/dry vacs come in several tank sizes, from 1 to 24 gallons.","During the medieval era, axes were more than tools.","They were terrifying weapons that could inflict very deep wounds.","Today, craftsmen still make battle axes for use in the entertainment industry.","The medieval battle ax was a brutal weapon.","With a single blow, it could break through a knight's armor and fatally wound him.","To produce an authentic replica for movies and tv shows, the blacksmith consults reference books.","He sketches the ax head design on paper, roughing out the details to the desired scale.","He cleans up pieces of old carbon steel, which he'll combine with other metals.","In total, there will be 75 metal strips of varying composition.","To complete the mix of metals, he cuts an old blade made of nickel steel alloy into equally sized strips.","He loads 37 strips into a vice.","He tightens the vice and tack-welds them together.","He sands the welded stack.","He rubs oil into the stack to prevent oxidation.","Now, exposed to intense heat, the metal layers forge together.","He spreads a mix of borax and other minerals called flux onto the surface.","This deters oxidation as the forging continues with a pneumatic hammer.","The hammer slams the layers together to become a solid laminated block.","It's ready to be transformed into the ax's cutting head.","Repeated strikes pinch the metal in the center.","He sprinkles the flux mixture onto the surface of the metal form, heats it again, and folds it into a \"c\" shape.","After a reheat, he inserts a layer of carbon steel in the center for the blade.","He hammers the \"c\" shape flat, leaving the pinched section round for the handle.","The 75 strips have been forged into one.","Next, the power hammer refines the handle knob.","He drives a steel stake called a tapered drift into the center of the knob.","This forms an opening for inserting the wood handle.","Using the power hammer, he now flattens the blade end of the ax head substantially.","He flares it to form a cutting edge and removes the excess with a plasma cutter.","He saws it off, and the result is fierce.","The ax head has taken shape, but it needs some refining.","He hammers the handle area to spread it wider.","And dips the ax head in water to cool it down.","Then he grinds the blade thinner using a belt sander and rinses off the residue.","He grinds it again to get rid of any hammer marks or oxidative scale.","The different metals react when dipped in acid, creating a swirled pattern on the surface of the head.","The first bath was contaminated, so he polishes it off and gives the ax head another rinse in clean acid.","After heat treating and tempering, he polishes the face of the ax and hones the edge.","Next, he grinds spiral grooves into a piece of oak for the ax's handle.","A colleague stains the entire handle to accentuate the carved spirals and enhance the grain of the wood.","Once it dries, the blacksmith wedges the ax head onto the handle.","A few strikes against a steel block improves the fit.","Finally, he hammers upholstery studs onto the handle to simulate the rivets that reinforced the original medieval ax handles.","This medieval ax is ready for action.","Medieval ax replicas are authentic props for any tv show or movie.","Handled carefully, no one will get hurt."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Airstream Trailers","Horseradish","Industrial Steam Boilers","Deodorant"]},"text":["In 1931, airstream founder wally byam sold plans to build your own travel trailer.","In response to a growing demand, he decided manufacturing was the better way to go.","He then introduced the airstream trailer, with its familiar modern design that has withstood the test of time.","The airstream trailer is a recreation vehicle that can take you to the most remote areas, yet still enjoy a fully functional living space.","They can also be hooked up to outside services, so you can stay as long as you like in the comfort of home.","To start, an operator puts a sheet of aircraft-grade aluminum into a press that punches the rivet holes.","A worker then rivets the sheets together to make the walls of the trailer.","Here they're assembling the end shells, the rounded end sections for the front and back of the trailer.","They apply sealant to all the seams.","Technicians then rivet the two ends to the components that make up the trailer shell, including the floor, the walls, and the roof.","A worker uses a router and a template to cut out window openings from the walls.","He puts the windows in the openings and secures them in place.","Another worker applies a weatherproof sealant to all the interior seams, then smoothes it out to ensure good coverage.","Using a crane, they lower the shell onto the chassis.","At this point, they thread some of the wiring into the shell.","Next comes the plywood floor, which a worker attaches firmly to the chassis.","Another associate puts the door in place.","He rivets the door to the shell.","He takes extra care to protect the aluminum from being damaged by the force of the rivet gun.","The trailer then goes into a rain-test booth that simulates hurricane-strength rain.","The test lasts about an hour, during which a technician makes sure the shell is watertight.","Next, they apply a water-based adhesive to the interior and install insulation throughout the shell.","Now they bring in the interior skin.","It's the same aircraft-grade aluminum used on the outside.","They trim the walls for the window openings then lay down the vinyl floor covering.","An installer trims the vinyl and uses the old-fashioned way to make it snug against the shell because a standard carpet stretcher would poke holes in the vinyl.","A worker installs the fiberglass shower stall and hooks up the drain and plumbing.","He cuts a hole in the fiberglass then installs all the shower-control components and the showerhead.","He finishes off this residential-style shower with a frosted-glass door.","Next, they put in the convertible couches and beds and all the other amenities of home, including a gas stove.","Finally, a technician performs quality-control checks to make sure the electrical and mechanical systems work flawlessly.","Only then is an airstream trailer ready to hit the road and continue the time-honored tradition of discovery and adventure that makes this iconic recreation vehicle an american original.","Horseradish has a hot history.","The ancient greeks used it as an aphrodisiac.","They also rubbed it on sore body parts to alleviate pain.","During the renaissance, eating horseradish made its way from central europe to england.","By the late 1600s, it was customary among the british to eat horseradish with beef and oysters.","At the root of this hot condiment is a root.","You peel away an outer skin to access a thick white flesh.","Chewing or grinding the flesh releases enzymes, which produce horseradish's heat-- the plant's natural defense mechanism against predators.","Horseradish is a leafy, flowering plant with a thick central root, called the mother root, and smaller offshoots called sets.","After culling the mother root, farmers re-plant the sets, each of which will spawn a new plant.","At harvest time, the first farm machine chops down the plants to ground level and rakes the leaves out of the way.","Then a horseradish harvester digs up the roots.","As the roots bounce onto a mesh conveyer belt, most of the soil breaks off and falls back onto the ground.","You have to keep horseradish cold to keep it hot.","So the roots go directly into a cooler.","The temperature is just above freezing and the humidity high so the roots retain their moisture.","To grind them fresh from the field would produce horseradish with a grassy flavor, so the roots spend about a month in the cooler.","Only then are they ready for processing.","At the horseradish factory, a machine washes the roots in cold water.","Then a conveyer belt runs the roots through a final rinse.","Workers carefully inspect the roots.","They pick out any debris and discard any dark roots that would sully the whiteness of the final product.","Next, the roots travel to the automated grinding system.","The conveyer belt has built-in scales that control how much goes into the grinder at a time.","The grinder works like a giant food processor.","While grinding, it automatically feeds in a specific amount of vinegar.","This stops the enzyme reaction, preventing heat from escaping.","The grinder also automatically adds water and salt brine.","The salt adds flavor and keeps the horseradish from browning.","Next, the horseradish moves into a blender.","This is where the factory adds the extra ingredients for specialty flavors, such as fresh cream for cream-style horseradish.","A pumping system transfers it from the blender to a holding tank.","Inside the tank, mixing blades continuously turn to prevent the ingredients from separating.","En route to the filling station, the inside of every single glass container gets a blast of air to blow out any debris.","The filling process is entirely automated.","The machine grabs each container, aligns it under a nozzle, then squirts the horseradish inside.","The filled containers move on a conveyer to the capping machine.","There a spinning head descends, screwing a plastic cap to the container.","Next, the containers move to the labeler.","It applies glue to the back of the labels, then slaps one on to every container.","From there, the containers go off to cold storage until shipping time-- shipping via refrigerated truck, of course.","Prepared horseradish has a seven-month shelf life, thanks to the vinegar and salt, which act as natural preservatives.","Those critical ingredients maintain the color, flavor, and heat until you're ready to eat.","Industrial steam boilers heat water to produce steam to do such things as sterilize surgical instruments, cook food, and heat or humidify buildings.","They are even used for dry cleaning.","The water inside an industrial steam boiler is heated by natural gas, oil, or electricity.","Industrial steam boilers are usually found deep inside buildings, where they inconspicuously create valuable steam and heat.","It starts with a plasma torch that cuts holes in a solid sheet of steel.","The thickness of the steel used depends on the operating pressure of the boiler.","Using a hydraulic bending machine, a worker shapes the metal into what will become the inner shell of the boiler.","This inner shell will contain the water that gets heated inside the boiler to create steam.","He stops the rolls and prepares an edge of the shell for welding.","He continues shaping the metal to a preset diameter, and then he grinds the other edge to prepare it for welding.","The shell shape is now fully formed and ready to be welded closed.","A submerged arc-welding machine deposits a special granular material that protects the weld from air contamination.","He removes the protective granular material, leaving behind a perfect weld.","Next, a worker welds what's called a boiler head to the shell.","He fits steel pipes into the boiler heads located at both ends.","He welds the pipe securely in place.","Workers then insert a combustion chamber into the shell.","Later, a burner, used to heat the water, will be fitted into the combustion chamber.","A worker then tests the fully assembled pressure vessel, as it's now called.","He fills the space between the combustion chamber and the shell with water to ensure it doesn't leak.","Workers then wrap the pressure vessel in insulation to help the boiler retain heat.","They wrap an outer jacket around the pressure vessel and secure it in place using sheet-metal screws.","All boilers then receive a blower, which feeds air into the burner and the combustion chamber.","Next, a worker attaches what is known as a water column.","This apparatus supports various control devices and sensors, as well as a visual indicator that shows the water level inside the boiler.","A worker connects the electrical-control panel, so he can test the safety and operation of the boiler.","He powers up the unit and fires the burner that is installed inside the combustion chamber.","He opens a steam-outlet pipe on a test line and makes sure all the control devices, including the water-level indicator and the blower, are working properly.","This boiler passes the test.","It generates the correct amount of heat and steam.","Finally, a worker applies the appropriate labeling on every boiler, whether it's a smaller unit, the type used in a dry-cleaning business, or one of the larger boilers used in a food-processing plant.","Before bathing became common, people used heavy colognes to mask unwanted odor.","It wasn't until the late 1800s that chemists created the first commercial deodorant.","Today deodorants are available in a variety of forms, from natural alternatives, like body crystals, to antiperspirants that use chemicals to reduce perspiration.","Almost everyone applies deodorant at some point during the day.","Convenient packaging helps make application easy.","First step to making deodorant-- mixing up the batch.","Workers pour a blend of ingredients into a kettle mixer, then add powdered wax-- the main ingredient that holds everything together.","They also add silicone for a smooth texture.","Steam heats the mix to 167 degrees fahrenheit, melting the ingredients.","A standard recipe for deodorants includes wax, active ingredients that prevent perspiration, dimethicone-- a blending agent, silicone, and fragrance to mask odors.","Deodorants, like all personal-care products, must meet strict quality-control standards.","The chemists in this plant's laboratory perform a variety of tests to ensure their product meets the highest standards.","To make sure that the product has the right consistency, this chemist will perform a viscosity test.","She stirs a sample at a constant speed, then verifies that the force required is within the accepted range.","These containers will dispense the deodorant.","They're mechanically unscrambled on a rotating platform that sends them spinning into individual pockets.","Sensors overhead detect the ones that aren't lining up properly.","A blast of air sends them back onto the platform to repeat the process.","Now that they're all right-side-up, they move along to the filling station.","There, a system of levers raises them up to align with filling nozzles that dispense the mix.","A system of rotating wheels keeps the containers moving.","One wheel conveys them to the next for filling, and then a third wheel leads them out.","It's best to fill using hot mix that flows freely.","But the deodorant must cool in order to harden.","An overhead rake evenly lines up the containers inside a refrigerating tunnel.","Once it's full, workers set the cooling system to 14 degrees celsius.","The deodorant will remain here for several hours.","Next, chemists perform a hardness test on a cold sample of deodorant.","A force meter measures the amount of pressure required to crush the sample.","It has to be just right.","Too hard, and the deodorant crumbles without spreading.","It must be able to flow smoothly out through this perforated dome that will cover the deodorant.","Each container gets one over at the doming station.","Again, a system of revolving wheels works together to convey the containers through the station.","At the center wheel, cappers overhead lay the perforated dome on top of each one.","The containers then move to the next station, where they each receive a strip of adhesive plastic that covers the dome's surface-- a safety seal that protects the deodorant.","Back to the doming station.","The containers pass through once more as the cappers now snap a plastic cover onto each one.","Now they're ready for the final step-- labeling.","The containers roll past a plate that lifts off adhesive labels from a continuous strip and applies them.","A brush smoothes over the labels.","That's the final touch.","Now the deodorant is ready for shipping to customers.","Good things do come in small packages of all kinds."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Turbochargers","Enchiladas","Watches"]},"text":["A turbocharger harnesses a vehicle's exhaust gases to compress fresh air, forcing the pressurized air into the engine's combustion chamber for a turbocharged performance.","With it, a small engine can be as powerful as a larger one, using energy that would otherwise disappear out the tailpipe.","The exhaust gas turbocharger is an invention that dates back over a century, but in recent years the concept has literally been picking up speed.","Design tweaks and the use of lighter materials mean a bigger boost to engine output so a small engine can be as powerful as a larger one without guzzling extra fuel.","Production begins at the foundry, an overhead sprayer blows sand into the shaped cavity of this box.","The spraying action activates a binder applied to the sand.","This causes a chemical reaction that solidifies the particles.","The worker extracts the hardened sand shape from the box.","The shape is called a core.","It will be used to mold the inside of the turbocharger's housing.","He files down any little bumps and rough edges.","He then pipes adhesive around the border of a second sand mold and glues the first part to it to build up the core.","He applies a putty-like compound to the seam to plug any gaps.","Meanwhile, another worker uses a different technique to make smaller cores.","He rocks the box, and this causes sand to flow into a shaped cavity.","The sand has been mixed with heat-sensitive chemicals.","He aims a flame at an opening in the box as burners warm it from the sides.","This triggers a reaction that hardens the sand inside so it takes the shape of the cavity.","The result is another smaller turbocharger core.","These snail-shaped sand cones are now ready for casting.","He places the cores in a mold which is also made of hardened sand.","Machinery lifts the bottom half of the mold to the top half, essentially closing the mold.","He pours molten aluminum into it, and it flows into the spaces between the cores and outer mold.","The aluminum solidifies in a minute, and the molds tumble onto to a conveyor, revealing the cast turbocharger parts.","They are connected by hardened flow lines.","After separating the parts, they ship them to the turbocharger factory.","Here, computerized tools carve and contour the aluminum part to specifications so precise, they are measured in thousandths of an inch.","This is the turbocharger housing before the work was done...","And after.","Using a computerized probe, a technician looks for irregularities.","Even miniscule ones will need to be fixed.","It's now time to assemble all the parts.","The worker inserts a bearing into one end of the iron center housing.","He lubricates a second bearing and slots it into the other end.","These bearings will ultimately support a shaft with a turbine on one end and a compressor on the other.","He adds a metal collar and a third bearing to the assembly.","He caps the bearing parts with a metal plate.","It will keep lubricant from spilling out when the turbocharger spins.","He flips the center housing around and installs a metal heat shield on the bottom.","He inserts the shaft and turbine wheel assembly.","He installs the compressor wheel on the other end of the shaft.","He heats the wheel briefly, causing it to expand, which allows it to be pushed further down the shaft.","Once cold, it shrinks to the shaft for a tight fit.","Next, a machine called a vibration sort rig spins the compressor at a high speed as a computer analyzes it for vibrations.","Even the slightest tremor indicates an imbalance.","The computer also detects the source of the problem so it can be fixed.","He grinds the compressor nose ever so slightly to balance the part.","He now nestles the compressor into the curled aluminum housing.","It's a shape that's designed to funnel air into the engine.","He secures the compressor to the housing with a metal ring.","He fits the turbine end into its housing.","It, too, has the distinctive curl to pipe the exhaust gases in the right direction.","A blast of air now simulates the effect of those exhaust gases, spinning the turbine to power the compressor.","It takes about 15 minutes to build one of these turbos.","Once installed in an engine, it's full speed ahead.","\"enchilada\" means dipped in chili in spanish.","And true to its name, these stuffed corn tortillas are typically smothered in sweet and mildly spicy chili sauce.","First cooked up by native mexicans centuries ago, enchiladas are an ancient food, but they are definitely not passé.","In modern times, the enchilada has become a metaphor for having it all.","\"the whole enchilada\" means there's no holding back.","There are numerous enchilada recipes today.","This black bean and veggie version starts with a filling sauce.","It's a chili-flavored tomato puree.","They add organic corn, a firm variety that's mildly sweet.","That means the flavor won't clash with the chili spice.","Spiraling blades fold the corn into the filling sauce.","The mixing action is gentle to keep the kernels intact.","The next ingredient is tofu, diced into cubes.","Like the corn, it's a firm type for a more substantial texture.","The firm tofu is also quite porous, so it readily absorbs the flavors of the enchilada filling sauce.","They green up the sauce with chunks of organic zucchini, uniformly diced with the skins on.","Black beans are next, already cooked with the juices drained.","This completes the enchilada filling sauce.","They cool it to preserve its thick consistency and overall freshness.","And now they are ready to wrap.","They pump measured amounts of the black bean and vegetable mixture onto each tortilla.","And here the chilling of the filling pays off.","A warmer, runnier sauce would spill out and make a mess, but this cool, thick sauce stays where they put it, in the middle of the tortilla.","Workers now roll the tortillas around the black bean and veggie mix.","There is a trick to this.","If the tortilla is rolled too tightly, there could be leakage.","Too loose, and the enchiladas could come undone.","A perfectly rolled enchilada fits neatly into the trays.","They place the enchiladas seam-side down in the container.","Elsewhere in the factory, they sauté various chili powders in flour and oil.","They liquefy this flavorful mix with vegetable broth.","Mixing blades blend the simmering ingredients, and the flavors intensify.","It thickens to a gravy-like consistency.","And as one would do with gravy, they strain out any lumps or impurities.","What exits the sieve is pure enchilada chili sauce.","Next, it flows into a dispenser.","The nozzle head is the exact same length as the enchiladas, ensuring complete coverage as the sauce is pumped onto them.","The enchiladas are now swimming in chili sauce, imbuing the dish with mild spice.","The chili sauce also serves to keep the tortillas moist during cooking.","They sprinkle on freeze-dried chives.","This herb adds an onion-y nuance to the dish.","Every few minutes, they pull a tray off the production line and weigh it to confirm that the portion size is right.","They churn out 53 enchilada entrees a minute at this factory.","Next, it's into the freezer to preserve the enchiladas at arctic-like temperatures.","It's a new day and a new shift of workers.","They place the enchiladas on a conveyor en route to the packaging line.","It takes just one minute to wrap and box 75 frozen enchilada entrees.","Technology and humans team up to get the job done fast.","Enchiladas have come a long way over the centuries-- from a simple meal first whipped up by the mayans of mexico to a mass-produced frozen meal.","Today, they are consumed in countries around the world.","And with these frozen versions, mealtime is no trouble at all.","Just heat and eat.","The mechanism inside a wristwatch that measures time and moves the hands accordingly is called the movement.","High-end watches typically use traditional, very intricate mechanical movements.","Such premium watches are made up of a multitude of components, requiring hundreds of manufacturing and assembly operations.","Luxury wristwatches are made of top-quality materials, often precious metals.","They are crafted with painstaking precision, partly by traditional watchmakers, partly by high-tech machines.","The main section of the watch case starts out as a block of metal-- stainless steel for this model.","A press stamps the preliminary shape, which a computer-guided milling machine then finalizes.","Another computer-guided machine drills a hole on the side for the stem and crown, the manual watch-winding mechanism.","This tool refines the edges.","Next, using an abrasive tool, they manually etch the surface to give it a brushed metal finish.","Then they apply some polishing compound to a felt buffing wheel and polish the entire surface.","Certain models undergo a second polishing performed by a robot.","The two other parts of the watch case, the back and the ring around the watch face, called the bezel, are made the same way as this main section.","To produce the movement, they cut a square brass plate and stamp it into a preliminary shape.","This computer-guided mill then refines it to the correct thickness.","The next computer-guided machine makes several slots and holes.","This part, called the main plate, is the base upon which all the movement's components will be assembled.","The milling process leaves behind traces of metal dust and oil on the surface, so the main plate undergoes a thorough washing with water and solvent.","Once dry, a computerized inspection device examines the plate from three dimensions, verifying that every last detail is precisely as it should be.","Then the last machine cuts the final circular shape.","The main plate is now technically perfect.","Only finishing steps remain.","First, to remove tool marks, they sand-blast the surface to give it an even matte finish.","Here's what the plate looks like before sand-blasting and after.","Another computer-guided tool etches tiny circles onto the main plate surface to produce a pearl-like effect.","This next component, called the bridge, covers most of the parts assembled onto the main plate, and itself holds a number of parts.","After a laser engraves the company name, they fill the lettering with varnish.","They put the bridge into an automated machine that etches a brush finish and wipes off the varnish.","Some varnish residue remains inside the letters, making them more visible.","Next, a robot sets a jewel into each hole in the main plate.","Jewels are tiny, cup-shaped synthetic rubies.","Each jewel will hold one of the movement's moving parts in a drop of lubricating oil.","After installing two barrels containing a spring each, the watchmaker positions four wheels.","These form the gear train that moves the hands of the watch.","Next, he mounts the auxiliary main plate on top.","This sandwiches the barrels and gear train, holding them in place.","Then the escapement, the regulating mechanism.","Winding the watch fully coils the springs inside the barrels.","The escapement paces the springs as they slowly unwind and turn the gear train.","Now a robot takes over, squirting a drop of oil in each jewel.","Meanwhile, a laser engraves the watch brand name and logo into the oscillating weight.","This component is a heavy metal disk first stamped in a press, then refined by high-precision computer-guided tools.","The oscillating weight is an automatic winding mechanism.","This weight, located on the back side of the movement, automatically winds the watch as it's on your wrist.","Therefore, the more often you wear the watch, the less often you have to wind it manually by turning the crown.","The watchmaker connects the oscillating weight to the springs which move the gear train so that the weight will shift backwards and forwards with any wrist movement, automatically coiling the springs.","On the front side of the movement, he screws in the date indicator and the dial.","The dial is comprised of two brass plates, the top one coated in oxidized copper with cutouts to show the bottom one, which is painted with this company's secret formula of glow-in-the-dark pigments.","Next, a machine mounts the brass hour and minute hands.","This operation is automated because applying even slightly too much pressure could damage the tiny, delicate hands.","Now for the watch case.","After twisting an arched ring called the bezel onto the front of the main case, he slides a plastic gasket into it...","Then positions the main case onto to a press...","Cleans the crystal...","Then presses it forcefully into the bezel.","The gasket seals the minute gap between the crystal and the bezel so that water can't seep inside the case.","Next, the stem and crown.","Then on the back of the case, the casing circle, a ring that comes between the movement and the case.","Here, too, a gasket seals the gap to make the case water-resistant.","He installs the ring in crystal that form the back of the case.","He applies grease so that it twists on smoothly.","He closes it tightly with a tool.","Then the fully assembled case goes off to be tested for water-resistance.","If it passes, it comes back to the watchmaker to receive the movement.","He removes the crown and the case back, cleans the movement, then places it in the case.","Next, he squirts grease in the crown hole and reinstalls the crown.","This time, because the movement is in place, the crown stem connects to the two springs so that turning the crown now winds them.","The watchmaker affixes the movement in the case with several tiny clamps and screws.","Then he closes up the back for the last time.","After checking that the movement works properly, he has just one last component to assemble to the watch head.","This particular watch company has developed a unique protective device that goes over the crown.","A computer-guided mill shapes it out of the same type of metal as the case so that, aesthetically, it blends seamlessly.","The watchmaker screws the device to the case so that it bridges the crown.","The device has a lever, the tension of which the watchmaker carefully adjusts with the help of this gauge.","The lever closes the device tightly over the crown, immobilizing the crown so that it can't be turned accidentally.","Finally, they mount the watch head on an automated machine which closes the back tightly.","This is critical for water-resistance.","Every single watch head this factory manufactures must pass several quality-control tests to ensure time-keeping accuracy and water-resistance.","For water-resistance, they first test using air pressure.","Then actual water tests.","First a low-pressure test in 4 inches of water.","Then a high-pressure test in 410 yards of water, which far exceeds the 328-yard depth to which the watch is guaranteed to be water-resistant.","Finally it's time to assemble and attach the watch strap, either a link bracelet in matching metal or a strap made of fine leather, a fitting finale to this luxury wristwatch, the elegant product of precision technology and time-honored tradition."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pipes","Rock Climbing Gear","Leather Bike Saddles","Luxury Sports Cars"]},"text":["When christopher columbus discovered the americas, he also discovered the tobacco pipe.","The pipe was an important part of native culture to be shared during times of negotiation and celebration.","Columbus and other explorers brought the concept home, and the rest is history.","Since the 19th century, pipes have been made from briar, a hard, fire-resistant wood from the root of a mediterranean heather shrub.","After the briar has cured for several months, the pipe-maker saws it into a rough pipe shape.","Using a lathe and chisel, he rounds the larger block to approximate the shape of the pipe bowl.","He bores through the center to carve out the tobacco chamber.","Then he slims down the stem, marking the center for drilling later.","The pipe-maker finalizes the shape by hand.","He now sands both the inside of the tobacco chamber...","And the outside of the pipe bowl.","Next, the pipe's mouthpiece takes shape.","The pipe-maker pierces a piece of hardened rubber called vulcanite to establish the center and then drills a channel through it.","Using a grindstone, he sculpts one end, taking it from round to oval, a shape that fits more comfortably between the lips.","He checks his work with a sizing template...","Then shaves the exterior of the mouthpiece, reducing it considerably.","He shapes the other end to form the tenon, which fits into the pipe stem.","He polishes the tenon with a special compound.","The smoother surface makes this part easier to join to the pipe stem.","Using a series of sanding disks with progressively finer grit, he gives the exterior of the mouthpiece a sleek finish.","Then he steadies it in a clamp and widens the hole in the center of the mouthpiece to broaden it into a funnel-shaped cavity.","Attention now turns to the seam between the rubber and wood parts.","He sands it to make them perfectly flush.","Hand-filing removes blemishes and adjusts the thickness for a more comfortable bite.","The thickness can be customized for individual preferences.","He drills a tiny hole into the top of the mouthpiece...","Then dips a thin plastic rod in glue and inserts it in the hole.","He sands it down, leaving a white spot, a marker that indicates the mouthpiece is right-side-up.","For bent or curved pipes, the mouthpieces are heated in an oven at 320 degrees fahrenheit.","This makes the vulcanite flexible enough to be shaped by hand.","The pipe-maker bends the mouthpiece to the desired shape, and a quick cool-down in water re-hardens the vulcanite, fixing its curve.","Next, he buffs the wooden part of the pipe.","This removes fine scratches and brings out the wood grain.","It also gives the wood a glossy finish.","But for a different finish, a craftsman sand-blasts the briar wood, giving it a ripple texture.","He stains it darker with an alcohol-based dye, working the stain into every crevice.","And now for a neat trick.","He sets it on fire, and the alcohol burns off to set the stain.","The pipe doesn't go up in flames, proving it's truly fire-resistant.","He burns up to 10 layers of stain into the pipe, depending on the effect he's trying to achieve.","Finally, he stamps the company name and other information into the pipe.","After a final quality inspection, this handcrafted briar pipe is on its way to making a statement at the country club.","Rock-climbing is no pastime for the faint-hearted.","Scaling natural rock formations or manmade rock walls requires a certain fearlessness, along with good physical conditioning, balance, agility, and you must be well-trained in climbing techniques and use specialized equipment.","Climbers usually work in pairs, using a system of ropes and other devices to catch them if they fall.","A key piece of gear is the spring-loaded camming device.","The climber pulls the trigger to contract the cams and position it in a crack then releases the trigger to expand the cams, which securely grip the rock on either side, then attaches a rope through a device called a carabiner.","Climbers typically carry several types and sizes of cams, carabiners, and other devices.","The equipment must be as lightweight as possible, yet, at the same time, strong enough to save a falling climber.","Which is why this manufacturer uses aircraft-grade aluminum.","To make carabiners, automated saws cut aluminum bars into pieces the required length.","Then a bending machine forces each piece around a form in the basic shape of the carabiner.","Carabiners come in various sizes and shapes.","Workers simply mount the appropriate form on the machine.","Next, they place the roughly formed carabiner onto a hot die.","Another die slams down on it with up to 800 tons of force, forging the final shape.","Then the most critical part of the manufacturing process-- a multi-phase heat treatment to harden and strengthen the aluminum.","Next, they use a clipping press to slice off excess metal along the perimeter.","This leaves rough edges, which they now smooth out using an abrasion process.","The carabiners go into a vibrating tub, where they rub against porcelain chips for the next 20 hours.","Next, workers drill holes for the rivets on which the spring-loaded opening mechanism will hinge.","That mechanism, called the gate, has channels which align with these holes.","Assemblers slide a spring and spring-pusher into the gate, then insert the rivets through the aligned holes and channels.","A riveting machine locks each rivet in place by rounding and widening the head.","Then they adjust the carabiner's frame until the alignment is perfect.","After a thorough inspection, a laser etching machine inscribes product information and a unique serial number.","Random samples undergo strength and other quality-control tests.","Elsewhere in the factory, camming device production is under way.","Computer-guided equipment machines the same aluminum alloy to a preliminary shape, saws off slices, then machines each slice to the final shape of a cam.","An assembler attaches a wire to each cam...","Then takes four cams and joins their wires to the trigger wires with a metal crimp.","The cams, by this point, are different colors.","That's because they've undergone chemical treatment to make them corrosion-resistant.","This process can, in fact, produce various colors.","So, at the same time, the company can color-code the different models.","As assembly continues, they thread the cams onto an axle-like component called the spindle, positioning a spring in between each cam.","The springs provide the resistance required to expand and retract the device.","A cone-shaped washer on each end of the spindle holds everything together.","This time, the riveting machine locks in the components by flattening and widening the end of the spindle to fill the hole in the washer.","With that, the camming device is finished.","This is how camming devices, carabiners, and other climbing gear all work together to catch climbers who lose their foothold.","Not only do they keep the climber safe, they also protect nature, because they attach to the rock face without damaging it in any way.","Leather bike saddles feature a leather top suspended on a metal frame.","With time and use, the leather molds itself to perfectly suit the rider's anatomy and their cycling style.","And just like a pair of leather shoes, the saddle becomes very comfortable.","Leather bike saddles look almost the same as they did 100 years ago.","They are still made by hand and by some machinery that is sometimes over 60 years old.","Saddles are made exclusively of metal and leather, traditional materials that retain the style and quality of the early days.","The first step is making the steel wire springs for saddles that have a suspension.","The machine coils and cuts the wire to the proper length.","Liquid lubricant keeps everything running smoothly.","Depending on the saddle's model, some springs are then chromed.","This machine folds and curls steel or titanium wire to form brackets.","It's adjustable, so it can make brackets of different sizes and shapes, depending on the model being produced.","A technician assembles the springs and brackets to form the saddle's frame.","He attaches the clamp so that the saddle can be attached to the bicycle's seat post.","Saddles come in different sizes and shapes, with or without suspension springs to accommodate various riding styles-- racing, mountain biking, or city commuting.","Now for the saddle's leather top.","Using a hydraulic clicking press, the worker cuts the leather with a sharp blade.","The blade cuts ventilation holes at the same time.","Tanneries provide leather in any color required by the factory.","After the tops are cut, they soak in tepid water for 20 minutes to an hour, until the leather is completely saturated.","The wet leather top then goes to a press, which applies 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.","Using a leather cushion, the technician pads the leather piece to help reinforce the shape, especially in the narrow front end.","Because the top is wet, it retains the shape and does not bounce back.","They carefully sand the leather to get a smooth edge.","The tops now go into the oven for three hours at a maximum temperature of 130 degrees fahrenheit.","Now they're ready for the finishing process.","A worker rivets a name plate to the rear of the saddle...","Then stamps a trademark on each side.","Each saddle model has its own trademark.","They attach the nose to the front of the saddle using solid copper rivets.","They hammer each one down carefully to follow the contours of the leather without scratching it.","This machine now rivets the frame to the back of the saddle.","They insert a tension pin between the frame and the nose.","This pin will allow the rider to adjust his saddle if the leather starts sagging after a few years.","It takes about three days to make a leather bike saddle.","And with careful care, it can be used for years to come.","Luxury sports cars are coveted by people around the world, and with good reason.","The extraordinary skills and materials that go into making them were developed from a long racing heritage.","Each one of these automobiles is born from expert craftsmanship and a passion for racing.","Underneath the beautiful exterior of these cars lie a chassis and power train capable of delivering remarkable performance.","The aluminum frame is engineered to be lightweight, yet rigid, and provide crumple zones that can evenly distribute force in the event of an impact.","It takes highly skilled technicians to perform these complex welds.","On the factory floor, robots transport the body panels that will later be fitted onto the chassis.","Once the frame is completed, technicians use a pneumatic hoist to position and attach exterior panels and doors.","Door panel cutouts reduce the car's weight while retaining a high degree of structural integrity.","The elongated cutouts on this model will house its stylized headlights.","Next, they coat the car in a compound which fluoresces under a special lighting system.","This helps technicians detect any minute imperfections.","These imperfections are then filed down by hand.","Here, a robot fully immerses and rotates the chassis in a galvanizing solution that prevents corrosion.","Once the body has been primed, it passes through a device that dusts off the entire body with ostrich-feather brushes.","Next stop, the paint room, where robots spray the car body with a smooth, even coat of paint.","Once the paint dries and cures, the robots apply several coats of varnish.","The final step in body prep is a meticulous waxing by hand to remove any remaining blemishes.","Moving on to the chassis, a technician uses a hoist to position and fasten the engine and gearbox in place.","Here, robots transport the completed power train to the assembly area...","Where an automatic crane gently lowers the car body onto the chassis, which includes the fully assembled suspension, gearbox, and engine.","This step is known as the marriage.","Next, a worker installs the wheels with some help from a hydraulic lifting system.","At the next station, technicians test all the dashboard components.","This vehicle features a combination of analog and digital displays.","A master computer runs the electronics and information systems.","Again with the help of the crane, technicians install the finished dashboard.","The next step is the steering wheel.","Assisted by a special assembly jig, a technician positions and tightens it onto the steering column.","Workers lower the trunk cover and convertible hardtop into position, which is particular to this model of car.","A worker double-checks the installation of the hydraulic mechanism.","This beautiful road machine is the culmination of years of racing history, modern engineering, and dedicated craftsmanship.","Now watch this.","This is one of the few cars that features a fully automated convertible hardtop.","This beauty is now ready for the sun, wind, and the open road."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Racing Shells","Stainless Steel Sinks","Leather","Pedal Steel Guitar"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Racing shells...","Stainless-steel sinks...","Leather...","And pedal steel guitars.","The racing shell is a high-tech rowboat that's built for speed.","Long and exceptionally narrow, it's designed to cut through wave drag and leave the competition in its wake.","Racing shells are made for single rowers, called scullers, for pairs, or entire crews.","They're custom-made to precise specifications.","Racers need to travel light to maintain speed, so these boats are made from reinforced carbon fiber, which weighs a lot less than wood.","First, several of these carbon-fiber sheets are layered in a mold and trimmed along the edge.","Textured thermoplastic called honeycomb gets a spray of glue and is then pressed onto the carbon-fiber plies.","Sandwiched between layers of carbon fiber, the honeycomb will serve as the shell's core, lending some lightweight reinforcement to the delicate hull.","Next, the entire boat is wrapped in breather cloth and a plastic bag so that the air can be vacuumed from between the layers.","The breather cloth is a permeable layer that prevents the plastic from sticking to the mold and creating air pockets.","Next, the shell goes into a long oven, which melts the glue that's been impregnated in the carbon material, fusing the layers together.","The shell bakes at 210 degrees for 8 hours.","Then the plastic and breather cloth are pulled away.","And the boat is pried out of the mold using plastic wedges.","The hull comes out in one solid piece, and a primer paint sprayed into the mold earlier has adhered to the shell's surface.","Workers check the weight, which has to be exactly what the customer ordered.","Next, they reinforce the boat's cockpit with several carbon-fiber bulkheads.","Foam is glued on the inside rim of the racing shell, using a piece of wood as a guide.","Glue is applied around the bulkheads.","Then the cockpit panel is lowered so that it adheres to the glued areas and rests on top of the foam that's been installed along the edges.","Next, a computerized tool drills holes for the hardware and riggers and workers trim the rim from stern to bow.","They smooth the holes' finish with a grinding tool.","And now it's over to the paint station for some sanding and priming.","Any flaws are marked for repair because the slightest imperfection could affect the boat's ability to speed through the water.","Once the boat is perfectly smooth, it gets a high-gloss urethane coating.","Next, a fin is installed for a little stability.","A laser guide helps align it into perfect position.","A rudder goes into the bottom of the boat.","The system of ropes that's attached next will allow the rowers to steer.","This boat comes with special shoes and sliding seats that allow rowers to put a lot of leg power into their strokes.","Finally, the rigging equipment for the oars goes in.","Now this sleek racing shell is ready to hit the water.","When we return, turning stainless steel into a sparkling new sink.","The stainless-steel sink is an invention born of patriotism.","It evolved during world war ii when sinks were often made from copper-nickel material called monel.","When that material was needed for the war effort, stainless steel was drafted for use on the home front, and it's still on kitchen duty to this day.","Stainless steel is lightweight and heavy-duty, which makes it great for sinks.","The process begins with a large sheet of stainless steel, uncoiled and sliced into pieces called blanks.","Each blank goes under a 1,000-ton press.","As the press descends, a punch rises from below, stretching the steel into a rough sink shape.","This process also transforms the steel on a molecular level, hardening it.","Workers brush lubricant in and around the sink bowl to make it easier to stretch it again.","The bowl goes under the same punch press a second time for more precise shaping.","This second working of the steel hardens it even more.","Now the sink goes under a different punch device that cuts out a drain hole and forms a lip around it.","As coolant flushes the sink, an abrasive belt grinds the surface to give it a brushed look.","Next, a sink bowl slides into a welding machine.","A second sink bowl is lined up against the first one.","Inside, an electrode welds the two sinks together.","Using enormous force, a roller moves across the seam to flatten it.","A grinding belt behind the roller sands it down.","Now that the seam joining the two sinks is level and smooth...","It's time to give the sink's rim some shape.","This die forms recesses along the sink's perimeter.","These recesses give the sink a sleek look and collect water runoff.","Another press trims the rim and gives it a bevel finish, which softens those rough edges.","Now, using a punch cutter, workers pierce the back rim of the sink to make holes for faucets and a soap dispenser.","Then they grind and buff the sink to a fine finish.","It's a very intensive process that takes about 25 minutes.","The company's trademark is embossed on the sink.","Then the sink's drains are plugged and a substance similar to latex paint is sprayed onto the outside.","The finish will muffle the sound of clattering dishes and protect the outside of the sink from condensation.","It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make a stainless-steel sink-- a functional and stylish addition to any kitchen.","Coming up, turning hairy cowhides into buttery-smooth leather.","Leather production dates back to primitive times when humans rubbed fats into animal skins to preserve them.","Times have changed, but leather endures.","From footwear to furniture, this tough material remains an integral part of our lives.","This leather comes from the hides of cows killed for meat.","Without tanning, these cowhides would go to waste.","Converting them to leather is a kind of recycling.","The first step is to cut each hide in half.","The hides are draped over a sawhorse, stamped with an identification code...","And sliced down the center.","Two smaller pieces will be easier to handle and process than one large hide.","Hundreds of these hide halves are loaded into a modified cement mixer for some serious hair removal.","As the mixer fills with water, a worker dumps in a combination of sodium sulfydrate and lime.","A chemical reaction strips the hair from the hides.","The hairless hides now get an acid bath to prepare them for the tanning process.","The tanning itself happens inside big wooden drums with prongs to keep the skins from getting tangled.","Chrome salts turn the hides a robin's-egg blue as they bind to the collagen fibers of the skins.","The hides have now been preserved into leather.","Next, the pieces are fed grain-side up into a machine that slices the leather to an even thickness.","The cutoffs won't be wasted.","They'll be recycled into suede.","Workers check each piece of leather with a gauge to confirm that the thickness is uniform.","Now it's back into the wooden drums for a second tanning, this time using a solution of vegetable extract, tree bark, and water.","Dye is added along with a chemical that will make the leather water-resistant.","The solution binds to the leather, giving it a brownish tone.","It's a gentler process than the first tanning, and it softens the leather.","Now a mixture of starch and water is brushed onto the tanned hides.","This paste-like solution allows the hides to be pressed onto big glass frames, which also have been moistened with the same starchy mixture.","This process allows the leather to dry flat...","Prevents it from shrinking...","And stops the edges from curling up.","After four hours in a dryer, it's time to remove the leather.","It easily peels away from the glass.","A revolving paint-gun system dyes the leather.","And now it's time for the finishing touches.","A glazing jack pulls a glass cylinder over the leather, and the abrasive action polishes it.","This glass is very strong, so it can do this vigorous work without shattering.","Finally, huge heated rollers smooth out any wrinkles.","It's the end of the production line for this big pile of leather but just the beginning for so many other products.","Fashionable and tough, it's no wonder this ancient material continues to be one of our favorite products today.","Up next, an instrument that's almost as tricky to build as it is to play.","Playing the pedal steel guitar takes quite a lot of skill.","You slide a steel bar up and down the strings as you pluck them, all the while operating a system of pedals and knee levers below.","This means using both hands, both feet, and both knees.","But a pedal steel guitar's unique sound and impressive range are worth all the effort.","to make one, a guitar maker first carves the neck of the instrument from hardwood.","He beads glue around the edges of the neck and applies strips of intricate wooden inlay.","Once the fretboard design is silk-screened onto the top, the guitar neck is complete.","The guitar maker then outlines a design onto aircraft-grade aluminum and cuts it out to make an end plate for the guitar frame.","He pops the end plate out of the holding device.","Then he welds it to the rest of the framework and polishes everything to a mirror finish.","Next, the part of the guitar called the steps is machined.","The holes in the steps will be used to attach tuning pegs.","There's one for every string.","The steps are attached to the neck just above the fretboard.","This is the pickup plate.","It will hold the device that transfers sound to the amplifier as well as a series of metal fingers.","The fingers are made from several aluminum pieces that are machined and assembled together.","The fingers pivot to raise and lower the pitch of the strings.","All of the fingers are fitted into the pickup plate and secured with screws.","The guitar maker double-checks the fingers' movement, then he hooks springs to the end of each one to maintain the proper tension.","A little grease ensures that this next step goes smoothly-- the production of the guitar's cross-shafts.","Then it's on to the guitar's undercarriage and the system of foot pedals and knee levers that will move the fingers.","The guitar maker screws several cross-shafts, one for each pedal, into the undercarriage.","He attaches bell cranks to the cross-shafts...","Then connects thin steel rods from the fingers to the bell cranks.","This system will allow the performer to tighten or relax strings while playing, which gives the instrument its characteristic sound.","The guitar maker tests the knee lever.","Here he's winding copper-coated wire around a cartridge thousands of times to make the guitar's pickup, which transfers sound from the guitar to the amplifier.","He takes two of the wire-bound cartridges and places a magnet between them to complete the pickup.","Then he fits it into the other slot in the pickup plate just above the fingers.","Now, using a gauge and a level, he adjusts the pickup.","It has to sit low enough in the slot that it won't interfere with the strings.","There's no room for error here.","The positioning must be exact or the guitar won't sound right.","10 to 12 strings are attached to the guitar neck.","Some instruments have two necks to add even more dimension to the sound."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Western Revolver Replicas","Arc Trainers","Used"]},"text":["In the american wild west, the gun ruled, and that gun was usually a six-shooter revolver.","Today, replicas of those revolvers can take you back to dodge city, and they do at cowboy shooting competitions.","It's a chance to engage in a little old-fashion gunslinging for old time's sake.","With its six-shot cylinder and innovative cocking mechanism, the 1873 colt was carried by the likes of jesse james.","They start these automatic replicas by shaping and machining the gun's frame.","A computerized blade carves the cylinder.","It cuts slots for the ammunition and notches for rotating the cylinder after a shot is fired.","A technician files down rough edges so the parts will fit together perfectly.","He then screws the curved grip and the trigger guard to the frame.","He assembles the wooden grip casing to the metal back strap and attaches them to the grip.","Once he confirms it's a good fit, he removes the casing the writes the gun's serial number inside.","He stamps a matching number onto the grip and polishes it and the gun's frame to a glossy finish.","He now rolls the model number and other identifying information onto the gun's barrel.","To add a bit of flourish, an artist engraves designs copying the artwork on an original colt.","Another worker now dips the parts in hot salts, then in cold water.","A reaction occurs that both hardens the parts a bit and tints them.","In this case, they turn a bronze color.","This is called color case hardening.","The grip and trigger guard have been removed from the gun frame for color casing.","This makes it easier for the technician to install the cartridge loading gate on the frame.","He files down the mechanism for rotating the cylinder to make the dimensions perfect.","He then inserts a bushing and a pin in the cylinder's center.","He uses that pin to install the cylinder in the gun frame.","The pin will also serve as the axis for the cylinder to revolve on.","He slides a couple of test slugs into the chambers to confirm the gap between the cylinder and gun frame is spot on.","He then fits the gun barrel to the frame.","And, using a special measuring rod, he checks the alignment of the cylinder and barrel.","He tightens the barrel to the gun frame, using a stick as a lever.","The technician aims the assembled gun and eyeballs the alignment of the barrel to the frame.","Once he's certain the configuration is right on target, he installs the gun's hammer and trigger.","He pops the cylinder back into the gun frame and inserts the rod for ejecting spent ammunition.","He screws a spring into the side of the hammer and cocks it in its three different positions to verify that it's in working order.","He then reattaches the grip and trigger guard.","He assembles a flat spring to the curved grip.","This is the main spring.","It transfers energy from the trigger to the hammer to cause the revolver to fire.","Then it's over to a government testing facility called the proof house.","Behind bulletproof glass, special equipment fires ammunition at three times the usual operating pressure.","If the gun can handle this, it's deemed safe to operate.","After a few more parts have been color cased, this revolver replica is ready for its target market.","And that would be history buffs who are interested in a real blast from the past.","Arc trainers can give you a full-body workout.","They provide a number of exercise programs to choose from, like strength training, weight loss, and cardio.","They monitor such things as heart rate and calories burned.","Like any piece of exercise equipment, using one properly is the key to a safe and healthy workout.","Arc trainers are made to give you a wide range of incline and resistance levels to let you train as easy or as hard as you like.","To start, a tube laser machine-cuts and profiles the steel tubing that will make the arc trainer's side frame.","A worker cleans the steel tubes, then runs them through a computer-controlled roll-forming machine.","This machine shapes all the steel used to build the arc trainer's frame.","They use a robot to weld all the parts together because robotic welding is more consistent and accurate than hand-welding.","The completed frames then get a surface preparation, giving the steel a uniform finish that is now ready for powder painting.","Workers then paint the frames using an electrostatic paint process.","These guns spray electrically charged paint particles that are drawn to the grounded frames in a smooth and even coat.","The frames then bake in an oven for 40 minutes to cure the paint.","Next come the handlebars.","A worker then makes them by lubricating a rubber tube and sliding it onto an assembly frame.","He then locks a preformed metal tube in place and lubricates it, as well.","He turns a handwheel, which brings the two tubes together, forming the handgrip.","He completes the assembly by screwing on an end cap.","Meanwhile, a worker assembles the control panel by putting on the overlays for the user interface.","She then hooks up the printed circuit board that controls the unit.","She closes the housing but leaves the connectors exposed for connection to the mainframe later.","A worker then attaches a steel support fixture onto the frame.","Next comes this drive-wheel assembly, which he bolts onto the support fixture.","He puts a drive belt around a pulley that provides various resistance levels for the user and rolls the belt onto the drive wheel.","He then uses a pneumatic tool to tighten down the pulley, which stretches the drive belt and sets it to the appropriate tension.","Next, he attaches the computer board that controls the various fitness programs.","A worker then installs the leg bars onto the arc trainer's frame and attaches a foot pedal onto each leg bar.","He installs linkage bars onto the drive-wheel assembly.","Then he aligns the drive wheel and puts on the molded front housing...","Followed by the protective side covers.","He connects a linkage bar that extends from each leg bar to the drive wheel, then connects one linkage bar to each arm handle.","He makes sure all the linkage bars are working properly.","Finally, he tests the free-floating foot pedals and the dual-action arms, as well as all the other functions and features.","These arc trainers are high-tech exercise machines.","Some models even come with a tv.","Used-oil furnaces generate heat by burning used oil without having to refine it.","These furnaces are found in automobile shops, maintenance facilities, and construction sites.","Transport fleets and trucking companies also use them to turn the used oil they produce into heat for their facilities.","It takes a special furnace to burn used oil.","Used oil is thick and dirty compared to residential fuel oil and must be turned into a fine mist to burn properly.","It all starts with a computer-controlled laser making what's called the front and rear flue plates out of steel.","The plates for this hot-air furnace are made of stainless or hot-rolled steel depending on the size of the unit.","A worker then makes what's known as the heat exchanger by joining the flue plates together with steel tubes called flue tubes.","This device is called a swagger machine.","It expands just the ends of the flue tubes, binding them in place with the flue plate.","Next, he assembles the section in which hot gases collect after passing through the flue tubes on their way out of the furnace.","He then sets a combustion chamber on the top of the heat exchanger and welds them together.","He completes the heat-exchanger assembly by welding on a base equipped with two air-deflector plates.","These square plates help direct the ambient air as it enters the furnace and circulates around the combustion chamber.","Meanwhile, an electrostatic powder-coating machine paints the outside covers for the furnace.","Next, they put on inner air deflectors, then assemble the cabinet.","They bolt everything in place, then put on an insulated door.","Now he hooks up a blower control box.","This electrical box regulates when hot air is sent into a room.","A worker then connects a tester box to the temperature controls that measure the temperature inside the furnace.","He runs a number of tests to confirm that both the blower and the burner will turn on or off when they're supposed to.","He verifies the operation of the door that allows for cleaning out ash residue.","A technician installs a 100-watt pencil heater inside a brass nozzle adaptor, then threads a thermostat into it.","This nozzle adaptor heats the oil and turns it into a fine mist so it burns properly.","She then attaches assembly fittings to the adaptor so she can later mount it inside a burner housing.","She checks these fittings with a leveling tool to ensure the adaptor will go on straight inside the housing.","She also installs an assembly that controls oil flow, temperature, and air pressure.","Then she mounts the nozzle adaptor and covers it with a retention head that shapes the flame for optimal heat, completing the burner assembly.","A worker then hooks up the used-oil and compressed-air lines to begin testing the burner.","He turns on the oil, ignites the burner, and looks through an observation port to verify the burner is working properly.","A closer look shows the flame is at the right intensity for optimal heat with minimal emissions.","The furnace is now ready to turn used oil into useful heat.","Top-of-the-line pizza cutters and vegetable peelers can be a pleasure to use.","They make preparing and serving your favorite foods quicker and easier and are ergonomically designed for style and comfort.","They are also easy to clean and guaranteed for life.","Vegetable peelers and pizza cutters work like a charm, making straight cuts without damaging your pans or your fingers.","Quality pizza cutters start with cutlery-grade, high-carbon stainless steel from which a stamping press punches the cutter blades.","The blades go through a three-step heat-treating process.","First, they enter a high-temperature furnace.","Then it's into a deep freezer to maximize hardness and corrosion resistance.","Finally, they go into a tempering oven, which increases the durability of the metal.","A polishing machine with two buffing heads then polishes both sides of the blade, giving it a protective and cosmetic finish.","A worker than loads the blade onto a bevel-grinding machine that thins out the edge of the blade.","It grinds a beveled edge that is thin enough to cut pizza but not sharp enough to cut your finger or damage a cutting surface.","A worker puts a steel-bar insert into an injection molding machine that makes the soft-polymer handle.","He then cools it down in water.","He puts the handles on an extraction fixture which removes the inserts, making the handles ready for assembly along with all the other molded parts.","He then attaches what's called a swing arm to the blade holder, and he secures it in place with a screw.","He dips the tip of the blade holder into lubricant and uses a pneumatic-assembly fixture to insert the blade holder into the handle permanently.","Using the swing arm, he snap-fits the blade onto the blade holder and hides the swing-arm screw with a cover cap.","Finally, he ensures the blade rolls properly and safely so it will cut through pizza with ease.","The finest vegetable peelers also do their job quickly and effectively.","They also start with cutlery-grade stainless-steel blades that undergo tempering to ensure the metal is durable and corrosion-resistant.","After cleaning and polishing, the blades are dried in a vibrating medium of ground corncob, then removed from the tub by a magnet.","The blades are now ready for sharpening.","A worker mounts the peeler blades on a computer-controlled edge-grinding machine.","The grinder sharpens one edge of each blade at a time.","Once both sides of the peeler blades are fully sharpened, they're ready for assembly.","Meanwhile, an injection molding machine makes the blade holders.","A worker dips each blade holder into lubricant and inserts it into the molded soft-polymer handle, joining them together permanently.","Finally, he attaches the blade by deflecting the holder just enough to insert the tip of the blade into a tiny hole.","These top-quality vegetable peelers are sold individually or in combination with other kitchen utensils like pizza cutters, and they sure are handy in the kitchen, even if you're not."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pre"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pre-inked stamps...","Cranberries...","Cotton yarn...","And road signs.","\"paid,\" \"rush,\" \"approved\" are some of the terms routinely stamped onto documents.","Professionals, such as engineers, have their official stamps, too.","For years, you had to dab the stamp on an ink pad for each impression.","Nowadays you can get stamps with the ink built right in.","The process begins with a design that either the stamp company or its customer creates with standard graphics software.","They print the stamp design onto paper using a high-quality laser printer, then place the printout under an imaging camera.","They feed in a blank sheet of negative film...","Then photograph the printout.","30 seconds later, out comes the negative.","The design is light, the background dark.","Now they can begin making the mold for the stamp.","They apply the negative to a plate of light-sensitive polymer-- a plastic-like material.","Then they vacuum out the air to prevent defects in the mold.","Then they expose the polymer plate to ultraviolet light for approximately three minutes.","The u.v. penetrates through the light part of the negative-- the stamp design-- and hardens the polymer underneath.","The rest of the polymer is shielded by the dark portions of the negative, so it doesn't change.","A wash cycle then scrubs away this unhardened polymer, leaving behind a perfect mold in the shape of the stamp.","Now they cover the mold with a sheet of synthetic resin called bakelite and put it into a machine called a vulcanizer.","The machine heats the bakelite to just over 309 degrees fahrenheit, then forces it into the mold using 2 to 3 tons of pressure.","After four minutes, the bakelite stamp is ready.","To be more productive, the factory actually molds several stamps at a time.","Next comes the built-in ink.","They screw the bakelite stamp into what's called the pre-ink mold, then pour in a mixture of ink and gel.","They cover the mold and vacuum out the air, a process that takes 12 minutes.","The mold then goes into a heat press for 17 minutes.","The press applies 2 tons of pressure to expel excess ink and heats the ink gel to about 260 degrees fahrenheit, transforming it to roughly the consistency of a marshmallow.","So it won't overcook, the mold goes onto a special cooling table for 12 minutes.","Next, it's set out to cool for another 45 minutes, this time on newspapers, which soak up more excess ink.","Finally, they wrap the mold in paper towels and newspapers and vacuum out the last drops of excess ink.","Then they quickly seal the back of the stamp to lock the ink in.","Now they can cut apart the individual stamps.","They glue the stamps by hand onto the base of the stamp handles.","Before they're shipped out to the customer, all stamps undergo a quality-control check to make sure they'll leave a lasting impression.","Cranberries are one of just a handful of fruits that are native to north america.","Before the europeans arrived, the indians used them for food and medicine.","The cranberry vine is well-suited to a harsher climate.","It thrives in low temperatures and loves acidic soil that's scarce in nutrients.","Cranberries are ripe for the picking in late september.","At harvesttime, farmers flood their fields to make the cranberries float to the surface.","Then they use a machine called a beater.","It generates underwater turbulence, pulling the berries off the vines.","The beater is suspended from a mobile bridge that's computer-guided to systematically work its way through the entire field.","The beater cuts a swath about 23 feet wide with each sweep.","Workers move the floating cranberries to one corner of the field...","Where a pump transfers them to a waiting truck.","Along the way, the berries get a preliminary rinsing to remove branches and leaves.","At the factory, the truck unloads its cargo.","The cranberries travel along the water canal and onto a conveyor belt, then through a cleaning station, where workers use brushes and water jets to get rid of any remaining leaves and branches.","Then they dump the cranberries into large bins to be frozen for up to several months.","To produce cranberry juice, they defrost the frozen berries in hot water, then mash them--  skins, seeds, and all-- into a puree.","They add special enzymes to break up the pectin molecules, making the puree less viscous and therefore easier to press.","The press processes almost 9 tons of puree at a time.","That's the weight of 1 1/2 elephants.","It takes three to four pressing cycles to extract all the juice.","The juice then goes through a sophisticated filtration system.","The 216 filters remove any plant particles or bacteria larger than one micron.","A micron is about 25,000 times smaller than an inch.","Then they evaporate the water until the juice is 10 times more concentrated.","Cranberries not destined for juice go through a grading process.","Undersized berries drop down through the holes of a giant sifter.","The bigger cranberries move on to the grading table, where workers remove any that are substandard.","An electronic sorter then scans the remaining cranberries for color, signaling an air gun to blow any reject berries off the production line.","The rest move on to the packaging department or continue down the line to be dried.","Cranberries destined for drying are automatically seeded, cut in half, and pressed, then soaked in a sugar-and-water solution to make them sweeter.","The side-to-side motion of the conveyor belt spreads the berries thinly so that they'll dry evenly.","The hot-air dryer subjects them to temperatures varying from 86 to 176 degrees fahrenheit.","After about three hours, the cranberries come out looking like this.","As you sip your cranberry tea, ponder this-- cranberries are a source of potassium and vitamins \"a\" and \"c,\" and drinking cranberry juice can prevent and treat urinary tract infections.","Twisting plant or animal fibers into yarn dates back to ancient times, when people fashioned primitive spindles out of sticks.","Around 500 b.c., the spinning wheel was born in india.","Today's factories have fully automated spinning machines that work on the same principle as the spinning wheel.","This is a 2-ply commercial yarn, the kind factories use to weave fabric for making jeans and tops.","It's made from large bales of raw cotton.","Cotton comes from a plant, so, naturally, some leaves and stems are mixed in with the cotton fibers.","To remove them, the first machine passes over the bales and removes a layer of cotton .","2 of an inch wide...","Then sends it through a duct system to the blending and cleaning machine.","The machine processes half a ton of cotton per hour.","The cotton comes out evenly blended and cleaner, but still not clean enough, so it goes into a second cleaning machine, which finishes the job.","Now the cotton goes through what's called a carding machine.","It has huge rollers with wire teeth.","They comb out the tangled fibers and line them up in parallel rows.","The machine also discards any fibers that are too short to process.","Next stop-- the coiler.","This device takes the rows of fibers and forms them into a thick and loose first-stage yarn called sliver.","The slivers move on to the drawing machine.","It lines them up six at a time and draws them out, stretching them to form a second-stage yarn.","Then a machine called a roving frame stretches this second-stage yarn, strengthening it by thinning it out...","Until it looks like this.","This third-stage yarn is called roving.","Depending on the type of yarn they're making, it's anywhere from 3 1/2 to 16 times thinner than sliver.","They now stretch the roving up to 30 times thinner, which strengthens it even more.","The yarn is finally finished.","Now they have to transfer the yarn from all these small spools onto huge, industrial-size cones-- 20 spools to a cone.","One transfer method uses the winding machine.","It winds the yarn from the first spool onto the cone.","Then it automatically takes the back end of that yarn and attaches it with a knot to the front end of the yarn from the next spool.","It winds it onto the cone, then attaches the back end to the front end from the next spool and so on.","As each spool empties, the machine automatically discards it.","And while all that winding is going on, the machine's optical sensor-- that white object you see crossing the screen-- does a quality-control check.","If a portion of yarn doesn't meet specifications, the winding stops, the machine cuts off the offending portion, then reconnects the ends and resumes winding.","This is air-jet spinning, another method of making yarn from slivers and winding it onto giant spools known as tubes.","A suction tube grabs the front end of one spool and connects it to the back end of the previous one, again with a tiny knot.","Before fully automated machines like this were invented 50 years ago, all that knotting had to be done by hand.","The thin, finished yarn is 200 times lighter than the thick, first-stage yarn that came out of the carding machine.","From start to finish, spinning this yarn has taken 48 hours.","You might not have noticed, but road signs have undergone a subtle change in recent years thanks to advances in technology.","Today's signs are more reflective than ever.","You can actually read them in the dead of night, even when the only source of illumination is your car's headlights.","The earliest road signs were crude-- a stick in the ground or a heap of stones to mark a route.","In the roman empire, stone posts were erected along roadsides at regular intervals, indicating the distance to rome.","Centuries later, stone-marker systems gave way to wooden cross signs pointing in several directions at once.","The international system of road signs we know today came out of the first international road congress, held in 1908.","The process of manufacturing a road sign starts with a computer.","The government strictly regulates the specifics of the design and requires a certain degree of reflectivity.","The computer's specialized software guides a machine to cut the design on a sheet of film.","Once the design is cut, workers carefully peel off and discard the pieces.","What's left is a film stencil of the sign-- in this case, a french stop sign.","They inspect it for defects, then prepare a screen of polyester fabric that they'll later use to print the sign.","They start by coating it with a thin layer of light-sensitive emulsion.","Once the emulsion is dry, they adhere the film stencil using vacuum pressure to flatten it and get rid of any creases or air bubbles.","Then they expose the screen to an intense, 6,000-watt light for seven minutes.","This activates the emulsion on the lettering and area outside the octagon-- what's not shielded from the light by the film stencil.","This exposed emulsion hardens, plugging the minute holes between the screen's fibers.","After rinsing, you see the result.","Elsewhere in the factory, workers cut the aluminum panels on which the signs will be printed.","Using a punch press, they round out the edges.","They make holes for the bolts that will later attach the sign to the post.","They stamp on the company name and the year of manufacture for warranty purposes.","They immerse the panels in a chemical bath to remove grease and other residues.","Then they rinse off the panels and dip them in an acid solution that seals the metal to make it better withstand harsh weather.","Next, they laminate the aluminum panels with a film containing miniscule glass particles.","This film will make the sign reflect in the dark when light hits it.","Then they cut the panel to the final shape.","Now they can finally print the sign.","The process they use is called silk-screening, although the fabric screen, as you saw earlier, isn't actually silk.","It's polyester.","The machine forces the ink down through the screen onto the panel.","The ink penetrates through the open fiber holes of the octagon, printing the red background on the stop sign.","But it can't penetrate through the blocked fiber holes of the lettering and the area outside the octagon, so those remain white.","The freshly printed signs pass through a dryer at about 150 degrees fahrenheit for 5 minutes.","To produce street signs, workers first laminate aluminum panels with reflective film for the background color...","Then either silk-screen the street name or apply self-adhesive reflective lettering.","But it's back to the silk-screening process for printing multicolored signs.","Workers print them one color at a time with a drying cycle between colors.","All the film stencils are carefully stored for future use.","The printed signs go into an oven for a final curing at 349 degrees fahrenheit-- an hour for a one-color sign, a half-hour per color for a multicolored sign.","The ink is transparent enough not to block the reflective film underneath.","Therefore, the entire sign, not just the lettering, is highly reflective.","That maximizes the sign's visibility, thereby minimizing the excuses drivers can come up with for not heeding it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tasers","Canned Soup","Jaw Harps & Mouth Bows","Diving Boards"]},"text":["A taser device fires bursts of electricity to deliver a high-voltage, low-amp shock that temporarily disables the subject.","Invented in 1969 by an american aerospace scientist, the taser has become a weapon of choice for police forces around the world.","Today, when an officer reaches for his or her gun, it's often one without bullets.","From a cartridge on the front, the taser fires electrified darts, which, on impact, cause muscle contractions in the target's subject.","The subject is immobilized but usually recovers in a few minutes.","This metal capsule contains the propellant, pressurized gas.","A robotic arm inserts the capsule in a plastic chamber.","The next robot places a part, called the primer disc, on the capsule.","It contains chemicals to generate a mini explosion that will drive pins into the capsule, releasing the gas.","Another robot adds a protective screen.","That's the primer disc on the left and the screen on the right.","They punch out a round piece of foam, and the robot thrusts it into the chamber and tamps it down.","After welding it in place with ultrasonic vibrations, a robot flips the unit up and into a second plastic chamber.","The placement leaves just enough space between the inner and outer chambers for wire bundles to be inserted later.","A robot then tucks the assembly into the plastic cartridge.","It has slots for other components, like insulated copper-wire bundles.","A machine winds the wire in a tight figure-eight formation.","This wire will electrify the darts as they're deployed, and the figure-eight winding reduces the possibility of tangling.","A worker places two bundles in the designated spaces in the cartridge.","He tops each bundle with a piece of strong polyester film.","It keeps the wire pack from spring apart as he slides it off the fork and presses it into the cartridge.","He's now ready for the barbed taser darts.","He threads the end of each wire bundle through one and knots it.","He installs the darts in the cartridge, using a special tool to seat them correctly.","He selects plastic wedges--  one for each wire-- and wraps the other end of the wires around it.","He attaches electrodes to facilitate the flow of electricity to the cartridge.","The next part is called the blast door.","It will blast apart and break in two as the taser darts are deployed.","The robot snaps it in place on top of the cartridge.","The door is color-coded to signify the range of the dart probes.","Yellow indicates five yards.","With the compressed-air cartridge complete, they now focus on the taser's deployment mechanisms.","A technician installs a laser system and two l.e.d. lights in the plastic casing.","The laser is an aide for aiming the electrified darts, and the lights will illuminate the target.","He adjusts the laser's aim to sync it with one of the darts, using a bull's-eye target as an alignment aide.","Next, they immerse the high-voltage board in epoxy resin and pump more directly into it.","This board is in the part of the taser gun that generates electrical pulses when the gun is in stun mode.","Once cured, the epoxy encapsulates this unit to insulate the components.","The technician inserts the high-voltage board in the gun casing.","Along with the controller board-- the brains of the taser-- he also installs an information display board and makes the necessary connections.","He plugs the assembly into a power source and tests the laser and l.e.d. lights.","He snaps on the trigger and confirms that it makes contact with the plunger on the control board.","He joins the other half of the taser casing to the one with all the working parts.","Then, an ultrasonic welder fuses the casing parts at the tongue and groove seams.","Protecting the outer casing with a sheet of plastic, the technician welds a safety switch to the trigger.","This critical part will prevent accidental deployment.","In a test chamber now, they activate the taser without the air cartridge.","Without the cartridge and its projectile darts, the taser works as a handheld stun gun to zap the target directly.","Once it meets the tester's approval, this taser is ready for the police beat.","A consumer model is also approved for use in some jurisdictions.","Like the police version, it should deliver a shocking performance.","Soup is a liquid food that is as old as cooking itself.","Its appeal is quite literally biblical because in the old testament, a son trades his inheritance for a pot of lentil soup.","Of course, today, one doesn't have to sacrifice it all for soup because it's usually readily available in cans.","With the invention of canning in the early 19th century, soup soon became available on demand.","On the home front, this caused quite a stir.","No need for a long simmer.","Just open the can, reheat, and soup's on.","To manufacture lentil soup, they make a hearty soup base.","They load measured amounts into a heated mixer, beginning with purée garlic.","The mixer's walls are steam-jacketed so the mix will cook evenly with no scorching on the bottom.","The next ingredient is olive oil.","They activate the steam heat, and the garlic begins to sizzle.","They add chopped onion.","The mixing blades gently toss the ingredients as they sauté.","They blend in diced celery and cook until translucent.","The next round of ingredients takes the flavor up a notch.","They include chopped carrots, sea salt, and fragrant spices.","Balsamic vinegar adds a sweet tartness to this lentil-soup base.","They're now ready to liquify the ingredients.","They open the tap, and filtered water spills in.","As the soup begins to simmer, they add crushed and diced tomatoes.","The final ingredient for this robust lentil-soup base is spinach.","Mixing it makes for a colorful swirl, and, as the ingredients cook, they become increasingly aromatic.","Meanwhile, raw, peeled potatoes ride a steep and slatted conveyor upward.","The slats keep the potatoes from rolling back as they make the climb up to a hopper.","From the hopper, the potatoes slide down a chute and into a revolving drum with cross-cutting blades.","The blades cut the spuds into small cubes and spit them out.","After a trip past a metal detector, the potato cubes land in a bin.","In small-cube form, they'll cook faster later.","Next, lentils, hard and dried, surge in a steady stream onto a revolving round table.","The table has openings that lead to little chutes with doors.","They open to funnel the lentils into cans moving on a conveyor below.","This ensures that a specific amount is fed into the cans.","Partially cooked green beans and the raw potato cubes now flow onto a second revolving table.","The cans with the lentils have now moved into position below.","The veggies fall through the holes and into the cans.","The cans, with mostly uncooked ingredients, now head towards the piston filler.","It pipes the steaming hot vegetable-soup base directly from the kettle mixer into the cans, filling them to the brim.","Immersed in the hot liquid, the lentils, potatoes, and green beans at the base of the can cook a little and soften up.","Sensors detect the approach of the cans and cue the lids.","The lids drop one by one onto the cans below.","A device then interlocks the rims of the cans and the lids for a hermetic seal.","The cans move into another lane and travel past an x-ray machine.","It scans the soup inside for metal contaminants like stray bolts or screws.","If the images are clear, the cans of soup move on to a giant pressure cooker.","Here, the contents cook under pressure for about a half hour.","Pressure-cooking simulates the effect of a long simmer in a fraction of the time.","The soup then cools for 10 minutes.","It is now thoroughly cooked and preserved.","Now on their sides with glue applied, the cans of lentil soup roll over labels, and the labels adhere.","They produce more than 15,000 cans of lentil soup an hour at this factory.","That's 105,000 cans in one shift.","It's enough to feed a small city.","The jaw harp and the mouth bow are among the earliest musical instruments.","A chinese drawing from the 4th century b.c. is believed to be the first record of a musician playing a jaw harp, and cave paintings in southern france from 15,000 b.c. depict someone playing a mouth bow.","The mouth bow is a stick of wood with a single string the musician plucks or strums, while altering the vibration-generated sound by mouth.","The jaw harp is a metal instrument.","The musician plucks its flexible tongue to produce a twanging sound, which he then modulates with mouth positions and breathing.","This craftsman makes the jaw harp's frame out of 1/10 of an inch thick square steel rod.","He measures and marks the required length and bend points.","He cuts the length with a standard hacksaw...","Clamps the rod in a vice...","Then slips metal pipes over the ends to prevent them from twisting as he bends them to form the arms of the frame.","He aligns the arms, leaving just enough space between them to allow the tongue to vibrate without obstruction.","For the instrument to produce quality sound, the arms must be perfectly parallel to each other-- their edges in mirror image.","He marks the tongue's position in between the arms and files down the metal within the markings.","This creates a notch in which the tongue will sit.","The tongue is made of spring steel-- a type of steel, which when bent, resumes its original shape.","Before attaching it, he saws a tiny undercut in each side of the notch.","Then he inserts the tongue and hammers the undercut sides to compress them over the tongue and lock it into position.","He heats the tip of the tongue with a propane torch.","Once the metal softens enough to bend, he angles the tip to form what's called the trigger.","Then he heats the end of the trigger and bends it into a loop.","This is what the musician's finger strikes to make the tongue vibrate.","Finally, he files the tongue's edges sharp-- a last detail to improve the instrument's sound quality.","To make a mouth bow, his first step is to find a stick that's between roughly 1 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet long, not too heavy, and ideally with a \"t\" shape at the end.","In his workshop, he clamps it in a vice, trims it to the required length, and, using a rasp, files the knots flat.","He files the top end until it's about 2/10 of an inch thick.","This forms the mouthpiece, which you hold gently to your lips while plucking the string.","The string vibrates the mouthpiece, producing sounds that you alter by changing the shape of your mouth.","He drills a hole toward the base of the mouthpiece for the string, then, just below that, files a notch for the bridge that supports the string.","Just below the notch, he hammers in a steel nail called the pin.","He drills a 2/10 of an inch hole at the \"t\"-shaped end of the stick.","This is where he'll insert the tuning peg, which he constructs out of a wood knob and dow.","He makes the string from a length of piano wire.","He forms a loop at one end by twisting it with pliers around an awl.","He feeds this end through the hole at the base of the mouthpiece...","And hooks the loop onto the pin.","Then he threads the other end of the string through a hole in the shaft at the tuning peg at the bottom of the stick.","He turns the peg to tighten the string.","Just as on a violin or a guitar, the tauter the string, the higher the note it produces.","the final step is to position the bridge-- a hardwood dow-- in its notch, under the tense string.","By elevating the top of the string, the bridge prevents it from cutting into the stick.","The mouth bow and the jaw harp are played alone or alongside other instruments in the folk music of numerous cultures around the world.","The earliest known reference to a diving board appears in a hieroglyphic from 480 b.c. it depicts a man plunging headfirst into a pool of water from a platform.","Today, diving boards are standard equipment at neighborhood and backyard swimming pools.","One end of the diving board is fixed to give the other end the bounce required for a big-splash cannonball or a graceful swan dive.","To make the diving-board shell, workers load a sheet of acrylic into a clamping machine that transports it into an oven.","The oven heats the sheet for about 30 seconds to soften it.","Then, a forming machine applies suction to draw the softened acrylic tightly over a mold in the shape of two diving boards.","Fans blow cool air, hardening the acrylic to this shape within seconds.","They extract the molded acrylic, then saw it in half to separate the two diving-board shells.","They coat the shell surface in a resin and fiberglass mixture.","This tool is called a chopper gun because it chops and shreds the fiberglass string, then shoots it out drenched in resin.","They roll it to compress the fibers and push out air pockets.","Any trapped air would create a weak spot in the diving board.","After letting the resin dry and harden for 30 minutes, they begin filling the shell cavity with 2/10 of an inch thick fiberglass mat.","They drench the mat in resin, rolling it over to ensure every fraction of an inch gets well-saturated.","Then they lay down another fiberglass mat, this one a bit thinner and saturated with the existing resin.","The diving board's core is made of laminated wood, which is several thin layers of wood glued together.","Laminated wood is actually stronger than a solid piece of wood.","After rounding the top edge, they lay two wood-laminate cores over the resin-saturated fiberglass mats.","They position clamps to hold the cores in place.","But before tightening, they insert metal spacers to ensure the cores are correctly positioned within the shell.","Once the positioning is perfect, they tighten the clamps, then let the resin cure at room temperature for a half hour or so.","Then the clamps come off, and workers cover the cores with an even thicker fiberglass mat impregnated with resin.","This is the bottom of the diving board.","They make sure the mat is centered...","Then manually form it to the shape of the board, pushing out the air pockets as they go.","They spray on some decorative paint, then put the board in an oven for 24 hours to cure.","When it comes out, they use a diamond blade to saw off the excess fiberglass around the edge.","Then they do a final trimming to make the edge neat and smooth.","They mask the sides with tape, leaving only the top exposed.","This is where they'll now apply a rough texture-- a safe, non-slip surface.","First, they roll on a thin coat of resin.","Onto that, they sprinkle a layer of silica sand, making sure to cover the surface thoroughly and evenly.","The sand sticks to the resin, which sets and cures in about 15 minutes.","After sweeping off the excess sand that didn't adhere, they roll on a coat of laminating resin, which bonds to the sand, giving the surface a clean, finished look.","They pull off the tape and apply the manufacture's decal to the side.","The diving board is now all set to be installed on a stand at the edge of the deep end to await anyone ready to take the plunge."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Riding Mowers","Popcorn","Adjustable Beds","Cultured Diamonds"]},"text":["When it comes to sitting down on the job, the riding mower is just the vehicle.","Animals powered the first ones in england in the 19th century.","When motorized mowers came along in the 20th century, they improved on the concept, and we were on our way to greener pastures.","Step behind the controls of a riding mower, and you can tame that unruly lawn without even breaking a sweat.","The job can be done speedily because a riding mower moves at quite a clip.","To make one, a robot delivers a sheet of steel to a die.","The die closes with 1,000 tons of force to make a big impression.","It shapes it into the part that holds the mowing blades-- what's called the mower deck.","They transfer the mower decks to a series of presses.","They punch holes for the blade attachments and trim the edges.","Workers stack the decks for washing.","After a treatment with a chemical rust inhibitor, it's time to plunge them into a primer solution.","The overhead rack delivers a negative charge to the decks, while the primer has a positive charge, which draws it onto the decks in an even coat.","This is called electrostatic painting.","They assemble three spindles to mowing blades and hoist the mower deck over the blade assemblies.","They bolt the head of each blade subassembly to the mower deck.","Then they thread rubber belts around pulleys to drive the blades.","Assembly continues with gauge wheels, a protective belt casing, and a chute for the cut grass.","Next, they clamp a set of steel rails along with some attachments to a welding table.","The welding table swings around to an awaiting crew of robots.","The robots move in and weld the attachments to the rails.","These rails will serve as the framework for the riding mower.","The attachments are for the front wheels.","Once the rails have been primed, an overhead conveyor takes them into a paint booth.","Nozzles spray a powder paint onto the parts for an enamel-like finish.","The powder that doesn't stick is recycled.","They lower the engine subassembly into position to build the vehicle framework around it, then bolt the welded and freshly glossed side rails to tubing at the front and back.","They attach the footrest to the frame, then install the platform for the seat.","They assemble those nifty steering levers, which can be moved into 15 positions.","Then they install metal yokes on the front wheels.","They slot the yoke's shaft into the frame rail, securing it with a metal snap ring.","Now comes the front grill, that's vented to protect the engine from overheating.","The rear wheels go on next.","They're more substantial than the front ones because this is a rear-wheel-drive machine.","It's time to mount the mower deck and blades onto the vehicle.","They position it in front and roll the vehicle over it.","The workers activate a lift that elevates the worktable to a height that makes it easier for them to secure the mower deck to the framework.","They attach the belts on the mower deck to the engine.","Monitoring equipment will help them see if this mower's got what it takes to mow down the competition.","They put it in gear and check the wheels to confirm that they turn at the correct speed.","They adjust the transmission if they're not.","They also check the electrical components, and if all systems are go, they complete the assembly.","They bolt a side panel in place, followed by the instrument panel.","And last comes the seat, complete with armrests.","It takes 72 minutes to assemble one of these riding mowers, and it should be good for at least a decade of mowing.","Good thing, because it's workload is constantly growing.","We don't know exactly when popcorn first exploded onto the snack scene, but it was likely thousands of years ago.","Popcorn grains dating back nearly 5,600 years have been discovered in caves in new mexico.","And down through the ages, this unique grain just keeps popping up.","Nothing says it's showtime like a big bowl of popcorn.","This grain has certainly made it big in the entertainment biz.","This success story has its roots on the farm, of course.","Popcorn is one of six types of corn, and it's the only kind that pops.","They even breed the popcorn plant to enhance traits like color, taste, and popability.","By fall, the crop is ready to harvest.","Peeling back the husks reveals kernels that are smaller and harder than those of other corn.","At harvesting, popcorn has moisture content of 16% to 20%.","That's a bit too high.","So to bring it down to 14%, they condition the crop in these giant bins, pumping warm air up through it to accelerate the drying.","It's a critical step.","Popcorn that's too dry may not pop.","And if it's too wet, it could spoil when stored.","In the factory, a series of oscillating screens sift chunks of cob and broken kernels out of the popcorn.","Vacuum pipes pull the finer impurities to a dust collector and suck the larger impurities into a chute.","They end up in a waste bin to be discarded or used in animal feed.","At this junction, the system funnels the filtered popcorn in one direction and the impurities in another.","It's the perfect opportunity to see the difference between the two streams.","The purification process continues at the gravity table.","Its vibrating action, along with powerful fans, cause the popcorn to rise and float on air.","In the process, kernels that are too heavy or too light gravitate away from the center and are shunted aside.","The grains in the middle of the mass are the optimal size, but leaving nothing to chance, they go through one more screening.","The kernels now head into a very different kind of sorter.","Inside, the kernels fly by an electric eye.","It detects remaining debris or defective grains.","The machine sends a blast of air to get rid of them.","It's time to test a sample of the production run.","He pours in a half pound of kernels along with some oil.","As the pot reaches 446 degrees fahrenheit, the water in the kernel starts to steam.","As the pressure builds, those kernels explode and turn inside out.","This reveals the starchy part of the kernel and creates a white, fluffy puff.","To pass this test, the popcorn has to expand 44.5 times the original volume.","The tester loads the popped puffs into a tube with measurements on it, and this bach of popcorn is right on the mark.","As you can see, a little bit of popcorn can really go a long way, from a pea-sized kernel to a puffy, white treat in a matter of minutes.","And although popcorn kernels come in a range of colors, that starchy part that's exposed by popping is always white.","Now it's all in the packaging.","Maintaining the correct amount of moisture in each kernel is critical.","Heat-sealing the bag locks in the grains to keep them from drying out on a store shelf.","This paper bag destined for the concession market, like movie theaters, is multilayered.","It includes a vapor barrier to control moisture loss.","It's taken six months to grow this popcorn and a couple of weeks more to process it.","But it will all be worth it at snack time, because when these grains explode into a mountain of munchies, there should be enough for the whole gang.","Some people enjoy the health benefits that adjustable beds may give.","Others like the built-in massage system that gently rocks them to sleep each night.","Whatever a person's fancy, adjustable beds can be custom-made to suit their lifestyle and total comfort and class.","An adjustable bed helps you sleep with a push of the button.","This convenient hand control easily adjusts the head and foot positions to the contours of your body.","It all starts with a quilting machine.","It sews foam padding, fire retardant material, and two layers of backing together.","Hundreds of thousands of stitches produce a quilted top panel with comfort and style in mind.","A machine cuts the panel to a specific bed size.","The four layers that make up the quilted top panel add luxury and security to the mattress.","Meanwhile, another worker prepares the coil spring.","He covers it with protective netting.","This high-density foam pad comes next.","He staples the pad and netting to the coil spring.","He puts a bottom cover on the mattress and tucks the foam and coil spring inside.","He turns the mattress over, covers it with netting, then staples it.","He puts another high-density foam pad on this side and staples it.","Then he lays down the quilted top panel.","He holds on to the backing layer and staples the top panel onto the spring.","He fills the corners with packing, which gives them a nice, firm edge.","Then he sews the mattress together with the tape-edge machine that uses binding tape and fire-retardant thread.","The tape-edge machine makes a perfect seam all the way around and finishes the mattress.","Next, a length of steel rod goes into a thread-roll machine.","Its threaded rollers use hydraulic pressure to transform the rod into a worm screw.","They put the worm screw and gear assembly inside a casing.","The worm and nylon gears will turn a steel shaft, which raises and lowers the bed.","A worker closes the motor casing.","Another worker assembles the bed's foundation.","He puts flexible nylon hinges between platform boards and staples them in place.","He turns the platform over and staples them again.","He protects the platform with a polyester dust cover.","A worker now bolts a steel frame to the platform.","He fastens a head motor to one of the metal tubes.","To another metal tube, he bolts a foot motor.","Finally, he attaches a massage motor.","Then a worker covers a support fixture with a cotton bed cover.","He puts down four-inch high density foam, then places the fully assembled frame on top.","He pulls up the bed cover and upholsters it to the base.","The bed is ready for its adjustable bed sheets, but not before a final testing for quality control.","Every part must pass a flex test the operator controls.","The paper-protected foundation, the steel frame, and all three motors must allow the bed to rise and descend with gentle, uninterrupted precision-- exactly as it would in the comfort of your own home.","All you need now is a bowl of popcorn, a movie, and perhaps a soothing massage, and then it's lights-out.","Diamonds are a flash of brilliance for mother nature.","Formed in the earth's crust by intense heat and pressure, they're prized for their crystalline beauty.","But now mother nature has some serious competition, because gem-quality diamonds are actually being grown in laboratories.","Diamonds grown in labs are dazzling even the skeptics.","While lower-grade diamonds have long been grown for industrial use, they were more grit than glitter.","But these diamonds have that gem-quality sparkle.","They start with a robotic laser.","It slices slivers from a chunk of real diamond to produce tiny wafers.","They're five millimeters wide and a quarter millimeter thick.","That's about as thin as a human hair.","The laser blackens the diamond, so they place it on a steel block for polishing.","They rim the wafer with epoxy to keep it from sliding around.","This epoxy requires an activator, so they brush it on next.","The chemical reaction causes the epoxy to solidify in seconds to firmly secure the sliver on the block.","They screw the block to a threaded rod that's attached to a metal arm.","They lower the block and its diamond wafer onto a wheel that's swirling with diamond grit.","They apply weights to press the diamond wafer into the grit.","And as the wheel spins, it creates the necessary friction to polish away the grime.","A level confirms the wafer is correctly positioned.","Diamonds are the hardest of minerals, and only other diamonds can effectively polish one.","The difference is impressive.","The diamond wafer has gone from sooty to crystal clear, and now it's ready to grow.","A technician places several wafers on a special metal pedestal using a suction tool.","He arranges them in a uniform pattern, giving them room to expand, because these slivers of diamond are destined for bigger things.","He lowers a metal chamber over them.","Pumps inject hydrogen and methane gas, and the machine heats them to thousands of degrees at just the right pressure.","The gasses form a plasma, which rains onto the diamond wafers and causes them to grow.","After just two weeks, the diamond slivers have grown into stones at least 10 times the original size.","It's quite a transformation.","But these diamonds in the rough need a lot more work to really sparkle.","That dab epoxy onto the tip of a pointed steel rod called a dop and center the lab-grown diamond on the epoxy-coated tip.","Then it's into the laser booth, where the dop is gripped by a robotic arm.","It turns it so a laser can trim the lab-grown diamond from all sides.","The process exposes the crystal clarity of the gem.","A technician checks the quality of the lab-grown diamond with a jeweler's magnifying glass.","Then she lowers it into another polishing wheel.","It's similar to the one that was used to clean it when it was just a sliver.","But this wheel actually contours the grown stone to give it that classic diamond shape.","The process brings out all of its glittering facets.","It's taken just a couple of weeks to grow this diamond.","The process puts geology on fast-forward, because it takes tens of millions of years for real forces to push real diamonds to the earth's surface.","Only very sophisticated testing can separate the lab-grown diamonds from the mined ones.","But since they cost 15% less, you'll notice the difference in your pocketbook."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Traffic Signal Poles","Coffee Filters","Chainsaw Mining Machines"]},"text":["Traffic-signal poles must be strong enough to bear the weight of road signs, street lights, and, of course, traffic signals.","The poles are also built to withstand extreme weather conditions, such as high winds and heavy snow accumulation.","Traffic signal poles are made of high-strength steel.","Years of weather exposure can cause corrosion, so the poles are galvanized on both sides for protection.","Each pole has a welded plate to connect it to a perpendicular pole.","The poles are made out of these steel sheets.","The steel arrives at the factory in one large roll.","They use a decoiler to unwind the sheet and flatten it out.","Then a shear cuts it to the correct length.","A computer-guided plasma cutter marks short lines on both ends of the sheet.","These lines indicate where to bend the flat sheet to form a round pole.","The machine cuts the sheet into a rectangular shape, or a trapezoid shape if the pole will taper at the top.","Workers number the machine lines with chalk, giving lines directly opposite of each other the same number.","Then they transfer the sheet to a bending machine called a press brake.","The press brake bends the sheet along the marked line to a preprogrammed angle.","Workers use a digital measuring device to make sure the first bend is accurate.","If it is, they continue bending along the remainder of the lines, transforming the flat sheet into a multisided round pole.","Now the pole moves to a welding station, where hydraulic rollers apply pressure from both sides.","This forces the edges of the sheet together so that a welding head can fuse the seam with molten steel.","At the same time, the head deposits a granular powder called flux, which prevents air from penetrating the weld and weakening it.","Workers place the pole in a hydraulic press so it doesn't warp as the seam weld cools and shrinks.","Next, a computer-guided plasma machine cuts a connection plate out of thick steel.","The machine also drills holes for the high-strength bolts needed to attach the plate to the traffic-signal pole.","Workers center the connection plate on support plates they've already welded to the pole.","Then they weld everything in place.","Next, workers weld a baseplate to the bottom of the pole.","It has holes for the anchor bolts, which are used for securing the traffic signal to the street.","Workers inspect the welds with a testing device.","It uses an electric current to magnetically draw colored powder into any defective area.","The factory ships the finished poles to a galvanizing plant, where they're dipped in a series of wash tanks.","The plant's tanks are deep enough to fully submerge the poles so they can treat both the inner and outer surface at the same time.","Now the poles go into a vat of sulfuric acid.","This bath dissolves the more stubborn contaminants that washing can't remove.","The next tank contains a chemical that weakens the surface of the poles.","This allows the galvanizing metal to penetrate the steel, rather than sit on the surface.","The final tank contains molten zinc.","As the poles bathe in the 842-degree zinc, workers in fire-protection suits skim the surface to remove iron oxide and ash that floats to the top.","This keeps the freshly galvanized surface clean as the poles are hoisted out of the tank and set aside to cool.","Because they're galvanized rather than painted, these poles are able to support traffic lights, signs, and street lamps for 40 years or more.","In 1908, a german housewife came up with a solution to get rid of bitter-tasting sediment in her coffee.","She punched nail holes in a pot and covered them with blotting paper.","Then she placed ground coffee on the paper and filled the pot with hot water.","It worked so well that she started selling her coffee filters worldwide.","These coffee filters are made of 100% cellulose fiber harvested from slow-growing pine and spruce trees in the forests of southern scandinavia.","The raw material produces paper that lets about 3 ounces of water pass through it in approximately 40 seconds.","That's the optimal saturation rate for producing good coffee.","30% of the paper's cellulose content is left over from earlier production.","The other 70% is raw cellulose fiber.","The materials go into a machine called a pulper, which works like a giant food processor.","It blends the raw materials with hot water, making a fiber soup called pulp.","A paper-making machine spreads a one-inch layer of pulp across a wire-mesh belt.","Water jets cut a straight edge on both sides.","As moisture drains down through the belt, the pulp forms a soggy sheet of paper.","It has a water content of 80%.","All this happens at an astounding pace.","The machine lays down 1,300 feet of pulp a minute.","At the next station, heavy compression rollers squeeze almost half the water out of the paper.","A tool applies a crepe texture.","This increases the surface area of the paper and improves filtration speed.","Next, they use 38 steam-heated rollers to dry the paper completely.","The rollers' surface temperatures are around 250 degrees.","As the finished paper exits the machine, a camera registers the location of holes, dirt, or other defects that have to be cut out.","It takes the machine 45 minutes to produce an 11-mile-long sheet of coffee-filter paper.","The roll is transferred to a cutting machine.","The paper is sliced into two-foot rolls so it can fit in the filter-making machine.","Sensors in the filter-making machine make sure the paper is aligned correctly.","At the machine's first station, tiny needles pierce holes in the paper to enhance the quality of filtration.","At the next station, a stamp imprints the company logo in the paper.","A knife slices the paper in half, creating two side-by-side production lines from this point forward.","Each line enters a folding station, where guides fold the flat sheet in half.","A roller embosses a seam connecting the two layers of paper along the bottom and side.","Then a second roller cuts the conical shape of the filter.","The machine produces 4,000 filters per minute.","The next station cuts the filters apart and collects the leftover paper, which will be recycled into pulp.","The filters are sent to an automatic counting machine that divides them into stacks of 80.","The machine feeds the stacks to the packaging line.","An automated packaging machine aligns each stack with a flattened box.","Then it opens the box with a vacuum and inserts the filters.","If the machine's sensor detects a problem, like filters in the wrong position or missing filters, it ejects that box from the line.","This factory produces a few different types of filters.","How the cellulose is processed in the pulper determines how the filter will perform.","For example, the factory processes cellulose finely to make filters designed to brew strong coffee.","Fine cellulose produces paper that drains slowly, keeping the water and coffee beans together longer, resulting in a stronger flavor.","Chainsaw mining machines are among the largest and heaviest chainsaws in the world.","They're used in rock quarries to cut and extract some of the toughest materials on earth.","The machine's massive blade can make both vertical and horizontal cuts, slicing through hard stone as if it were butter.","Hundreds of feet underground, this monster chainsaw is carving through geological deposits of marble.","The chainsaw arm can rotate to make both horizontal and vertical cuts as needed.","It cuts uniform blocks of marble.","Then a loader extracts the blocks from the rock face.","They're the exact size the customer requested, thanks to the precision and power of the chainsaw mining machine.","It takes several steel tubes of various dimensions to make a chainsaw mining machine.","They use an automated saw to cut the tubes to the correct length.","This one will be used for the chassis.","They assemble the tubes in the correct configuration.","Then a worker joins them with welds.","They lower the completed chassis onto the chainsaw machine tracks.","The chassis is bolted to the fifth-wheel coupling.","This allows the machine to rotate 360 degrees.","They bring in the framework that will house the motors, oil tank, and electrical components.","They bolt the framework to the chassis.","The next part is a rail system for raising and lowering the chainsaw blade.","A worker attaches the rail system to the chassis using a thick pin.","This pin acts as a hinge, allowing the vertical structure to be folded down when needed.","After verifying that the machine's basic framework fits together well, they take it apart for painting.","They also paint the gear motors.","This one will power the carriage that moves the blade back and forth.","Once all the parts have been painted, they reassemble the framework.","Next, they mount the carriage to the front of the machine.","It rotates within the vertical rail to position the blade for cutting.","Workers then install the gear motor that powers the horizontal movement of the chainsaw blade.","They secure it with several bolts.","Two more gear motors will drive the cutting chain and rotate the blade.","The team mounts them to the front of the carriage, to the right of the other gear motor.","At the back of the carriage, a worker assembles a gear known as a pinion.","The pinion engages with a track called the rack.","This rack-and-pinion system allows the carriage to slide back and forth.","A worker folds hydraulic hoses in a long metal cage and bolts the cage to the front of the machine.","Then he connects the cutting-chain hoses to the motor, protecting the connections with metal half-flanges.","They make all the electrical connections...","Then screw fireproof and waterproof covers onto the electronics boxes.","They program the chainsaw machine's operator screen.","Stay tuned, because the big chainsaw blade is next.","Few things are as fierce as the blade of a stonecutting chainsaw machine.","It's 10 feet long, weighs over 1,300 pounds, and has big teeth that make cutting through solid rock look easy.","It's no surprise that making one of these giant blades is a huge job.","A computer-driven plasma flame cuts a large blade from a sheet of high-carbon steel.","Using a crane with a powerful magnet, they transfer the chainsaw blade to a milling station.","Here, computerized tools smooth out the steel.","They also bring the blade to the correct width and carve channels for lubrication tubes.","They drill holes for metal plates that will align the cutting chain.","The team paints the saw and adds an attachment bar, then mounts it to the front of the chainsaw machine.","They slide the bar into the blade support on the front.","It's a critical connection because it bears the weight of the heavy blade as it saws through stone.","They secure it to the blade support with a thick pin and a nut.","Next, they make the cutting-chain sprocket.","A computer-guided tool carves toothlike projections around the rim of a steel disk.","These teeth are designed to grab the links of the cutting chain.","The sprocket is ready to be mounted to the chainsaw machine.","An employee slides the sprocket onto a shaft protruding from the cutting-chain gear motor.","He bolts the disk to the surrounding hub.","Next, they assemble the cutting chain.","A two-part fastener system holds the links together.","It starts with this hollow pin.","A worker drives the hollow pin into a hole in the links using a hydraulic press.","He inserts an l-shaped pin into the hollow pin.","The tongue of the l-shaped pin fits into a groove adjacent to the hollow pin.","The press forces the l-shaped pin into the groove.","He alternates outer links and inner ones to build a 30-foot chain that will fit to the saw body.","Then another worker loops it around the saw blade and sprocket.","The chain fits perfectly to the saw.","He joins the ends of the chain with a hollow pin and an l-shaped pin to complete the loop.","He flattens them with a hammer instead of a press because it's easier to use a hammer at this angle.","The chain is in place, but it doesn't have the teeth it needs to cut stone yet.","These parts, a carrier and a tungsten carbide cutting bit, give the blade its cutting edge.","He places a set on each of the chain's outer links...","Then screws them in.","Studded with tough, sharp teeth, this mega chainsaw is now ready for rock-cutting action.","It cuts through stone cleanly and efficiently.","Its size and power make it a force to be reckoned with underground.","Despite its bulky frame, this chainsaw mining machine has a wide range of motion.","Here, the front carriage rotates the blade to demonstrate how it can be repositioned between cuts.","No matter how you slice it...","That's pretty impressive."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Flight Simulators","Bookbinding","Greenhouse Tomatoes","Hurricane"]},"text":["Most hands-on pilot training occurs not in the air, but on the ground.","The classroom in which this instruction takes place is a flight simulator-- a high-tech replica of the aircraft cockpit.","Through the magic of sophisticated computer software, the simulator mimics the process and feel of flying the aircraft.","The flight simulator can produce darkness or daylight, clear or stormy weather, or an emergency such as engine failure or a runway tire blowout.","Simulators are modeled after specific aircraft, such as a boeing 737.","The simulator manufacturer buys the technical data from the aircraft manufacturer so it can build a cockpit which is an exact replica in both look and feel.","After assembling a steel frame and building the instructor's station behind the cockpit, they mount a sound system beneath the cockpit.","This enables crew communication and produces realistic aircraft and weather sounds.","A computer-driven image generator produces the cockpit view on a large, spherical mirror made of a thin polyester film.","A vacuum pump sucks it flat and wrinkle-free.","The image reflecting on the mirror creates the illusion of the infinite view pilots have in a real aircraft.","The image generator doesn't send the visuals directly to the spherical mirror facing the pilots.","A projector first shoots the image onto a flat, rectangular mirror that reflects the image onto a front projection screen-- that round part at the top.","The image on the projection screen then reflects in the spherical mirror in front of the pilots.","This diagram illustrates how the image travels.","Technicians prepare the cockpit throttles, adjusting the lever tension to be identical to that of the real aircraft.","Inside each throttle, they check the thrust reverser that pilots activate upon touchdown to reverse air flow and stop the plane.","Next come the control panels, with all the buttons and switches to operate everything from the engines to the air-conditioning to the lights.","Next, the motion actuators-- giant legs which move the cockpit.","They attach to a concrete slab with jumbo bolts.","Technicians attach conduits through which electrical cables and air hoses run to the actuators.","The motion is electropneumatic, meaning that air assists the electric motor that moves the legs.","To attach the actuators, technicians activate the brake inside each one.","This enables the leg to stretch far enough to reach the base.","After checking the alignment with this tool...","They insert a pin.","Then they test the movement of the entire apparatus.","The test pilot runs the finished flight simulator through different maneuvers to ensure it performs perfectly.","The image generator is run by highly sophisticated software.","It knows the design of every airport in the world, enabling the instructor to conjure up any scenario imaginable...","Takeoffs, landings, and taxiing at a specific airport, any weather conditions or runway hazards, or any unforeseen events, such as a blackout that plunges the entire airport into darkness.","Faking it doesn't get any more real than this.","Today's books are mass-produced by automated equipment, but before the industry was mechanized, book pages were hand-bound, their covers meticulously hand-crafted one at a time by talented book binders.","This skilled trade still exists, but is now a specialty service.","Book binders are part artist, part restorer, because they craft new bindings, yet also repair originals.","Before rebinding a book, the book binder has to unbind it.","She uses a surgical scalpel to cut the strands of old binding thread.","This separates the covers and the sections of assembled paged, called signatures.","Using a paper cutter, she trims the components just enough to make their edges neat and smooth.","Then she positions the signatures in a vice, sandwiched between cardboard for support.","She draws lines across what will be the spine of the book.","Then she carefully saws a groove in each line.","The groove is just big enough to fit a piece of hemp binding cord.","One at a time, she reconnects the signatures on a sewing frame.","The frame has binding cords that correspond to the grooves she sawed into the signatures.","She sews a linen thread horizontally, looping it around the cords.","A chain stitch on each end links each signature to the neighboring one.","When she's done, she coats the sewn area with glue.","She then lays a thin cloth backing over the glue, then closes the vice tightly to round the back and form joints into which the book's covers will fit.","She perfects the joints using a hammer.","Next, she weaves the binding's headband by wrapping threads around support sticks in a specific pattern.","She does this on both the top and bottom of what will be the book's spine.","Next, by folding and gluing pieces of paper, she constructs a tube the exact width and length of the spine.","She glues the tube to the spine.","Now for the book's front cover.","She layers pieces of cardboard to create a design, then glues it onto a rectangular piece of leather.","She presses the leather against the cardboard with a plastic tool called a bone folder.","Next, she cuts a strip of thick paper the width of the book spine and glues small bands across it.","Then she glues this onto the leather, right next to the cardboard.","Using the bone folder again, she presses the leather down.","After adding a second cardboard for the back cover, she glues and folds over the edges.","Then she makes two swift incisions to remove a triangle of leather.","This produces perfect corners every time.","Next step-- to embellish the cover and spine with gold-embossed decorations and lettering.","She lays down a sheet of genuine gold foil and hot-stamps the design onto the surface.","After attaching the bound pages with leather hinges that match the cover, the book binder applies the finishing touch-- decorative paper on the inside covers.","From such traditional styles to ultramodern fish-skin bindings, it's hard not to judge these books by their covers.","Some of the finest tomatoes come not from the field, but from the greenhouse.","When cultivating tomatoes indoors, producers can strictly control the growing conditions, so greenhouse tomatoes are more uniform in size, shape, and color than field-grown tomatoes.","Some would argue that they taste better, too.","This company grows large cluster type and smaller cocktail-size tomatoes.","It also produces a kit containing tomatoes, a pouch of italian spices, and a bruschetta recipe.","In this hydroponic greenhouse, the tomato plants grow in a substrate rather than soil.","The substrate is a block of coconut-shell fibers that retains and drains water very well.","Greenhouse workers mix fertilizer primarily out of powdered iron and calcium nitrate.","They dissolve these and additional chemicals in water, which they then dilute and store in tanks.","Computerized fertilizer injectors shoot controlled amounts of the solution directly into the irrigation-system water supply.","A new tomato plant takes 30 to 55 days to blossom, then another 8 weeks to produce fully ripened fruit.","Each plant receives up to one gallon of fertilized water per day via an irrigation dripper.","The irrigation system collects whatever the plant doesn't absorb, mixes it with fresh water, adjusts the fertilization, then re-feeds it to the plants.","The task of pollination is left to a resident colony of bumblebees.","The plants grow at an astounding rate of 8 to 12 inches per week.","To train them upright so they won't get tangled with neighboring plants, workers twist each one around a nylon cord every week.","Tomato plants grow to a height of more than 36 feet.","That's taller than the greenhouse, which is why, once a week, workers lower the plants by 8 inches.","The lowering process also lines them up at the same height, which makes harvesting much easier.","The greenhouse temperature is 70 to 77 degrees fahrenheit during the day and 54 to 61 degrees at night.","Artificial lighting simulates 18-hour stretches of sunshine.","Thanks to these controlled growing conditions, greenhouse tomato plants, unlike field plants, are in continuous bloom.","Every week, a new cluster appears at the top of each plant, while a cluster at the bottom is ready for picking.","In its one-year lifetime, a tomato plant yields some 200 large tomatoes or 500 cocktail tomatoes.","As conveyor belts move the tomatoes through the packaging area, workers separate the green ones from the ripe ones.","Each shipping box must contain 11 pounds.","Workers place the box on a tray scale and clusters of tomatoes on digital scales above it.","A computer calculates which combination of clusters would total the target weight, then illuminates the light under those clusters to tell the packer which ones to put in the box.","Once filled, the box is passed through an automated labeling machine.","A camera takes a photo of the configuration, then guides an applicator to slap a code sticker on every tomato.","Besides selling bulk tomatoes in the bruschetta kit, this company packages cocktail tomatoes in two formats-- loose and still on the vine...","Giving greenhouse-tomato lovers a few tasty options.","Hurricane-proof shutters prevent violent winds and flying debris from shattering windows.","Not only can breaking glass cause injury and let winds enter and wreak destruction inside, but the difference between indoor and outdoor air pressure can cause the roof and walls to collapse.","Roll-down shutters move vertically...","Whereas accordion shutters consist of two sections that move sideways.","To make the accordion style, they cut stacks of blades to the height of the customer's window.","Blades are interlocking aluminum strips manufactured for the shutter factory by a supplier.","Workers assemble enough to build two shutter sections that cover the width of the window.","These two sections are called vertical stacks.","They punch holes in the last blade of each stack for a locking mechanism.","These two blades are called center mates because they overlap at the center of the window and lock together.","They slide each center mate into its respective vertical stack.","The next step is attaching nylon bushings and wheels, which ride in horizontal tracks installed at the top and bottom of the window opening.","Each center mate has vertical locking pins.","Activated by a thumbscrew, these pins slide through a hole in the track to lock the shutter open or closed.","The horizontal slats of a roll-down shutter are made of the same material as the accordion shutter's vertical blades.","After cutting the slats to the width of the customer's window, workers assemble enough to cover the window's height.","These slats have a different type of interlock than the accordion shutter blades, but they connect the same way.","The tongue edge of one blade slides into the groove edge of the next.","Nylon locks prevent the slats from disconnecting.","After hammering the locks into place, they crimp the edge of each slat.","The connected slats will later be coiled around a motorized tube inside the shutter's aluminum housing.","A technician installs a ball-bearing assembly in one side of that housing...","Then a safety plate to prevent the slat roll from shifting sideways.","On the other side, they install a plate with protruding screws to which they mount the motor.","Next, they install a safety plate to prevent the slats from catching on the motor's power cord.","On each end of the motor, they fit spacers...","Then, over the motor, a roller tube.","They insert a connecting shaft, which attaches the tube to the ball-bearing assembly on the other side.","All these steps assemble a motorized axle around which the roll of slats will wrap.","Once a quality-control check ensures it operates flawlessly...","They close off the back of the housing with an aluminum cover.","Working from the front of the housing, they rivet plastic rings along the length of the tube.","These help muffle the noise the slats make as they roll and unroll.","Workers rivet slat hangers to the roller tube.","They slide the first slat onto these hangers.","Then they slide the slat roll onto that first slat.","The slat edges run in vertical side rails, which installers mount in the window opening.","Now for a last round of quality-control testing.","Workers lift and lower the shutter in manual mode, as well as by remote control.","When everything works perfectly, the shutters are subjected to one final test to ensure they can handle everything that a hurricane can muster."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Barber Chairs","Sewage Pumps","Bimini Boat Tops","Diesel Filters"]},"text":["The reclining barber chair was invented in america in 1878.","At the time, it was a grooming breakthrough.","With a chair that leaned back and moved forward, the barber could shave the customer with greater precision, and when wielding a straight-edged razor, precision is definitely a good thing.","The barber chair is the original easy chair.","Just sit back and enjoy the recline.","The client doesn't need to position himself for a shave.","The chair does all the moving.","It even lifts and swivels.","Production starts with the base of the chair.","An employee places a flat, round piece of steel in a two-part die.","The die comes together and applies pressure to take the steel from flat to domed.","The domed chair base then spins as an abrasive wheel etches a brushed finish onto the surface.","Next, the worker tucks the end of a strip of steel between rollers and turns them to curl the steel into a sleeve for the hydraulic chair lift.","He slides a piece of plastic into grooves on the ends to close the steel sleeve.","Then he slides it onto the chair lift pump.","He places a large trim ring on the end of the pump and sets the domed chair base on top.","Screws secure the base and chair-lift assembly.","With the assembly now right-side-up, he attaches a u-shaped foot pedal to the pump.","Production then moves to the construction of the actual seat.","The worker glues several sheets of russian birch and staples them together.","She continues to layer until the birch is nearly an inch thick.","The last layer is thick plywood.","It's been cut to accommodate a steel frame.","She glues and staples the plywood to the layered birch.","Then it's into a press for the chair's seat, back, and arms.","It bends the parts to a gentle curvature that will make the chair more comfortable to sit in.","With a hot stamp, the worker brands the company name and logo into vinyl upholstery.","He places the wood chair back into a bed of cushy foam.","He pulls the edges of the foam tightly to the wood and staples it.","He trims the excess.","He covers the chair back with the pre-sewn vinyl upholstery, and it's a snug fit.","Next, he gets a hand from a pneumatic device.","It holds the chair part in place as he staples the upholstery to it.","He trims the vinyl for a clean edge.","He checks the fit, and, once satisfied, he moves on to the chair arms.","He locks an arm in a clamp and installs the chrome end piece.","The chrome resists wear better than vinyl does-- important on this gripping part.","The crew attaches the steel chair frame to the underside of the upholstered seat.","They screw the arms onto the frame.","They install the pneumatic mechanism that makes the chair recline.","They screw the upholstered chair back to the steel frame and link the recliner mechanism to it.","They test the recline and incline functions.","The footrest is next.","They then pump up the lift shaft and transfer the upholstered chair to it.","They close the back of the chair with an upholstered panel, and finally, they give the customer a place to rest his head.","With the headrest installed, this barber chair is ready for customers.","Time spent reclining in it will no doubt leave the client looking and feeling refreshed.","A sewage pump is part of an underground operation to dispose of human waste.","It is essential equipment when sewage must be pumped to a septic system or sewer line at a higher underground location.","Working below the surface, sewage pumps take care of unpleasant business.","When it comes to sewage, people understandably prefer to flush and forget.","The sewage pump helps make that possible.","It is the number-one way to move waste.","When the sewage reaches a certain level upon discharge, the pump's floating sensor activates a switch to start pumping.","Then it's on its way to a septic system or sewer line, ensuring that sewage receives the necessary treatment.","They make the sewage-pump housing from a rugged cast iron.","A chain conveyor takes the housing parts for a rinse and an application of a chemical that slightly etches the surface in preparation for finishing.","The journey continues through a big dryer that removes residual moisture.","The parts now head into the spray booth for a finish that will protect the surface.","The conveyor delivers a negative charge to the parts, causing the positively charged powder finish to gravitate to them.","It completely coats the parts, and they travel through an oven to bake on the powder finish.","Next, workers move the pump-housing units across to a spinning, abrasive disk.","This grinds the edges flat to allow for a tight seal to other parts.","Here's the housing before grinding, and here it is after.","He places a gauge under the part in several places to ensure that it's completely even.","Next, a tool machines the part of the housing that holds the stator, the stationary part of the motor.","It carves the opening so that the stator will fit to it and also align next to the motor housing.","Using a drill press, a worker cuts a thread into another part of the pump.","This will allow it to connect to a discharge pipe.","The parts are now ready for assembly.","A worker presses the carbon half of a seal for the rotor shaft into place.","He lubricates the rotor shaft and inserts it into the pump housing.","A blast of compressed air removes any contaminants.","And he installs the ceramic half of the rotor-shaft seal.","Next, he screws the impeller to the rotor shaft.","The impeller will move sewage from the pumping chamber to the discharge pipe.","He installs an o-ring around the opening to the motor.","He inserts the stator...","And screws it into place.","He connects lead wires to terminals in the motor housing and sets it in place.","He runs the power cord through the motor housing and tightens a seal around the cord.","He attaches a metal guard to give the pump float adequate clearance, then seals the motor housing and wires the pump switch.","He screws the switch case to the housing.","A worker plugs in the pump to test for any shorts in the electrical components.","The pump passes all the tests.","It's ready for the float that actuates the pump switch.","A piece has been cut out of this pump to give us an inside look at the sewage pump and its operation.","As waste water rises, so does the float, and it activates the switch to turn on the pump.","When the sewage subsides, the float lowers and switches off the pump.","Next, the pump takes the plunge in a test tank to ensure that it can handle the pressure and that it meets all the performance standards.","Once the computer gives the sewage pump the green light, it's on its way to a septic system near you.","Built for a life of effluence, this sewage pump is now ready to go with the flow.","There are unofficial claims that bimini boat tops were named for the sun-drenched bimini islands of the bahamas.","The open-sided canvas tops are usually retractable, and beginning in the early '60s, were developed to offer boaters protection from the sun.","Out on the open water, bimini boat tops provide shelter from the rain and shade in the sun.","Their durable and versatile materials withstand rugged sea breezes and intense u.v. rays while providing ample headroom for boaters.","A worker measures a piece of anodized aluminum tubing for the exact leg height needed for each custom-made bimini boat top.","Then he cuts the tubing to the dimension needed for each boat.","They use aluminum and stainless steel because they don't rust.","The worker begins bending the frame of the boat top.","The eventual roof support is on the floor while he holds the leg height in his hand.","He must be careful to not overbend.","The final angle is about 88 degrees.","The worker crowns the tubing, a process that puts a rise in the center of the roof and pulls the legs inward.","Each bimini boat top is made of three bows of different heights.","The front is shorter than the back, while the center is usually about 40% of the back leg height.","Workers now assemble the bows.","They attach eye ends and jaw slides to form rudimentary hinges.","They now unfold the assembled tubing using the precise measurements of a customer's boat.","They simulate the final shape of the boat top by using tape to spread the bows to exact widths.","Once the bows have been spread and the distance is measured, they can see the shape of the final boat top.","All that's left is installing the roof itself.","The roof is made of acrylic canvas that is both water- and fade-resistant.","And there are plenty of colors to choose from.","The patterning process begins.","Once the roof is cut, a worker stitches the roof panels.","Workers spread the cut panels over the bow setup to finalize the roof dimensions.","The canvas fabric is clamped to the bow setup as a worker marks the edges on the outside of the fabric.","The roof is made in panels.","It usually takes two or more panels to complete a roof, depending on the size of the boat.","Once excess material has been trimmed off, the worker begins stitching.","She turns the outer edge of the roof and uses a straight stitch.","She works on the sides of the canvas roof before the ends.","The worker now patterns the listing, which is a pocket through which the bow will be inserted.","Here's what the listing's raw pattern looks like once measured and cut.","She places the finished listing on top of the panel and stitches it to the end of the roof panel.","The stitching process is key to the durability of the boat top.","She turns the roof over so the listing is backwards.","It's actually sewn on inside-out and then turned over.","She stitches the entire length of the listing closed...","Then the company's identification tag.","Workers now insert the pieces of tubing into the listings of the canvas roof.","First, they push the rear bow all the way through.","Once the rear bow is in place, they prepare to insert the center and front bow of the boat top.","They unfurl the remainder of the roof and position the center bow on the center listing.","Gradually, they slide the tubing all the way through the center listing.","With the front bow inserted, the bimini boat top is almost complete.","An employee inspects the boat top for any defects.","Once installed, the bimini boat top can either be tucked away in its boot or opened up and held in place by front straps.","For the life of your boat, a well-maintained bimini boat top has it covered.","Running an engine on diesel fuel is efficient, but it emits smelly, black exhaust, soot, leftover carbon that didn't burn off in the combustion process.","To prevent exhaust emissions from polluting the air, diesel engines and diesel-powered generators need powerful filters.","This self-cleaning diesel filter traps engine-exhaust soot and burns it off by heating the filter elements.","This effectively completes the combustion process.","At the core of those filter elements are heating strips made of steel fiber, which is like dense steel wool.","But the steel is a special mix of alloys resistant to high temperatures and corrosion.","Each heating strip goes into a machine which repeatedly folds it up then down, pleating it like an accordion.","The thick steel fibers are what trap the soot particles as the engine exhaust flows through.","An electrical current heats these conductive fibers, burning off the soot regardless of engine-exhaust temperatures.","Using nickel crimps, workers connect--  depending on the filter size-- up to seven pleated strips per filter element.","They press the crimps securely into the steel fiber with a press.","They attach a different type of crimp at the far ends.","This type has a tab with three holes for the electrical connections.","Next, they bend the assembled strips into a circle and place them inside a perforated steel housing.","A temporary cardboard spacer creates a gap between strips and housing to insulate against short circuits.","The electrical-connection tabs on the ends fit through slots at the front.","An insulating block made of mica, a non-conductive mineral, goes behind the tabs, followed by steel-fiber spacers.","All this sets up a clear and strong conductive path from the power source to the strips.","They fasten the insulating block to the housing.","Then, using tweezers, they place a mica spacer in between each pleat.","This prevents the pleats from touching each other and causing a short circuit as the electrical current passes through the strips.","They place a spacing stick inside each pleat.","This is just temporary, to size the pleat's width uniformly until they're cemented permanently in position.","To do that, workers pour ceramic cement into a circular bottom plate made of perforated steel.","The perforations ensure better bonding.","They spread the cement evenly across the plate...","Then position a stainless-steel tube in the center to connect this plate to an identical plate on top.","They carefully place the strips into the cement and position the top plate...","Then add a weight to hold it down while it goes into an oven at 85 degrees to cure the cement.","45 minutes later, they take it out of the oven and remove the top plate.","They also remove the spacing sticks and cardboard spacer, which are no longer required because the spacing is now permanently set in cement.","They repeat the cementing process with the top plate.","After a final four hours in the curing oven, the electrically heated filter element, this diesel filter's key component, is completed, and the main assembly can begin.","The larger the filter, the more filter elements it contains in its stainless-steel housing.","For this mid-sized model, technicians stack four sets of six elements then connect electrical cables to the tab holes of each one.","Next, technicians install a flow-control valve for each stack.","When activated, the valve reduces exhaust flow to that stack, enabling the system to automatically clean elements by electrically heating the strip.","An internal computer manages the cleaning cycles.","It uses sensors that detect soot accumulation in the elements, isolating and cleaning one or multiple elements at a time.","On the front, techs mount the inlet flange through which the dirty diesel exhaust enters the filter...","On top, the outlet flange through which that exhaust exits soot-free."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Escalator Handrails","Highlighters","Guitar Strings","Wigs"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Escalator handrails...","Highlighter pens...","Guitar strings...","And wigs.","The escalator was invented over 100 years ago as an amusement park ride.","The moving staircase was soon equipped with a moving handrail for safety reasons, but those early handrails were driven by oily chains, leaving passengers with greasy hands.","We get a cleaner ride on today's escalators, and if we want thrills, we try a roller coaster.","An escalator's handrail moves at the same speed as the stairs.","This makes the trip up safer because you have something to hold on to the entire way.","To make an escalator handrail, a machine called an extruder pulls synthetic rubber up into it.","A turning screw inside the extruder forces the rubber through a die the way a pasta maker squeezes out spaghetti.","4- to 6-inch-wide rubber strips roll out into a tank of water to cool because the heat from the extruder could alter their molecular structure.","Now the rubber strips move over rollers that are part of a mechanical measuring system.","There's a little indicator on the roller that gauges the width and thickness of the rubber as it moves across.","Over at the splitter machine, small round knives slice rubberized cotton the same width as the rubber strips.","Then a mechanical puller unrolls material from four different spools.","There are two streams of rubberized fabric-- one stream of the synthetic rubber which came out of the extruder earlier and one of rubberized cable wiring.","They merge and stick together as they travel over a big steel roller.","An unwinder peels away a plastic liner from the now four-plied strip.","Next, a worker places a piece of rubberized fabric and one of synthetic rubber on either side of the four-plied strip.","He presses everything except the strip of rubber around a u-shaped aluminum former.","With a piece of steel, he bears down on the shape so the layers stick together.","Then he brushes tack cement on the outside and pulls that piece of synthetic rubber at the bottom up around it.","He folds the rim down, and, using a hand roller, he seals its edges.","Now the handrail has taken shape, but it's not strong enough, so a worker places it in a molding press.","He positions a steel form inside the handrail so that it holds its shape.","The top part of the mold lowers, and the handrail bakes under high pressure at 350 degrees fahrenheit.","10 to 15 minutes later, the mold lifts, and a chemical reaction called vulcanization has occurred.","The layers have been laminated, and the handrail is now strong enough.","The last step is to trim away the flash or excess material.","Here's the latest way to make an escalator handrail.","A puller unwinds brass-coated steel wires from spools, drawing them, along with thermoplastic urethane and polyester fabric, through the dies of an extruder.","What comes out is a strip of plastic-encased wires and sliders.","The handrail shape passes through measuring devices that check its dimensions.","Now they splice the ends of two plastic handrails together to form an endless loop.","Using a roller, a worker presses the wires and plastic sliders of the inner carcass together.","As he rolls, he blasts hot air into the splice with a heat gun.","This softens the plastic so that it melds together.","He covers it with a piece of thermoplastic urethane and, again, uses a heat gun to join the pieces.","He wipes it clean with alcohol.","Then he heats it up in a mold for a minute or two.","The spliced section melts together, and then cool water hardens it.","There's no seam line where the handrail could break.","It's just one long, continuous piece.","And that's the inside story on the escalator handrail-- something to think about when you're on your way up.","The highlighter pen was invented in the 1960s simply to get your attention.","When text is shaded with transparent, vivid inks in hot pinks or warm yellows, our eye goes directly to it.","Marketers have always known that color has impact, and it's a principle highlighted by these pens.","Highlighters come in lots of shades and colors-- even neon.","This is how a highlighter pen gets its start.","A vacuum siphons plastic pellets into this container.","The red ones will tint the whole mix as it melts inside a heating tube.","A mechanized steel screw pushes the melted plastic into pen molds.","The force applied is equal to the weight of 350 elephants.","Cooled by water, the newly-molded pen barrels spill into a container below.","Now some clear-colored pen barrels drop onto a conveyor track, and ink reservoirs that look like pieces of chalk but are made of polyester drop down a shaft, and a robotic arm thrusts them into the plastic barrels.","The back-end plug goes in the same way.","The plugs fall to a robotic arm, and it pushes them into the back of the pen.","Now a chemist drops a concentrate of dye into a beaker of water.","Just over 1/3 of an ounce or 10 drops is enough to turn it fire-engine red.","A humectant, already in the water, will keep the ink from drying out when it's in the pen.","Next he measures the ink's thickness.","He lowers a steel probe into it, and the probe turns.","A gauge measures the speed.","If the probe turns too fast, it means the ink is too thin.","If it revolves too slowly, then the mix is too thick.","At four revolutions per minute, the ink is just the right consistency.","A vacuum pump sucks the ink into six-inch steel needles, and a robotic arm pushes the needles into the polyester reservoirs, injecting them with ink.","Now we arrive at the next part of assembly.","A combination of mechanical vibrations and compressed air drive a conveyor belt carrying the pen nibs.","The nibs fall into the clutch of a mechanical claw which drops them to a circular pusher.","It shoves the nibs onto the pens, and they interlock.","The impact floods the reservoir inside the pen with ink.","Now it's time to top it all off.","A conveyor transports caps to a mechanical gripper.","The gripper slides them over the nibs.","Over on another assembly line, they're making a three-in-one marker.","A conveyor bowl funnels smaller ink reservoirs into a shaft, and they drop to a robotic arm.","The arm stuffs the reservoirs into the small barrels, and then a needle injects them with ink, quickly saturating the reservoirs with vibrant color.","The next robotic arm shoves a receptacle onto the barrel, and then another robot presses a polyester nib onto it.","A robot now slips a hood-like cap over the nib.","Another mechanical arm suctions up the fuchsia-colored mini markers and transfers them to a triangular case.","Down the line, another suctioning arm picks up a red mini marker and deposits it in the triangle.","A steel probe presses it in.","Finally, a yellow-colored marker completes the triangle.","Now a robot uses an electrical charge to pick up metallic confetti.","When the charge is turned off, the confetti drops into the triangle, adding some glitter.","Next a suctioning robot drops the top part of the triangle onto the lower case, and a metal cylinder presses it shut.","Another suctioning arm carries the three-in-one marker to a conveyor belt which unloads it into a box.","This three-in-one highlighter makes it easier to color-code text-- a different color for each theme.","Now an electrical conveyor moves the highlighters to a mechanical arm.","The arm flips it around, positioning it for the next step.","A squeegee silk-screens a logo onto it.","I wonder how they came up with that one.","Now the highlighters enter an ultraviolet-light chamber.","The light bonds the ink to the case.","And finally, the ultimate test-- plastic grippers guide markers as they make circles.","700 to 1,000 circles means this particular production line will definitely stand out.","Playing the guitar is all about vibrations.","The guitar uses vibrating strings to generate the tones that the audience hears.","Strings under tension vibrate at a specific frequency or pitch, so if the song that you're hearing is in tune, it's because those guitar strings are vibrating correctly.","a good set of strings is behind many a soulful tune.","They're an important part of a guitar's sound.","To make a guitar string, they start with a steel core wire that they examine under a zoom stereomicroscope.","They magnify it 100 times, looking for flaws in the hexagonal wire.","Next, they measure the core wire's diameter with a digital micrometer.","It has to be just the right size.","Now they coil the wrap wire made of nickel-plated steel around posts on the instron testing machine.","This machine stretches the wire until it breaks.","It's a test of its ability to perform under tension.","A computer measures the distance and the amount of load the wire was under before it broke to determine how much tension this string can take.","Now the core wire undergoes a twist test.","They loop the wire onto a hook in a machine called a torsion tester.","It spins rapidly, twisting the core wire until it breaks.","This is a test of the wire's strength and elasticity.","These plastic hoppers are full of ball ends.","This machine is called a ball-end sorter.","Hollow pistons move up and down, selecting one ball end at a time.","This ensures that only those of the proper size will get through.","The ball ends shoot out of the pistons into a bucket underneath.","From here they'll go to the core-string machine.","A mechanism places the ball ends on a pin as they drop from a hopper.","Rollers feed the core wire into a clamping guide which aligns it with the ball end.","Then the pin spins, twisting the wire into a neat loop around the ball end.","This is the twisting action in slow motion.","The core strings with the ball ends now attached drop into a repository.","Then a worker hooks a ball end with its core wire onto the string winder, and he loops bronze wrap wire around the core wire.","A string-winding carriage guides the bronze wire down the length of the core wire as it wraps around.","The electrically powered winder spins the core wire, and it's that action that grabs the wrap wire as the carriage ensures that it gets wrapped neatly.","Computerized sensors monitor the speed that the string is wound at, as well as the tension.","The winder applies a critical amount of tension as it wraps the bronze wiring around the core.","They're bundled up like straw, 144 wires to the bunch.","Guitar strings are also made from nylon.","They hook the nylon core material onto a winder, pulling it down from a big spool.","Next, they loop silver-plated copper wrap wire onto the nylon.","The hook spins, and this coils the wrap wire around the nylon string binding it.","Again, a carriage system, run by an electric motor, ensures that everything falls into place.","A worker removes the strings and hangs them on a rack.","Gravity causes the strings to slide into a station where workers coil them and then place them on a conveyor belt.","Further down the line, another worker puts them in a bag that has a gas-neutralizing barrier built into the plastic to prevent corrosion.","And now these strings are ready for some playing.","Throughout history, wigs were status symbols-- hence the term \"bigwig\".","One early wig-making technique was to use goatskin to simulate a scalp and then hook hair into it with an embroidery needle.","Today, animal skin is no longer used.","These days, wigs can look so real that no one would notice.","To make a custom wig, a wig master measures the client's head from all angles, because heads come in many shapes and sizes.","He wraps her head in cellophane, twisting it just under the earlobes.","Next, he sticks filament tape all over the cellophane wrap.","He layers it four times to make a cast.","He lifts the tape and cellophane cast from her head and places it on a wig block, a head shape made of canvas or wood.","Using a grease pencil, he traces around the cast, making a pattern of the client's hairline on the wig block.","The wig master then cuts pieces of plain blue paper.","He pins it on the wig block within the pattern lines.","The paper will prevent light from reflecting into his eyes as he works.","Now he places a large-sized polyester-and-cotton lace on the block and cuts it to pencilled outline.","He pins a finer lace from front to back, pleating the edges with pins.","He pulls open a drawer full of real and fake hair, and it's hard to tell the difference between them.","He chooses a tail of synthetic hair labelled \"venetian blond\".","Pieces of pink and orange synthetic hair will be blended into the venetian blond tresses to create dramatic highlights.","This is the tool for the job.","It's a giant comb with rows of sharp steel teeth.","It's called a hackle.","The wig master places the venetian blond synthetic hair between the teeth of the hackle and sets the bright pink and orange locks on top.","Now he repeatedly drags the hair through the hackle.","He loses some strands in the comb, but those are usually the weaker ones.","This is called hackling, and the action gets progressively more vigorous.","He twists and twirls the tail as he pulls it through the hackle.","This is actually dangerous work.","One wrong move and he could pierce his hand on the barbed comb.","Once the hair is blended, he cuts it in two.","Then he presses the hair into little metal pins on a leather holding card.","The pins on a top card interlock with the bottom one.","He pulls hair out of the holding cards a few strands at a time.","With a small needle that looks like a fishing hook, he knots the strands into the lace beginning at the nape.","This is called ventilating.","It's very similar to rug hooking.","In fact, it may be why toupees are often referred to as rugs.","Ventilating is labor-intensive.","He spends a minimum of 50 hours knotting the thousands of strands that it takes to make a wig.","Partway into the job, he combs out any tangles and flounces the hair to make sure it moves naturally.","Wigs for film and tv are usually made by hand rather than machine because the result is more authentic-looking.","Because the camera tells all, the wigs need to look as real as possible.","He weaves the front of the wig one strand at a time, because the front hairline always gets the most scrutiny.","Now it's time for the fitting and the transformation.","The wig needs a little styling...","And he trims the ends.","He cuts away the extra lace, and voilà.","She's ready to let her synthetic hair down and get into her new role."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Racing Leathers","Evaporative Cooling Towers","Wood Rocking Chairs","Wire Wheels"]},"text":["With no car frame around them, motorcycle racers look to their clothes for protection.","One-piece suits called racing leathers provide it.","They're made of padded leather, and the design is form-fitting and aerodynamic.","Motorcycle racing leathers are a kind of body armor.","Equipped with padding and airbags, the suit is a protective shell.","It must fit the rider like a second skin.","To achieve this, racing leathers are usually custom made by a team of specialists.","They take over 40 measurements as the racer assumes different poses.","The pattern maker types the measurements into a computer.","Special software creates a pattern for the suit.","She assembles the pattern parts on the screen to ensure they match up and then sends the drawings to a printer.","It prints the life-sized patterns onto large sheets of thin tracing paper.","A member of the team then sprays the backs of the paper patterns with adhesive.","She presses the patterns onto sheets of cardboard.","She cuts out the cardboard following the designs on the paper.","The cardboard backing gives the patterns a more substantial structure.","Before cutting the leather, they clamp a sample in an automated tool that moves it repeatedly across a piece of sandpaper.","This confirms that the leather is strong enough to withstand significant abrasion.","They apply graphics to the patterns to estimate the placement, and then they're ready to cut.","The cutter carves into the white leather with a thin blade.","He follows the lines of the pattern and leaves a generous margin.","The parts will be cut more precisely later.","He transfers the leather panels to a large sheet of paper stretched across the bed of a printing machine.","Light glue applied to the paper keeps the leather pieces in place during printing.","The printer's jets spray designs onto the parts.","It uses inks that have been specially formulated for leather.","The inks start to dry immediately, but they leave the printed leather to set overnight for a full cure.","Next, using a hinged scissor frame, they stretch and expand an elastic fabric.","A member of the team sprays adhesive onto the back of a leather panel.","She presses a piece of kevlar onto the leather, and this reinforces it.","She then places the kevlar and leather panel on the fabric that's still pulled tight in the scissor frame.","She stitches the leather and kevlar part to the stretched material, creating a ribbed pattern.","She now cuts the panel to its final dimensions.","The elastic fabric contracts, causing the leather to pucker into accordion-like folds.","A seamstress stitches the ribbed panel to the back of the motorcycle racing suit.","It takes over 200 parts to achieve the desired shape and fit.","Some of them, like these shoulder protectors, are made of molded plastic and foam.","They're designed to dissipate the force of an impact.","Meanwhile, at a test station, they slam weights into a molded knee pad and measure the energy that penetrates.","Now a member of the team inserts a pair of pads into suit leg pockets and secures them with velcro.","The suit is ready for airbags.","She installs them over the shoulders.","She tucks the microprocessor and gas inflation canisters in the hump.","This is an aerodynamic part at the back of the suit.","She connects the sensors and powers up the airbags.","L.e.d. lights on the sleeve illuminate, indicating that they're operational.","With the leather suit complete, they sew a microfiber liner.","The liner wicks sweat away from the body, making the suit cooler to wear.","The racer suits up and tests the fit, and they make any final alterations.","These racing leathers are now ready for the thrills and spills of the sport.","Evaporative cooling towers keep large buildings and industrial machines cool.","Circulating liquid carries the excess heat to the cooling tower, typically installed on the roof.","The tower uses cold water to cool that fluid, then transfers the heat to the atmosphere through an evaporation process.","Pumps move the fluid carrying the excess heat through the cooling tower's closed-circuit coil.","Nozzles spray the coil with cold water.","The spray water absorbs the heat, and the cooled fluid returns to the building.","Fans blow air onto the now warm spray water to evaporate just enough to release the heat.","Then the cooled water loops back to the spray system, and the cycle repeats.","Depending on the size, the coil is made up of as many as 56 circuits.","A circuit is a zigzagged tube one inch in diameter.","The mill forms a continuous straight tube from a strip of carbon steel.","The rollers progressively curve the edges upward until they join at the top.","The last station on the mill welds the joined edges together to form a continuous seam.","Next, workers transfer the straight tube to a semi-automated tube bender, which forms it into a circuit.","Depending on the size of the circuit, there can be as few as 6 bends or as many as 18.","To make a circuit with 18 bends can require a straight tube that's over 300 feet long.","Once all the circuits are ready, workers stack them on a frame, then weld the tube ends to the corresponding holes of a steel plate.","They close up the plate with a cover called a header.","After clamping the header in position, they weld it in place, forming a pressure-tight seal.","The coil is now fully constructed and ready for testing.","Technicians submerge it in water, then pump air through at high pressure and look for bubbles, which would indicate a leak in a circuit.","If they do find a leak, they either repair or replace the circuit.","Meanwhile, work is under way on the cooling tower's mechanical section.","A computer-guided laser cutter prepares the steel panels that make up the section's rugged structure.","Workers then bend the panels where required with a machine called a press brake.","Then, they assemble the panels to build the structure.","Meanwhile, another team has assembled the mechanical section's ceiling, which houses the fans.","Workers lower this onto the structure.","Inside the mechanical section, they install the belt that links the motor's pulley to each fan pulley.","After tightening the belt screw with an impact wrench, they test the fans.","Meanwhile, the coil has been dipped in molten zinc to make it corrosion-resistant.","Workers mount it next to the cooling tower's mechanical section.","They cover it with a steel housing and install the water-spray system on top of it.","The sprayed cold water absorbs the heat from the fluid circulating through the coil.","The fans then cool the water by evaporation as it flows downward through a bundle of pvc sheets.","The machine first heats the pvc to soften it, then stamps it with the mold plate.","This imprints a proprietary pattern of peaks and valleys.","This pattern is the secret to the evaporative cooling process because it moves the air and spreads the water in a way that maximizes efficiency.","Workers stack the sheets on pole supports to construct a bundle of 300 sheets.","After placing the bundle in a housing, they install it over a basin.","This basin collects the cooled water before it's pumped back up to the sprayers to repeat the cycle.","This completes the cooling tower's lower module.","They now mate it with the upper module, containing the fans, coil, and spray system.","This evaporative cooling tower has more than 300 times the capacity of a typical residential air-conditioning system.","Now, that'spretty cool.","The rocking chair was invented back in the 18th century, when when people first thought of putting skates, or rockers, on the bottom of chairs.","The tilting movement it produces reminds us of a cradle or a rocking horse, which might be what makes rocking chairs so comforting.","These stained jumbo rockers are caned in a herringbone pattern with indonesian rattan vine.","22 pieces of solid appalachian red oak form the frame and the base of these rocking chairs.","To start, the carpenter connects the tenon joints of the stretchers to the mortises of the back frame and hammers them in place with a rubber mallet.","A caner drains a coil of binder cane, which is soaked overnight to make it more pliable while weaving the back and seat of the rocking chair.","She uncoils the rattan vine threads and starts wrapping the back frame from bottom to top.","The wrapping and weaving process for each chair lasts about eight hours and requires about 2,000 feet of rattan vine threads.","When the caner reaches the end of a rattan vine, she fastens a new coil to the first one.","She staples the threads together and closes them tight with a pair of needle-nose pliers.","She continues wrapping the back frame.","She tightens the wrapping around the frame, leaving no gap between the cane strands.","She then tucks the final strand underneath one of the rails.","She now starts the weaving process moving from left to right, using the wrapping as a base grid for the pattern.","Each thread passes over three, then goes under three.","She turns the frame over to weave the back of the frame in the same fashion.","The challenge is to keep the weaving straight and sleek to give it the classic herringbone finish.","A carpenter attaches side stretchers to the front posts, which are already assembled to the front rounds.","He hammers the pieces in with a rubber mallet and assembles the seat frame with the back posts.","There's no need for glue.","The seat caning will solidify the rocker's structure.","A caner uses the same rattan vine that was used on the back to wrap the seat frame.","He makes sure there are no gaps between the strands of cane before he starts weaving the herringbone pattern.","He weaves the over-under pattern in the center of the seat, where there's more slack in the wrapping.","Then he pushes the threads up with a wooden wedge to tighten the caning as much as possible.","Straps reinforce the structure of the chair before the seat frame is caned.","To ensure authenticity, a carpenter brands the left armrest of each chair with the original branding iron used by the company since 1875.","He hammers the armrest into the back post.","Then he aligns the spokes of the front post with the hole in the armrest.","A clamp keeps the back and front post aligned while he inserts the armrest.","A wooden wedge in the spoke prevents the armrest from disconnecting from the front post over time.","The carpenter hammers it in with a steel hammer.","The wedge replaces the need for glue and ensures a snug fit between the armrest and the front post.","The carpenter secures the armrest to the chair by drilling a solid brass carriage bolt through the back post.","With a belt sander, he levels the wedge and front post with the armrest and makes it smooth to the touch.","Before the runners, or rockers, are assembled to the base, the carpenter stains the chair.","The oil-based stain protects the wood and brings out the natural grain of the solid oak frame.","The stain is then sealed with two coats of clear varnish that will endure high humidity levels, sun, and climate changes.","The carpenter assembles the runner to the base and measures the distance to the front post.","This ensures an even rocking movement on every chair.","He fastens them with brass carriage bolts.","The finished chairs will endure the test of time and provide comfortable seating options for both indoors and outdoors.","Wheels with wire spokes ruled the highways until the 1970s, when they were replaced by cast alloy ones.","But factories still make wire wheels for the classic car market and for drivers who want to use them to customize their ride.","Wire wheels suspend the weight of a car with flexible metal spokes arranged in a specific geometric pattern.","They start with an aluminum alloy disc.","A factory worker clamps the disc in a metal spinning machine.","This machine shapes metal as if it were a piece of clay.","It spins the disc at a high speed, while a series of tools press it to a round form.","It takes 20 minutes to transform the flat disc into a wheel rim, complete with a bead for the tire.","The process also causes the metal to undergo molecular transformation, and it becomes stronger.","After polishing, a worker moves the rim under a tool that punches dimples in it.","The dimples will accommodate nuts that will be used to secure the spokes.","He drills into the dimples to create holes for attaching the spokes.","He angles the holes slightly so that the spokes sit correctly.","He stamps the wheel's design number and other identifying information into the outer edge of the wheel rim.","By now, the wheel's steel centerpiece has also taken shape.","An employee turns it for even spacing, as a tool repeatedly punctures it.","This creates rows of small holes in both the inner ring and outer flange.","He then drills those holes larger to prepare for the spokes to be assembled to the part.","At the next station, a worker inserts spokes into a press that bends its ends with hooks.","The angle of the hook varies depending on the part of the wheel the spoke is to be assembled to.","He adjusts the settings on the press to achieve the different bends.","Then it's over to an automatic blade that cuts the spokes to length.","This also varies.","They cut outer spokes longer and inner ones shorter.","He now places the ends of the spokes in a device that rolls them against a cutting block.","It carves threads in the metal in mere seconds.","With the spokes now hooked, cut, and threaded, the wire wheel is ready for assembly.","The employee hooks the appropriate spokes into the holes in the centerpiece.","He places the aluminum rim around the centerpiece.","He attaches the threaded ends of the spokes to the rim using steel nuts that fit into the tapered holes.","He screws them loosely into place.","He configures the spokes in a criss-cross geometric pattern, specified by the engineers.","This pattern is designed for strength and flexibility, but it also gives the wheel a visual appeal.","Once he's laced all the spokes from the centerpiece to the rim, he tightens the fittings.","This secures the assembly, but it's not the final torque.","They now transfer the loosely assembled wire wheel to a shaft and turn a crank to lower the centerpiece within the rim.","This brings the spokes into the correct position, and a worker tightens them substantially.","All 72 of them.","He does the final tweaking by hand.","Seven hours in the making, this wire wheel is now ready to roll.","With the rubber tire attached, he secures the wheel to the car using a single large nut.","It's called a knockoff nut because you simply knock it off to change the tire.","It's just one of the things that makes the wire wheel a classic choice."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Halogen Bulbs","Cellulose Insulation","Aluminum Ladders","Bamboo Fly Rods"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Halogen bulbs...","Cellulose insulation...","Aluminum ladders...","And bamboo fly rods.","Halogen headlights are an example of technological progress.","The halogen bulbs throw cool, white light that mimics daylight, illuminating the road ahead.","And because they're energy-efficient, they don't burn out too often.","That's a plus when you're trying to keep your eyes on the road.","To make a halogen headlight, mechanical jaws load three lead wires into a machine.","A gripper moves in and bends the wires at the bottom.","Meanwhile, a conveyer system feeds little glass rods to a burner.","The softened glass is now pressed under either side of the lead wires, encasing them.","Next, a welding head fuses tungsten coils to the lead-wire assembly.","The coil is the filament, the part of the bulb that emits light.","Over at another station, a mechanical arm loads a glass tube into a machine head.","A burner aims a flame at the center to soften it up.","Then mechanical heads pull the glass at both ends as the burner continues to fire heat at the middle.","This creates a neck in the tube.","Now mechanical arms position the coil-and-lead-wire assembly under the newly shaped glass tubes.","Grippers lower the glass tube over them so they sit under the neck.","Burners move in and encircle the glass at the bottom, softening it.","Then a press seals the glass around the lead wires, which protrude from the bottom.","Next, a test-- an electrode sparks the lead wires.","When the capsule illuminates, it means there's ambient air inside that would interfere with the bulb's function.","Vacuums at the top of the bulb suck out all the air and contaminants.","Then nozzles spray liquid nitrogen onto the bulb.","This freezes it inside and out, creating a pressure difference.","That change in pressure pulls halogen gas into the bulb from a chamber above.","Allowing no time for the gas to escape, burners heat-seal the bulb at the neck.","The bulbs then cool as they move on a transfer chain.","Grippers now load the bulbs into another machine.","A pusher moves up and snaps a steel retainer around the bottom of each bulb.","Meanwhile, another machine builds the base for the bulb.","It pushes electrical contacts into the plastic receptacle.","This is the view from the bottom.","These prongs will eventually connect the headlight to the vehicle.","Next, jaws flip the bases.","They load them onto a tray on tracks.","The tray delivers the plastic bases to a mechanical arm that installs metal retainers on each one.","The bases slide forward, and the machine inserts the glass bulbs into them.","But it's a loose fit.","This machine aligns each bulb to its base.","Jaws tilt and slide it into place, then a laser welds it together.","This alignment is critical.","Coils for the low-beam and high-beam mechanisms must be precisely positioned for the headlight to project the right light.","Next, a series of claws pick up the bulbs.","They dip them in an opaque coating.","It's called blacktop because it only covers the tops of the bulbs.","This will direct light out of the sides of the bulb.","Now it's time to take these headlights for a test-drive, so to speak.","A bracket holds them down while probes underneath energize them to make sure they work.","A plunger places a gasket around the base.","This will seal the headlight capsule to the automobile.","And now they're ready to guide you on your nighttime drives.","Insulation keeps your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.","One type of insulation material is cellulose fiber made from recycled paper.","It's derived from a natural source, wood fiber, so it's nonpolluting.","It contains no asbestos, no fiberglass, and there's no formaldehyde in it, so it doesn't emit any gases.","Like other insulation materials, cellulose fiber has to meet strict government safety standards.","One firesafety test assesses what's called smolder resistance.","The company lab weighs a sample from the production line, then inserts a lit cigarette in it.","Once the cigarette burns out, which takes an hour or two, the lab weighs the sample again.","The weight loss must be less than 15%.","How they make cellulose insulation isn't very complicated.","It all begins with recycled paper delivered in bulk.","Workers load it onto a conveyor belt, and from that point on, the entire process is automated.","The paper first goes into a machine called the primary mixer.","It separates the bunched-up pieces, preparing them for shredding.","The machine's powerful magnet removes staples, paper clips, and any other pieces of metal.","From there, the paper goes into a shredder, which rips it into pieces about 2 inches long.","The factory mixes the shredded paper with boric acid, a natural compound that acts as a fire retardant.","It also makes the insulation pest-resistant, and it helps fend off mold, wood decay, and corrosion.","Now a machine called a fiberizer shreds the paper into tiny pieces only about 1/8 of an inch long, and it mixes them with more boric acid.","From the time the recycled paper arrives by truck to the time it comes off the line as cellulose-fiber insulation, only about five minutes have passed.","But the insulation doesn't leave the factory before undergoing thorough safety testing.","This test assesses what's called open flammability.","They heat the insulation to 122 degrees fahrenheit to represent the temperature of a roof in the hot sun.","Then they ignite it.","The flame travels but then dies out, thanks to the boric acid.","If that happens within a certain distance, the insulation is safe.","Outside research firms also test the product for safety to independently corroborate the results of the company's tests.","The automated packaging equipment blows 25 pounds of insulation into a bag, at the same time compressing the fiber into a block.","Some types of thermal insulation come as thick rectangular blankets known as batts.","You install them by hand, fitting them snugly between the wall studs.","Cellulose fiber doesn't come in batts.","It's known as loose-fill insulation.","A professional installer has to inject it in between the walls.","By spraying it under pressure, it fills all the spaces without any gaps, something that's hard to do with pre-shaped batts.","Insulating performance is referred to as r-value.","The higher the r-value, the more effective the insulation.","Cellulose-fiber insulation has a higher r-value than loose-fill mineral-fiber insulation and, depending on which statistics you're looking at, has either the same r-value as loose-fill fiberglass or a higher r-value than fiberglass.","Cellulose fiber is denser than other materials, so it better resists air movement, making it less likely to move out of place after installation.","The aluminum ladder is very convenient.","Lightweight and sturdy, it makes any ascent easier.","Back in the 1930s, wooden ladders were the standard but were extremely heavy and difficult to position.","The use of aluminum took things to a whole new level.","For a ladder to really hold up, the aluminum needs to be strengthened with these ingredients-- silicon, magnesium, manganese, and copper.","It all goes into an enormous furnace.","It takes a crane to transport a hopper full of aluminum over to the furnace.","The hopper opens at the bottom to unload.","A worker opens a door at the front of the furnace.","He wears a face shield to protect him from the blistering 1,300 degrees fahrenheit.","He adds the other ingredients, and the heat turns it all into a liquid mass.","The liquid flows out of the furnace into troughs.","It seeps through holes in the troughs to molds in the ground.","The liquid cools and hardens in the molds.","This makes log shapes that are almost 23 feet in length.","A hydraulic lift extracts them from the molds and slowly takes them to the next station.","You wouldn't want to rush this job.","Each log weighs about 1,100 pounds, and dropping one could do serious damage.","A saw cuts them into pellets.","The size depends on the type of ladder being made.","A mechanical lift delivers a heated pellet to an extruder, and a ram pushes it into the opening.","They move the die plate into position.","The ram forces the hot pellet through the holes in the die plate.","This makes a rail shape about 130 feet long.","A puller drags the rail onto a table and leaves it to cool and harden.","Then a circular saw slices it into manageable lengths--  19 1/2 feet.","Operators feed each end of the ladder rail to jaw systems which pull it to make it completely straight.","The straightened rails now move on to the next station, where they rivet plastic feet onto the ends to keep the ladder from slipping.","They stick safety information onto the rails.","And now they assemble the ladder one step at a time.","Workers fit each step in the rims of the ladder rails.","They rivet them into place.","This will be the front of a light-duty stepladder.","They install a diagonal brace...","And turn the ladder over to rivet the steps from the other side.","It's a little more reinforcement.","Then they build the backside of the stepladder.","They rivet the sturdy blue plastic top onto the front and back pieces, joining the two.","They install a spreader, securing it with rivets, as well.","And now this stepladder is ready to provide a little elevation.","For a lot of elevation, they make extension ladders.","They use round rungs for greater strength.","They feed each rung to a coining machine, which tapers the ends.","Another machine presses aluminum ferrules on rings onto each end.","This allows the rungs to fit snugly into slots in the extension ladder's side rails.","Hydraulic arms reach from above and below to press-fit the rungs into the side rails.","Finally, workers rivet rubber pads onto the ends of the rails.","This provides a firm footing for the ladder.","These ladders are now complete.","And if you're on your way up in the world, they'll come in handy.","The bamboo fly rod is a classic.","The split-bamboo rod has been around since the early 19th century, and for many years, it was the only kind of rod available.","These days, synthetic rods abound, but bamboo still holds a traditional appeal to those that like to fish the old-fashioned way.","Going fishing?","A bamboo rod is considered a work of art in fly-fishing circles.","To make one, a craftsman toasts a bamboo pole on an open flame.","He holds it close to the fire, but not too close-- one false move, and he could scorch it.","The goal is to turn the bamboo a golden brown.","He pounds a wedge into the toasted bamboo and drives it down the length of the pole.","He pulls the pole apart, splitting it in two.","Then he continues to split the bamboo, making strips that are less than a half-inch in width.","He grinds down the bumps on the exterior of each bamboo strip using a belt sander.","Next, it's over to the milling machine.","It tapers the underside of the bamboo strip, beveling it to a 60-degree angle from end to end.","The tapering is a critical step that will affect the rod's casting performance.","Each strip has to be perfect.","The rod maker inspects them for flaws...","And then fits six together in a hexagonal configuration.","He wraps them with cotton twine to hold them together very loosely at one end.","Then he dips the bamboo strips in a tank of thermosetting glue.","He feeds them to a twining machine which binds the strips tightly together.","It's a temporary wrap--  a kind of clamp to hold the pieces together while the glue dries.","The pieces are now laminated into one, but the result is never perfectly straight, so the rod maker heats it over an open flame.","The heat softens the bamboo so he can smooth out the kinks.","Next, he glues ferrules made from nickel silver onto the laminated bamboo pieces.","This tubing will be used to connect the tip and butt pieces of the rod.","The butt section now turns on a lathe while a blade cuts into it.","It's slimming down sections to accommodate the handle and reel seat.","He slips on the walnut reel seat and then slides cork rings onto the rod to make the handle.","He glues each ring.","It takes 12 to 14 to make a handle for the typical bamboo rod.","It will allow for a soft, nonslip grip.","Once the glue hardens, he shapes the cork on a lathe.","He sands it to give an even finish.","Next, he heats glue over a flame.","He applies the hot glue to the stainless-steel tip and sticks it on the narrow end of the rod.","With black india ink, he inscribes the model and serial number onto the rod.","Now they coat it with varnish, using a turkey baster.","He hangs the rods to dry.","It will take three coats to give them a nice gloss.","After that, they wind silk thread to attach the steel guides to the rod.","They're the loops that the fishing line will go through.","They brush three coats of varnish onto the string.","This solidifies the wrap...","And fuses it to the rod.","They slide a ring onto the reel seat.","It provides a little separation from the cork grip.","They fit the butt and tip pieces of the bamboo rod together and do a final inspection.","It has taken 40 hours to make this bamboo fly rod.","But it shouldn't take you that long to catch the big one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ski Goggles","Tower Cranes","Porcelain Figurines","Diesel Engines"]},"text":["Fog and blinding snow can obscure the view from the top of a ski mountain, but a good pair of ski goggles can add some clarity to the situation.","They shield the eyes from the elements, and certain lenses add contrast in low light to allow the skier to see the bumps and dips ahead.","Goggle lenses come in different tints to adjust for specific weather scenarios.","They start with this injection molding machine.","The operator sprays a nonstick substance into the mold and closes the door.","The machine sucks up urethane pellets, then melts them into a thick liquid to mold into goggle frames.","It takes just seconds for the shape to harden.","A worker clips away unwanted bits, and then he's ready to give these goggles a more graphic look.","He immerses the cellophane-like material, printed side down, in a mix of water and solvent.","A chemical reaction lifts the graphic design off the film and suspends it in the liquid.","He sprays solvent on the other side to both activate a bonding agent and dissolve the film.","He then immerses a rack of goggle frames in the floating graphic.","The surface tension of the water causes the graphic pattern to wrap around the frames, and the bonding agent makes it stick.","This technique is called hydrographics, and it's a good way to transfer a pattern onto a three-dimensional surface.","He washes away any paint or dirt from the surface of the frames.","A clear lacquer is the finishing touch.","For an understated look, there's always monochromatic white.","A worker applies glue around the vents of a pair, then presses foam onto them.","The foam will keep snow out of the goggles but allow air to be vented to prevent fogging.","She applies thicker foam around the perimeter for a weather-tight fit on the skier's face.","Once the straps are installed, the goggles are ready for the latest innovation, a microelectronic fan.","It will pull warm, humid air out of the goggles to further of the goggles to further prevent fogging.","Prevent fogging.","He screws the mini fan to the frames and listens to it spin to confirm its operating correctly.","Next, a machine cuts shapes out of polycarbonate to make lenses.","Then, this special press applies heat to bend the lens.","This shape will make it easier to secure the lens to the frame, and it also reduces optical and it also reduces optical distortion.","Distortion.","Production now moves to this liner-backed foam with precut lens patterns.","The worker peels off a strip to expose a goggle-shaped strip of foam.","She then presses a colored lens onto the strip.","High-strength adhesive on the foam bonds to the lens.","She pulls away the rest of the material, leaving that narrow ribbon of foam.","It will serve as spacer between the outer-colored lens and an inner clear one.","The space between the two lenses is a buffer zone to prevent condensation buildup and fogging.","Now they shoot a steel pellet at a randomly-selected pair of goggles.","It doesn't shatter, which means it will effectively shield the skier's eyes from sharp objects like tree branches and ski poles.","It's time to snap the dual-layer lens to the frame's molded groove.","A u.v. mirror coating has also been applied to protect the eyes from the sun's rays and reduce glare.","These goggles have everything covered, leaving the skier free to focus on the thrill of the to focus on the thrill of the ride.","Ride.","A tower crane moves building materials up to construction crews working above the ground.","The operator's cabin is near the top.","Just above that is the jib, which hoists the load and trolleys it back and forth.","The jib and cabin rotate on a turntable called a slueing platform.","A crane's tower is modular, meaning the more tower sections installation crews add, the taller the crane.","At the crane factory, workers construct the slueing platform by welding together huge steel plates and square tubes.","Welders also fuse sections of ladder to sections of safety cage.","Then they weld each ladder and cage unit to a tower section.","Throughout the assembly process, robots perform the simpler welds.","Once all the crane's structural components are welded, they go to the paint shop for an anticorrosion primer, then a top coat of paint.","After each application, the part dries in an oven for about an hour at 175 degrees.","The slueing platform sits on a turning mechanism that consists of two concentric rings with ball bearings in between.","Computer-guided machines grind teeth on the outside and grooves on the inside in which the bearings will ride.","After lubricating the grooves, workers install the outer ring around the inner one.","Then they fill the groove with steel balls and high-strength plastic spacers.","This allows the outer rim to revolve smoothly around the stationary inner ring.","The operator cabin is made of steel panels.","It's integrated into the slueing platform.","The cabin's large windows enable the operator to view how the jib is maneuvering the load.","The crane's controls are built right into the cabin seat.","The seat itself is designed to be as comfortable as possible because you can't step out of because you can't step out of the cab to stretch your legs.","The cab to stretch your legs.","A motorized gear rotates the slueing ring which rotates the slueing platform, supporting the crane's cabin and jib.","The factory's computer-guided machining equipment makes all the parts for this gear as well as for the gears which enable the jib to hoist and trolley the load.","Workers assemble the slueing gear and mount the motor that drives it.","Then they connect the slueing gear to the slueing ring and mount the ring on the slueing platform into which they've platform into which they've installed the cabin.","Installed the cabin.","An automatic greasing system keeps the ring's teeth lubricated as it rotates the platform.","After an extensive test, they install the tower head on top of the cabin.","Now this entire slueing unit goes off to the construction site.","After anchoring the crane's base, the installers use a mobile crane to mount the slueing unit on the tower and the jib onto the slueing unit.","Then they add tower sections to build the crane to the required height.","An elevating device lifts the slueing unit, clearing enough space underneath to insert an additional tower section.","They connect the tower sections with giant high-strength bolts.","Then, repeat this procedure until the crane is as high as it needs to be.","Once the crane is fully erected, the operator climbs the tower ladder up to the cabin.","As he works, he observes what he's doing through the windows.","He also watches a computer monitor which displays how the jib is hoisting, trolleying, and depositing the load.","He can communicate with the ground via phone or walkie-talkie so things are walkie-talkie so things are never left up in the air.","Never left up in the air.","Europe is renowned for producing magnificent porcelain figurines even though it was the chinese who first invented the art.","In 1718, the first european factories began making ornate porcelain objects, which quickly became a status symbol among the nobility.","This viennese palace is home to europe's second oldest manufacturer of handmade porcelain.","Following photos of a subject, a modeler sculpts a three-dimensional figure out of clay.","Not only must he include all the intricate details, he also has to make the model 14% larger than the final size because porcelain shrinks during the firing process.","He uses the model to cast a master mold out of plaster.","From the master mold, he casts a plastic mold and from that, plaster production molds with which to cast the figurines.","In its raw form, porcelain is a paste which contains water, the minerals feldspar and quartz, and white kaolin, a type of clay.","They water down the paste into a liquid called slip, then pour it into the plaster production molds.","The plaster immediately begins drawing out the water, causing a firm layer of slip to form against the mold cavity.","They pour out the remaining liquid.","When the slip layer is finally thick enough, they open the mold and carefully extract what is by now a figurine with fine details.","More complex figurines are cast in parts, each in its own mold.","The modeler carefully touches up each casting, scraping off seams and fine-tuning the details.","Then, he assembles the parts, using a slip to stick them using a slip to stick them together.","Together.","It's critical to keep the figurine hydrated because if it dries out even slightly, it will crack during firing.","The figurine goes through two main firings.","The first time at over 1,700 degrees-- hot enough to harden the porcelain but also keep the surface porous so the glaze will adhere.","They inspect and dust the fired figurine then stamp it with coat of arms in cobalt-blue enamel.","The mark as described this brand of austrian porcelain since 1744.","Then they dip the figurine in glaze-- a mixture of water and several materials, including quartz, feldspar, kaolin and ground-up porcelain.","Then, into the kiln again, this time over 2,500 degrees.","This bakes the glaze to a glassy finish and further hardens the porcelain.","The figurine exits this firing about 14% smaller as the remaining moisture has evaporated.","Once it cools, they begin decorating the figurine.","Using a variety of fine-tipped pens and brushes, an artist paints enamel onto the glazed paints enamel onto the glazed surface.","Surface.","Between paint applications, depending on the number of colors and intricacy of color blending, the figurine undergoes as many as six minor firings at 1,500 degrees.","This melts the vitreous ingredient in the enamel fusing it with the glaze.","The end result is rich, permanent color that never fades.","Despite its delicate appearance, porcelain is nearly as strong as steel when under compression, but it's not nearly as resistant to impacts, so when handling these magnificent works of ceramic art, a good grip is ceramic art, a good grip is highly recommended.","Highly recommended.","Drivers looking for greener cars, but with more powerful acceleration than hybrids deliver, can opt for a vehicle that runs on diesel.","Today's diesel fuel burns as cleanly as gasoline, yet diesel-powered cars are 30% more fuel efficient than gas-powered cars, meaning they consume less fuel and, therefore, pollute less.","The secret behind this car's powerful diesel engine is a turbocharger.","It compresses the air entering the engine's combustion chambers filling them with a greater quantity of air.","The more air, the better the fuel burns, generating extra power.","The engine assembly begins with a v-shaped block with two sets of three cylindrical holes called cylinders.","Robots first mount a retaining frame to support the crankshaft.","Each cylinder will contain a piston that moves up and down with the combustion cycle.","This piston motion will turn the crankshaft which, in turn, will move the whole vehicle.","But first, a laser-beam device hones the cylinders.","The laser's heat melts the surface of the inner walls, smoothing them.","This ensures the pistons will move with minimal friction.","Meanwhile, a robot oils up the crankshaft's main bearings.","Then, once the cylinder honing is done, workers install the crankshaft at the bottom of the engine block, locking it in position with a retaining frame.","Now they flip the engine block right side up to install the pistons, which are already attached to connecting rods.","Once all six pistons are in, they turn the engine block upside down again and fasten each connecting rod around the crankshaft.","Next, they connect the chain drive to one end of the crankshaft.","The chain drive operates camshafts that open and close the valves on top of the cylinders.","Those valves are located in these cylinder heads, four valves per cylinder-- two through which air enters the combustion chamber and two through which exhaust exits following each combustion cycle.","Workers flip the heads upside down and insert long bolts.","Then they position the heads over the cylinders, aligning the bolts with holes in the engine block.","Robots drive in the bolts to a specific tightness.","This caps each cylinder, closing its combustion chamber.","Next, workers install a fuel injector into special shafts in each cylinder head.","Injectors shoot a specific amount of fuel into the combustion chambers at precisely the right time.","These cutting-edge piezo injectors do that multiple times per cycle rather than just once, making the combustion process much smoother.","The engine, therefore, is quieter and pollutes less.","The next component is the air-intake manifold.","It goes on top of the engine.","Air enters on the left and, as this animation shows, runs to the intake valves on top of the cylinders.","It's time to install this engine's secret weapon, the turbocharger.","It contains two turbine wheels that spin at nearly 200,000 rpm.","One turbine compresses air entering the air-intake manifold.","The other draws out the hot exhaust and sends it out the car's exhaust pipe.","The turbocharger sits at the rear of the engine block in the \"v\" between the cylinders.","Over at the testing department, technicians analyze the engine's performance, in particular, its torque, which determines how much power the engine can produce.","Next, the engine goes into a test vehicle which runs through specific driving cycles that simulate both highway and city conditions, all the while collecting the emissions exiting out the exhaust pipe.","This test insures that the engine meets or exceeds all the engine meets or exceeds all the emission standards.","Emission standards.","Not only does the turbocharger give the car better acceleration, it also solves a common problem in high-altitude regions, where decreased atmospheric pressure slows down nonturbo engines.","Because turbocharging compresses the air going into the engine, even at high altitudes, the car even at high altitudes, the car drives at full power.","Drives at full power."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Commercial Drones","Aquarium Fish","Runway Cleaners","Shuttlecocks"]},"text":["A commercial drone is a small, unmanned aircraft with an onboard camera it can capture a bird's-eye view of the ground, collecting up-to-the-minute data useful for many types of applications.","They're used to plan infrastructure projects, overseeing natural resources, or manage farmland.","Spanning about five feet and a half in diameter, this commercial drone is known as an octocopter it has eight rotors, which enable it to maneuver in the air like a helicopter.","The drone's components are made of carbon fiber, a highly stiff, strong, and durable material carbon fiber is also lightweight, a critical factor in aviation.","Computer-guided milling machine cuts the parts.","A technician manually sands their edges smooth.","This component is half of one of the drone's legs.","The mill also cuts out the top and bottom frames for the drone's body.","Technicians then assemble the two halves of each leg.","Some of the drone's components are produced by a 3-d printer, the printer builds each part layer by layer out of a thin stream of plastic.","This is one of the drone's eight arm receptacles.","A technician bores the hole where the arm will be fitted.","The hole must be precise to ensure a secure fit.","After verifying its diameter with digital calipers, the technician installs the back part of the receptacle and the lever that clamps the inserted arm firmly in place.","He attaches an electronic speed controller to one end.","Then, he screws the receptacle to the bottom frame of the drone's body.","The wires coming out the other end of the controller connect to an electrical power harness and to the autopilot.","The autopilot is the onboard computer that runs the drone.","He installs the seven remaining receptacles, then the power harness.","It has eight connectors, one for each electronic speed controller.","Next, he attaches the top frame, then the payload mount that holds the camera and hard drive.","He links the payload mount to this servomotor, which is guided by the autopilot.","The drone's body is protected by a cover.","Workers mount a sheet of plastic on a vacuum former machine.","They start up the machine's heating element and position the plastic just beneath it.","This gradually heats the plastic to a malleable state.","Once the plastic is soft, they position a wooden mold on the machine, activate the suction, then drop the sheet onto the mold.","The vacuum draws the plastic tightly against it.","They let the vacuum-formed plastic to cool and harden, then carefully trim off the excess they cut out a rough opening for the payload mount through that opening, they secure the cover to the computer-guided milling machine, which finalizes the shape to precise specifications.","Once the cover is finished, they install it on the top frame.","They attach the four legs to the bottom frame.","Then, they install the camera on to the payload mount.","The mount pivots to angle the camera at the ground.","They insert and clamp the arms into the receptacles.","Each arm is a carbon fiber tube with a plastic rotor that's driven by a small motor underneath.","Upon inserting an arm, its motor makes contact with its electronic speed controller.","They also install the autopilot, the autopilot executes the programmed flight path and operates the camera, the servomotor that moves the payload, and the electronic speed controllers.","The drone operator can communicate wirelessly with the autopilot using a remote control.","But it's more common to program the gps coordinates of the drone's route prior to takeoff.","Aquariums have been around for hundreds of years.","Even now, having a body of water in a glass box seems like magic.","The most common aquarium fish is the goldfish, domesticated in china more than 1,000 years ago.","Goldfish are a type of carp native to asia.","They tend to be silver or gray in color.","But ancient chinese breeders took advantage of orange and yellow mutations to breed a gold-colored fish.","Like all fish, aquarium goldfish start life as eggs.","To start the breeding process, a worker separates the males from the females.","Telling the girls from the boys can be difficult.","But if she finds eggs, there's no question.","It must be female.","The eggs fall to the bottom.","This facility harvests around 1,000 eggs a day.","Adding oxygen helps the eggs mature.","A week later, the eggs hatch.","The hatchlings are called fry.","By the second week, they're little fish.","Not all of them are the typical orange color even after centuries of breeding, many of them are still silver and gray.","As the fry increase in size, workers must transfer them from buckets to larger holding tanks.","This facility sells fish at different stages of growth.","Here, a worker selects a particular size to sell.","Once the selection process is complete, she transfers the selected fish to a bag for transportation.","She adds air so the fish will have enough oxygen during transport.","A worker tosses dry food into a series of ponds.","Each pond is roughly 100 square feet and holds about 500 fish.","The food provides the nutrients needed for growth.","A worker checks the fish tanks for signs of illness, such as parasites or fungus.","He carefully portions out and adds a liquid known as methylene blue.","It's an anti-fungal treatment.","These 1-year-old fish are a different type of carp known as koi.","Koi were first bred in japan for their color and pattern variations.","A worker isolates a quantity of koi with a specially designed shallow net.","This allows her to select the right-sized fish to bag for sale.","The bagged fish await transport to the market.","It's time to prepare the bags of goldfish for shipping.","A worker empties a batch of them into a netting suspended in water.","A team of workers sort through the goldfish.","They select the fish that meet the size criteria and use spoons to transfer them to a bucket.","To prepare fish for shipment, workers dip them in a green solution.","They then rinse them in clear water before bagging them again.","The green solution contains a specially calibrated medication that helps reduce stress during transport.","Next, a worker adds air to the bag, ensuring the fish have plenty of oxygen while en route.","The fish have been double bagged for protection.","A second worker squeezes out some of the oxygen so the bag won't take up too much room, then seals the top of both layers.","A packer carefully loads four bags into a styrofoam box.","The box provides a rigid casing to protect the fish while insulating them against temperature fluctuations during transport.","This facility also sells whole aquariums already populated with fish.","A worker inspects a row of aquariums, assessing the size and quality of the fish while checking for any signs of disease.","The facility sells 50,000 fish a week, or to two million every year.","When a plane lands, the tires burn rubber that melts into the pavement.","This can make the runway slick when wet.","Special cleaning machines ensure that the runway is always clean and clear for takeoff and landing.","They blast off the rubber streaks, then suction the rubber bits into tanks.","A runway-cleaning machine is a serious power washer.","It pressurizes hot water to at least 20 times the force of the average power washer.","The spray heads are designed specifically for blasting away aircraft tire rubber that's melted into airstrip pavement.","They ensure airports are a safe place to land.","Making one starts with the hydraulic motors that spin the sprayers.","A technician inserts a shaft that will hold the spray bar into a motor unit.","He installs sealing cylinders to prevent hydraulic oils from leaking.","He tops the assembly with a metal plate.","The plate serves as a base for thrust bearings, which he installs next.","Ceiling caps complete the thrust bearing assembly.","A computerized test system now measures the motor's torque and the flow of hydraulic fluids.","The system also simulates the force of the highly pressurized water to confirm that the thrust bearings will keep the motor stable.","A powerful water-jet tool carves through steel to produce the components for the arm that holds the runway cleaner's spray heads.","A worker then fits the steel plates together.","He welds the seams to create permanent bonds.","And this completes the stray arm's structure.","After the arm has been sandblasted and painted, they hoist it to the front of the runway-cleaning truck.","They attach it with large, zinc-coated steel bolts.","A worker then mounts hydraulic motors to a long, wheeled bracket.","He removed the sealing caps before this installation to make it easier.","Once the motors have been secured to the bracket, he replaces the caps.","He attaches the wheeled bracket to the spray arm and installs metal shrouds for the sprayers.","They have fringes of nylon bristles to contain the spray.","He fastens rotating sealers to the hole in the center of each shroud to keep out dirt and water.","He screws the spray bars to the shafts that extend from the motors.","The nozzles are made of sapphire, a tough mineral that can withstand the force of the pressurized spray.","The next worker runs vacuum hoses to the shrouds and connects them using cam and groove couplings.","The sprayer assemblies are now complete.","The team lowers a large gearbox between the frame rails of the truck.","They bolt it to the rails.","This gearbox will transfer power from the truck engine to a high-pressure pump and the vacuum.","The pump and vacuum systems have been assembled into one big module.","A technician tests the belt and pulley that will connect to the gearbox.","It's in good, working order, so they cover the system with steel casing for safety reasons.","This module is ready to be assembled to the runway cleaner truck.","It weighs 2 1/2 tons, so a crane does the heavy lifting.","Workers then build a tank that's as tall as they are.","This tank will contain the rubber bits vacuumed off the runway, along with the water used in the cleaning process.","Once it's been painted, they assemble it to the chassis next to the clean water tanks.","Moving inside the truck cab, a worker installs controls for the runway cleaner's operation.","One console has a joystick for manipulating the position of the spray heads.","Other switches are for the operation of the water pump and vacuum.","Runway cleaners can also be used to erase painted lines when landing strips need to be reconfigured.","Just adjust the nozzle size and forward speed, and, like the rubber streaks, the lines disappear.","People have been playing games with shuttlecocks for millennia.","In the mid-19th century, the british created the game badminton, in which players hit a shuttlecock back and forth over a net.","Made of feathers and cork, the shuttlecock predates badminton by thousands of years.","Many people are familiar with the plastic shuttlecocks used for badminton games in backyards everywhere.","But serious players use the original feathered shuttlecock.","This facility uses duck feathers to build their shuttlecocks.","Workers start by aligning them with the feather side up and storing them in cups in preparation for the next phase of production.","Having the feathers aligned makes it easier for a worker to feed them, one by one, into a specialized sorting machine.","This device has 26 different sensors that measure each feather.","The feathers must be a specific size and have a precise angle.","The machine sorts feathers of the same size and angle into different bins.","Sometimes, the sensors are unable to measure certain feathers, those feathers fall into a separate bin.","A worker uses a special chart to measure them by hand.","The tips of these shuttlecocks are made of cork and synthetic foam covered with white leather.","It's time to start assembling the shuttlecocks.","Each shuttlecock has 16 feathers, which must all be precisely the same length.","The punching machine begins the assembly process.","It starts by punching 16 holes in the perimeter of the shuttlecock tip.","The worker feeding the feathers into the device must keep pace with the machine.","A worker uses flat-nose pliers to adjust the angle of each feather.","She then places the shuttlecocks inside a miniature wind tunnel to see if they're properly balanced.","On some shuttlecocks, each feather might have a slightly different angle to maximize balance.","Once the angle of the feathers has been adjusted, they're transferred to a machine that applies a bead of glue around the interior perimeter of the shuttlecock tip.","This secures the feathers in place.","To further stabilize the feathers, workers place them in a specialized sewing machine that binds them securely together with two rows of thread.","The threads stitch each feather to the next.","This process strengthens the shuttlecocks, helping them maintain their shape even when they're getting slammed back and forth over a net.","When the machine has finished stitching a shuttlecock, a worker ties off the thread to keep it from unraveling and cuts off the excess.","Finally, she evens out the thread rows.","With the threads in place, the shuttlecocks must undergo a final tuning.","A worker once again adjusts the feathers to ensure proper balance.","A machine applies glue to the threads on the shuttlecock, locking them in place to give them the necessary rigidity.","The thread is made to quickly absorb glue.","A worker applies a green strip, which indicates a slow-speed shuttlecock.","Medium-speed shuttlecocks get a blue strip.","Fast ones are red.","It's time for quality-control testing.","A machine equipped with a racket-like arm fires the shuttlecocks to a waiting worker.","Shuttlecocks can travel at speeds as high as 300 feet a second.","That's twice as fast as a pitcher can throw a baseball.","Once the shuttlecocks have passed the quality-control test, a worker inserts 12 at a time into long cardboard tubes similar to those used to hold tennis balls.","With its 16 feathers, it's no wonder the shuttlecock is also known as a birdie.","These high-quality products are ready to fly."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Stuffed Olives","Astrolabes","Western Saddles"]},"text":["Several millennia before it ever adorned a martini, the olive and its oil were central to many ancient economies.","Today, olives remain as popular as ever.","Not only are they tasty, they're also healthy, low in calories and cholesterol and high in dietary fiber and iron.","Olives are inedible unless they're pickled.","These gourmet olives are stuffed by hand with all kinds of fillings, from almonds to garlic cloves, even blue cheese.","Straight from the field, they go into barrels of brine.","For nine months, they ferment.","Their hard and bitter flesh becoming softer and sweeter.","Then it's on to a conveyor that takes them to the cleaning area, where workers remove leaves and other debris.","Next, they drop on to a belted conveyor.","The openings between the belts gradually widen.","As an olive reaches an opening exceeding its width, it falls through into a barrel below.","By the time the olives reach the end of the conveyor, they're all sorted by size, from small to extra large.","The next stop is the pitting room.","The first phase of the pitting operation is a spinning drum with olive-sized pockets lining its perimeter.","As the drum rotates, an olive settles into each pocket.","This lines them up so that they exit the drum in a line onto the conveyor that transports them to the pitting machine.","The machine pits 900 olives per minute.","Let's slow it down to show you what happens.","A coring knife enters one end of the olive, pushing the pit out the other end.","As the pit exits, it creates a hole that's just the perfect size for the stuffing.","Next, a quality inspection.","Workers weed out any olives that aren't perfect.","Then it's off to the stuffing department.","These beauties are being stuffed with pickled garlic gloves.","The stuffer cuts the gloves into hole-sized pieces, then inserts one piece into each olive.","It's the same procedure with other stuffings, such as jalapeño peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, habanero peppers, onions, almonds, and more.","Workers empty the baskets of stuffed olives onto a table of empty jars, spreading them around until every jar is full.","On their way to the capping machine, the open jars pass under nozzles that fill them with fresh brine.","An air jet blows off just a bit to help the cap go on easily.","From there, it's into the capping machine, which twists a lid on each jar, heat-sealing it for an airtight fit...","Then stamping on a lot number for tracking purposes.","Finally, the jars head into a machine that rolls on an adhesive label.","The brine serves as a natural preservative, giving these delectable gourmet olives a two-year shelf life.","In the middle ages, navigators looked to the stars and planets to find their way, and for that, they relied on a scientific instrument called the astrolabe.","Using this instrument, they could measure the angular distances between celestial objects to calculate latitude.","It was the medieval equivalent of gps.","Today, craftsmen still make astrolabes to celebrate their place in history.","Without it, columbus may not have discovered the americas in 1492.","Back then, astrolabes were hand-forged and hand-engraved.","Today, these instruments take shape in two-part rubber molds and closed in a metal drum.","The operator ladles molten pewter into the mold through an opening in the drum's lid.","Inside, the mold spins, forcing pewter into every part of this astrolabe plate, complete with geometric engravings on both sides.","He molds the dial and pointers the same way.","He slices off excess pewter.","It will be remelted and reused.","He then sands the ragged edges of the plate for a smoother circumference.","Next, he pours an acidic liquid onto the astrolabe plate, which blackens the pewter.","He swishing the blackening agent around to ensure it covers every surface completely.","He places the blackened plate in a barrel full of gritty, plastic cones, soap, and water.","As it revolves, everything tosses about inside to scrub the surface of the astrolabe plate, believe the engraved designs black.","This process adds definition to the markings.","In columbus's time, they would have used a pumice stone and a lot of elbow grease to achieve this effect.","Next, the astrolabe plate goes for a tumble with bits of ceramic to buff the pewter to a glossy shine.","Against the shiny pewter backdrop, the geometric markings now stand out.","Clearly visible on the front is a map of the sky and the zodiac calendar.","And on the back, the mathematical scales are now clearly defined.","The elaborate dial undergoes the same processing to enhance its celestial engravings.","He now inserts a brash bushing in the center hole of the astrolabe plate and twists it into position.","This bushing will act as a pivot for the dial and pointers.","Once the dial is in position, he installs a pointer on each side of the plate.","These pointers can be turned like the hands of a clock, and the user measures the angle of the stars and planets in relation to the horizon to calculate his location.","He caps the bushing with a screw on one side and a nut on the other.","He secures the assembly with a specific amount of torque to allow the dial and pointers to move freely.","He slips a metal ring through the top hole of the astrolabe so this instrument can be linked to a chain if the owner wishes.","He spins the dial and pointers to confirm that they don't snag on the outer lip of the instrument.","Centuries after its heyday, this incredible instrument still fascinates.","The amount of information that can be gleamed from holding it to the sky is astounding.","More than latitude, the astrolabe can be used to tell time, determine seasons, and predict the future with horoscopes.","Of course, it takes a basic understanding of geometry and astronomy to use it.","To the trained eye, this astrolabe now reads 1:00 p.m., proving that this instrument from another era can still provide up-to-the-moment information.","In the american wild west, cowboys spent long days in the saddle, which could leave them too sore to ride off into the sunset.","And that led to the development of the western saddle.","Large and sturdy, this saddle was modeled on the type used by spanish conquistadors, and it made chasing cows a less painful experience.","Today, riders still saddle up western-style, which is more relaxed than english-stile, with the reins held in one hand instead of two.","The contours of the saddle seat are more pronounced for added comfort.","A western saddle also has a horn for looping rope, called the lariat in cowboy lingo.","It starts with the saddletree, made from laminated wood covered in sections of rawhide.","An artisan cuts out the saddle skirt and other components using a hydraulic press.","He cuts the saddle seat by hand with this tool, called a head knife.","The seat gets special attention because it's being custom-made for a particular horse.","He shaves the edges of each cut out so it can be tucked neatly onto the saddletree.","The technique is called skiving.","He brushes glue on the leather section that fits around the stem of the saddle horn.","Then he works it into position, creating a lip around the horn's top.","He presses the horn cap onto the leather-rimmed top, then crimps the edges together.","He collects tacks with a magnetic tip of a hammer, then pounds them through the leather cap, securing it to the wood.","A thick leather cutout hides the nail heads.","He carves a groove around the top of the horn and punches holes through the leather.","This will make it easier to sew the layers together.","He uses two needles to interlock the stitches.","This secures the cap and gives the saddle horn a tailored look.","To complete the horn, the saddlemaker trims away excess leather with a special forked blade.","Now the artisan builds up sections of the saddletree with strategically placed strips of leather.","He skives away some leather to improve the form.","Then he places a leather-backed piece of tin over the built-up areas and nails it down.","This part will add strength to the seat.","He continues shaping the seat, then shaves the edges to blend it to the saddletree.","The seat area gets one last leather buildup and some intensive skiving and sanding.","Next, he glues the nail's leather around the base of the horn-- an area called the swells.","He then applies leather to the back of the seat, called the cantle.","After cutting away surplus leather, the artisan uses this edging tool to trim the skirt.","This makes it smooth so it won't chafe the horse or the rider.","Another worker immerses the saddle seat in warm water.","This makes the leather soft and pliable, allowing it to be shaped.","He drapes the seat around the built-up saddletree and straps it down.","As it dries, it hardens into the shape of the tree.","He shapes the back section of the seat separately and pins the wet leather to dry to the form.","Then he glues the whole seat to the saddletree.","But there is much more to be done before it's ready for ranch duty, so stay tuned.","A western saddle serves an important function, but it also sports elaborate artwork engraved in the leather.","This custom goes back to the wild west, when a saddle was a status symbol and ornate art and decorative silver signified that a cowboy was riding high.","The saddlemaker now shapes the seat right up to the back of the cantle.","He crimps the edge to build up a part called the cheyenne roll.","He maps out its precise dimensions with a compass...","Then trims the part following his scratch line.","With a wooden dowel, he again presses the leather seat to the saddle's contours for a final shaping.","He sews through four layers of leather to finish off the cheyenne roll.","The thread is an artificial sinew-- a superstrong nylon that makes the seam virtually indestructible.","The focus now moves to the leather saddle skirts, as an artist engraves a floral design.","The artist uses a wide range of tools with expertise, like this one, called a back rounder, which he uses to carve recesses around the design.","A spray of water softens the leather, making it easier to engrave.","Next, he installs metal plates on either side of each skirt.","They're part of the saddle rigging, which will be used to secure the saddle to the horse, so it's crucial that these plates be firmly entrenched in the leather.","He secures each plate to the skirt with several rivets, then rounds them off, getting rid of any sharp edges that would irritate the horse.","The saddlemaker then brushes glue on the back of the skirt to attach a leather part with a rear cinch ring riveted to it.","Here, he glues and rivets the top part to this skirt to the main section.","He arranges a piece of sheepskin facedown...","Then glues the back of the saddle skirt to it so the woolly side will rest against the horse.","This part is all about the horse's creature comfort.","The saddlemaker sews the skirt onto the sheepskin using a machine with a heavy-duty needle.","He then trims the excess sheepskin following the line of the leather skirt.","To remove some of the bulk, he shears the wool, tapering it around the edges.","Next, he braids leather lace into a tight weave called latigo lace.","It ties both halves of the skirt together and will later be used to fasten the skirt to the saddle.","He pulls the lace under the weave to secure it.","Next, he applies a generous amount of glue to a leather stirrup cover.","The stirrup is meat of oak, steamed into a \"u\" shape and then reinforced with galvanized tin.","He presses leather into the crook of the stirrup.","Then he bolts a metal spacer into the top.","Now it's time to attach the saddle skirts to the tree.","He threads cinch strings through the cinch keeper and nails it to the saddle.","Another worker now rubs special oil into this western saddle to add color to the leather and preserve it.","The oiling also exposes the grain of the leather and highlights the engraved designs.","From start to finish, this western saddle has taken 40 hours to make, but the modern cowboy should get plenty of mileage out of it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rice Cookers","Concealment Furniture","Promotional Origami","Hedge Shears"]},"text":["Preparing rice in an electric cooker is easier than cooking rice on the stove.","You throw in the rice and water, press a button, and walk away until it's ready.","This machine is designed to steam rice to perfection.","Rice cookers use indirect heat to circulate steam around rice and water, from the outer pot to an inner pot.","This process cooks the rice evenly in half an hour.","To cast the outer cooking pot, aluminum ingots are melted in a furnace.","A robotic arm scoops up the required amount of molten aluminum with a ladle...","Then pours it into the top of the mold.","It takes the metal four minutes to cool and solidify.","Then technicians extract the pot from the mold.","To refine its form, the pot is mounted on a computer-guided lathe.","As it spins, several machines contour the pot's outside surface to its final shape.","Next, the pot is loaded onto an automated drilling machine.","The machine punctures 18 holes through the bottom.","The rice cooker's heating components and its painted steel shell are attached to the outer pot through these holes.","Then the pot is returned to the computer-guided lathe.","A tool polishes the interior until the aluminum is smooth and bright.","A disk of stainless steel is placed in a press.","The press molds the steel into the inner cooking pot.","The next press trims off any excess metal around the top, leaving a clean and even edge.","Another machine curls that edge to form a rounded lip.","The lip strengthens the pot and provides a place to grip when the inner pot is placed into the outer pot.","Once polished, the pot is placed in another press.","This press stamps water-level lines on the side and a trench on the bottom.","The trench helps the water evaporate quickly.","Next, an automated booth paints the rice cooker's steel shells.","The shells are baked in an oven for 15 minutes at 390 degrees fahrenheit so that the paint can set.","With a pad printer, the company logo is applied to the shell.","Technicians install part of the switch mechanism to the shell.","Another technician places the heating element in a slot on the bottom of the outer pot, securing it with three clips.","They install two connection plates used to attach the steel shell-- a porcelain plate and a magnetic core.","The core controls the on/off switch based on the temperature inside the cooker.","The technician connects the power cord and attaches the thermal-insulation sheet, which allows the cooked rice to maintain a temperature of 158 degrees fahrenheit.","This part of the switch mechanism hovers over the magnetic core.","When the cooking temperature hits 158 degrees fahrenheit, the core activates the switch to turn off the heating element and start up the thermal-insulation sheet.","After more switch wiring, technicians install the fuse, which prevents the cooker from overheating.","One end is connected to the heating element, the other end to the power cord by the porcelain plate.","The painted steel shell is attached to the base of the outer pot.","Once attached, each connection plate is secured with screws, then handles are installed.","Finally, every rice cooker undergoes a temperature test.","After starting the machine, the cooking temperature is measured with a thermometer.","Once approved, the cooker is packaged with a cover and perforated insert for steaming other foods.","To use the cooker, you put rice and water in the inner pot and water in the outer pot.","In under an hour, the heating element turns off, and the insulation sheet kicks in to keep your rice warm.","One way to keep personal valuables secure and safely out of sight is by storing them in concealment furniture.","This custom-designed home decor allows you or your family an understated place to store and lock a number of items.","This seemingly ordinary bookcase has a few surprises.","Behind it's decorative medallion is a hidden release for side pullout compartments.","And inside the lower section is a wireless keypad which unlocks a drawer.","This company handcrafts various items, from dressers to mirrors to wall art.","Each piece of furniture is customized based on the customer's wood, finish, and storage configuration.","To create a valance at the top of a bookcase, a planer levels a piece of wood to its required thickness.","A computer-guided router carves designs into the wood and cuts out the shape of the medallion.","Next, the medallion is attached to the valance and release device through three slots at the center of the valance.","This is one of the side pullouts after assembly is complete.","Like the valance components, the router carved the design on the front panel.","A craftsman uses an electric sander on the pullout's side panel which has no carving.","All the decorative details are sanded by hand.","The craftsman assembles the second side pullout.","A laser engraves the company's name and logo on the inside of the side panel.","The craftsman measures and marks where the pullout's bottom and top panels will be placed.","Glue is applied into a groove running the length of the fluted front panel.","Then the side panel is inserted into the groove and the parts are clamped together.","The bottom and top panels are glued at the pre-marked points and secured.","All the wooden components of the bookcase are glued to each other.","Three temporary boards in between the top and bottom panels keep the structure square while the glue dries.","Next, a craftsman assembles the top of the bookcase, attaching the base and sides, back, top, the valance, and crown molding.","The customer selects the color of the finish.","Painted on by hand, the stain takes up to an hour to dry.","A craftsman sprays on a coat of vinyl sealer.","Once the sealer dries, the surfaces are sanded and two coats of fast-drying lacquer are applied.","The craftsman sands the wood between applications.","Next, the hardware is installed.","A technician attaches the drawer slides for each side pullout...","Bolts in the lock for the hidden release device, and secures a triangular latch to the pullout.","Then a long rod is inserted.","This connects the locks to the release so when you slide the center medallion right or left, it pushes the rod against the pullout lock, popping the latch.","The corresponding drawer slides are attached to the pullout.","The triangular latch, which releases the pullout, goes in the top front corner so that it aligns with the lock.","Once the pullouts are installed, they form the sides of the upper section of the bookcase.","These sections are now useable, sturdy storage compartments.","The next step is to connect the rod to the center medallion.","The craftsman bolts a rectangular piece of metal to the medallion through the valance's top slot, connecting the medallion to the valance through the other two slots.","A large opening on the top of the bookcase provides access to the device should it ever need repair.","Once joined with the lower section, the bookcase, like this china cabinet, is ready for double duty.","Often associated with japanese culture, traditional origami is best known as the art of paper folding.","It dates back to at least the 17th century.","Today, marketing companies are engineering origami for promotional use, creating materials with more impact than your standard brochure.","Open this invitation, and an interesting scene unfolds.","Based on strategic marketing research, nontraditional invitations and three-dimensional paper structures can attract more interest.","A specialist known as a paper engineer replicates an ultrasound machine in origami.","The paper engineer breaks down the design into flat parts to be printed and folded into modular pieces.","Guided by a digital design, a machine cuts and scores a thick sheet of paper in the shape of the engineered origami parts.","Later, the scored shapes will be punched out and assessed.","The design will need tweaking before the pieces of paper ultrasound are ready for mass production.","Next, the designer folds the cutouts and glues them together, creating the base of the ultrasound.","This particular module is a test build to confirm that it folds correctly and will fit to the other parts of the mini paper replica.","The designer makes more prototypes and adjusts some of the parameters.","He builds the undercarriage and wheels out of chipboard.","These elements support the paper modular structure.","Each part is labeled accordingly.","The designer constructs the final prototype, checking that the seams are tight and that all the parts are in perfect alignment.","Once structurally sound, the designer starts building the graphic details.","He refers to photos of the prototype and compares them to the flat screen image.","When complete, the artwork is printed, producing a proof.","The proof is a test copy of the artwork.","The areas to be glued or cut out are printed in green.","This is done to indicate that no ink or coatings are needed during the final printing.","The technician does an initial check to confirm the quality of the print and that all the art has been properly placed.","Then, the designer and the production supervisor evaluate the proof.","They confirm that the lines correspond with those of the cutting die by comparing folded modules to the flat proof.","This step ensures that when the artwork is printed for mass production, the cutouts will fit.","Adjustments are made to any problematic areas of the proof.","Once the artwork is complete, the revised artwork is printed and scored by a digital cutter.","This computerized cutter is only used for test purposes.","A cutting die will be used for mass production of the origami parts.","Technicians insert the cutouts in the corresponding parts of the die.","This step confirms that the lines are correct and are ready to go to print.","Machines may mass produce thousands of printed and die-cut sheets, but it's up to the assemblers to fold and glue the modules together.","The assembler starts with a base, followed by the articulating arm for the ultrasound screen.","The arm fits into a slot in the base, which can be lifted and lowered.","The assembler attaches the control panel to the lower part of the arm.","He installs the folded ultrasound screen on the top and inspects his work.","Weeks of design and planning have gone into this moment.","Now assembled, this piece of promotional origami can be packaged and mailed to targeted recipients.","Hedge shears have long steel blades that hold a sharp edge.","They're essentially a serious pair of scissors.","Used by a skilled gardener, they can cut a large area of vegetation with one stroke.","Needless to say, hedge shears can truly change the landscape.","Taming an unruly hedge or garden often calls for sheer strength.","That's why, for many gardeners, hedge shears are a go-to tool.","To make hedge shears, technicians cut out the blades from carbon steel using a die cutter.","The steel uncoils and travels over a roller conveyor, sending it to the cutter.","The die cutter stamps out multiple blade blanks.","Once the steel advances, the die cuts the next batch of blanks, cutting a hole in the center for the assembly of the shear blades.","A technician arranges the blade blanks on a conveyor heading to the oven.","The blanks bake at 1,470 degrees fahrenheit.","This heat treatment is the first stage of the hardening process.","Another technician exposes the cutting edge to the heat.","This makes the edge a little stronger than the rest of the blade.","The technician submerges the blade in oil to bring down the temperature, which completes the hardening process.","A grinding stone removes the dull, gray layer on both sides of the blade.","This gets rid of scorch marks, and it brightens the finish.","Then the grinder cleans and sharpens the blades.","Before the grinding, the hedge-shear blade looked lackluster, and its performance would have been dull.","The grinding has given the blade a sheen and a cutting edge.","Next, technicians install a rubber bumper device on the blade's stem.","The rubber will cushion the force of the impact created as the shear blades come together.","Another technician joins the blades with a pivot bolt and nut.","This connection allows the shears to swing toward each other.","A team examines the blades to confirm they're engaged properly and operate smoothly.","If needed, they adjust the interface by bending back the blades.","This tweaking can be critical to the functioning of the hedge shears.","Then the shears are placed in a fixture, and the device press-fits telescoping handles onto the tangs.","An inspector tests the telescoping action to confirm that the handles extend and retract effectively.","Other technicians slide plastic gripper sleeves onto the ends of the handles.","It's an initial installation.","The gripper sleeves will need to be pushed further up the handles.","A mechanical pusher shoves the grippers into their final position.","It's a press fit--  no glue or screws required.","The tips of the hedge shears are dipped in an anti-rust solution and placed on a rack to dry.","Then a worker rubs the solution residue into the steel.","The shears undergo another inspection, which checks the interface of the blades one last time.","The technician tweaks the angle of the blades and tightens the pivot bolt.","A label is pressed on the shears, providing product information and safety precautions.","The hedge shears undergo a final inspection.","Once cleared, they are packed for shipping.","These hedge shears should hold up to years of trimming, cutting, and pruning.","Without them, gardens might look a lot wilder."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Audio Vacuum Tubes","Light Bars","Wood Model Aircraft","Metal Snare Drums"]},"text":["When it comes to sound quality, audiophiles swear by amplifiers which contain vacuum tubes to boost and modify the electrical signal.","They were the norm until transistors came along in the 1950s.","Many audio enthusiasts still prefer tube sound, which they find warmer, richer, and more natural.","once standard in radios, phonographs, and televisions, today you see vacuum tubes only in very high-end audio equipment.","They come in an array of models designed to perform specific sound-enhancing tasks.","Technicians at this czech factory first wind wire a precise number of revolutions with a very specific degree of tension.","Then they clean the surface and weld it to a support structure.","This completes the grid, one of the tube's main components.","Next, technicians take the second main component, the cathode, and insert it into the grid.","When the sound signal enters the tube, the cathode produces a flow of electrons.","The grid controls that flow as it travels to the third main component, the anode.","The anode's top secret black coating increases the effect of the electrons hitting it, causing the anode and cathode to have two different voltages, both of which are greater than that of the original signal.","This makes the signal larger and more powerful, meaning it amplifies the sound.","With those three components now assembled into one unit, the inside structure of the tube is complete.","Now for the bulb, which will encase the unit.","A glass blower skillfully crafts it out of hard, laboratory-grade glass.","Using a high-temperature torch and glass-making tools, he melts the open end and seals it off.","Then he blows in a bit of air to shape the end into an evenly rounded dome.","Now he mounts the bulb on a lathe to complete the shaping.","Keeping the glass evenly heated, he blows in just enough air pressure to keep the bulb from collapsing inward.","When the glass reaches just the right temperature, a die presses against it, setting the final shape.","Next, they mount a glass collar over copper wires clamped into a motorized vice, then insert a glass straw called an evacuation port.","As the vise rotates, they heat the collar uniformly with stationary torches.","Using a handheld torch, they remove any stretches or runs in the softening glass.","When the time is right, they activate a die to press the glass into the final shape.","This completes the stem on which the tube's inside structure sits.","The wires protruding from the top of the stem connect to the structure's terminals.","Now they put this assembled unit on a turntable and center the bulb over it.","As the turntable revolves, they heat the bottom of the bulb.","As the glass melts, they press it inward, fusing it to the stem.","They remove the excess glass and continue heating to ensure the bottom is fully sealed.","Next, they prepare to suction out the air.","This step is critical to the tube's performance, because air molecules hinder the flow of electrons.","Technicians fuse the tube's evacuation port to the glass evacuation line of a vacuum pump.","The pump then extracts the air through the port.","At the same time, they heat the tube in a pull-down oven.","This increases pressure inside the tube, creating a stronger vacuum.","Next, they run an inductive heater over the tube.","This dislodges damaging impurities, enabling the vacuum pump to draw them out.","They target the stem area with a second inductive heater to draw particles called ions onto the glass permanently so that they can't later damage the tube.","Finally, they connect the protruding wires to a plastic plug-in base.","There are subtle technical differences between tubes of the same model.","So the factory tests each tube, then matches pairs with similar performance features.","This ensures they'll amplify sound evenly.","A light bar is that strip of flashing lights on top of a police car or emergency vehicle.","The lights are high-output l.e.d.s, far more efficient and durable than incandescent or quartz halogen bulbs or strobe tubes.","The mounting system is designed to withstand emergency high-speed driving.","the l.e.d.s are grouped by color within a module.","Modules can be arranged in any configuration on the light-bar base.","The base mounts to the vehicle's roof via straps made of high-strength stainless steel.","Those straps begin as flat pieces, laser cut to a starting shape.","A 50-ton forming press bends them to the final shape, which fits the exact contour of the vehicle's doorjamb.","The light bar's white light modules fasten onto the base with the aluminum brackets this worker is assembling.","These brackets also help draw out the heat the lights generate.","This is critical, because if l.e.d.s overheat, they burn out.","The base is made of extruded aluminum.","This computer-controlled laser, working on six bases at a time, cuts out holes for venting and cables.","The light bar has two cables-- one running power from the vehicle's battery to the light bar and another connecting control switches on the dashboard to the light bar's electronic control board.","An automatic machine measures and cuts the required length of each cable, then strips off a specific amount of the pvc outer jacket at both ends.","This exposes three wires, two of which are insulated and inside a foil wrap.","After stripping off the foil, an automatic stripping machine removes some insulation, bearing the tin-coated copper wire within.","Workers put contacts onto two of those wires-- the ground and the power-- then press the contacts on securely with a crimping device.","Next, they connect a terminal to the third wire, the shield drain.","This wire reduces electronic interference from sources like the police radio.","Now for the l.e.d. light modules, the main component of which is a reflector.","They put the reflector's plastic body into the sealed chamber of a metalizing machine.","The machine then releases argon gas while applying hundreds of volts of electricity to a solid piece of aluminum.","This vaporizes the metal into tiny particles, which a vacuum draws onto the plastic body in an ultra-thin reflective coating.","To broaden the horizontal range of the reflection, workers install a device called a collimator.","Then they take an l.e.d. light, put an electric insulator on the back of it...","And mount it inside a housing that's specifically designed to remove heat from the l.e.d.s.","Then they install these assembled light components in the reflector...","Install the connector that plugs into the wire harness that leads to the control board...","And test the finished module.","To assemble the light bar, they slide the control board onto the base, plug in the control cable that connects the board to the dashboard switches, install the power cable that runs from the vehicle's battery to the light bar, and the wiring connecting the lights to the board.","After mounting the white light modules on the brackets and securing them to the base, workers take the colored l.e.d. modules and slide them onto the tracks on the base.","They make the internal connections to the control board, then plug each module into the control board harnesses.","After testing to make sure everything works properly, it's just a matter of encasing the modules, starting with an aluminum top, then slide on transparent plastic lenses with divider gaskets in between to prevent rain from penetrating and shorting out the light.","A cap closes up each end.","After a final round of testing, the light bar is ready to hit the roof and the road.","Flying a wood model aircraft is a way to experience the adventure of flight on a small scale.","But there's a lot to do before takeoff.","These miniature planes usually come in kits that can take dozens of hours to piece together.","But, of course, that's just part of the fun.","Wood model planes are part of aviation history.","The first real flying machines were made of wood, and soon after their invention, people began building miniature wood replicas in kit form.","Today modern manufacturing techniques take the concept to a whole new level.","Production begins with blocks of wood that circle on a system of conveyors.","Each time around, a long blade slices away a thin piece.","They transfer the sheets of wood to a table that moves in a computer-choreographed sequence while lasers overhead make cuts.","This computerized system produces parts that will fit together perfectly, no matter how intricate the design.","To assemble the kit at home, the modeler extracts the precut parts.","He then builds the fuselage right on top of the plans in order to follow them to the letter.","After the fuselage has been assembled, he focuses on the wings.","He braces the main spar with numerous ribs to create a cross-sectional air foil that will generate lift.","He then glues the wings' leading edge to the framework.","The framework is very similar to that of full-sized wooden wings built in the early days of flight.","It's made mainly of tropical balsa, a wood that's both lightweight and exceptionally strong.","The modeler joins the two wings.","The tongue of one fits into the laser-cut slot of another.","This joint will later be glued to reinforce it.","He demonstrates the next step using the wing of another model.","He drapes plastic film over the wing's skeleton.","He tacks the plastic to it and smoothes out ripples and bubbles.","He then heat-shrinks the plastic to give the model aircraft its tight skin.","Of course, there's no need for a paint job because the plastic is tinted.","Finally, he confirms that it's drum tight.","Back on the production line, they're now winding wire to produce a spring.","This spring is a shock absorber for the plane's front landing gear.","With that complete, they now position a sheet of preheated plastic above six molds of wheel covers.","He activates a vacuum that pulls the plastic over the molds.","In seconds, it cools and solidifies into the shape of the wheel covers, called pants.","With the wheel pants assembled to the craft, the modeler now installs the two-stroked alcohol-burning engine in the front compartment.","He attaches the muffler to the engine's crank case.","He then secures the spinner's back plate and propeller onto the engine's driveshaft with a washer and bolt.","This assembly will have to withstand the force of the spinning propeller, so he tightens it to the max.","And this model plane is now ready for flight.","Incredibly, it started out as a bunch of parts in a box, but they all come together in the hands of a skillful modeler.","Of course, a good set of instructions is essential.","Assembling each model can take up to 50 hours.","We've just shown the highlights.","The payoff comes when the operator manipulates the transmitter joystick and the parts of the plane move right on cue.","From fighter planes and biplanes to civilian aircraft and extreme aerobatic machines, when it comes to these historical replicas, the sky really is the limit.","The sound of a snare drum is unmistakable-- a sharp rattle with a somewhat tinny resonance.","What produces this distinctive sound?","It's a vibrating set of wires called the snare wire stretched across the bottom of the drum.","The snare drum is the center of the drum kit.","the circular frame of a snare drum, called the shell, can be made of either wood or metal.","Metal shells produce a sharp, loud, and more brilliant sound.","The metal this german drum company uses is known as bell bronze, which is approximately 78% copper and 22% tin.","Workers first glue together a three-part mold.","It's made of a sand and chemical mixture because sand can withstand the temperature of the hot molten metal.","The glue sets in about half an hour, and the mold is ready.","They steady it with heavy steel plates, then scoop a bucket full of bell bronze from the furnace and pour it in.","It took four hours at 2,300 degrees fahrenheit to melt the metal, but just a few seconds for it to solidify inside the mold cavity.","They let the casting cool for a couple of hours, then break the sand mold to extract it.","They clean off the loose sand with a wire brush, then ship the shell to the drum factory, where its first stop is onto an automated lathe.","As the lathe spins, a cutter skims off a thin layer of metal, making the shell's exterior surface clean and smooth.","Next, a computer-guided drilling machine bores 47 holes for various components, including fittings that hold and adjust the drum heads and a vent hole that increases the drum's volume.","Then the machine changes the drilling tool for a milling tool and makes two recessed areas called snare beds in the shell's bottom edge.","The drill left rough edges, so they clean and smooth the holes with a small grinding tool.","Then they manually sand the snare beds.","Next, they sand the shell's outside surface, first with a rough abrasive belt, then with a fine one.","This leaves the metal shiny and silky smooth.","Now they sand the inside surface by hand.","Then they spray it with bronze-colored lacquer to give the metal an even color and prevent tarnishing.","They taped over the holes to keep the colored lacquer from hitting the outside surface.","Now they remove the tape and spray the outside with transparent lacquer, which allows the natural color of the metal to show through.","25 minutes in an oven hardens the lacquer into a super durable finish.","Then final assembly begins, starting with the tension lugs, the fittings that hold and adjust the tension of the drum heads.","Next comes the action strainer, the mechanism the drummer flips up or down to activate and deactivate the snare sound.","The top drum head is made of a strong polyester material.","A chrome-plated metal hoop will hold the head to the shell.","To tune the drum to a higher or lower pitch, the drummer tightens or loosens the screws to increase or decrease tension.","Drumhead tension determines pitch.","The bottom drumhead is made of clear polyester film.","It's much thinner than the top drumhead to enable the snare wire to respond faster.","That snare wire is made of multiple strands of stainless steel, brass, or copper wire.","They stretch it across the bottom head, laying each end on a snare bed.","They attach the ends with nylon cords to the action strainer on one side and to a part called the butt end on the other.","To play the drum with the snare sound, the drummer simply pulls up on the action strainer's handle.","Every drum undergoes a final inspection, then tuning, and a thorough performance test.","talk about ending with a bang."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hot Rods","Decorative Eggs","Fire Hose Nozzles","Baseballs"]},"text":["A hot rod is a normal car that's been radically modified to look snazzier and drive faster.","Some amateur mechanics tinker away at building one in their garage, while other car buffs custom-order one from a specialty auto shop.","Either way, hot-rod lovers are driven by their passion for these mean machines.","Hot rods are customized inside and out.","The classic cars they start out as are pretty scarce these days, so specialty shops now design and build hot-rod bodies from scratch, using state-of-the-art technologies.","It all starts with curved steel rails 15 feet long that form the basis of the chassis.","Every 12 inches, workers weld the rails to the car's frame.","Next they position cross members to reinforce the frame.","With utmost concern for quality control, they'll assemble and install by hand the transmission, the suspension, and the shock absorbers and weld those precisely aligned cross members to the curved rails.","Elsewhere, someone polishes the stainless-steel wings, which have been laser cut.","These wings make up the hot rod's signature front grill.","Mounting the disc brakes onto such a high-end machine takes specialists.","First, they screw the spindles to the suspension arm...","Then grease the ball-bearing mechanism...","And finally block the disc brake with a cotter pin to fasten the pieces together.","The brake system has four calipers, one per wheel.","Each one holds two brackets called the brake shoes.","They close down on the brake disc to slow down and stop the wheel's rotation.","A couple of slide pins lock the caliper into place.","Brake shoes are prone to wear, so their alignment and oiling must be perfect.","Time has come to install a hydraulic device that reacts to the steering wheel's movement, directing the tie rods to turn the front wheels accordingly.","A pneumatic tool is used to affix the pinion of the steering mechanism.","At every step, workers check and double-check each part.","Using a jack, they lift the differential housing into position.","It anchors the rear wheels' propulsion system to the car's frame.","They attach the suspension arms to the axles at an angle.","Meanwhile, a painter sprays a coat of resin gel on the plastic molds with which they make the car's fiberglass body parts.","The gel coating eases extraction and gives the fiberglass a high-gloss finish.","To mold the parts, a worker spreads resin on fiberglass cloth.","They call this step \"wetting the fiberglass map\".","They lay the map on the mold--  in this case, on a door mold-- then with a roller, carefully press out all the air bubbles.","It takes about 40 minutes for the resin-impregnated map to solidify.","Extracting the body part is a tricky procedure.","They hammer wood wedges in between the hardened fiberglass in the mold.","It's crucial to angle the wedge just right.","Otherwise, the mold may collapse.","It typically takes about 25 molded parts to make up a complete hot-rod body.","After three week's work, final assembly begins.","After the back panels comes the front, otherwise known as the nose.","Next come the fenders, then the stylish running board.","And no hot rod is complete without its signature grill.","The windshield frame helps support the roof, or \"carson top\" in hot-rod lingo.","The front hood completes this '37-ford-inspired body.","It ships out without a paint job.","That's because customization is everything in the hot-rod biz.","The buyer decides how to finish the car by choosing, for example, this retro dashboard designed to blend spectacularly with the rest of the car.","Even car junkies can be forgiven for struggling to keep up to speed with the ever-growing customization options out there.","From the engine to the rims to the seats to the chrome-- when it comes to customizing your hot rod, you're in the driver's seat.","Egg decorating is a craft practiced around the world for centuries.","The ancient persians painted eggs for noruz, their new year celebration, a tradition that continues today.","Probably the most famous are the exquisitely decorated fabergé eggs, except they aren't eggs at all.","They're made from precious metals and gemstones.","Each one of these decorative eggs is a unique piece.","The artist paints them, collages images and fabric, and creates jewelry and music boxes or hangs them as ornaments.","She always works with real eggs from birds like the rhea, the emu, geese, or turkeys.","Here, she selects an ostrich egg and gently clamps it in place on an egg-marker stand.","On the underside of the stand are a series of guidelines to help divide the egg into two or more equal parts.","Working with the pencil held in a brace, she divides the egg into four equal parts.","Then she draws a horizontal line across the egg where she'll cut it in half to create a lid.","She'll use a hinge to hold the lid in place, so first, she draws the contour...","Then a loose, wavy line all along the egg circumference, using the pencil guidelines as reference.","A rotating cutter equipped with a diamond dusted blade makes a cut where the hinge will be.","The artist now prepares some five-minute epoxy glue.","She has a neat trick to apply just the right amount.","She works with a strand of uncooked spaghetti, then sets the hinge in place.","Once the hinge has set, she cuts all around the egg, then opens and closes it to make sure that hinge works properly.","It's the first time she sees the egg's interior.","If it needs cleaning, now's the time.","Though this artist often chooses to leave ostrich eggs their natural color, here she's decided to give the lid a thin coat of acrylic paint.","For the lower half, she chooses a dark tone.","Acrylic paint allows her to work quickly, as it tries in just a few seconds.","Next, she uses a special glue to collage strips of japanese rice paper onto the egg.","She layers small pieces to achieve a tortoise-shell finish.","She's ready to set the egg on its stand, so she coats the rim with epoxy, then sets the egg down, making sure the hinge is level with the stand's rim.","The artist now turns her attention to the egg's interior.","She lightly glues perfumed cotton balls to fill out the top and bottom parts.","Then she applies glue along the inner rims and clips on a piece of ivory satin.","By the time she makes it around both halves, she can remove the clips.","The fabric now holds firmly in place.","Next, she glues a fabric braid to trim the satin's edge.","Here, the artist lays down a delicate strand of rhinestones.","She applies more glue to add another braid along the lower rim...","Then places a final strand to complete the effect.","She sets in a tiny rhinestone to decorate the metallic filigree that hides the hinges.","Even the egg's underside gets special attention.","She glues another filigree to cover the hole through which they emptied the egg, then applies a water-based varnish.","This strengthens the egg and gives it a glossy finish.","Here's the finished piece-- a delicate jewelry box that opens with the help of a fine chain to reveal its satin interior.","There's no end to the creativity that goes into making these decorative eggs.","This model even has a music box built in.","Precision tools that perform their tasks with split-second speed and accuracy are key in jobs where time is off the essence.","Take for example the nozzle at the end of a firefighting hose.","It allows a firefighter to regular the pressure of the water exiting the hose, no matter how confined or widespread the flames.","A fire-hose nozzle isn't a simple point-and-shoot device.","It enables firefighters to tailor their tactics by firing water in a stream or flush.","Production begins with a long aluminum tube.","A saw slices off 6-inch pieces called blanks.","Just one tube makes about 46 blanks.","A robotic arms swoops down to transport them to a lathe.","Cutting tools form the valve body, which controls the flow of water.","Then they rough up the surface, making it easier to grip.","They make a ball groove on the outside rim for attaching the hose coupling.","Next, they form the interior.","Technicians verify the inside shaping with computer-imaging software.","It's on to the milling process.","A computer-guided drill bores several holes for the nozzle and grip attachments.","Coolant washes away the metal chips and keeps the drill bit from overheating.","The transformation from a blank to valve body is structurally complete.","A laser now engraves the flow indication.","Workers install rubber o-rings on a mandrel shaped like the valve-body interior.","The rings keep water from leaking out the side of the nozzle.","They position the valve body over the mandrel and blow the rings into place with a blast of air.","Automated machines now mate the valve body to the nozzle's handle.","A heated mold melts granulated rubber and casts it into ridges at the top of a rubber cylinder.","This makes the shaper, the nozzle's adjustable head that switches the water from a wide spray to a narrow stream.","Workers snip off any excess rubber, then ensure the rubber is solidly molded.","Next, they apply grease to the inside to lubricate the parts and prevent corrosion.","Two more o-rings are inserted to keep water from leaking out under the shaper.","Using a specially designed spoon, they scoop up tiny, plastic ball bearings and drop them into a groove in the shaper.","These allow the shaper to rotate easily.","The shaper then goes over a barrel-- a metal tube that helps form the stream of water.","To attach it, they apply an adhesive to the threads on the shaper's base, then slide the part into place.","Workers insert a pair of hard plastic balls into the shaper.","These enable the shaper to glide back and forth on the barrel to shape the water stream.","Now it's time to build the sub-baffle, the nozzle component that controls water pressure.","First they insert a pressure-regulation spring into the baffle body, then snap on a knob, which changes between standard water pressure and low pressure.","The whole device slides directly into the barrel.","On the other end of the barrel, they screw on the valve body.","A rotating wheel simplifies this process.","They now affix a pistol-style grip.","Finally, the gasket grabber goes in.","The steel screen keeps out nozzle-clogging debris coming from the hose.","With the nozzle assembly now complete, it's time for what they call a damp run.","Workers check everything to ensure the nozzle performs its task at every twist and turn.","From the old-fashioned nozzle to the modern variety that comes in an assortment of flows, pressures, and sizes, the evolution of the fire-house nozzle is undoubtedly a lifesaver.","When they make baseballs for the pros, they aren't just playing around.","They build these balls precisely to league standards.","And incredibly, those standards date back to 1872.","Each ball is uniform in circumference and weight so the game is an equal contest.","Crowds will go wild for these professional baseballs.","And at the heart of each one is something called the pill.","The pill is smaller than a golf ball.","It's about 4 1/2 inches in circumference.","Inside the pill's rubber casing is a sphere of cork.","They pour latex adhesive over hundreds of pills loaded into a drum.","Rollers spin the drum to evenly coat the pills with the adhesive.","This adhesive never dries out completely, and the pills remain sticky to the touch.","Next, they loop four-ply wool around the pill.","This machine spins the pill to wind the yarn around it.","This winding substantially fattens the pill.","It's the first time a camera has ever been allowed to record this proprietary machine, so we can't show you all of it.","They wind a second layer of wool around the pills.","This yarn is three-ply, and it thickens the ball a little more.","For a third winding, they use another three-play yard, but it's a bit lighter.","The various layers of yarn are what give the baseball resilience, so it springs back into shape despite being hit repeatedly.","For the final winding, they use a much thinner poly/wool blend because its surface is smoother.","This wound pill is called the center.","They weigh it and measure its circumference, which should be about nine inches.","They add adhesive to a spinning drum, then load the centers into it.","As the centers tumble, they absorb the glue, and the wound fibers adhere to each other.","The centers air dry for 48 hours but remain sticky.","Using this hydraulic press, they punch out figure-eight shapes from leather, complete with holes around the periphery, allowing them to be stitched into baseball covers.","But first, they stamp the date and lot number onto them.","Then they wrap them in wet towels.","The moisture will make the leather pliable enough to sew.","They roll the water-based adhesive onto one side of the cutouts, which sticks to the moist leather.","They press two cutouts to the center's sticky surface.","It's an exact fit.","They clamp the leather ball in a vice, and it's time to sew.","Working with two needles, the sewer pulls thread through the ball's center and up through the holes in the leather pieces to cross-stitch them together.","He rubs wax on the thread to stiffen it, because if it slackens, it's more likely to tangle.","When it comes to cross-stitching, these workers are in a league of their own.","They make quick work of the 108 stitches in each ball.","There are 350 sewers in this factory, and they produce 8,000 to 10,000 balls per day.","That's a lot of home runs.","The final stitch goes through the center of the baseball and out the other side.","The sewer then pulls stitches into a \"v\" configuration to give the ball a consistent look and feel.","The balls now roll into a press that smoothes down the seams.","Smoother balls are harder to grip, and they make pitching a bit tougher for the pros.","Finally, a three-headed stamper gives it the trademark, league logo, and the commissioner's signature.","With drying cycles, it takes a week to make a professional baseball.","It will be whacked and slammed out of the playing field.","But that's life in the big leagues."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Recycled Skateboards","Braided Pastry","Construction Trailers","Metalworking Vises"]},"text":["Sixty years ago, surfers in california were looking to ride the streets like they surf the waves.","They came up with an idea to strap roller skate wheels on their surfboards, and the skateboard was born.","Since then, skateboarding has evolved into a sport, a passion and a lifestyle for people all over the world.","In a backyard pool, a skater gauges the feel and response of these recycled skateboards.","Recycled skateboards give new life to unrideable old boards.","The boards on this rack would normally end up in a landfill.","First, the designer heats up the old grip tape and peels it off.","This reveals the board's original graphics.","He grinds off the graphics, leaving bare wood.","He applies epoxy on top of a colored veneer coating and stacks the boards on the table of a bottle jack press.","He glues another board and places it on top of the first one.","He repeats this stack process with different colored boards.","The stacking continues until the designer has about 20 boards on the table.","He puts the bottle jacks in place and cranks them up.","Each jack applies 10 tons of compression, pressing the boards together while the epoxy cures and the excess glue drips out.","The designer makes a cross cut in the stack with a bandsaw.","Each new board he makes comes with a unique color design.","A worker traces a cutting mark on the board and makes a rough cut along it with a jigsaw.","He sands down the rough profile of the board using a table-mounted belt sander.","Before the board goes to silk screening, he uses a custom template to drill holes for the assembly bolts.","A designer pours water-based ink on top of a screen printing mesh.","He takes a squeegee and pulls the ink through the membrane to print the company logo onto the board.","He removes the silk screening frame, and the board continues on to the epoxy phase.","A worker pours epoxy resin on top of a fiberglass cloth.","He spreads out the epoxy with a squeegee in a slow, constant motion.","This keeps air bubbles, runs, or drips from ruining the finish of the board.","The cloth absorbs the resin.","The worker cuts off the excess cloth with a razor blade and applies a finish coat of epoxy, completing the board's covering.","A worker uses a router to smooth out the curve of a different board.","He finishes the board profile with fine sanding paper.","A worker sprinkles recycled crushed glass on the epoxy-covered board.","This will provide grip for the board instead of grip tape.","Before the resin hardens and cures, he presses the glass into the epoxy with a wheel.","He sands the bottom of the board with a sanding block.","He goes through seven different grits of sand paper.","Then the board is washed and polished before starting the final assembly process.","A worker assembles the wheels on a truck and bolts them on with hex nuts.","He tightens the wheels with a wrench until he's reached the desired torque ratio and gives them a test spin.","He inserts bolts through the board and places a urethane riser pad underneath the skate deck.","Then he starts assembling the truck.","He uses a screw gun to secure the wheel trucks in place.","Each skateboard is equipped with polyurethane wheels mounted on metal trucks.","These allow the rider to steer and control the board.","Recycled skateboards are made form a wide variety of shapes, deck sizes, wheels and trucks, suiting each rider's unique tastes and performance needs.","Many years ago, danish bakers got creative with pastry dough.","They began braiding it, putting a whole new twist on deserts.","Braided pastry looks more elaborate than ordinary pastry.","The flakiness of the dough and the scrumptious fillings make braided pastry taste as good as it looks.","Factory-made braided pasty can be kept frozen until you're ready to eat it.","After just a few minutes in the oven, you will have a fresh-baked desert.","The pastry looks as though it takes many hours to prepare, but of course, it is no trouble at all.","To produce braided pastry, this factory uses a number of ingredients, including yeast...","Granulated sugar...","Pastry flour....","Dried eggs and water.","The ingredients go into a large refrigerated mixer.","The cooling keeps the yeast dormant as beaters work the ingredients into dough.","After the dough leaves the mixer, it tumbles into a hopper.","A cutter wheel chops the dough into several pieces.","The pieces of dough travel between conveyors that squeeze them into ribbons of dough that will be fed to an extruder.","The extruder shapes the elongated dough pieces into one continuous sheet.","At the exit of the extruder, an employee dusts the conveyor with flour.","This prevents the dough from sticking to it.","A pump at the extruder exit spreads big blocks of soft butter across the newly formed sheet of dough.","Down the conveyor, plow-like flaps fold the buttered dough over, creating a double layer.","This folding process, called lamination, will build up multiple layers of buttered dough, resulting in a very flaky pastry.","Next, the dough travels into a drum with spinning rolling pins.","These rolling pins flatten the folded dough significantly, compressing the layers into one thin sheet.","Now, a conveyor takes the compressed sheet through a device that will fold the dough again.","Next, rolling pins squeeze the stack of dough into a single piece once again.","Revolving cutters slice the laminated dough as it moves forward.","The cuts create angled strips for braiding.","At the next station, a sweet cherry filling with a jam-like consistency is waiting.","Nozzles deposit precise amounts of cherry filling between the angled cuts.","Next, workers braid the dough over the center filling, creating an attractive-looking pastry.","Sensors determine where the blade will slice the braided pastries.","The braided pastries are transferred to another conveyor with a scale.","The scale confirms that there is a sufficient amount of filling in each pastry.","The braided pastries now head into a freezer set a temperature of 29 degrees below zero.","Inside the freezer, the pastries revolve on carousels for 45 minutes.","This gradual freezing process preserves the yeast.","Next, the pastries wind their way toward the packaging station.","Here, workers place a packet of icing under each braided pastry and send them to an automated packager.","Machines wrap a plastic sleeve around the pasty.","To minimize the amount of time the pastry is out of the freezer, things must move quickly.","The pastries pass over a weigh station to confirm the correct amount has been packaged.","When baked, the pastry rises significantly, allowing the braided profile to expand.","The layers of dough separate and become flaky.","The cherry filling seeps into the pastry.","Endings don't get much sweeter than this.","Pass by any construction site, and you'll probably see a trailer.","Construction trailers provide room for an on-site office or lunch room for the construction workers.","A trailer can also be used as a decontamination room for workers to remove their protective clothing and shower after handling hazardous materials.","Construction trailers are typically 10 to 13 feet wide and up to 59 feet long.","The inside of the trailer can be equipped for whatever function it will serve.","The structure of the trailer is made of spruce, pine, or fir.","Workers start with an underfloor made of wood particle board.","Then they nail floor joists to the boar and frame them.","The insulate the floor with fiberglass wool and nail a plywood subfloor on top.","Then they spread tile glue over the subfloor.","The glue is freeze-proof and mold resistant.","They complete the floor by laying down commercial-grade vinyl tile or linoleum.","To build the walls of the trailer.","They nail pieces of woods called studs every 15 inches along the sole plate.","The sole plate is the bottom section of the trailer's wall.","Then they build rough openings for the windows and doors.","Finally, they nail another horizontal piece along the top of the studs.","This is called the double top plate.","The structure of the wall is complete.","Now, they apply glue to the studs and nail on a sheet of plywood to the lower part of the wall structure.","They repeat this process with the three other walls of the trailer.","Then they raise each wall and nail a sole plate to the floor.","The plywood exterior wall extends below the sole plate, covering the side of the floor frame.","They glue the plywood to the floor frame and reinforce it with nails.","Next, the roof of the trailer-- it is constructed in layers.","First, they lay down the fiber board ceiling, then install a plastic vapor barrier.","Next, the roof joists-- the joists have sloped edges to drain water off the roof and holes for electric cables.","Once the joists are installed, workers frame the roof structure with end plates.","Then they thread in electric cables for the lights, outlets, baseboard heaters, and other electrical components.","Now, they begin their work inside the trailer.","First, fiberglass wool insulation is installed between the studs.","A plastic vapor barrier is added.","Then they install smooth wood panels.","The wood panels are laminated with vinyl for a clean finish.","At the same time, work continues on the outside of the construction trailer.","Under the floor, workers install one to three axles.","The amount depends on the trailer's length.","Each axle can support around two and a half tons.","After workers install all of the exterior plywood, workers begin the finishing process.","At the top and bottom of the trailer, they install starter moldings made of painted sheet steel.","Then they begin installing panels of painted steel.","Windows and doors are installed before adding the painted steel siding.","This is so the ends of the steel siding will beneath the door or window moldings, producing a neater finish.","Trailers longer than 32 feet have both heating and air conditioning via a duct system.","Workers mount the air ducts to the ceiling with brackets.","They also install electrical outlets, light fixtures, interior trims, and electric baseboards for additional heating.","Trailers shorter than 32 feet only have electric baseboard heaters and a window-mounted air conditioner.","However, there is the option to upgrade to the full duct system.","To finish the roof, they staple white fiberboard to the roof joists.","Then a hitch system is installed.","This enables a truck to haul the trailer to and from the construction site.","A metalworking vise holds a piece of metal in place so that a computerized cutter can shape it into a part.","You often see vises on \"how it's made\".","Now it's time to find out how they are made.","Metalworking vises have parallel jaws that close tightly around a piece of metal.","Their firm grip allows a part to be machined with pinpoint accuracy.","To make a metalworking vise, they start with a steel rod.","It spins in a lathe as tools carve threads into it.","The result is a lead screw that will be used to open and close the jaws of the vise.","Next, cutters transform a piece of aluminum into a thumb screw.","The thumb screw is used for turning the lead screw.","The outside of the screw is given a neural texture for better gripping.","The final tool shaves the roughed-edge rim of the screw to make it smoother to the touch.","This completes the thumb screw.","Now, an automated saw cuts the steel bar into smaller pieces.","Each piece will be used to make the base of a vise.","Next, a cutter sculpts the outside of a base piece to the desired profile.","Another tool carves a channel in the center of the base piece.","The cutting machine also creates components for the vise's shuttle system.","Then a machine cuts the reverse side of the vise base flat and smooth.","It also drills holes for mounting the vise to milling equipment.","A constant flow of coolant is applied to protect the tool from wear.","Next, a steel block is locked in a vise.","Yes, they used vises to make new vises.","The vise holds the piece of steel firmly in place as tools shape it into one of the new vise's jaws.","After a heat treatment, they spray small particles of sand onto the newly formed jaw.","The sand blasting removes blemishes.","A worker now submerges all parts of the vise in a hot chemical solution, leaving them there for eight hours.","This chemical solution gives the parts a black oxide finish and protects them from rust.","Here is the vise before and after the oxide treatment.","Next, a laser etches the brand name, part number, and basic dimensions onto the base of the vise.","Then a probe gauges the size of the mounting hole.","It also determines if they've been drilled in the correct location.","Now, it's time to assemble all the parts of the metalworking vise.","The worker threads retainer rings onto the lead screw.","Then he installs the lead screw in the base.","He places shuttle devices onto each end of the lead screw.","He inserts spacing blocks in the channel.","He moves the shuttle devices forward, using the spacing blocks as guides for the correct positioning.","After removing the spacing blocks, he adjusts the retainer rings.","He places steel jaws on the shuttle devices and bolts them in place.","Once the thumb screw has been attached to the lead screw, the assembly is complete.","Now, it's over to a computerized measuring station.","The controller positions the vise in the equipment, then a probe moves in.","The probe compares the coordinates of the vise to a computer model and checks that it measures up to standards.","Metalworking vises take four weeks to make and will hold up for many years."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Yacht Wheels","Braided Rugs","Automobile Thermostats","Chisels"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Yacht wheels...","Braided rugs...","Automobile thermostats...","And chisels.","A wheel is a fairly modern way to steer a boat.","Before the 18th century, captains shifted a stake attached directly to the rudder.","Today ship wheels connect to the rudder through a mechanical or hydraulic system.","Found mostly in yachts up to 200 feet long, they're a luxurious way to echo the glory days of the sea.","This company makes yacht wheels as large as 5 feet in diameter.","It uses two traditional shipbuilding woods-- american holly and burmese teak, species that are as beautiful as they are durable.","Workers use a table saw to cut both types of wood into long, thin strips that will become the wheel's rim.","They measure the strips with digital calipers, then sand them down to a thickness of just 1/8 of an inch.","Using a disk sander now, a worker angles the ends into what are called scarf joints.","He'll join the strips by fitting these angles together.","After coating each strip with epoxy, he attaches it with clamps to a round jig, waxed beforehand to prevent sticking.","The glue is waterproof because the wheels are often exposed to rough weather up on deck.","The worker gradually bends each 6 1/2-foot-long strip all the way around the jig.","And a spring-loaded clamp temporarily holds the end of each strip in place until he aligns the scarf joint with that of the next strip.","It takes up to eight hours of nonstop work to lay all the strips.","He alternates between the blond holly and the darker teak for a total of seven layers.","Then he leaves the rim to set overnight.","To make each spoke--  the wheel has five of them-- a worker temporarily joins strips of holly and teak with double-sided tape.","A computer-guided cutting machine then carves an opening through the middle and shapes the outer edge into a triangular shape.","This reduces the spoke's weight and helps it fit to the rim later on.","Next he removes the tape and glues the wood strips together, along with others made of carbon fiber.","They strengthen the spoke while keeping it lightweight.","He places a waxed jig in the center and clamps in place.","He leaves the spoke to set overnight.","The next day, he sands away the dried glue, then uses a router to round the edges.","Together, the four wood and three carbon-fiber layers are just one inch thick.","He traces a template on a stack of 14 pre-glued, curved strips of holly and teak.","He follows his trace lines with a band saw, cutting out what's called a fairing.","This component will join each spoke to the rim.","Now he drills a hole in each fairing...","And inserts a temporary dowel to position a reinforcing strip of carbon fiber at the top.","It's time to join the spokes to the rim.","Earlier, he glued strong fiberglass dowels to the rim.","Now he inserts them into the fairings and into holes in the spokes, also glued beforehand.","Through the openings, he clamps the spokes to the rim.","Then he positions an aluminum hub in the center, tapping it into place with a mallet.","Now, with a jigsaw, he cuts a sliver off the ends of the fairings so they'll curve into the rim.","He uses a router to round off the vertical edges of the wheel.","He files the fairings by hand to complete the smooth transition to the rim.","Just these finishing touches alone can take up to five hours to complete.","Using a router, it takes him another five hours to gradually round off the horizontal edge.","Now to protect the wheel from the elements-- particularly sun damage.","First, a polyester primer.","Then they sand it and apply two coats of waterproof varnish.","On the yacht, five stainless-steel bolts attach the wheel to a pedestal that connects to the rest of the steering mechanism.","To change how fast the rudder moves, you simply turn a knob at the center of the wheel.","How's that for power steering?","A relatively high-tech way to navigate the open seas.","New england settlers in the 1700s were the first to braid strips of used clothing and then sew them into rugs.","Today high-speed machines create this classic look in a fraction of the time, but with synthetic as well as natural fabric and yarns so the rugs last even longer.","This company's most popular rugs are oval or rectangular, some small enough for your stairs.","The rugs begin as yarn.","They wind the yarn onto bobbins that fit the factory's machines.","The yarn ranges from pure wool to a blend of wool and polypropylene that makes the rug durable even outdoors.","This machine braids yarn from 24 bobbins around a core of synthetic fabric.","The result is a complicated weave called cable lock.","Other rugs have just three braided segments, in what's called a flat braid.","Here a worker uses a powerful sewing machine to join flat braids with sturdy nylon thread.","This makes one enormous piece the length of half a tennis court.","The piece moves along a conveyer to an automated rotary saw that cuts it to size.","The saw passes twice to ensure a clean cut through the one-inch thickness.","Another industrial sewing machine attaches binding tape to seal the edge.","This prevents rectangular and square rugs from unraveling.","Oval and round rugs don't need this because their braids aren't cut.","This machine does what's called serging.","It sews yarn over the binding tape to cover it, a purely aesthetic gesture.","To make fabric rugs, a seamstress joins several pieces of different fabric along one edge.","They're a cotton-and-polyester blend that's durable and easy to wash.","The more patterns, the more complex the rug will look.","After they wind the fabric into a roll, a rotary saw cuts the roll to make strips that are one inch wide.","The fabric strip then unwinds into a machine that folds it over filler.","This forms the core of the fabric tubes they call spaghetti.","The machine wraps the fabric around the filler, then sews the edges into a closed tube.","Rollers guide the spaghetti out of the machine and onto bobbins.","This machine weaves spaghetti from three bobbins into a flat braid.","Fabric rugs are made only as flat braids because the material is too thick to weave into a cable lock.","The braids settle into barrels for storage until they're woven into rugs.","Sometimes mats are assembled from a variety of braids for a different look.","To make an oval or round rug, a worker coils one continuous braid around itself.","At the same time, she sews each braid to the next.","These rugs can have anywhere from 16 to 320 rows.","This factory uses tables with holes that blow pressurized air to float rugs like this one as they grow heavier.","The ovals range in size.","They can be as small as a doormat and as large as a swimming pool.","But when the rugs get really big, some extra help may be required.","It takes her about two hours to sew together one of these huge rugs.","Lastly, the worker staples a tag to the rug that reveals the style and size before the rug heads off to shipping.","Perhaps more than any other floor covering, these rugs don't just lie there.","The variety of styles and shapes means they really tell a story at your feet.","Only about 2 inches in diameter, a car's thermostat sits between the engine and the radiator.","Until the engine warms up, it blocks the flow of coolant to the radiator.","When the engine reaches about 200 degrees fahrenheit, the thermostat opens, letting coolant flow through the radiator and into the engine to prevent overheating.","The key component inside the thermostat is wax.","When the engine heats up, the wax melts and the thermostat opens, triggering the cooling system.","The wax melts quickly because it contains powdered copper, graphite, and/or aluminum.","As the wax transforms from solid to liquid, it expands.","The pressure pushes a pin that opens the valve that enables the flow of coolant to the engine.","After heating and mixing in the powders, workers pour the wax into slab-shaped molds.","It takes about a half-hour to cool and solidify.","Then they extract the slabs and grind them up.","They feed the granulated wax to a pill-making machine, the kind pharmaceutical factories use.","It compress the granules into cylindrical pellets.","Meanwhile, workers feed a copper strip into a machine called a high-speed transfer press.","Its successive stations shape the copper cup that will house the wax pellet.","The first station stamps out a circle.","The others progressively stretch and form the circle into a cup.","The cups go into an automated assembly machine, which drops a pellet into each one.","A pin then bores a hole down the center of each wax pellet.","The machine inserts a rubber sleeve into the pellet hole and caps the sleeve with a brass cover.","Then it crimps the cup over the cover, forming a seal that's leak-resistant.","Now the machine inserts the stainless-steel pin that opens and closes the coolant valve.","The pin goes right into the rubber sleeve in the center of the wax pellet.","How do all these parts work together?","The melting wax expands within the cup, squeezing the rubber sleeve.","That forces the pin upward, opening the coolant valve.","Now they heat the parts to the temperature at which the engine coolant should kick in.","A calibration machine squeezes the cup until the pin rises enough to open the coolant valve.","The components now enter a machine which connects that valve.","The valve is made up of two stainless-steel pieces.","The machine loads one on top of the other, over the thin end of the cup...","Then pushes the valve over the end of the cup, attaching it to the wide end.","On the left is before the valve installation, and here's after.","Meanwhile, a press forms the top part of the thermostat, called the flange.","It's made of stainless steel coated with a lubricant.","As with the cup, a series of dies progressively forms the flange.","Now for the final assembly.","First, the thermostat's stainless-steel frame.","Next, a stainless-steel spring.","Its job is to close the valve when the engine cools.","Now the assembled components go inside the spring.","The flange goes on top.","A tool called an orbital riveter flattens a tab on either side of the flange.","This holds the frame onto the flange.","The assembly machine now crimps two little tabs against the pin, keeping it from falling out of the rubber sleeve.","And with that, the thermostat is finished.","This demonstration shows how, as the engine heats up, the melting wax pushes the pin upward, and when the engine cools, the opposite happens so that even though you might boil over in heavy traffic, your engine doesn't have to.","A chisel is a metal tool with a sharp end for shaping stone, metal, or wood.","You use your hand, a hammer, or a mallet to drive it in and cut.","Although chisels date back to ancient asia, today's factories use heat-treated steel and high-tech machines to make them stay sharper longer.","A wood chisel needs to be very sharp, especially for intricate carving.","Making chisels starts when they insert a 16 1/2-foot-long bar of high-carbon steel in a mechanical press.","The carbon lets them heat-treat the steel to give it a long-lasting edge.","But first the press cuts the bar into 8 1/2-inch-long rods.","The rods then go through an induction heater.","In just six seconds, a magnetic field heats them to about 2,300 degrees fahrenheit, a temperature at which the steel can be forged.","A worker sets each hot rod into a die in a forging press.","The die slams down, applying 700 tons of pressure.","This produces what's called a forging, a rough shaping.","The die can produce as many as 60,000 forgings before it wears out.","Each one goes into what's called a trimming press.","Here a die cuts out the precise shape of the chisel, with the blade on one end and the tang on the other.","The tang later fits into a plastic or wooden handle so you can comfortably grip the tool.","The factory sends the excess metal out for recycling.","After the chisels cool off for several hours, workers run them through another induction-heating machine, this one with two coils.","The first heats them to 1,400 degrees fahrenheit.","Then warm water cools them down.","This rapid reduction in temperature is called quenching.","It's what hardens the chisels enough to be strong and stay sharp.","The next coil heats them to about 700 degrees fahrenheit.","This step is called tempering.","It relieves the stresses that the quenching phase created inside the metal.","Spring-loaded clamps now release the chisels from the machine, and they drop into a container to cool overnight.","The next day, workers can start to polish and sharpen the chisels.","That removes the metal discoloration the heat-treating caused.","To polish the barrels, the round areas joining the blade and the tang, workers load the chisels into devices called chucks.","These clamp the chisels securely by the blade as the barrels spin against a rough-grit sanding wheel.","After about seven seconds of sanding, the blades are ready for polishing.","A powerful magnet locks them in place on a round table.","It rotates, running the blades against an abrasive grinding wheel.","As water cools the metal, it also applies a rust-proofing chemical to the steel.","This polishing cycle takes about 20 seconds.","The highly polished finish is a key selling point.","Now to sharpen the blades.","A worker loads the chisels into another machine.","It moves the chisels back and forth against another grinding wheel.","After about five minutes of this, the blades are razor-sharp.","Only the last 1/2 inch of the chisel, sloping at a 22-degree angle, is the cutting edge.","This factory uses preformed extruded-plastic handles for its chisels.","A hot metal die with raised lettering presses and melts a colored plastic ribbon into each handle.","This imprints the company logo, the model size, and a reminder to wear safety goggles.","The next machine puts a steel cap on top and forces the tang inside the hole.","The cap reinforces the handle against hammer blows.","The tang stays put because it's actually a bit bigger than the hole it goes into-- in industry lingo, an interference fit.","The finished tools come off the line.","Now you can chisel your crafts for years to come."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Custom Running Shoes","Axes","Racing Karts","Animatronics"]},"text":["Poorly fitted shoes can ruin a runner's day.","They can compromise the runner's gait and lead to injuries.","It's why custom-made running shoes have become popular.","Tailored for one specific pair of feet, they give the runner the necessary support to go the distance.","Thanks to the use of synthetic materials, the running shoe is more lightweight and flexible than ever before.","Customizing these shoes takes the concept one step further.","They start by taking a precise 3-d laser scan of each foot.","Then the runner steps onto a device called a pressure plate.","Rubber tipped pins sprout up around the foot.","This technique creates an exact outline of the sole, including the arch.","Next, a high-pressure water jet cuts through synthetic fabric like a knife.","A computer guides the cuts, following the measurements from the scans.","The cutouts will be used to make the upper-- that's the part of the shoe that wraps around the top of the foot.","A seamstress sews together the cutouts, creating the basic shell of the running shoe's upper.","Uppers come in a variety of colors, and when a shoe is custom ordered, the athlete can choose.","After holes for the laces have been punched into the upper part of the running shoe, the seamstress stitches on stripes-- a trademark look for the company.","She sews the tongue and a fabric innersole to the upper, using rounded stitching that will prevent fraying.","The innersole joins the two sides of the upper, and this custom running shoe is starting to come together.","But this shoe needs shape and structure before it's ready to pound pavement.","So, the next worker inserts a plastic replica of the athlete's foot, called a last, into the shoes.","She glues fabric to the heel of each shoe, and then pounds and presses it to ensure the fabric adheres.","Left to sit for five hours, the shoes conform to the shape of the custom-made lasts.","But if the measurements are even slightly off, they'll scrap the shoe and start again.","It's time for the foam midsoles.","The workers cut the foam with dies based on the individual's feet.","The foam is dual density for maximum performance.","He sands each midsole, beveling the tips.","This will make for a smoother landing when the foot hits the ground.","The outsoles are next.","The worker sculpts these treaded rubber soles along the same lines as the midsoles, so they'll fit together perfectly.","He glues the mid and outer soles together.","To make sure this job really sticks, they squeeze the two soles together using a hydraulic press.","In a custom shoe, the athlete can also choose the tread.","A deeper tread is more appropriate for trail running, and a shallower one will grip pavement better.","The worker now glues the bottom of the shoe to the top.","The sole is made a little larger than the fabric upper, which allows her to fold it around the upper for a neat finish.","A machine they call the claw applies pressure to enhance the bonding of the sole to the shoe.","Then they insert a memory foam insole which melds to the shape of the foot.","This insole is also breathable and has been treated with an antibacterial agent.","The athlete's name on the heel is the final personal touch for these custom running shoes.","They've taken about five days to make, but they're ready for a marathon.","Ever since primitive times, humans have been using axes to chop wood.","The first axes were simple, sharpened stones, but when a handle was added about 35,000 years ago, it increased the force that could be applied with each strike, and that gave the ax much greater impact.","Today, the ax hasn't lost its edge.","Despite the proliferation of mechanized tools, it offers a low-tech, hands-on way to get the job done.","A modern ax starts as a cylinder of high-quality steel.","A ram nudges it into an induction furnace.","The intense heat makes the steel white hot and pliable, allowing it to be stretched and shaped.","A powerful press then pounds the steel into a series of dies to further define the ax profile.","A cutter head trims the edges.","Operators now transfer the ax to another ram, which presses it into a die to straighten and level it.","Then it's on to a revolving rack for a half-hour to cool down and harden, just enough so they can be handled.","A worker loads dozens of the axes into a tumbler.","They are tossed about with tiny steel pellets, and the resulting friction rubs scale from the surface of the steel and also smoothes the edges.","Then this worker presses the back of the ax head against a sanding belt to bevel the edges.","He sands the sides of the ax head for a smooth finish.","In just seconds, he sharpens both sides of the cutting edge.","It takes well-honed skills to do this with such quick precision.","He then polishes the neck of the ax against a narrower, finer-grit sanding belt.","And it's time for a dip in a special solution, heated to 1,500 degrees fahrenheit.","They then quench the red-hot steel in warm oil.","The abrupt temperature change hardens the metal so it's tough enough for any wood-chopping job.","At the next station, a worker assembles prepunched leather and plastic rings to build the ax grip.","She places the black-and-white plastic rings at each end of the leather pad, to give the grip a customized look.","The rings get progressively smaller as she tapers the grip to fit the throat of the ax handle.","It takes about 36 of the leather rings and 6 plastic ones to make one grip.","She transfers the grip pack to an assembly press...","And inserts the lower part of the ax, which has been lubricated with bees wax, into the grip's center holes.","A hydraulic ram drives it through.","The lubrication ensures this job doesn't hit any snags.","She now flattens metal prongs at the base of the handle to secure the grip.","The axes rotate as a long, abrasive belt rocks against the leather.","It sands the grip to make the layers flush.","A worker finishes off the job with a particularly aggressive sanding.","His handiwork makes this grip look really smooth.","A dip in clear lacquer brings out the grain of the various pieces of leather, and they appear to merge into one.","Once the lacquer dries, another worker polishes the exposed steel against a belt with a very fine grit.","The result is a glossy sheen that ensures this ax will definitely look good on the job.","It takes about two days to make one of these axes, but they're designed to last a lifetime.","Kart racing is an international motor sport that has a huge following, especially in europe.","The karts look a bit like miniature formula-one racecars but have no suspension system.","Kart racing can be even more exciting than f-1 because of their small size and increased maneuverability.","this italian-made racing kart-- with its one-cylinder, 125cc engine-- reaches speeds of 110 miles per hour.","An aluminum case houses all the engine components.","A computer-guided drill bores various holes for installing them.","First in-- the engine's six steel gears.","Each gear is actually comprised of several gears.","They thread them onto a shaft.","Then everything goes into the gear box.","Behind the gears goes the gear shifter, which the driver operates with a lever.","Next comes the drive shaft.","It turns a chain that rotates the axle on which the rear wheels are mounted.","On the other side of the engine case, they install the drive-shaft gears.","These ensure the shaft rotates at a stable and controlled rate.","The red markings help the technicians align the gears.","The clutch cover closes up the gear box.","The clutch's main housing, called the drum, contains the clutch disks.","These disks transmit crankshaft motion to the gear box, which turns the drive shaft, which moves the chain that rotates the rear wheels.","Thick steel springs grip and release the clutch disks.","This flap component, called the lameli pack, controls how much fuel enters the engine.","Stepping on the acceleration pedal creates a vacuum that opens the flaps and sucks in more fuel.","The cylinder houses the piston that rotates the crank shaft.","This engine head seals the cylinder in which the combustion cycle occurs.","The ignition goes on the left side of the engine.","The engine is now finished and ready for a bench test.","Technicians use special instruments to monitor and calibrate its performance.","The racing kart's chassis is made of steel tubing.","At the back, they mount bearings to hold the rear axle.","Then they mount the axle itself and on it-- brake disks.","They attach brake calipers to the chassis.","Under braking, they squeeze the disks to stop the wheels from turning.","After measuring again, to ensure the rear axle is perfectly centered, they lock it into position in a way that enables it to rotate, of course.","Now for the steering system.","At the front of the chassis, technicians mount a spindle on each side.","The spindles turn the kart's front wheels.","Once technicians fasten the steering column up top, they connect tie rods to the spindles.","Tie rods transmit the rotation of the steering column, via the spindles, to the front wheels.","Next, technicians mount two spring-loaded pedals in front of the chassis.","The brake system is hydraulic, meaning that pressurized fluid activates the calipers to grab or release the brake disks.","Next come the wheel humps on which the tire rims go.","Then the engine...","Followed by the tires...","And a fiberglass driver's seat, which, due to the lack of suspension, lets the driver feel every inch of the track.","Finally-- the steering wheel and a data recording device that tracks everything from speed and lap time to tire and exhaust temperatures.","Animatronics is the construction of robotic puppets that move in a lifelike way.","You often see animatronic characters in science-fiction movies, as well as theme parks and carnivals.","Please be advised that this segment contains images which may not be suitable for younger viewers.","When it comes to the horror genre, the more gruesome the animatronic character, the better.","Meet crazy kristen.","She starts out as a hunk of clay.","Her creator sculpts her form on a vertical table.","Once he finishes her shape, he switches to finer tools to craft her gory features.","He uses water and a sponge to give her skin realistic texture.","Once the clay is hardened, they lay crazy kristen on her back and drown her in gypsum plaster.","In an hour or so, the plaster sets, and they remove the sculpture, creating a mold from which they'll produce multiple crazy kristens.","The mold is quite heavy, so for easier handling, they sever the body in two.","Then they'll fill each mold cavity with liquid latex rubber.","A three-millimeter skin soon hardens against the mold cavity wall.","They suction out the remaining liquid latex.","Meanwhile, they weld together a steel skeleton, a grate for her rib cage, a strip for her spine, chains for her arm bones, ball bearings for her joints, and steel reinforced rubber for her neck.","So far, crazy kristen has skin and bones.","Now she needs flesh.","They fill each mold cavity with expanding polyurethane foam.","To control the expansion, they cover the top with a plastic sheet and guide the foam with their hands.","The lower body doesn't require an inner support structure because it's immobile-- just steel chains in the legs to hold them in place.","Once the foam hardens, it's safe to extract crazy kristen's body from the molds.","They trim off excess latex along the perimeter.","Then sit her upper body on a large swiveling ball bearing mounted on a vertical metal base.","They insert a pair of rods through holes in the base.","Each rod is bolted to a plate sitting on those ball bearing joints in her skeleton.","The other end gets welded to the base.","These cylinders are pneumatic, meaning air pressure opens and closes them, making crazy kristen thrash about.","It's all controlled by this digital device they mount on a guitar amplifier.","It sends electric pulses that control the pneumatic cylinders.","An actress records the accompanying shrieks and moans.","they transfer the soundtrack to the digital control box.","The box triggers the sound effects, along with the movement.","It's time to apply crazy kristen's makeup.","For her skin colors, they use a half-and-half mixture of house paint and liquid latex rubber.","For her eyeballs, they use off-white opaque ink.","Then they airbrush the iris...","And paint in the pupil with the stick end of a small brush...","A few veins with a red pen...","Airbrushed ink on her mouthguard...","And finally clear epoxy over her eyeballs, to make them glassy.","They top her off with a wig, mount her lower body to the base, then complete her look with a straitjacket, because crazy kristen's home is the insane asylum."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Clay","Pitted Prunes","Spurs","Polyurethane Tires"]},"text":["The origin of so many useful things is muddy-- from bricks to tiles to dinnerware.","Even the kitchen sink can be made from clay.","Clay is a component of soil that, when wet, has a certain plasticity that allows it to be shaped into hundreds of things.","There are many shades of clay.","The whitest is the purest and used to manufacture things like dinnerware, sinks, and tiles.","Clay isn't just dirt.","It's one of the most valuable resources on earth.","To find it, they excavate topsoil and gravel at this site in kentucky.","They dig down as far as 80 feet.","The deeper they go, the whiter the clay.","A loader transfers it to a truck for transport.","Fresh from the earth, the moisture content of the clay is between 15% and 22%.","The particles of clay clump together, but the clumps can be easily broken up.","The clay will now be processed to a workable form.","It's a short drive from the clay pit to the factory.","They unload it in a building without walls so it will air dry a bit.","They do a visual inspection of the color and consistency.","Every few loads, they also do a chemical analysis of the mineral content.","This allows them to categorize the clay for specific purposes and for blending in different clay recipes.","Next, they transfer the clay to a revolving tub.","The tub has knives that protrude up into it.","As it spins, the knives hit the lumps of clay to chop them into smaller pieces.","These smaller clay chunks flow out of the chopper and ride a conveyor into a hopper.","The hopper feeds the clay to a mill.","En route to the mill, the clay travels through fire-- a flame generated by a furnace below.","This is called flash drying, and it brings the moisture content down to 1% to 2%-- the right consistency to now grind it into a fine powder.","The grinding mill is a shaft with numerous hammers sandwiched between steel plates.","As the shaft turns, the hammers will swing to grind the clay lumps into a powder.","The mill will also blend different kinds of clay to create specific products.","They put the cover on the mill and set it in motion.","The hammers pulverize the different clays into a powder.","Overhead, a machine sucks up the ground clay, using spinning blades and a vacuum.","The cyclone effect lifts up the clay particles and leaves heavier impurities like sand behind.","The result is a purer clay blend.","Here are various clays now dried, pulverized, and purified.","They run numerous tests on clay.","For this one, the technician presses the clay powder into a cake-like disc, using a hydraulic press.","At the same time, he weighs the clay.","Weight can indicate the clay's pliability and the speed at which it can be cast.","He fires the clay disc in an oven overnight and examines the color to confirm that it's the desired hue.","Over at the packaging station, a worker hangs open bags on spouts, which will fill the bags full of dry powdered clay.","The customer will add water and other ingredients to turn this particular blend into a glaze for things like tiles and sinks.","In powdered form, the clay is lighter and cheaper to ship.","Some customers prefer wet-processed clay, even though it's heavier.","For that, they add water and chemicals to make a slurry.","They pump the slurry through a sieve to screen out impurities.","The clay slurry now flows into big mixing tanks, where it remains in a constant state of agitation.","Continuous mixing keeps it fluid.","Without it, the clay would thicken to the consistency of peanut butter.","On delivery day, they pump it into tanker trucks.","At another factory, this particular batch will be used to make sinks or tubs.","The next trucks will likely be headed somewhere else.","You never know what will be made from this product of the earth.","Among dried fruits, none inspires a gut reaction like prunes.","Eating them is one way to kick-start a lethargic gastrointestinal system.","High in fiber, sweet and chewy, prunes are actually dried plums, and they're a delicacy that's as old as civilization itself.","Prunes have been found in ancient egyptian tombs, placed there to snack on during the journey to the next world.","Fast-forward to today, and people are still snacking on prunes.","They also add them to salads, muffins, and main-course recipes.","It all starts with the growing stock.","Not all varieties of plums are suitable for drying.","At this california orchard, they grow the d'agen plum--  a european variety.","Harvesting machines shake the trees by the trunks, and the fruit rains down onto a conveyor, which delivers it to bins.","They then truck the plums to the receiving plant...","And unload them directly into a washing system.","Tree leaves float to the surface of the water to be removed.","The plums exit onto a table that vibrates to distribute them evenly so they land on trays in fairly equal amounts.","A paddle overhead levels them on the trays.","Machinery stacks the trays of plums on racks.","The plums are now ready to dry.","They're about 80% water when they enter the dryer.","16 hours of heat exposure brings the moisture content down to 19%.","Plums were once sun-dried as a means of preservation, but a modern industrial dryer produces more uniform results.","The dried plums travel under a vacuum that sucks out sticks or stems.","Then the prunes travel to a shaking conveyor with a lot of different-sized holes.","The first holes are the smallest, and they become progressively larger to sort the prunes by size.","They fall into separate bins below.","The smallest fruit will be used for breakfast or diced product.","The largest prunes will end up as snack food.","Preserved by drying and now sorted, they can be stored for months until processing.","At the processing plant, the prunes head into a super-sized steam cooker.","They spend 18 minutes in there.","The steam cooking partially rehydrates them, softening the prunes so the pits can be removed more easily.","They must now remove the pits before the prunes start to lose moisture and become too dry for the job to be done efficiently.","The prunes speed towards the pitting operation and flow into five lanes.","Each one leads to a separate pitting line.","With five different pitting lines, they'll process hundreds of prunes a minute.","Clamps close around the prunes, securing them for knives to push out the pits.","The pits will be ground up and added to animal feed.","The pitted prunes make a soft landing on a rubber conveyor, which takes them into a laser-detection center.","The laser finds pits or pit fragments and relays the information to a computer.","The computer activates air jets that blast out the unwanted material.","It happens so fast, it's all a blur.","On another shaker conveyor now, the prunes bounce towards a big drum.","The drum revolves slowly to gently toss the prunes as they pump in a preservative, flavorings, and oil.","The prunes absorb the ingredients as they tumble around in the drum.","At this point, they sample the moisture content of the prunes every 15 minutes.","The technician grinds and compresses some prunes into a disc.","She drives an electrode into it to gauge the moisture.","It should be between 28% and 32%-- enough to improve the texture, but a lot less than fresh fruit.","It's time to wrap things up.","Sectioning arms open the bags.","Feeders dispense a precise amount of pitted prunes into them.","A heated device then melts the ends of the plastic bags together to seal them.","They produce 120 bags of prunes a minute at this factory, so adding fiber to one's diet shouldn't be a problem.","If you ride horses regularly, chances are you own a pair of spurs.","Spurs strap onto the heels of riding boots.","Each spur has a small wheel, usually spiked, with which the rider prods the horse to get it to start moving or move faster.","The anatomy of a spur is elementary.","The wheel, called the rawl, is mounted in the shank.","The shank is connected to the heel band.","The heel band is held to the boot by a leather strap.","The metal parts are made from a strong, yet flexible, type of steel.","A computer-guided laser cuts the starting shape for the heel bands.","A quick strike of a press stamps them with the company name.","Next, workers smooth and bevel the edges, using a sander outfitted with a special belt for grinding metal.","Next, they hammer the piece around a steel block, cushioning the blows with a piece of wood to avoid marring the surface.","The block is shaped exactly like the heel of the boots for which the spurs have been ordered, ensuring a custom fit.","They heat evenly with a torch.","This relaxes the steel around the block so that the heel band permanently registers this shape.","Then, some final taps to lay the band completely flat against the block.","This perfects the shape.","They submerge the heel band in cool water.","This tempers the flexible steel, rendering it hard and stiff.","Then, with a fine-grit belt, they sand away any surface imperfections.","A pair of spurs is made up of some two dozen steel pieces, all of which go through the same prep as the heel band.","Once all the parts are ready, workers precision weld the shank to the mid-point of the heel band.","Next, to each side of the heel band, they weld a pin, which holds a pivoting arm.","These swingarms, as they're called, hold the leather strap that retains the spur to the boot.","To make the rawls, they trace a template on steel, then cut along the lines with a metal band saw.","If the rawl shape is elaborate, a computer-guided laser cuts them out.","After sanding the rawl thoroughly to smooth sharp edges which could cut the horse, they mount it to the shank with a stainless-steel pin.","Then they weld the back of the pin.","Now the artistry begins.","A craftsman creates decorative overlays in sterling silver.","He cuts their shapes with a jeweler's saw, draws a design, then, using an array of engraving tools, meticulously carves it out.","He cleans the back of the overlays with flux-- an acidic chemical--  then coats them with solder.","The trick is to apply just enough to bond the silver to the steel.","Too much would overflow and ruin the front.","By the time he gently applies each overlay to the spur, the solder has cooled and solidified, so he warms the steel with a torch from underneath.","This reheats and liquefies the solder, which then cools and resolidifies, bonding the silver to the steel.","The heat causes some discoloration, which he easily removes with a bit of flux.","Once all the silver overlays are soldered to the spur, workers polish them on a cloth buffing wheel.","The finishing touch-- they submerge the spurs in a tank containing a chemical solution called gun bluing.","It turns the shiny steel parts black.","To produce an antique brown, rather than black finish, workers heat the spurs in an oven, then apply a chemical which tints the steel.","Now for the leather straps.","An artisan tools the leather entirely by hand, dyes it, attaches a stainless-steel buckle, then sews tabs on both ends that hook to the swingarms on the heel band.","This shiny set of spurs is ready for some horsing around.","Many low-speed vehicles have tires made of polyurethane foam, rather than air-filled rubber tires.","Polyurethane doesn't deteriorate in sunlight, nor does it dry out over time.","And if the tire is made entirely of the closed-cell type of foam, the tire won't go flat.","Polyurethane tires are designed for low-speed vehicles, such as baggage carts and ride-on lawn mowers.","This particular type of polyurethane foam has a closed-cell structure, which prevents a flat, even if the tire gets punctured.","Millions of air bubbles encapsulated within the foam give it the required bounce factor.","The first step is to take an aluminum model of the tire and make a production mold with it.","This one's for a forklift.","The mold will have two halves--  each one lined with a tread ring to prevent the cast tire from getting stuck in the cavity.","To make each half of the mold, they center the model in a base, then fill the space around it with polyurethane elastomer, which is a solid type of polyurethane, as opposed to the foam type they use to cast the tires.","They stir gently to move air bubbles to the top...","Then heat those bubbles with a small propane torch to burst them.","With the help of a heated table to speed things along, the material solidifies in approximately 15 minutes, at which point, they extract the half-mold...","And, with the utility knife, trim its rough edges both inside and out.","Then they mate the two halves, and the production mold is ready.","Whereas most companies buy foam mixtures ready-made, this one blends its own, in order to have strict control over the formulation.","Technicians weigh out the chemical ingredients manually with a high-precision industrial scale that's accurate to within 1 1/2 ounces.","A propeller-shaped blade mixes the ingredients for half an hour, moving everything from top to bottom more than 300 times and drawing it out of the corners of the container.","This ensures the mixture is evenly blended throughout.","Before using this foam to cast the tires, a quality-control test.","They take a sample from the batch and let it rise and set, which takes about a minute.","Then they cut a piece of a specific size, weigh it, and calculate the density.","If the sample meets specifications, the batch is a go.","Just before filling the two halves of the mold with polyurethane foam, they lubricate the cavity with a release agent.","This prevents the tire from sticking to the mold when they extract it.","A press keeps the mold closed and in place on the filling machine.","The machine spins the mold while the foam flows into the cavity through a hole at the top.","The spinning creates centrifugal force that distributes the foam into every nook and cranny.","In less than a minute, the foam, although not yet fully cured, is solid enough to be extracted.","They open the mold, remove the tread ring, then dislodge the cast tire with a short blast of an air gun.","They trim the excess foam from the center.","It can be ground up to make other products, such as floor mats.","Here's what the tire looks like before...","And after trimming.","The polyurethane foam takes 24 more hours to fully cure, then the tires are ready to roll.","This company sells tires with and without painted steel rims.","Rim installation is simple.","They place the rim on a base, followed by a mounting cone, then the tire.","A press snaps the center of the tire over the edge of the rim.","Besides making the tire flat-resistant, the closed-cell structure of this polyurethane foam doesn't absorb water, meaning wet conditions don't hamper performance.","The tire is also u.v. resistant and withstands high abrasion, so it typically lasts two to three times longer than an air-filled tire used on the same vehicle."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Peaked Caps","Custom Water Heaters","Electric Boats","Fencing Foils"]},"text":["Throughout europe in the late 1700s, peaked caps were traditionally worn by industrial workers.","Today, they are worn by professionals such as security personnel, members of the military, and police officials that wear uniforms.","In the united kingdom, some police officers still wear the classic custodian helmet, but now many officers have chosen to wear the lightweight, comfortable, and practical peaked cap.","To make these caps, a hat maker, or a milliner, assembles a number of components using patterns to cut out the required pieces of wool, foam, and plastic.","A milliner bends a strip of polypropylene plastic into a circle.","She sews the joint with a high-strength thread, creating the hat band that will go around the head.","She positions a smaller piece of polypropylene, known as the badge support, and sews it in place.","The support will prevent the weight of a police badge from distorting the shape of the hat.","These crescent-shaped components are pieces of wool glued to thin, flexible foam.","She sews the crescents together, creating a circular piece, which will form the bevel.","She uses a specialized, long-arm sewing machine, which has been customized to make hats.","The seams are carefully ironed flat to prevent any bulging.","If the iron is too hot, the foam will melt.","Too cool, and the wool won't flatten.","She aligns two strips of 100% wool fabric and sews them together at the ends.","This piece will cover the plastic stiffener forming the outer band.","To ensure the sizing is correct, the milliner places the wool cover over the stiffener.","The stiffener is installed at the end of the production process.","Next, the milliner irons the seams of the band covers.","She finishes the band covers on a sewing machine known as a flat bed and creates a fold to hold the plastic stiffener and sews the edges together.","Then the band cover is sewed to the bevel.","While it's difficult to attach two pieces of cloth at different angles, this step creates an even seam that runs 360 degrees.","It takes at least six months of training to learn how to make hats.","The crown is made from three materials-- a combination of wool and foam, a polyester lining, and a protective-grade p.v.c. layer.","Once the three materials have been sewn together, the machinist trims the perimeter of the crown.","She marks the side edges and aligns them with the seams on the bevel.","Then she sews the crown to the bevel.","Having spent a great deal of time perfecting the skills, this milliner makes it look easy.","Finally, the components begin to resemble a hat.","Using a polypropylene template, the machinist positions and marks two spots on the bevel.","She places two small brass rings on a special device and aligns the marks with the device's posts, which cut out two holes through the fabric.","Then she places two cup-shaped rings on the posts, and the machine punches them down, forming eyelets for ventilation.","Next, the polypropylene stiffener is inserted into the hat.","Finally, the hat begins to take on its final shape.","The tag containing the hat's size is sewed on hat band.","She places a checkered-pattern band on the brim of the hat, called dicing or the sillitoe tartan.","The milliner inserts a replica badge through holes in the badge support and secures it with a pin.","This is a replica, since we can't show real police badges on tv.","Next, the milliner sews the peak onto the band.","It took a highly skilled milliner more than half an hour to sew this hat.","They might look straightforward, but peaked caps are surprisingly complex.","A home water heater stores and heats water in a tank.","This is how it works.","When you turn on a faucet, hot water flows out of the tank from the top, while cold water flows into the tank from the bottom.","Conventional water heaters are fueled by natural gas, electricity, propane, or oil.","This company custom-builds several types of water heaters for use with different types of heat sources, such as boilers, heat pumps, and solar panels.","Each work order includes a picture outlining the pipe configuration and the connecting valves, along with a list of the water heater's specifications.","To make a copper tank, a technician cuts a thick sheet of copper to a specified length.","He aligns the end of the sheet to the gradation on the table that corresponds to the tank's circumference.","Then he actives the guillotine blade with a foot pedal.","A computer-guided machine punches holes for the valves.","This water heater requires two valves at each end of the heating coil and one that will connect the water pipe to the tank.","The technician inserts the copper sheet into a mechanical roller.","The rollers apply pressure, forming the sheet into an open cylinder.","One end of the cylinder is clamped into a machine that welds linear seams.","The technician inserts the other end of the cylinder through the machine and joins it against the clamped end.","The machine is programmed to weld a seam to the length of the connected ends.","The technician monitors the welding arm through a u.v. lens to protect his eyes.","The machine stops automatically when it reaches the programmed seam length.","This process closes the cylinder with a strong, pressure-resistant seam, creating the water-heater tank's structural component.","Another technician places the tank's top on a press.","The press punches a hole for a threaded pipe fitting.","The fitting connects the pipe to the hot water.","Using a different press, the technician makes another hole into the cylinder for a threaded fitting.","This fitting connects to an electrical element that heats water in conjunction with a boiler.","Another technician makes the tank's heating coil by running a straight copper tube through three rollers.","The tube is bent under pressure, forming it into a coiled shape.","The heat from the boiler, pump, or solar panel flows through the heating coil, heating the water stored in the tank.","Since the copper-tube wall is too thin to weld, a technician uses a fusing technique known as brazing.","This metal-joining process brazes a flow fitting on one end of the heating coil and a return fitting on the other.","Next, the heating coil is placed in the tank.","The fittings protrude through a hole at the top and bottom.","The technician secures each one with a nut, then tightens the nuts with an impact wrench.","Like the dome top, the bottom component's edges are grooved, allowing the tank to fit perfectly into the cylinder base.","Once the top and bottom components are installed, the tank goes back to the brazing station for final assembly.","A welder brazes the top and bottom components to the cylinder, then he brazes a feed fitting to a hole near the bottom of the tank.","This location is where cold water enters the tank to be heated.","Next, a technician conducts a quality-control test.","He blocks the three fittings, fills the cylinder with air, then submerges the tank in water to check for air bubbles, which would indicate a leak.","A stainless-steel water heater is constructed just like a copper heater, except that they don't require any brazing.","A robot sprays the tanks with expandable polyurethane foam for insulation.","The customer selects the degree of insulation, one to four inches thick.","The foam takes just five minutes to cure.","As the tank stores hot water, the insulation reduces the amount of heat the tank loses over time.","Electrically powered vehicles may seem like a 21st-century phenomenon, but they were actually first invented in the 1880s.","During that time, they were very popular, until combustion-engine vehicles became the new normal.","Today, these electrically powered alternative-fuel vehicles are making a comeback.","This manufacturer produces a wide range of electric boats.","Thanks to powerful batteries, some of these vehicles can travel over 35 miles per hour.","Craftspeople apply a gel-coat skin to a mold, using a product derived from vinyl.","Then they layer on a dry fiberglass fabric and vacuum-bag the entire assembly.","The vacuum suction draws in liquid resin, infusing the material.","A craftsman marks a dry spot as a test point to monitor and ensure complete saturation.","The infusion process takes about two hours.","Once complete, the assembly will cure for four to six hours, depending on the general humidity and temperature levels.","Once cured, the assembly is removed from the mold.","Despite the structure's light weight, this deck is incredibly strong, rigid, and durable.","The fiberglass decks and hulls make up the boat's shells.","A craftswoman applies a high-strength marine glue to a recessed area of the deck.","She installs an anti-skid deck insertion.","This material is a composite designed to resemble wood.","Unlike real wood, this composite material will last the lifetime of the boat and won't require any additional maintenance.","The craftswoman uses a roller to apply pressure evenly across the entire decking surface.","This step will eliminate any unwanted air pockets.","Next, a mirror-image decking section is applied to the other side.","A specialist installs the electrical-wiring harness.","To avoid corrosion, marine-grade wiring is stored in a sealed environment under the deck.","Since the decking is lightweight, it only takes two people to lift and install it on the hull.","The lip of the deck fits snugly into place.","The most powerful boat models require lithium-ion batteries.","These boats are built with military-grade foam.","The density of the foam adds structure, causing the boat to become unsinkable.","Using a hoist, technicians install the deck of a large, powerful electric boat.","The deck lip slides over the top of the hull.","Depending on the boat model, the manufacturer uses either lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries as a power source.","A specialist installs a series of marine-grade dc31 lead-acid batteries.","At 6 volts, 225 amps, they're similar to batteries used in cars.","By contrast, the 7.7-kilowatt lithium-ion batteries pack a charge of 48 volts.","The batteries are installed under the seats.","To create a watertight seal between the deck to the hull, a craftsman installs a rubber bumper around the perimeter of the boat.","Holes have been pre-drilled to avoid cracking when installation is complete.","This manufacturer sources their motors from an outside electric-motor company, which also builds motors for cars.","The fin, made of aluminum encased in marine-grade rubber, is installed on the bottom of the motor.","The propeller attaches to the motor with a zinc nut.","Two circuit boards located on board will send instructions to the motor.","A waterproof cover is placed on top of the circuit boards for added protection.","Locknuts with nylon washers will prevent unnecessary vibrations while the motor is on.","With the steering cables installed, the entire unit pivots right and left, allowing the pilot on deck to steer.","The powerful motor is equivalent to a 10-horsepower combustion engine, and because it sits in the water, it stays cool and quiet.","Finally, a craftswoman places the boat's sun canopy over the framework.","This will allow customers to add solar panels for charging the boat.","Also, a customer can choose the colors for both their canopies and upholstery.","There's no denying that electric boats are the future of fun on the water.","Modern fencing is a sport consisting of three disciplines, one of which is foil fencing.","While in play, a lightweight foil sword is used to score points.","Points can be scored when the tip of a player's sword makes contact onto their opponent's torso.","A fencing foil is a piece of equipment that should only be used by trained professionals.","This sword doesn't have a sharp edge or pointed tip.","It's all about scoring hits.","Fencing foils are made out of thin steel bars.","The steel is a low-carbon, nickel-rich alloy that's strong yet flexible.","An automated saw cuts the bars to a length of 35 inches.","The bar will be stretched and shortened as it's transformed.","A forge heats and hammers the hilt end to a round shape, leaving the rest of the rod rectangular.","Here you can see the difference in the rod's shape.","Another forging machine softens the end of the rod and pushes the blade through a series of hammers.","This tapers the blade and stretches the steel, doubling it in size.","An operator clamps the tapered blade in a jig to hold it straight while the steel cools.","Then the operator slices the hilt end to length.","The excess steel will be recycled into new swords.","Next, the blades are heated in a 932-degree oven.","This step removes stresses and makes the metal less brittle.","After a second heating, the blades soak in oil to cool and harden.","The exposure to intense heat causes a rusty scale to form on the blade, so technicians clean it off.","A sword maker clamps the blades in a disc grinder.","The grinder carves a fine groove from the hilt to the tip.","The groove will house a wire for the electric scoring system.","The blade is cleaned to remove any remaining surface imperfections.","A spinning belt coated with an abrasive grinds all four sides of the blade.","Then the sword is polished using a buffing wheel and polishing compound.","You can see the difference this makes in the blade on the right.","The craftsman hammers the blade against an anvil to straighten out any kinks.","Then he inspects the blade.","If needed, the craftsman will make adjustments to the blade with a hammer.","Now it's time to work on the hilt end of the blade.","Another craftsman locks the end of the blade in a threading die, applies lubricant, and activates the automated system.","The system turns the sword in the die, carving out threads.","Then the threaded hilt is cut to length.","At the next station, a computerized laser engraves the company logo into the steel.","After the sensor barrel is installed on the end of the sword and the electrical scoring wire is placed in the groove, the technician applies glue to keep the wire secure.","The sword blade is placed in a rack that holds it in a bow-like bend.","This step will give the glued wire the flexibility it needs to bend with the rest of the sword while in use.","After the blade has cured, a pressure sensor spring is inserted into the barrel and capped with a sensor button.","The technician uses screws to hold the components together.","To assemble the hilt, the scoring wire is threaded through a hole in the guard so it can easily slide into place.","Then the sensor wire is connected to a socket.","The wiring assembly is covered with a plastic pad that allows the socket to protrude.","Finally, the pistol-grip handle is screwed into the threaded end of the blade.","This fencing foil is now ready for testing.","The technician plugs the fencing foil into testing equipment, then he places a one-pound weight on the sensor button and checks to see if it responds.","And the results are in.","This fencing foil is now ready to stand up to its competition."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Trucks","Adhesive Bandages","Computer Circuit Boards","Liquors"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Trucks-- we'll tell you haul[all] you need to know about them.","Adhesive bandages-- we'll stick to the facts in this report.","Computer circuit boards-- letting the chips fall where they may.","And liquor-- we distill the whole process for you.","Whether your rig of choice rides on 8, 10, or 18 wheels, trucks have got the goods, and they get them to where they have to go.","Trucks not only transport most of today's consumables, they're the undisputed kings of the road.","Fabricating these massive trucks requires many highly complex steps since the parts are usually heavy and tricky to handle.","Assembly begins with the fabrication of the bearing frame, the main part on which the truck's cab, motor, and transmission will rest.","They begin by assembling these tempered-steel stringers, beams varying in length between 25 and 43 feet.","The chassis is made as a huge meccano set.","The stringers are solidly attached together with nuts and bolts and tightened with powerful pneumatic tools.","Once assembled, the main chassis is transported to another stage of construction.","Now they're going to install the mechanical parts.","They start with the differential, the axle, and the springs' leaves.","The brake mounts are then put in place.","The plates installed in the mounts allow the truck to brake.","They install the wheel hub onto which the wheels will be attached.","Then the transmission shaft, which will power the driving wheels, is inserted.","They finish the rear-wheel assembly by mounting the heavy brake drum made of cast iron.","To facilitate the mounting, everything is assembled upside down.","With an overhead crane capable of lifting a 26,000-pound load, they then turn the part right-side up.","Next step, the motor-propulsion elements.","The transmission is bolted to the motor, seen here in yellow.","The motor-propelling elements comprise the clutch and the transmission, installed at the front end of the truck chassis.","A truck has between 6 and 10 wheels 22 inches in diameter.","The tire and wheel together weigh about 120 pounds.","Because of this heavy weight, the wheels are installed with the help of this powerful tool.","This bolt fastener allows tightening of all the wheel nuts at the same time.","The mechanical part is ended, and they now proceed with the cab assembly.","This begins with painting.","The cab is moved toward the front to facilitate the installation of various components.","This worker attaches the support for the horn to the roof of the truck cab.","Now for the cab's interior.","They begin by installing the dashboard, which weighs about 80 pounds.","Following this, they attach all the wires, the turn indicators, the speedometer, and the pedals.","The seats are then installed.","The cab work is now all completed.","It is bolted onto the chassis.","Now for the motor's hood.","They finish off with the lights, the exhaust pipe, and the mudguards.","The truck is now almost ready to hit the road.","They start it up and verify that everything's operating properly.","And it's now ready for delivery to the customer.","It requires 95 to 100 hours of work to assemble a truck like this.","In spite of their 11,000-pound weight, these trucks can move along at a top speed of 75 miles per hour, and they can carry a load of some 30 tons.","Cut your finger?","Well, you've got a couple of first-aid options.","You can wrap it up in bulky gauze or you can apply a flexible adhesive bandage.","If you're like most people, you'll take the bandage and save the gauze for your mummy costume next halloween-- from boo-boo to boo.","Adhesive bandages are made of various materials, among which is the main support called e.t.s.-- a fabric that's elastic in only one direction.","It's a fabric that will become the adhesive portion of the bandage.","This 6,000-foot roll of fabric can make 1.8 million small bandages or 300,000 large bandages.","A thin coating of glue is applied to one surface of the fabric.","Then it's heated to 120 degrees in an oven to puff it up, creating holes in the glue coating.","Then the fabric is newly rolled up into around 1,000-foot lengths.","Bandages are different sizes.","These blades cut the glued rolls into strips of varying widths.","These rolls are taken away and stacked, ready for the next step-- application of the little cushioned protective pads.","The material used for the pads is shown here as a large roll of fabric which will have to be cut.","Here, a machine cuts the fabric pads.","These extremely sharp blades have to be sharpened every six months.","The cushioned fabric is separated into narrow strips which will later be glued to the e.t.s. fabric.","The strips of cushioned fabric are now ready to be applied to the bandages.","This is the machine that fabricates the bandages.","The roll of bandage components is unrolled.","The machine assembles them, then cuts and individually wraps them.","The bandages are wrapped one by one.","This machine applies the unprinted white wrapping paper that protects the bandages.","And now they proceed to packaging.","Packaging speed depends on the product, varying between 300 and 1,500 bandages a minute.","This roller perforates holes that allow the bandages to be easily separated from one another.","Strips of bandages are then placed into boxes.","Here we see other small bandages that are made in a different way.","The cushioned strip is positioned at the center of the e.t.s. fabric strip.","The cushioned pad isn't sterile at this stage.","They will have to be sterilized right at the end of the fabrication process.","Next step, applying two plastic paper protectors over the glue-covered ends of the bandage.","This done, the bandage is drawn by suction with a robotic arm and placed between two wrapping papers.","In slow motion, we see the wrapping action better.","This machine is much faster than the eye.","At full speed, it can wrap 300 bandages a minute.","The bandages exit the machine perfectly wrapped.","Certain types of bandages have to go through a sequential bandage machine to have aeration holes pierced in them.","These holes allow air to circulate and thus help promote healing.","These bandages are now ready.","Sometimes they print instructions on bandage wrappers.","This paper-printing machine is used with bandage machines.","Two polymer plates receive ink from a series of rollers in order to reproduce the desired design.","The bandages pass through at high speed.","Before being packaged, the bandages are finally sterilized 10,000 at a time.","Bandages are automatically counted here, placed in a chute, and fall into the packaging box.","The large role of e.t.s. fabric seen at the beginning will have allowed them to make nearly 2 million bandages.","Each year, this facility produces a staggering 4 billion bandages in 65 different models.","Computer technology changes quicker than just about any other industry on earth, so watch fast.","Electronic circuits have shrunk from miles of wiring to the size of a computer circuit board, and they're still getting smaller.","An electronic circuit board is a computer component that can produce spectacularly realistic scenes.","Animating this particular three-dimensional graphic took four months of work by artists and programmers with the aid of a g400 graphic processor by matrox.","A printed circuit board can be compared to a building composed of fiberglass floors, copper passageways, and stairs that link the floors between them.","Cards are assembled with two technologies-- surface wiring and wiring through the card.","The components are placed into the holes and soldered in place.","A stencil is used to apply soldering paste onto the card.","This paste will solder the surface components.","Here they place the stencil into the printing unit.","It is through these holes that the soldering paste will run.","The machine spreads the soldering paste, which contains, among other elements, a tin-lead alloy.","The printing blades go into action.","They spread the soldering paste onto the stencil.","This paste runs through the stencil holes and covers the metallic surfaces of the printed circuit board, which will establish the electric current.","Here's the difference between an unprinted card and another printed one-- the unprinted card's surface is much more shiny.","Now they're going to install the surface-wiring elements.","They're automatically positioned by this rapid-placement machine.","About 36,000 components are installed per hour.","That's about 10 per second.","This incredibly sophisticated machine is equipped with a viewing camera which verifies the alignment and dimensions of each part before installation, and it unerringly positions the part at the exact spot.","Another machine, slightly less precise than the previous one, installs parts where the space between two placement points is less than 2/100 of an inch.","It can install 8,000 parts in 60 minutes.","The card continues on its way toward the oven, which accomplishes an essential operation.","Once the parts are secured, the card goes into a convection oven, where the heat will solder the parts to the card.","Different circuit connectors through the card are inserted into their respective holes.","This operation requires great dexterity and is entirely done by hand.","The metallic placement points need to be soldered to the card.","The soldering of the circuit components through the card is done with a bath of molten tin-lead alloy at a temperature of 465 degrees.","Now everything is installed.","They have to do an initial electrical test.","The card is placed on a bed of electrified pegs.","These pegs make contact with the card's connecting points, allowing them to check for short circuits or open circuits in the card.","And then a final test-- a computer-aided operating test to see if the card is functioning perfectly.","This company fabricates 200 different circuit board models and produces about 4,000 cards each week.","The secrets behind the world's finest spirits and liquor all boil down to one simple recipe-- mix grain and water, then ferment and distill.","Add a few hundred years of tradition, and you begin to understand why these bottles are worth their weight in gold.","The principle of distillation was known to ancient romans who mastered the process.","However, we still don't know the precise ingredients they used.","In the middle ages, stills produced the first alcohols from wine.","The 7th century saw people making ethyl alcohol, and by the 15th century, the process was further refined, leading to the production of today's brandy, bourbon, cognac, and whiskey.","Dried corn kernels are the main grain used in making spirits.","Every day, 7 truckloads empty out 230 tons of it.","This corn will produce the basic ingredient for spirits such as whiskey, gin, crème d'amande, and amaretto.","The kernels are stored in these 80-foot-high silos, which can hold up to 275 tons.","This is the distillery control room.","They're going to make a recipe that's 95% corn and produces a neutral alcohol to which they will add other grains for color and flavor.","We see here the first step on this screen-- the milling of the grain.","Some 9 tons of corn flour and 5,000 gallons of water are introduced into this autoclave and cooked with live steam for 90 minutes.","Enzymes transform starch into sugar.","Then they add the yeast, which converts sugar into alcohol.","Fermentation lasts 60 hours at 100 degrees.","The bubbling we see is created by the action of the yeasts.","This cone removes the carbon dioxide, a natural by-product of fermentation.","Nearly 80 tons of carbon dioxide are drawn off daily.","Everything is monitored by computer.","Some 24 hours have now passed since the start of fermentation.","When this stage has ended, corn oil will come to the surface and is clearly visible by its reddish color.","The fermented mash has a 13% alcohol content.","They now move on to the next step-- distillation, which condenses the vapors of the mix.","It's in this three-column distillation system, at a temperature of 185 degrees, that the mash ferments and is distilled by live steam to separate the alcohol.","All the distillation columns are continually monitored.","During distillation, they dry the grains used in the recipe in this rotating drum.","The resulting product is called draff, and it will be used to make animal feed.","Distillation is now ended.","To aromatize certain gins, they add dried lemon skins, some cinnamon, or coriander.","Rum and whiskey will be aged in these 350,000 oak barrels.","While aging, these spirits will lose about 3% of their alcohol content annually through evaporation.","Also, the color gradually darkens.","They're now ready to draw out the liquid from the barrels and put it into bottles.","But first they have to verify the quality of the spirits.","They compare the standard product with the new production.","This test is highly important in order to assure the quality of the final product.","Bottling begins.","Here, 140 750-milliliter bottles of rum and spirts are filled every minute.","Clean bottles circulate continually on the conveyor, leading them to the filling machine.","Bottles are then filled automatically by this machine.","It allows an exact quantity to flow into each bottle.","The next step, a capper places caps on the bottles and crimps them onto the necks.","Then the sealed and labeled bottles head for the packaging department.","This other machine fills 120 bottles with 1.14 liters of canadian whiskey every minute.","In this distillery, some 20 different spirits are produced.","With 37,000 tons of corn kernels, they produce 44 million 750-milliliter bottles of spirits annually."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mini GP Motorcycles","Fig Cookies","Tool Boxes","Pipe Bends"]},"text":["They're called mini g.p.s-- pint-sized motorcycles whose design is identical to that of the full-size motorbikes that race on the grand prix circuit.","Mini g.p.s are designed for kids 9 to 12 years old who aspire to one day race the big bikes.","A mini g.p. can reach speeds of 80 miles per hour.","Its chassis is made of steel tubing, to which they mount the handlebars along with the clutch and brake levers.","At both the front and back of the chassis, they attach a fork.","Then, between each fork and the chassis, they mount a shock absorber.","With a steel pin, they mount a wheel on each fork.","The black circle at the center is a brake disk.","Next, they install a brake caliper on each wheel.","When the rider applies the brakes, the caliper grabs the brake disk, immobilizing the wheel.","Now mechanics begin assembling the engine block.","Using a special tool, they install bearings that enable the gear shafts to turn.","The engine has six gears, each of which is comprised of several steel gears.","These go into the gearbox.","Next comes the gear shifter.","It connects the gears to the gear pedal that the rider operates with his foot.","Next they install the crankshaft.","The combustion cycle rotates the crankshaft, which turns the gears.","They close up that side of the engine and assemble and install the desmodromic spring.","When the rider selects a gear, this spring keeps it locked in position until the rider switches gears.","The engine turns a driveshaft that, via this pinion gear, moves a chain that turns the rear wheel.","On the other side of the engine, they assemble the primary couple and the various components that go into the clutch, such as clutch plates and the springs that stop and start clutch movement.","When combustion drives the piston up and down, it rotates the crankshaft.","The primary couple transmits power to the gearbox and clutch.","This is a one-cylinder engine.","They install the piston that drives the crankshaft, then mount the cylinder over the piston.","They close up the cylinder with a cylinder head, then mount the spark plug that ignites the fuel mixture, driving the piston up and down.","A head cover closes everything up.","Next they install the ignition.","It consists of two magnets called a rotor and a stator.","When the rotor turns, it generates an electrical charge that sets off the spark plug.","Time to install the finished engine.","They mount it to the chassis with support pins, front and back.","Next they install the water pump that prevents the engine from overheating along with the belt that drives the pump.","Then they mount the carburetor.","It mixes the fuel entering the engine with just the right amount of air.","Next they install the air filter.","It keeps out debris that would clog the engine.","Now the exhaust pipe, the fuel tank, the seat, and fairing, a plastic enclosure that shields the driver.","The final component is the chain connecting the driveshaft to the rear wheel.","The engine turns the shaft, which turns this chain, which rotates the rear wheel.","Mini g.p.s come in different sizes.","This particular model has a 50cc, 14-horsepower engine.","Pretty impressive for a kid's motorcycle.","The fig cookie is one of life's sweet mysteries.","Who hasn't wondered how they get the figs in that seamless pastry wrap?","It turns out that the automated system for producing fig cookies actually dates back to 1891, and it's what makes the fig cookie a snacking success.","Fig cookies are a modern way of packaging a fruit which has been consumed for millennia.","Making the fig cookie's pastry wrap begins with bags of sugar, which they empty into a big mixer.","A couple of buckets of corn syrup follow.","Then they add an emulsifier called lecithin and some vanilla flavoring.","The bowl tilts up for a quick mixing.","A worker adds organic bread flour and leavening ingredients to the mix.","They reactivate the mixer, which blends everything into a thick, sticky batter.","Once properly mixed, they transfer the batter into a large holding tank.","Meanwhile, they prepare the fig filling.","A worker loads big blocks of figs into a mixer, then adds a generous amount of crumbled cookies for texture and flavor.","They mix the two ingredients, then pour in corn syrup to add moisture and sweetness.","They add some salt and give the batch another quick mix.","They sweeten the fig mix some more by adding plenty of sugar.","And now the jam for the center of the fig cookie is complete.","The fig jam and the pastry are now positioned for a merger.","It will be a neat trick, and a special piece of equipment makes it possible.","It's essentially a funnel within a funnel.","Rollers press the jam through the inner funnel while pushing the pastry through the outer one, encasing the fig filling in a seamless pastry jacket.","Here's the process in action.","The system generates long rows of fig-filled dough, and that's how they get the fig jam in the pastry.","Next a technician carves through the dough and removes a few uncooked fig cookies.","It's time for a quick weigh-in.","This confirms that this batch of fig cookies will be exactly the right size.","Now it's into an oven that's longer than a bowling alley.","It bakes and browns the fig-filled ribbons of dough.","Here, a roller compresses the baked cookies so they'll fit into packages later.","An ultrasonic frequency makes this blade vibrate for a clean cut as it carves the rows of fig-filled pastry into cookies.","The fig cookies are still a bit warm from baking, so they now chill out on a trip through a freezer.","This cooldown avoids condensation problems after packaging, preventing mold growth.","The trip through the freezer also firms up the fig cookies so they're less likely to crumble during handling.","As she packs them, this worker examines each fig cookie for imperfections, and there's not one reject in the lot.","The next step is packaging, where a machine parcels up the snacks.","It moves trays full of fig cookies into a sleeve of metallic film.","Finally, rotating jaws heat-seal the package at both ends.","It's taken about an hour to make this package of fig bars, and it's about time for a snack break.","If the crowd is hungry, the whole package could be gone in minutes, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.","Thinking inside the box can be a good thing if you want to organize your tools, and of course we're referring to the toolbox.","Proper tool storage keeps any work site running smoothly and efficiently, and today you can really go big on the concept with units designed for mechanics and other pros.","With a professional toolbox, you'll never have to rummage around for the tool you need.","There's a place for practically everything in one of these mega tool chests.","It starts with a coil of heavy-duty steel.","It unwinds into a punch press that cuts the metal into panels and punches holes for later assembly.","Each of these panels will be transformed into a toolbox drawer.","They feed the panels into an automated bending machine.","It folds them on three sides to create the back and sides of the drawer.","It also folds over the rim.","This adds strength to the drawer and gives it a smooth edge.","The assembler slides the front panel onto the drawer, then an automated welding gun reinforces the seams and secures part of the lock mechanism.","To build the toolbox cabinet, a worker arranges stiffeners and lock-bar grids on the back wall.","Then it's over to a lineup of computerized welding guns.","These guns fuse the stiffeners and grids to the panel.","Each part gets numerous welds to ensure the unit really holds up.","The cabinet's side walls are next.","Workers prop them up with supports as they weld the panels to the back wall.","With the toolbox right side up, they install the top.","They turn the cabinet around and, working from the open front, slide the lock bars into their slots.","They then build the front framework and weld ledges for the drawers to the support grid.","They add a panel to the bottom end of the cabinet and weld the entire perimeter.","Now it's into the paint booth, where spray guns coat everything in a layer of powder paint.","The paint is tough and solvent-resistant so it will hold up to oil spills in a garage environment.","They install the rest of the locking mechanisms on the front of the cabinet.","Then, using a guide, press the adhesive-backed logo into place.","They now snap the drawer slides into holes on the cabinet's side walls.","These slides are equipped with roller bearings that will enable the drawers to open and close smoothly.","Here they make use of the holes punched into the drawers earlier.","A quick click, and the drawers are fastened to the sides.","The drawers come in a range of sizes to accommodate tools of different proportions.","The shallow compartments will hold wrenches and screwdrivers, while the larger ones have been made for the big power tools.","Workers now encase this mega tool chest in plastic and cardboard.","But this job is not quite wrapped up.","They tip the unit on its side and send it down the line to get wheels.","The prepackaging prevents dents and scratches along the way.","A worker bolts casters on each corner of the cabinet to allow it to be easily moved around in a garage or any other work site.","Add-ons can be purchased for these tool chests, so the storage possibilities are virtually endless.","That's an organizational approach you can't really mess with.","Natural gas and crude oil travel worldwide through underground and undersea pipelines.","These rugged pipes are manufactured in straight lengths, but of course a pipeline's route never runs in a straight line, so every turn or change in elevation requires a piece of pipe that's bent.","This factory specializes in bending steel pipe, which is manufactured in straight lengths.","A piece of pipe is typically 40 feet long and weighs up to 20 tons, so workers use a crane to move it from one operation to the next.","The first stop is a blasting machine that cleans the pipe.","To heat and bend properly, the surface must be clean and uniform, but pipe usually arrives at the plant dirty and wearing a coat of varnish to prevent rusting during transport and storage.","The blasting machine shoots grains of steel at high pressure for about an hour.","The pipe exits with its surface now clean and smooth.","From the blaster, it's on to the blender, which heats the pipe to about 1,800 degrees fahrenheit, then makes the bend.","A technician installs the induction-heating coil.","Induction heating allows greater temperature control, which is key to preserving the quality of the steel.","The coil doesn't actually touch the pipe, because that would cause a short circuit.","Next they clamp a pivoting arm to one end of the pipe, then power up the coil.","This generates a magnetic field that produces intense heat.","Cold-water jets confine it to the target area.","As a technician monitors and measures, the arm pulls the pipe through the hot coil at a specific speed, curving the softened steel to the same angle.","Water cools the pipe at a controlled rate, a process called quenching.","They must control heating and cooling precisely.","Otherwise, the steel will weaken.","Once the pipe exits the bender, workers verify the angle again.","They also verify the pipe's dimensions to make sure the bending process didn't distort them.","Now they cut off the straight ends, leaving just the curved portion.","Next the pipes go into a furnace for tempering, a 10-hour reheating and cooling cycle.","This relieves stress in the steel that bending created.","After tempering, pipes designed to go underwater go through a second quenching.","This gives the steel the right properties to withstand deep-seawater pressure.","Then, using an ultrasonic gauge, workers measure the thickness of the pipe walls, which changes with bending.","After another trip through the blast cleaner, workers apply a liquid that highlights even the most minute surface cracks that bending can induce.","If they find cracks, they scrap the pipe.","But defects are rare because the factory first performs test bends on sample pieces of pipe, then subjects those samples to a battery of tests.","The lab measures dimensions and wall thickness, then tests how much weight the sample can support before collapsing and how much stretching it can withstand before snapping.","Back on the factory floor, the pipe goes through another blasting.","Then workers heat it and spray on a protective coating that prevents corrosion.","It melds to the hot pipe.","Once the pipe cools, they stencil on technical specifications.","Then these pipe bends go off to join their straight counterparts."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Leather Basketballs","Flood Gates","Wood Panel Canvases","Shoelaces"]},"text":["In the early days of basketball, players used a soccer ball to play the game.","In 1894, a special basketball was designed.","It was laced and larger, with a circumference that was about 4 inches greater than the soccer ball.","For players, the new ball was a game changer.","Basketballs have evolved, but one manufacturer still makes them the old-fashioned way.","These laced brown leather balls honor the beginnings of the game.","To make this traditional basketball, a craftsperson cuts eight panels out of tough american cowhide.","These are rough cuts.","The shape will now be more precisely defined.","He places a sharp steel die on one of the panels.","Using a tool known as a clicker press, he applies pressure to drive the die through the leather and punch out the shape, cookie-cutter style.","He now cuts strips of nylon to a workable size using a utility knife.","The craftsperson then stacks up a dozen of the nylon strips.","Using the clicker press and same die, he cuts out patterns.","Because nylon is softer than leather, he can punch out many more at once.","He places one of the nylon patterns on the underside of a leather one and stitches them together.","The nylon backing stabilizes the leather, preventing stretching.","He now punches lace holes and notches in the nylon-padded leather panel.","Using a template, the craftsperson locates the spot for an air-valve hole and nicks it with a sharp tool.","He places a punch on the nick and strikes it with a hammer to cut out the air-valve hole.","He clamps a stamp of a company logo in a heated press.","As the stamp heats up, he moves it into a downward position and then slides the leather panel under it.","He lowers the hot stamp, and it burns the company logo into the leather.","Next, with the liner side up, he sews the basketball panels together, two at a time at first.","Doing this right takes practice.","The craftsperson then trims the polyester thread and then pounds the thick seam flat with a hammer.","He sews vinyl reinforcements to the two panels that have lace holes.","This will give the laced area of the basketball more structure.","The stitching will also frame the lace holes from the leather side to define and accentuate the lacing.","He adds another strip of vinyl.","This one will protect the inflated bladder inside the basketball.","He assembles the panels four at a time.","He leaves the section around the lace holes open to provide an entry point for the inflatable bladder.","He stitches the two halves together, again working from the inside of the ball.","This completes the basketball's outer casing.","The next craftsperson places the basketball casing on a steel post and pulls and tugs the casing to turn it right side out.","He now inserts the synthetic rubber bladder into the basketball.","He manipulates it so that the bladder's air valve lines up with the corresponding hole in the leather.","Using needle-nose pliers, he grabs the air valve and pulls it through the hole.","The craftsperson then rearranges the inner flap so that it's in a position to protect the bladder from the lacing.","He partially inflates the bladder.","Using a thick brass needle, he pulls a rawhide strip through the holes to neatly lace up the opening.","He then fully pressurizes the basketball, and the pressure from the bladder holds the laces in place.","He simply clips the end of the lace and tucks it in.","A replica of the original, this leather basketball is ready to bounce back.","Floodgates are sliding gates that are engineered to resist rushing floodwaters.","When installed at wastewater or water treatment plants they can be used to control the outflow and inflow of water in order to make operations more efficient.","That's why floodgates aren't just for emergency situations.","Sliding floodgates close to varying degrees to reduce the flow of water or stop it completely.","Making these sliding gates starts with a stainless-steel plate.","A crane lifts it over to a conveyor in front of a chamber that has a laser cutter inside.","The crane releases its suctioning grip, and the conveyor takes it into the chamber.","It's dark inside, but the laser doesn't need overhead lighting to do its work.","Computer software guides the laser as it cuts out parts for the floodgate frame.","It also precisely locates holes for assembly purposes.","Workers stack the laser-cut pieces and number them to categorize them for the next operation, called forming.","A worker inserts a part in a press brake numerous times to make multiple bends.","He shapes this particular piece into the bottom frame of the floodgate.","After forming the side frames the same way, a worker evenly spaces reinforcements along the entire length of them.","He tack-welds the reinforcements to the frame.","Using a carpenter's square, he measures the angle of the reinforcement to the side frame.","Satisfied that each reinforcement is perfectly perpendicular to the frame, he does the full welds.","Then the worker joins the two side frames and the bottom rail and welds the structure together.","He positions a stainless-steel ceiling frame at the midpoint of the structure and welds it in place.","Another worker tucks a polyethylene strip into the frame to seal it.","The strip also has a groove in it to accommodate the gate's sliding door.","He clamps the strip to the frame and then taps it with a hammer to entrench it more firmly into the frame.","He drills through holes in the side frame to make corresponding holes in the polyethylene strip and inserts the bolts in the holes.","He screws nuts onto the ends that protrude from the outside of the frame.","He now inserts a polyethylene strip in the horizontal ceiling frame, and he marks the strip to indicate the location for bolt holes.","He removes the strip and drills tapered holes for countersunk bolts in the locations he's marked.","He inserts a silicone strip in a recess in the seal, and he bolts it all together.","Once the frame is complete, another worker installs the floodgate's sliding door.","It will be raised and lowered using crank-operated gears.","The next worker closes off an opening used for an unneeded drive gear with silicone glue and a plastic stopper.","He slides a washer and bearing on the center shaft opening.","He places the upper housing on the bottom one to enclose the gears.","He secures the gearbox housing with numerous long bolts.","Next, powerful ridged rollers press a thread into a very long stainless steel rod.","This rod will serve as the floodgate's operating stem.","It's ready for installation.","A worker bolts one end of the stem to the slide gate while the other worker threads the gearbox onto the other end.","With the crank not yet installed, he uses a drill to spin the gears and test the operation of the sliding floodgate.","He confirms that the floodgate meets design specifications.","Then workers flood the surface below the floodgate with water and verify that nothing seeps through.","This proves that the floodgate is watertight and ready to hold strong in the event of an emergency.","Before artists put their brush to their blank canvas, they have to choose what type of canvas to use-- rudimentary, economical cotton or finer, more expensive linen, unstretched, or pre-stretched?","If pre-stretched, affixed to a wooden frame or glued to a wooden panel?","This type of artist canvas is made of fine-weave linen.","It's stretched over and affixed to a wood panel.","The hard backing prevents the linen from flexing under the paintbrush.","The face of the panel is made of a quarter-inch-thick baltic birch.","After cutting a piece with the dimensions of the finished canvas, a worker cuts pieces of sturdier basswood for the cradle.","After cutting a long strip in the required width, he measures and marks the lengths of the cradle's five parts, which include four perimeter pieces and a cross brace.","Then he cuts the parts.","He miters the edges of the perimeter pieces.","That means cutting the ends at a 45-degree angle, so the pieces mate when assembled into a rectangle.","To assemble the cradle, a worker spreads wood glue on the mitered edges of the perimeter pieces, then joins them to form a rectangle, clamping two of the corners to a 90-degree block to ensure the angles are perfectly square.","He reinforces the corner joints with v-shaped nails.","He removes the clamps and squares and glues the cross brace across the middle.","Once the worker checks that the cross brace is installed squarely, he nails it to the perimeter.","He applies a line of wood glue on top of the cradle perimeter and cross brace.","Then he places the panel onto the cradle.","The worker sets clamps all around the perimeter, then puts the cradle aside overnight to let the glue dry.","The next day, the worker sands any panel overhang flat, rendering the edge of the panel flush with the cradle.","They burn the manufacturing information into the back of the finished panel.","The linen they're using for this canvas is portrait grade, the finest and smoothest weave.","It's been primed with linseed oil to allow oil paint to penetrate enough to adhere but not absorb into the fabric.","He measures and marks the wood panel's dimensions, adding about 4 inches all around to have extra linen to wrap around the cradle.","Then he cuts along the lines.","The worker centers the cradled panel upside down on the linen and traces a line around it.","He flips the panel right-side up and coats the surface with special ph-neutral archival glue because ordinary adhesives contain acid which degrades the linen over time.","He flips the panel upside down again, carefully positions it within the trace lines and presses the panel firmly against the linen.","He mounts the assembly on a stretching machine.","Canvases must always be stretched to prevent contraction and expansion due to changes in humidity.","Starting with the longest sides first, the machine yanks the linen tight and folds it over the edge of the cradle.","A line of staples secure the stretched linen to the wood.","After stretching and stapling both long sides, the worker folds the corners neatly and staples them as well.","Then he rotates the canvas to stretch the short sides.","Once those are stretched and stapled, the wood-panel canvas is finished, and now it's the ready recipient of artistic inspiration.","The oldest shoe archaeologists have ever found is a 5,500-year-old leather hide moccasin with leather-cord laces.","Today we don't have to go hunt an animal to lace our shoes.","We can buy our shoelaces ready-made in a variety of materials, styles, lengths and colors.","This company produces shoelaces and shoelace-type drawstrings in a wide range of materials, including cotton, rayon and acrylic.","This run is producing polyester shoelaces.","A worker installs cones of fine polyester thread on what's called a creel, which feeds the bobbin-winding machines.","She groups the strands from eight cones and feeds them through one side of one machine and onto a bobbin.","Then she groups the strands from another eight cones and feeds them through the other side of the machine onto a second bobbin.","Each group of eight strands will produce one thicker polyester thread.","She programs the machine to wind a specific length of it.","Each cone holds enough fine thread to wind a 71-mile-long thick thread.","For this particular shoelace, the machine is programmed to wind 8,200 feet of thick thread per bobbin.","Another worker installs 20 of those bobbins on a braiding machine.","For each one, she passes the end of the thread through three eyelets, the second of which regulates the tension of the thread.","She gathers half the threads and ties knots in them so that they'll catch when she feeds them into the machine.","She starts up the braiding machine.","It draws in the knotted threads, which pull in the unknotted ones.","Then the machine begins braiding a continuous round shoelace cord.","These wheels apply tension to pull any loose braids tighter so that the corrected diameter is uniform.","The finished cord, which is about a mile long, collects in a barrel.","Some shoelaces are made of knitted, rather than braided, cord.","The cones of thread feed the knitting machine directly.","The machine's four latch needles can perform two types of knitting stitches to produce round cord.","Once the knitted, or braided, cord is ready, a worker adjusts four metal pegs of a winding device to the shoelace length they're making.","Then she winds the cord around the pegs up to 250 times, depending on the cord diameter.","She cuts the end and ties the cords together so that she can easily transfer them to what's called a tipping machine.","She runs the center of each cord over an acetone-saturated felt pad, then inserts it in the machine's die.","The die wraps a piece of acetate film tightly around the cord, then cuts it in the middle, producing a shoelace with a stiff tip, called an aglet, on each end.","This press applies a nickel-plated steel tip, a kind used on bag drawstrings.","The worker manually positions two tips directly on the cord with a slight gap in between them.","She activates the press to force them on, then cuts the cord in the gap.","This factory also makes rickrack, a flat zigzag trim that's sewn onto clothing.","These rickrack-braiding machines are 120 years old.","Each one holds from 13 to 73 bobbins of thread.","The more bobbins used, the wider the rickrack.","There are two ways to make multicolored rickrack or braided shoelace cord.","Mount different shades of solid color bobbins on the braiding machine or wind multicolored thread on each bobbin.","And for multicolored knitted shoelace cord, mount different shades of solid-color thread cones or multicolored thread on each cone.","To produce different shapes and sizes, this manufacturer uses different types of braiding and knitting machines, varying the number of bobbins or cones from eight to as many as 73.","An even number produces a round shoelace.","An odd number produces a flat one.","With so many possibilities, shoelaces can be fashionable as well as functional."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Metal Nail Files","Birch Bark Canoes","Cruiser Boat Hardtops","High Voltage Circuit Breakers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Metal nail files.","Birch bark canoes.","Cruiser boat hardtops.","And high-voltage circuit breakers.","Throughout history, people have wanted nice nails.","And they used whatever they could get their hands on to make them look good.","Marie antoinette is said to have used a pumice stone file to shape her fingernails.","By the end of the 19th century, metal nail files became the norm.","Metal nail files can be used to grind and shape fingernails with a few strokes.","Their abrasiveness is the secret to their popularity.","Making metal nail files starts with a thick spool of stainless steel.","The steel unwinds at a steady pace.","A punch press wields 88 tons of hydraulic pressure to cut out nail file blanks.","The blanks spill into a bin and accumulate.","The blanks bounce around with ceramic stones and a mix of water and polishing solution.","This smoothes the rough bits on the blanks and also cleans them.","The nail file blanks then slide down a chute into a dryer.","This dryer doesn't use hot air to do the job.","Instead, a pulsating mass of hot corn grain soaks up the lingering liquid on the blanks.","As the blanks exit, some of the corn falls through a perforated conveyor to be reused.","The blanks continue on and land in a bin, ready for the next phase of production.","It involves the cutting of an abrasive grid on both sides.","It's a three-stage process.","First, a worker places the blank under a sharp tool that's angled at 52 degrees.","The tool pounds the blank repeatedly to cut angled grooves into it.","Here is the blank before and after the first cut.","He switches the cutting tool, and it carves over the first cuts on the opposite angle.","The third cut goes straight across the other two.","The ridges and valleys created by the cross cuts make the surface of the blank sharp.","The grid cutting has bent the still-pliable steel out of shape, so the worker now bends the nail files in the opposite direction, using a round form as a guide.","This restores their linear profile.","The carving process has also caused steel to bulge on the edges of the nail files, so he grinds them against a fine abrasive sanding belt to make the edges smooth again.","Next, he places the metal nail files in perfect alignment in a tray.","He transfers the tray of files to an oven.","The files bake for an hour at a temperature of 1,832 degrees fahrenheit.","The intense heat begins to alter the physical properties of the steel and is the first phase of a hardening process.","When the hour is up, he takes the red-hot tray of nail files out of the oven using tongs and then immerses them in a vat of cold saltwater.","This is called quenching.","The shock of the quench completes the hardening process.","Shielded by an enclosure, he sandblasts each nail file to remove stains left by the hardening process and to make the steel around the triple-cut grid shinier.","He places the handle into the nail file beneath a plastic stencil.","A stamp applies acid to the open areas of the stencil to etch brand information onto it.","Some nail files have plastic handles.","To make the handles, this machine melts plastic and injects it into molds.","The handles are stuck together by hardened flow lines or runners.","A few tumbles in this revolving drum knocks off the runners, separating the handles from them.","The worker places each handle under an automated printing head that soaks up ink from a pad and then stamps brand information onto the plastic.","Another worker heats the end of each metal nail file using copper elements.","She inserts the hot metal into the plastic sleeve, and the plastic melts a little to bond to the metal.","These metal nail files are ready for the grind.","For centuries, the canoe was indispensable to the indigenous people of north america.","Essential for hunting, fishing, transportation, and commerce, indigenous people often crafted their canoes from birch bark, which is lightweight, strong, waterproof, and rot-resistant.","Historically, different indigenous tribes constructed different styles of birch bark canoes.","This one is the type crafted by both the algonquian and eastern ojibwe.","Even today, the canoe builder crafts every component from water- and rot-resistant plant materials found in the forest, such as the exceptionally strong roots of black spruce trees.","After scraping off the bark with a tool crafted from a moose rib, this craftswoman cuts a slit in the top and pulls, splitting the long root into two strips.","She coils up each strip and puts it aside to dry out.","The canoe builder uses spruce root to bind structural components and lace together sections of birch bark.","To build the canoe's cedar structure, the builder connects end frames at the front and back with long strips of cedar called gunwales, then he lashes crossbars called thwarts to the gunwales with spruce root.","To make each end frame, he splits a piece of cedar many times to let it bend, soaks it in boiling water to soften the wood fibers, and binds the shape with spruce root.","Then the builder checks this curved part, called the stem, against the straight part, called the headboard.","If the proportions are right, he notches the bottom of the headboard to fit over the base of the stem, then lashes the parts to each other with spruce root.","He laces together several pieces of birch bark to make a sheet large enough for the canoe.","The builder saturates the bark sheet with boiling water and bends it up around a wooden template.","Then, on each side of the canoe, he sandwiches the top edge of the bark in between the two cedar strips that form the gunwale.","The builder shaves pieces of cedar to make straight, vertically laid planks and u-shaped horizontally laid ribs that line the inside of the canoe.","He uses a gauge to make sure each piece is the required thickness.","He lays each rib piece across the structure and makes a mark on each side in line with the bottom edge of the floor.","That's where he'll bend the piece.","Just as he did to bend the stem portion of the end frame, the builder ladles boiling water onto the wood to soften the fibers.","He positions his knees on the charcoal marks and pulls up the ends.","He bends two ribs at a time, as this reduces the chances of them cracking.","After checking that he cut and bent all the ribs correctly, the builder begins the process of securing the birch bark.","He drills holes in the gunwales at nearly six-inch intervals.","Then he takes pegs carved from hardwood such as ash or maple and hammers one through each hole.","Then he pierces holes through the bark with a traditional awl made from deer antler.","He threads spruce root through the holes to lash the bark to the gunwale.","With an assistant's help, he fully lines the canoe with straight cedar planks and installs the remaining ribs.","The tight fit presses the planks against the bark, stretching it taught, which strengthens it.","The final step is known as pitching the seams.","He melts down dried resin gathered from scars on spruce trees and mixes in two ingredients-- ground charcoal and oil rendered from bear fat.","He applies this hot mixture to all the lacing holes in the birch bark, making the canoe water-tight.","The canoeist carries a small supply of dried pitch and lights a stick to remelt and apply it.","The repair dries quickly, so in about five minutes, the canoeist can be back in the paddle.","A hardtop encloses the cockpit of a cruiser boat.","It provides shelter from water spray, wind, and sun, and a roof on which to mount antenna for marine and satellite radio and gps.","On the inside, it provides walls and a ceiling for recessed lighting and other features.","This cruiser hardtop has windows that wrap around the front and sides.","The tall one in the middle is retractable so you can walk through to the front deck.","Workers use two molds to make the inner and outer parts that form the hardtop.","First, they spray white gelcoat to a thickness of just .","6 millimeters.","Next, workers shoot shredded fiberglass strands into the mold along with a stream of resin which saturates the fibers.","When the fiberglass is about 3/4 of an inch thick, they let the resin cure for an hour or so.","Then workers apply bonding putty to the fiberglass in the outer mold.","They mate the inner and outer molds and let the putty set, which takes about an hour.","Finally, it's time to extract the fiberglass from the molds.","It comes off relatively easily because prior to spraying the gelcoat layer, workers have applied a release agent on the mold's surface.","The inner and outer parts are built in the mold upside-down so the gelcoat gives the coarse fiberglass a smooth and shiny surface finish.","Then they cut openings for the windows and for the various components to be installed into the hardtop.","They install the retractable front window.","Workers then position the window and mark the screw holes, then remove it in order to apply adhesive, which also functions as a sealant to prevent water infiltration.","They reset the window and screw it to the hardtop.","Workers install a non-opening window on each side of the retractable one.","After taping off the area, a worker applies primer.","Once the primer dries, they remove the tape and apply an adhesive-backed foam gasket that's about 1/4-inch high.","A worker applies a 1/4-inch high bead of adhesive sealant next to the gasket and sets the window.","The primer gasket and adhesive sealant are all black to match the window frame.","On the roof of the hardtop, workers install a thin molded fiberglass cover.","The retractable window, when opened, slides under it.","Workers fill the gap between the cover and hardtop with sealant.","This adheres the cover and makes it watertight.","At the rear, workers install the radar arch.","This, too, is made of molded fiberglass but with a black gelcoat finish.","They mount various components on it, such as the horn, navigation light, and antenna.","Inside the hardtop, after passing wires for lighting, workers connect the wiring to the retractable window.","The window comes as a self-contained unit with an incorporated motor and intricate pulley system.","The hardtop is now ready to be mounted to the cruiser's deck.","Workers install a windshield wiper on each non-opening front window.","The last step is to install a large window on both sides of the hardtop.","Its middle section opens.","Like a giant windshield, the hardtop transforms the cruiser boat's otherwise open cockpit into a weather-protected lounge.","Electrical substations play a critical role in the grid as they distribute electricity to entire communities.","The circuit breakers at these stations routinely interrupt short circuits to prevent damage to the system.","They perform the same function as the ones in a home electrical panel, but on a much larger scale.","The size of a car or even a large truck, these circuit breakers troubleshoot high-current situations at electrical substations.","This protects the grid and prevents power outages.","Making one starts with a cast-aluminum tank that has receptacles for bushings.","A worker inspects the tank for dirt or flaws and then places protective covers on the bushing receptacles.","He installs bases for current transformers on these receptacles.","The worker applies adhesive to the outside of these metal bases.","He presses squares of plastic insulation to the glued areas.","With the help of an overhead lift, the worker installs the two current transformers on the insulated bases.","These current transformers will act as sensors, enabling the circuit breaker to detect short circuits in an electrical system in mere milliseconds.","Another worker brushes lubricant on the moving part of the interrupter that will break the electrical current when needed.","He inserts the exhaust tube that helps direct the flow of gas used to break the current.","He sets the interrupter module in an upright position on the floor and returns to the workbench.","The worker dabs thread lock liquid in the mounting holes of the stationary contact assembly and installs a resin ring in the base.","He inserts the stationary part into the moving one, leaving the end protruding.","The worker applies thread lock to the assembly holes of a large tube that will shield the entire interrupter once it's installed in the tank.","It will also direct the flow of interrupting gas.","After assembling it to the interrupter, he inserts a synthetic insulating tube.","Then with the help of a lift, he flips the module over in order to work on the other end.","He installs another insulating tube in this end.","He then sets the module to a stand to steady it as he inserts the contact assembly that opens to interrupt the electrical current.","He caps one end of the interrupter with the unit that houses the bell crank.","He slides the bell crank into the housing.","This crank will convert the rotary motion from the operating mechanism to a linear motion.","He turns the crank to confirm that it rotates freely.","He now clamps leads to test probes inserted in the interrupter and applies 100 amps of current.","The testing device measures the interrupter's resistance to the current to confirm that it's within an acceptable range.","With a lift bearing the load, the other member of the team guides the interrupter module into the cast-aluminum tank.","He bolts the bell crank's housing to the tank opening and places cylindrical electrical shields in each of the bushing receptacles.","He then encases the transformers at the base with aluminum covers.","They'll protect the transformer wiring from rain, snow, or dirt.","Lifts now hoist the silicone-rubber-wrapped bushings into the receptacles.","The worker bolts them in place...","And caps the rear of the tank.","This interrupter is now ready to be mounted to the steel support structure.","Each high-voltage circuit breaker will be equipped with three interrupters.","The team connects the bell cranks to the operating system in the control cabinet.","And workers equip each bell crank with a pressure gauge.","A worker grounds the circuit breaker to the support structure with copper cables.","This will prevent shocks to anyone who touches it.","In one last test, towering transformers apply high voltages to the circuit breakers.","These high-voltage circuit breakers are ready to interrupt situations before they become problems."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Life Casting","Downdraft Cooktops","Compression Hosiery","Electric Motorcycles"]},"text":["Egyptian pharaohs were likely the first to have molds made of their bodies and the images cast.","Today, anyone can have this done.","The experts have it down to a fine art.","It's called life casting, or body molding, and it's in demand because every body is different.","Need a body double?","Life casting creates replicas of body parts that can be used as personal mementos or movie props.","They start by applying cold cream to the body part.","The cream will serve as a release agent, allowing the mold to be removed whole.","This orange goop is the molding material.","It's a seaweed-based substance called alginate.","It's the same stuff the dentist uses to take molds of teeth, but it's formulated to set more slowly.","The life caster spreads the alginate liberally onto this young actor's clenched fist and arm.","Alginate cures in five or six minutes, so there's no time to waste.","He works at a steady pace.","He applies wet plaster bandages to the alginate.","The bandages adhere and form a stiff shell similar to a cast for a broken limb.","The cast-like shell supports the alginate as it cures to the shape of the boy's fist to produce a mold of it.","When cured, the alginate has a firm yet rubbery consistency.","It takes a few tugs to pull off the mold, but the rubbery nature of the alginate means it can be done without cracking or crumpling.","The casting material is durable dental plaster.","He pours it into the mold.","He tips out a bit to get rid of bubbles that have accumulated on the surface.","It's hands off now as the plaster cures because a chemical reaction makes it dangerously hot.","A half-hour later, the plaster is cooled and hardened into the shape of the boy's fist.","The plaster has picked up all the little details, including the tiniest of creases.","He picks out bits of alginate lodged in the creases.","He defines the fingernails and cleans up a few pits and bubbles.","This is the actor's real hand, and this is the replica.","Next, they make a mold of the actor's face.","They apply cream to his hair to prevent it from becoming stuck in the alginate.","The team completely coats his face, ears, and upper chest with blue alginate.","It must be hard not to wince, but he can't budge in order to create a good impression.","They leave the back of his head uncovered for an open mold and create two small holes for breathing.","They layer the plaster bandages over the alginate to give structure to the mold.","It also makes him look mummified.","After several minutes, the mold has solidified.","The team removes it from the subject.","Now that his features have been successfully transferred to the alginate, he can breathe easy.","The life caster trims excess alginate, then wraps fabric around the mold to build a kind of wall to contain spills as he fills it with plaster.","The plaster casting may not be the final one.","Depending on the client's wishes, they may make a mold from this bust and then cast the image in a more flesh-like material like silicone, foam, or rubber.","The plaster is cured and the wait is over.","It's time to peel off the layers and find the face within.","It's a bit like he's removing an intricate mask.","The face behind it is instantly recognizable.","He cleans out the eyes and nose...","And scrubs the entire plaster face.","Here's the actor and his plaster doppelganger.","They'll use it to create a silicone version, and once it's painted and given hair, it will be ready for the movies.","In contrast to a big, traditional hood, which is separate from the stove, a downdraft system vents smoke, steam, and cooking odors without being conspicuous.","The ventilation unit is actually part of the cooktop, and that opens up a lot of kitchen-design possibilities.","Invented in the 1960s, the downdraft cooktop can solve some design dilemmas.","Installed in a center island, it offers a clear line of view where a traditional hood would block it.","Production starts with the burner box.","They'll make three from this steel sheet.","A computer guides tools as they cut holes and notches in the steel.","It also roughs out the shape of the boxes and makes slots for the downdraft ventilation intake.","After the sheets have been cut into individual units, a worker serves them up to a computerized brake press.","The computer controls the stops that position the sheet to be bent at the correct angle.","This transforms the steel sheet into a box.","They're now ready to build the downdraft ventilation system.","The worker inserts the fan blower and motor into an assembly fixture.","He then places a metal part, known as the plenum, over it.","The plenum is the intake duct.","He places a mesh guard over the opening through which steam and cooking fumes will flow.","He secures everything with four nuts and studs.","He caps the nuts with rubber plugs to seal the gaps.","He now transfers the fan and duct assembly to another fixture.","It allows him to correctly position the burner box on the ventilation system.","He plugs the blower motor into a junction box.","He places a metal frame around the plenum and screws it in place to secure the plenum to the burner box.","Next, he assembles the knob switches that turn the burners on and off.","He adds rubber insulators to keep water out of the switches.","He covers them with a metal plate with holes for the knob shafts to protrude.","He installs the lighting system that indicates whether the burners are on or off.","Next, an employee slots the switch system into the ceramic cooktop through the back.","He inserts the radiant heating elements into the holes in the cooktop.","The elements are different sizes to accommodate different pots, and they have different heating capacities.","He wires the switches to the elements, and he ties them to the main power cord.","Another worker screws the elements to a metal bracket that's glued to the underside of the ceramic cooktop, and he completes the wiring work.","The ceramic cooktop is complete and ready to be joined to the downdraft ventilation unit.","He aligns the hole in the center with the intake duct.","He feeds the wires from the cooktop through holes in the burner box to the junction box.","He screws the junction box to the bottom of the burner box.","He pulls the main power harness through a hole in the burner box and secures it to the box with a metal bracket and screws.","He adjusts the ceramic cooktop, which moved out of alignment a bit during the wiring, and then equips the cooktop with knobs which fit snugly to the protruding pins.","And it's over to a test station.","The operator connects a computer to the downdraft cooktop.","She turns the knobs, and the computer measures the power consumed by the elements.","Some elements are the same size but different wattages.","The test confirms that the elements are in the correct slots and that all burners are operational.","It's taken 25 minutes to assemble this downdraft cooktop.","The downdraft ventilation unit will get rid of moisture and odors discreetly.","It's now time to turn up the heat with no worries about the fallout.","If you've got varicose veins, leg fatigue, ankle swelling, or other circulation disorders, your doctor may prescribe compression hosiery, pressured stockings that squeeze your legs primarily at the ankle and, to a lesser extent, in other areas to help the blood in your veins travel back to the heart.","They don't look like ugly old-lady stockings anymore.","Today's compression hosiery comes in a range of colors and pantyhose, thigh-high, and knee-high versions.","The doctor prescribes the compression strength you need.","That's the pressure at the ankle in millimeters mercury, the same measuring unit used in blood-pressure readings.","The hosiery is knitted out of stretchy spandex and nylon yarns.","The computerized knitting machine interlocks yarn strands vertically and horizontally.","This two-direction knit gives the stocking a two-way stretch.","However, it's the horizontal yarn in the knit that provides the doctor's strength prescription.","They program the knitting machine to produce a run of a specific size and prescription.","It automatically varies the stitch and yarn tension to apply 100% of the prescribed pressure at the ankle, 65% at the calf, and 30% at the thigh.","Stronger pressure at the bottom point forces blood upward toward the heart.","The machine outputs stocking-length tubes, which sewers skillfully transform into the final shape.","The first sewer turns the tube inside out and stitches the toe closed.","Then she stretches those stitches to flatten the seam so it'll be comfortable on the foot.","If they're making pantyhose, another sewer slits that tube partway down the inside of the leg so it can be joined to another leg.","The next sewer takes a leg and stitches it to a triangular cotton gusset, which forms the crotch of the pantyhose.","These are maternity hose, so she also sews in a stretchy stomach panel.","Then she sews a big u-shaped seam at the front, joining the second leg to the other parts.","Whether it's a multiple-component pantyhose or a simple single thigh-high or knee-high stocking, the production steps from this point on are the same.","Workers slide each stocking onto a heated aluminum leg form in the size they're producing in this run.","Laser lines show exactly where to align the heel and other parts on the form.","Then, one by one, the forms enter a pressurized steam chamber for about four seconds.","This quick steam treatment is enough to permanently lock the form's shape into the nylon.","The form then enters a dryer, where it stops for about 15 seconds.","The hot forced air evaporates the steam-infused moisture.","When the stocking finally comes off the form, it's dry and leg-shaped.","Workers now group the stockings into 10-pair stacks, put each stack inside a specific color bag to identify its style and size, then load the bags in this high-tech dye machine.","They key in the program which automatically controls every aspect of dyeing the stockings from water levels and temperature to dye injection.","For one hour, the machine washes the stockings.","Then, over the next five hours, it dyes them, adding chemicals to make the water acidic, which draws the dye like a sponge permanently into the yarn fibers.","The compression stockings knit, sewn, shaped, and dyed are now ready to be inspected and packaged.","The factory pulls a set number of random samples per day from the production line and tests them on this extension machine.","It stretches the hose to test the tensile strength, and it measures the compression at the different points of the leg.","Every single pair of stockings undergoes a visual inspection prior to packaging.","Then the packager neatly folds it around a cardboard insert, slips it inside an adhesive-sealed plastic bag, and inserts it into the retail box.","Compression stockings are classified as a medical device.","The sealed bag assures the customer that the stockings are a brand-new, unused pair, and therefore, hygienic.","Looking to drive motorcycle without ever having to stop for a fill-up, change the oil, top off the fluids, or repair a transmission, clutch, and cooling system?","And do you want a quiet motor that doesn't contribute to air pollution?","Then an electric motorcycle may be just the set of wheels you're looking for.","An electric motorcycle lends a whole new meaning to the term \"plug and play\".","You charge the bike's battery by plugging in to a standard 120-volt household electrical outlet.","A full charge takes eight hours, but you can buy an add-on device to cut that charging time in half.","The bike's journey begins on a sketch pad.","An industrial designer draws an artistic conception, creating the aesthetics such as lines and colors as well as the ergonomics, such as seat and mirror positioning.","The designer transforms the sketches into a computer model to which engineers then add the mechanics.","The motorcycle's battery contains four cell boxes.","To link all the cell boxes, they install two interconnect boards.","Then, into each board, they plug the connectors from two cell boxes.","They use lots of grease to waterproof the battery and protect it against corrosion caused by road salt or sea air.","Next, they plug wires coming from the two interconnect boards into a circuit board.","This circuit board is the battery's brain.","It regulates the voltages of the individual cells to prevent overheating.","Then the charging components.","Technicians now close up the fully assembled battery with protective covers and run it through a function test.","The test simulates the discharge of the battery that happens when you ride the bike, then the recharge that occurs when you plug in.","All the cell voltages must balance in the process.","The motorcycle frame is made of high-strength, lightweight, aircraft-grade aluminum.","At the tail end, they install the controller, the link between the battery and the throttle, which controls the electricity flow to the motor.","They mount the suspension system, an aluminum swingarm that attaches to the rear wheel on one end and to the frame on the other via a spring-shaped shock absorber, which expands and contracts to dampen bounce as the wheel moves up and down over bumps in the road.","They mount the motor.","The battery's electrical current rotates the motor via the controller, which turns the drive belt, spinning the bike's rear wheel.","This belt's maintenance-free because it's made of high-strength rubber, further reinforced with the material used to make bulletproof vests.","They install the upper triple clamp, which carries the dash, horn, turn signals, and ignition switch.","Then the handlebars.","There are several components already mounted to them, including the front brake lever, the throttle, and control switches.","Then technicians slide the battery into the frame and connect it to the motor and controller.","This motorcycle has no transmission, no gears, no clutch, no cooling system to maintain or repair.","The motor's fins adequately dissipate heat buildup.","Next, two aluminum forks to hold the front wheel axle.","Workers position them inside the upper triple clamp and a second triple clamp lower down.","But they don't install the front wheel just yet.","They first mount the rear wheel.","It has a rubber tire, hydraulic brakes activated by a foot lever, and a sprocket for the drive belt.","They place the drive belt around the sprocket.","Now, when the motor runs, the rear wheel turns.","After mounting the front wheel, they install the bike's plastic body parts.","There's a storage area where gas motorcycles would have their fuel tank.","There are four chargers located underneath the battery.","Their wiring culminates in a single port in which you plug a cable to recharge.","Every motorcycle this factory produces undergoes an extensive indoor road test on a dynamometer, a driving simulator that assesses the performance of every component.","Although very quiet, the bike's as powerful as a midsize, gasoline-run motorcycle and can reach speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.","When the battery needs a quick recharge, you can pull over at a roadside electric-vehicle charging station and fill her up in less than an hour."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ceramic Tiles","Nuts","Steel Forgings","Skateboards"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Ceramic tiles...","Nuts...","Steel forgings...","And skateboards.","Ceramic tiles are a popular choice for flooring, kitchen backsplashes, and bathroom walls.","They can withstand humidity and won't absorb liquids or odors.","They're also fireproof, fade-resistant, and stain-resistant.","And no matter how much you walk on them, ceramic tiles never wear out.","This factory specializes in wall tiles.","Floor tiles are made using the same process but with different materials.","The starting material here is talc-- a soft, powdery mineral.","They blend it with four different powdered chemicals, the names of which are a company secret.","The ingredients go into a mixer, where they're hydrated until they're 6% water to 94% powder.","The mixer runs for precisely 12 minutes.","Any longer would heat the mixture and dry it out.","The mixture is now slightly damp and quite lumpy.","A conveyor belt transports it to a grinder that mills it to a fine texture.","This mixture is now ready to be formed into various models of tiles.","The factory uses fully automated machinery to produce its 1.6-square-inch tiles-- a standard wall tile size.","A moving tray first deposits a batch of mixture into a mold.","The mold's cavity is in the shape of six upside-down tiles.","A press descends, applying both heat and pressure.","This compacts the mixture into the cavity, solidifying the shape.","As the press rises, the mold automatically pops out the tiles.","They roll off the machine onto a conveyor belt.","The belt now flips the tiles right side up without breaking them-- which is quite a feat, considering that these yet-to-be-baked tiles aren't fully hardened.","The equipment is precision-adjusted to handle the tiles gently at all production phases.","A revolving brush now sweeps the tiles clean.","Their surface must be free of dust and other contaminants for paint to adhere properly.","The factory uses a water-based paint that's specifically designed for ceramics.","It continually circulates in a vat, keeping the color well-blended.","The painting process resembles an automatic car wash.","The tiles travel through four spray zones, each of which applies a thin coat of paint.","Then they pass under powerful heating elements, which dry the paint in mere seconds.","All that's left is to bake the tiles, which we'll see shortly.","The factory uses the same ceramic mixture to produce these square border tiles.","They look just like the other wall tiles, except that two of the sides are rounded.","When you install a row of these border tiles above the regular tiles, the rounded edges produce a clean, finished look.","While the factory uses the same painting process for border tiles, the molding process, as you just saw, is somewhat different.","Rather than being fully automated, it requires some manual labor due to the tiles' complex shape.","That's why border tiles are often more expensive than regular tiles.","When the tiles come out of the dryer, workers stack them on wooden racks.","They load the racks onto mobile carts and then roll the carts into a gas-powered oven called a kiln.","This factory's kiln is 190 feet long-- longer than an olympic-size swimming pool and large enough to bake 50,000 wall tiles at once.","The firing, as it's called, takes 14 hours.","Any sudden change in temperature could produce thermal shock and crack the tiles, so the kiln starts out at 390 degrees fahrenheit, climbing gradually to a peak of 1,970 degrees, then descends slowly back to the starting temperature.","After a cooling period that lasts roughly an hour, the tiles come out.","They're now fully hardened and ready to have their back to the wall.","Scan the snack-food aisle of your local supermarket, and you'll notice that barbecue, ketchup, and salt-and-vinegar are no longer limited to potato chips.","Nuts come in tantalizing taste choices, too.","But if you're a traditionalist, you can still buy them plain, salted, or unsalted.","The botanical definition of a nut is a dry, one-seed fruit in a hard shell that doesn't open on its own.","Most peanuts have two seeds, so even though we call them nuts, they're technically a legume--  a type of pea.","One way to prepare peanuts for sale is to roast them whole, right in their shells.","This is known as dry-roasting because they cook the peanuts without using any oil in a large convection oven.","The oven temperature is 300 degree fahrenheit.","The roasting process takes about a half-hour.","When the peanuts come out, they're fully cooked and ready to be eaten.","Before the peanuts go off to be packaged, a worker inspects them, removing any shell fragments and foreign matter.","Another way to prepare peanuts or other nuts for sale is to dry-roast only the seeds.","These peanut seeds arrive at the factory with their shells and skins already removed.","A conveyor transports them to a revolving drum called the tumbler.","As the tumbler spins, the nuts are sprayed with a liquid seasoning mixture, one of 10 flavors this company produces-- salted, smoked, ketchup, barbecue, and salt-and-vinegar, just to name a few.","The rotating action ensures the seasoning coats the nuts thoroughly.","Now a conveyor transports the peanuts to a convection oven.","The conveyor turns from side to side, spreading the peanuts in a thin layer so that they'll dry-roast evenly.","They roast for the same length of time and at the same temperature as peanuts in the shell-- about a half-hour at 300 degrees fahrenheit.","As they exit the oven, a worker breaks up any clumps.","When they use the other method of preparing shelled nuts, they tumble on the seasoning after cooking.","Instead of dry-roasting the nuts, as we saw earlier, they fry them in oil.","This process is called oil-roasting.","It gives the nuts a greasier, fried taste.","These cashews are on their way to be oil-roasted.","They go into a huge frying tank containing 580 gallons of canola oil heated to 320 degrees fahrenheit.","The nuts come out fully cooked 15 minutes later, and they're steaming hot.","A powerful ventilation system draws the heat outdoors, cooling the cashews to room temperature.","This process takes about 15 minutes.","By now, the nuts have absorbed any cooking oil that remained on their surface, so they receive a light spray of vegetable oil.","This makes their surface sticky again so that the salt or seasoning mix will adhere.","This factory also produces nut mixes.","Here the mixer is combining various nuts with dried fruit.","From there it's on to a packaging machine, whose eight computer-programmed scales automatically weigh out a specific package portion.","But before each portion goes into a bag, it passes through a metal detector.","This ensures that no shards of metal have worn off the equipment and fallen into the food.","The machinery hermetically seals the plastic packages.","This keeps the contents fresh for at least six months.","When does forging not involve fraud?","When you're talking about metal.","Many industrial machines contain steel parts that have to withstand great stress.","The metalworking method that produces the strongest steel parts is forging-- heating the metal, then forming it to the required size and shape.","Steel forgings are made from scrap iron-- pieces of used iron recovered from demolished buildings and old cars-- as well as bits of new iron left over from the manufacture of iron products.","Forge workers maneuver a gigantic magnet to lift almost 6 tons of scrap at a time until they've filled a 28-ton scrap bucket.","The bucket empties two such loads into a fiery furnace, whose temperature peaks at 3,000 degrees fahrenheit.","This is called an electric arc furnace because the heat is created by a strong electric current running in an arc between three electrodes.","There are about 20 main grades and 100 subgrades of steel.","They're produced by adding specific metals or nonmetallic chemical elements, such as aluminum...","Nickel...","Chromium...","Vanadium...","Manganese...","Carbon...","And molybdenum.","They also add the mineral fluorite to help fuse the metals, some of which are in the form of blocks called ingots.","Throughout the 3 1/2-hour meltdown, they test and adjust the chemical composition.","They try to attain the lowest hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur levels-- the key to producing strong, high-quality steel.","Then they pour the sizzling molten metal into a 50-ton ladle that's lined with heat-resistant brick.","They add aluminum and lime to chemically counteract oxidation-- rusting caused by air exposure.","Now they cast an ingot-- a block of steel that they'll shape into a forging.","The molten metal flows out the bottom of the ladle into a mold below.","This bottom pouring, as it's called, makes for a smoother casting because liquid flowing downward doesn't swill around as much as liquid poured sideways.","This forge can cast ingots weighing up to 46 tons.","After several hours, the ingot solidifies, and they turn the mold upside down to extract it.","Then, over 12 hours, they reheat the ingot to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit.","This makes it soft enough to hammer or press into shape.","To make large forgings, they use a machine called a forging press, mounted inside a forming die or a pair of dies, depending on the technique they're using.","The press applies thousands of tons of pressure, crushing the ingot and forcing it against the die.","The steel is quickly oxidizing with all this air exposure.","They use a high-pressure water gun to remove the scales of rust.","An ingot often passes through a die several times or through a series of dies arranged in sequence.","Each pressing forms the metal bit by bit into the final shape.","Metal is composed of microscopic crystals.","Squeezing it in a press bends these crystals, destabilizing the metal structure.","But reheating the metal creates new crystals to replace the deformed ones.","This restabilizes the structure, and, because the new crystals are smaller, makes the metal stronger than before.","That's why finished forgings require heat treatment in what's called an annealing furnace.","They heat for a day or two, depending on the grade of steel.","Then they soak in a water-and-chemical bath for about five hours.","This strengthens the steel even more.","Finally, workers mount the steel forgings on lathes and milling machines.","They remove the rust scales that formed during heat treatment, then precision-machine the forgings into what the client ordered-- usually industrial parts such as rotors, spindles, and shafts.","Many factories prefer to buy forgings in the shape of blocks or bars and machine the parts themselves.","Skateboarding may have started out as a simple outdoor pastime, but in the last few decades, it's evolved into a popular thrill sport.","Professional skateboarders are known for performing spectacular aerial maneuvers, achieving speeds and heights the early skateboarders could never have imagined.","In the 1930s, thrill-seeking kids began attaching their metal roller-skate wheels to wooden crates.","Little did they know this would one day spawn a worldwide phenomenon.","The boxes evolved to boards in 1958, when some california surfers invented sidewalk surfing-- something to do when bad weather prevented them from riding the waves.","They attached roller-skate wheels to wooden planks, then coasted through the streets.","Pretty soon, the fad caught on in cities throughout the united states.","The deck-- the part of the skateboard you stand on-- is made up of several thin sheets of wood called \"veneers\".","Inexpensive boards use fewer sheets and lesser-quality woods.","These high-end boards use a full seven sheets of top-quality maple.","Only the top and bottom veneer sheets will actually show, so their exposed side is sanded smooth, and the other side gets a coat of glue.","The inside sheets, meanwhile, go through the glue spreader, which saturates both sides.","This adhesive is specially formulated to withstand vibration and shock.","Workers stack 35 sheets of veneer-- the equivalent of five skateboard decks-- and place them in a mold.","Skateboards vary in size and shape, so there's a different mold for each model.","A press applies 44 tons of pressure, compacting the sheets and bending them to the shape of the mold.","Excess glue squeezes out the sides, binding the five decks into one block.","They'll be separated later.","The block comes out after three hours.","Now they drill two sets of holes through the block.","These are for mounting the front and back trucks-- the pivoting, metal axles that enable the skateboard to turn.","Now it's time to give the rectangular block a skateboard contour.","They select a template in the general shape of the model they're making.","It has pins underneath that fit snugly in the truck holes they've just drilled.","This holds the template still while they do what's called the rough cut-- sawing around the template, leaving a 1-inch margin.","Cutting off the excess separates the five decks.","Now they contour each deck individually.","Using a precise template, they run the deck against a cutting blade until they have the final shape.","Now, using a router, they round off the top and bottom edges.","Then they smooth all the surfaces against a drum sander.","Now they switch to a buffer, which uses a combination of brushes and fine-grit sandpaper to remove any rough wood fibers.","The deck is now perfectly smooth.","The next stop is the finishing room, where they first spray the decks with a colorless primer.","This seals the pores in the wood veneer so they won't absorb the coat of lacquer that comes next.","The primer takes two hours to dry.","Next, they spray on a coat of clear or colored lacquer.","It leaves a protective, high-gloss finish.","The lacquer also takes two hours to dry.","The final step of the finishing process is applying the decoration.","The bold graphic designs are printed on plastic sheets.","The skateboard factory either buys them ready-made or produces them in-house, using its own silk-screen printing equipment.","Workers center the design sheet, then feed the deck through a machine that applies heat and slight pressure simultaneously.","The heat--  390 degrees fahrenheit-- induces a chemical reaction that melts the ink and lacquer.","When the plastic comes off, the deck is finished.","Decks of this caliber are sold unassembled in specialty stores.","They're designed for serious riders who want to customize their skateboards.","They pick and choose from different types of trucks, wheels, bearings, even the bolts that hold everything together.","All these factors determine how fast or how fancy their skateboard will move and maneuver."]}
{"meta":{"things":["CNC Assembly Machines","Lemon Tarts","Miniature War Figures"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Automated machines changed manufacturing forever when they began assembling parts.","Cnc assembly machines have taken automation to the next level.","Cnc is an acronym for computer numerical control.","The machine is automated by a computer rather than by mechanics.","To design a cnc assembly machine, engineers first analyze the sequence of tasks required to assemble the product.","They then match each task to a pre-designed processing engine.","The processing engines are linked together in a custom assembly sequence.","Each engine is programmed to control its computer-guided motors, which perform the precise motions required to execute a task.","The cnc machine's engines are mounted on a sturdy base frame.","To construct it, workers cut steel tubes to the required lengths.","They grind a joint in each piece...","Then weld the pieces together by melting steel welding wire into the joints.","They bolt a steel tabletop onto the base frame.","It has cutouts for each engine.","It's been ground perfectly flat.","So the engines will be level with each other.","Meanwhile, an electrical technician is assembling the machine's main control cabinet.","It contains one industrial computer for each engine.","A cnc machine has engines for performing rotary movements, linear movements, and for picking up and placing parts.","The motors inside each engine have their own computers.","They're programmed to perform movements at specific speeds and forces.","Once the main control cabinet is assembled, workers bolt it to the base frame.","Then they install steel bases for the engines.","Some cnc machines require robotic arms.","A computer-guided milling machine cuts rectangular bars of aluminum, shaping them into robotic arm components.","This precision-measuring device ensures each milled part meets strict specifications.","After the aluminum components receive an anti-corrosion coating, workers assemble them into a robotic arm.","These self-lubricating sleeve bearings give the arm the ability to rotate.","They add a second assembled arm to create a pair that works together to perform an assigned task.","Each arm is controlled by its own motor, which follows the commands of the engine's computer.","This coupling securely connects each robotic arm to the shaft of its motor.","Each engine on the machine can have up to eight motors.","The motors can operate independently or in unison.","This engine has robotic arms that can pick up, hold, and release parts.","To test the completed machine, a high-speed video camera captures images at 1,000 frames per second.","The quality control team slows down the video to analyze and fine-tune the accuracy and efficiency of every motion.","Just a few simple taps on the operator's touch screen can adjust the arm to move a millisecond faster.","Or a millimeter further.","Cnc machines can assemble small products at high speed.","They also provide something traditional assembly equipment can't-- flexibility.","A single machine can be reprogrammed multiple times for assembling different products.","When life gives you lemons, why bother making lemonade when you can indulge in a luscious lemon tart?","Not too sour, not too sweet, a lemon tart is a delectable dessert that you can make yourself.","Or even better, leave it to the baking pros and buy ready-made.","This thaw-and-serve lemon tart has a shortbread shell and creamy lemon filling topped with buttercream.","Each batch of dough produced in this industrial mixer yields 449 tart shells.","The first step is to lightly blend margarine, sugar, and salt for 2 or 3 minutes.","Next, add pasteurized eggs and mix for about 2 minutes at slow speed.","Fast mixing makes the dough too tight, causing it to crack.","They add white flour while continuing to mix slowly until the ingredients are well-blended.","Once the dough is ready, workers put it through what is actually a hamburger forming machine.","It extrudes 1/4-pound dough patties.","Workers place them in the middle of a nonstick aluminum tart pan three at a time.","They mount the pan on a press, covering it with plastic.","A die strikes the pan, flattening and spreading the dough evenly.","The pans go into the oven, where they rotate for 23 to 24 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit.","The dough bakes into a shortbread tart shell.","Lemon juice and lemon oil are the key ingredients in the creamy filling.","First, workers melt margarine on a stove...","Then mix in sugar, lemon powder...","And food starch to thicken the mix.","They blend for 2 minutes, then add eggs.","After another 5 to 8 minutes of mixing, they pour in boiled lemon juice and lemon oil.","Boiling these acidic ingredients prevents the fats from curdling.","The filling is ready.","So they move the bowl from the mixer over to the depositing line.","A pump transfers the contents to a hopper feeding a depositor.","The depositor is pre-set to squirt 22 ounces of lemon filling in each tart.","The filled tarts go into the oven for 11 minutes.","The lemon tarts come out of the oven, cool at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then go into a freezer overnight.","The next day, workers remove the frozen tarts from the pans.","They gently remove any specks of browning, then spray on a light layer of glaze made from apricots.","This adds a hint of sweetness.","The glaze also prevents the filling from cracking when it's thawed for serving.","Next, they put the tart in an automated cake slicer.","The turntable rotates as the tart is cut into 12 slices with papers in between each one.","This is for restaurants who serve the dessert by the slice.","Workers embellish each slice with a flower made of buttercream, a decadent mixture of butter, egg whites, and sugar.","They complete each flower with a dot of lemon filling in the center.","This lemon tart is finished.","They wrap it in a cardboard cake band printed with the brand name.","They seal the tart in plastic film, insert it into a retail box, and ship it frozen to a store or restaurant.","To serve this tasty dessert, you simply defrost at room temperature for about a half hour.","Toy soldiers aren't just for children.","They're a hobby for grown-ups that dates back over a century.","The science-fiction novelist h.g. wells published the first set of rules for toy solider war games in 1913.","The game is on.","It's time to rally the troops.","These mini soldiers are made of either metal or plastic and hand-painted by the game players.","No detail is overlooked in making these war figures true to the historical period of the game.","Players move the figures around tabletop scenery like chessmen on a chess board.","And like chess, this is a game of strategy.","It's a way to engage in the tactical elements of war without the violence of a real battle.","Making miniature war figurines starts with the construction of a model.","With only one hand and his prosthesis, a modeler expertly bends tin copper wire into a framework for the model.","Each soldier needs to be 1.1 inches in length.","So he shapes and trims the wire accordingly.","Once he completes the wire skeleton, he sticks the leg prongs into a cork.","This enables him to get a firm grip on the skeleton as he builds up the figure with epoxy putty.","He sculpts a base layer using a dental tool that's usually used for scraping plaque.","After the base layer cures, he builds up the chest and calf areas.","After more curing time, he sculpts the soldier's tunic.","Using a tool with a fine point, he pits the surface to simulate medieval chain mail armor.","With skillful artistry, the miniature soldier takes shape.","He inserts a wire into a drilled shoulder socket and applies putty to create a muscular effect.","He builds up the sleeve and pierces it all the way around to continue the chain mail effect.","He carves the rounded rim of the hat.","This small-scale soldier is in fighting form.","He's used to make a mold for tin soldiers that will look just like him.","Meanwhile, another member of the team sculpts epoxy putty models that are three times larger.","These models are used to mass-produce plastic war figures.","Going large first and then scaling down is the only way to transfer all the details.","As he carves hair details into the head of this french cavalry figure, he's careful to not leave any protruding bits.","Otherwise, plastic could snag on molds made from them, jeopardizing the production of the plastic versions.","With curing time between layers, it takes about a week to sculpt this french cavalry model.","They're ready to make molds from the smaller scale models now.","The mold maker arranges the epoxy models on a silicone rubber disk.","He presses each one into the rubber.","The ends leave little dents.","He removes the model and slices it into the rubber with a surgical scalpel, cutting holes where the figures have left the indentations.","He removes the silicone cutouts, then carves a narrow channel to connect the two slots.","He inserts the model into the niche.","He repeats this process with the other soldiers on the disk, then places the disk in a preheated steel vessel.","He puts a lid on the vessel and transfers it to a vulcanizing press.","In the press, heated plates squeeze it using pressure.","This softens the rubber inside, melting around the figures, picking up the contours.","This transfers the disk into a mold.","Coming up next, the miniatures emerge from the mold shell battle-ready.","In the age of video games, tabletop war games still have plenty of fans.","The challenge begins with the acquisition of small armies of miniatures.","Players hand-paint the soldiers and build elaborate backdrops with scenery.","Then the games begin.","As production continues, the mold-maker carves channels into the silicone disk.","He links the channels to the impressions of miniature soldiers and military machinery that have been created by the models.","The channels allow molten metal to flow into the impressions in order to cast copies.","In the storeroom, there are thousands of silicone molds, each depicting different characters and props.","When the order comes in, an apprentice makes the selection.","Next, an operator puts the mold in a casting machine.","As the mold spins in the machine, he adds molten tin through an opening in the lid.","The spinning throws the liquid tin into the mold crevices.","After the casting solidifies and cools, he extracts the little tin soldiers.","These tin war figures are on their way to the gaming front lines.","Making plastic war figures starts with an epoxy resin for a pattern.","They add a hardener and blend the batch to the consistency of pancake batter.","They transfer it to a larger bucket and place it in a vacuum chamber, which pulls out the air.","In the process, the epoxy swells.","Once the epoxy mixture deflates, a team brushes it onto sculpted military models arranged in a steel box.","After filling all the crevices, they dispense more epoxy.","A chute ensures a gentle flow, preventing the buildup of more bubbles.","They repeat this on the other side of the models to create a two-part pattern.","Once the epoxy hardens, they mill the outside of the pattern to pre-determined measurements.","An employee then opens it and discards the models.","He inspects the impressions they've left.","They use this pattern to make a smaller-scale mold from steel.","Using an automated saw, they carve smaller pieces from a block of nickel chrome steel.","An automated milling tool machines the smaller blocks so the two of them will fit together to create one mold set.","A carriage shunts the block back and forth between an abrasive wheel to grind the surface to precise measurements.","A mold-maker follows the impressions in the epoxy pattern with a stylus, which moves a needle-like cutter.","The cutter etches a template into the steel block that's three times smaller than the one in the epoxy pattern.","Using a wand that generates high-frequency vibrations, he polishes the etchings in the steel mold.","It's a gentle polish that doesn't damage any of the etching in the mold block.","They drill channels in the steel to allow plastic to flow to the impressions.","They also insert water-cooling pipes.","They're ready to mass-produce plastic war figures.","The machine melts plastic and injects it under pressure into the mold set.","The plastic hardens, and the machine ejects the little soldiers connected by runners.","This particular production includes miniature rifles and other military paraphernalia.","They pack the plastic soldiers, their horses, and their guns into boxes for retail along with instructions for painting.","After painting, the plastic soldiers and their tin comrades are in tip-top military form and ready for battle.","There will be casualties.","But of course, it's all just for fun.","These miniature war figures are survivors.","They will live on to fight many more battles."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ceramic Fireplaces","Synthetic Corks","Parking Garage Floor Slabs"]},"text":["The first fireplaces were strictly functional for heating the home, cooking meals, and warming water for bathing.","Over time, fireplaces appeared in other rooms of the house and acquired ascetic features such as wood, stone, or tile work.","This ceramic fireplace is a heritage model inspired by fireplaces of the late 19th and early 20th century.","Certain tiles are exact replicas of originals.","At the ceramic factory they mix water with clay, feldspar, and silica in a pugmill.","Together, these formulate a clay blend.","Once the mix is the right consistency, the operator presses a button, and the mill switches to extrusion mode.","This forces the clay blend through a mantel shaped die and produces a 10- to 15-inch long extruded mantel piece.","They trim the piece with a cutting wire to the precise length required.","They use this extrusion method for making longer pieces.","If they need shorter ones they often cast them individually in a mold.","When casting they add significantly more water to the clay blend to produce a liquid clay called slip.","They pour the slip into a plaster mold.","The porous plaster gradually absorbs most of the water, leaving a layer of clay about 6 millimeters thick on the walls of the mantel-shaped cavity.","After a few hours, they pour out the excess slip and open the mold to extract the cast mantel piece.","Once the clay becomes firm enough to handle they carefully trim off the excess around the opening in the mold.","Then they gently smooth down the seam along the junction between the two halves of the mold.","On the opposite side of the pour hole, they cut out a matching hole.","This will help the clay dry faster by enabling air to flow through the inside of the piece.","To compensate for shrinkage, the molds and extrusion dies are designed 11% larger than the size of the finished piece.","Clay shrinks as it dries.","To make the fireplace's ceramic tiles, they produce a rubber mold of two adjoining tiles and place it inside a metal casing.","They also include a release system to help with extraction.","They fill the casing with an exceptionally strong type of plaster.","It sets in about half an hour, taking on the shape of the rubber mold.","This plaster casting is the die they'll now use to produce the tiles.","They mount the die on what's known as a ram press because it literally rams a block of clay in the die and compresses it with 30 tons of pressure.","The tile die is also 11% larger than the final size to compensate for shrinkage during drying and firing.","They remove excess clay and send it back to the pugmill to be recycled.","Then they position a board under the die and activate the release system, which extracts the clay with a blast of compressed air.","They trim off the excess clay.","Once dry, the tiles and mantel pieces are ready to be glazed.","Glaze is a chemical formula containing finely ground silica combined with different combinations of metallic elements to produce specific colors.","They use a spray gun to apply glaze to the mantels and a tube tip applicator to glaze the tiles.","The tiles design has raised borders between its components.","These are called cuenca lines.","They prevent the different colored glazes from flowing into each other.","The glazed mantel piece and tiles now go into a gas-fired kiln for 12 to 14 hours.","The high temperature, 2,100 degrees fahrenheit, triggers chemical reactions which harden and strengthen the pieces.","The clay's mineral composition transforms into a completely new configuration of crystals and glass.","As for the glaze, its precise formulation of metallic elements produces a specific color, and the silica melts into a glass surface.","The ceramics are now smooth and shiny and ready to transform an otherwise ordinary fireplace into a work of art.","Many winemakers choose to seal their bottles with synthetic closures instead of natural cork from tree bark.","This prevents cork taint, which happens when natural cork gets contaminated by the tca molecule.","Cork taint is completely harmless to humans, but spoils the taste of the wine.","This engineered cork is entirely synthetic and therefore resistant to tca contamination.","It's made of a food-grade polyethylene foam core encased in elasticized polymer skin.","Both materials contract to squeeze inside the bottleneck but then regain their original shape to seal the opening.","To make the foam core, they mix talc with pellets of low density polyethylene, a pliable type of plastic.","Then they add pellets of dark brown and beige colorant to mimic the wood grain look of natural cork.","For each customer's order of corks, a computerized system automatically releases the right amount of each ingredient into an industrial blender.","The blender feeds a specially designed dual extrusion machine.","The machine melts the foam mix to a liquid state then injects carbon dioxide.","This produces bubbles, which create the cellular structure of the foam.","The liquid foam enters the machine's horizontal extruder, while elasticized polymer enters the machine's angled extruder.","Both extruders squeeze their materials through the same shaping die, which outputs a continuous rod of skin-encased foam.","The foam core immediately expands.","The elastic skin stretches with it.","A water bath cools the rod, halting this expansion at a specific diameter.","Then, an underwater ultrasonic gauge measures the thickness of the outer skin to make sure it meets specifications.","The rod exits the water bath and continues cooling and shrinking as it drip dries.","A laser gauge then verifies that the rod is perfectly round and measures a specific diameter by this point.","When any of the measuring gauges detects an area that doesn't meet specifications, that part of the rod is flagged in the system and is discarded at the end of the production line.","The rod now enters the final cooling phase.","It travels in several loops past nozzles spraying cold water.","As the rod cools, it shrinks to its final size, a diameter of between 22 and 23 millimeters.","It's designed to fit snugly inside the standard 18.5-millimeter bottle opening.","They had to calculate exactly how wide to extrude the rod so that after expansion then shrinkage, it would end up at this precise diameter.","The rod now enters a cutter.","The blade is so sharp that a safety cover is mandatory.","It's removed here only for the camera.","The winery placing the order specifies the cork length.","Air jets automatically blow off any corks cut from areas the measuring gauges flagged as being problematic.","The cutter slices about 10 standard-length corks per second.","All the good corks land on the conveyor belt and travel to the end of the line, where computer sensors count them as they drop into a collection bin.","Additional machines print on the winery's name and logo, and lubricate the surface with silicone so the corks will glide in and out of the bottle with ease.","The factory's on-site lab tests samples from every order.","Sensory specialists sniff each cork and compare it to a control sample.","There must be no discernible odor that might affect the aroma or flavor of the wine.","If there is, the entire order of corks fails inspection.","While natural cork is designed by mother nature, a synthetic cork manufacturer can engineer the closure to fit more or less snugly according to the amount of air the particular wine needs to develop correctly.","Multi-tiered parking garages have become an urban phenomenon.","With each floor added to the garage the number of parking spaces increases.","In crowded cities where land is limited, garages like these are a necessity.","They build parking garages one concrete slab at a time.","These slabs are known as double-t's because the two support beams are in a double-t configuration.","Double-t's are often factory made and transported to the construction site later.","They are designed to hold up under very heavy loads.","They make these slabs outdoors.","Wind blows dirt onto the molds, so they sweep it clean.","This mold is about 500 feet long and will be used to make several slabs.","They spray an oil-based release agent onto it.","The release agent will allow the slabs to be easily extracted when complete, preventing cracking.","They spread it more evenly using mops.","This release agent bonds to the metal quickly and won't wash off easily if it happens to rain.","They're now ready to assemble the floor slab's elaborate support structure.","They prop up the ends of each slab with galvanized steel stirrups.","They place l-shaped bearing plates in strategic locations along the mold.","Then they insert wooden blocks in the mold.","These blocks will form notches in the cast concrete that will be used to join the slabs during construction.","Next, workers thread high-strength steel cables called tendons throughout the beam sections of the mold.","They pull the ends through holes to the outside of the mold and clamp them.","A worker tucks another wood block between two tendons to complete the notch part of the mold and hold the tendons in place.","The team threads more tendons throughout the mold, weaving a strategic support structure.","To separate each cast slab, they insert wooden dividers with slots that accommodate the tendons.","They adjust the location of each of the stirrups so that they sit at a specific spot near the dividers.","With the final tendons in place, they bring in a hydraulic jack.","The worker attaches it to one of the protruding steel tendons.","He activates the jack, and it pulls the tendon until it's stretched tight like a rubber band.","He pulls the rest of the tendons with the jack and checks the tension to confirm that it's exactly the same for each one.","Pulled tight and later released, the cables will hold the concrete under compression, adding strength to it.","Without it, the concrete slabs would never be able to support the weight of many vehicles.","The next worker ties a plastic bracket to the stirrups to set them at the right height.","He inserts metal mesh into the mold where each slab will end.","This will help disperse some of the concentrated bearing stresses.","He stabilizes the mesh, and reinforces it with the support structure.","The team places plastic pockets along the tops of the beam sections of the mold.","These pockets will be used to chain the slab to the truck during transport.","They'll also act as entry points for electrical wiring and hold controls for parking space counting equipment.","Coming up next, the deck section gets plenty of extra support, and then it's set in concrete.","The average car weighs well over 2,000 pounds, so each parking garage floor must hold up many times that weight.","Double-t concrete slabs make this possible.","Each slab has two reinforcing beams, and each beam has a tense steel skeleton that compresses the concrete, making it stronger.","With the steel tendons stretched through the beam parts of the mold, workers now lay metal mesh across the deck.","This mesh is known as welded wire fabric, and it will reinforce the surface of the parking slab.","They tie the welded wire together for full coverage across the deck.","They use plastic clips to prop up the wire so that when they pour the concrete, it will envelop both sides.","They insert handles that will protrude from the ends of the completed slab to allow it to be lifted for transport and installation.","There are four double handles in each parking floor slab.","They enmesh the prongs of weld plates in the steel grid.","The plates are strategically positioned for the welding of the slab to other pieces of concrete.","All the prep work is finally done, and they pour the concrete.","The concrete flows into the beam sections of the mold first, and then workers spread the overflow across the deck.","This is a high-performance formula that's known in the industry as self-consolidating concrete.","It flows evenly into tight spaces and compacts better without the need for much vibrating.","This leveler vibrates the surface of the concrete only slightly as it evens it out.","They then rake the surface of the slab to allow another layer of concrete to adhere to it later during construction.","They now insert arced metal bars into slots on the sides of the mold to form a ribbed framework down the length of it.","This serves as a support structure for a tent.","They unroll the tarp from a huge spool and drape it over the ribbing.","They secure the canvas to the sides of the mold with hooks.","The tent will shelter the concrete from the wind and rain as it cures.","Along with an additional plastic layer, it will contain the hot and humid conditions created inside.","The heat accelerates the curing of the concrete, and the humidity prevents cracking.","The cure takes 16 hours, and then they roll up the tarp.","Using a torch, they cut the steel tendons and place the concrete under compression.","The cuts also separate the slabs.","A driver now parks his crane over one of the slabs.","Workers attach the hooks of the crane to the protruding handles at the ends of the slab.","They signal the crane operator, and he activates the lift.","Thanks to the release agent applied earlier, the concrete slab easily dislodges from the mold.","It's a heavy load.","Each slab weighs 40,000 pounds.","The crane sets it down and the team inspects the slab for defects.","Satisfied that the slab is free of flaws, a worker trims the protruding steel tendons flush to the concrete.","Another worker spreads a concrete-like paste on the exposed ends of the severed steel to seal it from the elements.","Then a worker glues rubber pads to the bearing plates.","They'll act as cushions when the slab sits on another concrete beam.","He wraps some tape around them while the adhesive sets.","This parking garage floor slab is now ready to join the rest.","Side-by-side, the slabs will form one large parking surface to create even more spaces."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sails","Walnuts","Wheel Immobilizers","Honeycomb Structural Panels"]},"text":["A sail is essentially a vertical wing that provides forward thrust and lift to propel a boat over water.","It's impossible to know who came up with the concept because boats with sails have been plying waterways for thousands of years.","But there's no doubt that when it comes to their design and construction, today's sails have come a long way.","For thousands of years, sails were square, but in the 3rd century, triangular sails appeared on the mediterranean.","The shape enabled boats to sail into the wind, as well as with it.","Modern racing sails are made of laminated synthetics.","They start with a plastic membrane.","Rollers apply a hot liquid adhesive to one side in measured amounts, because even a couple of extra grams would weigh down the sail.","They press a scrim onto the hot adhesive.","It's a superstrength synthetic called aramid, which will keep the sail from tearing.","Then it's over to a computerized laser that cuts patterns out of the scrim-reinforced plastic.","A worker rolls up each panel to transport it to the next worktable.","Here, they tape 10 to 20 of the panels together, using heavy-duty p.e.t. plastic with an acrylic adhesive.","Now hundreds of small jacks stretch aluminized plastic around a framework, pulling material into a curved aerodynamic shape.","This mold will be used to shape the sail.","The team stretches clear plastic film over it.","Then they drape the joined panels over top.","They use ropes and clamps to pull it to the contours of the mold.","And now they're ready for some supertough synthetics-- aramid and carbon fiber yarns.","The yarns have been coated with adhesive so they'll stick to the plastic film.","A robot rolls the yarns onto the film, while a worker follows in a harness overhead to keep an eye on the job.","The robot applies the yarns in a pattern plotted by an engineer to anticipate the wind load on this sail.","The robot now switches from a vertical path to a horizontal one, applying yarns in a transverse pattern.","The team installs a long, narrow pocket over that section.","A batten will later be inserted in this pocket to control the sail's shape.","They pull another layer of scrim-enhanced plastic on top.","And now all the layers of this sail cloth are in place.","A worker hovers overhead to inspect the surface for defects.","They now seal the assembled sail in a vacuum bag and attach hoses.","The hoses suck out the air, pressing the layers of the sail together.","Now the robot applies heat to the sail.","It activates the adhesives and the plastics to laminate the layers together.","And it also sets the three-dimensional shape of the sail.","A worker inspects the job with a magnifying glass.","Then it's over to a revolving sewing turret.","As the sewing machine turns, it pulls the sail forward, allowing the operator to stitch hems, grommets, and reinforcements onto it.","They apply the corporate logo.","Next, a worker walks the length of this enormous sail to inspect it.","No imperfections will be tolerated.","After all, this is a big-ticket item.","Large racing sails can retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars.","Sophisticated engineering and high-tech materials have produced a racing sail that's lightweight yet incredibly strong.","There may be rough water ahead, but with technology on their side, this crew should be able to sail right through it.","The walnut has been cultivated for thousands of years, but its actual discovery remains a mystery.","Some of the earliest evidence of the walnut comes from the region of persia in 7th century b.c. back then, royalty had dibs on this nut, and commoners were forbidden to eat it.","Thankfully, that's ancient history.","Today, the walnut is mass-produced to meet a global demand.","It starts in an orchard like this one in california.","Walnuts take five years to grow, and they emerge shrouded in protective husks.","Using mechanical shakers and sweepers, workers harvest the walnuts.","Once the husks have been peeled off, it's over to the receiving pit at the processing plant.","This machine separates out any rocks or sticks, then drops the walnuts into a conveyer.","At the end of the line, the nuts spiral off and land softly in cooling bays below-- 8 bays that hold over 13 tons of walnuts.","The walnuts are funneled into these sealed chambers for fumigation to eliminate insects.","After 28 hours, they're on the move once again.","They fall between rollers.","The gaps between these rollers are tapered to allow the small, medium, and large nuts to fall into separate lanes.","This sorting system will allow them to be cracked by machines geared to specific nut sizes.","These large walnuts head up a conveyer called the cracker belt.","At the top, they enter the cracker.","It's a revolving machine with pistons, one for each walnut.","The technician activates the pistons to press against the nuts.","The pistons apply a precise amount of pressure to crack the shells without damaging the nuts inside.","The nut cracking has been slowed for our camera, but in reality, this is a high-speed operation.","The nuts, shells and all, fall onto a conveyer.","The pistons have cracked between 80% and 90% of the walnuts.","To capture the rest, the whole pile shakes its way toward a second group of sizing rollers.","The smaller pieces drop through the gaps and go for further processing.","The larger ones continue on to a machine called a re-cracker.","There, the nuts travel through slats in a revolving cylinder.","Inside those slats are little knives that break up the whole nuts.","After some of the larger shells have been removed, it's on to a giant sifter.","The nuts and shells bounce on a shaking screen.","The smaller bits fall through, and the larger ones remain on top.","The holes in the screen become progressively larger to sort the pieces into eight sizes which differ by a fraction of an inch.","The bigger, choicest walnuts fall into a separate chute.","The smaller pieces will be used in baking, among other things.","A high-speed belt sends nuts and shells flying through the air to allow a computerized camera to detect shell fragments and activate a system to blast them off the production line, leaving the prized kernel, the walnut half.","An inspector removes any remaining shells or unacceptable nuts.","Then the walnuts enter a vacuum chamber, which suctions away any last crumbs.","They exit on a spiraling slide and land in a box.","This packer portions out bulk product for the food industry.","He removes nuts from the box until it reaches the correct weight.","These walnuts are on their way to adding crunch and flavor to cookies, cakes, and other good stuff.","The walnuts in this box have taken years to grow and a couple hours to process, but in the end, the wait should be more than worth it.","On the street, it's known as \"the boot\".","Accumulate a few unpaid parking tickets, and you may very well find your car wearing one.","Municipalities use wheel immobilizers to clamp down on offenders, while universities use them to deter illegal parking on campus.","The boot's dome goes over the rim.","On the other side, its inner arm hooks in between the rim and brake.","A secure bolt clamps those outer and inner parts together, immobilizing the wheel.","Boots must be strong and tamper-proof, so the main components are made of steel.","This steel tube will become the boot's outer arm.","This steel bar will become the stand that props up the boot during installation.","This flat steel bar will become the inner arm that hooks between the rim and brake.","They bend it lengthwise to give it strength.","Then they bend it into the final shape.","Now back to the tube they cut for the outer arm.","After bending it in two spots, they drill two holes for the tube that will house the secure bolt.","They bend a flat steel bar to make a stiffener that reinforces the inner arm.","Meanwhile, that steel bar they cut to make the stand goes onto a machine called a rod bender.","A welder now fuses the tube to the outer arm...","Then welds that assembly to a part called the body box.","After welding the stiffener to the inner arm, he welds a pin through holes in both the arm and the other end of the body box.","So now the inner arm hinges on the box.","After a coat of baked-on enamel, the boot's body is complete.","The dome measures 12 inches in diameter.","First, they weld a bracket to it.","Next, they fit a sleeve into the bracket and thread a pin through them both.","Then they weld the pin to the bracket.","So now the sleeve pivots.","This, too, receives a baked-on coat of enamel.","Now they glue a rubber trim over the dome's edge so that booting a car doesn't damage the rim.","It's time to assemble all the parts.","First, the mechanism that clamps the boot's inner and outer arms around the tire.","Using a special key, they screw into a stainless-steel nut inside the bolt tube.","This spring holds the inner arm in the correct position.","The stand goes on with a bolt.","The stand elevates the boot off the ground, enabling the installer to turn the secure bolt key.","In this cutaway, you can see how turning the key moves the secure bolt forward, pushing the inner and outer arms together to clamp the tire.","Next, they slide the dome sleeve over the body's outer arm.","They align the hole in the sleeve with the hole in the arm, then bolt the parts together.","The arm has several holes so the boot can accommodate wheels of different sizes.","Every boot gets a metal plate bearing the model and serial number.","The boot manufacturer records who owns the boot and won't issue a new secure bolt key without proper identification.","From the mechanics to the cabin, aircraft are made with the most lightweight, high-strength materials, such as honeycomb structural panels.","These make up the support structure hidden beneath the flooring and behind the walls of, among other areas, the lavatories, galleys, and stow bins.","The cells at the center of the structural panel are hexagonal in those designed to lie flat and rectangular in curved panels.","Producing the core begins with giant printing cylinders.","Etched into their surface is a pattern of lines.","They rotate in heat-activated adhesive, printing the line pattern onto paper that passes between them.","This paper is made of thermoplastic, but depending on the type of panel, it can be another kind of paper or even aluminum foil.","This machine cuts the paper into sheets-- anywhere from 500 to 2,000 sheets, depending on how thick the cores will be.","The machine then stacks the sheets in a specific sequence.","Every other sheet is offset by half a line.","This back-and-forth pattern is what forms the core's honeycomb cells.","The stack now goes into a heated press, which activates and cures the lines of adhesive, bonding the sheets.","After an hour, they remove the stack and attach aluminum-foil loops along its perimeter.","Then they stand the stack on its side and hook those loops onto the steel pins of a device called an expansion frame.","It slowly pulls apart the sheets, opening the honeycomb cells that the special stacking sequence formed.","To ease the expansion process, they soften the paper with water.","This is a time-lapse shot.","The full expansion takes about 15 minutes.","Next, the block goes into an oven, where it bakes for about a half-hour at 527 degrees fahrenheit.","That heats sets the thermoplastic paper, locking in the honeycomb shapes.","Now they repeatedly submerge the block in a vat of resin, baking it after each dip.","Here, an aspirator sucks out the excess resin.","Then, after a final baking, an automated saw slices the block horizontally into several cores.","Then it's over to the assembly table.","They construct a structural panel like a sandwich-- the honeycomb core in the center.","This one's made of aluminum foil.","Then on either side of the panel's outer sheets, in this case, made of carbon fiber.","On the top and bottom, workers position a sheet of release paper to prevent the panel from sticking to the metal sheets that hold everything in position for now.","Workers load the assembly into a press.","The heat and pressure combined bond all the layers.","About an hour later, they take the sandwich out of the press and remove the metal sheets.","Workers slap on labels identifying the product and manufacturer.","Then they shear off the panel's rough edges.","The factory subjects some samples to a series of quality-control checks.","This load test, for example, assesses how much the panel can flex and how much weight it can withstand before snapping.","Whatever the materials, thickness, or density, these structural panels all deliver maximum strength with minimal weight."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gears","Leather Watchbands","Vitrelle Dishes","Kitchen Shears"]},"text":["If you've ever looked inside a wind-up watch or a car's transmission, you've seen a system of gears.","A gear is a wheel with teeth that meshes with the teeth of another gear to transmit power on a continuous basis.","Combining gears of different diameters affects rotation speed and force.","This factory makes gears that go into transmissions for industrial machines.","Production begins with a large, round bar of high-grade steel, which contains a certain amount of carbon to make it even stronger.","An automated band saw slices off a piece that's the right thickness for the size of gear they're making.","This piece is called a gear blank.","They mount the blank on a computer-controlled blade.","As it spins, a turret carrying a series of carbide tools moves in.","One tool after another takes its turn machining the blank to a specific shape.","A shower of coolant prevents overheating when the jumbo drill has its turn.","It bores a hole right through the middle of the blank.","The last tool carves a groove on the front of the blank.","This final bit of metal removal lessens the gear's weight.","Now the blank goes into a computer-controlled mill.","The mill drills holes through which lubrication will flow when the gear is operating.","These holes also lighten the gear's weight.","When the blank comes off the mill, they stamp it with the company name and part number.","Now for the gear's teeth.","A machine called a gear shaper carves out the inner teeth-- the ones lining the center hole-- with its titanium-coated cutter.","The machine's other components keep the cutter's movement correctly timed.","The number of teeth and tooth size vary from gear to gear, so for each model, the factory has to fit the gear shaper with a specific cutter.","Now for the outside gear teeth.","The computer-controlled machine that cuts them is called a gear hobber.","The gear turns against it as it cuts.","If the hobber would cut the full depth of the teeth in one shot, the cutter would chip, so the gear keeps turning around and around again as the hobber cuts a bit more with each pass, until the teeth are the right depth.","Then the gear undergoes a computerized inspection.","A probe scans the entire surface, including every tooth.","It sends data to a computer which then analyzes the dimensions and ensures they meet the engineering specifications.","Gears that pass this quality-control inspection go into a furnace for heat treatment.","This strengthens the steel.","When the furnace reaches a certain temperature, they inject carbon inside.","The gears absorb it, and the steel strengthens even further.","A soaking in oil afterward hardens the metal.","Heat treatment, however, distorts steel somewhat, so each gear now goes to a computer-controlled grinder.","It restores them to very precise specifications for bearings to fit properly.","This factory manufactures gears in various sizes, and not only in steel.","It also makes gears in material such as nylon, aluminum, brass, and stainless steel.","Some gears have straight teeth, others angled teeth, which makes less noise when turning.","Gears are an essential component in everything from watches to heavy mining equipment, keeping machinery going at every turn.","When it comes to wristwatches, there's nothing quite like a band made of genuine leather.","It has a classic look that's versatile, working with both casual and formal attire.","And a leather watchband is always comfortable against the skin because, unlike synthetics, leather breathes.","These premium watchbands are made of alligator, a leather with an unmistakable texture and shine.","The tannery dyes the croc leathers in classic shades, as well as in the latest high-fashion colors and styles.","Nearly all the production steps are manual, beginning with cutting leather pieces for the band's two straps.","Every watchband model requires a steel cutter for each strap in every size.","Now they coat the back side of each piece with glue.","Later, when it's almost dry, they center a watchband core onto it.","This flexible form is made of synthetic material reinforced with fiberglass.","Using a machine with a fine blade, they make small cuts at the ends to let the leather fold smoothly over the form.","One side of each strap attaches to the watch face with a spring-loaded bar.","They mark exactly where the bar goes, then punch a tiny hole for its tiny base.","Next they apply superstrength glue and fold the leather over to encase the bar.","The glue dries instantly.","They now coat the rest of the form with glue, then lay it in a mold that pushes the leather against the edge tightly so they can neatly fold over the remainder.","Now they run the open end through a machine that cuts a beveled edge.","Next, they run a tiny sander over the leather on the back side.","This roughens the surface, which will help the leather backing adhere.","To make the loops which go on the buckle strap, they bevel the ends of small leather strips.","They glue and fold them into a loop, making sure they're large enough to fit around both straps.","One loop sits directly below the buckle.","A glued-over flap of leather locks it in position.","They press it flat with pliers to ensure a good bond.","They machine-stitch each strap with strong, polyethylene-based thread.","To prevent unraveling, they melt them right into the leather.","On the buckle end, they pierce two holes for stitches that reinforce the locked-in first loop.","Then they punch two holes in the back of the second loop for stitching to reinforce its glued-together ends.","This loop has to be movable, so they don't stitch it to the band.","They heat the edge of each strap.","The iron's rounded tip molds an attractive, rounded edge.","Using a heated tool again, they widen the channel through which the buckle will pass.","Now they insert the buckle end into a stamping press.","It cuts a slot for the buckle's tongue.","A heat press burns the company's name into the leather lining.","That same strap then goes into a press, which punches the sizing holes.","From here, both straps go off to the buckle department.","Random samples are subjected to rigorous quality-control testing.","This machine pulls the ends of the strap in opposite directions, with up to nearly 50 pounds of tension, far more than anyone would ever apply to the watchband when they pull to buckle it.","Vitrelle is a super-durable dinnerware material invented in the united states in the early 1970s.","It's made of three layers of glass, fused together.","Vitrelle dishes are thin and lightweight, yet they're stronger and far more break-resistant than ordinary dinnerware.","In a perfect union of form, function, and food, this company serves up vitrelle dinnerware in several striking designs.","The dishes are made of 65% recycled glass from earlier production runs.","To make the other 35% that's new glass, the factory combines several raw materials-- sand...","Salt...","Limestone...","Feldspar...","And two more types of salt.","The exact proportions are a closely guarded secret.","The ingredients go into a furnace, where a fiery 2,500 degrees fahrenheit melts them into liquid glass.","It exits the furnace.","An extruder shapes it into a three-ply sheet that lands in a mold--  in this case, a plate mold.","A trimmer cuts off the excess, while compressed air blows down from above to cool and solidify the glass.","A vacuum arm then extracts each dish, and the leftovers are recycled.","The dishes now undergo what's called fire polishing.","Each one passes through a gas-oxygen flame, which seals the three layers of glass.","It also melts the outer rim, smoothing and rounding out the rough edge created by the trimming.","Oval dishes go on a different fire polisher, designed for an oval rim rather than a round one.","Now the conveyor system flips each dish over for backstamping.","The bottom of every vitrelle dish has the trade name and other information.","A silk-screen machine applies the lettering.","Then a gas-air flame bakes the ink into the glass.","Once that's done, the conveyor system flips the dishes right side up again.","To decorate the dishes, a machine silk-screens the design onto membranes.","Robotic arms position a membrane above each dish.","Then a press head pushes the membrane down onto the surface, transferring the paint.","Robotic arms then move the dishes back onto a conveyor belt.","Certain dishes have a design on the outside.","An automated silk-screen machine applies the paint directly to the surface.","The decorated dishes now travel through a tunnel oven for 5 1/2 minutes.","The nearly 1,500-degree fahrenheit heat cures the enamel paint.","At the end of the ride, a tempering process that makes the glass stronger.","Then, nozzles spray the dishes in a soy-based silicone.","This wash-off coating prevents scratches during packaging.","The factory subjects a sample from each production run to a 6 1/2-foot-drop test and a rim-impact test.","The sample mustn't break, chip, or crack...","All to ensure this stylish dinnerware will withstand whatever your household can dish out.","Shears are typically larger than scissors for heavier-duty cutting.","And you can insert up to three fingers in the handle's finger ring.","Using more fingers gives you a stronger grasp, which translates into more control and more cutting force.","These high-end shears effortlessly slice through produce, snip fresh herbs, and open packaging.","Outside the kitchen, they easily cut many materials, including thin aluminum and galvanized steel.","The secret to their strength?","Blades made of stainless steel, which contains a minute amount of carbon.","To make them, workers feed a bar of this high-carbon stainless steel into a press.","It stamps out blade shapes called blanks.","Stainless steel can be heat-treated to make it more durable and corrosion-resistant.","But first, a furnace softens the blanks for the forging process that transforms them into blades.","Each blank goes onto a forging dye that has two blade-shaped cavities.","One strike in each, and the blank is a blade.","Once it cools, a trimming press cuts off all the excess metal around the perimeter.","Heating and forging tend to warp steel, so another press makes the blade perfectly flat and straight again.","Trimming the excess metal leaves some rough areas, so the next step is to smooth the surface with a sanding belt.","To make the hole for the bolt on which the blades pivot, they drill a round hole partway through...","Then pierce a rectangular hole through the rest.","You'll see why later on.","Now the blades undergo heat treatment-- first, to harden them, a slow heating and rapid cooling, then, to make them tough and durable, a reheat and slow cooling.","A grinder shapes the round area next to the tang, the term for the metal core of the handle.","With a sanding belt, they smooth out and blend the adjacent corners.","Here, two polishing wheels give the surface an upscale satin finish.","Then an etching machine uses electrically activated chemicals to imprint the company's name into the thumb-operated blade.","Just one final step before the blades are finished.","A computer-operated grinder serrates the inside edge of the thumb-operated blade.","Workers now load six blades at a time into an injection-molding machine.","The machine shoots molten plastic into the cavities, then rapidly cools the material until it solidifies.","Each blade exits the machine with a molded handle firmly encasing the tang.","Now for the final assembly-- first they drive a bolt with a rectangular head into the pivot hole of the finger-operated blade.","Then they add the thumb-operated blade and press the bolt again into its final position.","A self-locking, hexagonal nut secures the bolt from underneath.","An automatic tightener does the initial fastening.","Then workers do the final tension adjustment manually.","The final step is to grind the excess plastic off the handle stops.","This enables the blade to close fully and in perfect alignment.","So, why the rectangular bolt?","Watch closely.","It allows you, with just one simple twist, to separate the blades for cleaning and then reassemble them.","Now, that's cutting-edge design."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fish Decoys","Film Digitization","Cylinder Stoves","Concrete Light Poles"]},"text":["When luring fish to a hole in a frozen lake, it helps to take a crafty approach.","It's a handcrafted piece of folk art, and it's also a cunning piece of work.","Often brightly colored with bold patterns, the decoy attracts the attention of fish-- an attraction that will likely prove fatal.","Native north americans were the first to use decoys to catch fish in the winter.","European settlers followed their example.","And centuries later, decoy artists carry on this tradition of trickery.","At this workshop, the decoy starts with a plank of white cedar.","It's a wood with dense fibers, so it won't expand when wet.","He draws a basic fish shape on the wood freestyle.","This one is to resemble a herring.","He carves out the shape with a band saw, producing the blank, which can now be transformed into a fish decoy.","He cuts a narrow slot for attaching a metal tail fin.","He draws a center line around the decoy blank.","This serves as a reference point as he now tapers the edges with a sharp knife.","If he cuts too deep, he could spoil the carving, so he whittles carefully, removing just a bit of wood with each stroke of the knife.","The goal is to round the sharp edges and soften the profile without cutting too deep and gouging the wood.","He sands the entire surface of the decoy until it's perfectly smooth.","Sanding also opens up the pores of the wood so paint will adhere.","He carves a mouth and then cuts slits for two sets of side fins.","Using a power carver, he now bores into the wood to create fish eye sockets on both sides.","He takes an equal amount of two epoxy clay components and kneads the two together.","This activates the ingredients, turning it into a putty-like adhesive.","He presses some of the adhesive into each of the decoy's eye sockets.","He presses the glass eyes into the epoxy-filled sockets.","Next he cuts six fish fins from a sheet of aluminum, creating one dorsal fin, two sets of side fins, and a large tail fin.","He inserts the fins into slots in the carving.","He then drills holes in the wood on each side.","He presses nails into those holes using pliers.","This secures the tail fin.","The fins on decoys are larger than on live fish to enable them to swim well when weighted.","He now carves a pocket for the lead weight in the decoy belly.","He inserts the front side fins, so that they protrude slightly into the freshly carved pocket.","He scoops up molten lead and pours it into the pocket.","As the lead solidifies, it weights the decoy so it will sink, and it also secures the two side fins.","He applies epoxy to the lead, sealing it so it won't be exposed to the water.","He coats the entire decoy with lacquer.","This seals the wood against water, which would have caused the wood to swell, cracking the final finish.","Once the lacquer dries and the paint has been scraped off the eyes, the decoy is ready to take the plunge.","He tests it to confirm that it sinks and that it sits level underwater and swims.","Sometimes, more lead needs to be added.","But in this case, the decoy performs fine underwater.","He marks a spot for a screw eye for threading fishing line and then twists the screw eye into that spot.","He paints the herring decoy a vibrant red, a color that isn't scientifically accurate, but one that should tantalize real fish.","Decoys are often exact copies of fish.","They're designed to simply pique their curiosity.","Since fish are attracted by colors and shapes they don't normally see, decoy artists can be as creative as they like.","Considered a form of folk art, fish decoys are often entered into competitions.","But of course when it comes to their underwater allure, the real judges are the fish.","Unless you're actually in a movie theater, you're likely watching a digital version of a film.","A movie shot on film has to be digitized to be put on a disc or to be downloaded and viewed on an electronic device.","Digitization also preserves the movie as film physically deteriorates over time.","A movie has to be in a digital format to be viewable from a dvd...","Or as a download to a computer...","A smartphone...","I repeat--  a nuclear war has broken-- ...","Or a tablet.","[ dog growls] [ electricity crackles] aah!","This organization has produced 13,000 films since it was founded in 1939.","And now it's in the process of digitizing the collection, as well as the 80 to 100 new films it produces each year.","Once all the finished films are digitized, the next step will be to digitize stock shots and archival footage.","The film board's archives contain many films which have deteriorated due to age and poor storage conditions such as exposure to cold or to heat, both of which deform film, and excess humidity, which causes fungus growth.","Film's other enemy?","A damaging chemical reaction which occurs over time between the acid in the film plastic and the colored dyes that make up the image.","The first step is to repair any breaks in the film so technicians can view and evaluate its condition.","They do this using a simple device called a splicer.","They lay each broken end into the splicer's track and cut off the severed frame.","A missing frame here or there isn't all that noticeable.","Once the broken frame is removed, they lay both ends in the track, centering the meeting point.","Then they tape the splice on both sides.","This tape is specially designed for film splicing.","Its chemical makeup won't damage the film over time as would ordinary adhesive tape.","The splicer punches sprocket holes in the tape so that the spliced portion, like the rest, will thread onto the sprockets of the projector reel.","Technicians evaluate all existing versions of the film, from the original, to the screening prints produced for movie theaters.","They assess the general condition, note where the splices are and which frames are damaged, then they decided which version is in the best shape overall.","That's the version they digitize.","Later, they'll digitally edit out the damaged portions and replace them with identical but undamaged frames digitized from another copy.","After threading the film through the scanner, they close the gate to hold the film flat and close to the scanning camera.","Then they input the picture quality specifications and start her up.","The scanner gently loops the film around its spools...","And begins rolling it past the camera.","For the picture quality they've selected for this digitization, the camera snaps three pictures of every frame.","The scanner's control station displays what's being scanned in real time, along with all the technical parameters.","This digitization process itemizes every single frame so when they digitally replace a damaged portion with an undamaged one from another copy they can match everything up to the exact frames.","The final step is color correction.","Because the digitized film is often pieced together from more than one film original, there are usually color variations.","For example, the character's blue jacket will be a different shade of blue at different times.","At this station, the technician manipulates the colors to render them uniform throughout the film.","It's essential to resist the temptation to overcorrect the image.","After all, film has a very different color and texture than video, and even though the digitized film will play on video devices, it must remain artistically and historically faithful to the film original.","Do not remain seated.","I repeat-- a nuclear war...","A cylinder stove is designed for campers who like their creature comforts.","Just pitch the tent and set up the stove inside.","It keeps things warm and toasty for most of the night.","It also has a cooking surface and a tank at the side to provide hot water for washing.","No need to huddle around a campfire to stay warm.","A cylinder stove can take the chill out of the wilderness experience.","The cylindrical shape means it can take the heat.","It will expand and contract with the temperature change and still maintain it's original shape.","The cylindrical firebox starts with a flat sheet of steel.","A worker feeds it through a roller repeatedly until it reaches the desired shape.","Then a plasma cutter cuts an opening for the stove door in another sheet of steel, following a pattern overhead.","The plasma cutter works by sending an electric arc through compressed air, and the result is a clean cut.","He now places the stove body on the door framework and clamps the assembly in a special jig to secure it as he welds the two parts together.","He then places the backplate on the workbench and positions the other end of the cylinder on it.","He clamps them there and welds them together.","Using the plasma cutter, he trims the front and back of the stove.","The trimming rounds the ends nicely.","From three flat sheets of steel to a cylindrical firebox, the transformation has taken less than 10 minutes.","The welder now reinforces the underside of the stove top with several braces arranged in a grid pattern.","This extensive bracing will prevent warping to keep the stove top perfectly flat under the intense heat of the wood fire below.","This is the stove top before and after bracing.","After cutting a hole for the stovepipe, he inserts a piece of pipe temporarily so that he can correctly install a stovepipe collar.","Once the collar is solidly attached to the cooktop, he removes the stovepipe.","He then bends the rim of the collar in four places, creating tabs to keep the stovepipe from sliding into the firebox.","He's now ready to join the cylindrical firebox to the stove top.","He locks them in position and welds the entire assembly.","This final welded seam seals the stove for an airtight and long-lasting burn.","Next he positions leg fittings on the belly of the stove using a sawhorse-style tool.","Once he welds the fittings to the stove, he removes the tool.","Then it's over to a computerized plasma cutter.","It cuts damper holes in the stove door.","Damper holes are used to regulate the flow of air to the fire.","They also install a baffle plate on the back of the stove door to keep sparks from flying out into the tent.","The worker attaches the door to the stove with a hinge.","He tests it to confirm that it opens and closes easily.","Another worker now roles pipe for the chimney, using galvanized steel because it doesn't rust.","He interlocks the seam and flattens it.","He crimps the ends to connect the pipe to the other pieces of pipe.","There are five pieces of stovepipe in all, and they can be stacked together for transport.","With the latch now attached to the stove door, he sprays black stove paint onto the cylindrical firebox.","The paint job will prevent rusting.","Finally he rivets a brass manufacturer's tag onto the stove front.","Now it's time to pack it up.","From the grate to the water tank to the stovepipe, everything can be stowed inside the fire box, making it completely portable.","Assembly in the tent should take about five minutes-- a small job for a long-lasting burn.","The biggest cylinder stoves are designed to hold a fire for an entire night.","And with the proper setup, campers should sleep safe and sound.","Installing a piece of heat-resistant rubber protects the tent around the stovepipe.","Then it's time to hunker down for the night and enjoy a little warmth in the wilderness.","Spun concrete light poles tower above our towns and cities, lighting the way.","They're actually hollow structures with wiring or cable snaked through the cores.","The concrete walls are reinforced by steel.","Yet these poles are flexible enough to bend with the wind and snap back.","When it comes to lampposts, the higher the light, the greater the area illuminated.","Some concrete light poles are over three stories high.","They start with a tenon, the part of the pole framework that anchors the light fixture.","They place two in a mold because they're making two light poles at once.","A worker strings four thick, steel strands from one end of the long mold to the other, threading them through the tenons and through spiral wire.","This establishes the basic framework of the concrete poles.","Another worker installs zinc boxes for electrical connections.","He caps it with a block of rigid foam to protect it when the concrete is poured.","The next worker attaches a stress gun to chucks that secure the steel strands.","The gun pulls the strands one by one to a specific tension, and they stretch like rubber bands.","They'll be pulled even tighter later.","Every yard or so, he attaches stay rings for extra rigidity.","He ties them in place with plastic-coated wire.","Another worker stretches the spiral wire around the steel strands and tenons to round out the skeleton of the light poles.","The spiral wire will also stop the pole from twisting too much in high winds.","A crane transfers the long and hefty mold over to the next station and lowers it onto several stands.","A hopper now swings into action, guided by workers.","It's a traveling concrete dispenser.","As it moves on a track, it funnels specially mixed concrete into the mold.","The concrete has been made to order, with the customer specifying its color, strength, and other qualities.","The concrete also has a low moisture content.","This makes it the consistency of clay and therefore formable.","As the concrete is dispensed, workers pack it around the light pole's steel skeleton.","Using trowels, they scoop up overflow and smooth the surface of the wet concrete.","One worker then cleans up the outer flanges and applies a nonstick substance.","A crane moves the top half of the mold into position and lowers it onto the concrete-filled bottom part.","The team bolts the two parts of the mold tightly together using pneumatic impact tools.","They now pull the steel strands to their final tension, stretching them so tightly that they compress the concrete once it hardens.","Concrete is much stronger when it's being compressed.","The mold is now ready for the spinning machine.","It's essentially a series of railway wheels.","A crane lowers the mold's running rings into the grooves of the wheels, and then they crank up the speed.","The wheels turn at 500 rpms, and the centrifugal force causes the concrete to migrate to the wall of the mold.","The result is a hollow pole with dense, concrete walls.","Transferred to a kiln, the concrete steam-cures in the mold for about five hours.","The concrete light poles are ready for the big reveal.","They open the mold and roll them out.","At this point, the two poles are still attached.","They examine them for flaws, and then they'll separate them.","All they need now is some buffing up.","Here, they polish a different octagonal pole to expose the pigments in the concrete.","The different colored aggregates in this particular cement mix give the pole a mottled marble look.","An i.d. tag has also been molded into the cement with the manufacturing date and the pole's height and mass.","They test just how far they can take it to confirm the pole meets industry standards.","They spray a special acrylic finish onto some poles.","Graffiti can be easily scrubbed off of it.","Even though it only takes about 5 1/2 hours to manufacture a concrete light pole, it should shine for many years."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Canvas Wall Tents","Peace Pipes","Shredded Wheat Cereal","Cannons"]},"text":["A wall tent is shaped like a cabin.","It's tall enough and wide enough to stand up in and walk around.","This type of tent is typically used as a base camp on overnight hunting trips.","Unlike a smaller camping tent, you usually need to transport a wall tent by vehicle or by horseback.","These premium wall tents are made of sturdy canvas.","They have a zip-up screen over the doorway and windows to keep out insects.","They also have a vent hole in the roof to accommodate a stove.","They can be made with lightweight canvas for hunters who go out in the woods on horseback.","Depending on the number of tent orders to be filled, the factory's expert fabric cutter layers up to 10 sheets of canvas on the cutting table.","Following a pattern, he draws guidelines...","Then aligns them one at a time on the track along which the cutting knife rides.","He does the smaller cuts with scissors.","Once he's cut all the canvas pieces for one tent, he hands them off to a sewer.","She overlaps adjoining pieces by less than an inch and, using a double-needled sewing machine, binds them with two parallel lines of stitching.","This produces a durable, weather-resistant seam.","Next, the stove ventilation system-- she sews what they call the stovepipe shield to the roof, then cuts away the canvas underneath.","The shield is a fiberglass fabric rectangle with a silicone ring in the center, through which you insert the stove's exhaust pipe.","After neatly finishing the edges...","She attaches a canvas flap that zippers shut to close off the stovepipe shield and rolls up and ties to open it.","She also sews a canvas weather flap that closes over the tent's front door-- extra protection in bad weather.","She sews a row of d-rings to the edge of one flap...","Then hooks to the corresponding door flap.","They're both made of stainless steel, which never rusts, even with repeated exposure to moisture.","These sturdy hooks and rings keep the flap securely closed in windy weather.","The cutter, meanwhile, traces templates on heavy-duty fiberglass screen, then cuts the screens for the tent's triangular rear window and rectangular side window.","The sewer stitches webbing to the window's perimeter.","Webbing is a cotton seal which keeps out rain, snow, and wind.","Meanwhile, a different sewer stitches the zipper to the door screen.","She also sews 3-inch-wide seatbelt material inside the roof hem.","Workers then apply pairs of grommets roughly a yard apart along this reinforced perimeter.","Once you've pitched the tent, you secure it by looping ropes through these grommets and tying them to stakes in the ground.","The tent floor is made of vinyl.","Workers join the floor pieces using a radio-frequency welder.","It emits radio waves that melt the material, fusing the overlapping edges into a seam.","They construct the tent's internal frame out of heavy-duty galvanized steel tubing, then connect the pieces with stainless-steel couplers secured with eyebolts.","As a quality-control check, they assemble the tent before shipping it out.","After laying out the couplers, they insert the frame pieces to form the roof, fit the tent fabric over the roof framework, and insert the legs to prop up the structure.","Then they pull down the walls, the same way you pull a shirt over a hanger.","After tying back the flaps, they lay down the floor, which simply snaps into place.","If you're two people, the entire setup takes about 10 minutes.","Then it's just a matter of installing the wood- or coal-burning stove, cooking up a hearty meal, and getting a good night's sleep.","Long-stemmed with an elaborately carved stone bowl, this is a native north-american pipe.","Historically, it was reserved for special occasions such as the signing of peace treaties.","That's why european settlers called it the peace pipe.","Legend has it that the mystical buffalo calf woman gave native people the first sacred pipe.","It is believed to have spiritual powers.","The wisps of smoke from the stone bowl are seen as prayers rising to the creator.","The pipemaker starts with wood like ash or sumac.","These species are soft at the core, so they can be easily hollowed out with the red-hot tip of a thick coat hanger.","He plunges the smoking hot wire into the soft core of the wood, and it quickly burns through it, creating a passageway through which tobacco smoke can be drawn.","Now, with a planer, he shaves off the tree bark and shapes the outside of the wood to create a smooth, slim stem.","He carves angled swirls into the wood with a rasp, a long tool studded with numerous sharp teeth.","He whittles one end of the stem to transform it into a fitting for attaching the pipe bowl.","He now confirms the diameter is right by inserting the fitting into a template.","Next, sanding between the swirls smoothes away gouges left by the rasp.","He files a notch into the stem just below the swirls.","Then it's over to the beadwork artist.","She wraps fringed leather around the notch and places a brightly colored accent piece on top.","She strings glass beads around the leather-wrapped notch, working with a pattern and color scheme in mind.","Centuries ago, natives obtained beads through trade with european settlers and threaded them onto pieces of animal sinew.","Their needle was a thin piece of bone.","The colors of the beads can really make a statement.","A string of red might signify vibrancy and a long life, while a mix of colors could represent a spiritual burst of energy.","The pipe stem is now complete and ready for the stone bowl.","For that, they mine red clay rock called pipestone.","Natives have used it for sacred pipes for centuries.","Pipestone is soft, and this means it's easy to carve.","It's also smooth and takes a high polish.","He splashes water onto a chunk to make any flaws more apparent as he evaluates it for carving.","His selection made, he now begins to trace, following a basic template of a pipe bowl.","He saws through the stone along the penciled lines using a hacksaw.","The rock is fairly easy to cut.","It's essentially compressed clay.","He rounds the angular edges using a rasp file.","Now nicely contoured, the stone is really starting to look like a pipe bowl.","With a series of finer tools, he flattens one end and then sculpts the shape of an eagle head onto it.","He wields a rotary tool with a fine bit to carve eyes and feathers.","Traditionally, natives use sharp flint or bone to engrave details.","Power tools get the job done faster.","He now drills into the stone to hollow out the shank and the actual tobacco bowl.","For early natives, this job was very laborious.","They gouged out the stone with an arrowhead attached to a stick.","He rinses the eagle pipe bowl and then sands it while wet for a smoother finish than dry sanding.","He aims a torch at it to heat the stone.","Once hot, it readily absorbs beeswax as he rubs it into the pores.","Beeswax gives the pipestone bowl a satin sheen.","After a dip in cool water to solidify the wax, he scratches away some of it along the detail work, including the eyes and feathers.","This adds definition and contrast, and after a bit of fine-tuning, the wooden pipe stem fits snuggly into the stone shank.","He peers down the pipe to confirm that the stem is perfectly aligned with the bowl.","The sacred pipe is now ready for any special occasion.","They've used a combination of traditional techniques and modern power tools to produce this pipe, reconciling old and new in the quest for peace.","Shredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made of 100% whole wheat, shredded into a straw-like consistency, cooked, and shape under to a rectangle.","It was invented by an american entrepreneur in 1893 after he met a man who was eating boiled wheat with cream to alleviate digestive symptoms.","They may look like tiny bales of hay, but they're actually a tasty and nutritious breakfast or snack.","Shredded wheat was the first mass-produced, ready-to-eat cereal, invented at a time when people typically ate a cooked breakfast.","It all begins with whole grain wheat.","The raw kernels are hard as rock, so to soften them up, the factory cooks them simultaneously in water and with steam for about 30 minutes.","As the wheat exits the cooker, its moisture content is about 50%.","Excess water drains away through holes in the conveyer belt.","The wheat then travels through a dryer.","Inside, nozzles blast the soggy kernels with hot air.","By the time the wheat exits about 10 minutes later, the cooked kernels are dried.","They drop onto a conveyer belt which transports them to the operation that puts the shredded in shredded wheat.","The wheat goes into several fill tubes.","Each fill tube drops kernels in between two rollers that apply pressure, shredding the kernels into delicate strands.","The strands drop onto the conveyer belt below, forming a fairly even layer.","Each pair of shredding rollers deposits another layer of strands on top of the previous one, until there's a specific number of stacked layers.","The company won't reveal how many, nor will it let any camera photograph the next machine-- a especially designed cutter that divides the sheet of layered wheat strands into rectangular biscuits.","The sheet of shredded wheat biscuits now travels through a tunnel oven for approximately 10 minutes.","The specifics of what goes on inside this oven are top secret.","All the company will reveal is that there are two cycles, baking and toasting.","As you can see in this before-and-after comparison, the bake cycle makes the biscuits crisp, and the toast cycle lightly browns them.","The next machine compresses the sheets with a belt, which breaks apart the individual biscuits.","Shredded wheat comes in two varieties-- plain and frosted.","At this point, the plain ones would be ready to proceed to packaging.","However, this batch is designated for frosting, so the conveyer moves them along to the coating station.","To make the frosting, they blend and heat sugar, water, and other ingredients.","Overhead nozzles spray it onto the passing biscuits.","The frosting takes about a minute to dry and set.","Here's what the shredded wheat biscuits look like before they're frosted and after.","On the packaging line, an automated machine forms a bag out of a continuous sheet of plastic film, fills it with a weighed-out portion of shredded wheat, then seals the bag and cuts it free.","The next station inserts the bag into a cardboard cereal box, printing the \"best before\" date on the top flap.","The box not only shows consumers a photo of the contents, it also lists the cereal's nutritional benefits-- that it's high in fiber, low in fat and sodium, and contains zero cholesterol and trans fat.","Cannons are back on the battlefield, as history buffs re-enact scenes from the american civil war.","The fighting isn't real, but these replica cannons aren't fake.","They can do everything the originals could do.","The attention to detail adds authenticity to re-enactments.","On the front lines of any civil war re-enactment, you'll find the big guns, the cannons, built to various scales with all the original details, these replicas have real firepower.","For safety reasons, they don't load actual cannonballs into the muzzles, just black powder.","It's traditionally been used to propel cannonballs, but on its own, it still makes firing a cannon a real blast.","Production starts with wooden molding boxes that have a cannon shape inside.","There's a top half and a bottom one.","Together, they're known as the pattern.","They'll fill each box with lake sand that's been laced with bonding chemicals.","The sand is soft and warm at this point.","They pack it down and level it off.","As the sand cools, the bonding agents cause the sand to solidify.","This sand mold will be used for casting the actual cannon.","While they complete the other half, they brush an alcohol-based wash into all the crevices of the sand mold.","But they don't just leave it to dry.","Instead, they ignite it.","The fire burns off the alcohol, leaving a protective skin on the mold, one that will prevent seepage of the casting material into the sand.","A worker then applies glue to the border of the cannon mold.","The other half of the mold has by now taken shape, and they apply the same alcohol-based treatment to it.","Using a crane, the team carefully aligns the two sand molds.","The glue cures, and the mold is ready to receive the casting material-- iron.","They pour flaming, molten iron into a large ladle.","Then, suited up for protection, they transfer the fiery liquid to the sand mold and pour it inside.","The iron cools in the mold for about six hours.","The flames die down, and the liquid metal solidifies.","Then it's into the shot-blast chamber, so named because there's steel shot inside.","Once the door is closed, the tiny pellets bombard the sand mold and break it up.","A vacuum sucks the sand and steel shot out of the chamber, leaving the solid cast iron cannon.","A worker slices off unwanted gating, which was formed as the iron flowed into the mold.","One section served as a reservoir to compensate for shrinkage as the iron solidified.","He removes that, too.","He then grinds the casting seam until smooth.","At the finishing factory, a lubricating mix of water and oil flows from a drill bit as it bores into the center of the solid cannon casting.","The operator switches bits twice for a gradual widening of the cavity, taking it to precise dimensions.","Here's a look down the cannon's newly bored muzzle.","With the nose of the muzzle now protected by plastic, he pours an epoxy adhesive into the barrel.","He then inserts a steel liner.","The liner is a modification to the original design-- a modern safeguard that will enable the cannon to better withstand the pressure of ignition.","The cannon turns on a lathe, and this action drives the steel liner completely down the barrel.","It also spreads the epoxy evenly for a good seal.","A carbide bit moves down the spinning cannon, to taper the exterior.","He grinds the area between the trunnions, which are cylindrical protrusions used for mounting the cannon to the carriage.","He stamps the maker's mark into the metal and then sprays solvent-based primer onto the entire cannon...","Followed by three coats of flat, black paint.","From start to finish, it's taken about eight days to produce this full-scale replica of a revolutionary war cannon.","It's now ready for a little historical re-enacting.","It's sure to be a hit with the troops."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Laminated Wood Beams","Sport Utility Vehicles","Veggie Burgers","Wood Boring Augers"]},"text":["In architectural design, exposed wood beams use the structural components of a building in an aesthetic way.","These beams are often made of glued laminated timbers.","They're constructed by gluing together several layers of lumber and forming them into a particular shape such as a curved arch.","These beams look as though they're a solid piece of wood.","However, they're actually laminated wood-- several boards of lumber glued together to form one piece.","The boards aren't layered haphazardly.","Rather, the top-grade wood goes on the top and bottom, where the beam must be the most resistant, and lower-grade wood in the middle.","The boards are far shorter than the finished beam, therefore the first step is to extend each layer to the required length by connecting several boards end to end.","To do this, a conveyor system transports 10 boards at a time to a mill.","Saw blades trim the edges to make them perfectly square, then revolving knives cut finger joints on both ends.","When it comes time to connect the boards horizontally, the finger joints of one board will fit neatly into those of the next.","The comb-like shape of the finger joints creates a far greater service area to glue compared to leaving the edges flat.","More glue makes for a stronger bond between boards.","The glue is high-strength and waterproof.","It goes on brown but dries translucent.","Workers line up the glued boards in a machine called a crowder.","The machine's pressure rollers slide one board into the other, interlocking the finger joints.","Then two plates clamp down on each joint, rendering the adjoining boards flush should one be sitting slightly higher than the next.","About 15 seconds of heat cures the glue.","The connection is barely visible because the glue dries translucent.","Now that each layer is the required length, it's time to adhere them vertically to make the beam.","First, a glue applicator coats one side.","Then workers turn the layers on their sides and stack them in a steel frame called a jig.","Once they've stacked the required number of layers for the beam, they activate high-strength steel pressure vices.","These apply high pressure for six to eight hours until the glue between the layers has cured.","To make an arched beam, it's the same process, but they stack then clamp the layers in a curved jig.","Once the glue cures, this laminated wood beam is stronger than solid wood.","However, there are still several more steps to go.","A two-sided planer simultaneously finalizes the dimensions, evens out the ends, and removes excess glue that oozed out under pressure.","Next, a computer-guided, multi-tool machine cuts, drills, and notches the beam according to the customer's technical drawing specifications.","Then each beam gets a tag indicating the order number and part number.","In the final finishing department, workers sand away any visual defects and smooth the surface in preparation for staining.","Finishers apply one coat of wood stain with a roller, then work it by hand to ensure uniform absorption throughout.","Once the beam is shipped to the construction site, the customer might apply a flameproof coating, which would significantly slow down the rate at which the beam would burn in the event of a fire.","The customer may also stain it a deeper shade to match existing woodwork.","The four-wheel drive utility vehicle was originally designed for war.","It was world war ii, and the american-made military jeep quickly earned its stripes, plowing through mud and muck on the road to victory.","Today's s.u.v.s are modern versions and proof that the concept has transitioned nicely into civilian life.","When the road ahead is rough or disappears entirely, a four-wheel drive utility vehicle keeps on going.","Production of this custom s.u.v. begins with a mandrel bent frame made of thick steel rails.","A worker welds brackets to it for attaching parts-- this one for its shock absorber's nitrogen tank.","He attaches a link for the sway bar and suspension arms.","He then welds super-thick braces for shocks to the front of the chassis.","He measures the space between them to confirm that there's adequate clearance and then fits heavy-duty calipers over the brake rotors installed at the front.","The front brakes are a six-piston system for extra stopping power.","He now fits the coil-wrapped shock absorbers to the front axle and bolts them to the braces we saw welded to the chassis earlier.","This is a preliminary installation.","The parts will all be tightened more precisely later.","It's time to give this custom s.u.v. some supersized wheels.","He positions the rims on threaded bolts protruding from the axles and then secures the installation with lug nuts.","The tires are eight-ply with deep tread for off-road traction.","This s.u.v. chassis is ready for power.","The team wheels the chassis under the eight-cylinder drivetrain and carefully lowers it into position.","This powerful engine will generate a lot of heat, so it needs a large capacity radiator to keep cool and prevent damage to the engine.","Once the steel chassis has been coated with a protective finish and the fuel system has been installed, production shifts to the next stage-- piecing together the s.u.v. body.","This pre-assembly will ensure all the aluminum parts fit together flawlessly.","After this, the s.u.v. will be completely taken apart for painting and then put back together again.","He hinges the doors to the body with thick steel pins that hold up to wear and make the assembly easy.","He attaches each window frame to the lower door panel and checks the fit.","Any gaps could allow the wind to whistle into the vehicle.","He confirms the parts align and that the door latch works.","He bolts the steel roll bars to the s.u.v. body.","Once he's satisfied that the framework meets all the specifications, he'll take it apart.","The paint is a powder-coat finish.","It's ionically charged, so it gravitates to the negatively charged parts as it's sprayed.","Once baked in an oven, the coating forms a skin that's tougher than conventional paint.","They also coat the underside of the lower parts with a heat-cured finish to reduce wear and to muffle vibration.","They now piece together the lower body of the s.u.v. and assemble the dashboard and the instrument panel to the front.","They bolt the seats to the floor, and once other parts have been welded to it, they lower the assembly onto the chassis.","The chassis has, by now, been completely wired.","The parts mate perfectly.","It takes about 250 person hours to build one of these custom s.u.v.s.","We've shown just the highlights.","When it's complete, they test everything from the sensor-activated step to the windshield wipers.","Once they confirm that all systems are operational, this s.u.v. is ready to hit the back roads.","High off the ground with four-wheel drive, it's equipped for whatever lies ahead, and there's sure to be a few bumps along the way.","Craving a burger but yearning for a change?","The veggie burger is a lower-fat alternative to the beefy favorite.","Just hold the fries.","Developed in the early 1980s in london, england, the veggie burger has gone from fringe food to the mainstream all in short order.","Just add a bit of oil to the grill, and this meatless patty sizzles with burger appeal.","Chock full of grains, nuts, and veggies, it somehow looks kind of beefy, but it tastes distinctly different from an actual meat patty.","This particular burger is a non-soy version, but there are many kinds of veggie burgers available today, and an increasing number of people go meat-free or reduce the amount of meat they eat.","They start with finely-minced frozen veggies.","This recipe calls for carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms.","And that's safflower oil in the dish on the lower left.","The safflower oil simmers on the bottom of this steam-heated mixer as they gradually add the ingredients.","Blades stir the mix as it sautés.","As the vegetables cook, their natural sugars are released.","This causes the veggies to caramelize.","The flavors deepen and become more complex.","This technique is called mirepoix.","It's a french culinary term for a sautéed mix of aromatic vegetables.","The mirepoix is very substantial to add both texture and flavor to this veggie-burger recipe.","They add the final ingredient, the mushrooms.","And after more mixing and cooking, this veggie-burger mirepoix is complete.","They transfer the mirepoix to a big mixing tub called the gondola.","And now they add the dry ingredients.","They include walnuts, cooked bulgur, oats, potato flakes, and pure gluten flour.","The worker adds pails full of each of these ingredients to the mirepoix.","Then, using a shovel, he folds all the dry ingredients into the mix.","Moistened by the cooked vegetables, the gluten flour becomes sticky.","This causes the ingredients to cling loosely together, taking on a consistency similar to that of cookie dough.","He now loads the sticky mix into a hopper that leads to an automatic patty-making machine.","It's a mold with a plunger-like mechanism that presses and shapes the mixture into perfect patties.","A constant spray of water keeps things from becoming too sticky, allowing the patties to be cleanly ejected from the molds.","Then it's a short conveyor trip to the next station, where workers retrieve the veggie patties and arrange them on baking trays.","In the process, they inspect the patties and confirm that they've been perfectly formed.","They roll stack trays of burgers into a preheated convection oven.","When the oven door closes, the burger-ladened trays rotate inside so they cook evenly.","After baking, they quickly freeze the veggie burgers to lock in nutrients and preserve freshness.","Workers then load the frozen veggie burgers onto a conveyor as they head up into the packaging line.","These burgers can't spend too much time outside the freezer, or they'll start to thaw.","A hot iron seals the cellophane wrap around groups of four burgers and separates them into packets.","Down the line, suctioning devices open cardboard boxes and transfer them to a conveyor.","The boxes are now positioned to receive the burger packets.","As they move forward, workers just slide them inside.","The boxes of veggie burgers then head into a narrow lane to close the pre-glued flaps.","This entire packaging operation takes less than a minute.","In just one hour, this factory can wrap and package more than 9,000 veggie burgers.","At the end of the day, that's a lot of meatless burgers, but it should be enough to feed a growing trend of vegetarianism.","Used for centuries to drill holes for pegs and bolts, augurs have played a bit role in history and were critical to the construction of everything from tall ships to manor homes.","Traditionally rotated by hand, today's power drills give the augur bit a more modern twist.","Attached to a power drill, an augur bit can chew through wood in seconds to produce perfect screw holes.","It spits out shavings through the corkscrew-shaped pathway, preventing it from clogging the freshly-drilled holes.","Operated manually or by drill bit, the augur bit is an efficient gizmo responsible for a lot of projects coming together.","An augur bit starts as a solid steel rod.","They heat it to a blistering 1,600 degrees fahrenheit.","When the rod is white-hot, it's supple enough to be shaped.","He moves one end of the hot steel rod under a long, pulsating hammer.","The anvils below allow the energy of the hammer to be transferred to the rod and flatten it.","He angles the flattened end sideways to shape the edges.","He then tweaks the profile a bit more by moving the rod from anvil to anvil.","The anvils are set at various heights for impacts of different force.","When he's done, the once circular steel rod looks like a long putty knife, but this is just temporary.","Next, it's back into that super-hot furnace to reheat the forged end to a malleable state once again.","He clamps the white-hot rod in a machine that twists the flattened end to a specific configuration.","In this hot and supple state, the steel is as easy to twist as a piece of stiff ribbon.","As the steel cools, it becomes more rigid, so it's back into the furnace to make it pliable once again.","He then places it between the jaws of a toothed vice.","He closes the jaws repeatedly as he pulls the augur along.","This crimps the augur's spirals to a precise configuration.","Each spiral ends up exactly the same.","It's a critical step.","Without it, the augur wouldn't operate smoothly and could even get stuck as it drills through wood.","Now he slams a drop hammer onto the tip of the augur repeatedly, forcing it into a dye.","As the hot steel fills the dye cavity, it takes its shape, giving it the rudimentary profile of the drilling head.","It's now tapered like a cone, but there's a lot of surplus material surrounding it.","This surplus steel is a bit of spillover.","He trims off that hardened spillover with a clip press, and this further defines the drilling head.","He presses the augur tip against a ridged grinding wheel to carve a screw thread into it.","The screw thread will give the augur bit extra bite as it drills through wood.","The focus now turns to the other end of the augur, the shank.","As it spins in a lathe, cutting tools slim the shank and shorten it to precise specifications.","Now they toughen up the steel by first heating it and then dipping it in cool oil.","The shock caused by the abrupt temperature change makes the steel harder.","Then the augur spins between two wheels.","One wheel rolls it.","The other grinds the outer diameter of the twist to specification.","A worker grinds the valleys in the augur twist by hand in order to reach every spot.","This smoothes the surface so wood shavings will flow upward as the augur bores deep into the wood.","He changes the belt to a finer abrasive and preps it with a small stone.","He spins the belt and polishes the augur until it shines.","And the result is a glossy sheen.","It looks good and will further smooth the way for the extraction of wood shavings through the twists.","Now with a different and much smaller grinder, he carves wings and sharp edges below the augur's cutting head.","From a simple steel cylinder to a useful wood-drilling bit, this has truly been a story with many twists and turns.","And with the work of the factory now done, these augurs are ready for any job.","They come in a range of diameters and lengths for tasks of any size.","With so many options, all those projects should come together bit by bit."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ambulances","Dining Room Tables","Diatonic Accordians","Acrylic Awards"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Ambulances...","Dining room tables...","Diatonic accordions...","And acrylic awards.","Historians believe the notion of ambulance service grew out of the 11th-century crusades, when the knights of st.","John transported wounded soldiers to treatment tents.","Today's ambulance technicians and paramedics carry on that tradition in state-of-the-art ambulances equipped to provide lifesaving care en route to a hospital.","There are three types of vehicles commonly transformed into ambulances-- minivans, trucks with a closed driver's cab, and trucks with an opening between the driver's cab and the back storage area, like this model.","The most important structural addition is a stabilization bar to diminish rocking when the vehicle is racing at high speed.","Otherwise, it's mostly a question of retrofitting a regular vehicle to give it the features an ambulance needs.","Workers begin by cutting a hole in the roof.","This allows them to install a raised, aerodynamic roof.","The angle of the new roof lessens air resistance, enabling the ambulance to run more efficiently with more control.","Inside, meanwhile, they install fiberglass insulation panels with a fireproof metal surface.","This insulation keeps the medical area warm in the winter and cool in the summer.","Workers affix the raised roof with adhesive caulking.","The roof has integrated lights.","Protruding lights would ruin the streamline.","Workers measure carefully to ensure they center the roof perfectly.","Now they spray glue on the back of sheet vinyl.","This highly durable antibacterial flooring goes on top of a plywood subfloor they've installed on top of the truck's aluminum floor.","Now for the electrical system.","They start by replacing the truck's original grill with an ambulance grill that incorporates lights, a siren, and loudspeakers.","The truck comes equipped from the automotive plant with certain options designed for conversion to an ambulance.","For instance, instead of two regular batteries, the truck takes four batteries-- two to power the truck accessories, the other two to power the equipment in the back.","Now they assemble the front console-- an array of buttons and switches that control all the nonmedical equipment, such as the emergency lights, the siren, and the headlights.","There's also a battery-life indicator and other system gauges.","Once assembled, the console goes into the dash, and workers test everything out.","The heating and air-conditioning systems in the original truck aren't strong enough, so the ambulance factory adds an extra system of each to work in tandem with the existing systems.","The frame of the medical cabinet is made of aluminum-- a metal that's lightweight and, therefore, won't weigh down the vehicle.","The cabinet shelving is made of either plastic or fiberglass.","It's molded to the contour of the vehicle, maximizing storage space.","After installing the suction and oxygen systems, electricians run the wires for the cabinet lighting.","Once the main electrical panel is in place, they can mount the cabinet and hook up the oxygen equipment, the suction machine, and the lighting.","A divider between the cab and the back gives the patient privacy.","Vinyl-covered foam padding on the ceiling protects ambulance workers' heads when the vehicle jerks.","This ambulance model has rotating lights.","The red cover, called the lens, is made of virtually unbreakable plastic so that it doesn't crack from the air pressure when the ambulance is speeding.","The medical area has a swivel chair positioned where the patient's head will be.","Within reach of the chair is the suction machine.","The factory thoroughly tests it, along with all other medical equipment.","A safety net by the three-seater squad bench protects the crew should the ambulance come to a sudden stop.","This mechanism holds the stretcher in place while the ambulance is moving.","The stretcher simply locks in, keeping the patient safely immobile until the ambulance reaches the hospital.","There was a time when the dining room was for formal dining only, and the style of dining-room furniture reflected that.","Not anymore.","Today's dining-room sets come in both elegant and casual styles, and there's something to suit every decor, from contemporary to country, from traditional to ultramodern.","This factory makes casual dining-room furniture.","It uses only durable hardwoods, such as birch and beech.","It buys the parts premade from a supplier.","The workers here assemble the pieces and finish the furniture to the customers' specifications.","We're going to see how they make tables.","The parts arrive already sanded, but they still go through a machine that gives them an additional fine sanding.","This prepares the wood for staining.","Workers sand the solid-wood parts for the apron by hand.","The apron will go just under the tabletop.","Workers closely inspect all the components under fluorescent light.","They look for any flaws in the wood that they might have missed during sanding.","It's critical that every imperfection be sanded down.","Otherwise, it will show up as a glaring defect once they stain the wood.","After all the parts pass inspection, assembly can begin.","First, they remove the tabletop's extension piece, called the leaf.","They make sure the two main sections fit together perfectly.","Then, using a template to ensure the exact positioning, they screw on the runners-- the sliding mechanism for extending the table.","Then they mount support pieces called stretchers.","After marking the position of the apron, workers screw in steel braces to level and align the three sections of the table.","This table will have a pedestal base rather than four legs.","After installing a part called the assembly plate, they lay down a series of metal templates.","These ensure that they mount the apron precisely.","Now that they've finished assembling the tabletop, they check its stability and test the mechanics.","If everything is up to par, the tabletop moves on to the finishing department.","The factory buys wood stain from a supplier.","To ensure that the colors are consistent from table to table, the factory tests the stain before using it, comparing it to a color sample.","The staining operation takes place in the part of the factory known as the paint kitchen.","Each tank has a mixer inside to keep the stain well-blended so that the pigments don't settle to the bottom of the tank.","This ensures the color will be consistent.","There is a separate spray gun for each stain color.","After spraying the stain onto the tabletop, a team of workers quickly wipes off the excess.","They have just 30 to 90 seconds.","Otherwise, the shade will be off.","Another inspection under fluorescent light.","Any flaw in the wood they missed before would definitely show up now, thanks to the stain.","Every imperfection will be sanded down.","Now they spray the table with sealant.","This protects against variations in humidity, which would make the wood expand and contract and eventually split.","Then they sand the sealant to prepare for a coat of clear lacquer.","The lacquer plays two roles-- one functional, protecting the wood from scratches, one decorative, giving it a mild sheen.","To cure the lacquer, all the table components go into an oven at 300 degrees fahrenheit.","This also strengthens the finish.","This factory specializes in personalization.","You can choose your stain color or two colors for a two-tone effect.","You can also select the shape of your tabletop, the type of edge and apron, and, of course, the style of table legs.","A diatonic accordion is much smaller than a piano accordion and is structurally different.","It has 10 buttons, each of which produces two notes-- one when you push the bellows in, the other when you pull the bellows out.","The diatonic accordion, also called a squeeze-box, is a staple of cajun music.","the accordion maker crafts the right-hand keyboard from maple-- a hardwood.","He saws 10 slots, then drills 10 holes.","The keyboard has no keys, actually.","It has 10 buttons.","They produce the treble notes.","Now he turns the keyboard over and hollows out the wood with a router.","This creates space for components to move.","Each slot in the keyboard will house a rocker-- a piece that links each button to its corresponding air valve.","Now he builds the wind-chest-- the box that houses the steel reeds that produce the accordion's sound.","Moving the bellows in and out forces air through holes in the wind-chest.","The buttons you push determine which reeds get this air, producing notes.","The longer and thicker the reed, the slower it vibrates, and the lower the pitch of the note.","The shorter and thinner the reed, the faster the vibration, and the higher the note.","There are eight reeds per button.","Pushing the bellows in activates four.","Pulling the bellows out, the other four.","Using a hot iron, the accordion maker seals the reed frames with beeswax.","This prevents air from escaping.","Now back to the keyboard.","The accordion maker installs 10 valves made of maple wood.","Each one has a plastic rocker on the end.","A spring ensures the rocker has just the right tension to open and close the valve properly when the musician presses the button.","After staining and varnishing the wood, he glues a button into each hole onto the rocker inside.","Pressing a button triggers the rocker underneath to lift the valve and uncover the air hole, letting air hit the designated reeds.","The accordion maker now screws the fully assembled keyboard to the wind-chest.","Now he constructs the left-hand keyboard.","He sets the reeds into the left wind-chest, using a hot iron and beeswax, just like before.","The valves in this keyboard are made of pine, a more flexible wood, making them easier to install in this enclosed space.","On the outside, a decorative wood inlay-- a strip of ebony and some rosewood detailing.","The left-hand keyboard has two buttons corresponding to three reeds each.","It produces two bass notes and two chords.","After staining and varnishing the keyboard, he hooks a spring between each valve and the button that operates it.","He adjusts the spring tension and checks the air seal.","Then he stamps the company name inside.","Now he screws the finished keyboard to the finished wind-chest.","Meanwhile, another worker prepares the bellows, which force air through the reeds.","The factory buys pre-folded cardboard, then cuts and assembles it.","These diamond-shaped pieces of leather seal the openings, preventing air from escaping.","Now she glues fabric strips inside the folds of the cardboard.","This is purely for decoration.","These stainless-steel covers reinforce the cardboard corners so that they won't perforate from repeated movement.","Now she glues fabric strips onto the edges of the folds.","This both decorates and strengthens the cardboard.","Now for the final assembly.","The accordion maker nails the bellows to the left-hand keyboard.","Why nails rather than screws?","Tradition.","The left-hand keyboard has a hand strap.","The right-hand keyboard, a thumb strap.","After nailing the right-hand keyboard to the rest, this $2,500 diatonic accordion is ready for a musical test-drive.","there was a time when you'd be presented with a gold watch in recognition of years of loyal service to your employer.","Today, you're more likely to get a personalized memento cast in acrylic.","Companies and organizations often choose to hand out custom-made acrylic awards to recognize milestones or special achievements.","These aren't your run-of-the-mill plaques and trophies, but more like artistic sculptures.","They're custom-designed and cast in high-grade acrylic.","In the casting department, workers make acrylic by mixing monomer, a clear, liquid chemical, with polymer, a resin powder.","Once cured, this thick, white mixture will be crystal clear.","To make colored acrylic, they add colorants.","By creatively combining shades, they can even produce special effects, such as a marble or granite look.","To cast simple shapes with straight lines, they use disposable molds made of thick cardboard.","This design calls for a blue base, so they pour blue acrylic to the first fill line.","In two to three hours, the acrylic hardens to a gelatin-like state.","That's solid enough to bear the weight of the next layer-- a clear one, which they pour to the next fill line.","Now another two- or three-hour wait until the acrylic can support a decorative object-- in this case, a globe.","Once they ensure it's properly centered, they pour acrylic to the next fill line and wait two to three hours again.","Now they apply the client's name and logo printed on acetate and pour the final layer.","Once that hardens, it's off to the curing department.","There, workers load the pieces into a pressurized oven called an autoclave.","It works somewhat like a pressure cooker, forcing out the trapped air bubbles and curing the acrylic until it's rock-hard and transparent.","This takes 12 to 15 hours.","Curved designs are cast and cured in reusable metal molds like this.","The factory always casts a piece slightly larger than its final dimensions to allow for shrinkage during the curing process and some loss through sanding.","Workers sand each piece three times with progressively finer sandpaper to perfect the shape.","Then to remove the marks that sanding leaves behind, they buff the piece on a cloth-covered wheel.","Then they polish the piece with an even softer wheel.","This shines the acrylic to a high-gloss finish.","When it's not viable to make a mold for a particular shape, they cast a starting shape, then machine it to the final shape.","To make a sphere, for example, they first cast a cube.","They transform the cube into a cylinder, then, working one side at a time, into a perfect sphere.","The automated tooling equipment is all computer-guided for ultimate precision.","Some designs call for additional artistic features.","For example, the factory can print artwork on paper, acetate, or a metal plate, then embed it into the acrylic.","Another option is to create an opaque image on the surface.","As we see here, once they finish machining the sphere, they apply tape that's been laser-cut into the shape of a world map.","They sandblast the exposed areas, transforming the sphere into a globe.","They can also engrave the surface of a piece or, using a special laser beam, etch letters or a design right inside the acrylic.","The creative possibilities are endless.","The infinite combinations of shapes, colors, embedded objects, and artistic features make these acrylic awards highly customized and clearly unique."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Oil Lamps","Chocolate Mints","Underfloor Heating","Pillows"]},"text":["Before the invention of electricity, humans relied on fire for light.","Candles dripped and could be messy.","Oil lamps were a cleaner alternative.","Initially, oil lamps were dishes of animal fat with floating wicks.","But they evolved and became a source of both beauty and light.","In the 18th century, a swiss chemist invented an oil lamp with a cylindrical wick and chimney.","The updated design increased air flow to create a flame that was both smokeless and brighter.","In colonial america, pewter versions became popular.","And today, a fifth generation pewtersmith keeps this handcrafted tradition alive.","He starts with the maker's mark and stamps it into the pewter base of the lamp's oil reservoir.","He clamps another pewter disc in a lathe against an aluminum template for the reservoir body.","As the disc spins, he shapes it to the template with a tool called a spinner's finger.","This takes skill.","If he works too fast or applies too much pressure, the pewter will break.","His first spin produces the basic shape.","In the next spin, he trims the edges.","He also rounds the lower half of the reservoir using the spinner's finger.","He works freestyle to match the contours of the lower half to the upper half.","He trims the bottom one more time.","During the third spin, he fine-tunes the shape, and cuts a hole in the top.","Then, he sizes the hole for the burner collar.","This metal is transformed from a basic dome to a well-rounded lid.","The oil lamp reservoir is now ready for the burner.","He presses the collar into the hole.","Then, he brushes a glycerin-based flux onto the collar in the neck of the lamp.","The flux prevents oxidation and helps solder flow easily as he secures the burner collar to the neck.","Next, he tack solders the base to the bottom of the oil lap reservoir.","He applies more flux and solders the seam all the way around.","The tin-bismuth solder melts at a slightly lower temperature than the pewter does.","This is delicate work.","If the torch gets too hot, he'll melt the entire piece.","With the soldering complete, he trims the excess from the base of the lamp.","He files the seam until it's smooth.","Then he sands the rest of the oil lamp reservoir to a satin sheen.","Another member of the team sands the base up to the maker's mark.","Next, the pewtersmith rolls a beaded motif into the metal.","It's a design option that makes the lamp look more elaborate.","Or for a different look, he gently creates a hammered texture around the lamp.","Using an engraving pen, the pewtersmith etches his signature onto the base of the lamp.","With the burner and wick installed, the lamp is ready for packing.","Plenty of tissue paper is needed to protect both the glass chimney and the nickel burner from damage.","She includes operation and maintenance instructions.","Unlike silver, pewter doesn't tarnish, but will develop a richer veneer over time.","A few scratches or handling marks are normal, but they'll only add authenticity to this traditional light source.","Like pewter oil lamps of another time, these replicas are a shining example of handcraftsmanship.","Chocolates and mints are enjoyed by many people.","Then, someone discovered putting the two together makes for a delicious experience.","The cool zestiness of the mint offsets the rich creaminess of the chocolate.","It is one of the sweetest matches in candy history.","Chocolate or mint?","With the chocolate mint, the decision is easy because the two flavors are wrapped into one.","To make chocolate mints, they pump liquid sugar into a heated mixer, and add granular sugar.","The mixer blends it into simmering syrup exiting through strainers.","Then, it's moved into a vacuum-sealed cooker.","It sucks out moisture and the syrup thickens to a jelly-like consistency.","A worker transfers it to a second mixer and adds the mint flavoring.","Thorough mixing thickens it and lightens the color substantially.","He transfers the mint flavored candy to a work table.","Powerful mechanical arms massage the slab to cool and harden the candy.","Next, a hopper funnels the candy into pressurized rollers that squeeze it into a long sheet.","The sheet rides an inclining conveyor.","Once it reaches the top, an employee wraps the end around a long steel tube.","The tube revolves and twists the mint candy around it.","The long candy sheet takes the shape of the tube.","They melt and mix chunks of pure chocolate with cocoa, powdered milk, and icing sugar.","They add coconut oil and lecithin to bind the ingredients.","Once mixed, the employee transfers it to a hopper next to the big mint candy tube.","From here, the chocolate is injected into the hollow of the mint candy tube.","The tube rolls off the forming cylinder and passes by rollers that squeeze the diameter down to a rope size.","A compactor then mashes the candy rope to give the filling a honeycomb texture.","Pullers now stretch a second slab of mint candy until it thickens and turns a lighter color.","The worker cuts it into chunks that fit into the next rolling machine.","It presses the candy into a sheet which then lands on top of the mint chocolate.","The two layers now enter the next forming machine.","This one wraps the outer layer around the chocolate infused one, creating a chocolate filled mint tube.","Rollers reduce the diameter to half an inch in size.","Next, the chocolate mint rope enters a die cutter.","It shapes and cuts the rope into mints.","The mints spill into a spreader which distributes them evenly across a perforated conveyor.","Fans blow air through the holes in the conveyor to cool and solidify the candies.","Once the candies have hardened, they head to the wrapping station.","Here, they ride a rotating circular platform and fall into candy-size slots.","Glossy metalized film wrap unwinds.","Mechanical arms collect the chocolate mints as they fall out of the slots.","They hold the candies for wrapping while devices twist the ends.","It takes only a fraction of a second to wrap a candy.","Then it's on to a weigh station.","Scales release the individually wrapped chocolate mints in increments.","They fall into bags ready for retail.","Approximately 2,400 chocolate mints are made every minute at this factory.","Two flavors in one candy--  they're quite a treat.","Heating a room using a water circulation system under the floor is more efficient than using a radiator.","Radiators can only be at one end of a room, while a circulation system distributes heat evenly throughout.","Warm water pipes are installed under the floor beneath the plaster leveling layer in the grooves of a plastic guide mat laid on the subfloor.","Each pipe begins and ends at a distribution manifold.","The pipes connect to the manifold and each other with various types of brass fittings.","This computer guided equipment makes the simpler straight ones.","It first cuts a piece from a long brass bar, progressively shapes it, bores through it, and cuts threads on it.","This machine makes the nuts that connect the fittings to the manifold.","The machine cuts a piece from a six-sided brass bar and shapes it into a nut.","Curved or t-shaped fittings require forging prior to machining.","The factory cuts the bars into ingots.","A conveyor then feeds the ingot into an oven.","The high temperature softens the brass to a malleable state.","After the ingots exit the oven, they are pressed into a mold by a 400-ton press.","When the press releases, the forged fitting heads to a collection bin.","Workers then place it on a die and trim off the excess brass with a punch press.","The fitting now has its basic shape.","The next step is to sandblast it.","This cleans the surface in preparation for machining.","A vibrating tray now feeds the sandblasted fittings to a robot.","A camera records the orientation of each piece, guiding the robot to load it in the correct position.","Guided by a computer, the transfer machine finalizes the shape of the fitting.","This complex machining process, seen here in super slow motion, takes just a few seconds.","The transfer machine also makes the manifold from a larger brass bar.","This manifold has 10 connections.","So if each room of the home is heated by one circuit, this manifold could control 10 rooms.","The transfer machine can perform up to 20 different operations on a single fitting.","The under floor heating pipes have five layers.","To produce the innermost one, an extruder melts granules of polyethylene-- a strong non-porous type of plastic.","It is pushed through a circular die, and then cooled rapidly to a solid state.","Polyethylene pipe enters a second extruder that applies a layer of glue over the poly.","The glue adheres the third layer-- aluminum.","The pipe moves through a series of forming rollers which gradually wrap an aluminum strip around it.","This aluminum layer makes the polyethylene pipe strong.","Once the pipe is fully encased, a welding machine fuses the strip's overlapping edges.","The pipe now receives another layer of glue.","Then, the outer surface of polyethylene is applied.","The factory makes pipes ranging from 1/2 an inch to 3 1/2 inches in diameter.","A steel sleeve is pressed over the end, connecting the pipe to the fitting.","To set up the heating system, the installers lay a plastic guide mat on the subfloor and snap the pipe into the mat's grooves.","They lay plaster leveling tiles on top of the mat to level the surface then install the flooring.","They connect one end of the pipe to an inlet manifold, and the other to an outlet manifold.","The inlet sends warm water through the pipe.","The outlet receives the returning cold water and sends it to the boiler to be reheated.","You regulate water flow and temperature either manually or with a thermostat.","Hard, soft, puffy or flat, the type of pillow you sleep on is a matter of personal preference.","Your pillow can be stuffed with natural fillings like feathers and wool, or synthetic materials such as foam or polyester fiber.","These pillows come in two styles-- garnet pillows filled with a roll of synthetic fiber, and blown pillows made of loose synthetic fibers.","The fiber arrives at the factory in huge, densely packed bales weighing almost 600 pounds.","This polyester fiber is made from polyethylene and other types of plastics.","The fibers are all stuck together.","They need to be pulled apart and smoothed out.","This process is called \"opening the fibers\".","The first machine--  the preopener-- combs the fibers with a large steel-spiked roller.","This separates them considerably but not completely.","The fibers exit the machine straighter and smoother.","However, several are still crimped.","The preopener's four outputs drop the fibers onto a conveyor belt which takes them to the next opening machine.","Along the way, nozzles spray a special solution to reduce static electricity.","To make garnet pillows, fans push the fibers to another opening machine called the garnet hopper.","It feeds the fibers onto a spiked conveyor belt which combs them out further.","This removes many of the remaining crimps.","After the garnet hopper, the fibers look like the ones on the right-- fluffier, straighter, and smoother.","The fibers now travel to the next machine.","It has several metal rollers with sharp ridges that stretch the fiber straight, removing the remaining crimps.","The fibers then enter another machine, passing over one of two rollers to form a flat, fluffy sheet called a \"web\".","The two webs merge as they exit the machine, forming a thicker web.","Then, the next machine laps the web back and forth over itself.","The width of the lapping determines the width of the pillow.","The machine cuts the continuous web into pieces and rolls each one into what is called a \"bat\".","The length of the piece determines the characteristics of the pillow.","The longer the rolled piece, the higher and firmer the pillow.","An automated machine makes the cotton or cotton-blended pillowcases.","Workers mount two identical rolls of fabric onto the machine's cradles and feed the ends through a series of tension rollers.","The two sheets must be taut as they pass through the machine's different stations.","First, blades trim the fabric to the correct pillow size-- standard, queen, or king.","Then, a slitter runs across each sheet, cutting a series of rectangular pieces.","The machine then stitches two rectangles together on three sides.","Finally, the product information label is sewn on.","The machine uses an extremely strong overlock stitch.","The pillow filling is flattened before it enters the waiting case, which is already covered in retail packaging.","Sewers close the open end of the pillow and trim off the excess fiber.","Then the finished pillow is placed in a shipping box.","For blown pillows, an operator holds the open end of the case over a nozzle.","Then a machine blows in a pre-set quantity of loose fibers.","He weighs the pillow then sends it to the sewing department to be stitched closed.","A blown pillow conforms to your head when you lie down and rebounds when you get up.","A garnet pillow has less rebound.","Not sure what to choose?","Sleep on it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Electrical Panels","Kites","Eyeglass Frames","Toothbrushes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" electrical panels...","Kites...","Eyeglass frames...","And toothbrushes.","The technical name for it is a residential load center, but people usually call it an electrical panel or circuit breaker box.","This enclosed metal panel is usually built into an interior wall and contains the circuit breakers that distribute, protect, and control the home's lighting and power.","This load center consists of up to 40 circuits.","Each one has one or two breakers.","Each breaker powers several outlets in the home.","First, a powerful press pounds a sheet of steel into what's called a u-channel.","At nearly 3 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 4 inches deep, it's part of what's called the tub-- the load center's main casing.","A worker then attaches steel components made earlier called tub ends.","A spot welding machine fuses them to close off both ends of the tub.","Workers feed an aluminum strip that's 330 feet long and 6 inches wide into a stamping press.","The press cuts the strip into 20-inch-long segments called bus bars.","It bends each bus bar 10 times, creating two-inch segments called stabs.","The breakers will later snap onto these stabs.","Next, a worker inserts each bus bar into a plastic component called a base pan.","The base pan insulates the bus bar.","This prevents us from getting electrocuted.","Another press then inserts a plastic rivet, securing the bus bar to the base pan.","The worker installs two components, called neutral bars, in the base pan.","The neutral bars conduct electricity between the circuit and the wall socket.","Next comes the main breaker.","Its maximum capacity is 200 amps.","Amps are the units of measurement for electrical current.","If demand exceeds maximum capacity, it'll trip, meaning it'll turn off all power in the home.","She makes sure it's sufficiently tight so that vibrations caused by street traffic won't loosen it.","She also encloses labels to mark the breaker's pathways and an envelope with installation screws.","Next, the worker puts the base pan assembly into the tub and secures the neutral bar with a copper bonding strap to ground it and prevent electrocution.","She adds another component--  one of two grounding bars.","These ground each circuit.","The breakers simply snap onto the stabs, making them easy to remove and replace if needed.","Inside the breaker, several components interact to enable the flow of electricity.","One is the load terminal-- the entry point for the live current.","A circular machine, called robot \"a,\" assembles it and other breaker parts along its 16 workstations.","Another breaker component is the bimetal assembly.","It's an alloy of two metals and a magnet.","It trips the breaker when there's an overload or a short circuit.","Next, robot \"a\" welds a strip of silver, which is conductive, to what's called the contact arm.","Robot \"a\" then positions the arm for welding with two-inch-long segments of braided copper wire-- copper because it's conductive as well as pliable.","The robot fuses the copper wire to the contact arm in the bimetal assembly.","The wire will flex with the arm to touch what's called the line terminal.","This contact permits the electrical current to flow.","Next, robot \"a\" deposits the welded parts into the breaker casings, called bases.","This automated production line functions 24 hours a day, five days a week, and it produces a breaker every three seconds.","Another machine, called robot \"b,\" stamps the number of amps on each breaker handle.","Then it connects a spring to link the contact arm to another part, called the cradle.","When there's an overload, the bimetal assembly causes the cradle to pivot and trip the breaker.","Robot \"b\" deposits the spring and cradle into the base, then closes the base with a cover.","This demonstration shows how moving the breaker handle triggers the mechanism that will enable the flow of electricity.","If power demand exceeds the breaker's maximum capacity by 35%, the bimetal assembly trips the breaker and cuts the power.","They cap off the load center with a metal cover called a trim.","The warning label on it provides safety information and instructions.","The load center is now ready for installation by a certified electrician.","The earliest written record of a kite tells the story of a chinese general in 206 b.c. who flew a kite over a wicked emperor's palace.","He marked the line to measure the distance, then reeled it in.","His small army then dug a tunnel into the palace courtyard, launching a surprise attack that conquered the emperor.","Today's two-line kite, as the name implies, has two lines to pilot it.","It can fly nearly 130 feet high.","This kite is made mainly of a lightweight nylon fabric that is waterproof and fade-resistant.","It's less than a few hundredths of an inch thick, so it's reinforced with nylon mesh to reduce ripping.","The kite's other components include nylon and elastic cords and straps; fittings made of leather, rubber, aluminum, and plastic; and carbon rods.","The kite maker starts with a pattern made out of pressed wood.","She marks out a piece of the fabric and, with a few bricks to hold the fabric in place, cuts diagonally.","In sewing terms, that's called cutting on the bias.","This will stretch the fabric and help it fly.","Next, she cuts more pieces of fabric, this time in a different color.","This kite has eight fabric parts that fit together like a puzzle to create an eight-foot wingspan.","The kite's left and right sides are mirror images, so there are only four different shapes to cut.","They range in length from 9 inches to 4 feet.","From start to finish, it takes one worker about two hours to make this model, called the dragonfly.","First, the kite maker sews the longest part, called the belly, to the other parts.","She double stitches with heavy-duty nylon thread to help the kite withstand winds up to 23 miles per hour.","She makes tiny incisions along the belly's curved edge so she can fold it and sew in what's called the tension line.","Tension line is a type of nylon cord she'll sew into all the seams of the kite's lower sections.","It'll give the kite some structure and help keep it rigid while airborne.","The kite maker secures each line with a knot which can later be loosened or tightened to adjust the kite's overall tension.","The kite maker uses straps made of very durable, yet flexible, plastic to line the middle and the edges of the wings.","The straps strengthen the kite, enabling it to survive crashes into trees and rocks.","After all, what goes up must come down.","Next, the kite maker sews a piece of leather, called a fitting, onto the plastic strap.","It's made of leather to protect the kite's structural joints, such as the nose of the kite.","It gets a leather patch, as well.","The kite maker uses a serrated saw to cut the 10 carbon rods to size.","They're a quarter-inch in diameter and range in length from 7 to 32 inches.","They form the kite's skeleton and, like bones, they're the most likely part of the kite to break in an accident.","But if they do break, it's easy to replace them.","A variety of molded plastic, rubber, and aluminum fittings serve a dual purpose.","They join the rods together and keep them from falling out of their sleeves.","Now the kite maker attaches a nylon cord, called a bridle, to the fitting that joins the rods on the wing's leading edge.","The bridle is the kite's rudder, steering the kite to the left or right.","The bridle comes off easily if you need to replace the rods.","The kite maker now attaches tension lines to two plastic components called arrows.","They're located at the kite's wing tips.","She ties elastic bungee cords through the arrows to hold the tension lines in place.","This makes all the fabric parts taut enough to fly.","Next, she attaches the bridle to the center rod, the spine of the kite.","She inserts the rod into its protective leather pouch at the nose.","She inserts other rods into both sides of the wing.","These give the wing its curved, aerodynamic shape and help the kite stay aloft.","Finally, additional rods under the wing provide more structure and support.","These rods spread the kite and help keep it open.","In the mood for a sky-high experience?","For $250, you can buy a handmade model like this one and go fly a kite.","Eyeglasses don't merely correct vision.","They're also a fashion statement-- so much so that many of today's top clothing designers produce a line of eyeglass frames.","Whether you prefer plastic frames or metal ones, they come in so many different colors, sizes, and shapes that you're guaranteed to find a pair that suits you.","Metal frames comes in a multitude of shapes, from ordinary to extraordinary.","It all starts with a computerized system called a three-axis eye winding machine.","A set of rollers pulls metal wire from a big spool.","Then, with software-driven precision, the machine bends the wire into the shape of the frame, then cuts the end free.","The lenses will fit into precut grooves on the inside.","A small part, called the insert, connects the two ends of the eye frame, holding them closed around the lens.","To attach the insert, they put it in a clamp, then position the eye frame just above it.","They apply a cleaning agent, called flux, then filler wire.","An electric current heats the wire, metal frame, and insert until they all melt and fuse together.","Now they do the same to what's called the screw hinge-- the piece that attaches the arm to the eye frame.","Again, electrically generated heat fuses the hinge to the insert.","This process, similar to soldering, is called brazing.","Now for the bridge-- the piece over the nose that joins the two eye frames.","A small press bends a piece of metal into the shape of the bridge.","Then a worker aligns it with the eye frames in an assembly jig.","This ensures the frames are perfectly straight.","Brazing again melds everything together.","Next comes the piece above the bridge, called the brow bar.","An automated machine cuts metal wire to pieces the right length, then carves grooves on the ends to enable the brow bar to fit snugly onto the top of the frames.","It then bends each piece to the right shape.","The brow bar now goes into position.","A little flux to remove any dust or dirt that might prevent the metal from fusing properly.","Then they braze the brow bar to the frame.","Now come little hooks called pad arms.","They hold small pads under the bridge that cushion your nose.","A worker fuses the pad arms to the frames using the same brazing process as before.","Now for the arms that attach to the eye frames on one end and sit on your ears on the other.","The industry calls these arms temples because they're at the level of your temples when you wear the glasses.","After stamping the size and company name on the inside, they fuse a hinge to each one and press a plastic sleeve on the other end.","They set the arms momentarily aside while they position the lenses in the groove of the eye frame.","A screw keeps everything tight and intact.","Now they screw an arm onto each hinge.","The arms on most models have curled ends that hook over the ears for a more secure and comfortable fit.","A special machine, called a mechanical cam, applies pressure to bend the plastic sleeves to a 45-degree angle.","These metal-frame glasses are functional and fashionable.","The chinese invented the first toothbrush around 1600, but it wasn't till about 1780 in england that it became a mass-produced item.","Like those that followed, its bristles came from the necks and shoulders of pigs.","In the late 1930s, synthetic materials replaced natural swine bristles.","These toothbrushes should make you want to flash your pearly whites in appreciation if you consider that, thousands of years ago, people used twigs to clean their teeth.","Today's toothbrush begins as little plastic pellets.","A vacuum sucks them up into an injection mold machine.","The machine melts the pellets into a kind of plastic dough, then injects it into a stainless-steel mold, forming 10 toothbrush handles at once.","The head of each handle has up to 56 holes for bristles.","This machine generates 10 handles every 35 seconds.","That works out to 27,000 handles in 24 hours.","Now they melt blue rubber pellets.","They pipe the liquid rubber into the mold with the white toothbrush handles, then press the rubber onto the handles to form a grip.","So now you'll have a toothbrush you can really hang on to.","No dropping this one in the sink.","They use a semiclear plastic to produce another type of grip, one that's softer and more pliable.","It's called the gummy brush, because the grip really does feel a bit like one of those gummy candies.","These nylon fibers will form the bristles.","A robotic arm pats them down so that they sit very evenly.","Then, faster than you can blink an eye, the machine feeds the bristles into the holes in the head of the toothbrush handle.","This machine works at a blurring speed, filling 900 holes per minute.","And it operates with incredible precision.","Here's the bristle-selection process in slow motion.","The machine selects between 22 and 24 bristles for each hole in the brush.","With 56 holes per toothbrush, that adds up to over 1,300 bristles for each brush.","This fully automated system works faster than any human ever could.","And here's another advantage-- a human hand rarely has to touch the bristles, so the process is incredibly hygienic.","Wondering what holds the bristles in place?","Wire.","The machine bends the fibers in half, anchoring them to the brush with wire in the middle.","Now it's time for a brush cut.","These blades trim the bristles to about the same length.","Another set of blades sculpts different types of edges, depending on the toothbrush model in production.","These may look like spinning tops, but they're rotating disks coated with diamond dust, a mild abrasive.","They sand the edges of the bristles to produce a particular finish.","For instance, the bristles can be straight or zigzagged.","Different finishes have different tooth-cleaning effects.","You may have noticed that some bristles are white and others are blue or another color.","This is purely aesthetic--  a nifty color combination to make the toothbrush look smarter.","And, of course, the machine knows exactly which color goes where, so you end up with a two-tone brush like this one.","Every so often, the factory pulls a toothbrush off the assembly line for a spot check.","A robot arm tugs at the bristles to make sure they're secure enough.","And if the brush passes the test, the rest of the production run is cleared for sale.","Then a robotic system packages the brushes so that they come right off the line ready for shipping and ready to maintain toothy smiles everywhere."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Stile and Rail Doors","Steam Cleaners","Hand"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"-- ...","Stile and rail doors...","Steam cleaners...","Hand-held pizzas...","And power brushes.","Many doors are made of a single piece of wood.","But stile and rail doors contain a rectangular frame around one or more central panels.","The term stile refers to the frame's vertical pieces.","And rail refers to its horizontal ones.","Stile and rail doors come in many different shapes and sizes.","They have several components.","Some even have sectioned glass panels.","They use poplar wood for paint-grade doors.","If the door will be stained, customers can choose from several different wood options, including oak, cherry, maple, and african mahogany.","They feed the rough lumber through a planer.","The first two stations simultaneously shave the top and bottom of the wood.","The third station has multiple saw blades that cut the piece into several strips.","Workers line up the strips and coat one side with glue.","Then they transfer the wood strips to a clamping machine.","They stack one piece of linear-strand lumber in between the glued sides of two solid-wood strips.","Linear-strand lumber, called lsl for short, is a piece of lumber made from glued wood fibers.","The robot holds the assembly in place for an hour until the glue dries.","Then they put this engineered lumber through a glue spreader.","It coats the top and bottom surfaces with heat-activated glue.","They sandwich the lumber between two thin sheets of wood called veneer.","For a paint-grade door, they use ultra-thin mdf, medium-density fiberboard, instead.","Mdf is a man-made material with a smooth, paint-friendly surface.","They place the pieces into a hot press for two minutes.","The heat activates the glue, while the pressure flattens the veneer against the lumber.","These pieces will become the door's stiles and rails.","The panels inside the stiles and rails are made of mdf.","For a stained door, workers apply the veneer before they contour the pieces.","Workers carve the pieces using a shaper machine.","They change the machine heads in order to cut different designs.","The workers used a different shaper machine to carve the inside edge of the stiles.","They also drilled holes for the dowels of the adjoining rails.","They apply glue, then attach the matching bottom rail to the first stile.","They insert the panel into a groove in the rail and stile.","They are assembling a two-panel door.","So next, they fit a middle rail and another panel.","They install a top rail and then the second stile.","They place the newly-assembled door in a large clamping machine.","It applies pressure on the door for an hour while the glue dries.","The machine transfers the door to a cutting table.","Then a computer-guided saw trims the top and bottom of the door.","The machine switches to a different tool that bevels the edge of the door.","It switches tools again and drills holes for the door's hardware.","The stile and rail door is now ready for finishing.","Workers sand the surface to prepare it for either staining or painting.","Then the stained doors receive a coat of sealer and two coats of clear lacquer.","This protects the wood's surface.","The panels used in stile and rail doors are never glued in place.","They sit inside the frame.","This leaves space for the wood and mdf to naturally expand without warping or cracking the door.","In the 1960s, italian boilermakers figured out how to harness steam to clean.","Steam cleaning is much safer than traditional methods because dirt and bacteria can be eliminated without the use of harmful chemicals.","High-pressure, low-moisture steam is enough to vaporize most germs.","The water in a steam cleaner is heated to over 200 degrees fahrenheit.","It's safe to use on both hard and soft surfaces.","Steam cleaners start out as a computer design.","This is a commercial model that will be used to clean hotels, restaurants, offices, and schools.","They make the components using polycarbonate plastic pellets.","A molding machine heats the plastic, then injects it into molds.","The plastic hardens into the shape of parts.","This one is the cover for the steam cleaner's boiler.","A robot with vacuum-suction grippers extracts the cover from the mold.","They mold other parts, including the base, extension tubes, handles, and hooks the same way.","A worker installs a water-level probe on the steel boiler.","He also screws on a fitting for the fill hose.","He adds two solenoid valves.","They turn the steam on and off and control its intensity.","Then he places the boiler in a test device.","The device verifies that the electrical parts are insulated properly.","He tightens the solenoid valves to complete the installation.","After the hoses are attached to the boiler, they place it in the base of the steam cleaner.","A worker plugs in the electrical contacts.","They will power the steam hose's controls.","Then he connects the steam hose to a fitting next to the contacts.","He tightens a metal clip around it to reinforce the connection.","He links the main electronic board to temperature sensors that have been installed on the boiler.","The worker also wires the steam-pressure sensors.","He covers the top of the boiler with melamine insulation.","Then he slides a heat-resistant plastic cover over the boiler.","He attaches the fill hose to the fitting on the top of the boiler.","He connects the other end to the water tank.","The worker equips the tank with two water-level sensors.","He hooks up a gauge for the steam pressure.","Then he fills the tank with water and tests the steam cleaner.","He uses a small mirror to check for leaks.","Another worker assembles the steam gun.","He attaches a plastic joint to the steam hose, then installs a nozzle on the end.","He slides the joint forward to surround the spray nozzle and screws a plastic wand to the end of the joint.","He tucks the hose on one side of the handle's plastic casing and installs a trigger.","Then he snaps on the cover.","He screws the handle together.","He connects the steam gun to the boiler unit.","He turns it on.","And the sprayer shoots out a hot, pressurized mist known as dry steam.","Its moisture content is only 5%, allowing cleaned surfaces to dry quickly.","The steam cleaner also comes with a vacuum.","It sucks up residual water and dirt after a steam cleaning.","He attaches the vacuum motor to the filter.","He places the motor and filter into the base canister and locks the assembly together with clips at the sides.","The worker transfers the steam cleaner to a cart.","Once the vacuum is on board, this duo is ready to eradicate dirt, grease, and pathogens.","Just aim and pull the trigger.","The steam will do the rest.","A slice of pizza isn't always a portable snack.","The toppings can slide off while you're eating it.","These hand-held, individual pizzas solve that problem.","The toppings are safely encased inside the pizza dough.","Hand-held pizzas are small enough for kids to easily hold.","They're made without preservatives, and all the ingredients are organic, making them the perfect frozen snack for hungry children.","One main ingredient is cauliflower.","It packs a strong nutritional punch without altering the flavor.","Cauliflower is low in calories but high in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.","It also helps thicken the filling.","After removing the stems, the cooks boil the cauliflower heads until tender.","They remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon to let the water drain away.","They puree the cauliflower in a food processor.","The cooks also boil and puree butternut squash, which is full of vitamin a, vitamin c, and many other nutrients.","The squash puree slightly sweetens the filling and helps thicken it.","Other ingredients that go into the filling are tomato paste, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, potato flakes, sea salt, spices, and water.","After measuring out the required amounts, workers pour the ingredients into a large bowl.","They manually blend the ingredients with a large whisk to keep the filling's texture coarse.","The pizza dough is made with wheat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, and baking soda.","They also add palm fruit shortening and water to make the dough pliable.","They combine all the ingredients in a mixer.","The mixer blends the ingredients thoroughly until the dough reaches the right consistency.","After mixing, they let the dough rest.","Next, they transform the blocks of dough into sheets.","They place an 8-inch block of dough on a machine called the dough sheeter.","The dough moves back and forth beneath a roller until it's flat.","They add flour so the dough won't stick to the roller.","A worker winds the sheet of dough onto a spool and transfers it to the processing line.","Here, four rotary blades trim the sides and divide the sheet into three strips.","Spray nozzles lightly mist the dough with water to keep it pliable.","A machine dispenses the filling at perfectly timed intervals.","It adds one ounce of filling per pizza to one side of each strip.","Then the machine folds the other side over.","A crimping wheel seals the edge to encase the filling.","They add more flour on top so the crimper and rotary cutters can easily trim off the excess dough.","A chopping blade separates the filled dough into individual pizzas.","Then the crimper seals the third edge.","Workers transfer the pizzas by hand onto baking sheets.","They're lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking.","Then they bake the pizzas in an oven.","As soon as they come out, they're flash-frozen.","This rapid deep-freeze locks in the nutrients and makes preservatives unnecessary.","The frozen pizzas go straight to the packaging room.","It's refrigerated so the pizzas won't begin to thaw.","The equipment individually wraps the pizzas in plastic then packages them, two per box.","After 60 seconds in the microwave, these pizzas are ready to eat.","The thick filling doesn't drip, making them the perfect meal on the go.","Wire power brushes rotate at high speeds to clean metal without damaging it.","These industrial tools can scrub off almost anything, including weld splatter, rust, and paint.","They can also smooth away sharp edges and protrusions known as burrs.","Wire power brushes come in many different shapes and sizes.","The bristles are either knotted or crimped.","There's a wire power brush for every metal-cleaning job.","Automated tools work with pinpoint accuracy to create a wire brush with knotted bristles.","A tool inserts 22 wires into each hole of the steel disk.","The wires are made of high-carbon steel.","Another tool twists the wire bundle into a knot.","It makes a special knot designed for maximum strength and durability.","The system installs 48 knotted wire bundles in each brush.","An employee transfers the brush to a machine with circular blades.","The blades trim the wires down and sharpen the ends.","The next worker sandwiches the brush's center disk between two larger disks.","A press welder creates three dimples in the metal.","These dimples tightly hold the brush structure in place.","A press drives a large nut into the center hole.","It will be used to securely attach the wire brush to a power tool.","This completes the knotted wire power brush assembly.","Next, they make the crimped wire brush.","First, a device feeds steel wire to a cutting machine in preset increments.","The machine's cutting wheels slice the wires to the correct length.","It deposits the wire bundles on a rack, and a worker collects them.","Then, another worker threads a long wire between two metal flanges and a winding machine.","She lines up the pins around the flanges.","Then she tucks freshly-cut wire bundles into those slots.","She continues until she's stacked the wire bundles all the way around the flanges.","Then she starts the machine.","It winds the long wire around the shorter wire bundles.","This crimps the short wires at the center and holds them in place between the flanges.","She pulls the end of the wire to the side of the brush segment.","Then it's ready for the next operation.","A 100-ton press bends the flanges over the crimped bristles, encasing the longer wire that holds them together.","Next, a worker spins the ends of the brush between two circular blades.","This is a preliminary trimming.","Then a punch enlarges the diameter of the center hole.","Next, they combine several of the crimped brush segments together.","An employee piles up the segments.","He places a tube in the center and spacers in between the brushes.","Once the brush reaches the right size, he uses a compression tool to curl the tube's top rim against the flange.","This secures the segments, creating one large crimped wire brush.","Then he trims the wire bristles to the correct length.","When attached to a power tool, knotted bristle wire brushes can spin up to 25,000 rotations per minute.","The brush's high speed allows it to efficiently scrub dirt and grease from an oil-well drill pipe.","The crimped wire brush is designed for lighter work, like scrubbing rust off a metal pipe.","These power brushes are bristling with cleaning potential and ready for work."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fireplace Bellows","Calissons","Diving Watercraft"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Somewhere back in time, somebody was blowing on a fire to get it started and wondered if there were a way to do it without hyperventilating.","A lot of people must have had this idea because different kinds of bellows can be found across the ancient world from egypt to asia.","In the auvergne region of central france, this manufacturer has been building classic fireplace bellows since 1895 using high-quality beechwood and leather sourced nearby.","An artisan starts by selecting a template from a range of sizes and shapes.","He traces an outline on a piece of wood.","He uses a band saw to cut the rough outline of the shape to prepare for the next step.","A craftsman then places a stack of three rough-cut shapes on top of a master prototype and clamps the stack in place.","A large bearing slides up against the master prototype and, by following it, guides a specialized cutting tool around the perimeter of the stack.","The operation quickly and precisely reduces the three pieces of wood to exactly the required dimensions.","This purpose-built mechanism undertakes a three-step operation.","A drill pierces a hole in the narrow end while a second drill opens three holes underneath.","A circular saw quickly slices partway through the neck of the piece.","A craftsman then uses a rotary tool to easily cut a decorative pattern of concentric circles into one side of the wood.","A cutting blade positioned at precisely the right height allows an artisan to slice a beveled groove partway around the perimeter of the wood to the required depth.","A craftsman uses a powerful band saw to divide the wood in half along the groove line all the way up to the cut across the neck.","The wooden components are now ready for the finished process.","An artisan dunks the components in a tub of stain and places them on a shelf to dry.","She keeps each pair of components together while separating them slightly to ensure they don't stick together.","Once the stain has dried, the artisan buffs the outer surfaces of the components on a buffing wheel to make the wood smooth.","She then carefully positions the components on a table and sprays them thoroughly with a protective layer of varnish.","Once the varnish has cured, a craftsperson can begin assembly by creating the valve that covers the intake hole.","She installs a rounded length of wire, stapling it in such a way as to create enough tension for the wire to act as a spring.","This step completes the interior of the bellows.","An artisan can now bring the two halves of the bellows together.","She starts by wrapping a precut piece of locally sourced sheep's leather around one handle and attaching the leather in place with small nails.","Carefully hammering a series of closely-spaced upholstery tacks at regular intervals secures the leather to the perimeter edge of one half of the bellows.","The artisan can now attach the second half by repeating the operation on the other side of the leather.","Adding a thin strip of leather along the tack line will help prevent any ripping or tearing.","The artisan uses a section of precut leather to form the hinge necessary for the proper functioning of the bellows.","The size, position, and tack pattern must all be precise in order for the tool to open and close smoothly and easily.","The artisan trims off any excess lengths of leather.","Finally, she installs the nozzle.","Making a dent with a tool called a punch prepares the site for a nail which secures the nozzle in place.","The completed bellows function perfectly.","This simple, finely crafted tool is built to help start warm fires for years to come.","Calissons are a traditional french candy made of almonds, candied melon, and orange peel topped with a thin layer of hard, typically white, icing.","Calissons are the specialty of the city of aix-en-provence in the provence region of southern france.","The calisson was created in france in the mid-15th century in honor of the wedding of king rene of anjou and queen jeanne of laval.","The confection became the specialty of provence, the region of southern france known for its almond orchards.","Inside the greenish hull is a hard shell.","Inside that shell is the edible almond seed.","The almonds arrive at the workshop dried for conservation and their brown skin removed.","The first step in the production is to rehydrate the almonds with steam for about 10 minutes so that they can be worked into a paste.","Once the almonds' moisture content is increased by 2 to 4%, the almonds pass over a vibrating screen to drain any water resulting from steam condensation.","Meanwhile, this cauldron heats up liquid beet sugar.","France is one of the world's largest sugar beet producers, so high-quality beet sugar is readily available.","Workers transfer the hydrated almonds to a grinder and add candied fruit--  95% melon and 5% orange peel.","This flavor is the 500-year-old traditional recipe.","Workers grind the ingredients for about 10 minutes until everything is thoroughly blended into a coarse paste.","The paste drops onto a conveyor belt, which transfers it to a kneading machine into which workers add the hot liquid beet sugar and natural almond oil made from bitter almonds.","Kneading blends the ingredients and smoothes the texture of the paste.","A worker boxes the calisson paste and sets it aside for three days to let the sugar mature and stabilize.","Calissons are topped with an ever-so-thin layer of royal icing.","Unlike creamy icings, royal icing is as hard as a rock to make it, a worker combines icing sugar and whipped egg whites passed through a strainer.","A mixer beats the ingredients until the mixture is thick and smooth, which typically takes about 10 minutes.","After 3 days of rest, the paste is ready to be worked.","Shaping and decorating the calissons is a specialized task entrusted to these experienced artisans called \"calissonaires\".","First, they place slices of paste in a press and load a mold underneath.","They cover the mold with a wafer -thin sheet of unleavened bread.","Then, the press piston descends, forcing the paste, with the bread layer underneath, into the mold.","They skim off the excess paste, then fold the stencil over the mold and apply the layer of royal icing.","They lift off the stencil and push the buttons which activate the mold pistons.","Each piston pierces the base of a calisson and lifts it out of the mold.","Finally, they remove the calissons with combs designed to fit around the pistons.","A 10-minute trip through a tunnel oven set at low temperature bakes the royal icing to a hard and shiny state.","Cameras record the position of the calissons as they exit the oven, guiding a robotic arm to pick up 160 per minute and place them in plastic trays.","The next machine seals each tray with plastic film to preserve freshness.","There's also a gift box format for which a worker hand-fills plastic trays designed to fit lozenge-shaped metal boxes.","These traditional calissons contain a candied fruit content of at least 30%, the melon being a variety cultivated in the region of provence.","However, if your taste buds are the type that buck tradition, today, you can enjoy a wide selection of other fashionable flavors such as clementine and cocoa bean or raspberry and matcha green tea.","This new generation of personal watercraft is something entirely different.","It does more than skim the surface.","This watercraft dives underwater and can remain submerged at a depth of three feet or more for up to a minute.","It also leaps into the air and rolls with the waves.","This watercraft is painted to look like a vintage fighter jet, and it rolls and dives like one in the water.","A worker sprays a gel coat into a mold for the main body.","This gel will become the shiny surface of the completed fiberglass part.","Once the gel coat has hardened, a worker brushes a vinyl ester resin onto it.","This resin is known for its water resistance.","He switches from a brush to a roller as he generally applies the resin to the hardened gel coat.","The crew then drapes what's called chopped-strand mat over the mold.","This fabric is made of long strands of fiberglass.","The binder in it dissolves on contact with the resin, causing the fabric to soften to the contours of the mold.","After trimming the excess material, the crew completely saturates the strand mat with more resin.","Rolling it on firmly gets rid of air bubbles.","The top half of the main body mold has been lined the same way.","They now bolt a dorsal fin mold to the back on the top half of the mold.","The crew now joins the two halves of the mold.","As a crane lowers the top to the bottom, workers ensure they line up perfectly.","And they lock these two main molds together with bolts.","A worker enters through the cockpit opening to roll on more resin.","Meanwhile, another member of the crew pulls two sheets of fiberglass fabric onto a cutting machine.","The top fabric is a strong, tightly woven fiberglass, and the bottom one is the chopped-strand mat.","Automated blades cut the fiberglass to various shapes and dimensions, each one designed for a different part of the diving vessel mold.","These large rectangles will be used to mold the sides of the watercraft.","After folding up the pieces, the worker hands them over to the fiberglass technician.","The technician has just an hour to apply the fiberglass before the recently applied resin starts to harden.","He builds up eight layers and completely saturates each one with more resin.","While the thicker fiberglass material provides strength, the thinner chopped-strand mat aids adhesion and helps the fabrics conform to the mold.","After a 3-hour cure, workers have a solid, seamless fuselage.","The crane lifts the fuselage out of the mold and moves it onto a dolly where it will stay while the team works on the other parts of the watercraft.","The cone-shaped front bumper is next.","The worker uses only three layers of fiberglass to make it because this bumper is meant to collapse in the event of a collision.","For that reason, the part is also known as the vessel's sacrificial nose.","At another station, crew members line fin-shaped molds with fiberglass and then pour liquefied plastic into the cavity.","Once cured, the plastic will anchor the top of a steel wing shaft in the fin.","A worker presses the shaft into the liquefied plastic with the end protruding from the fin.","A second mold, also lined with fiberglass and filled with a plastic core, goes on top.","The team bolts it together and leaves the part to cure.","The fins will ultimately be supported by a triangular scaffold made of aluminum square tubing.","The worker clamps the scaffold framework to a worktable to stabilize the framework as he welds it together.","He then welds the scaffold tower to the base.","The worker drills holes for the bushings that will be used to attach the fins to the scaffold.","Stay tuned for more as the team prepares this personal diving watercraft for its maiden voyage.","This personal watercraft leaps, dives, and barrel-rolls with the waves.","But it doesn't capsize.","It's been engineered to return to an upright position in the water.","And when it comes to the fun factor, this diving watercraft leaves other recreational boats in its wake.","To make the diving watercraft's passenger cabin, a worker sprays a gel coat onto a form and covers it with fiberglass.","A computer-driven router then carves into marine-grade plywood to produce structural backing for the sides of the cockpit.","A worker slathers adhesive putty onto the plywood part and applies more adhesive to the fiberglass cockpit.","He presses the plywood to the glued areas of the cockpit and brushes resin onto the front of the plywood.","After cutting the cockpit section in two, the crew glues the parts to the inside of the fuselage.","The fabricating team applies adhesive putty to the cone-shaped bumper known as the sacrificial nose.","They slide it onto the front of the fuselage and the screw the bumper in place temporarily while the adhesive sets.","Another worker sands all the fiberglass parts of the watercraft to remove bumps and blemishes.","This piece is the engine hatch.","The team bolts the aluminum scaffold to the floor of the fuselage.","This is a test fit to confirm that the dimensions are exactly right.","As they installed the scaffold, the used dummy wing shafts to correctly position it within the vessel.","They confirm that the dimensions are right and that the scaffold sits plumb to the base of the watercraft.","The next team inserts the hatch frame and the rim around the cockpit.","They'll bond the frame in place later with a liquid plastic and adhesive putty.","After priming the sanded surface of the watercraft, team members lower the 300-horsepower engine into the hatch.","This is a dry fit to confirm everything lines up correctly.","They'll eventually remove the engine for the final paint and artwork.","As the dry fit continues, they connect the air tubes to the snorkel fins that deliver air to the engine.","The engine hatch has, by now, also been primed, and they fit it to the diving watercraft's main body.","The crew verifies that the hatch sits flush with the rest of the fuselage.","A worker installs the exhaust outlet into the hole at the rear of the watercraft.","Crew members slide elevator fins into bushings at the back.","These fins will control the pitch axis of the watercraft.","Next, they install the jet propulsion system.","Back to the cockpit, the crew bolts the control pedals to the floor and run cables to the jet propulsion unit, the elevator fins, and the steering system.","They reinstall the dive fin scaffold, which has been powder coated in a yellow color.","The crew connects the dive fins to the scaffold.","They situate the control panel just above the control pedals.","They run a metal linkage from the dive fins to a control stick.","They then test the control stick and confirm it moves the dive planes easily and correctly.","Bucket seats made of lightweight carbon fiber minimize the load for added speed.","They tuck a rubber gasket into the framework for the clear canopy that will surround the occupants.","They add a bead of sealant where the gasket mates to the window frame.","The vessel canopy is made of thick aircraft-grade acrylic.","It's been tinted to repel the sun's rays and keep the temperature cooler in the cockpit.","The back canopy serves as a hatch for accessing the cockpit.","Finally, an artist does a custom paint job and makes the fuselage look fierce.","With the mechanical components reinstalled, this diving watercraft is ready to hit the water.","Fasten your seatbelt.","It should be quite a ride."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Thermoplastic Fire Helmets","Basketry Sculptures","Coffee Roasters"]},"text":["Thermoplastic fire helmets are lightweight, but that doesn't mean they aren't tough.","Because of their chemical composition, these plastic helmets remain sturdy, even when exposed to temperatures of over 500 degrees fahrenheit.","Developed in the 1970s, the helmets have become standard issue at many fire stations.","There are few situations more dangerous than entering a burning building.","Thermoplastic fire helmets weigh substantially less than other alternatives.","These helmets are one piece of equipment that won't slow down the rescue mission.","Production starts with a special blend of thermoplastic pellets.","A vacuum pulls the pellets into a hopper.","The pellets then flow into an injection-molding machine.","It melts and molds the pellets into the shape of a fire helmet.","A robot retrieves the helmet and transfers it to a cooling station.","A worker then clips off plastic that solidified as it flowed through a channel and into the mold.","This unwanted bit is called sprue.","She wipes off fingerprints and inspects the condition of the helmet shell.","The next worker trims the brim to remove excess plastic that formed when the mold closed.","For this process, he uses a blade with a curved edge.","Next, he applies reflective strips that will allow the firefighter to be seen in the dark.","He drills holes for attaching either goggles or face shields.","And the worker adds a last reflective strip.","He screws a support plate for the i.d. shield to the front of the helmet shell.","He uses plastic screws rather than metal because metal is electrically conductive and would put the firefighter at risk in the event of electrical sparking during a fire.","Another worker now applies labels to the inside of the helmet shell.","The labels indicate that this model of fire helmet is in compliance with the safety requirements.","The worker inserts high-density foam padding in the helmet shell.","The padded cap will cushion the wearer from the force of an impact.","This web of straps will serve as a suspension liner and will also support the helmet on the wearer's head.","Another worker installs a ratchet system for adjusting the fit of the liner to the firefighter's head.","Positioned at the nape of the neck, the firefighter can turn the knob to pull the suspension web tighter.","Attachments on the suspension liner fit into sockets on the helmet to lock it in place.","He fastens the chin strap to the helmet by wrapping the ends around molded struts on both sides of the shell.","The chin strap has a quick-release button in the event that the firefighter has to remove the helmet fast.","Another worker now folds up flame-resistant earflaps.","The flaps are equipped with hooked and looped fastening strips that fit to the helmet.","He sets the earflaps aside while he inserts snaps for goggles into brackets on the helmet.","He screws the snaps snugly to the helmet.","The worker then wraps the fire-and-fog-resistant goggles around the helmet and snaps them to it.","He tucks the maintenance instructions into the helmet, followed by the folded earflaps.","This thermoplastic fire helmet is now complete, but there's still one last bit of official business.","The worker screws the large leather i.d. shield to the support plate.","The shield bears the name of the fire department and a symbol that denotes rank.","This fire helmet is now ready for duty.","It will be one of the first things the firefighter reaches for when he or she gets an emergency call.","Contemporary artists are challenging our perception of basketry.","Focusing on form rather than function, artisans are weaving grasses and other fibers into sculptural art.","These basketry sculptures usually aren't meant to contain anything.","Instead, they're meant to capture and hold our attention.","Is it art, or is it a basket?","A basketry sculpture is both.","It celebrates the tradition of the craft while elevating basketry to an art form.","Materials for a basketry sculpture can include a mix of thing, from natural fibers, to metallic pieces, wire, and beads.","Soaking fibers like palm-tree strands in hot water will soften them and make the fibers flexible enough for weaving, but they won't lose their interesting crinkly texture.","About two hours in, the artist checks the suppleness of the fibers.","They can now be bent without breaking, but they need a bit more softening up.","So she covers the fibers with plastic and leaves them to soak a little longer.","She turns her attention to the sculpture's centerpiece, which will be made of copper.","She draws a design onto the copper's protective plastic liner.","Using metal shears, she cuts out the shape.","The artist peels off the plastic liner that has protected the copper, revealing the glossy, untarnished surface.","She now places the copper above a bag full of small pellets and pounds it using a nylon mallet.","This process gives the copper an aged, hammered texture.","She gives some areas on the other side the same treatment.","The hammering also bowls out the profile of the piece.","Using a marker, the artist draws a line about 1/3 of an inch in from the edge.","She marks dots onto this newly defined border, spacing them evenly apart.","She then punches holes through all the dots, using a lever-operated drill press.","She cuts out the space between the holes, and this process creates separate tabs for each hole.","The artisan now bends back the tabs, following the marked line.","The application of a clear powder coat prevents tarnishing.","After a few hours, the palm strands are now sufficiently softened.","She retrieves the strands from the hot-water soak and sets them aside.","The artist returns to the copper centerpiece and begins to weave, starting with rattan reeds that have also soaked to make them more pliable.","She pulls the reeds through the tabs and intercrosses them so that they fan out in two directions.","She then braids cotton string against the centerpiece.","This creates a neat and sturdy border all the way around.","She clips clothespins to the rattan to hold the braided border in place against the centerpiece.","She then trims the ends of the strings.","Next, the artist weaves rattan reeds parallel to the cotton braid, entwining them with the reeds that extend outward.","She creates one row of these rigid fibers for structure.","She's now ready for the palm strands.","After the soaking, the strands remain soft and pliable for many hours, so she doesn't have to rush the work.","As she continues, she alternates rows of palm and rattan fibers.","The different textures add visual interest to the basketry sculpture.","It will take two months to complete this work.","When the basketry work is done, the artist takes the piece outside and airbrushes them with acrylic paint.","She sometimes relies on a metal template to more evenly define the paint border.","It's the finishing touch to the basketry sculpture, and now it's up to the public to understand the story that the artist has woven.","The earliest tools for roasting coffee beans were pans you would hold over hot coals or an open fire, but, today, coffee roasting is a far more sophisticated process, using large, often fully automated machines with built-in gas burners that heat air to roast the beans.","This coffee roaster is both programmable and manually adjustable by touch panel.","The roast master can tailor the temperature and roasting time to influence flavor, acidity, and other characteristics of coffee.","To shape the roast chamber, workers feed a sheet of stainless steel through a sheet-metal roll.","The roast chamber is the drum in which the beans roast by convection heat.","The next step is to weld the rolled sheet into a cylinder.","Then workers grind and polish the welds until they're flat, smooth, and shiny.","Another worker makes the cooling tray in a similar way, but with a support band welded to the top.","The cooling tray is the drum into which the hot beans drop when they exit the roast chamber.","Stirring arms circulate the beans as a fan draws air through the tray to cool the hot beans.","Certain parts of the roaster are cut from a stainless-steel sheet.","Stainless steel is the ideal material not only because it's stylish, but also because it's durable and corrosion-resistant.","This computer-guided laser cutter is slicing out a safety component called the heat shield, which prevents the roast master from accidentally touching a hot surface.","The heat shield, like many other parts cut from stainless-steel sheets, has to be formed to a very precise shape.","A worker bends angles and curves into the metal with a press brake.","Another component, the trier, lets you draw a sample of beans during roasting.","A craftsman constructs the trier by welding various smaller parts to a piece of stainless-steel tube, then meticulously grinding and polishing the welds until they're smooth.","This high-pressure water-jet cutter also cuts parts from stainless-steel sheets.","This component is one of six flights, which is part of the paddle that lifts and mixes the beans inside the roast chamber so that they roast evenly.","To form the flights to the required shape, a worker curves them one at a time in a press.","Next, the welder places all the paddle components into a specialized fixture, which positions them correctly.","First, he aligns the spokes to the paddle shaft.","Then he welds the parts in place.","He positions the flights, clamps them securely, and welds them on.","The combination of inner and outer flights lifts the beans into the airflow, ensuring the beans roast evenly.","A custom-designed grinding machine hones the flights to produce a small clearance of around 1/10 of an inch between the edge of the paddle and the wall of the roast chamber.","This design ensures the paddle is wide enough to pick up every last coffee bean without touching the wall while rotating.","Once they install the paddle, a worker closes up the roast chamber with a faceplate.","Alignment pins ensure the faceplate is properly positioned.","The paddle shaft protrudes through a bearing in the faceplate.","The assembly team uses a hoist to lift the heavy chamber and position it on top of the coffee roaster's stainless-steel support frame.","They install the heat shield that was cut by the laser cutter and bent to shape in the press brake.","On top, the assembly team mounts the machine's funnel-shaped hopper.","The hopper feeds the unroasted coffee beans to the roast chamber below.","The hopper's lid has a tube, which connects to a vacuum system that draws the coffee beans up through a plastic hose.","On the front of the roasting chamber, an assembler hangs a hinged discharge door that has a viewing window.","He plugs in a sensor that measures the temperature of the beans in the roasting chamber and sends that information to the machine's computer.","More to come after this coffee break.","This coffee-roasting machine has three additional temperature sensors that send data to the computer.","These sensors measure the temperature of the air entering and exiting the roast chamber and the temperature of the clean air exhausting from the machine after the burner incinerates the smoke generated by the roasting process.","Workers continue assembly by installing the cooling tray beneath the discharge door of the roasting chamber.","The cooling tray sits on a support frame, which contains a motor that turns the stirring arms inside the tray.","At the back of the machine, a worker installs the tray's cooling fan and the motor that drives it.","This gauge measures the pressure of the air that mixes with the gas going into the machine's burner.","Next, they install the circulation fan.","The fan is designed to withstand high heat and move air efficiently throughout the coffee roaster.","The bottom end of this stainless-steel tube connects to a vacuum motor.","The top end connects to the tube protruding from the feed hopper's lid.","To fill the roasting chamber, the vacuum motor sucks the raw green coffee beans up into the hopper, which drops the beans into the chamber, where, as they roast, their papery skin, called the chaff, breaks off.","This separating device, known as a cyclone, connects to the circulation fan.","The fan blows hot air returning from the roasting chamber into the cyclone at high velocity.","The air circulates in a downward spiral past the burner at the base of the cyclone, incinerating the smoke.","This also draws the chaff out of the air into a barrel.","Nozzles spray water on the chaff to prevent it from catching fire, which is a common hazard with traditional coffee roasters.","The circulation fan then forces the clean, hot air up and out the top of the cyclone, through this \"s\"-shaped, insulated air duct, back into the roasting chamber.","A technician in the factory's electrical department assembles the machine's control panel.","Among other components, the circuitry runs control systems and the machine's six electric motors, which operate moving parts, such as the bean-drawing vacuum motor, the circulation fan, the cooling-tray fan, the roasting-chamber paddle, and cooling-tray stirring arms.","Workers then install the control panel in a cabinet on the side of the machine.","They connect all the wires.","They mount the machine's computer adjacent to the control-panel cabinet.","Next, a worker assembles the cooling-tray system.","A motor under the tray drives the stirring arms.","The hot roasted coffee beans sit on top of the stainless-steel screen.","The cooling fan pulls ambient air through the beans, down through the openings of the screen, then out an exhaust pipe to the outdoors.","The stirring arms move the beans around so that they cool quickly and evenly, which prevents the beans from continuing to roast.","The factory runs every finished coffee roaster through multiple test roasts.","After heating the roast chamber to a specific temperature, the operator uses the touch screen to release the beans into the chamber.","The hot air travels from the cyclone to the roast chamber, then through a return pipe back to the cyclone, where it's cleaned and sent back to the chamber.","To know when to manually end the roast cycle, the operator views, smells, and listens to the beans.","That's because coffee beans make crackling noises as they expand and shed their chaff.","The machine can also be set to end the roast cycle automatically when the beans reach their target temperature.","A trapdoor opens to draw in ambient air.","This cooler air pushes smoke in the roasting chamber up to the cyclone for incineration.","The computer can automatically open the roast chamber's discharge door, or the operator can do so manually.","As soon as the roasted coffee beans drop into the cooling tray, the stirring arms and cooling fan automatically start up.","If the beans are perfectly roasted, the machine is ready to be shipped to a coffee-roasting business."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Swords","Pontoons","Grandfather Clocks","Fuses"]},"text":["Swords.","Pontoons.","Grandfather clocks.","And fuses.","For thousands of years, wars were won and lost by the sword.","Swords helped shape history.","Today, modern artisans craft historical replicas of these age-old weapons, and they go to the hilt to make sure the details are just right.","This reproduction of a medieval sword hearkens back to the days of knights in shining armor.","The first step to making a sword is to place a piece of high-carbon steel in a fixture.","Computer-guided blades carve out the basic shape of the sword with all the specifications of the original.","Centuries ago, a blacksmith would have done this painstaking job by hand, but this machine is much faster and creates a much more consistent cut.","After about an hour of carving, a nicely tapered sword blank emerges.","The blank is submerged in hot liquid salt-- a critical step that softens the steel to eliminate stresses created by the carving.","Next, the blade is plunged into cool liquid in a process called quenching.","It immediately hardens the edges of the sword, but the center cools more slowly.","This allows the sword to retain flexibility, giving the blade a springy quality.","Using a belt grinder, sword makers fine-tune the blade's shape and hone its edges.","The blade is now incredibly sharp.","To test its strength, they strike a metal barrel with it.","Incredibly, the sword doesn't chip.","Next, wax is pumped into molds to make historically accurate copies of the hilt parts like the pommel-- which is the counterweight at the end of the hilt-- and the guard that separates the blade from the handle.","These wax copies are used to cast the parts in metal.","Then the cast-metal pieces are smoothed and polished.","They smooth away the rough edges on this sword guard and hone its profile.","Grinding the pommel is a challenge, because it has so many curves and angles.","One mistake, and the pommel could end up lopsided, which means it wouldn't be very effective as a counterweight.","With the blade in a padded vise, the guard slides onto the tang, where it's cushioned with a piece of plastic and a metal pipe.","Then a sledgehammer pounds it into position.","Next, the pommel is hammered into place.","And finally, a small piece of steel called a peen block is slipped on.","Heat from a torch softens the peen so it spreads as it's hammered down.","The epoxy gets a quick stir.","Then it's applied to two wooden grips as well as to the handle of the sword.","Then the grips are clamped into place.","Next, black dye is brushed onto a thin piece of leather.","The other side is coated with glue.","This glue-and-dye-drenched leather is then wrapped around the wooden handle.","It's bound with cord to compress the leather wrap while it dries.","Now it's time to brand the blade with the maker's insignia.","Chemicals etch the mark into the steel .","4 of an inch deep.","And now you have a replica that's true to the medieval original-- a piece of art that takes you back in time at swordpoint.","Coming up, putting together the pieces of a pontoon boat.","Party barge, floating bridge, luxury raft-- just some of the many functions of pontoon boats.","While their basic design hasn't changed much over the years, new materials have made pontoons bigger, sleeker, sturdier, and faster.","And what better way to enjoy an afternoon than on the lake.","In the old days, pontoons floated atop 45-gallon steel drums.","Today, they ride on custom-built floating chambers made of special aluminum alloy.","These floating chambers start off as sheets of aluminum.","This rolling machine forms them into tubes, applying pressure equivalent to the weight of 26 elephants.","A worker slides each cylinder onto a track to stabilize it for welding.","A pacing machine regulates the speed of the welding torch so that it connects the tube's edges evenly, producing a solid, watertight seal.","Meanwhile, this rolling machine shapes aluminum sheets into tapered cylinders called nose cones.","By varying the hydraulic pressure, the operator is able to mold the aluminum into the shape of a large cone.","They use a special aluminum alloy to make the chambers shockproof.","Next step, making this pontoon leakproof.","First, the welder clamps the nose cone seams together to prepare for welding.","Because of its unique shape, the nose cone has to be welded completely by hand.","This type of welding, called tig welding, generates temperatures that can reach 9,000 degrees fahrenheit.","The nose cones will sit at the bow of the boat, in front of the other floating chambers.","The waffled component at the end of each chamber is called the baffle.","It adds extra protection against leaks.","This hydraulic press squeezes the sections together for an extra-snug fit.","Chambers are welded together to form floats.","The number of chambers per float varies depending on the pontoon's length.","These risers will hold the pontoon's floor in place.","Each chamber floats on its own, so even with several punctures, the boat would stay afloat.","A worker shoots compressed air into each chamber to check for leaks.","He coats the welds with a soapy solution, which will bubble up in the case of an air leak.","This demonstration shows that if air can get out through this tiny hole, then water can get in through it.","Workers install aluminum cross members to support all the weight that will be added on top.","A pneumatic torque wrench is used to bolt the cross members into the risers with rustproof nuts.","Next, the boat's floor is constructed from sheets of pressure-treated plywood.","Pop rivets anchor it securely to the cross members.","Workers custom-cut and glue down a marine carpet.","It's made of plastic, so even with a lot of water exposure, it still won't rot.","Now for some fade-resistant decals.","Rollers crimp the boat's aluminum side panels to make them stronger.","Corrugated panels don't warp or wobble as much as flat ones.","Using a pop-rivet gun, a worker fastens the panels onto the railing.","This shaping machine curves the railing in all the right places, bending the malleable metal with varying pressure.","Next, workers bring the assembled pieces to the platform.","Screws and bolts secure everything to the boat's floor, including the furniture.","The pontoon's captain will command the craft using this console.","The buttons for the horn, lights, and music sit at the top of the console for easy access.","Extra touches bring some of the comforts of home to this craft.","Wires and control cables connect the captain's console to this 50-horsepower motor.","It's by no means a high-speed engine, but it gives a pontoon boat all the power it needs for a leisurely spin on the lake.","When we return, clocking in at a factory where time is money.","Invented centuries ago, grandfather clocks run on gravity.","When you wind the clock, weights inside are drawn upwards.","Gravity then pulls the weights down gradually, unwinding the cables and turning the hands of the clock.","The proper term for this type of timepiece is a long-case clock.","the nickname \"grandfather clock\" came from a popular song from the 1800s.","This long-established company makes its clock cases out of quality hardwoods, such as maple and oak.","To construct frames for the four sides and door, workers fit dowels into holes, then secure the pieces together with screws and glue.","They lay each frame in this curing machine that uses high-frequency radio waves to generate heat, drying the glue in seconds.","Workers connect the four frames with screws and glue.","They'll later attach the doorframe with hinges.","The next step is to assemble a base-- again, with dowels, glue, and screws.","Once the glue is dry, the assembled frame goes into the base.","Now for some embellishment.","Computer-guided routers carve elegant wood moldings that give this particular model a traditional feel.","Today's grandfather clocks come in styles to suit any decor.","Workers carefully sand every single piece of wood in the clock case.","The surface must be flawlessly smooth for it to absorb color evenly.","The moldings are attached with a combination of glue and nails.","These long pieces of wood become curved, fluted moldings.","They adorn the side of the doorframe.","This model also features a pair of stately columns above and below the flutes.","A worker first positions them with glue, then screws them securely into the frame from behind.","The next step is to stain the wood, hand-rubbing it to bring out the grain.","A coat of lacquer protects the wood and gives it a degree of sheen, from matte to glossy, depending on the model.","After installing the glass and door, it's time to install the clock's components.","Workers start with long, metal bars called chime rods, 8 to 12 of them, depending on the model.","Each chime rod produces a certain different musical note when struck.","Next comes a mechanism called the movement.","It contains timekeeping components that trigger the chime hammers to hit the chime rods on the hour, half-hour, or quarter-hour.","This company uses only top-quality, all-brass movements imported from germany.","The chime hammers are also made of brass, but they have plastic tips, so you only hear the musical note, not the sound of metal striking metal.","These brass pulleys hang from cables connected to the movement.","The pulleys will support the clock's three weights.","After connecting the movement to the clock dial, a worker inserts a decorative detail-- a wood panel to frame the dial.","Then she installs the clock's second hand into the center of a miniature dial.","On the main dial, the hour and the minute hands are attached.","Depending on the model, these aluminum hands are painted either black or gold.","A decorative nut secures them.","Finally, the all-important weights and pendulum.","The weights are brass canisters filled with lead.","Each one weighs almost 9 pounds.","The pendulum sways from side to side at an even pace.","This ensures that the clock keeps accurate time.","It also drives the clock to chime on the hour or fraction of the hour.","All you have to do to keep this clock ticking is wind it up about once a week.","Up next, behind the scenes at a fuse factory.","Invented in the 19th century, fuses are designed to blow whenever there's a power overload.","This stops the flow of electricity and prevents a wiring fire.","We may never see fuses in action, but they're constantly working to protect us wherever electrical current flows.","Choosing the right fuse depends on the amount of current.","To make a high-voltage fuse for use in electrical substations, this machine cuts notches into a long, silver strip, which will serve as the fuse's element.","The notches will help control the way the fuse blows.","Bits of soft metal are melted onto the strip.","These will be the points where the fuse blows.","One end of the silver element is welded to the top of a ceramic core...","And the element is wound around it.","Workers slide the element core into the fuse casing and bend back metal tabs.","Then, using a soldering technique called brazing, they seal everything together.","They take a brass washer and wind ignition wire around it.","They're assembling the striker pin-- the device that indicates a blown fuse and shuts down the power.","The striker pin is fitted to the washer, and with the wire protruding, it's placed into a holding device.","Explosive powder is added to each striker pin.","Then the bottom of the pin is plugged with a rubber stopper.","Next, the striker pin is pressed into a brass capsule.","This will contain the mini-explosion that pushes out the pin when the fuse is blown.","This test run shows how it all happens.","The pin's ignition wire is wrapped around an electrical post.","Workers clamp down the pin and position the pendulum that swings to indicate the amount of force with which the pin fires.","A jolt of power detonates the explosive.","This causes the pin to protrude, signifying a blown fuse.","Now, a metal eyelet slides onto the striker pin's ignition wire, and then a wire coil is attached to it, completing the striker pin's ignition system.","A snare pulls the whole assembly into the fuse.","The end of the coil is tied to the fuse's cap.","And an outer cap is press-fitted over the inner one.","Next, the fuse is filled with sand.","This sand will absorb energy from the element when the fuse blows.","Automated rods tap the fuses to compact the sand inside.","Next, an outer cap is lubricated...","And it's pressed onto the other end of the fuse.","This machine spins grooves onto the cap, pinching it tightly to the fuse casing.","A current is run through each one of these fuses, checking the voltage to confirm that they're in good working order.","Sealant is then pumped around the cap's rims to make them completely airtight.","Finally, the safety information is affixed to the fuse.","And some electrical specifications are stamped onto the caps.","Now these fuses are ready to go with the electrical flow and blow at the first sign of trouble."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Saunas","Wheelchair Lifts","Dioramas"]},"text":["The sauna is a centuries-old finnish tradition.","99% of finns sit in a sauna at least once a week.","Most homes, apartment buildings, and even offices have one.","Don't live in finland but want to enjoy the benefits of a home sauna?","No sweat.","This outdoor sauna is made of premium canadian red cedar, which is aromatic and resistant to mold.","First, they measure the wood with a hydrometer to ensure the humidity level is below 12%.","If the wood is too moist, it will shrink after assembly, leaving gaps between the planks.","Once they've determined that the wood is stable, they put the planks through a molder.","The machine's seven different toolheads smooth the top and bottom surfaces.","The machine also carves tongue and groove edges that will tightly lock one plank to the next.","The assemblers build the barrel-shaped sauna in sections.","For the bottom, they start with a central plank that has a tongue on both sides.","The tongues and grooves fit together to render the joints watertight.","The assemblers continue adding planks until there are eight on each side of the central one.","They construct the sauna's back wall using the same technique.","Once they've joined together the required number of planks, they lay down a circular template and secure it with clamps.","Then they cut around the template with a router.","To further secure the planks to each other, they drill angled holes through adjacent ones...","And drive in screws.","They also screw in three horizontal reinforcement planks.","Using a pattern as a guide, they cut out a window with the router.","They screw window moldings around the opening.","They apply an adhesive-backed rubber insulation strip along the perimeter.","This will prevent heat and water from leaking out between the walls of the sauna.","They mount the front and back walls onto the bottom section.","They add planks to both sides of the bottom section to gradually build up the curved side walls.","The side walls meet at the top on either side of a central plank that's pre-wired with the sauna's l.e.d. ceiling lights.","Workers strap three galvanized-steel cables around the sides...","And pull them to a specific tension.","These cables further bind the planks to each other.","The structural assembly is now complete.","They begin installing the interior components, starting with a thermometer and hydrometer.","Next, they mount a pivoting cover over the fresh-air-vent holes.","This allows users to block outside air or allow it in.","Then they add an hourglass that counts down 15 minutes-- the recommended time to spend in a sauna.","Next comes the electric stove.","It contains volcanic rocks that absorb and store the heat.","You have the option of pouring water onto the hot rocks to create steam.","After installing benches and a water-absorbent rubber floor, they hang the door.","The glass in both the door and rear window is tinted for privacy.","The sauna reaches a temperature of 185 degrees.","The barrel shape of the sauna optimizes the circulation of the heat and steam.","A wheelchair lift is an elevator designed to carry wheelchair users up and down a multistory building.","It can be installed both inside and outside.","A lift makes a building accessible to anyone for whom stairs are a barrier.","A wheelchair lift can be installed in virtually any building or private home.","All that's needed is sufficient vertical space and compliance with local elevator and building codes.","A hydraulic lift moves the passenger cab on a rail system.","The motor and mechanisms are concealed in an attached metal tower.","The structure of the walls surrounding the lift are made of aluminum, which arrive from the supplier in long pieces.","Workers here at the factory cut them to the required length.","They shape the corners and cut the slots required for assembly.","To make each section of the wall, they join four pieces to construct a frame.","Once the frames for all the wall sections are ready, workers assemble them to make sure the pieces fit together correctly.","They make any necessary adjustments, then take the wall sections apart to insert the panels.","The wall panels are made of aluminum, acrylic, or tempered glass.","Workers first lay down a foam spacer strip to prevent the panel from rattling.","Then they secure the panel to the frame with snap-in aluminum molding.","From here, the wall sections go to the packing department.","Now it's time for the lift's mechanical system.","In between the steel side rails, workers mount three u-shaped supports and a cylinder.","These will hold the hydraulic piston, which expands and retracts to move the passenger cab up and down.","Workers verify the position of the support brackets and secure them in place.","Then they install the piston into the cylinder and onto the three supports.","The piston is locked in place with thick steel brackets.","They install the controller, the wheelchair lift's brain center.","The controller regulates everything, from the passenger cab's movement to the safety sensors and door locks.","Workers install the pump.","It pushes hydraulic fluid into the piston to move the cab.","They take the power cord from both the pump and controller and hook them up to their respective terminals.","Then they connect the hose for the hydraulic fluid.","It runs from pump to the piston via this manifold.","The manifold has a shutoff valve so maintenance technicians can safely disable the wheelchair lift for servicing.","Workers test then connect the landing switches.","The lift installers will use these switches to set the travel distance between stories.","This ensures the passenger cab will stop level with the floor at each landing.","The cab sits on a steel platform called a sling.","A worker now screws the sling's left side to the left skate-- a four-wheel trolley that runs on the lift's left rail.","He does the same with the right side.","The skates connect to this heavy-duty drive chain that turns on a roller at the top of the piston.","For the cab to ascend, the pump pushes hydraulic fluid into the piston.","The piston expands and pushes on the drive chain, moving the skates up the rails.","When you push the \"descend\" button, a valve opens, allowing hydraulic fluid to exit the piston.","Aided by gravity, the cab gradually descends.","They test the operation panel they'll later install in the cab.","They make sure all the buttons work and move the sling up and down correctly.","Workers also test the safety brakes installed in the skates.","If the drive chain ever loses tension, the brakes automatically block the rails to prevent the cab from falling.","Installers assemble the cab on-site and mount it on the sling that will move it from floor to floor.","A diorama is a 3-d scene that offers a glimpse of another place or time.","It is believed to have been invented by a french theatrical designer in 1822.","Despite modern digital technology, the diorama continues to be a great way to create an illusion.","This is an art exhibit created by one diorama artist.","This particular series depicts an apocalyptic scenario.","The images are powerful and authentic.","It all starts with some background research.","The artist and assistant decide on a chinese-takeout-restaurant scene and take pictures for reference.","Back in the studio, the artist checks the scale of components to be featured in the diorama scene, like a fox.","To make the scene look real, the size of the fox must be in proportion to everything else.","She decides that it will work.","But the toy scooter is too small, so she produces a template that's to scale.","Her assistant then pencils an outline of the template onto a piece of rigid foam to make a version of the scooter that's the correct size.","She carves out the shape using a hot wire.","It melts the foam for a cleaner cut than could be achieved with a knife.","The piece of foam now has scooter-like curves, but it's far too chunky.","She whittles it down using a utility knife.","She sands the foam to refine the carving.","A paint job and a set of wheels complete the transformation.","Next, she copies newspaper pages and shrinks them down to the correct scale.","She cuts the borders and gathers them in a pile.","She brushes thinned latex paint on the pages.","This gives them the yellowed appearance of old newspapers.","She crumples and un-crumples the pages for an effect that also makes them look old.","She cuts out images of many chinese-food takeout cartons.","They've been printed onto paperboard and include crease lines for folding.","Folding a carton is a kind of origami-- the japanese art of folding-- and it's a bit more challenging on such a miniature scale, but practice makes perfect.","She applies glue to the folded flaps and presses them together.","Clamps hold the seams in place until the glue dries.","To create a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, they'll scatter leaves throughout the diorama.","The assistant now selects leaves that have been pressed for about a week and can still be handled without breaking.","She punches out mini leaf shapes with a handy crafting tool and accumulates piles in various colors.","Because it's punched from actual leaves, the miniature foliage looks very authentic.","Next, she works a lump of polymer clay until it's soft and narrow.","She inserts the clay into an extruder and presses it through perforations at the end.","This creates strands of clay that look like tiny lo mein noodles.","She arranges the clay on a tiny paper plate.","She then brushes brown paint onto the noodles to imitate sauce.","She rolls green clay into long strands and chops it up to mimic the look of green onions.","These small touches make a difference.","The creation of the diorama continues after this break.","A diorama is an art form that is all about thinking inside the box.","An artist builds a 3-d scene within a boxy structure.","It has one side open for viewing.","The scene can be true to life or inspired by a place or event, and sometimes, a diorama can change the way we look at the world.","The clay mini meals are now complete, and the artist uses them to create a fake menu sign.","She snaps pictures of each of the chinese-food selections.","The choices include sesame chicken...","Fried and steamed dumplings, and a new york favorite, chicken wings with fries.","Printed onto translucent plastic, the clay imitations look quite mouthwatering.","She brushes thinned white paint onto the photographs to create a cloudy residue...","And adds streaks of thinned brown paint to the menu sign to mimic dust particles.","Now she builds the diorama walls using foam sheets.","She glues mirrored plastic panels to one wall.","The reflections will make this diorama seem more spacious.","She hot-glues a sign to the mirror.","It outlines the correct procedure in a choking emergency.","She tapes the corners with little strips of masking tape.","She then rubs ground-up volcanic ash onto the mirror.","The ash clings to the surface and emulates grease buildup.","It will also make the mirror's reflections hazy.","After careful measuring, she cuts out a door from polystyrene and spray-paints it silver.","She assembles the door to the back wall, but first installs lighting above the doorway and tests it.","With the lights installed, she glues the translucent menu sign to the framework.","Switched on, these backlights illuminate the menu choices.","The artist and her assistant attach the walls of the diorama to a tile-patterned foam floor.","They tape the walls together from the back.","They scatter grass and dirt throughout the scene.","This represents nature taking over after an apocalypse.","An overturned trash can and yellowed newspapers on the floor imply the sudden departure of humans.","They decide the scene needs more grass and dirt, so they distribute more across the floor.","They now place the motorbike into the scene.","Empty takeout containers and a plastic fox in the open doorway add to the illusion of an urban landscape returning to nature.","They add the third wall and the ceiling with its fluorescent lighting.","The scene has been set, and now the artist focuses an 8x10 film camera on it.","This large-format camera will produce a high-resolution image.","She adjusts the lighting and, when satisfied, takes three shots.","This is a carefully crafted scene viewed through the camera's eye.","The team has even built and shot a diorama of their studio.","Ordinary spaces become extraordinary when recreated in a diorama and photographed.","Many scenes, when printed large, appear true to life."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Channel Signs","Wetsuits","Aluminum Aircraft"]},"text":["A channel sign is made of individual letters that are fixed to a building or backdrop.","The letters have internal channels that house either neon or led lights.","At night, the channel letters light up and make a bold statement.","Channel letters are three-dimensional and really stand out from the rest.","The illuminated signs grab people's attention and convert them into potential customers.","Channel letters are made from acrylic.","The factory uses colored vinyl to tint them.","An employee peels the liner from the vinyl, exposing the adhesive backing.","He uses a roller to apply the vinyl to one side of the clear acrylic.","The other side of the acrylic sheet is covered with a paper liner.","A computerized router cuts the letters out on that side.","The font style and size are custom-made for the client.","After the letters are cut out, they remove the paper backing.","The employees use nails to hold the letters in place as they work.","The worker unrolls plastic trim cap and cuts it to fit around the letter.","He lines the letter with trim and hammers in more nails, to keep everything in place.","He makes cuts to the trim to form neat corners.","The trim cap gives the letter a finished look.","It also creates a surface for attaching the back letter enclosure, called the letter can.","He seals the trim around the entire length with high-strength glue.","Once it dries, he removes the nails.","Now, it's ready for the letter can.","To make the sides of the letter can, they feed a wide strip of aluminum into a computerized machine.","It bends the aluminum to match the face of the letter.","It also forms a lip at the bottom, to attach the can to the back wall.","The side of each channel letter is called the return.","It attaches the letter face to the back wall.","The return also creates the channel which holds the lighting and directs the illumination.","These are the dies that cut and shape the aluminum.","Using a computerized machine, it takes the worker a few minutes to create the channel letter return.","It would take four times longer to make the letter return by hand.","Here is a completed channel letter return with the ends welded together.","An employee slides the side structure over the back wall to form the letter can.","He checks the fit, then clinches the back to the return.","This completes the channel letter can.","They run led lights throughout the can.","In recent years, led lights have replaced neon tubes because they are more energy-efficient.","An employee paints the aluminum can to match the vinyl on the letter's acrylic front.","They test the lights.","If they work, the technicians mount the letter can to the sign backdrop.","The installer attaches the translucent acrylic face to the can.","It takes about an hour to make one channel letter and a couple of days to make an entire channel sign.","The final product is sure to be noticed.","The wetsuit was invented in the mid-20th century.","However, it wasn't an immediate hit.","Made of a synthetic rubber called neoprene, the early wetsuits were hard to put on and irritated the skin.","But recent neoprene improvements have made the wetsuit a popular choice for protection against the elements.","When the surf is up, but the water temperature is down, a neoprene wetsuit is a practical swimwear choice.","Even when wet, it keeps the body warm.","Wetsuits fit like a second skin, so many surfers and divers have theirs custom-made.","The tailor measures the client from the neck to the ankles.","The suit allows a small amount of water to seep between it and the skin.","Body heat warms the water, insulating the swimmer.","Using the measurements, a team cuts out cardboard patterns.","Then, a worker uses the patters to cut the neoprene pieces.","They use neoprene because its cellular structure is a good insulator.","The number of pieces in each suit varies, according to the style and size.","Each suit has at least 15 pieces and can have as much as 30.","Fabric for the wetsuits comes in a variety of colors.","Some fabric will be used for accent panels, while others create the structural elements.","The pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.","A worker heats one of the panels with a hot press.","This slightly expands the neoprene.","He places a decal of the company logo on the panel.","He lowers the press again to fuse the logo to the panel.","As the neoprene cools, it shrinks to its original size, making the lettering less likely to crack.","Next, a worker applies waterproof rubberized glue to the edges of the neoprene panels.","This is one of the most important parts of the wetsuit's construction.","Too little glue could affect both the adhesion of the panels and the waterproofing of the seams.","But if he applies too much glue, it could bleed into the colored panels.","He pushes the glued panels together at the seams.","The panels adhere instantly, and the wetsuit comes together quickly.","It takes him about 45 minutes to put a wetsuit together.","He inserts paper in the bottom half of the wetsuit.","This prevents the front of the suit from sticking to the back as he joins the top assembly to the bottom.","He lets the glue dry for a few minutes.","Then, a seamstress turns the suit inside out and stitches the seams.","She uses a curved needle, so it doesn't go all the way through the fabric.","This is called blind stitching.","It doesn't puncture the fabric.","It also creates flat seams.","Using a hot roller, she applies nylon tape to the back of the seams for extra waterproofing.","A nozzle blows hot air to melt the adhesive onto the fabric.","She sews a plastic zipper onto the back of the wetsuit and attaches a hook-and-loop stopper, to prevent unzipping.","Another team member brushes rubberized glue around the zipper.","He presses the edges of a neoprene panel to the glued area, creating a waterproof barrier around the zipper.","He trims the end of the panel.","This custom neoprene wetsuit is complete.","From start to finish, the process takes 5 to 6 hours.","He tests the zipper and closely scrutinizes the workmanship.","After passing an initial inspection, this wetsuit is ready for a fitting.","A good fit is crucial to its performance.","If the wetsuit doesn't fit properly, cold water will pass through it and the suit will fail to keep the surfer warm.","It meets expectations, so she's ready to test the water with this custom neoprene wetsuit.","Airplanes need to be durable, to withstand the wear and tear of frequent flying and the dangers of landing on rugged airstrips.","Most small airplanes are made with aluminum because it's both sturdy and lightweight.","Some aluminum aircraft are twin engines, meaning they have a propeller on each wing.","Single-engine models, like this one, have one propeller, typically on the nose.","This airplane also has a pressurized cabin, so it can reach an altitude of about 30,000 feet.","It also has a deicing system for the wings, tail, and propeller blades, so it can fly safely in cold, wet conditions.","The aluminum is delivered to the factory in long rolls.","They unwind each roll and feed the aluminum through a series of heavy rollers, to press out the curl.","A blade at the end of the machine automatically slices the flat aluminum into smaller pieces.","The thickness of the aluminum varies, depending on the part they're making.","They use a 3-millimeter sheet of aluminum to make the cockpit instrument panel.","A computer-guided mill cuts the profile, drills screw holes for installation, and cuts all the openings for the instrumentation.","The sheet goes from this to this.","A computer-guided router cuts out most of the wing components.","Workers feed it between machine rollers that slowly bend it to a specific angle.","Once the bend is complete, they use templates to check both sides and make sure it meets specifications.","During production, residue from the factory machines contaminate the aluminum pieces, so, once all the parts are created, they are thoroughly cleaned.","The machine washes them in soapy water twice and then rinses them off.","Once the parts are clean, the machine submerges them in an acid bath.","This preps the surface for a coat of protective primer.","Once it's primed, workers clean the surface with solvent.","Then, they lay the part on a sheet of epoxy adhesive and cut along the perimeter, to create an adhesive backing.","Later, they'll activate the adhesive with heat and pressure.","Once all the parts have their custom-cut adhesive, workers assemble them on a bonding fixture.","Metal clamps hold the parts in position.","This assembly is the internal structure of the wing's leading edge.","The long pieces are called stringers.","They're clamped to oval access panels that enable maintenance technicians to get inside the wing.","Next, workers position and clamp the skin of the leading edge on top of the internal wing structure.","They heat the entire assembly in an oven for 2 hours at 275° fahrenheit.","This activates the adhesive and bonds all the assembled parts together.","Meanwhile, another team assembles the aluminum frame of the airplane's fuselage section.","They load the parts onto an assembly fixture and rivet them together.","When we return, they'll apply an aluminum cover to the frame.","The aluminum skin of an airplane consists of numerous panels, so the body is easier to repair.","Technicians simply remove the damaged panel, instead of replacing the entire section.","Workers start by applying an airtight sealant to close any gaps between the skin and the frame.","The fuselage must be sealed, so the cabin can be pressurized.","A pressurized cabin allows passengers to breathe comfortably at higher altitudes.","Once the sealing is complete, they attach the corresponding aluminum skin panel.","It has already been primed for paint.","They apply cleko fasteners, to properly align the panel until it's riveted to the frame.","Then, they select the rivets.","They'll need rivets of various sizes and strengths for the different parts of the plane.","They begin riveting the holes that don't have cleko fasteners in them.","Then, they remove the clekos and rivet those holes as well.","The fuselage is built in six sections.","The front section houses the engine compartment.","All the sections have attachment panels that fit in between the frame and skin of the adjacent part.","Workers rivet the sections together.","Once the back sections are installed, they rivet the completed fuselage to the main spar that connects the wings.","They install the retractable landing gear, the tail-section rudder, and stabilizers.","They also install the moving flaps and ailerons.","Workers weld together steel tubes to create the engine mount.","The mount will be installed in the engine compartment in the front of the fuselage.","This section also houses the nose landing gear.","They prime and paint the steel engine mount, to prevent corrosion.","This plane has a 500-horsepower turbine engine.","Workers bolt it to the engine mount.","Then, they bolt the engine mount to the airplane's engine compartment.","The engine rotates a shaft which spins the propeller.","Meanwhile, all the airplane's electrical wiring is mapped out on an assembly board.","Each wire has a number.","The wires are arranged in a specific configuration.","Then, workers group the wires by their location in the airplane and tie them in a wiring harness.","These wires are for the back of the instrument panel.","The circuit breakers are located on either side of the flight display panel.","With the push of a button, the pilot can customize the information displayed on the center screen.","Technicians thoroughly test all the electronic functions, as well as the autopilot system.","One pilot can operate this plane, but it comes with an extra yoke, to accommodate a copilot.","Workers install the interior and the windows.","Then, mechanics verify the flight control surfaces, the moving parts on the wings and tail that change altitude or direction.","Here, they're checking the ailerons.","A mechanic in the cockpit turns the yoke while another uses a rigging board to measure how the aileron responds.","If the angle's off, he makes an adjustment.","They check the landing gear, to make sure it drops down from the wing and engine compartment.","Then, they mask the windows and apply a second coat of primer, for extra protection against corrosion.","When the primer dries, they paint the plane to the customer's specifications.","Then, they paint the plane's registration number on both sides, as required by law.","The airplane's deicing system heats the propeller blades to melt ice buildup.","It also uses inflatable rubber bladders attached to the wing and tail.","The pilot throws a switch to inflate the bladders and break any ice, ensuring a smooth, safe ride, even in poor weather conditions."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Countertop Laminate","Frozen Treats","Children's Building Blocks","Detergents"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Laminate...","Frozen treats...","Children's building blocks...","And detergents.","Laminate is a thin, decorative surface layer that's usually glued onto a particleboard base to create a countertop.","Laminate is, by far, the most affordable countertop material on the market.","It comes in an endless choice of colors and patterns, from solids to simulated wood or granite.","They also use laminate for kitchen cabinets, furniture, and laboratory surfaces.","And they manufacture fast-food restaurant seating, among other things, out of a thicker, solid form of the material called compact laminate.","The back of a laminate sheet is made of a type of kraft paper that can be saturated without becoming soggy and tearing.","A treater drenches it with resin containing phenol, a compound derived from benzene.","The resin doesn't just coat the paper.","It absorbs right through.","The paper then enters a drying oven.","The hot air cures the resin in a matter of seconds.","Now they can wind the paper into a roll.","The top of the laminate is called the decorative layer.","It's a sheet of paper in either a printed design or a solid color.","Solid-color papers go through a treater that impregnates them with the more durable melamine resin.","Durability is essential because the decorative layer must withstand wear and tear.","Two big rollers ring out the excess resin.","Then the saturated paper goes through a drying oven.","With the resin now cured, a cutter slices the paper into sheets.","Before resin treatment, the paper was flexible and easy to tear.","Now it's stiff and brittle.","Bend it, and it snaps like a potato chip.","While the rolls of saturated kraft paper get cut into sheets, workers prepare the other style of decorative layers-- those with printed design, such as simulated wood grains and granite.","The treatment process for these papers is quite different than that for the solid-color papers.","Workers start by cutting them into sheets the same length as the kraft-paper sheets.","These papers don't go into a treater to be saturated with resin.","Instead workers stack them, placing an overlay on each one.","An overlay is a transparent sheet of paper that's saturated with melanin resin.","Workers stack the solid-color sheets in the same pile, but those don't need overlays because they've already been resin-saturated.","Now the stack goes to the press room.","There, workers put saturated kraft paper under each decorative layer.","On top of each decorative layer, they lay a textured plate.","This will prevent the finished laminate from sticking together.","Everything now goes into a press.","The intense heat and pressure compress the layers.","The overlays bond to the printed papers, and the saturated kraft paper bonds to each decorative layer, creating laminate sheets.","The textured plates between each set imprint their pattern onto the heat-softened resin, texturing the laminate surface.","The laminates come out of the press fully cured.","On the finishing line, machines trim off any excess paper on the edges and sand the back of the sheets.","This helps the laminate adhere better when glued to particleboard or another type of substrate.","To produce compact laminates, workers compile a thick stack of black saturated kraft papers and sandwich it between two decorative layers.","The press melts and bonds all the sheets into a solid unit.","Alternating colors produce a striped edge.","Compact laminates are so thick, they're entirely self-supporting.","Unlike laminate sheets, they don't need to be applied to a substrate.","On a sweltering summer day, a frozen treat sure hits the spot.","Eating a fruit bar, fudge bar, or ice-cream bar, though, requires a certain strategy.","You have to hold the treat by the stick, lean slightly forward to dodge the drips, then lick like crazy before it melts and lands at your feet.","The outer shell of these cream pops starts with a transparent base made of water, liquid sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, and a stabilizer.","It travels to three separate compartment vats, each of which mixes in a different coloring and flavoring.","This company produces three flavors of cream pops-- strawberry, orange, and blue raspberry.","Each compartment vat pumps its flavor to a machine called the filling hopper.","The hopper injects the liquid into row upon row of half-ounce pop-shaped molds.","This production line has 340 molds in continuous motion.","The molds descend into a tank of brine, water chilled to negative 30 degrees fahrenheit mixed with calcium.","Calcium works like antifreeze, keeping the water liquid despite the below-freezing temperature.","As the molds travel through the ice-cold brine, the liquid freezes from the outside inward, creating a shell that will encase the pops' ice-cream filling.","Once the shell is 1/10 of an inch thick, a machine called a suction evacuator removes the unfrozen liquid and feeds it back to the filling hopper, to be re-injected at the start of the line.","The shells are empty now and ready for filling.","The ice-cream filling is made of various milk products blended with liquid cane sugar, corn syrup, stabilizers, and emulsifiers to puff up the consistency.","The factory pasteurizes the mixture, heating it for 35 seconds at 180 degrees fahrenheit, then freezing it.","It homogenizes the filling, skimming off the milk fat that rises to the surface.","The shells are still floating in brine as they reach the filling station.","The machine shoots in the ice cream, overfilling the shell a bit to create a cap 4/10 of an inch wide.","The ice cream begins to harden in the cold brine.","Once it reaches a semi-frozen state, a machine appropriately called the stick inserter pops a wooden stick in each mold.","Now the molds leave the brine and enter a tank of warm water-- 75 degrees fahrenheit, hot enough to detach the cream pops from the mold without melting them in the process.","From initial injection to final extraction, it's been seven minutes.","The machine dips the cream pops in cold water to produce a protective coating of ice.","This will keep the surface from sticking to the wrapper.","It will also lengthen the product's shelf life.","The machine deposits the cream pops into a continuous stream of paper wrapping.","Heating elements seal the wrapper on top and between pops, then a slicer cuts them apart.","The empty molds go through an automatic wash-and-rinse cycle on their way back to the start of the line.","These molds are for making chocolate-fudge bars.","The production process is the same, except that the shell is fudge-flavored, made from milk solids and chocolate powder.","And instead of ice cream in the center, there's chewy chocolate syrup.","The factory stamps the packaging for all its frozen treats with the production date and other information.","These frozen treats have a one-year shelf life in the freezer, provided you maintain the temperature at an ideal negative 13 degrees fahrenheit.","Few toys are as timeless as interlocking building blocks.","Children can stick them together, pull them apart, and rearrange them endlessly.","From large-sized blocks for babies to intricate kits for older kids, building blocks stimulate creativity and improve manual dexterity.","This company makes plastic building blocks.","Depending on the type of block, it uses either polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, or high-impact polystyrene.","These plastics arrive at the factory in pellets.","Because they're naturally transparent, the first step is to color them.","The pellets go into a mixer along with pigment beads made of powdered pigment and a type of plastic that's compatible with the pellets.","The pigment beads make up just 2% of the weight, but that's enough to color the plastic a deep hue.","The mixer feeds a plastic injection machine.","It heats the pellets to 400 degrees fahrenheit, melting them in a matter of seconds.","The machine then injects the molten plastic into molds.","A system of hoses cools the molds with cold water, instantly hardening the plastic.","When the machine opens, ejectors thrust the blocks to a conveyor belt below.","For these blocks, the entire cycle, from start to finish, takes just 14 seconds.","The length of the cycle varies with the size of the block.","This large school bus, for example, requires more plastic, so injection molding takes 22 seconds.","The wheels for the bus take 20 seconds.","At packaging time, each type of block is loaded into a separate vibrating bowl.","The shaking separates the pieces, enabling them to pass by an optical counter one by one.","This automated counting equipment can tally up to 16 different types of blocks at a time.","It can be programmed to assemble a kit consisting of specific quantities of certain blocks.","Once each kit is counted, it drops into a bucket.","The factory also makes the buckets by plastic injection molding.","And it even incorporates the labeling right into that process.","Here's how it all works.","A robot takes two labels, one for the front of the bucket and one for the back.","It passes a static generator that charges them with static electricity.","Then it loads the two labels into the mold.","The static cling holds them in a flat position while the machine injects the plastic and molds the bucket.","The hot plastic melts the labels on contact, bonding them into the finished bucket.","The result-- labels that can't be peeled off.","The factory produces large blocks from polypropylene or high-density polyethylene, which are flexible plastics.","This makes the blocks easier for young children to use.","Small blocks are made of high-impact polystyrene, a plastic that can be molded with great precision into tight-fitting blocks designed for older children.","Just walk down the aisle of your local supermarket, and you'll see shelf upon shelves of soaps and detergents.","With so many versions of each product to choose from, from extra-strength to antibacterial to lemon-fresh scent, consumers aren't the only ones cleaning up.","The craft of soapmaking began in europe around 700 a.d., but soap remained a luxury item for another thousand years.","That's when a french scientist discovered how to make inexpensive lye using table salt.","People also made soap at home, by boiling wood ashes with animal fats.","By the 1900s, the growing soap industry found ways to make mild and fragranced products.","And in 1916, a german scientist invented the first synthetic detergent.","This company produces mostly industrial-use detergents, liquid and powdered.","It uses salt as filler in the powdered ones.","Fillers add volume, making a product less concentrated.","This will be a powdered detergent for cleaning and degreasing cement floors.","They add colorant, then surfactant, a substance that creates foam, the vehicle for lifting away dirt.","Now they pour in pine oil, a disinfecting agent that also adds fragrance.","Now the cleaning agent--  sodium tripolyphosphate.","It's essential to mix all the ingredients thoroughly.","This ensures the chemicals are evenly distributed throughout the cleaner.","The last ingredient is a chemical called sodium metasilicate.","It boosts the mixture's alkaline level.","This particular cleaner needs high alkalinity to be effective.","The factory packages its powdered cleaners, such as this laundry soap, in large plastic buckets.","Automated equipment weighs, then pours in the appropriate amount, capping the container tightly to prevent leaks.","The filler in liquid cleaning products is water.","To produce liquid hand soap, they first add citric acid.","This creates the mild acidity needed to get the most out of the surfactants.","This soap contains three different types of surfactants.","It's a specific formulation designed by the company chemist to optimize the soap's cleaning power.","To give the soap a pearl luster, the company uses this secret recipe of chemicals.","The factory makes most of its liquid soap from this same base mixture.","The colors and fragrances vary.","For coloring, it uses powdered pigments.","It dissolves them in hot water, then pours them in.","This batch of soap will be pink.","They pour in a rose-scented fragrance...","Then add a preservative to prevent the proliferation of bacteria should the soap be exposed to a substandard environment.","Finally, they adjust the viscosity by adding a powdered thickener.","If liquid soap is runny, it'll leak out of the dispenser.","After 15 minutes of mixing, the soap is ready.","And the lab analyzes a sample, assessing its physical and chemical properties.","When the batch gets the \"okay,\" it proceeds to the packaging machine.","This soap is going into dispenser bags made of plastic film.","The machine first inserts a valve.","It heat-seals the film, forming the bottom of the bag.","Then it injects 27 ounces of soap.","Next, it simultaneously heat-seals the top of the bag and the bottom of the next one.","It cuts them apart, releasing the finished bag to a conveyor belt below.","After checking for leaks, workers insert a spout that controls output from the valve.","This ensures the dispenser will release a measured amount of soap per push.","Elsewhere in the factory, an automated machine called the pressure filler pumps dishwashing liquid into plastic bottles.","An overflow and weight-control device ensures the right fill level.","The next machine applies a twist cap with pull-out spout.","Then it's off to labeling.","Those bags of liquid hand soap went into special boxes that are designed to slip right into the soap dispenser."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Needles & Pins","Architectural Mouldings","Locomotives","Clothespins"]},"text":["Throughout history, sewing needles have kept things from falling apart at the seams.","From primitive times, when needles were made of bone, to today's thin steel versions, sewing needles have played an important role in our lives.","For many years, this simple tool made it possible to clothe an entire family.","Today, when most clothing is factory-made, a sewing kit remains a household essential.","When things start to unravel, a needle and thread offer a quick fix.","Sewing needles begin with thin steel wire.","Machinery uncoils two spools simultaneously and pulls the wires across guide wheels and into narrow passageways to remove kinks and straighten the wires.","And then cutters slice them to the length of two needles.","The wires exit into shaking chutes and fall into bins in neat piles.","Each one will be used to make two needles.","This grinding wheel turns, and, at the same time, an overhead wheel revolves in a different direction, to bear down on the ends of the wires and grind them to a point.","Sparks fly from the friction.","It takes up to six grindings to make the tips sharp enough.","Then the wires head down the line to a series of stamping machines.","The first one flattens each wire at midpoint to form two needle heads.","The next stamping device punch-cuts two eyes, one in each head.","The third machine cuts the wire in two and trims excess material from around the needle heads.","The needles fall into a bin.","In three quick steps, this steel wire has been transformed into two sewing needles.","Next they toughen the metal by first baking the needles in an oven and then quickly bringing down their temperature.","The temperature shock hardens the needles.","They cover the needles with glycerin oil and a polishing powder.","They wrap them in a bundle of plastic and cloth and stitch it up.","They roll a layer of leather around the bundle of needles.","The package then goes into a special rolling mill.","It spins in this machine for two days.","Inside, the needles agitate with the polishing ingredients, and they emerge looking much smoother.","Then it's into a washing machine for a scrub with soap and water.","This removes the polishing residue to prepare them for electroplating.","Electroplating gives the needles an outer skin of corrosion-resistant nickel.","The needles now move forward into a sorting system that ensures the needles are pointing in one direction.","An inspector examines the needles for flaws and sorts out the defective ones.","They dip the eyes of some needles in a gold bath and apply an electrical charge so the gold gravitates to the nickel and adheres.","A little gold around the eyes makes them stand out, so these needles should be easier to thread.","Meanwhile, the production of pins is well underway.","Gas jets melt glass into tiny dollops, which stick on to the tops of the pins as they roll by.","The glass hardens in seconds, going from transparent to opaque.","These glass-headed pins are now ready for hemming and other sewing jobs.","The pins fall between two revolving cylinders.","The space between the cylinders gradually narrows.","This sorts the pins by size as they drop into various bins below.","Now all that's left is the packaging.","The packaging line is entirely automated.","Robots drop sewing needles into grooves in plastic packages, and the packages move forward.","The timing is flawless.","Finally, a transparent cover showcases this product's many selling points.","Exterior moldings can transform an ordinary structure into something grand.","The ancient greeks were the first to demonstrate this, with elaborate carved moldings on temples.","Today there's no need to spend long hours carving moldings.","Fabricated synthetic versions are now available to give a structure instant curb appeal.","Architectural foam moldings trick the eye.","They look like stone or wood, and it's all a carefully crafted illusion to impress the neighbors or passersby.","They start with a big block of foam.","It's expanded polystyrene, or e.p.s. they activate a hot-wire foam cutter.","Controlled by computer software, it melts its way through the thick foam block to make very precise and intricate cuts.","This computerized hot wire is cutting out pieces of architectural trim for windows or doors.","It carves in an economical way to minimize waste.","Its work done, the hot wire rises, leaving a trail of smoke from the burning process.","A worker then pushes out the moldings.","Each piece of architectural trim is 8 feet in length.","The hot wire now carves an elaborate fluted column, one half at a time.","This is a roman-style column.","Once carved in stone, it's now being replicated in foam.","And this old-world look can now be achieved with minimal physical effort.","To make an arch, they use a hot-wire shape instead of a computerized straight wire.","They position it in front of a curved piece of foam.","Rubber drive wheels push the foam through the hot wire.","These wheels have been preset to accurately steer the cut.","The result is an arch that will be a perfect match for the linear trim produced earlier, so they'll fit together seamlessly.","They use a carved foam wedge to emulate the keystone, a piece used in stone arches to lock parts together at midpoint.","A worker now wraps the cut foam moldings in fiberglass mesh.","Pre-infused with glue, the mesh instantly adheres to the foam.","This mesh adds strength to the molding, and it also makes it crack-resistant.","Next, cement flows into a hopper and onto the moldings below.","The moldings are driven through a template with the same contours, to apply the cement evenly on the surface and the sides.","This is no ordinary cement.","It's a pre-engineered mix, fortified with a special resin to create a durable coating for the mesh-covered moldings.","A worker then transfers the moldings to a rack to cure for a minimum of 24 hours before getting another coating of cement, this one with a much finer texture.","It's much trickier to apply cement to an arch-shaped piece of molding, so they take a more hands-on approach.","The employee scoops the cement onto the meshed-foam semicircle.","He then moves the custom-made template over the molding, instead of pushing the molding through it.","It's a better way to evenly distribute the cement on a curved surface.","After carving, meshing, and two layers of cement, this arch is now ready.","For smaller orders, they also apply the cement manually.","There's no need for a machine setup when there are only one or two columns to be coated.","Guided by a track on the side of a table, the worker slowly draws the template down the roman-style column to apply the cement to the foam and make it look like stone.","The second layer gets extra attention.","He rubs the cement into the grooves for complete coverage and then pulls the template across once again, this time lightly skimming the surface to produce a finer texture.","And now these moldings are ready to add detail and definition to a structure.","A locomotive is the powerful vehicle at the front of a train that pulls the cars along the track.","Sometimes there's a second one pushing from behind, as well.","Passenger-train locomotives are smaller and designed primarily for speed.","Freight locomotives pulling railcars are significantly larger and stronger.","Heavy hauls are mammoth freight locomotives designed for north america, where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world.","Those smaller yellow locomotives are for the european market.","The larger gray ones to the right are heavy hauls.","Workers weld together massive pieces of steel to construct the locomotive's structural underframe.","At each end, they insert a giant steel pin through a hole in the underframe's floor.","For now, they weld the pins partially to tack them in position.","Next, lifting and maneuvering it with giant trunnions, they flip the underframe so that the protruding side of the pins is facing upward.","Then a crane system transfers the underframe to another area to complete the welding.","The pins require exceptional bonding because they connect the underframe to the wheel frames.","An automated welder circles each pin repeatedly, progressively building up an inch-thick weld.","They make the same size weld on the other side of the pin.","All the welded steel parts are exceptionally thick, rendering the underframe strong enough to pull 500 tons.","Next, they install the air reservoir and pipes for the pneumatic brake system and a 5,300-gallon fuel tank.","Then they assemble the locomotive's six traction motors.","Each one generates 750 horsepower-- 3 times more than a typical car-- giving the locomotive 4,500-horsepower strength.","To build each traction motor, they bolt coils of wound copper into a cylinder called a stator.","Then they lower another cylinder, called an armature, into the stator.","Powered by an alternator, the coils produce an electric field that rotates the armature, turning components which propel the locomotive.","Workers lubricate the wheels then, using a strong press, fit two on each of the vehicle's six axles.","Each wheel is a yard in diameter and weighs about a half a ton.","The axle has a large gear that turns both wheels.","This finished unit is called a wheel-axle-gear assembly-- \"w.a.g.\" for short.","Workers install a w.a.g. onto each of the six traction motors.","The w.a.g.'s gear engages with the traction motor's gear, so when the motor runs, that gear turns, which then rotates the w.a.g. gear, which turns the wheels.","So now there are six w.a.g. and traction motor combinations.","Workers divide them into two groups of three then bolt each trio into a frame called a bogie.","So, now the locomotive has two bogies, each with an air-driven brake system built into it.","Until this point, the bogies have been upside down.","Now a crane flips them right side up to prepare for the final assembly of the locomotive.","They position the two bogies next to the underframe at opposite ends.","Cranes then lift the underframe and slowly lower it onto the bogies.","The pivot pins protruding from beneath the upper frame drop into receiving holes in the bogies.","Next, they lower a giant alternator onto the deck of the underframe.","It powers the traction motors as well as the control systems and other auxiliary equipment.","This 16-cylinder, 4,500-horsepower engine drives the alternator.","Next, the operator's cab-- it's insulated for sound and sits on a shock-absorber system.","Then the various electrical hookups, including these thick cables.","Each one contains more than 1,000 wires, carrying nearly 10,000 amps.","Now a hood goes over the engine and alternator to protect them from the elements.","From here, the locomotive goes to another department for paint and decals.","The finished locomotive is 75 feet long.","Fueled up, it weighs 225 tons and, depending on the terrain, can haul a train up to 6/10 of a mile long.","The first clothespin was invented in the early 1800s by the shakers.","It was a cylindrical piece of wood with a vertical notch cut into the bottom.","In 1853, an american inventor patented a spring-loaded, two-piece lever clothespin.","That's the type still produced today in both plastic and wood.","This czech company makes clothespins out of beech wood.","Beech is ideal because it's hard and durable.","When the logs arrive at the factory, an automated band saw slices each one laterally into 2.8-inch-thick planks.","Wood is naturally damp, so it's critical to dry the planks.","Otherwise, clothespins made from them would repeatedly expand and contract with temperature changes and eventually crack.","First, the planks air-dry outdoors for about 7 months, until their moisture level drops to 20%.","Then the planks go into a kiln for 3 or 4 weeks to bring the moisture level down to between 8% and 10%.","The wood, now stable, workers cut the planks into shorter, more manageable lengths...","Then into 2 1/2\" x 2 1/2\" blocks.","Next they feed the blocks into a cutting machine.","Its four circular blades simultaneously saw through each block, cutting it into five pieces.","Each piece is 4/10 of an inch thick.","As these thin pieces exit the machine, workers inspect them.","Any pieces with knots or other flaws are removed and sold to a factory that makes mousetraps.","The pieces which pass inspection go into an automated milling machine.","It cuts each piece into four smaller pieces then, in each smaller piece, carves the shape of a clothespin clip on the front and a notch in the back.","So, each thin piece of wood has gone from this...","To this...","To this.","The notch on the back will hold the spring that mates two clips and produces the tension they need to grip.","The next machine saws four lines down each piece, cutting it into five identical clips.","Before...","And after.","All that cutting leaves rough, splintered edges, so workers now load the clips into a sanding barrel.","As the barrel revolves, the clips rub against each other, the abrasion gradually smoothing the rough wood.","Workers also place a piece of wax amid the clips.","As the barrel turns, particles rub off and coat the wood, making it even smoother.","Meanwhile, another automated machine makes the springs out of 5/100\"-thick iron wire.","The wire has has a zinc coating on it to prevent rust.","Watch in slow motion how the machine twists the wire seven times to make the coil portion of the spring then bends the ends to make the part that fits into the notch.","With all the parts ready to go, it's assembly time.","Workers load clips and springs into separate chutes of the assembly machine.","As each spring drops down, a mechanical finger pushes the end aside to clear the way for a pair of clips to encase the coil.","Then it releases the end of the spring into the clip notches.","The machine does all this at a rate of 8,000 clothespins per hour.","The finished clothespins drop onto a conveyor belt that transports them to the next machine, which groups them by the dozen.","From there, it's off to the packaging machine, which is preset to assemble a specific retail format.","This is a 36-count package, so they've set the machine to stack three dozen clothespins.","After placing a paper label on top, the machine shrink-wraps the package.","Clothespins may be rather ordinary products, but their reputation is always on the line."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bumpers","Lighting Gels and Camera Filters","Steam"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Bumpers...","Lighting gels and camera filters...","Steam-powered models...","And candy canes.","With all the attention we pay to our car's high-tech parts, it's easy to overlook the importance of a vehicle's bumpers.","About 80% of car accidents are front or rear collisions.","The bumper is designed to absorb the force of the impact, minimizing damage in low-speed collisions.","Bumpers can be made of plastic, fiberglass, aluminum, or steel.","This company makes steel bumpers.","They start out as blanks, steel sheets just 8/100 of an inch thick.","These are en route to becoming truck bumpers.","A robot feeds each blank through a series of seven to nine dies, depending on the bumper model.","Each die stamps the blank into a particular shape, using some 2,000 tons of force.","This progressively forms the blank into the final bumper shape.","Both the front and rear bumpers go through the same process, only with different dies.","The bumpers now travel to the next production area, where a worker clamps each one onto a specially designed cart.","At this point, the factory paints certain models.","These bumpers will get chrome plating.","But first they travel through a series of buffing wheels.","The bumper surface must be impeccably smooth because the chrome finish magnifies even the tiniest flaws.","A computer-guided crane stacks the bumpers and maneuvers them through the chrome-plating process.","First it submerges the bumpers in several cleaning tanks to remove any residue left on the surface from previous operations.","The company won't divulge what chemicals it uses to clean the steel because this surface preparation is the secret to first-rate metal plating.","The first plating tank applies a coat of nickel to protect the steel from corrosion.","The next tank applies the chrome layer.","The factory uses the standard electroplating process.","In a water-and-chemical-filled tank, the plating metal particles get a positive charge while a negative charge runs through the bumpers.","This magnetically draws the particles onto the bumpers in an even layer.","After a thorough rinse, the bumpers are inspected.","Workers scrutinize the chrome-mirror finish under high-intensity light.","Meanwhile, this machine pressure injects molten plastic into various molds.","A built-in cooling system hardens the plastic within seconds.","Then out comes the plastic components that attach to the bumpers.","One of those plastic parts is this step pad that covers the top of the rear bumper.","Once the pad's in place, a worker attaches a built-in trailer hitch.","Steel mounting brackets help structurally reinforce the bumper.","The front bumper goes down a different assembly line.","A worker attaches a plastic trim that hangs down just below the bumper.","Its aerodynamic shape helps direct air flow to the engine compartment.","Next, four steel reinforcing brackets that will attach the bumper to the truck's frame.","And, finally, the license-plate holder...","And fog lamps.","Workers tighten all the bolts to a specified tightness.","This ensures that the bumper and its mounting brackets will adequately absorb the force of the collision.","Whenever a new model goes into production, the first few bumpers off the line go through a battery of tests to prove they can withstand stress, vibration, and a certain degree of what engineers call crash energy.","Other types of bumper systems use a combination of springs and energy-absorbing material, such as plastic foam.","With either method, the goal is for the bumper to absorb the impact.","In a low-impact crash, this should ideally confine the damage to the bumper itself, leaving the headlights, the engine, and the driver unscathed.","Up next, some colorful products that set the stage in a whole new light.","Gels and filters can turn a bad scene into a beautiful one.","They're used in theater productions to enhance the mood on stage.","They're also used in film and photography to adjust color temperatures from different light sources.","These lighting gels can make any scene take on a different mood.","They're called gels because they used to be made of gelatin film, but today they are made out of transparent polyester.","The process begins with a mix of solvent, dye, and flame-retardant chemicals.","This produces a colored lacquer.","A worker tests the lacquer's thickness by pouring it into a brass cup with a hole in the bottom.","As the lacquer drains out of the hole, it's timed.","If it flows too quickly, the lacquer is too thin, and if it drains too slowly, it's too thick.","A steady flow means the lacquer mix is the perfect consistency-- about as thick as engine oil.","A sample of every batch undergoes this test because the lacquer's consistency is critical.","If the factory doesn't get it right, it won't bond to the clear polyester.","With the lacquer prepared, workers load the polyester film into the coating machine.","A big roller soaks up lacquer from a tray below and spreads it on the film.","A thin bar on the roller evens the spread and scrapes off the excess.","The lacquer dries in seconds.","Every production run of the same color has to precisely match the last, so inspectors regularly test the lacquer's hue on swatches of clear polyester.","If gel colors are even slightly mismatched, using them together will make for a patchy-looking job.","Differently colored gels create different effects.","This orangey red one will warm up daylight to look more like indoor lighting.","Now, in a test, a gel swatch is held over a flame.","The gel burns but never catches fire-- proving that this batch is ready for the hot lights of a movie set.","Over at another station, they're working on a different sort of color-changer-- a filter that goes on a camera lens.","A special sheet of optical plastic is dipped in hot water and dye.","The hot water opens the plastic's pores, allowing the dye to penetrate.","When the plastic cools, the color will be trapped inside.","The longer the plastic stays in the dye bath, the deeper the color.","Some sheets only get partially dyed.","They'll be turned into filters that affect only half an image's exposure.","Filters made from a range of colors will help the camera's eye do what the human eye does effortlessly-- adjust to different lighting conditions.","The colored sheets are sheathed in thin plastic.","This prevents scratching as they're cut to size.","These camera filters are nearly done.","All that's left is for the ink-jet printer to brand them.","A similar type of printer gives the lighting gels their trademark stamp.","And now it's time to wrap things up.","A cardboard core slides into a machine that winds the finished gel sheets onto it.","Then a pneumatic ram pushes the roll of lighting gel into a plastic bag.","Now these filters and gels are ready to show life in the best light possible.","When we return, making tiny models that are a blast from the past.","When factories build live steam models, they're reconstructing history.","These working steam models take us on a nostalgic journey, and they're fun for hobbyists of all ages.","Add a little water...","Light some fuel for the boiler...","And it's full steam ahead for this mini replica of a 19th-century road locomotive.","Production starts with the boiler.","A hydraulic press repeatedly punches a piece of brass, stretching the brass cap into a cylinder.","It's a process called drawing, and it also strengthens the metal.","A flat piece of brass is transformed into a cylinder in only a few minutes.","Next the ends of the cylinder are trimmed.","Solder paste is brushed onto a brass cap and slotted into a holding device.","Paste goes onto attachments inside the cylindrical boiler.","Then the boiler and cap are press-fitted together.","The cap boilers travel through a furnace, which melts the solder paste, fusing the caps to the cylinder.","Workers polish the brass to give it a nice sheen.","Then they solder copper pipes to the boiler.","These pipes will expel the steam as it powers this little locomotive.","Next up--  trimming the flywheel, which has been precast.","The flywheel will smooth out the engine's firing impulses so that it runs more evenly.","The flywheel is tightly screwed to the crank shaft.","Workers check the sliding action of the piston and its cylinder.","Then they attach the assembly to the engine frame and the crank shaft.","Lubricating the piston assembly enhances its sliding action.","Using compressed air, workers make sure the engine functions and has no leaks.","Once the model passes the test, it gets its front steering mechanism.","This will control the model's front wheels while the back wheels power it forward.","Steam machines are usually rear-wheel drive.","A wire called the drive band transfers the energy from the flywheel to the rear wheel.","The steam model is hooked up to the compressed air tank once again for a final test run.","And it looks like this model is ready for some action.","All it needs is a canopy to provide a little shade.","A ribbed design is punched into a little steel roof.","After it gets a nice paint job, it's attached to the model.","Production on this tiny treasure is now complete.","This model will also take you back in time, but in high style.","It's a luxury touring car.","Workers install the piston cylinder assembly a little lower on this roadster and fire it up.","Each of these mini steam models is a tribute to the original and give us all a glimpse into the colorful history of transportation.","Coming up...","Turning sugar into one of our favorite holiday treats.","In the 17th century, a german choirmaster had some sugar sticks bent into shepherd's crooks as a special treat for his choir.","And that's how the candy cane is believed to have been invented.","But it wasn't until more than a century later that they earned their stripes.","Today candy canes come in all different colors and sizes.","Candymakers start by cooking up a big batch of sugar, water, and corn syrup.","Next, they prepare a mix of starch and flavoring, like peppermint or strawberry.","As they blend together, the flavoring binds to the starch.","The flavoring mix is emptied into the middle of a syrupy slab.","Then the whole thing is fed into a machine that folds the batch repeatedly using shovels and a plunger.","This distributes the flavoring evenly.","Cold water is piped into the shovels and the kneading table to cool the candy-cane mix so it takes on the stiffer consistency that's necessary for the next step.","Now it's over to the automated pullers.","These pullers stretch the mixture around a metal post.","This action aerates the candy, turning it white.","This batch will make 3,200 candy canes, but there's still a lot more work to be done.","The candy is rolled into a fat log, while heaters warm it until its pliable enough to shape.","Next, strips of red-colored candy are rolled out.","A worker stretches and folds it to widen the strip.","Two of the red strips are arranged on either side of the white candy.","It weighs 100 pounds, so it takes two workers to transfer it to the next machine.","It's called a batch roller, and its cylinders roll the candy thinner and thinner, dramatically reducing the log's diameter until it reaches candy-cane dimensions.","A torch moves across the candy to keep it pliable.","Then the sugary batch travels between wheels that slim it down even more.","The rope of candy moves forward in a wave-like fashion.","This gives it some slack so it doesn't stretch as it moves through the next set of wheels.","The candy rope moves through two angled belts that twist it, and a chain of knives cut the twisted rope to candy-cane size.","This production has been perfectly choreographed.","One misstep, and the job would hit a snarl.","Here, a roll of cellophane unwinds, and a device wraps it around the candy sticks.","A blast of hot air shrinks the cellophane on the ends of the canes.","Now it's time for these candy sticks to get their signature crooks.","This machine, called a crooker deck, bends the ends.","An overhead bracket brush gently secures the canes because though they're pliable enough to bend, they're still fragile.","There's a camera inside this robotic arm, which allows it to spot the candy canes on the conveyer belt and pick them up two at a time.","It places them in cardboard packages by the dozen.","It takes about half an hour to make a box of candy canes.","And they're sure to come to a very sticky end in even less time."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Time"]},"text":["Many banks and businesses have time-delay locks on their safes to keep their valuables and documents secure.","This helps deter theft because robbers may not want to wait around for the safe to open.","If they do, the time delay may keep them around long enough for police to make an arrest.","This lock lets you select delays ranging from 1 to 30 minutes.","The timer starts after you insert the key.","Most of the lock's components are made of zinc.","This semi-automated casting machine heats zinc bars to about 800 degrees.","The molten metal is then fed into an injection system, which shoots the zinc into a part-shaped mold.","The machine automatically refills the zinc bars as the metal is used.","As soon as the machine injects molten zinc into the mold, surrounding tubes spray cold water to quickly cool and solidify the metal.","Then the mold opens and ejects the part.","The parts have rough edges, so they go into a vibrating tub.","Inside, they run against ceramic stones and an abrasive compound to smooth the edges and polish the surface.","The parts are cleaned and painted on one side.","Then they go into an oven to bake on the paint.","The lock's main cam sets the time delay and the open window-- the amount of time before the safe automatically relocks.","Here, they're drilling holes for screws, which will regulate the lengths of the time delay and the open window.","Once the lock's components are prepared, assembly begins.","Workers insert the lock cylinder into its shell and remove the key.","Then they screw on a steel cylinder cam.","When you turn the key in the cylinder, a cam winds and starts the timer.","After the set time delay, the cam pulls a lever that releases the lock's latch.","To build the lock's timing assembly, they first attach a spring to the timer plate.","They hold the spring in place with a plastic retainer.","Then they install a brass timer cam.","The spring holds it in the locked position.","A pin on the cylinder cam's lever sits on the timer cam.","When the time delay is over, the pin releases the timer spring, and the timer cam moves to the unlocked position.","This allows the cylinder cam to retract the latch and open the lock.","They screw the plate with the spring and timer cam to the timer, which is gear-driven like a mechanical clock.","They let the timer run down all the way.","Then they turn the spring four times.","They mount the main cam, which sets the time delay and open window on top of the timer cam.","Now they begin calibrating the timer.","First they install an aluminum weight assembly that controls the timer speed.","They run the timer on a testing machine, comparing it to the delay set on the main cam.","If the timer runs too fast, they take some tension off the timer spring.","If the timer runs too slowly, they trim down the weight assembly until they get the right speed.","Once the timer is accurate, they screw it into the timer cover.","The lock body contains the lever that retracts the lock's latch.","It also has a brass electrical plug to connect a time-delay indicator light.","After securing the latch and lever in position with a cover plate, they install the timer assembly.","The visible side is painted black, just like the visible side of the cover plate.","Then they insert the cylinder assembly.","They mount the lock on the door of the safe and hook up the indicator lights, which run on double-\"a\" batteries.","To open the safe, you insert, turn, then remove the key.","The red light indicates the timer is counting down.","When the time delay is over, the green light comes on.","Then you reinsert the key, and the safe opens.","Chocolate brownies are irresistible.","Their origins are uncertain, but they were definitely developed in the united states over a century ago.","One story is that a homemaker from bangor, maine, made the first brownies accidentally while trying to make a cake.","Another story states that they were deliberately invented by the chef at a chicago hotel.","Neither cake nor cookie, a brownie is something in between, a moist, dense, and chewy square.","There's no doubt it brings something special to the table.","To mass-produce brownies, this factory starts with canola oil.","They add xanthan gum, a natural preservative that increases moisture retention during baking.","They blend these two ingredients in an industrial mixer.","Then they add sugar, cocoa, and canola and palm oil shortening.","They reactivate the mixer, and it blends the ingredients into a chocolate batter.","The next ingredients are whole eggs...","And corn syrup.","The massive mixing arm descends back into the bowl and whips these ingredients into the batter.","A worker wheels the bowl to a hopper, which releases a precise amount of flour.","The flour thickens the mix.","It will give the baked brownies structure.","After 25 minutes of mixing, the batter is complete.","There's enough batter here to make 6,000 brownies.","They transfer the smooth chocolaty mixture to a machine called a depositor.","A sprayer mists the pans with oil to keep the brownies from sticking to them during baking.","Then the pans arrive at the depositor.","This computerized machine releases the batter into each pan.","It has perfect aim every time.","Next, the pans enter an 11-1/2-foot oven.","The brownies rotate through 13 tiers to bake them evenly.","After about 20 minutes, the brownies are cooked.","They exit the oven and head into a cooling chamber.","Like the oven, it's multi-tiered.","The pans move through it as fans cool the brownies.","The cooling helps solidify the brownies.","Then a robot arm with needle-like claws lifts them out of the pans and transfers them to the next conveyer.","The robots are gentle, so the cool brownies stay intact during the process.","The brownies round a corner and transfer to another conveyer.","At the end of the line, a worker places the brownies in a narrow conveyer system that takes them to the wrapping station.","A computer sensor detects their approach and alerts the plastic wrapping system ahead.","The plastic unwinds into the wrapping machine as the brownies enter it.","Metal wheels with grooves pull the wrapper under the brownies, and then heated wheels melt the seam to close it.","A hot jaw then seals and severs the plastic film between the brownies, creating individual packets.","A robot opens a box and sets it on a conveyer next to the brownie line.","An employee then places eight packets of brownies in each carton.","They ride by a rotary device, which automatically folds the ends of the cartons.","Then the boxes are glued shut.","Finally, they travel through a metal detector.","It uses a high-frequency electromagnetic signal to detect any metal fragments in the brownies.","It takes about an hour to make and package brownies at this factory, but only a fraction of that time to enjoy them.","Pallets are used to easily move large quantities of goods.","They were invented in the early 20th century and have been a warehouse staple ever since.","Multiple unused pallets can cause clutter and even be a safety hazard.","That's where pallet dispensers come in.","Before pallet dispensers, pallets were kept in loose stacks.","Retrieving one was potentially dangerous.","The pallet dispenser solves this problem.","It helps keep the workplace safe and organized.","A high-speed cnc machine cuts out the steel parts of the pallet dispenser.","An employee uses a press brake to bend the components to the required shapes.","A preset backstop ensures that the metal piece goes into the precise depth.","Next, a worker uses a mig welder to quickly bond the new parts together.","The parts hang from chains, which are charged with a negative current.","Painters then spray positively charged paint on them.","The parts are baked in an oven for 20 minutes to dry the paint.","The traveler frame moves up and down with the pallets inside the dispenser.","A worker installs 12 cam followers.","A team positions the linear track assembly.","Its vertical bars guide the cam followers, keeping the traveler frame on track.","Once this sub-assembly is complete, workers install it inside the main side frames.","Together, these components form the main base assembly.","The dispenser's self-contained hydraulic system doesn't require power to control the traveler frame.","This is one of two hydraulic cylinders.","They're designed to easily hold a heavy stack of pallets.","The worker installs four brake arms.","They hold a set of spring-loaded latches in place to keep the pallets suspended in position.","Next, he positions the sprockets.","The pallet dispenser requires four sprockets to support two chains.","These chains connect the traveler frame to a massive steel counterweight.","As it gets fuller, the traveler frame lowers to the ground.","After the pallets touch the floor, the counterweight lifts the frame.","The pallets are stored in a tall column called a pallet magazine.","Two employees work together to install it.","The magazines come in two standard heights-- 4 feet and 8 feet.","Not all pallet magazines are red.","Customers can select from a wide variety of colors.","The interior panels protect the dispenser's mechanism from being damaged.","They're also the access panels to the product's precision engineering.","A trained professional should always handle the machine's maintenance and repair.","Making the panels relatively inaccessible decreases the chances of tampering, injury, or accidents by an amateur.","Next, a worker runs a quality-control test.","He uses a walkie rider to raise a stack of pallets and remove the bottom one.","When he's done, the hydraulic system lowers the stack back into position.","Here, one worker uses a forklift to raise the top section of the pallet magazine into position while the other worker guides the magazine into place.","Graphics and decals have already been added, so all that's left is for the worker to securely bolt the two sections together.","With about 2 billion pallets in the u.s. alone, things can really start to pile up.","Pallet stackers make life easier for manufacturers and shippers all over the world.","Some refer to these devices as giant pez dispensers.","In a way, that's exactly what they are, and they're just as safe.","Once reserved for palaces and castles, today's chandeliers can be found in even the most modest homes.","They function as more than just a light source.","Chandeliers can be the illuminating centerpieces of traditional rooms or give modern rooms an eclectic twists.","Either way, a crystal chandelier is always elegant and timeless.","This chandelier is quite a showstopper.","It stretches more than 3 feet high and wide with 24 elegant arms.","It's decorated with clear and red crystal and a gilded hurricane shade over each light.","To make the crystal, they melt silica sand in a furnace, along with lead, hot ash, and several other ingredients.","The materials combine to make crystal heavier and more sparkling than glass.","To make each chandelier arm, a crystal blower gathers some molten crystal on the end of his blowpipe, then shapes the arm with a series of blocks and molds.","He makes a channel down the middle for the arm's electrical wiring.","Next, two master crystal blowers work together to pull and twist the crystal into the arm's rope-like design.","This maneuver requires tremendous expertise.","To achieve the correct diameter, these craftsmen must stretch the crystal exactly right.","Next, they put it in a chandelier arm mold and snip off the excess on both ends.","They blow cold air to solidify the crystal.","Another craftsman inspects the chandelier arm, checking the shape, measurements, and channel for the electrical wiring.","Next, a pair of craftsmen make the bowl-shaped bottom of the chandelier.","Using traditional techniques, they place molten crystal in a mold, then place the mold in a press.","The crystal chandelier parts are cooled down in an oven.","The gradual decrease in temperature slowly releases tension in the crystal.","This prevents cracking.","Straight out of the furnace, the crystal is 2,280 degrees.","It continues to be pliable until it reaches about 1,202 degrees.","It cools rapidly, so as the craftsmen work, they must regularly reheat the crystal in a smaller furnace.","The freshly molded crystal tends to have a rough surface, so they use heat from a blowtorch to smooth it out.","These holders support the hurricane shades on the arms.","This company produces its signature shade of red crystal by adding 24-karat gold powder to the raw materials in the furnace.","The color emerges after the molded piece is reheated in an oven to just over 1,000 degrees.","A crystal blower makes the hurricane shades.","First, he rolls a starting shape at the end of his blowpipe.","Then, with pliers, he narrows and stretches one end to form a neck.","By now, the crystal has cooled, so he reheats it before continuing.","Next, he inserts the crystal into a foot-pedal-operated mold installed in the floor.","He then turns the pipe and blows through it to expand the crystal to the mold shape.","Once the hurricane shade has cooled, artisans apply an elaborate 24-karat gold decal.","With a paintbrush, they also apply raised gilding and 24-karat gold paste.","They heat the shade to fuse the gold to the crystal, then polish the gold with an agate stone.","Every part of the crystal chandelier is handmade, and the entire chandelier is manually assembled.","However, some of the crystal parts require prep work before assembly.","The arms have a light socket at one end wired to a connector at the other.","All 24 arms mount to a round tray.","Beneath it, the connectors link to the main wires running down the center of the chandelier.","The chandelier's ornate bottom hides it all.","The electrical sockets that hold the light bulbs are hidden inside metal sleeves painted white to look like candles.","The gilded hurricane shades go over the candles and sit snugly in the holders.","This stunning crystal chandelier casts sparkling light, easily making it the focal point of the room.","Weighing in at over 150 pounds, this grand chandelier makes a big, bold design statement."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Inflatable Watercraft","Couscous","Modelling Dough","Wicker Products"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Inflatable watercraft...","Couscous...","Modeling dough...","And wicker products.","Today's inflatable watercraft range from rafts and dinghies to canoes and kayaks.","They're less expensive than conventional boats and easier to store and transport.","You don't need a trailer-- just throw your boat in the trunk, then unfold and inflate it when you get to your aquatic destination.","Whether it's a raft shooting the rapids or a motorized boat gliding across a calm lake, an inflatable watercraft begins with sturdy, waterproof material.","This company uses pvc fabric .","04 of an inch thick that has a nylon or polyester fiber core.","After workers trace and cut out the pieces that will form the boat, they connect them with a strip of the same material, fusing them together using a machine with a propane flame.","The intense heat melts the surface of the pvc until the pieces bond.","Here's that bonding action in slow motion.","Next, they fuse a strip of pure pvc to the underside of the joint.","This assures that air won't leak out of the boat where the pieces connect.","Inflating the boat will pull on the material surrounding the air valve, so they reinforce that area with a round piece of pvc called a doubler.","This high-frequency welding machine applies 280 pounds of pressure and heat-generating f.m. waves to fuse the doubler in place.","Then they cut a hole in the middle of the doubler for the air valve.","Next come the cones.","Cones support the weight of the motor and enable the boat to plane, to rise above the water when traveling at high speed.","Using the propane-flame machine, workers seal together the ends of the boat...","Then insert the inside cone piece just before they close it up completely.","They finish off the seal using the high-frequency welding machine, then pull the cone piece through.","They inflate the boat until the pressure forces the cone piece into place.","They seal all around it with heavy-duty caulking...","Stick on the outside cone piece...","Then screw it securely in place.","They fully inflate the boat to perfect the seal and expel the excess caulking.","Now they install what's called the transom, a plank of wood that supports the motor at the rear of the boat.","They cover it in boat fabric, using a plastic resin-based glue that's resistant to the fiery heat of the sun.","They apply the same glue to the piece of material that will become the underside of the boat, then position it in place.","After gluing on a bumper made of hard pvc, they coat the boat's underside in a liquid plastic resin.","This protects the bottom when the boat runs aground over rocks and sand.","They test-inflate the keel, a stabilizer that runs the length of the boat.","Then they deflate it and begin installing the floor.","The floor is made up of five connected pieces, three made of aluminum and two made of fiberglass, plastic, or wood.","The hole in the floor is for the keel's air valve.","After inflating the boat...","They inflate the keel.","Now they take measurements to determine where to position the oars.","First, they glue on the oarlocks, the pieces that hold the oars in place.","The oars are made of aluminum, so they're lightweight and they won't rust.","The motor is 6 horsepower to 50 horsepower, depending on the size of the boat.","Couscous is a traditional staple of north african cuisine.","It looks like a grain, but it's actually pasta.","These days, few people make couscous from scratch.","Even in north africa, they usually buy their couscous ready-made and just steam-cook it.","Couscous is the product of culinary simplicity.","It's made from one ingredient and one ingredient alone-- wheat, most often, the durum species of wheat.","When you remove the grains, grind them, and sift out the finer flour, you're left with a coarser wheat flour called \"semolina\".","That's the flour from which they make couscous.","The first step is known as \"hydration\".","An automated food processor measures about 1/3 water to 2/3 semolina, then mixes them for 3 minutes.","The flour particles absorb the liquid and bloat into a raw dough.","The dough particles then go into a rotating drum, where they spin for seven minutes.","This rounds them into balls of varying sizes.","A screen inside the drum sifts out the big clumps.","The raw doughballs go into a giant steam-cooker for 15 minutes.","The intense heat, over 210 degrees fahrenheit, cooks the dough by gelatinizing the starch in the wheat.","As the couscous balls exit the steam-cooker stuck together, giant revolving blades break them up.","The soggy couscous now enters a rotating dryer, where it spins for 18 minutes.","This removes 22% of the water.","The remaining moisture is necessary to prevent the couscous from drying out in the package.","Now the couscous pours out of the dryer and onto the conveyor belt that funnels it to the next station.","You can see that the balls are much drier and relatively uniform in size, but they're still steaming hot, so they go off to a refrigeration chamber for two minutes to cool.","As the couscous exits the chamber, it runs through a screening machine that separates the balls, called \"grains,\" by size.","Medium and fine couscous go off to their respective storage silos, while grains that are too big or too small go back to be reprocessed.","The couscous-making process, from wheat semolina to the finished product, has taken just 45 minutes.","As we've seen, most of the cooking's been done by the factory, so all the consumer will have to do is steam this ready-made couscous for five minutes on the stove or in the microwave.","This factory packages its couscous in bulk quantities, as well as in smaller, meal-sized portions.","Today, ready-made couscous comes in many different flavors.","And depending on the dish you're making or your personal preference, you can choose medium grain...","Or fine grain.","Plain or flavored couscous is becoming an increasingly popular side dish, an alternative to rice, potatoes, or noodles.","You can even buy main-course couscous kits that come with a can of vegetables and a packet of sauce.","There's nothing little kids love more than digging their hands into a mound of squishy modeling dough, then rolling and shaping it.","It's a hands-on experience in creativity, made all the more fun by modeling doughs that come in bright colors and yummy scents.","Just in case little billy decides to snack on his artistic creation, this scented modeling dough is made entirely of food ingredients-- flavorings and colorings, salt, flour, hot water, and some secret ingredients the company won't divulge.","The key to achieving just the right consistency is meticulous measurement.","They use electronic scales to precision-weigh each ingredient.","Bit by bit, they pour the dry ingredients and flavorings into the mixer.","The amount of hot water they add varies according to the color and scent they're producing.","The proportions are about 30% water to 70% dry ingredients.","The last ingredient is food coloring-- in this case, cherry red.","For the modeling dough to come out just right, the mixing time has to be precisely 3 minutes and 20 seconds.","When the dough comes out, it's roughly the consistency of pie dough.","It's quite hot from all that churning, almost 160 degrees fahrenheit, but there's no need to cool it before packaging.","It goes right into a machine called the stuffer, which cuts it in container-sized portions.","The finished product is soft and malleable, enough for endless hours of playing.","Besides smelling delightful, this modeling dough doesn't crumble, doesn't stick to things, and won't stain clothes or upholstery.","A machine called the container distributor lines up the plastic containers.","Then the stuffer drops a wad of hot dough into each one.","As the containers move down the line, on goes a cover stamped with the production date.","A compression roller then runs over the cover to create an airtight seal.","Last but not least, a colorful sticker to boldly identify the scent.","The containers pass through a metal detector, a precautionary measure in case some metal shards wore off the machinery and landed unnoticed in the dough.","The company lab is continually developing new scents.","This brand comes in 36 different scents so far...","From a variety of fruits...","To kid-friendly foods.","The lab is also constantly experimenting with new colors, though some, such as purples, are quite difficult to produce.","Children, of course, can make their own colors simply by combining existing ones.","If you leave the modeling dough out of the sealed container for too long, it'll dry out.","But because this brand is water-based, not oil-based like some others, you can revive it.","All you have to do is add a few drops of water, knead it a bit, then put it back in the sealed container.","After a few hours, your scented modeling dough will be as good as new.","Wicker is thin branches or vines flexible enough to be woven.","Many plants can be used for wicker, such as willow and rattan.","Quality wicker is very durable.","You can find antique wicker furniture that's as sturdy today as it was in its heyday.","The oldest piece of wicker on record dates back to 1400 b.c. archeologists discovered it in egypt, where, in ancient times, people used wicker chairs.","Handwoven wicker furniture was the rage in europe and north america in the 1800s.","To meet this demand, trade schools churned out master wicker weavers.","But by the 1930s, manufacturers developed a paper fiber to mimic the look of wicker and large mechanized looms to do the weaving.","Today's genuine wicker items are usually made of rattan core, rattan palm-tree branches stripped of their bark then processed into different diameters and profiles.","At this workshop, they use a manual loom to weave wicker hampers.","Taking what's known as \"flat oval rattan core\"-- flat on one side, rounded on the other-- they run horizontal strands through vertical strands in an under-and-over pattern, working between the hamper's wooden frame and its fiberboard lining.","They keep the vertical strands taut by tying them to weighted ropes.","It's important to keep moistening the rattan with hot water to keep it supple enough to manipulate.","They weave one thin round strand after every 5-inch-high section of flat oval.","There's no structural reason for this pattern-- it's purely aesthetic.","A wicker wastebasket begins with a base that dictates the shape.","They insert vertical stakes of round rattan core along its perimeter, then below the base, bend each stake over the next, then under the one after that.","This forms what's called the foot border, a bottom rim that holds the base securely in place.","Now they insert a wooden form and begin weaving.","First, a small section of round rows, then a large section of flat oval ones.","Slowly and patiently, they work their way to the top, never resorting to glue or staples to hold the strands together, only a hook to compress the rows for a neat and tight weave.","Every so often, they use pliers to tear off a stray fiber.","Now for the finishing touch.","They braid what's left of the vertical stakes into a decorative top rim.","This particular braiding technique is very complex, requiring all 10 fingers and a special tool to pry stubborn strands apart.","They snip off the excess with a cutter.","When they're finished, they remove the modular wooden form.","Its components are numbered, so they'll know how to reassemble them for the next basket.","Another more decorative way to finish the top of the basket is this arch technique.","They trim each vertical stake, bend it into an arch, then tuck it into the basket three stakes over.","This measuring tool ensures the arches are of equal height, while this metal device creates a space into which to tuck each stake.","Wicker weavers create magnificent designs by combining various shapes and sizes of rattan.","A strand can be as thick as a pencil or as thin as a needle.","While this doesn't quite fall under the category of wicker, it's not uncommon to see wicker workshops use other natural materials.","Here, they're weaving a chair seat out of cord made from sea grass.","There's also wicker seating material.","This prewoven sheet is called \"cane seating,\" or \"rattan peel\".","It's made from the bark stripped off the rattan branch.","First, they force it into a groove in the chair's wooden frame, then they glue in what's called \"spline,\" a strip of rattan core with a pointed edge.","They wedge that edge into the groove and bring it down to the hold the rattan peel in place.","Then they trim off the excess.","Because wicker is wood, it can be stained or painted or left its natural color.","Whatever the finish, they give it two or three coats of varnish for protection."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Customized Knee Replacements","Leaf Springs","Lavender","Rivets and Rivet Tools"]},"text":["The typical candidate for a knee replacement has osteoarthritis, where the cartilage in the knee has worn away.","Knee replacement surgery restores the worn areas with an implant.","To help place the implant properly, the surgeon can use an instrument custom-designed for the patient's damaged anatomy.","A successful knee replacement depends on its alignment with the femur and tibia, the upper and lower leg bones that connect at the knee.","That's a challenge because knee implants are standard, while every patient's bones are unique.","So starting with an mri scan of the patient's knee, this medical device company produces custom-made surgical templates, plastic devices the surgeon uses to sculpt the surface the patient's bones to align the knee implant accurately.","The surgeon no longer has to visually calculate the bone cuts on the spot in the operating room, which takes more time and is more invasive.","An engineer uses the mri scan to create 3-d models of the patient's femur and tibia.","The patient's cartilage has worn out in between these bones, causing painful rubbing that erodes the bone surface.","The implant effectively replaces the damaged bone and cartilage.","Once each bone model is ready, another engineer applies a 3-d model of the correct-size implant, then, following directions the surgeon has provided, performs virtual surgery on the bone model.","This will properly align the implant to the patient's specific anatomy and fit it to the angle at which that particular knee moves.","During the surgery simulation, the computer records every bone cut.","The surgeon reviews and approves this surgical plan only once before manufacturing begins.","The computer, which recorded the bone cuts, guides a 3-d printer to produce plastic templates for both the femur and tibia.","The surgeon will use these to repeat the same exact cuts in real life.","The 3-d printer applies a layer of powdered plastic, then following the computer model, solidifies select areas with a laser.","This process keeps repeating, building up the shape of these surgical templates layer by layer.","One printer run produces personalized templates for up to 50 patients at a time, so the laser inscribes the patient's name and identification code on each part.","Once the printing's done, it's just a matter of breaking up the unsolidified powdered plastic...","And fishing out the templates.","They brush off the bulk of the remaining powder.","The posts on the bottom are the points at which pins affix the template to the bone during surgery.","Next, the templates go into a tumbler containing plastic balls and air jets.","As the drum rotates for 20 minutes, the balls knock off and the air jets blows off most of the remaining powder.","The templates exit the tumbler 90% clean.","They go through two wash cycles to remove the last remnants of powder.","Before packaging, they'll be sterilized.","But first, every template must pass a quality-control inspection.","Using a laser, a technician scans it to make sure the manufacturing process produced an exact match to the patient's bone.","This model shows how the femur and tibia form the knee joint and how the surgeon secures the customized template onto each of these bones.","Thanks to these devices, the surgeon doesn't have to figure out the bone cuts on the fly in the operating room.","They're all pre-calculated by the computer model.","This method eliminates several steps required in standard surgery.","The operation takes less time and requires half as many instruments to set up and clean up.","And because the surgeon no longer has to drill a hole in the bone to check the knee implant's alignment, the patient experiences less pain and bleeding and a smaller chance of developing complications.","The earliest version of leaf springs were likely flexible wooden poles used in carriages in ancient rome.","In the early 19th century, metal leaf springs were developed.","Today the journey continues, and it's fairly smooth thanks to these suspension springs.","A leaf spring is a stack of curved plates or leaves, or sometimes even just one.","This spring has the flex to absorb bumps and dips in the road, but it's strong enough to provide serious support.","Today these super-strong suspension springs are generally used for trucks and other heavy vehicles more than cars.","Production starts with spring steel.","It's an alloy that has elasticity.","Big shears cut the steel to various lengths for a multi-leaf spring.","It's one of the two kinds of leaf springs.","Using a band saw, they cut steel for the other kind of leaf spring, known as a full taper spring.","It's made of one to four leaves that are approximately the same length but various thicknesses.","After cutting, they rapidly heat the ends.","Computerized machinery rolls and stretches the piece to a tapered profile.","This achieves the same flex effect as the progressively shorter leaves on the multi-leaf spring, but the end product will be lighter and not as stiff.","Next, it's into a press that trims the stretched ends and punches holes for various components.","It takes about an hour for the steel to cool down for the next operation.","Meanwhile, other members of the team are hard at work on the multi-leaf spring.","They feed the heated tip of the main leaf to a machine that wraps it around a die form.","This creates an eye mount for attaching the spring to the vehicle.","They create an eye mount on the other end, as well.","Next they curl the ends of a slightly longer steel bar into a loose \"c\" shape.","This piece will serve as an outer protective wrap for the main leaf and protect the eye mounts.","Back to the taper spring, hydraulic machinery bends it to the final \"z\" shape so it will fit around a vehicle axle.","They soak both the taper and multi-leaf springs in oil and temper them in a furnace to strengthen the steel.","Then it's time for a process known as peening.","Machinery clamps the steel leaf onto a carriage, which takes it through a chamber for blasting with tiny steel pellets.","The blasting changes the surface tension, further strengthening the metal.","A worker now assembles the multi-leaf spring.","He inserts a pin through the center of the main leaf and wrap to align them.","Each of the next leaves is shorter than the last.","They're known as graduated leaves.","It's a design that will make the spring more flexible.","He transfers the stack to a hydraulic station...","And inserts a different pin for more precise alignment.","He activates the hydraulic mechanism, and it squeezes the leaves together.","The mechanism maintains the leaves under tension as he removes the pin and now bolts them together.","He pounds clips installed at specific locations on the spring to close them around the leaves.","The clips tighten the stack all the way across and will stop the leaves from twisting or turning.","Next, another hydraulic device applies pressure, this time to simulate the load the spring will carry.","This sets the spring to a specific height and compresses it to stiffen the overall performance.","The worker measures the spring to confirm that it meets the specifications.","The assembled leaf springs now take a quick dip in a tank of black paint.","The paint coats the leaves, clips, and fasteners to give these suspension springs a uniform finish.","Painted black, they should blend in with all the other components on the vehicle's undercarriage.","Now complete, these leaf springs can be depended on for support when the going gets rough.","Lavandula angustifolia might sound like a name of an ancient roman emperor, but it's actually the scientific name for the lavender plant.","The leaves and striking blue petals of this aromatic flowering shrub are used to make lavender essential oil, an ingredient in many health and beauty products.","Lavender essential oil has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.","No wonder it's long been a natural remedy for many ailments.","And with its flowery fragrance and relaxing effects, it's a common ingredient in lotions, soaps, and bath oils.","Lavender is a perennial plant that begins flowering in its second year.","Harvest time at this canadian farm is in july, at the peak of the first bloom.","There's a second bloom afterward, but not significant enough to warrant another harvest.","Weeds like to grow at the base of lavender plants, siphoning off water and important soil nutrients.","So between may and september, killing those weeds is a vital daily ritual.","The weeding machine lifts the lavender stems out of the way, then blasts the weeds around the base with hot steam.","To determine the right time to harvest, the producer looks at the quantity of blooms and the color of the flowers.","They should be purple-blue, on the verge of turning grayish-brown.","The producer also crushes a few petals to see how much oil comes out.","The harvester is specially designed for cutting lavender.","Like a stylist cutting hair, it pulls the stem straight up, then snips near the base.","The cut stems, about 15 inches long, fall onto a conveyer belt, which moves them into a tray.","From there, workers manually transfer the lavender to the harvester's trailer.","When the trailer is full, the harvester delivers its load to the on-site distillery.","Workers load the lavender into a still, a large stainless-steel vessel typically used to produce alcoholic spirits.","They compact as much lavender as possible into the still to prevent the formation of air pockets.","The less air, the greater the oil yield.","Once the still is stuffed to compacted capacity, they close it tightly and start up an oil-fired boiler.","The boiler heats water into steam, which they then inject into the bottom of the still at very low pressure.","Over the course of about 15 minutes, the steam slowly rises to the top of the still, heating the lavender along the way.","They continue the steam for another half-hour or so.","This bursts the glands located primarily in the petals, releasing the oil.","To collect that extracted oil, they feed cold water into a coiled pipe running through the still.","When the hot steam hits that cold pipe, it condenses, transforming back into water.","Only now, the water contains lavender oil.","They open the still's tap and let the water flow into a holding tank.","On average, the proportions are one part lavender oil to 40 parts water.","In the holding tank over the next hour or so, the oil naturally separates and rises to the surface.","At that point, they begin pumping the water to another container, stopping at the first sign of oil.","What remains in the tank is the final product-- pure lavender essential oil.","The pumped-out water is a secondary product called lavender flower water.","The producer sends both products to a laboratory to be filtered.","Producers primarily sell lavender oil and floral water as ingredients to manufacturers of health and beauty products, but they also often design their own lines of lavender creations for pampering the body and soul.","Rivets hold a lot of things together.","Product fabricated with rivets include aircraft, cars, computers, and household appliances.","Installed with a rivet tool, these fasteners create strong and permanent joints.","Without rivets, a lot of things might fall apart.","Whether the job is large or small, chances are there's a rivet for it.","And using a special rivet tool, it's possible to form strong attachments quickly and easily.","The two together make a perfect match.","The rivet tool starts with a precast aluminum handle.","A technician inserts a steel sleeve.","It will serve as a chamber for hydraulic fluid.","The spring for the tool's trigger is next.","She screws an aluminum plate to the base to enclose the two parts and the handle.","This is the pulling-head assembly.","It has tiny jaws to grab the rivet stem.","She lubricates it and presses it into the main bore of the rivet tool.","She installs a fill screw in the top of the handle casting for top-offs of hydraulic fluid during servicing.","But the initial supply of hydraulic fluid is added through the steel sleeve at the bottom.","She inserts an air-piston assembly into the fluid-filled chamber.","She threads a screw into the nose of the rivet tool.","This keeps the internal workings in the correct position for the next step.","She places the base of the tool into an air chamber, then hooks up an air hose and secures it with steel clamps.","She plugs the tool into an air supply and pulls the trigger.","The air puts pressure on the hydraulic fluid inside to activate the riveting mechanism.","And now the test-- she places a rivet in the nose of the tool, then inserts the other end of the rivet into a hole on the test plate and presses the trigger.","The tool efficiently installs the rivet in the hole.","It's time to stock up on rivets.","They make them from round wire.","A machine cuts the wire to length and then punches it into a die twice to form a rivet stem blank.","Here's the cutting and forming action in slow motion.","The machine operates in a blur, producing 200 rivet stem blanks a minute.","The stem blanks move between serrated rolling dies.","The dies form grooves to allow the stem to be gripped by a rivet tool.","They also make ridges that will serve as a breaking point during rivet installation.","This is a slow-motion close-up of the serrated rolling dies in action.","Here's the rivet stem before and after forming.","The next machine creates the rivet body.","It cuts wire to the correct length and forces it into dies.","It takes five punches to transform the solid wire into a hollow rivet body.","These machines can produce up to 300 parts a minute.","Next, the rivet bodies go for a tumble in a cleaning solution to remove oily residue left by the forming.","The rivet stems also undergo this thorough washing.","The rivet bodies then travel through a furnace.","The intense heat followed by a gradual cooling hardens the metal to free it from internal stresses.","After zinc-plating, the rivet bodies head towards the next station.","The rivet stems are also on the move.","They travel through a channel that gradually widens to sort out stems that are too big or small.","The undersized stems fall through at the beginning, and oversized ones fall off the end.","A magnet loader collects the correctly sized stems, and rejects are discarded.","The rivet stems cling to the loader, which is stopped at the moment.","The rivet bodies now ride a carrousel.","It pauses briefly to allow a stem to be inserted into a body.","These are slow-motion shots, and back in real time.","These machines work fast.","They pump out millions of rivets a day.","The rivets are now ready to leave this factory for another, where they could be used to make almost anything."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Replica Clay Pipes","Drinking Fountains","Orange Liqueur","Compound Bows"]},"text":["Clay tobacco pipes may have been the first disposable product.","For centuries, smokers in north america and europe used them until they broke, which happened often.","Clay pipes fell out of widespread use at the end of the 19th century, but they're still made today by clay artists with a reverence for history.","Nostalgia is a new niche market for clay pipes, popular at historical reenactments and coveted by collectors because history buffs like an authentic puff.","At this studio in the midwest, the craftsman starts with a small wad of clay.","He rolls it long and thin and flares the shape at the end.","This establishes the basic shape of a native-american-style clay pipe.","He drives a tapered stick into it to hollow the long stem and stops just short of the flared end.","He rolls it with the stick inside as he continues to shape the clay.","He trims the flared end and now transforms it into the pipe bowl.","He presses a handmade stone tool into it to make it hollow and then flares the bowl some more.","To better define the shape of the bowl, he kneads the clay from the outside.","He removes the stone implement.","He now works the pipe bowl entirely by hand to make the thickness of the wall a little more uniform.","One more roll, and then he punctures the bowl cavity to link it to the air passage.","He bends the bowl upward and then sculpts the clay a little more.","He sets it aside to dry a bit.","The clay hardens but is still soft enough to carve into with the edge of a wood tool.","To create notches and other trim marks, he gently presses the tool into the bowl.","He tweaks the shape a little more and leaves the pipe to dry much longer now.","The moisture evaporates, and the clay solidifies.","Using another stone tool, he grinds off bumps and other surface flaws.","The grinding leaves little scratches on the pipe.","He rubs those away with water.","The clay quickly absorbs the small amounts of water, and the surface of the pipe dries in a very short time.","After that, this replica native pipe looks pretty smooth.","Other native pipes are more elaborate.","The bowls are decorated with effigies of an animal or human.","Here, the artist sculpts a man's face onto the bowl.","He uses a blunt stick to raise a couple of eyebrows and add nostrils.","He rolls eyeballs and plants some ears on the side.","The pipe bowl will serve as the mouth.","Native people believe that smoke carries their prayers to the gods.","To make an english tavern pipe, he shapes the clay in a mold with a metal wire inside to create an air channel.","He trims the excess clay.","He stamps the maker's mark onto the base of the pipe.","After his removes the wire used to make the air channel, there's drying time, and then he fires it in a kiln at approximately 2,012 degrees fahrenheit.","After 17 hours, each pipe is a solid piece of white ceramic.","He fires the native pipes outside in the open air.","He builds a fire around them using bark, leaves, and twigs.","This is the traditional way natives have hardened their ceramic items.","As the fire burns, the clay hardens and takes on a smoky, black finish.","The fire dies down, and he removes the now-hardened clay pipes.","Still hot, he removes them with tongs and sets them aside to cool.","Later, in the studio, he dampens a cloth with mineral oil and rubs it into the clay.","This seals it and gives the sooty finish a nice patina.","It takes the craftsman about three days to make one of these replica clay pipes.","They're sure to provide a whiff of nostalgia.","There's nothing quite as thirst-quenching as a sip at a water fountain after playing in the park.","The modern drinking fountain was invented in the early 1900s as a result of health and sanitation concerns.","Today, it's a safe source of water.","It waits to serve, no matter what the weather.","And at the touch of a button, you can drink your fill of refreshing water.","Essentially unchanged for decades, it is the ever-dependable drinking fountain.","A worker begins by coating the concrete molds with a release agent.","The molds are made of fiber glass and metal.","He makes sure the coating is thorough so that the molds will be easier to pull apart later on.","With a cloth, he also coats the rubberized cap of the mold.","The cap will eventually become the top of the fountain.","After he applies the coating, the worker assembles the inset portion of the mold.","He then puts the fountain frame, made of galvanized steel rods, into place.","He assembles the two sides of the mold with the fountain frame enclosed within.","Using nuts and bolts, he ensures the mold is nice and tight to avoid seam lines in the concrete.","He now inverts the assembled mold on top of the cap, again making sure all the pieces of the mold are as snug as possible.","Using wooden spacers, the worker makes sure the frame inside is precisely centered.","He slips in the core of the mold, which will create the void needed for mounting hardware.","This wooden cover will keep the concrete out.","A mixing machine prepares the concrete-aggregate mix.","A computer controls the portions of sand, rocks, pebbles, and water used in this recipe.","Once the employee is satisfied with the consistency of the mixture, he directs it into a wheelbarrow.","As the worker pours concrete into the mold, the mixture oozes evenly into the available space.","He completely fills it in a matter of minutes.","He uses a trowel to smooth the edges.","Two to three hours later, workers carefully pull the core from the mold.","Once the cement has cured overnight, workers lift the top of the mold off and peel away its cap, revealing the top of a brand-new drinking fountain.","With a rubber mallet, the worker separates the sides of the mold from the concrete fountain.","The fountain pedestal is still a little rough around the edges, so he gives it a high-pressure water wash.","The spray gradually removes the superficial layer of concrete, revealing the textured concrete- aggregate mix underneath.","The concrete aggregate becomes a sturdy material, with sand, rocks, and pebbles not just on its surface, but all the way through.","The aggregate mix is durable, with no rust or peeling paint.","It's aesthetically versatile and comes in a variety of colors.","A worker now assembles the plumbing.","He places two washers on this lead-free brass fitting and applies a thread sealant.","He holds the bubbler in place on the stainless steel bowl and attaches a fitting underneath.","He applies more thread sealant to the elbow fitting and, after putting it in place, makes sure it's carefully aligned.","He then inserts a stainless steel drain, followed by a washer and nut to hold it in place.","He attaches a mounting bracket to hold the bowl assembly to the frame inside the concrete fountain.","A worker now fits the bowl assembly into the top of the fountain pedestal.","The mounting bracket holds firmly to ridges in the concrete frame.","A worker attaches the button assembly, which holds both the button and the valve controlling water flow.","He attaches the elbow fitting to polypropylene tubing and attaches the button plate to the fountain pedestal.","A slide on the pedestal prevents the bubbler from being twisted or turned.","All that's needed now is a thirsty customer.","Tradition dictates that orange liqueur be served as a digestif, but nowadays it's also used as an ingredient in popular cocktails-- for instance, mixed with tequila to make a margarita, with gin to make a white lady, or with vodka to make a cosmopolitan.","Orange liqueur is also known as triple sec, triple referring to the fact it's distilled three times.","\"sec\" is french for \"dry\".","However, this liqueur isn't dry at all.","It's actually very sweet, even though it's made with mostly bitter oranges.","Triple sec was invented in 1834 by this distillery in france.","The liqueur is made from a combination of sweet orange rinds and bitter orange rinds, which are green, imported from haiti.","The rinds arrive sun-dried, so the first step is to rehydrate them by soaking in cold water for about 12 hours.","The next step is running each and every rind through a revolving razor to remove the white lining.","Left on, this lining would make the liqueur taste bitter.","Rind with its lining removed is referred to as zest.","While the distillery will divulge that its liqueur recipe calls for significantly more bitter orange zest than sweet orange zest, the precise ratio is top secret.","The next step is what's known as maceration.","They soak the zest in sugar beet alcohol for about five days, during which time the rinds soften and the alcohol turns slightly orange.","At the end of the maceration phase, they pump the alcohol and transfer the zest into a long-necked copper vessel called a still.","Once all the alcohol and zest are inside, they close up the still.","Then they release hot steam, which heats the still, bringing the alcohol to a boil.","The alcohol evaporates, rising up the still's long neck, until it reaches a condensation system which cools it to liquid form again but now with a more concentrated flavor.","This entire distillation cycle takes about a half hour.","The result is a spirit of bitter and sweet oranges that has an alcohol level of between 86% and 88%.","The first flow out of the still, called head phlegm, is white, due to the orange oil which has risen to the top.","Once that oil flows off, the spirit is clear and ready for another distillation the next day, then another the day after--  three distillations in all.","The final spirit, called heart, now has an alcohol level of 81% to 83%.","They pour a precise amount into a stainless steel mixing vat.","In a different mixer, they combine water and sugar, heating until the ingredients concentrate into syrup.","Then they add the syrup to the spirit.","The proportions are top secret and mix for at least an hour.","The syrup gives the liqueur additional sweetness and dilutes the 80% alcohol level in half to 40%.","In the distillery's quality-control laboratory, technicians test samples regularly to ensure that the liqueur's alcohol level is always consistent.","On the bottling line, the first station is a rinsing machine.","It disinfects the interior of the frosted-glass bottles with alcohol.","Next, the bottles proceed to the filling station.","These are 1 1/2-pint bottles.","However, the liqueur is bottled in several different sizes.","The next station places a metallic twist cap onto the neck of each filled bottle, then twists it until the bottle is tightly sealed.","The final station simultaneously applies front and back adhesive labels.","Triple sec is a completely colorless liqueur-- not what some might expect, given its unmistakably orange flavor.","The bow and arrow have come a long way since the stone age.","In the 1960s, an american engineer added cams and cables to produce what is now known as the compound bow.","Concept-wise, he hit the bull's-eye.","With this new bow, archery entered a whole new era.","The compound bow puts greater energy behind the arrow so it flies faster and straighter.","This means it's more likely to hit the mark.","It starts with this computerized tool.","It carves a latticework of holes in the riser, which is the aluminum framework.","The holes lighten the bow substantially.","Next, a printing cylinder applies an activator to release ink graphics from a starch-based film.","The film rolls into a tub of water.","The film dissolves, and the camouflage-style graphics are now afloat.","Machinery dips the bow risers into the floating artwork, and the graphics adhere to them.","A camouflage design now covers the entire surface, including all the crevices.","After a wash and dry, the risers are sprayed with a clear acrylic coating.","In the meantime, a technician prepares 10 bowstrings at once.","Each string will be made of 20 synthetic strands.","He ties the fibers to the prongs of a wheel, and as it turns, it winds the 20 fibers into one bundle.","The result is a bowstring that's so strong, it won't stretch under tension.","Next, the string builder wraps one of the bowstrings around the posts of a jig.","He winds a thin, braided string around a strategic section to reinforce it.","This is called serving.","He closes the jig to loop the string at the reinforced juncture.","This loop will be used to tightly attach the string to the pulley wheel known as the cam.","He loops the other end now and spins the synthetic string wrap further to provide extra protection.","He stops at the point where the arrow will sit prior to shooting.","He pulls the string apart and inserts the end of more serving string.","He winds it around this site to bolster the bowstring at this location.","He burns off the end to seal it.","He ties a loop around the reinforced section.","This is known as the shooter's loop.","It will be used to nock or hold the arrow.","To keep the string from oscillating when drawn and ensure a quiet, steady shot, they install two rubber dampeners.","A machine pulls both ends of the string through the dampeners to slide them into position.","The riser is now finished, so they add the handle, string stop for more dampening, and the arrow rest.","It's time to give the compound bow that all-important leverage.","He screws a limb and cam to each end of the riser.","A device presses the bow to load tension.","He slips the end loop around the cam post and winds the string around the cam track.","He pulls the string to the other cam and winds it.","He then turns the cams to tighten the string.","Finally, he runs two cables to the cams, completing the mechanics of the compound bow.","He splits the bowstring at a predetermined location and inserts an aperture through which the archer can view the target.","He now frees the bow from the press and locates the shooter's loop more precisely with a special measuring stick.","Satisfied with the placement, he tightens the loop to the string.","He winds more synthetic string around the aperture to secure it.","He burns the end of the string down to the knot to prevent unraveling.","At this factory, they produce one compound bow every three minutes.","With production targets now met, it's time to aim for success at the shooting range."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gas Barbecues","Mattress Pads","Ear Prostheses"]},"text":["Gas barbecues were invented in the 1960s by an arkansas gas company.","They redesigned a charcoal grill to run on bottled propane.","People were drawn to the instant flame, and the gas barbecue became a hot commodity.","Gas barbecues run from basic to extremely high-end.","There's no fussing with charcoal briquettes.","You just press the starter button and adjust the flame to the desired intensity.","Then close the lid, and you're cooking with gas.","Making a gas barbecue begins with a laser.","It cuts holes for screws, knobs, and piping into a sheet of high-gauge steel.","It will take approximately 50 steel sheets to make the entire gas barbecue.","This sheet will be used for the grill's front hood.","Computerized tools punch out various holes in the next steel sheet.","It will be used to make the barbecue's cart.","The holes are strategically placed for vents and other features.","Once holes are punched, the team transfers the sheet to a press brake.","They place it between the jaws repeatedly to make numerous bends.","The first set of bends create a ledge for the grill to sit on.","Other bends transform the flat sheet into a three-wall box that will serve as the back and sides of the barbecue's cart.","The next employee places a sheet within the walls of the box.","This will serve as the base of the barbecue's cart.","He clamps cross braces to the cart and welds the parts together.","The barbecue cart has taken shape.","They return to the front hood piece.","It's been rounded since we last saw it.","A worker assembles two steel side panels to the hood.","The side panels are made of thicker steel than the rest of the barbecue because they will need to support hinges and springs.","An employee presses a belt sander against the welded seams to clean them up.","Then he sands the entire surface of the hood so that the seams disappear.","He inserts the temperature gauge and secures it to the hood from the inside.","Down the line, another team member joins the rear part of the hood with the barbecue's firebox.","He installs the gas manifold system, complete with valves that control the burners.","He hooks up the gas line that will fuel the barbecue's rotisserie.","He covers the manifold with a plate that has holes for the valves.","He places infrared ceramic burners inside the firebox.","He connects the ignitor system for lighting the gas barbecue...","And fastens all the cables together.","Now he fires up the barbecue and inspects it for leaks or any other operational problems.","Once the barbecue passes inspection, the employee mounts a glossy steel panel to the front.","He attaches a knob to the end of the ignitor.","He installs stainless-steel grates above the burners.","He hinges the front hood to the back one.","Once the hinges have been secured, he lowers the lid to confirm that it closes tightly over the firebox.","The team transfers the barbecue to the cart.","The cart has been equipped with doors and drawers.","After they weld the firebox to the cart, this gas barbecue is on its way to a patio near you.","15 hours in the making, it will provide years of grilling pleasure.","No need to slave over a hot stove in the kitchen.","Just turn on the grill and enjoy the great outdoors.","A mattress pad protects and preserves a mattress, ensuring that it lasts longer.","Quilted with plush filling, a mattress pad can also provide an extra layer of comfort for those who prefer a softer mattress.","Purchasing a comfortable mattress is an investment in a good night's sleep.","A mattress pad can protect that investment.","To manufacture a mattress pad, a crew first cuts straps to keep the fibers compressed.","Then they feed the clumps of fibers into a revolving drum with steel spikes.","The spikes fluff up the fibers.","This starts the process of opening and separating the strands.","Fans propel the fibers through ductwork in the ceiling and into a chamber where they tumble around.","This process introduces more air, further separating the fibers.","It also helps mix the new and recycled fibers together with a polyester binder.","Next, rollers with small metal teeth align the fibers.","Two streams of combined fibers merge and enter a machine called a crosslapper.","Here carriages lay the fibers perpendicular to each other.","Multiple layers of crisscrossed fibers accumulate, creating a thick pile of polyester.","Rollers compress the layers of polyester, then the padding travels through a long oven that's heated to just under 400 degrees.","The heat activates the binder and unites the polyester fibers.","The polyester exits the oven and is taken up by a big spool.","In the next stage, the polyester wadding unrolls and travels between sheets of embossed fabric.","At the same time, thread unwinds from 22 bobbins.","The thread and polyester wadding head into a quilting machine.","Here 22 needles chain-stitch a design into the fabric and polyester wadding.","The stitching creates pockets that hold the filling in place.","Without it, the stuffing would slide around between the sheets of fabric.","A circular blade slices the quilted fabric to a width of 60 inches, the standard for a queen-size mattress.","The edges of the quilted layers are left open for inspection.","At the next station, fabric for the skirt unwinds into a large, automated sewing machine.","It pulls elastic threads tight as it sews them into the nylon material, creating a ribbed pattern.","This turns the fabric into a stretchy material.","A seamstress stitches the stretchy material to the quilted rectangles.","She uses an industrial sewing machine that trims excess fabric as it sews.","She also sews a label into the seam.","It contains manufacturing information and washing instructions.","These overlock stitches will encapsulate the seam so that the fabric will not unravel.","She trims the bottom of the skirt by hand and hems it.","The mattress pad is complete and ready for the quality control department.","Here an employee does random checks of the workmanship.","He examines the fit of the pad to a mattress and looks for missing stitches or defects.","With his approval, the mattress pad is ready to leave the factory.","It takes about 30 minutes to make one of these mattress pads.","With the job complete, it's nap time.","A prosthesis can help restore the physical appearance of a person who has lost a part of their face to an accident or illness.","Everyone's face is unique, so the prosthesis must be custom-designed for the patient by an anaplastologist.","Anaplastologists combine anatomical knowledge, technical skill, and artistic talent.","They can create an artificial ear, nose, or eye that looks remarkably realistic.","Entirely custom-made, the prosthesis blends seamlessly with the patient's skin coloring.","The prosthesis is durable, easy for the patient to apply, and comfortable to wear.","To securely attach an ear prosthesis to a patient, surgeons implant titanium fixtures into the bone around the ear area.","Once bone has grown over the implant, the anaplastologist attaches metal markers called impression copings to the titanium implants' abutments.","These markers register the abutment locations in the impression the surgeon will now take of the ear area.","The material she is using for the impression is the same material dentists use to make models of teeth.","She then attaches abutment replicas to the copings with guide pins.","After taking photos of the patient's other ear, the surgeon sends the patient home and begins the process of making a plaster model of the missing ear area.","She mixes the plaster and vacuums out any air pockets.","This is to prevent holes from appearing in the plaster once it sets.","Next, she gently presses the ear-area impression that she took from the patient into the plaster.","Once the plaster hardens, she unscrews the guide pins that connect the implant abutment replicas to the impression copings.","Then she removes the impression.","She now has a plaster model of the patient's ear area.","She sends this model to an outside laboratory.","The lab produces a solid gold bar that is custom-fitted to the abutment replicas.","She screws the gold bar into the abutment replicas, then fills in the gap between the gold bar in the plaster model with heated wax.","This will create an air space in the prosthesis so the patient's skin can breathe.","She traces the impression on the plaster with a pencil and bends a strip of wax along the pencil line.","Then she fills the wax-enclosed shape with flesh-colored acrylic.","It takes an hour for the acrylic to solidify.","She removes the wax strip and shaves off any excess acrylic, then cleans the newly formed acrylic plate.","It will form the rigid internal structure of the prosthesis.","She drills holes for attaching the prosthetic ear and installs tiny clips.","These clips allow the acrylic plate to snap onto the gold bar that is on the patient's ear.","Now comes the artistic part-- designing a wax prototype of the prosthetic ear.","The anaplastologist places the acrylic plate and bar onto the plaster model of the patient's ear area.","With fine sculpting tools and her fingers, she begins sculpting a wax ear.","She refers to photographs of the patient's existing ear to try to sculpt a perfect match.","Sculpting the wax prototype can take an entire day.","When she's done, she carefully removes the wax ear from the plaster model.","The acrylic plate is now lodged inside.","The patient returns for his next appointment.","Here the anaplastologist snaps on the wax prototype and compares it to the patient's existing ear.","She makes whatever modifications are required to perfect the fit and appearance.","This sculpting process can take two or three hours to complete, and the patient must be present.","Once the anaplastologist is satisfied with the prototype, she conducts a comprehensive final inspection from every angle.","Then she moves on to the last phase using the wax prototype to make a silicone prosthetic ear.","A prosthetic ear is made of medical-grade silicone.","The material can be molded into any shape and colored to match any skin tone.","It does not react to temperature change or irritate the skin, allowing for a natural-looking prosthesis that's comfortable to wear.","To cast a silicone prosthetic ear, the anaplastologist makes a three-part mold.","She reattaches the wax prototype ear to the plaster model of the patient's ear area.","Then she tops the combination with colored dental plaster.","Once the plaster sets, she transfers everything into a taller container and pours in more dental plaster.","Once that sets, she pours boiling water over the mold to melt the wax prototype that is inside.","This leaves an ear-shaped cavity in what is now a three-part plaster mold.","Next, she mixes one to two ounces of medical-grade silicone with a catalyst.","She removes a small quantity and mixes it with opaque powder in a separate cup to make it less transparent.","Then she mixes this opaque mixture with the rest of the silicone.","At the patient's next appointment, the anaplastologist colors the silicone to match his skin tone.","She works with an array of pigment powders diluted in silicone fluid.","The first step is to produce a base color that's a perfect match to the patient's complexion.","There's no exact formula for doing this.","It requires an artist's eye.","She needs the patient right beside her so she can check samples against his skin.","Once she has the overall base color, she transfers a small amount to a separate cup, adds a drop of thickener, and mixes.","Then she chooses from her color palette to produce a few deeper shades.","Every ear has natural color variations.","So for the prosthesis to look real, it has to have variations, as well.","She uses the patient's other ear to match these more pronounced skin tones.","Once all the colors are ready, she applies the deeper tones in specific areas of the ear.","Next, to simulate veins, she applies a few fine, red rayon fibers.","She repeats this coloring process for the back of the silicone ear.","Then she puts that part, along with the acrylic plate, on the plaster model of the ear area.","She fills a syringe with a base color and injects it into the mold cavity.","She completely fills the cavity, getting every nook and cranny...","Then closes the mold firmly.","She wipes away any excess silicone...","Clamps the mold tightly in a press...","And puts the press in an oven.","The oven cures the silicone for 2 hours at about 200 degrees.","Once the mold cools to room temperature, she opens it and extracts the finished prosthetic ear.","It's identical in shape to the wax prototype and looks remarkably realistic.","The patient returns for his final visit.","She snaps on the prosthesis...","And checks that the edges adhere well to the surrounding skin.","The life-span of a prosthetic ear depends on how it's handled.","Sun exposure can wear out the silicone or fade its coloring.","A patient typically returns for a new prosthesis every two to four years."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Three"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Three-wheeled vehicles...","Baseball bats...","Artificial bonsais...","And trombones.","Three-wheeled vehicles were introduced in the 1990s as exotic concept vehicles.","This one is like a motorcycle on steroids.","It has what's called a reverse trike design-- two wheels in front and one in the back.","It hugs the road like a race car yet is legal to drive through city streets.","This vehicle goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 4.1 seconds.","It's no faster than a motorcycle, but it definitely turns heads.","Production begins with 34 steel-tube components that will form the vehicle's chassis.","A worker places them in an assembly jig.","This positions the tubes for welding.","After clamping the components in place, it takes the worker about 4 hours to weld 68 different areas together.","For efficiency, 13 of the larger, more complex structures are pre-assembled.","The steel tubes measure 1.5 inches in diameter, but the metal itself is only 1/16 of an inch thick.","They're like those used in the aviation industry-- strong, yet lightweight.","This company uses a visual reference method to assemble smaller parts of the vehicle.","Before starting, a worker places 80 components on a board with labels that identify them.","This way, he's certain he won't forget any nuts, bolts, bearings, brackets, or horns.","Using an electric crane, a worker hoists the vehicle's 4-cylinder, 152-horsepower, 1,200cc motorcycle engine into the chassis, now tinted black.","Using a pneumatic wrench, he attaches it with six bolts and six nuts.","Here, a worker assembles the 50 parts that make up what's called the foot box.","This includes aluminum clutch, brake, and gas pedals.","The brake pedal is thicker to withstand more aggressive use.","The vehicle decelerates from 60 miles an hour to 0 in just less than 95 feet.","He coats part of the brake pedal with a liquid sealant so vibrations won't loosen it.","Another worker then mounts two output hoses and two plastic reservoirs for brake fluid.","The brake fluid must withstand heat of 650 degrees fahrenheit, 86 degrees hotter than what's required for most cars.","This enables better engine performance.","He installs the foot box onto the front of the chassis using three bolts.","Controlling the speed with the foot box is crucial since top speed for the vehicle is 143 miles an hour.","Next, he installs part of the suspension system-- a cylindrical gas shock absorber.","This attaches to the brake system, which is a zinc-plated rotor and an aluminum caliper.","Then they attach what's called the 4-into-1 exhaust manifold.","The four pipes merge into one to vent the exhaust fumes from the engine.","They install the electric fan and radiator assembly.","Next, a worker attaches a removable leather-covered aluminum driving wheel to the steering column.","The driving wheel locks into place with a spring-loaded latch system.","Just like a race car, you attach the steering wheel after you sit in the driver's seat so that you can get inside the vehicle.","The collapsible steering column is part of the instrument cluster.","This includes dials showing the vehicle's speed, mileage, and fuel.","There are also switches for turn signals, hazard flashers, high- and low-beam lights, and to start and kill the engine.","Next, workers install the rear wheel to another part of the suspension called a swing arm.","They attach it with one bolt that's a foot and a half long and two smaller bolts.","Workers then install a chain on the rear-wheel assembly.","When the vehicle's running, the chain's 94 links revolve on two sprockets to make the wheel turn.","Rubber \"o\" rings on each link prevent dust from damaging the chain.","Finally, workers attach 19 molded fiberglass body parts.","This factory offers 6 standard colors and several custom colors.","When assembled, the vehicle is nearly 11 1/2 feet long, 6 1/2 feet wide, and just over 3 feet high.","If you have a motorcycle license and a spare $50,000, you too can burn the pavement on this mean set of wheels.","If you think a baseball bat is a pretty simple thing, well, you're out in left field.","Making a bat means balancing things like weight and thickness.","The material it's made from can make a difference.","Metal bats hit the ball farther.","However, the pros use wood bats because of league regulations, and even the type of wood might impact the score.","Barry bonds cracked a home-run record in 2001 with a wood bat like this-- one made of maple instead of the usual white ash.","They can never tell just by looking at it that a chunk of maple has what it takes to make a good bat, so they weigh it to make sure the wood is really as thick and heavy as it appears.","Next, pointed prongs grip the wood and spin it while a carbide cutter rounds it.","This is a very modern lathe called an xy machine.","The rounded blank goes into a room called the library, joining others on the shelf that are waiting for their chance at the big leagues.","A worker selects one of the blanks to fill an order that specifies a certain model and size.","He weighs it again to make sure it measures up to what the player has ordered.","The blank goes onto the xy machine and spins.","A computer guides the cutter as it moves on rails and carves into the blank.","It whittles one inch of wood from the blank in order to form a handle.","It takes a total of three passes on this cutter to make the rough shape of a baseball bat.","But it's quick work--  completed in just 3 minutes.","Now it's time for another weighing-in.","The bat is substantially lighter, which is what they want.","Next, he measures the end of a completed bat with a caliper.","Using a square-edged scraper, he rounds the knob as the bat spins on a more traditional lathe.","He measures as he cuts.","With another caliper, he checks the thickness of a completed bat and compares it to the one he's just carved.","Now he takes a turning tool called a skew chisel.","With its pointed tip, he cuts into the bat's handle, just above the knob, to narrow the shoulder.","Again, he measures as he cuts to make sure the diameter is just right.","Using the skew chisel, he shapes the slope of the bat, repeatedly checking with the caliper to make sure it meets specifications.","He slims down the handle a little more.","Then, he angles the top of the knob with the chisel.","He shapes the rest of it with a square-end chisel.","Next, he curves the bat's barrel using the same tool.","This gets rid of sharp edges that would cause a ball's impact to ripple down and jar the player.","Then he goes back to the knob and completes the shaping with the skew-end chisel.","Because the tool is extremely sharp, he can carve very precisely.","The bat is now within a half ounce of its final weight.","Using an electric sander, he smoothes down some of the rough edges.","He switches to a finer grit to finish off the job.","As he sands, he measures because this isn't just about getting the surface smooth.","The bat has to be exactly the right size and weight for the player it's being made for.","Now he places the bat's knob in an end mill.","A spinning carbide disc cuts around the holes made by the pointed grippers on the lathes, producing a gentle scoop.","Next, a bigger disc carves into the barrel, cupping it.","Some players prefer a cupped bat because it balances differently.","Now he places the bat on the scale for the final weighing, and it is exactly what the player ordered.","He brushes paint on the barrel and rubs stain into the lower half of the bat.","He presses decals onto the bat so it sports both the brand name and distributor.","Then, he stamps the model number in gold ink.","And tops everything off with a light coat of varnish.","Now this maple bat is ready for the big leagues and some heavy hitting.","Bonsai is a japanese word that means plant in a pot.","Growing trees in pots is a revered art that actually began in china more than 2,000 years ago.","During the past century, creating artificial trees known as bonsai zokei has evolved into a hobby with global appeal.","Whether it's rustic pine, flowering cherry, or chinese elm, bonsai zokei can be made to resemble a variety of trees.","Some include stones and small statues, a chinese tradition known as penjing.","A craftsman starts by wrapping 13 strands of wire with stretchy, sticky tape used by florists.","He uses 13 partly out of respect for a traditional asian preference for odd numbers.","Later, these wires will form parts of the trunk and branches.","Next, he wraps the wires with strips of paper towel for thickness and flexibility.","To hold the paper towel in place, he wraps the ends of the wires with more floral tape.","He then separates clumps of plastic pine needles from their branches.","Ironically, this fake vegetation is imported from china.","Next, he snips off the ends of the branches, creating segments about one inch long.","To reinforce and support these segments, he wraps them with tiny wire that's 2/100 of an inch in diameter.","Next, he wraps the segments with floral tape to give them a more natural, branch-like appearance.","Then he inserts these segments into the pine-needle clumps.","The thicker end becomes the bud and holds the clump on the segment.","The craftsman now places three of these leafy segments together and attaches them with wire.","He bends them sideways in the same direction.","This mimics the tendency of natural branches to lean toward the sun.","For more mature-looking buds, he uses different, 3-headed artificial segments.","For integrity, two different types of buds are never used on the same tree.","To add character, the craftsman uses a piece of weathered driftwood as the base of the trunk.","He anchors the long wrapped wires into styrofoam around the bottom of the base.","He staples the wires to the driftwood, and wraps floral tape around the wires surrounding the base.","Then he twists the wires to form a sinuous shape, what the japanese call moyogi.","He covers the trunk with soft gray modelling clay, adhering closely to the shape of the driftwood underneath.","This will later be covered by artificial bark and moss.","This process can take several hours-- just part of the 4 to 6 days it takes one worker to make a bonsai zokei.","The craftsman then applies slow-drying glue to one side of strips of rice paper.","The strips are two inches long and one inch wide.","He uses about 50 to cover the trunk like bark on a tree.","He dabs them with a wet rag so that the creases will remain when the glue dries.","The creases make the bark look realistically aged, one of the hallmarks of a good bonsai zokei.","Craftsmen are careful to place the branches in the traditional triangle shape.","The lower branches must droop as if weighed down by the elements.","They add the leafy segments to the ends of the wire branches, attaching them with wire and floral tape.","Using a knife, the craftsmen trim away the excess styrofoam around the tree trunk.","He then places the tree into an argyle pot that's 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 2 inches high.","Using a sculpting tool, he covers the styrofoam in the pot with brown modelling clay.","Using slow-drying glue, he now covers the clay in several shades of fake moss.","They range in color from dark brown to light green.","He doesn't let the glue dry between each layer because the blending of moss and glue ensures a more natural-looking ground cover.","He gently blows on the moss to scatter it across the base.","He also applies glue further up the trunk, adhering moss that's thicker and lighter in color to resemble lichen.","The finished bonsai zokei is 17 1/2 inches high.","It needs none of the constant care required by its natural twin.","Depending on their size and complexity, artificial bonsais range in price from $50 to $800.","The adage \"it's hard to improve on a good thing\" certainly applies to the trombone.","The modern trombone isn't really much different from its medieval predecessor, known as the sackbut, with its distinctive \"s\" shape, hand slide, and bell section.","It's a blast from the past, and a pretty loud one, but it can also sound smooth and mellow.","the trombone literally slides down to the low notes.","It's the only instrument with a hand slide to lengthen it in order to change pitch.","To make a trombone, they cut sheet brass in the pattern of a bell stem.","They shape it by wrapping it around a steel rod.","Using a nylon-headed mallet, the worker hammers the brass to shape it further.","It takes just a few minutes for him to hammer out a rough bell stem form.","He spreads open the stem slightly so he can make small notches on one edge with snippers.","Then, with a brass-headed hammer, he taps down the notches so they hold the edges together.","With an acetylene torch, he joins the notched seam, melting in a brass alloy wire to bond it securely.","But the seam overlaps and it's too thick, so he runs it through a seam roller.","Two tons of pressure thins it, but now the bell stem is too flat.","To round it out, he shoves it onto a bell-shaped rod and hammers it back into shape.","Then he irons out the hammer marks with rollers.","The bell stem, fitting loosely on a steel mandrel, goes through a draw bench.","A hydraulic cylinder pushes it through a thick lead washer, pressing it tightly around the mandrel to its shape.","To make the bell flare to attach to the stem, he puts a brass disc on a spinning lathe.","Using pliers, he turns the edges of the disc to prevent it from flapping while spinning.","With a lever, he manipulates a scissors spinning tool, pressing it against the turning brass disc.","This shapes the disc into a flare.","Making a trombone flare is a delicate business and is the work of a skilled craftsman.","Getting it right is critical because the shape will affect the tone of the trombone.","Next, with a torch, he brazes the flare to the bell stem.","The bell stem and flare now turn on a mandrel while he presses against the seam with a wooden tool.","This flattens the seam and gives the bell its final shape.","Now it's time to make the tubing.","A hydraulic cylinder pulls it on a mandrel through a die, stretching it considerably.","In this way, both the diameter and thickness of the tubing are precisely controlled.","Then, they become ice tubes after they're filled with water and put in the freezer.","The ice will keep the thin tubing from buckling in the next process.","With a lever, he bends the tube around a u-shaped block.","As he works it into a \"u\" shape, the tubing hardens.","After the ice melts, he places the \"u\" bend in a balling out die.","He lubricates the tubing with oil and places a steel ball at the top of the tube and presses it down.","He drops in smaller balls and they push the first, larger ball through the \"u\" tube.","This stretches the inside of the tube, rounding it to the correct diameter.","And then the balls exit at the other end.","Now he pieces the tubes together and solders them the same way a plumber joins copper tubing.","He adds a loop for the valve section.","In total, a bass trombone has nine feet of tubing.","Straightened, that's enough to reach from the floor to the ceiling.","But, of course, trombone makers are more interested in musical highs and lows.","Finally, he solders a brace into place to add structural strength to one of the loops.","A diamond-tipped tool engraves the company logo onto the trombone's bell stem.","And a cloth buffing wheel spins against the trombone flare to polish it.","this custom trombone has been built in approximately 50 hours-- something worth blowing a horn about."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wall Beds","Sundae Cups","Digital Paintings","Badminton Rackets"]},"text":["In the late 19th century, it was considered immoral for unmarried women to enter a man's bedroom.","William murphy couldn't bring his date back to his one-room apartment, so he invented a bed that folded up into the wall, converting his bedroom into a parlor to host his love interest.","A wall of cupboards and closets suddenly opens up to reveal sleek comfortable sleeping quarters.","The wall bed is a great way to economize on space without sacrificing comfort or style.","To build the mechanism casing, a worker begins by placing the steel plate in a powerful bending machine, which is capable of exerting 55 tons of force.","Using the square and calipers, the worker verifies that the bend is a perfectly uniform right angle and the flange depth does not exceed the specified parameters.","Once the bending machine has folded all four sides of the plate, the worker then mounts it onto a locator pin in a second press, which descends and creates a small depression around the central opening.","This depression will facilitate the welding process.","Using another locator pin, a welder clamps the plate into a purpose-built jig.","He then begins welding all of the necessary components in place.","He uses a bolt to correctly locate an internal reinforcement plate and also welds in the crucial pivot pin on which the mechanism will hinge.","The casing plates are mounted on spacers to help speed the drying process.","Then a worker spray-paints them black.","Once dry, he removes a protective cap from the pivot.","It's now time to manufacture the wall-mounted spring mechanism.","A worker uses a drill press outfitted with a countersink to create a beveled recess around the openings.","A worker then uses a specially-designed press to install a brass bearing in one of the openings.","The mechanism is nearly complete.","However, there are still several steps to go in the process.","Next, a worker brushes grease onto the interior of two mechanism casings.","He then flips them over in order to apply a specially-formulated grease to the pivot pin.","He slides the bushing over it and applies a c-shaped locking washer.","An s-shaped stop will lock the mechanism in place until the bed is installed.","The spring-unit assemblage will provide the resistance required to help smoothly raise and lower the bed.","A locking pin secures one end of the spring unit in place.","The worker adds the bottom plate of the unit, which includes a threaded bolt.","A nut threaded onto it can be tightened or loosened to adjust the mechanism's tension.","The wall-mounted spring mechanism is ready to be installed.","It's designed to connect to this bed-mounted component.","Once mounted to the bed, the two components work together, allowing the user to easily raise and lower the bed.","A worker quickly installs the bed-mounted component using pre-drilled holes, bolts, and locking nuts.","He installs the wall bed's legs in the same way, following a pre-drilled hole pattern to locate the component and attach it with bolts, locking nuts, and screws.","The legs fold down when the bed is being used and tuck out of the way when the bed folds up.","The manufacturers can now package the fully-assembled wall beds for transport to their destinations.","Installing the wall bed requires some muscle, but once the two components of the spring mechanism are connected, lowering the bed onto its fold-away legs is a piece of cake.","This s-shaped stop ensures the mechanism won't accidentally flip up.","Once it's removed, the bed easily rises.","The legs tuck into position, and the bed neatly folds away into its hiding spot, as though it were never there.","Several american towns claim to be the birthplace of the sundae.","Sundaes first appeared in the 1880s, when the sale of ice cream sodas was banned on sundays.","Instead, soda-fountain operators poured soda syrup on ice cream, added toppings, and called this new treat the sundae.","Today, ice cream sundaes come pre-made and frozen in individual servings.","There's no need to wait.","This decadent dessert can be served up in an instant.","At the sundae factory, productions starts with something called the white base mix.","It's a pasteurized blend of fresh cream, milk, and a variety of sweeteners.","A worker adds a blend of yellow coloring to the white base mix, and this takes it from bright white to an off-white.","A generous helping of pure vanilla extract lends a distinctive flavor and adds extra color to the cream base.","After a final stir, the mix is ready for a freezing process, during which, air will be added to turn the mix into soft ice cream.","It's time to cue the containers.","Two at a time, individual-sized sundae cups move forward on the production line.","They meet up with the ice cream dispenser.","It automatically pumps precise amounts of the soft vanilla ice cream into the cups.","It fills the cups to the 3/4 mark, leaving plenty of room for toppings.","It's now time to prepare the next layer of deliciousness-- the chocolate fudge sauce.","A worker mixes skim milk and sweeteners to a frothy consistency, and then adds several large bags of dark rich cocoa.","The mixer paddle agitates the ingredients to distribute the cocoa evenly throughout.","The chocolate fudge is pumped into a plastic tote to cool overnight.","During cooling, the sauce thickens up substantially.","It's now a rich chocolate fudge syrup.","Velvety smooth, the chocolate syrup flows out of the tote and into a big tank.","From there, nozzles dispense the chocolate fudge syrup onto the vanilla ice cream in the cups.","Next, a worker pours a liquid-topping blend into a high-speed mixer system that beats it to a whipped consistency.","Nozzles deposit the whipped topping onto the syrup-covered ice cream.","Now it's time to add some chocolate crunch to the smooth, sweet sundae.","The system sprinkles semi-sweet chocolate chunks onto the whipped topping.","It's the final touch.","These single-serve chocolate sundaes have been prepared almost entirely by machines.","A conveyor now sends them through an icy blast of air for a quick freeze.","Exiting the freezer, the frozen sundaes travel forward, shielded by overhead guards for food-safety reasons.","The sundaes funnel into a single-file lane.","This positions them to receive lids.","The lids slide down a chute and land on top of the ice cream sundae cups.","Rollers press the lids down on the rims.","A revolving apparatus deposits plastic collars around the lids.","Moving forward, the machinery sorts the sundae cups in row of two.","This allows a robot with suctioning arms to pick up six at a time and pack them into a cardboard box.","The boxes travel under and over packing tape to seal the tops and bottoms.","Incredibly, this factory produces 1,440 ice cream sundae cups every 15 minutes.","And it's all thanks to the magic of mechanization.","This company also produces tubs of flavored ice cream, so there are many mouth-watering choices to be made at dessert time.","Digital painting is a relatively new medium.","It's an artistic hybrid that marries modern computer technology with traditional painting by hand on canvas.","Today, some photography studios offer digital painting as a way to transform photographic portraits into painted portraits.","This specialized photographer offers digital painting to enhance original portraits and cherished snapshots.","His studio also specializes in creating life-story collages.","The in-house artist assembles photos and illustrations, depicting elements of the subject's lifetime.","She scans and digitizes photos which are not already digital.","She manually retouches every image with a digital pen and tablet to maximize the quality.","Then she begins working on the layout of the collage.","Once she has finalized the layout, she blends the edges of each image so that the elements flow seamlessly into each other.","Now the artist begins digitally painting.","She chooses from a selection of brush shapes and sizes, and from a myriad of colors.","She applies digital paint to blur the hard lines of the photographs to make them look more like painted images.","This painting process takes several hours of painstaking work.","She sends the digital painting to the lab technician who prepares to print the work onto a canvas.","First, he tweaks the entire painting, balancing the brightness and the colors.","He prints a small test sample on canvas.","Both the technician and the artist meticulously examine the sample under magnification, looking for any painting or printing errors.","If everything is perfect, the technician installs a large canvas roll on the printer.","The machine prints, not with regular inks, but with archival pigments, which last for centuries.","After each pass, the head waits six seconds to let the pigments dry.","This prevents them from smearing on the next pass.","A digital painting this size takes five hours to print.","The pigments must dry for 72 hours to ensure they're embedded into the canvas.","Then the technician applies a coat of stabilizing lacquer to protect the surface from damage caused by ultraviolet rays or handling.","The lacquer takes about an hour to dry.","Then they can safely mount the canvas on a stretcher frame.","The workers pull it tight with special pliers and then staple it down.","They cut the corners to facilitate framing.","The artist applies a white gel with thicker brush strokes in some areas and thinner ones in others.","This gives the print the texture of a painting.","The gel turns clear as it dries for 24 hours.","Then the artist paints the entire printed canvas with acrylic paints.","As she applies shading and creates depth, the painting gradually comes alive.","When she finishes, she signs her work.","In about an hour, the paint is dry and the digital painting is ready for framing.","She inserts a personalized certificate of authenticity, stating that this is a one-of-a-kind work, and applies the photography studio's label on the back of the canvas.","Whether it's a creatively-crafted collage or produced from a simple photograph, a digital painting immortalizes precious moments captured by the camera lens.","At some point in 19th-century england, a new game evolved that took its name from the duke of beaufort's badminton house.","Badminton soon became all the rage among british officers in india.","Today, fans believe the game is faster and harder than tennis, its long-time rival.","To create the carbon-fiber shafts of the badminton racquets, the manufacturer follows a series of meticulously-defined production steps.","The process begins by tightly wrapping a carbon-fiber fabric, called prepreg, multiple times around a metal cylinder.","A worker encases the fabric in plastic to hold the prepreg in place.","Then he suspends the cylinders from a rack and rolls them into an oven.","The heating process transforms the wrapped prepreg into solid lightweight and super-strong carbon-fiber material.","This specialized device removes the cylinder from the carbon fiber, leaving a hollow shaft.","Here, we can see the stages of production required to create the hollow carbon-fiber shaft.","In the next stage of production, a worker begins the process of manufacturing the racquet frame.","She starts with a different formulation of prepreg material, which she folds into thin strips.","The key is to make sure each strip is identical.","In the next phase, a worker wraps the strip around a purpose-built mold to create the shape of a racquet frame.","She introduces the carbon-fiber shaft into the mold.","The racquet is taking shape.","Another piece of carbon fiber forms the joint between them.","The frame-shaped prepreg carbon fiber then goes into a shaping machine, and the lid closes.","The shaping machine heats and then cools the prepreg over the course of about 30 minutes.","A worker lifts the lid and removes the fully-formed racquet frame, which has excess resin.","Resin holds the carbon fibers together before the curing process.","Heating expels the resin, which must then be removed.","A narrow bit drills the first sequence of holes in an offset pattern to make the racquet easier to string.","A larger-gauge bit drills holes large enough to permit two strings to pass through.","Quality-control inspectors choose a racquet frame at random to test how much pressure it can bear before it reaches the breaking point.","It's finally time to add the wooden handle and cap to the shaft and put everything together.","The racquets head for the painting department, where they receive a base coat.","Then workers meticulously apply a series of decals.","The decals soak in water to make it easier to remove the backing.","A worker slides each hole over a pin at the base of a nailing machine.","The machine nails specially-designed grommets into the holes.","The grommets are slightly too long to ensure they can be cut perfectly flush to the frame by this machine.","In a two-part process, this pressing machine heats and then presses the cut side of the grommets to smooth them out.","A worker carefully clamps the racquet into a winding machine and brushes glue onto the handle.","She then secures one end of the handle wrap at the base, and uses a foot pedal to begin turning the racquet.","Maintaining the steady tension at the correct angle, she winds the wrapping all the way up to the beginning of the shaft.","She secures the top end of the wrapping with tape.","A laser quickly and accurately burns the product i.d. number into the shaft.","A quality-control inspector clamps the completed racquet into a precision- engineered device, designed to measure its weight, swing weight, and balance point with incredible accuracy.","The racquets made by this manufacturer come in different sizes, suited to every level of badminton player."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fencing Masks","Books","Ocean Drone Transformers","3D Puzzles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fencing masks...","Books...","Ocean drone transformers...","And 3-d puzzles.","Fencing is one of the oldest forms of armed combat.","In the late 18th century, fencing evolved into a sport.","As fencing gained popularity, a steel mesh mask was invented to protect the eyes and face from injury.","Before fencers say \"en garde,\" they don a face guard.","Today, fencing is recognized as an olympic sport, so special mesh masks are required to compete.","Regulation fencing masks are made from rectangular pieces of tight steel mesh.","A machinist uses a guillotine blade to cut the corners of the mesh piece on an angle.","Then he transfers the mesh to a press with a large mold that's shaped like a face.","The hydraulically powered mold press bears down on the steel mesh and forces it into a rounded shape.","Using a special tool, the machinist bends steel wire to a form.","He brings the ends of the wire together to close the loop.","An automated welder fuses the ends.","The machinist transfers the hoop to the next fixture and places the rounded steel mesh on top of the hoop.","A frame descends, affixing the mesh to the hoop.","Then multiple welding guns spot-weld the mesh to the hoop.","A large welding gun closes the gaps between the spot-welds.","Once fused, the hoop will prevent the mesh from fraying and add structural rigidity.","Using a nibbler tool, the machinist trims the mesh, revealing a clean edge.","Next, the technician works on the mask's side piece by bending steel wire into a rectangle.","He places the rectangular frame in a fixture and sets a piece of mesh over the frame.","He spot-welds the mesh to the frame.","This step provides a more consistent weld around the entire mask.","Copper welding wheels fuse and seal the mesh to the frame.","Then the machinist uses a grinding wheel to remove any sharp bits or protrusions.","This is the result.","A bending device rounds the part so that it will fit to the sides and top of the head.","He welds the rounded part to the back of the fencing mask.","A large welding gun spot-welds the assembly together in preparation for a final weld.","Once complete, the machinist makes a full seam weld, closing all gaps.","This will prevent a sword from piercing through the mask, potentially wounding the wearer.","Next, the technician pounds out any remaining dents with a hammer, restoring the mask to the desired contours.","He places the fencing mask on a rounded post and uses a plastic mallet to hammer the mask against the post.","This step will improve the overall shape of the mask.","They big is made out of high molecular polyethylene, which is strong and extremely light weight.","The bib includes a thick rubber band that attaches to the mesh mask.","Once the mesh is coated with plastic, another technician installs rubber trim along the perimeter of the mask.","The plastic coating on the mesh insulates the mask, preventing electrical interference from the scoring system's wiring.","The technician pipes epoxy glue around the mask just above the rubber trim.","He pulls the bib's rubber band over the mask and down to the bead of glue at the bottom.","He tucks the pieces of material under the band for a neater look.","As the glue cures, the bib's rubber band adheres to the fencing mask.","Another machinist drills rivet holes through the bib and mesh along the sides of the mask.","Then he inserts and flattens the rivets to pull the bib flush to the mesh.","Each fencing discipline requires its own uniquely designed mask.","Regardless of the design, each mask will allow the athlete to safely enjoy the sport.","Book-making has evolved over time, from scrolls to writing on sheets of paper bound together, to the invention of the printing press.","People continue to develop new ways of recording history.","Today, thanks to digital technology, the possibilities of recording the spoken word are endless.","A fine book-making specialist makes just a few limited edition books per year, using traditional printing and binding techniques.","Production begins with a case of tiny brass molds.","One mold, called a matrix, contains letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.","A typecasting specialist inserts the matrix case into a machine called a monotype composition caster.","And melts lead alloy ingots in the machine's gas heated pot.","Guided by a computer, the machine casts one character at a time for every word of the book.","The computer program assigns a location code to every matrix.","To cast a character, the program communicates a specific code through plastic tubes, while puffs of air align that character's matrix with the injection nozzle.","The nozzle dispenses molten lead into the matrix while the machine ejects the cast character onto a tray called the galley.","As the lines of text exit the machine, the typecast specialist inserts a strip of lead to create spacing, called leading, between each line.","He transfers the galley to the press room, where a proofing press spreads ink on the type.","He places a sheet of newsprint over the galley and releases an impression roller.","The roller prints the characters on to the paper, generating a proof.","Meanwhile, a typesetter assembles the larger display copy manually by placing individual letters into a composition stick.","This method was used for all copy prior to the invention of the automatic typecasting machines in the 1890s.","Books printed in large sizes of type must be made entirely by manual typeset.","Once complete, multiple galleys that make up several pages of the book are placed in a steel frame called a chase and loaded into the printing press.","This cylinder press feeds one sheet of paper at a time to grippers that pull the paper around a cylindrical roller.","As the roller rotates, the paper drops onto the inked type, printing the characters into the sheet.","One press sheet typically contains eight pages per side.","Another machine folds the sheets, then bookbinders manually collate groups of 16 consecutive pages to form sections of the book called signatures.","Next, a bookbinder sews the signatures together one at a time until the book is fully assembled.","This method of bookbinding, called smyth sewn binding, after its 19th century inventor, is of the highest quality because pages can't fall out or be removed.","Like the binding, the book cover is meticulously handcrafted.","A book binder hot glues a piece of cloth to the back of the cover.","The cover is made of flexible paper and thick cardboard.","Then she flattens the cloth on all sides.","Using a razor blade, the book binder makes a slit for the cloth, where she'll place a recessed label later.","This enables the cloth to spread out and form to the spine's rounded shape.","The cloth is pressed firmly against the structural components with a plastic tool called a bone.","Another book binder attaches the cover to the bound pages, called the book block.","First, she applies glue to both components.","Then she positions the book block on the cover...","And presses them together.","She places the book in a nipping press.","That puts pressure around the spine, fusing the book block and cover together.","Then the front and back of the cover are glued to the first and last pages of the book.","The book then sits in another press overnight, bringing this book-making story to a close.","There's a new class of autonomous vehicles that can travel the ocean.","Some dive and some sail, but very few can do both.","An ocean drone transformer shifts from sailboat to submarine by rearranging its shape and altering its mode of operation.","This is an autonomous underwater and surface vehicle.","It's an information-gathering machine capable of propelling itself over and under waves, using nothing but wind and solar power.","To create the vehicle's hull, technicians unroll sheets of fiberglass over a mold, which has been machined from a block of styrofoam.","They fiberglass fabric is cut to fit the interior of the hull.","Thanks to its extraordinary durability, the fiberglass will allow the watercraft to spend months at a time at sea.","And it won't interfere with the vessel's electronic signals.","Technicians carefully tape the material to the mold.","This yellow material will allow liquid resin to flow easily.","Then technicians unroll a strip of gray ribbon which will help direct the flow of resin.","Next, an incision is made in the middle of the ribbon for the nozzle, which will be the entry point for the resin.","A layer of plastic is taped onto the hull, which will help to vacuum seal the assembly together.","A shut-off valve is added to control the flow of resin.","The resin is poured into a container.","And as the resin infuses the flow media, it displaces the vacuum until it has completely saturated the fiberglass material.","The resin is cured for 12 hours.","The mold splits open at the bottom so technicians can easily release the hull assembly.","A technician paints the vehicle's keel, which is made of marine-grade aluminum.","The torpedo-shaped keel bulb is made of lead.","Electric cables run through a hole drilled length-wise down the center of the keel.","The interior structure of the vehicle starts as a flat material made from a combination of fiberglass and epoxy which they form into large sheets using intense heat and pressure.","Then water jet technology precision cuts the sheets into the required shapes and sizes.","Technicians assemble the shapes into a structure that supports the hull while housing the vehicle's equipment.","In-house technicians build the multiple circuit boards that make up the central processing unit, or cpu.","Each board controls a separate element of the vehicle, such as the sensors, the wing, or the communications system.","Electronics and water are not a compatible combination, so the manufacturer designed a water-tight acrylic tube to hold all 10 of the circuit boards that make up the cpu.","Specialized cable connectors are installed so water doesn't leak through the cover plate.","Once the enclosure is sealed, technicians vacuum out flammable oxygen and pump in non-flammable gases to protect the cpu.","A technician prepares the battery, which is an off-the-shelf lithium ion unit.","A battery housing is 3-d printed out of a.b.s. and infused with epoxy to ensure that it's completely water tight.","Next, a technician installs the battery in its designated spot.","Solar panels on the vehicle's surface will recharge the batteries.","A hose will allow the cpu to transfer water from one ballast tank to another to control the boat's up and down motion or pitch.","The vehicle's tails serve as housings for the backup communications antenna system.","In stealth mode, the vehicle can sit below the water surface with only its tails above the waves.","Designed to fold down and tuck into the body of the vehicle, the rigid wing multi-tasks as the primary antenna and the sail, which propels the vehicle when it's above water.","Due to its user-friendly technology, an operator can program a mission at any time from any location via satellite or wi-fi.","The first jigsaw puzzle was invented in europe in 1760.","Nearly two centuries later, a canadian inventor reshaped the popular pastime.","His puzzle pieces, made of thick foam rather than cardboard, could stand upright, turning the puzzle into a three-dimension model.","Constructing a 3-d puzzle yields impressive results.","To do so, two 800-piece puzzle sets are used to create this spectacular castle replica.","An industrial designer creates the puzzle's three-dimensional structure.","An illustrator uses techniques, such as visual textures and shading, to transform flat graphics into a three-dimensional rendering.","The industrial designer prepares the printing and cutting layout, fitting up to three puzzles per sheet.","The puzzle pieces are made from rigid foam.","The foam is specifically engineered to be chemically compatible with the paper graphics and proprietary adhesive.","A technician feeds one sheet at a time into a custom designed lamination machine.","The first station spreads hot glue over the top of the foam sheet.","An automated arm with vacuum suction cups lifts a single sheet of printed paper and places it on the glue-coated foam sheet.","As soon as the paper adheres to the foam, the she is released from the suction cups.","Then the foam moves under a roller that presses down the paper.","As the laminated foam exits the machine, a technician rolls a tube over the foam, pressing out any remaining air bubbles to ensure the paper adheres fully.","In the development phase, the industrial designer assembled a blueprint for how the puzzle pieces would be shaped and laid out.","That design went to a toolmaker who produced a corresponding cutting die out of steel knives.","The die is mounted inside the cutting machine.","A technician feeds the machine one laminated foam sheet at a time, paper side down.","Grippers grab the edge of the paper, pulling the sheet into the machine.","The cutting die slices the puzzle pieces into the foam.","Even though the cutting pressure compresses the foam, it immediately bounces back, keeping the sheet intact.","Thanks to a high-quality rubber sheet inserted between the blades, the pieces don't get stuck in the die.","The stiff rubber provides counter-pressure to help remove the foam sheet.","If the sheet has two or three puzzles printed on it, the cutting die separates them.","Then a technician places the puzzle on a semi-automatic conveyor belt that moves it to the dismantling machine.","The machine infuses the die-cut puzzle sheet with steam.","The steam prevents static electricity, which causes pieces to cling together or to the inside of the machine.","The machine separates the pieces.","And dispenses them into a puzzle box.","A technician adds the standard instructions sheet, and seals the box.","The instructions are in black and white, but can be viewed in color online.","The first step is to sort the pieces by color and design and set aside the ones marked with a red dot which is part of the manufacturing process, not the puzzle itself.","The next step is to assemble the puzzle, section by section.","All the sections are flat, so the final step is to attach the flat sections to make the puzzle three-dimensional.","For an additional challenge, you can forgo the step-by-step instructions and refer only to the photos on the box.","If you happen to lose a puzzle piece, you can go to the company's website to trace the number of your missing piece, then order a new piece online.","The company will mail it to you so that you can complete your puzzle.","Unlike a traditional flat puzzle, you can move your 3-d puzzle without it falling apart.","It takes four to six months to develop and design this incredible 3-d puzzle.","Now it's time to spend even longer piecing this puzzle together."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Putty Knives","Garage Doors","Electric Motors","Wool"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","Putty knives...","Garage doors...","Electric motors...","And wool.","Rummage through a do-it-yourselfer's toolbox, and chances are, you'll come across a putty knife or two.","They come in several widths.","So whether you're scraping off paint, old wallpaper, or installing drywall, there's a putty knife that's the right size and shape for the job.","These putty-knife blades are made of steel that's flexible and durable, due in part to its high carbon content.","Production begins with workers feeding steel sheets into a press one by one.","The press's cutting guy punches out a blade for the type of putty knife they're producing.","The next press punches three rivet holes in the handle portion of the blade.","These are for attaching a hard plastic handle.","For models that'll have a handle made of a softer, rubberlike plastic, they fishbone the handle portion of the blade, so that it'll grip the plastic.","Steel has to be heat-treated to gain its full flexibility and strength.","First, they submerge the blades in a bath of molten salt.","The heat is intense--  1,400 degrees fahrenheit.","The blades soak for about a minute-- the time it takes for the metal temperature to rise to that of the tank.","As it does, the steel's molecular structure begins to change.","From here, they transfer the blades to two successively cooler salt baths.","That quenching, as it's called, further hardens the steel.","The blades are then tempered in an oven for eight hours at 400 degrees fahrenheit.","This gives the steel memory, meaning the blade will revert to its original shape when bent.","After heat treatment, lukewarm water jets rinse off the salt residue and cool the metal to room temperature.","Now that the metal has the required properties, the blades need the right profile.","A worker lays them on a magnetic plate that angles them downward.","The plate spins, running the blades against a grinding wheel.","It takes about 30 seconds of grinding to profile each blade and form the flex point-- the thinnest and most flexible part that's 1 1/2 inches from the end of the blade.","Blade profiles vary, because some jobs require a more flexible tool than others.","Now they clean the blades in a revolving drum filled with absorbent sand.","This removes oil and other residues left by the production process, and it preps the surface for the protective layer of lacquer that's applied next.","After coating the blades in lacquer, they dry them in an oven.","This seals the metal, preventing rust.","Assembly is completely automated.","The first machine slips on the plastic handle.","The next machine rivets it on.","The following machine slaps on a label, which identifies the size and type of putty knife.","Professional-quality putty knives have a thicker, stiffer blade.","The handle is made up of two halves.","The machine positions them onto the handle portion of the blade, then attaches them with a hollow ribbon.","This enables the knife to be hung up.","This factory also produces retractable utility knives.","It puts the cast aluminum handles through a machine that uses polishing stones to remove any shards of metal.","Workers assemble the utility knives manually, first installing the push button that moves the blade in and out.","After putting in a spare blade, they close up the handle with one screw.","This factory produces 150 different paint-preparation tools for a wide range of uses, from scraping to filling to smoothing out tape on wall joints.","Garage doors come in many styles, colors, and materials.","They can be made of steel, aluminum, wood, or vinyl.","Whether you choose a style that's plain, paneled, smooth, or textured, quality garage doors are lightweight, well-insulated, and airtight.","The typical residential garage door is made up of four panels.","Each one begins as a sheet of either aluminum or steel-- two metals that can tolerate harsh climates.","The side that will show has a baked-on coat of polyester paint.","Depending on the model, the sheet passes through rollers that imprint a texture, such as a simulated wood grain.","Then it goes through a press that imprints a design.","This model will have raised rectangles.","Others have horizontal stripes or no design at all.","After an automated machine cuts the continuous sheet to garage-door widths, another machine folds over the edges.","This creates half-inch joints for attaching the panels.","The polyester paint is elastic, so it simply stretches with the bending.","Now on the back side of the sheets, they hot-glue metal plates to reinforce the various components they'll later screw into the garage door, parts such as the lift handles, the hinge, and the bracket for the electric opener mechanism.","They also drill a hole through which they'll later inject insulation.","Now they slide two sheets together to form a panel.","They close off the ends with blocks of pine.","This will prevent cold air from penetrating inside.","They apply various stickers with installation, maintenance, and safety information.","Orange stick-on dots mark the location of the metal plates into which the installer will screw the hinges and lift handles.","They attach an aluminum bar to the long ends of each panel.","This holds the panel steady during the injection process.","After injection, the bars come off.","They load the panels onto a carousel and begin the process of filling the hollow interior cavity with insulation.","Through the hole they drilled earlier, they inject polyurethane foam, an expanding, plastic insulation material that's specially designed to penetrate hard-to-access spaces.","As we see in this demonstration, the polyurethane expands and becomes rigid.","This creates a solid core inside the garage door.","Polyurethane is one of the lightest types of insulation, so it doesn't make the garage door heavy.","Here's what the inside of a panel looks like once the foam hardens.","Now workers install various components, such as the rubber weather seal on the bottom panel.","This seal prevents cold air and water from entering the garage under the door.","Some garage-door models have windows to allow in natural light.","Workers first use a high-speed router to remove the rectangles where these windows will be installed.","Then they insert one of several window styles available.","These are double-sealed windows-- two thermal panes with an aluminum spacer in between.","The framing around the glass comes in different colors.","It's made of pvc-- a synthetic resin that doesn't discolor.","The frame prevents water and cold air from penetrating through the window.","Workers pack the installation hardware.","Then they weigh the box to ensure no part was left out.","At installation time, they attach the door panels at the joints with hinges.","A system of springs ensures the garage door is perfectly balanced and moves smoothly.","If properly installed, you should be able to lift or lower the garage door using two fingers.","Electric motors are made of two main components-- one stationary, called the stator, the other a rotor that moves inside the stator.","The stator has multiple wire coils.","Running electricity through them creates a concentrated magnetic field that turns the rotor, creating mechanical power.","The stator is lined with slots, each of which holds a copper coil.","The more powerful the motor, the bigger the stator and the larger the slots.","The first step is to line the slots with insulation.","This insulation will keep the voltage confined to the coils.","The coils are made from several copper wires wound together by programmable machines.","The bigger the motor, the more wires per coil.","In this motor, each coil consists of 13 strands of copper wire.","Now workers tie the coils.","This prevents the wires from unraveling while being inserted into the stator slots.","Workers cap each coil with fiberglass insulation.","Then they insulate the portion of the coil left outside the slots with fiberglass sheets.","Fiberglass wedges are inserted, locking the coils inside the slots.","Once all the coils are inserted and insulated, workers begin preparing the connection.","They slip an acrylic insulation sleeve over both ends of each coil--  13 coils, 26 ends.","Then they group these insulated wires into large power cables.","The number of wires per cable varies according to the speed and voltage of the motor.","They solder the grouped wires together, then insulate the cables.","They tuck some inside the stator and leave others accessible to be attached to a power source when the motor is installed.","Now, using a cord made of heat- and chemical-resistant polyester, they bind the coils tightly to ensure they won't move when the motor spins.","This unit of bound coils is known as the stator coil.","They now submerge the stator in a polyester-based varnish and vacuum it right through.","This thorough penetration makes the stator coil moisture-resistant.","The stator is put into an oven for six hours at 280 degrees fahrenheit.","The varnish hardens, making the stator coil rigid.","Now they have to balance the rotor.","If it's off-kilter, the motor will vibrate, hampering performance.","They balance it the same way a mechanic balances car tires, only with 100 times greater precision.","Now they slowly slide the rotor into the stator, careful not to damage the stator coil.","The rotor will turn on steel bearings.","They heat these bearings to expand them, so they'll install easily.","Then they blow on cold air to shrink them to a tight fit.","It's the same process with the motor's back cover.","Now they heat the fan and install it over the back cover.","The fan's job is to cool the running motor so that it doesn't overheat and break down.","They cover the fan with a safety guard, then install a cover on the front of the motor as well.","They run the finished motor through various tests to assess, among other things, insulation strength and performance.","These industrial motors are designed for use in factories, for running machinery, such as conveyer belts, pumps, fans, and compressors.","What do wool and hand cream have in common?","Well, a sheep's fleece has an oily protective coating which contains a substance called wool grease.","When factories make yarn, they first clean the wool with detergents.","The grease is processed into lanolin-- a common ingredient in hand creams.","Historians believe that people began raising sheep for food and clothing about 10,000 years ago.","And around 4,000 b.c., they started spinning the wool into yarn for weaving fabric.","The romans brought wool production to england in about 50 a.d. woolen fabrics would become the country's chief export for centuries.","In 1797, britain shipped 13 sheep to australia, starting what would become the largest wool industry in the world today.","Wool fabric is durable, wrinkle-proof, and holds its shape well.","It absorbs moisture and insulates against heat and cold.","That's why wool is ideal for clothing like sweaters and coats.","Sheep shearers use power shears, removing the fleece in one piece.","They discard any stained or inferior wool and then sort the rest according to the quality of the fibers.","This grading is based on length, color, waviness, and fineness.","The wool is cleaned with detergents before processing.","The wool arrives at the factory in compressed bales.","Workers untie them and feed the wool into the opening equipment, whose metal tooth rollers comb out and separate the fibers.","From there, the fibers go into the blending room, where air currents mix different grades of wool to get the desired texture.","If they'll be weaving a wool blend, they mix the wool fibers with other material, such as polyester fibers.","A thorough blending takes about an hour.","An air pipe transports the blended fibers to the next station.","On the way, sprayers lubricate them with a mineral-oil mixture to make processing easier.","The fibers arrive at the carding machine, where they pass through a series of rollers with thin wire teeth.","This untangles the fibers and lines them up parallel to each other.","This process also removes any pieces of debris caught in the fibers.","The carding process produces a smooth, flat sheet called a web.","The equipment divides this web into thin, flat strips.","These strips go through rub aprons-- two rollers that twirl them into thinner, rounded strips, called rovings.","The rovings wind onto a spool.","Rovings look like yarn.","But if you pull on them, they simply tear.","They haven't been spun, so they have no strength.","Each roving goes into a device called a spinning frame.","It stretches the roving and spins it tightly, producing wool yarn.","The yarn winds onto a bobbin.","Spinning gives the yarn strength.","Now they can weave it into wool fabric.","A fully automated loom does it all.","Watch in slow motion as it inserts one strand at a time crosswise through stationary lengthwise strands.","It's computer-programmed to thread in a specific under/over configuration, according to the type of weave.","The loom inserts 400 strands per minute.","After weaving, they burn off vegetal matter, such as straw fragments, then they dye and dry the fabric.","All wool fabrics undergo finishing to give them a particular appearance and feel.","These spiked rollers created a plush finish.","Wool fabrics can also have a sheered or flat finish."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carved Wood Sculptures","Flatware","Cow Bells","Fountain Pens"]},"text":["Val gardena, a valley in the italian alps, is renowned for woodcarving.","This craft began there in the 17th century as a way to pass the time during the long mountain winters.","At first, woodcarvers made practical items, but before long, their masterful hands were creating works of art.","From pastoral scenes to religious themes, these magnificently carved wood sculptures seem almost lifelike.","After sketching the figure on paper, the carver sculpts a three-dimensional model from a block of plasticine.","Using his hands and an array of tools, he meticulously fashions all the intricate details he'll later re-create in wood.","For this flute-playing angel, he positions a replica of the instrument to get the angle of her arms and opening of her hands just right.","Next, using the plasticine model as a reference, he draws the figure onto a block of wood roughly the size and shape of the sculpture.","Using a mallet and chisels, he begins chipping away at the block of wood.","This is stone pine wood, a rare species that grows in the higher mountain valleys of the alps.","Pine is a soft wood, so it's ideal for carving.","When it comes time for the finer work-- carving the details and smoothing out the surface-- he switches to a fine paring chisel.","From the finished wood model, the factory casts a bronze copy to use for producing the final sculptures out of maple wood.","When the maple planks arrive at the factory, their moisture level, as this hydrometer reading shows, is typically between 70% and 80%.","If they carve the wood while it's still wet, the sculpture would eventually crack, so they load the wood into a giant dryer for about a week to bring the moisture down to an ideal 6%.","When the wood comes out of the dryer, they trim off the bark with a circular saw then cut off all but the best part in the middle.","They trim those middle pieces into uniform blocks just slightly larger than the size of the sculpture.","20 blocks at a time go onto a machine called a pantograph, a sharp carving head over each block.","Those 20 carving heads are linked to a blunt master head.","A technician slowly moves this master head over every inch of the bronze model.","This simultaneously manipulates the 20 carving heads to shape their respective blocks into fairly unrefined copies of the model in half the size.","The machine can't reproduce the fine details, so the original carver returns to personally carve each and every sculpture to completion.","By the time he's done, what once was an ordinary block of wood is forever transformed.","Now the sculpture truly comes alive in the talented hands of an artist.","With her palette of oil pants, she dresses the bare wood, alternating between different brushes to create varying textures.","Technique is everything here.","She must apply enough paint to cover the bare wood and enhance the craftsmanship, yet not apply too much paint.","Otherwise, this exquisitely carved sculpture could look like cheap plastic.","Once the paint dries, they glue a metal disk with the company name into a hole under the base.","Then they package the piece with protective wrapping and a certificate of authenticity that guarantees this is a genuine carved-wood sculpture from val gardena, italy.","Throughout the centuries, man fashioned eating utensils out of various metals.","The 1840s saw the invention of silver plating over inexpensive base metals.","Sterling silver and silver plate remained the norm until the early 1950s, when stainless-steel flatware made its debut.","Stainless steel flatware is durable and, unlike silver plate, doesn't dull, tarnish, or wear off.","This flatware starts out as thick wire called coil.","To make knives, the coil goes into a heading machine that cuts pieces to blade length, then forms them into blank shapes with a head at one end.","This bolster, as it's called, will connect the blade to the knife handle.","A furnace softens the metal for the final shaping in a forging press.","Three dies progressively forge the shape and trim off the excess metal.","After grinding the end of the bolster flat, the next machine welds on the tang, which fits inside the knife handle.","Now an automated grinding wheel tapers the blade thinner at the front.","A second grinding wheel scallops the front edge.","This is the knife's serration.","The thicker back end gives the blade strength to withstand the pressure you apply when cutting food.","For the knife handles, the factory uses stainless steel with a higher nickel content.","It has greater corrosion resistance and is easier to form, which is critical, given that handles often feature very intricate designs.","Handles, too, start out as coil that goes through a series of dies.","Each finished piece is half a handle.","A spot-welding machine tacks the two halves together, forming a handle shell.","To fuse the halves completely, this machine cuts a piece of copper-based wire and drops it inside the hollow handle.","A furnace melts the wire so that it flows into the crevice between the two halves, soldering the seam thoroughly.","An etching machine grinds the solder line until it blends in with the surrounding stainless steel.","Workers pour liquid cement into the center of a carousel on which they mount 50 handles at a time.","As the carousel spins, the centrifugal force shoots the cement outward, filling the handle cavities.","Then workers insert a blade into each one.","A 10-minute soak in hot water cures the cement.","Workers scrub off any excess cement that oozed out.","On the spoon line, a press cuts standard steel into paintbrush-shaped pieces.","Then heavy rollers stretch those pieces out, thinning the end that'll become the spoon's bowl.","A trim press then cuts the spoon's profile.","Next, a machine called a coining press punches the pattern into the handle then forms the bowl to its rounded shape.","Forks go through the same steps as spoons then through a press that cuts the tines in two stages.","A support bar keeps the tines from moving, while a coining press puts a slight bend in them.","The next machine slices off that bar and stacks the finished forks.","The last stop for all the flatware is the buffing equipment.","Cloth wheels polish the surface with liquid buffing compound until the steel shines.","The casual patterns are now ready for packaging.","The more formal ones get dressed up with full or partial plating in silver or gold.","In the swiss countryside, the cowbell is a traditional sight and sound.","At roundup, as the cows start walking, their bells clang and wake up the sleeping cows, telling them it's time to move.","At pasture, if a cow wanders off from the herd, its bell alerts the farmer.","swiss cowbells also play a ceremonial roll.","Farmers adorn their prize livestock with them.","The larger and more ornate the bell, the greater the farmer's pride in the animal.","Finer cowbells are made by artisans, like this one in switzerland.","He starts by laying a template on a sheet of steel that's 2 to 3 millimeters thick, depending on the type of bell.","With the plasma cutter, he cuts two pieces.","Each will form half the bell.","While each piece is still flat, he engraves a design using a hammer and burins of various sizes.","A burin is handled blade with a beveled tip.","Next, he heats a spot then stamps his logo and the bell size, according to a swiss numbering system.","Next stop, a gas-fired furnace.","The 1,800-degree-fahrenheit heat softens the metal, which he then lays in a forging press.","The press closes, shaping the piece into half a cowbell.","He repeats this process with a second piece to make the other half.","Then he refines the shape and thickness using a variety of hammers.","Forging each flat sheet into a half-bell made lines on the sides.","He now welds and then grinds those seams flat.","He hammers every centimeter of each bell half to refine and purify the sound.","It's time to weld the two halves together.","He tacks them in place then welds the entire seam.","Later, he'll grind the weld line flush with the bell's surface.","Next, he welds a steel handle to the top of the bell.","This will hold the leather strap from which the cowbell will hang.","Beneath the handle, on the inside, he welds on a v-shaped rod to hold the battle, the swinging hammer that strikes the bell's inner walls.","On each side, he pierces two holes for rivets where the bell halves cross over each other.","With a torch and a forging tool, he shapes each top rivet until it's nice and round.","Then he hammers each bottom rivet flat to make them unnoticeable.","Here he melts a brass bullet casing riveted area.","That white powder is borax, a mineral that helps the soldering process.","Adding this little bit of brass solidifies the fold and improves the bell's sound quality.","The cowbell's construction is now complete.","However, all that forging and welding has left dark spots on the steel.","So, the bell now goes for a 15-hour bath in hydrochloric acid.","This cleaning makes the bell even-toned and shiny.","A thorough washing removes the acid residue.","Then it's into a basin of sawdust to dry.","Sawdust absorbs water faster than cloths do.","The engraved decorations don't show up well on the shiny surface, so the artisan brushes acid on strategic spots to oxidize the steel and create the illusion of relief.","It takes tremendous skill to milk a beautiful cowbell out of an ordinary sheet of steel.","But there's still the decorative leather strap, which is the job of a saddlemaker.","some bells are simple, others elaborately decorated with baked-on enamel colors.","Either way, a fine, handcrafted cowbell will last for generations.","The fountain pen was invented in 1884.","Until then, people wrote with quills or steel pens, which required repeated dipping in a bottle of ink.","The fountain pen was revolutionary because it held its own ink in a built-in reservoir.","Discriminating writers still consider the fountain pen the ultimate writing instrument.","These high-end, italian-made fountain pens have a tubular middle called the barrel, which houses the ink reservoir.","There are various types of mechanisms for filling the barrel.","This one is called the filler pump.","It works just like a syringe.","You unscrew the end, which draws a piston upward, creating a vacuum that sucks up the ink.","When you write, the ink flows through a speed-regulating feeder to the nib of the pen.","Nibs are made of stainless steel or, in luxury pens like these, solid gold.","To make the nib, rollers flatten a piece of gold.","Then a press cuts out a starting shape, with a stress-relief hole to keep the nib from cracking when it flexes.","Another press stamps the caret marking and company name then bends the piece to its final shape.","A worker cuts the ink pathway using a diamond cutting wheel thinner than a human hair.","To fortify the nib's tip, this machine welds on a tiny glob of iridium, a durable metal in the platinum family.","Workers grind the iridium tip to a precise size and shape.","This is what dictates the thickness of the pen's line, from fine to broad, and the line's style, such as italic or oblique.","Polishing is the final stop on the journey from plain piece of gold to ornate nib.","The feeder that transfers ink from the reservoir to the nib is made from a cylindrical piece of ebonite, which they cut to a point.","These blades carve grooves down the sides.","When you write, these grooves fill with ink, regulating the rate of the ink flow.","One end of the feeder goes into a holder.","The other end slips behind the nib.","This machine pushes the nib into its final position, which technicians verify under a magnifier.","Elsewhere in the factory, they produce the pen's external parts.","Here, presses and metal drawing machinery shape sterling-silver disks into pen caps.","The cap protects the nib, of course, but it also provides decorative flare, often having guilloche, an intricate, diamond-cut engraving.","The factory's computer-guided engraving equipment decorates this model with subtle stripes.","A rolling engraver then applies the company's name.","Every cap has a clip made of beryllium copper, a strong yet flexible metal which they plate in gold.","The barrel and other parts for many models are made from plastic resin.","An injection-molding machine melts resin pellets into liquid then shoots it into molds.","When the resin solidifies, the machine ejects the molded parts ready for polishing.","The pieces join to each other with metal connecting rings.","The pen assembler carefully measures the placement of the resin piston within the barrel.","Once the piston's inserted, the edge of the barrel gets a thin coat of sealant to prevent ink leaks.","Then the assembler screws on the endpiece, the same one you unscrew to draw up the piston and fill the pen.","The finishing touch is to mount the nib.","Finally, every pen goes through a specific set of writing tests to ensure its performance measures up to its stylish good looks."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Noise Barrier Walls","Front"]},"text":["To contain the sounds of traffic, it's often necessary to put up a wall of silence.","Noise-barrier walls both absorb traffic noise and shield neighborhoods from it.","With stone or brick-like textures on both sides, they even look good on the street.","In the 1970s, noise-barrier walls were mainly drab concrete.","Fast forward to today, and the walls come in a range of textures and designs for curb appeal.","But of course, it's their noise-absorbing qualities that really improve the neighborhood.","They're made from a wood shaving and cement material that's very porous, which allows the walls to absorb sound and entrap it.","Production starts with the raw shavings.","A conveyor delivers them to a hammer mill.","Inside, rotating hammers force the wood shavings through a cutting screen.","This carves them into smaller particles of various sizes.","It's this combination of sizes that will create the noise-absorbing pores in the completed wall.","They test a proprietary chemical solution, that will be used to treat the wood particles, and confirm it's the right concentration.","An auger then mixes it into the wood particles until they're damp and thoroughly coated.","Without this treatment, the wood particles wouldn't bind with cement.","It will also protect the wood from decay.","In another mixer, they add water and a second chemical solution to further enhance the binding process.","The wood particles are now primed and ready to be mixed with a powdered mix of limestone clay called portland cement.","The machine works the ingredients until they form a cohesive material that can be shaped.","The next worker sprays a release agent onto the stone-pattern liner.","Each mold will form one noise barrier panel.","The team transfers the wood-and-cement blend into the mold.","They work at a steady pace to fill it before the mixture begins to dry.","Once they've filled it partway, they level the wood-cement material...","Then compact it with a tamping tool.","Next, they add a steel mesh.","This mesh will serve as a skeleton, allowing the wall to stand strong.","They pour freshly mixed concrete onto the steel mesh.","It flows through the mesh and onto the sound-absorbing mixture below, binding the two layers together.","The worker spreads the concrete throughout the mold.","He pierces the surface with a vibrating tool.","The vibrations consolidate the concrete and eliminate air pockets.","The two-person team levels the concrete layer using a wood screed.","They apply a second layer of the noise-absorbing material and level it.","They lower the stone-pattern press lid, which will mold the pattern onto the top side of the panel.","They set a 10-ton concrete block on the mold, and pressure forces the mold patterns onto both sides of the casting.","After a few minutes, they remove the lid, and the imprint is revealed.","They quickly cover the panel surface with a plastic sheet to prevent any evaporation of moisture as the cure continues.","If the blend cures too quickly, it could crack.","After another day, they remove the tarp and they're ready to extract the panel from the mold.","A crane lifts the panel and sets it aside to cure for about a month.","Built panel by panel, these noise-barrier walls can become a substantial fortress, providing a solid defense against noise pollution.","Front-loading washing machines use far less water than standard washers.","They're gentler on clothes because there's no agitator in the middle of the drum.","The spin speed is usually about 20 percent faster than the standard top-load machine, so the clothes come out of the wash drier.","With gravity helping tumble the laundry, a front-load washer is gentler on the clothes while using less water.","Its design can also accommodate a larger-capacity drum, so you can do bigger loads.","The washer's cabinet is made of steel.","A washing machine is routinely exposed to moisture, so they use galvanized steel, which doesn't rust.","The cabinet base is comprised of four pieces, which, together, provide more structural strength than a single piece would.","At the corners, workers install four screw-in rubber feet which are height-adjustable.","This allows the washer to level on an uneven floor.","Next are the two side panels.","They are already stamped to the required shape in a press and coated with baked-on paint.","This automated machine installs brackets on the inner side for mounting components later on.","The next automated machine attaches the side panels to the cabinet.","Rather than welding the edges, which would ruin the paint finish, the machine's punch tools mechanically lock them to the base.","A robot then transfers the cabinet to the assembly line.","Here, workers connect the side panels with a structural support bracket and power cord, already installed on it.","Workers prepare the rear portion of the machine's two-piece plastic tub.","First, a robot mounts a steel bearing on a press.","The press then forces the bearing into a hole at the bottom of the inside of the tub.","Then the process is repeated but on the outside of the tub.","This pair of bearings seals the hole to prevent leaks, and enables the stainless-steel wash drum to spin.","To counterbalance the spinning load, they weight the front of the drum with a plastic ring, containing heavy steel balls suspended in fluid.","Then, they insert the shaft at the base of the drum into the tub's bearings and cover the top of the drum with the front section of the tub.","It has a rubber gasket called a bellow.","The bellow forms a leak-proof seal around the drum.","After welding the tub sections together, they mount the washer's motor to the rear.","In this stator-rotor motor, the electric current travels through the coiled copper wires of the motor's stator, generating pulses of electricity.","Those pulses push on magnets lining the motor's rotor, positioned on top.","The magnets repel the pulses, and this repeated pulse repelling drives the drum in the direction and speed required.","Next, they install a drain hose on the side of the tub and attach it with a retainer clip.","They bolt a piece of concrete to either side of the drum opening to counterbalance the weight of the motor on the back.","Then, they turn the now-complete wash unit on its side and install it in the cabinet.","Next, they mount the drain pump in the cabinet base and connect its wiring.","The pump's job is to remove dirty water from the tub.","Four shock absorbers are installed between the bottom of the wash unit and the base.","These large pistons dampen much of the vibration during the wash and spin cycles.","Next, the front panel.","Like the sides, it's made of a stamped sheet of galvanized steel with a baked-on paint finish.","They install and connect the console, which houses the machine's central control module.","They pull the bellow on the drum all around the front opening to seal the perimeter.","They secure it in place with a wire retainer clip.","The hinged door has a see-through plastic window.","Like the rest of the machine's metal parts, the door panel and hardware attaching it are also made of galvanized steel.","The back panel is left unpainted.","After feeding the power cord through its hole, workers screw the panel to the rest of the cabinet.","Then, they complete the cabinet with the top panel, which has the baked-on paint finish.","The front-load washing machine is now all set and ready for its first load.","Bourbon whiskey is uniquely american.","The u.s. congress officially recognized it as a product distinct to the nation.","This amber-hued brew was first cooked up by scottish and irish settlers in late 18th century kentucky.","Today, production continues there with the approval of congress.","The american government regulates the making of bourbon to keep this native spirit true to tradition.","By law, it must be made from a grain mix that's at least 51% corn.","Distillers often use more for flavor.","Shakers sift out cobs or other foreign material, and the kernels head into a grinder.","Inside, rollers crush the kernels to release the flavor of the starch.","The process leaves larger chunks of the corn germ and husks.","Once distilled, these bits will settle out.","In separate batches, the machine also grinds malted barley and soft red winter wheat.","They cook the corn and blend it with limestone-rich, iron-free kentucky water.","They add the barley, winter wheat, and a bit of mash from a previous batch.","Along with a special yeast formulation, the grain mash flows into fermentation tanks made of cypress wood.","After 8 to 10 hours, the yeast works its magic and the mash becomes a bubbling brew.","The bubbling is caused by the release of carbon-dioxide gas as the grain sugars ferment and become alcohol.","After three days, it has fermented into a thick liquid they call 'distiller's beer\".","They pump it into a column still which boils off the alcohol, leaving water and other substances behind.","The alcoholic vapor rises up to be condensed into liquid.","After distilling it a second time, the alcohol concentration rises to a strong 130 proof.","It's clear, with no noticeable color.","At this stage, they call it \"white dog\".","Once water has been added to dilute the whiskey to 110 proof, an employee takes a sample and sends it to the lab.","There, a technician places a test tube of the alcohol into a gas chromatograph tester.","It vaporizes the alcohol and then analyzes the flavor compounds and alcohol strength.","With approval from the lab, they're ready to barrel the batch.","They pump it out of storage tanks and into new oak barrels that have been purposely charred on the inside.","Charring caramelizes naturally occurring wood sugars to add sweetness to the alcohol as it ages.","It will also turn the clear alcohol an amber color.","Once corked with a walnut stopper, the employee rolls the barrel into a multi-tiered warehouse.","Here, the bourbon will age for many years.","Partway through, they'll move the barrel to another level of the building due to temperature variations.","This will make the product more consistent.","After six to seven years, they uncork the stopper and insert steel tubes to draw in ambient air.","This causes the bourbon to flow freely when tipped, and it gushes into a trough.","The alcohol has ripened to a sweet caramel-colored brew.","After they add more water to make it 90 proof, it's ready for bottling.","Nozzles fill the bottles with bourbon right to the neck.","The bottles then circle over to the cap applicators.","The applicators spin metal caps, screwing them onto the bottles.","The bottles then ride a carousel and a device picks up and applies the labels.","A brush smoothes them to the bottles.","Down the line, a two-person team retrieves the bottles and dips the caps in hot wax.","The wax quickly dries and solidifies to give the bourbon a better seal.","After several years in the distillery, this kentucky bourbon has come of age, and that calls for a toast.","The circuit board is where the electronic components are located, along with the electrical connections which power them.","In a larger device, such as a computer, the circuit board is typically rigid.","When the device is compact, like a small camera, the circuit board must be flexible.","It needs to fold to fit inside.","Flexible circuit boards are so thin and pliable, they're nicknamed origami circuitry, after the japanese art of paper folding.","At the core of the boards is a hair-thin polymer film that's both bendable and heat resistant.","The manufacturer produces this material for several industries.","In this case, they cut rolls of it to the width required for making flexible circuit boards.","With a rigid sheet of paper lending support from underneath, the film enters a machine which sandwiches it between two thin sheets of copper.","A cutter then slices the sandwich into rectangular sheets.","A cushion of air pumped through the conveyor belt literally floats sheet after sheet off the machine and into a stack.","Each three-layer sheet is separated from the next by the support paper called a laminate.","The film at the center has a heat-activated adhesive coating, while the adjoining copper surfaces have been chemically roughened to enhance adhesion.","After drawing the layers tightly together with a vacuum, workers place the laminates in a high-temperature, high-pressure chamber for several hours.","This activates the adhesive, bonding the layers.","To test the bond strength, they burn some adhesive off a sample of finished laminate to pry apart the layered edge.","Then, they grab the top copper layer with this pulling device and measure the strength required to peel it off the film.","The laminate's now shipped to a circuit board factory.","Here, computer-guided machines cut them into specific-sized panels and drill tiny holes for mounting the electronic components.","Then a coating machine uses a combination of heat and pressure to apply a light-sensitive fluid to the panel's surface.","Technicians load the panel into an exposure machine, in which a computer-guided laser scans the circuitry pattern onto the coded surface.","A laser is a beam of focused light, so wherever it hits, the fluid reacts and hardens.","The dark areas of unexposed fluid remain soft.","The next machine acid-washes the soft areas, removing both the fluid and the copper layer underneath it.","Now the only copper remaining on top of the polymer film is in the circuitry pattern.","This inspection device meticulously checks every single copper circuit.","Next, they remove surface dust with a sticky roller.","The panel must be pristine before receiving the sheet of electrical insulation, a mere .","25 of a millimeter thick.","Technicians use a magnifier to carefully match up alignment holes on the film with corresponding alignment holes on the panel.","By activating the film's built-in adhesive with a soldering iron, they tack the insulation to the panel at key spots.","The next step is to fully laminate the insulation to the panel.","Technicians sandwich two panels at a time between sheets of protective plastic.","This protects the surfaces from the heat and weight of the lamination press.","As it forces the insulation film deep down onto the panel, it encapsulates the circuitry.","They load the panels into the lamination press, apply a vacuum to remove the air between the layers and start her up.","For the next hour and a half, the press simultaneously applies high pressure while heating the panels to 400 degrees fahrenheit.","When the panels cool and come out of the press, technicians place one at a time on a circuit board-shaped dye.","Then they release a press which forces the panel onto the sharp dye, slicing away the excess material.","The flexible circuit board is now ready for the company that installs the electronic components.","There are two ways to mount components-- solder them directly onto the board's surface or solder tiny prongs underneath the components, known as leads, into the board's mounting holes.","A flexible circuit board can have as few as a dozen components or as many as 500.","Technicians can solder larger ones magnified under a microscope, but only robots can solder smaller ones because they're so tiny and barely visible to the human eye."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Farmed Caviar","Intake Manifolds","Motorcycle Jackets","Shovels & Spades"]},"text":["Caviar is a term for the salted eggs of the sturgeon fish.","A pearly delicacy, they've long been the snack food of the privileged, enjoyed for centuries by roman emperors, saudi sheikhs, russian czars, and english kings.","A few nibbles still offer a taste of the high life.","Caviar is sometimes called \"black gold\".","No wonder.","A teaspoon of fish eggs costs more than a meal at some family restaurants.","For most of us, a little caviar is a big splurge.","Overfishing has depleted wild siberian sturgeon stocks.","So at this hatchery in the southern united states, they farm the species for their eggs and flesh.","They feed the young fish high-protein pellets.","The juvenile sturgeon fish needs constant nourishment to develop.","A computerized system dispenses feed every four minutes.","As the fish grow larger, the feeding schedule ratchets down a bit.","The fish produce tiny metabolites that are toxic to them.","Those are filtered out by bacteria introduced for this purpose.","Staff routinely test the tank water to ensure the bacteria are doing their job adequately.","After a few months of growth, they transfer the fish to larger tanks.","Here, mesh drums filter the solid waste they produce.","Pumps constantly circulate the water to move it through plastic nuggets that house the all-important filtering bacteria.","Circulating the water also disperses carbon dioxide gas emitted by the fish and introduces oxygen, which they need to survive and thrive.","Ordinary molasses injected into the tanks is consumed by the beneficial bacteria, helping them to process the harmful metabolites produced by the fish.","After five to seven years of growth, the fish are at least a yard in length, and they should be full of eggs.","Workers transfer them to tubs and mix in a gas to put the fish to sleep.","Now sedated, the fish can be more easily handled and are taken to the ultrasound station.","Using high-frequency sound waves, they probe the sturgeon's ovaries.","This gives them a clear picture of her egg production.","She should contain tens of thousands of eggs.","If not, she'll go back into the tank to mature some more.","But if she's ready, they'll harvest the ovaries.","They clean the egg-laden ovaries and transfer them by the bagful to a chilled room with filtered air.","This is just one of the siberian sturgeon's two ovaries, and it's a mass of roe-- fish eggs that are about to become pure caviar.","They're extremely fragile and need careful handling to separate them from the membrane.","This worker gently rubs the eggs against a mesh screen.","She sets the tissue aside for composting and lifts the screen, revealing the thousands of delicate sturgeon eggs.","But this caviar isn't quite ready yet.","She now rinses the eggs repeatedly with cold water to wash away impurities, like bits of broken eggs and tissue residue.","Using tweezers, she picks out remaining specks of membrane and crushed egg remnants until what's left is pure and perfect.","She pours the eggs into a fine mesh colander.","The volume decreases as the water drains off.","She weighs the drained caviar and seasons it with salt, measuring an amount that's about 3.5% of the caviar's weight.","This precise salting maximizes the caviar's flavor and substantially improves shelf life.","She puts the eggs on ice for about six minutes to absorb the salt.","The salt draws out more moisture, so she drains it one more time.","She then blots up remaining moisture with a highly absorbent paper towel.","She pulls away the towel gently, leaving the pearls of caviar intact.","She packs it into a lacquer-lined tin and presses down the clusters of eggs to eliminate any air pockets, which would cause oxidation and spoilage.","She seals the tin with a thick band of rubber.","This caviar has been many years in the making...","Farm-produced.","No wild fish were destroyed to get these eggs to market, and that means they should appeal to a growing appetite for something a little more sustainable.","The intake manifold distributes the air-and-fuel mixture to the engine cylinders.","Inside, a spark plug ignites the mix, setting off a combustion cycle which ultimately propels the vehicle.","For optimal performance and efficiency, the manifold must distribute to all the cylinders evenly.","Whether in an engine with a carburetor like this one or in a newer-technology fuel-injected engine, the manifold's tubes, called intake runners, feed the fuel-and-air mixture to the engine's cylinder heads.","The manifold is made from long blocks of extruded aluminum.","First, a computer-guided saw cuts each block to the required length.","Metal cutting metal produces a lot of friction-generated heat.","A steady stream of water-based coolant and lubricant prevents the saw blade from overheating and breaking down.","A computer-guided machine shapes the block from multiple angles, transforming it into the rough form of one of the manifold's two sides, called banks.","Later, this bank, which has four ports for runners, will be mated with the opposing bank, which has another four ports for runners.","The machine now shapes the inside of the runner ports, which are curved and tapered in a very specific way.","The banks come off the machine with some rough edges.","A machinist smoothes them out with a handheld grinder, a process called deburring.","Once the banks are finished, they go onto a flow-testing machine.","It measures the airflow in cubic feet per minute in each port.","To achieve maximum efficiency, each port must have the same amount of air moving through it at the same speed.","The runners have been machined separately.","A quality-control technician runs a file over the runners and the banks to check for any imperfections.","He then cleans all the surfaces with solvent.","The aluminum must be free of any oils or other contaminates prior to welding.","It's finally time to mate the two banks.","Workers mount them on a mock-up engine in order to get the fit exact, then temporarily bolt them down to hold their position.","Now a welder takes over.","Using a high-precision welding machine, he first tacks the banks to each other in a few spots to secure the positioning.","Then he fully welds them together.","Next, he attaches the intake runners to the ports.","A light tap to make the tongue-and-groove connection, followed by welding along their perimeter.","A manifold has one intake runner for each cylinder of the engine.","This one's designed for a fuel-injected v-8 engine.","Therefore, it has eight runners.","Once all the runners are welded on, he closes up the manifold with front, back, and top panels.","He welds these parts, as well.","Next, workers mount the fuel rails, which send fuel to the injectors.","The injectors go on afterward.","This is a high-performance manifold with a built-in nitrous oxide system.","These are the stainless-steel feed lines for it.","Nitrous oxide is a compressed gas that's high in oxygen.","It allows more fuel to be injected, which increases combustion pressure, giving the engine up to an additional 500 horsepower.","They mount the throttle body through which air enters the engine.","The pivoting brass blade in the center is an air-metering device.","The deeper the driver pushes the gas pedal, the more it opens, letting in more air.","The injectors simultaneously shoot in more fuel.","The result-- more power.","This sophisticated testing machine checks for leaks and measures several factors, such as the nitrous oxide flow.","While the function is the same, the shape and configuration of intake manifolds vary according to the type of engine in order to optimize performance and fuel efficiency.","First conceived in 1920s america, the motorcycle jacket is designed for the open road.","Made of tough leather with an off-center zipper that creates a seal, this jacket is the ultimate windbreaker.","It also protects the biker from scrapes and cuts in the event of a high-speed fall.","The motorcycle jacket evolved from other wind-resistant garments, like world war i aviator jackets and duster coats.","Styles come and go, but the classic biker jacket has ruled the road for decades.","They make it from heavy steer hide.","A worker inspects the skins for flaws and selects the best.","He also pairs up skins of similar hues and textures so all the sections of the jacket will match up.","He wipes oils from the hides with a piece of sheepskin, then stacks the hides in bundles of 6 to 10.","It's now time to select a pattern.","In this case, it's a men's medium.","There are about 50 pieces in one motorcycle-jacket pattern.","Cutting the leather takes an experienced hand and a keen eye.","The cutter works around any imperfections and chooses the stronger sections of the hide for the parts of the jacket that will be subject to the greatest wear.","It's a skill that takes about two years to master.","They punch out small components like pocket flaps and trim with a die, producing stacks of parts in one swoop.","They call it clicking out the parts.","These parts of the jacket don't vary in size, so different-sized patterns aren't needed.","The next worker lowers a hydraulic blade to cut pocket slits in several jacket front panels.","This is called the pocket chop.","Working from the reverse side of the panel, workers fold back the edges of the pocket slits and glue them down with strong industrial adhesive.","They gently hammer the glued border to improve the adhesion.","A few taps to both the back and the front of the pocket slit seals this job.","A seamstress sews a zipper onto a pocket.","Then she stitches the pocket into the panel slit.","This is the right panel, and this side of the jacket gets three pockets.","Biker jackets usually have lots of pockets because motorcycles don't have much storage capacity.","She pieces together the rest of the leather shell.","In the meantime, another crew rolls out quilted fabric for the liners.","They align it with other piece of the material that have been cut to length.","They place a weight on one end and move to the other to cut the material to precisely the same length as the pieces underneath.","Once they've accumulated numerous layers, they're ready for the pattern.","This time, it's a big sheet of paper printed with the pattern markers.","The pattern designs have been precisely configured on a computer to minimize fabric waste.","Using sharp vertical blades, they cut along the pattern lines, slicing through the quilted stack.","In a matter of minutes, they produce liner components for a couple dozen motorcycle jackets.","In the sewing department, the seamstress pieces together the quilted lining and stitches on the label.","She mates it to the now-completed leather shell, sewing from the inside so the stitches won't be visible.","With the job done and the off-center front zipper installed, the next worker turns the motorcycle jacket right-side out.","She pulls the seams of the jacket over a pointed metal rod.","This gets rid of any puckers and rounds out the seams.","Using a hydraulic device, another worker installs button-down snaps on the collar.","This will keep it from flapping around and distracting the biker.","A worker drives the prongs of a metal star into a piece of shoulder trim and bends them back.","This and other metallic touches adds a bit of flash to the jacket.","Made famous on the big screen by hollywood tough guys like marlon brando and james dean decades ago, the motorcycle jacket is still riding a wave of popularity.","Shovels and spades are indispensable tools when it comes to digging into the ground or transferring materials such as soil, sand, or gravel.","Lower-quality shovels' and spades' heads are stamped out of steel, whereas the best-quality ones are constructed from one piece of forged steel.","The head of a shovel or spade consists of a blade and a socket.","The socket fits over the shaft-- the part you hold.","These heads are forged from a single piece of steel, far stronger than those made of a welded-together socket and blade.","It all begins in the factory's foundry, where workers heat planks of steel about 8/10 of an inch thick to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit.","A massive press then cuts the planks into t-shaped pieces.","Each piece will become a head.","The vertical part of the \"t\" will form the socket...","The horizontal part, the blade.","The next press, with a couple of strikes, forms a neck-- the starting point for the socket.","Next, they spread out the neck between giant rollers, flattening and thinning the steel in the process.","Then they lay the neck in a stamping press that chops off the excess metal.","Next, they finalize the socket shape.","The first strike simultaneously curves it into a \"u\" shape and punches a rivet hole.","The next turns the ends around to form a rudimentary circle.","Then repeated strikes round out the circle, perfecting it.","Work begins on the other end of the \"t\" piece.","Rollers spread and flatten it, forming the rough shape of the blade.","A press stamps the precise contour.","Another then forms the required angles, finalizing the blade shape.","The repeated heating, reheating, and forming renders the steel brittle and weak.","That's why the next step, heat treatment, is critical.","First, they heat the head to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit at a very specific rate over a period of 90 seconds.","Then they submerge it in cool water for about 30 seconds.","This heating and quenching, as it's called, rearranges the molecular composition, strengthening the steel.","Next step, a coat of paint-- either clear, allowing the natural color to show through, or traditional green or gray.","They bake the paint for about five minutes to make it ultra-durable.","The shovel shaft is made of ash, a particularly strong type of wood.","They take a cylindrical piece and saw an 8-inch slot down one end, then widen the slot a bit.","They sit that slotted end in boiling water for three minutes to soften up the wood just enough to make it pliable.","Then they line it up with a horseshoe-shaped clamp.","A hydraulic ram then pushes the shaft forward, spreading each side of the slot around the clamp.","They move the shaft in this clamp state to a slightly heated chamber for a couple of days to dry out, after which, the wood assumes this shape permanently.","After putting a rivet through the bottom of the split to prevent further splitting down the length of the shaft, they sand the wood to smooth it out, taper the end that will go into the socket, mount a riveted handle grip, then do a final overall sanding.","The shaft now goes to the assembly shop, where they put it in a press and mate it with the head.","Then they secure it with a rivet through the rivet hole in the socket.","The next operation is called linishing.","Using a coarse sanding belt, they wear down the wood where it meets the metal, making a smooth transition between the two materials.","At the same time, they smooth down the edge of the rivet.","Next, they dip the shaft in wood stain.","This brings out the beautiful grain.","Once the stain dries, they apply a protective coat of varnish.","Other models have a metal handle on a wooden shaft or a nylon handle on a fiberglass shaft.","Different designs with the same purpose-- to get the job done."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Eyeglass Lenses","Granite","Potato Chips","Microprocessors"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Eyeglass lenses...","Granite...","Potato chips...","And computer microprocessors.","Remember when wearing coke-bottle eyeglasses was your one-way ticket to being the class nerd?","Well, today, even if you need a heavy-duty prescription, you can wear fashionable eyeglasses with thin and lightweight plastic lenses.","Eyeglass lenses start out as large plastic disks.","The first step is to place a protective film over the convex side so it won't get damaged while the lab works on the concave side.","With a scanner, they retrieve the customer's prescription from the central computer.","Then they program those measurements into the tray holding the disks.","Next, they heat up a mixture of seven metals to 122 degrees.","Any hotter would melt the disk on contact.","Out of that molten metal, they mold an attachment.","This allows the disk to be mounted on a machine for tooling.","At this point, robots take over.","When the tray with the disks arrives, the milling machine reads the prescription information, then reshapes the plastic accordingly.","First, it thins the disk and shaves it down to a smaller diameter.","Then it creates the required curvature.","The disk is now a lens.","But you can still see the concentric circles left by the tooling, and the surface of the lens is rough, so they polish it using abrasive paper under water heated precisely to 66 degrees.","The water temperature must be constant, or else the lens will become deformed.","Now that the lens is perfectly shaped, they remove the metal attachment...","Then peel off the protective film on the other side.","Using a machine called a lensometer, they make sure the prescription is accurate.","Next, the lenses go through an automated 15-stage chemical cleaning then are coated with varnish to make them scratch-resistant.","They go into an oven for three hours until the varnish cures.","Next comes the antireflection treatment.","This will increase the lenses' transparency, allowing in more light.","The lenses go into a chamber.","They add different powdered chemicals, such as silicium oxide, titanium oxide, and zirconium oxide.","They close the door, then pump all the air out of the chamber.","Using a high-powered electron beam, they heat the chemicals to the boiling point.","The powders transform from solid to gas, coating the lenses in the process.","It's finally time to fit the lenses to the frame.","They position a suction cup on the lenses to hold them in place during the fitting.","An automated machine traces the shape of the frame...","Then cuts the lenses to that shape.","With regular frames, the lenses simply pop in.","To attach ultralight metal frames, they drill holes right through the lenses.","From plastic disk to the latest in eyewear in just three days.","What do you get when you cross a spider with a goat?","A silk fiber stronger than steel, yet more elastic than nylon.","Researchers implanted a spider's web-spinning genes into a goat's mammary glands.","The result-- goat's milk with silk proteins, the raw material for a fabric strong enough to be bulletproof.","Granite is one of the strongest stones on earth, and it's the darling of decor these days.","As an indoor/outdoor building material, it's timeless, elegant, and resistant to acid rain.","Nature's granite factory lies many miles beneath the earth's surface.","Boiling molten rock called \"magma\" builds up pressure from the intense heat and rises through cracks and crevices in the earth's crust.","As it rises, it slowly cools and solidifies into granite.","Most granite is buried under sedimentary rock, which makes up most of the earth's surface.","The challenge is to extract as much granite from the quarry as possible while losing as little as possible to damage from the extraction process.","They start by outlining a section of rock wall up to 99 feet long by 23 feet wide.","They use a gas flame to burn long, narrow channels to free up the sides.","Then they drill holes 23 feet deep along the back and bottom.","They feed explosive cables into the holes.","Then they set it off.","The explosion detaches the section.","Then they use a combination of drills, steel pegs, plates, and wedges to cut it down and cut it down further until they have rough blocks measuring 10 feet long by 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep, a size the granite factory can handle.","The blocks may be small, but each one weighs more than 45,000 pounds.","At the factory, the first cut is called \"slabbing\".","They use this type of saw to cut slabs more than 2 inches thick.","The blade's metal segments contain synthetic diamond particles, which create the friction needed to make the cut.","Water keeps the saw from overheating.","It's a slow process.","The saw cuts less than 22 square feet of granite per hour.","They use a gang saw to cut slabs thinner than 5 centimeters to make kitchen countertops, for example.","This saw has steel blades-- tense enough not to bend under the pressure of cutting and calibrated to cut as straight as possible.","The gang saw cuts at a rate of about 86 square feet per hour.","It takes three entire days to cut through the rough block.","Once a slab is cut, it goes for polishing.","This is what will bring out the beauty of the stone.","The polishing line has 19 heads, each of which has six bricks that polish by abrasion, like sandpaper.","The brick grains get progressively finer as you go down the line.","The polishing line processes about a 10 square feet of granite per minute.","For a high-gloss finish, a slab goes through all 19 heads.","For a semigloss finish, it goes through just the first 10 heads.","For a rough finish, slabs skip the polishing line altogether and instead go through a process called \"flaming\".","With a stream of water to keep the slab from cracking under the heat, they run a propane flame at 2,000 degrees fahrenheit across the surface.","This intense heat makes the quartz inside the granite explode, creating a rough surface.","They often use this technique for nonslip flooring.","After the finish, the last step is to cut the slabs to specifications.","Granite is composed of various minerals.","They're interlocked like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, giving the stone its trademark speckles and its remarkable strength.","They say chips were invented when someone sent back his fried potatoes, complaining the slices were too thick.","The insulted chef cut them paper-thin and fried them to a crisp.","So pride, not necessity, was the mother of this invention.","Potato chips have since become the consummate snack food.","They have to be made with fresh potatoes, no more than 24 hours old, otherwise the chips will have black spots.","After a brushing machine removes the dirt, the potatoes travel along a water canal to the peeler.","They tumble around and around against the peeler's abrasive rollers until the skins come off.","This machine can peel 12,000 pounds of potatoes per hour.","Next stop-- a machine that separates the potatoes by size.","The small ones fall below to be rinsed.","The larger ones stay on top to be cut.","Then they fall down to the rinser, too.","Next, the potatoes go through slicers.","The slicers' blades are adjustable.","They can be set to different thicknesses or to different shapes, to slice ripple chips, for example.","The centrifugal force created by the spinning throws the potatoes against the sharp blades.","To make regular chips, they cut slices 6/100 of an inch thick.","An average potato will yield about 36 chips.","Finally, it's time to wash the potato slices.","They spin inside a giant barrel of cold, fresh water for about a minute.","Then, like at the car wash, the slices pass under an air blower to dry up the excess water.","The fryer contains canola oil boiling at 375 degrees fahrenheit.","It takes just 3 minutes to fry the potato slices into potato chips.","As the chips exit the fryer on the conveyor belt, the excess oil drips off.","Next, a shower of salt.","The chips then move on to the sorter.","An electronic camera identifies any chips that have brown spots or other defects.","The camera then triggers the thin pipe directly above that bum chip to blow it off the conveyor belt with air pressure.","Elsewhere in the factory, they're making another popular snack food, cheese puffs.","They take corn flour and mix it with water.","An extrusion machine forces the mixture through round holes.","When the snakelike streams come out the other end, a knife cuts them into pieces.","The heat in the machine then causes the flour in those pieces to explode, creating slightly curled puffs.","They spray those puffs with a mixture of canola oil, powdered cheese, and natural colorings.","A revolving drum mixes it all together.","Back in the chips department, they spray the potato chips with powdered seasonings, which simulate flavors such as barbecue or salt and vinegar.","The next machine separates and weighs the portions to be packaged.","The chips drop into bags that are then heat-sealed.","It's taken about 15 minutes to go from raw potato to potato chips-- a lot longer than it takes to eat them.","A microprocessor is the brain inside a computer.","Its made up of a microchip on an electronic card.","Preparing the chip to be installed on the card is a delicate and precise operation.","Scientists built the first computer in 1937, but it could only do algebra.","The first general-purpose computer, in 1946, was the size of 20 refrigerators.","During the 1950s, transistors replaced bulky vacuum tubes, then integrated circuits replaced transistors.","But the biggest breakthrough came in 1971 with the microprocessor-- all the components on one miniscule chip.","That's what made the personal computer possible.","They start with a ceramic square called a substrate.","This will carry the microchip.","A machine coats the substrate surface with flux, a chemical that makes it sticky.","This will hold the microchip in place until it's soldered.","The factory receives the microchips ready-made, with all the circuits in place.","They place a microchip on each substrate.","An infrared light guides the machine to place the chip in precisely the right spot.","They pull a sample from the production line to further verify the positioning with a microscope.","Next stop-- a soldering oven at 689 degrees.","The heat melts tiny beads of tin positioned on the chip, binding it to the substrate.","Next, they prepare to solder an aluminum cap over each microchip.","The cap will have two functions-- to protect the chip and to dissipate the heat that the chip generates.","A robotic arm picks up four caps at a time and positions them over the microchips.","They go into a soldering oven at 302 degrees for about an hour.","The next step is to create the electrical connections that will later link the microprocessor to the computer's electronic card.","They start with tiny cylindrical pieces of tin, called \"columns\".","Tin conducts electricity.","A giant suctioning sieve vibrates the columns until they fall through the holes.","This lines them up vertically so that they can be attached to the substrate.","A machine spreads a thick adhesive paste, then attaches the vertical columns in it from underneath.","A robotic arm positions the chip-carrying substrate onto the pasted columns.","The result is a microchip with 1,000 connections.","For even more connections, they use tin balls instead of columns because balls are sturdier and more reliable.","They, too, go through a suctioning sieve, only instead of paste, they're stuck on with flux, that sticky chemical used earlier to position the microchip onto the substrate.","The finished microchip unit goes into a bath of water and solvents to remove any excess flux or other residues.","Last stop--  quality control testing, up to 12 hours in an oven heated to 284 degrees.","From here, the microprocessor unit goes to another factory where it's soldered onto an electronic card, which then goes into a computer."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Garden Forks","English Toffee","Paint Chip Cards","Bundt Pans"]},"text":["The garden fork was once a very prized possession-- so coveted, it was often the object of theft.","That was centuries ago, when a family's very survival depended on the crops they grew.","Today, of course, food is mass produced and sold in supermarkets.","But the garden fork still rules in the backyard garden.","There are many versions of the trusty garden fork.","Use one to work the garden, and you'll reap the benefits.","At this factory, they've been forging garden forks from a solid-steel slab for over two centuries.","Using a 660-ton punch press, they cut two basic fork shapes from this hot and malleable slab.","The tines or prongs for this particular kind of fork are shorter than most because these are border forks used for turning soil rather than digging deep.","With the basic shape now established, it's back into the furnace to re-soften the stem.","A worker repeatedly feeds it to rollers to thin and widen it substantially.","He strikes the stem with another punch press.","This one hit trims it while cutting holes for attaching the wood shaft.","The trimmings will be remelted and recycled into new forks.","The next press slams the steel stem into a cylindrical die to force it into the basic shape of a socket.","He slides the socket onto a coned form and strikes it repeatedly to refine the socket shape.","This sizes it for a wooden shaft.","They take an entirely different approach when making digging forks because of their longer curved tines.","After forging a kind of spider shape, a worker bends a prong around a post to orient it for shaping.","This two-person team works in tandem.","One fires the spider and bends the prongs.","The other worker inserts the prong in the grooves of two revolving dies.","This rolls the tine within the confines of the grooves to stretch it long and thin.","With two tines now shaped, his partner bends them out of the way so he can work on the third tine.","Rolling takes 18 months of training to perfect.","If the tine isn't precisely aligned with the grooves, the equipment could seize and throw the worker backwards.","Not only could he be injured, but the fork and the dies would most certainly be wrecked.","With a fourth tine now stretched long and thin like the rest, the other member of the team twists all four tines around the post again, this time to bend them all in the same general direction.","After about 10 minutes of work, they have the rough shape of a digging fork.","They then form the socket and crop the tines.","Fired to a supple state again, a worker drives tooling between the tines to straighten them and even the gaps between them.","He rests the fork socket against a steel slope and lowers a ram.","It slams into the tines to push the socket against the slope and bend it upward-- a more effective angle for digging.","He inserts the tines in a press one at a time.","The press closes around each tine to taper the corners.","A ram now pounds the base of the tines against a swooped anvil to give it a gentle curve.","He plunges the hot fork into cool water, and the shock hardens the steel.","The next worker grinds off any rough bits from the sides and sharpens the edges.","He narrows the tips to a point, and this will enable the fork to pierce solid earth.","A worker repairs any irregularities with his hammer.","Here you can see the difference this makes.","The prongs on the left are out of alignment.","The ones on the right have been fixed.","They apply an electrostatic charge onto the forks to attract a green powder spray.","Once cured, it forms a colorful skin that resists corrosion.","Now out of the curing oven, a worker clamps the ends to lock the fork in place while he inserts the ash wood shaft into the socket.","He secures it with rivets.","Using a belt sander, he blends the wood to the metal in a process known as linishing.","He also sands the rivets to make them flush to the surface of the metal.","The bottom fork is the one that has been linished.","He dips the wood shaft and handle in varnish, giving it a glossy stain that enhances the grain.","This garden fork is now done.","It won't look shiny and new for long, because things are sure to get dirty very soon.","Toffee is a type of candy traditionally made of caramelized sugar or molasses and butter.","There are many different varieties-- soft and chewy or hard and brittle.","English toffee, which is actually an american style of toffee, is very buttery and typically has a topping of chopped nuts.","This english toffee is completely free of dairy ingredients and is kosher certified, making it ideal for toffee lovers with certain dietary restrictions.","The workers at this small american confectioner make this special recipe entirely by hand one small batch at a time.","They start by combining water and sugar.","They heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves.","Then they add a formula so top-secret they won't let us see it.","All they'll reveal is that it contains a combination of vegetable oils and shortening which are non-dairy substitutes for butter and beta carotene to give the toffee that familiar golden color.","They add an emulsifier called lecithin to stabilize all these ingredients.","As soon as the mixture reaches the boiling point, they add salt.","This enhances the flavor and helps produce a rapid boil that continues for several hours until the mixture hits a top-secret target temperature.","By that point, most of the water has evaporated, producing sweet, thick, liquid toffee.","Now they open a hot-water valve that heats up a table, then carefully pour the toffee onto the surface.","The heat keeps the toffee pliable while they spread it out.","They spread it wider and wider until the toffee sheet is evenly thick.","They don't actually measure.","They just eyeball it, so the thickness varies somewhat.","But that lack of uniformity is part of the charm of handmade sweets.","They take a tool with multiple cutting wheels spaced about two inches apart.","They run it over the toffee sheet in one direction, then in the other.","Then they shut off the hot-water valve and open the cold-water one to cool the table surface and harden what are now toffee squares.","Within minutes, the squares are hard enough to be broken apart.","Next, the first of two ingredients that will turn this into english toffee-- molten semi-sweet chocolate.","Once this tempering machine heats it to the right consistency, a pump feeds it to the enrobing machine that coats the toffee squares in two stages, starting on the bottom.","The underside now coated, the squares move on to a refrigerated belt.","The cold quickly hardens the chocolate.","Then they move into the next station which covers the top with chocolate.","As the now fully-coated squares exit the enrobing machine, the belt vibrates, shaking off the excess chocolate.","The squares move on to another refrigerated belt and a worker manually sprinkles them with the second ingredient that makes this english toffee-- chopped pecans.","The squares travel through a cooling tunnel for several minutes to set.","As they reach the end of the line, excess nuts drop off and collect in a pan below, ready for sprinkling onto new squares.","Some english toffee recipes call for almonds rather than pecans.","Whichever variety of nut, every recipe follows the same structure.","Layering sweet and crunchy toffee, smooth and creamy chocolate, and coarsely chopped nuts-- three different textures, tastes, and sensations brought together in a single confection.","And just like other decadently delicious desserts, english toffee is heaven to anyone with a serious sweet tooth.","Trying to decide on a paint color?","Each card is a small sample of related shades, allowing you to view the actual hues without prying off the lids of paint cans.","With thousands of shades to choose from, how do they get it all down on paper?","Whether you're looking for a brilliant blue or a marvelous mauve, careful scrutiny of paint chip cards can help you get it right before the paint hits the wall.","Highly concentrated colorants stored in tanks will be used to reproduce paint colors in lacquer similar to the kind used in nail polish.","Lacquer produces better results on paper than actual paint.","They pipe the colorants to a dispenser.","At the same time, a bucket containing lacquer heads toward it.","The dispenser has many tentacles with nozzles at the end of each one and each tentacle is connected to one of the colorant tanks.","A computerized mechanism grabs the nozzles to dispense different colorants following a specific paint-color formula.","The bucket sits on a scale and the weight is constantly monitored by the computer to confirm that exact amounts are being added.","A blender mixes the colorants in the lacquer.","The mixing speed and time have been preset to avoid over or under mixing.","And now for the color test.","A technician pulls a bit of the lacquer-based paint on a sheet of paper just under a steel bar.","Using that bar, he spreads the color evenly across the paper.","Then it's into a kind of moving convection oven to dry the color.","The technician compares the color and gloss to that of the standard.","He also does a computer analysis and sends the formula back for tweaking when necessary.","Once they perfect the hue and gloss, production is ready to roll.","A worker pours the approved lacquer-based paints into cylindrical tanks above the coating machine.","There are over two dozen of these tanks because they'll be putting that many colors on paper in one production run.","He connects plastic tubing to the tanks to narrow the flow and aim it at the die block below.","He activates the machine and adjusts the tension of the paper as it moves forward.","Lacquer flows into a die, coating the paper with an endless rainbow of color.","A bar overhead spreads the lacquer evenly without actually touching the paper.","The striped paper then travels through an oven.","The solvents evaporate, leaving a dried lacquer skin on the paper.","If regular paint had been used, the paper would have absorbed it and ended up wavy.","But with the lacquer paint, it remains flat.","Rotary blades cut the coated paper into sheets sized to fit printing machinery down the line.","They land in a neat stack.","Using a transparent template, the next worker measures the width of each stripe.","He then confirms that the colors are in the correct order by checking each stripe against the approved proofs.","He checks the gloss with a glossmeter.","It aims light on an angle and registers the reflection to confirm that the gloss is consistent.","With the okay from the tester, the entire production run receives the go-ahead.","The press operator stacks them facedown for loading into the printer.","A feeder serves up the striped sheets to the printing line one at a time.","It's a 4-station printing press.","Each cylinder is equipped with an ink of a different color to stand out against the various paint-card stripes.","They print the paint color names and numbers on both sides.","They also apply varnish to the back of the sheets so the paint chip cards won't stick to one another when stacked.","Named and numbered, the color stripes are now identifiable.","The sheets go under a guillotine blade which slices them into paint chip cards.","Powered by hydraulics and super sharp, the blade cuts through hundreds of paper sheets like butter.","They produce 3 1/2 million paint chip cards a day at this factory.","With so many options, the cards are stacked against a quick decision.","A bundt pan is for baking a dense, ring-shaped cake called a bundt.","It typically has a fluted or a swirl design.","It originated in europe hundreds of years ago and quite possibly gets its name from the german bundkuchen-- \"kuchen\" meaning \"cake\" and \"bund\" meaning \"a gathering of people\".","Bundt pans were originally ceramic, which is fragile, or cast iron, which is heavy.","Today's version is typically made of cast aluminum-- unbreakable and infinitely lighter.","It also has a nonstick coating.","At the factory, they begin the production process by melting ingots of recycled aluminum.","The furnace heats the ingots to 1,300-degrees fahrenheit, at which point, they liquify in about a minute.","From the melting furnace, workers transfer the molten aluminum to a holding furnace which keeps it in a liquid state until casting.","The casting process is entirely automated.","A ladle descends into the holding furnace and scoops up just over two pounds of aluminum, enough to make one bundt pan.","The ladle then pours the molten metal into a sleeve which a high-speed ram immediately pushes into a steel bundt-pan mold.","The pressure and speed combined shoot the molten aluminum into every nook and cranny of the mold cavity.","As the hot aluminum hits the cooler mold, it solidifies in about 10 seconds, then the two halves of the mold automatically separate and a robotic arm extracts the cast pan.","Between castings, a robot cleans the mold with a blast of air, water, and lubricant.","This removes any aluminum residue, leaving the mold surface pristine.","This is critical, because even a tiny speck of dust left behind would mar the next casting.","As each pan comes off the machine, workers inspect it for any casting flaws.","When it comes time to produce a different style bundt pan, like this one with six mini-cake forms, they simply mount the corresponding mold onto the casting machine.","As the machine fills the mold under pressure, some aluminum oozes out between the two halves of the mold.","Now a worker cuts off that excess with a single strike of a trim press.","The scrap pieces go back into the furnace to be remelted.","Next, a computer-guided router working two pans at a time, smoothes the rough edges.","Then it refines the handle slots, finalizing the shape.","The aluminum surface must be pristine for the nonstick coating to adhere properly, so the pans now go through an industrial washing machine-- one wash and three rinse cycles, and then, before exiting, a drying cycle.","Workers put the pans upside down on fixtures which travel down the exterior coasting line.","As the pan spins by, spray guns apply a silicone-based decorative coating to the outside surface.","The pans then travel through an oven for 15 minutes to cure the coating.","Then the workers flip the pans right-side up and place them on fixtures, which spin them through another spray line.","This time, to coat the inside.","The interior coating is a food-safe silicone-polyester material designed to release the cake easily from the pan.","It's similar to a nonstick coating on a fry pan, the difference being that the chemical composition is designed to prevent sugar, rather than protein, from sticking.","Again, the pans go through an oven for 15 minutes to cure the coating.","Once the finished pans exit the oven, workers inspect them thoroughly, checking for any flaws in the coatings.","From a practical perspective, a bundt pan's ringed shape has definite advantages over an ordinary baking pan.","The tube in the middle funnels heat to the center of the cake batter, helping it bake quicker and more thoroughly.","From a decorative perspective, when you compare an ordinary pan to an elegant bundt, the latter certainly takes the cake."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Tequila","Waterbeds","Flip Flops","Silver"]},"text":["The story of tequila begins many centuries ago, when mexico's aztecs fermented the juice of the agave plant to produce a low-alcohol drink called pulque.","When the spanish conquistadors arrived, they added distillation to the process for a much stronger drink, and tequila was born.","Tequila is to mexico as champagne is to france.","Tequila is only made in this part of the world, and mexico has claimed exclusive rights to the word \"tequila\".","For centuries, workers called jimadores have grown and harvested the agave plant for tequila.","It takes seven years, on average, for a species called weber blue agave to mature.","And even today, it's harvested entirely by hand.","Using a lethally sharp hoelike tool, the jimadores chop away the greenery until all that's left is the huge core, called the piña.","Filing the round blade frequently keeps it razor-sharp, allowing them to remove most of the bitter-tasting leaves from the piña.","The tequila distilled from this crop will be a premium grade made from 100% agave juice.","The jimadores routinely remove a small piece and measure the starch content of the crop.","Only if it's deemed to be sufficient is the agave piña sent to the distillery.","Workers wield special hatchets to carve the huge piñas into quarters.","They're a more manageable size for baking.","They transfer the chopped piña to a brick oven, where it's steam-baked for 79 hours.","This thorough cooking converts the agave starch to sugar.","In the process, the flesh softens and the color turns from white to reddish brown.","The baked agave piña now spills into a shredder that rotates to tear the fruit into long, thin fibers.","The fibers exit onto a conveyor.","The shredded piña lands in a pit, where a worker forks it up and moves it into the path of a huge stone wheel called a tahona.","Operated mechanically, the tahona wheel turns to crush the fibers and squeeze out the precious agave nectar.","It takes two hours of crushing to extract all the juices.","They pipe the juicy mash into wooden tanks and add yeast.","The yeast causes fermentation, a process by which sugar is transformed into alcohol.","After 72 hours of fermentation, the alcohol content reaches 5%.","The fermented pulp and juices have an earthy, acidic bouquet, and the aroma fills the air.","They transfer the fermented mash to small copper stills.","Inside the stills, the alcohol is boiled off and the vapor condensed into a more potent liquid.","This is called distillation.","After two distillation cycles, they have tequila.","A technician measures the alcohol content, and it's 55%.","After straining out the pulp, they transfer the tequila to steel tanks.","They add purified well water to dilute the alcohol content and bring it down to 40%.","This tequila is now ready to drink, so it's over to the bottling line.","With the bottles upside down on a revolving carousel, they spray the inside with real tequila for a quick rinse.","The grippers flip them right-side up so they can be filled with 100% agave tequila.","This automated system keeps the fill level precise.","An employee corks the bottles and then sends them down the line.","The next worker presses adhesive-backed transparent labels onto them.","The see-through labels showcase the clarity of this fresh, premium tequila.","For a drink with a little more complexity, they age the tequila in oak casks for two months or more, depending on the grade.","During aging, the tequila takes on a woody flavor and turns a warm shade of amber.","The master distiller personally approves each batch.","He checks the color, inhales the aroma, and puts his observations down on paper.","He also takes a little sip.","No longer a rough swill for banditos, tequila has gone uptown and evolved into a more sophisticated drink.","Waterbeds have come a long way since the ancient persians slept on water-filled goat skins.","Hitting the market in the late 1960s, early models were pretty wavy and made some people seasick.","But innovative changes in design make today's waterbeds as stable as a traditional mattress.","Water doesn't compress, it displaces.","That's why a waterbed mattress shapes to your body, giving you equal support everywhere with no pressure points.","A washable quilted cover sits on top of the mattress to provide extra cushioning and absorb perspiration.","The mattress is made of high-durability vinyl.","It arrives at the waterbed factory in giant rolls which workers feed into a conditioning machine.","At a speed of one yard per minute, the machine heats the vinyl to 100 degrees fahrenheit.","This preshrinks the material, ensuring the mattress won't contract over time.","Next, computer-guided machines cut out the mattress's top and bottom pieces.","Die cutters stamp out the smaller and simpler corner and valve-related pieces.","Then, workers lay the top piece on a wooden pattern mold.","Applying this pattern makes the vinyl more flexible, enabling the mattress to better follow the form of the body.","The company won't reveal exactly how this caged device molds the pattern into the vinyl.","Now, with a die, workers cut a hole in the top piece for the fill valve.","After fitting the valve and cap to a piece of vinyl printed with product information, they lay on the top piece, then fuse the vinyl with a high-frequency welder.","It emits high-frequency electromagnetic waves that heat and cause the molecules to interact, blending the two pieces seamlessly into one.","Next, the corners of the mattress.","This is the most complex part of the process because it requires making a very particular angle.","After fusing the folds with the high-frequency welder, they slip each corner onto a rounded form, then close off the tip by welding on a circle of vinyl.","This makes a rounded corner, which is far more durable than a pointed one.","Whereas regular mattresses are foam-filled, waterbed mattresses contain fiber which makes the bed waveless.","Mattresses come in various degrees of stability.","The more layers of fiber inside, the less the mattress moves.","Once they've inserted the fiber, workers perform a final round of high-frequency welding to close up the mattress.","First, they position an aluminum stick under the area they have to weld.","A static laser line shows workers where to position the mattress in the automatic welder.","Once the mattress is welded all around, they remove the stick through the valve hole, then flatten the mattress, distributing the fiber evenly within it.","The final operation is quality-control check.","They put the mattress in a press and, with a vacuum hose, extract all the air.","Then, they set the mattress aside for six hours to ensure no air seeps back in, which would indicate a leak.","Elsewhere in the factory, they construct the frame in which the mattress sits.","The lower part is made of pvc plastic extruded into a stylish shape.","Workers fuse the frame parts with regular welding, melting, then pressing together the edges to bond them.","This factory doesn't mass-produce.","Every single waterbed is made to order from a range of decor choices.","The customer who ordered this one requested a frame upholstered in black faux leather.","The mattress sits on a thick melamine base.","They slide it into the frame, then secure it with screws.","The upper sides of the frame are made of upholstered foam, designed to be soft against the back of your legs when you sit on the side of the bed.","Waterbed mattresses are shipped empty.","The installer fills it with water at the customer's home, leaving enough space inside for the water to displace under pressure, so even if the valve is open, water doesn't spill out, even when someone's lying on the bed.","They may not be the fanciest of footwear, but flip-flops, also called thongs, are inexpensive and comfortable.","It's believed these flat sandals with the y-shaped strap are modeled after traditional japanese sandals that have a wooden sole and a \"y\" strap woven from plant fibers.","The anatomy of a flip-flop is pretty basic-- a sole and y-shaped straps called uppers.","The sole is constructed from the top and bottom.","They make the bottom out of either heat-moldable plastic or rubber.","An injection-molding machine shoots the molten material into passing molds.","Two fans positioned over the injector kick-start the cooling process.","Then, a continuous water-cooling system takes over.","3 1/2 minutes after injection, the material is solid.","They make the top soles from 3/10 inch-thick rubber sheets.","A hydraulic press forces a sole-shaped die through the sheet, like a cookie cutter slicing through dough.","The die also cuts a hole and two slits for attaching the uppers.","Some flip-flops have decorations on the top soles.","The design is applied on each pair manually using a standard screen-printing process.","The factory prepares a screen for each color of the design.","The screen is kind of like a stencil-- open mesh in the shape of the design, and the rest of the mesh is blocked.","Workers load a pair of soles in each station of a rotary-screen printing machine.","Then, they mount the screens.","They close the first screen over the pair of soles, then, with a squeegee, spread ink across the screen surface.","The ink passes through the open mesh, applying the design.","They move the soles to the next screen and do the same with the second color of ink, and so on.","Now for the uppers.","For this flip-flop style, they glue ribbon onto cotton tape.","Once they've correctly positioned the ribbon, they stitch it in place.","Then, they connect the left-side and right-side straps with masking tape...","Add a toe piece...","Then stitch everything together.","For aesthetics, they sew a cover piece over the toe piece.","Uppers give flip-flops their look through different materials, colors, thicknesses, and embellishments.","The design possibilities are endless.","Now to connect the uppers to the top sole, workers insert the toe piece into the toe hole and a strap end into each slit.","They apply glue...","Trim the ends...","Then insert a last-- a foot form in the required shoe size.","They pull the straps tightly against it.","Next, they coat the bottom of the top sole and the top of the bottom sole with glue.","Then, a quick trip through an oven activates the adhesive.","Workers then place the bottom sole on a positioning guide and stick the top sole onto it, locking the strap ends in between.","This is instant-contact glue, so they have just one chance to get the alignment right.","A 4-second bonding experience in a press, and they're \"sole\" mates.","However, the former bottom sole is slightly larger than the former top sole.","So, with a high speed sander, workers trim off the excess, leaving the edge even and smooth.","After a manual sanding touch-up, if necessary, and thorough quality-control inspection, the flip-flops are ready for packaging.","Workers stuff a pad of paper under the uppers to prop them up should the bag get squashed during transport.","Once considered strictly beachwear, flip-flops have stepped it up in style to become fashionable everyday footwear.","Not only used for jewelry or silverware, 80% of the world's silver is mined for industrial purposes.","Silver is the most conductive and reflective metal on the planet.","For example, it's used in electronic components and in construction as an insulation coating on glass.","The mining company produces silver bars, the composition of which is 93% to 97% pure silver.","It sells the bars to a refinery, which further purifies them for sale to industries.","The action begins down in the mine, where geologists point a niton gun at various spots in the rock face.","The device detects the levels of 40 different elements, including silver.","Silver in its natural state isn't silver-colored at all.","It's charcoal gray.","Those silver-looking deposits are actually zinc and lead.","Miners drill holes in the silver-rich areas the geologists pinpointed, then insert sticks of dynamite.","After the blast, carts hall the chunks of rock, called ore, to the surface.","Geologists then test ore piles and blend them as required to achieve a consistent amount of silver content per kilogram of ore.","The ore first goes into the primary crusher.","The machine's huge steel teeth break up the big chunks into smaller pieces.","Those pieces then drop through grates below, into the secondary crusher, which breaks them down into even smaller pieces.","Those go into vibrating cone crushers, which pulverize them into tiny pieces.","A conveyor transports the crushed ore to the ball mill.","At this point, the ore pieces are roughly 2/10 of an inch big.","As the mill's large cylinder rotates, steel balls bounce around inside, grinding the ore into powder.","A water-circulation system flushes the silver-rich powder out of the cylinder and into large tanks which keep the water moving.","To separate and dissolve the metals the powder contains, workers pour in acid.","72 hours later, the rock waste now settles at the bottom.","The solution containing dissolved silver is pumped through filter presses.","The filter plates are treated with a zinc-based chemical which attracts silver molecules.","As the solution passes through, the plates trap particles containing silver, forming a layer of black powder called silver precipitate.","This precipitate is composed of approximately 50% silver and 50% waste-- the waste being a jumble of various metals, dirt, and other impurities.","To separate the silver from the waste, they first dry the precipitate in a gas furnace for a couple of hours.","In the mining company's lab, technicians continuously test ore samples to determine the grade, determined by the quantity of silver per kilogram of ore.","They heat the samples to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit for about an hour to burn off the impurities.","What's left after the burn-off are the silver and other metals, such as lead, zinc, copper, selenium, and cadmium.","Lab technicians then treat the samples with a chemical that prevents silver from burning off and put them back in the oven.","When the samples come out, about an hour later, all the other metals have burnt off, and only silver is left.","They weigh the silver and compare it to the weight of the original sample in order to calculate the grade.","The key to running a profitable mine is to ensure that the grade is consistently within certain parameters.","Back at the mill, workers put the now dried silver precipitate into an oven, along with chemicals which prevent silver from burning off.","Approximately four hours later, the silver and waste have separated and melted.","Workers pour them into bar-shaped molds.","The silver, being heavier, settles at the bottom.","Workers skim off the waste floating on top.","In less than five minutes, the molten silver cools and hardens, enabling workers to extract what is now a silver bar.","The mining company sells the bars to a refinery for processing into industrial-grade silver."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Chains","Bagels","Vinyl Records"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Windshields...","English saddles...","Butter...","And post clocks.","Drivers of the earliest cars had only goggles to shield them.","So, to protect people from the elements, the glass windshield was invented in 1904.","But there was a danger-- they would shatter on impact, injuring people.","Glass lamination solved the problem.","It was shatterproof--  a real scientific breakthrough.","To make a windshield, they start with a plain sheet of glass.","An automated plotter moves a cutting wheel over it, and the wheel scores the glass.","Now a robotic arm brandishes a torch.","It moves along the score line, and the thermal shock completes the cut.","This is the best way to cleanly cut through glass.","Next, a robot suctions up the cut piece of glass and transfers it to the next station, where it pushes the glass against a series of sanding belts.","This takes off the sharp edges.","It's called seaming.","Now a conveyor belt takes the glass through some soapy water to clean it up.","Then nozzles spray the glass with a mix of talcum powder and water.","This will prevent the glass from sticking to a second sheet of glass.","A robot now sets that second piece of glass on top of the freshly sprayed one.","This is a temporary arrangement.","The two sheets of glass are layered for processing but will be pulled apart later.","Next, they silk-screen black paint around the border of the glass that will eventually be the inner part of the windshield.","Then automated arms carry the glass to a station where samples are inspected visually.","After that, rollers transfer the glass to automatic squaring pucks, which position them.","And then a robot lifts the sheets of glass and carries them to four metal pins.","The pins recede, and the glass falls onto a bending iron.","The iron is shaped like a specific windshield.","The conveyor takes the bending iron with the two glass sheets into an oven called a bending lehr.","The lehr heats the glass sheets to almost 1,400 degrees fahrenheit, causing the glass to sink into the shape of the bending iron.","Then the glass goes through a slow cooling cycle to anneal, or toughen, the new shape.","Next, a robot picks up a sheet of vinyl cut in the shape of a windshield.","It takes the vinyl sheet to one of the newly shaped pieces of glass, just separated from the other piece.","Then another robot lowers the other identical piece of glass onto the vinyl.","And that's the formula for glass lamination-- two layers of glass with a piece of vinyl between them.","In the event of an accident, the windshield will fracture but not totally shatter because the vinyl will hold most of the broken glass together.","But, at this point, there's no clear view through that milky-white vinyl.","That's why the windshield is headed to a machine called a nipper.","The nipper presses the windshield between a series of rubber rollers, squeezing out air pockets in it.","As the air is removed, the view through the vinyl gets a bit clearer.","Now squaring pucks position the windshield, and a robot sticks brackets for the rearview mirror onto it.","This big blue chamber is an autoclave.","It's like a pressure cooker.","After about an hour in there, any remaining air pockets in the windshield are removed.","A rail system transports the tubful of windshields to the inspection station.","Here, each windshield undergoes a close-up inspection by a human.","He searches for scratches, chips, or any contamination between the glass and vinyl layers.","Now they place a 5-pound steel ball into a pulley system that raises it 13 feet high.","Yes, this is a crash test for a sample windshield.","The ball represents a driver's head.","The ball hits the glass but doesn't go through, which means the windshield has passed the safety test.","Now they view the windshield through polarized light, which reveals stress defects.","But only a trained eye can spot them.","Once it's decided that everything looks good, the shatterproof windshield is ready to be installed in today's automobiles.","Saddle-making goes back thousands of years.","But in modern times, saddle makers have realized that a bad-fitting saddle can irritate the horse.","An experienced rider will undoubtedly feel a difference in the animal's attitude and performance.","So now saddles are often custom-made to fit both the horse and the rider.","To make an english saddle, they attach both rigid and flexible steel strips to a frame made of polyurethane, which is called a tree.","Then they rivet a stirrup bar through the tree to the steel that's just been fastened to the underside.","With a jigsaw, a worker cuts a hole in the tree and then glues foam for cushioning.","Now he coats the back of the cantle, or seat, with glue and sticks a piece of leather onto it.","He crimps the leather around the edges of the tree.","And, using a special tool for cutting leather, called a clicker knife, he carves away the extra material.","Then he sprays glue onto the top of the tree and presses a layer of foam onto it.","Using an ordinary kitchen knife, he slices away excess foam at the sides and carves out more foam to shape the seat.","Then he shaves the edges with a rasp.","Next, he layers two more foam pieces over it and sculpts and shaves those layers.","He runs a measuring stick along the seat to make sure it's even, and then pastes a piece of black foam on top to add even more cushioning.","Now, with a half-moon blade, another worker slices a piece of leather to make a saddle flap.","She follows a trace-out of the rider's leg.","She feeds the flap piece into a skiving machine.","Its circular blade shaves the edges of the leather as a wheel pulls it through.","The thinned-out edges will be easier to sew later on.","Next, she heat-stamps the saddle logo onto the flap.","She also stamps the model, serial number, tree, and seat size onto the saddle.","Now she glues foam to a hard piece of leather to make a kneepad and sticks softer leather on the top, where the rider's knee will rest.","Then, using a piece of whale bone, she draws the leather tight around the edges so that it's smooth on top.","Whale bone is used because it doesn't scar or scratch leather.","Next, she seals the front edges and then crimps them together, the way a baker crimps the edges of a pie.","She pulls the leather tight from the back side and paints glue onto the fatter rim.","Then she brushes glue onto the flap and presses the kneepad and flap together so the glue sticks.","She hammers them to strengthen the bond, then stitches them together, along that glue line, using a big industrial sewing machine.","With a steel prod, she stuffs a wool-and-synthetic mixture into the panel which will be on the horse's back.","It's being stuffed with a certain horse in mind.","The amount of stuffing used depends on the shape of the horse the saddle is being made for.","She hammers it flat with a rubber mallet and then stitches the panel to the top of the saddle.","To sew through the leather layers, she makes a hole with an awl and then pulls the needle and thread through it, spraying water to keep the leather soft.","She hammers the seam to get rid of any gaps between the layers.","But sewing the back of the panel to the bottom of the seat is a bit trickier.","She uses a curved awl and needle to work with the contours.","It's taken about 25 hours to piece together this customized english saddle.","This is the saddletech device, and they use it to make sure the saddle measures up.","It measures it in four sections.","Now it's on to the tree machine.","It adjusts the gullet plate, the piece of rigid steel that sits above the horse's withers.","Plastic panels support the saddle while a hydraulic press bends the plate to fit the measurement.","Now it's time to saddle up and check the fit of this custom-made seat.","Butter has a rich history.","The ancient romans used it as a beauty cream and to treat burns.","Even the old testament mentions butter.","Abraham served it to angels.","Back then, people made butter by shaking milk in bags of animal skin or in hollow logs.","Today it's a product of modern technology.","Butter-making begins with a tanker-truck delivery to the dairy-- almost 8,000 gallons of raw cow's milk.","Workers test it for consistent color and odor before unloading it through vacuum-pumped hoses.","They pump the raw milk into a machine called a separator.","The separator spins, dividing the raw milk's fat from the rest of the liquid.","The fat is called buttercream, and the rest is skim milk.","The essential ingredient in butter is the buttercream.","It's thick, off-white, and approximately 38% fat.","Some of it goes to make 2% milk.","A worker adjusts a valve to re-insert some into the skim milk.","The resulting 2% milk is more watery than buttercream and is white.","The less the fat content, the thinner and runnier the milk is.","Back to the butter-making.","They put the buttercream in what's called a bulk tank, where mixers stir it to maintain the consistency.","After pasteurizing and then aging the buttercream for 24 hours, workers prepare to transfer it to another machine, called the churner.","First they clean the inside by filling it with water mixed with iodine.","This removes any germs left behind by the previous batch.","They spin the churner for about five minutes before rinsing it out.","Next, they pour in just under 400 gallons of buttercream, filling the churner about halfway.","It's important to leave some room so that air released in the churning process can escape through two vents in the churner.","The churner spins at 28 rotations per minute-- about the speed of a clothes dryer.","This causes the buttercream's fat molecules to bunch together, releasing water and air.","Every five minutes, a worker stops the churner and regulates the air vent on top.","When he feels there's no more air escaping, he closes the valve and re-starts the machine.","After 30 minutes of churning, the fat molecules in the buttercream are creamy clumps known as popcorn butter.","These clumps stay trapped in the churner, while the remaining liquid--  called buttermilk-- flows out a drain at the bottom.","A vacuum-pump system sends it through hoses to a nearby container.","This draining process takes about 10 minutes and produces about 210 gallons of buttermilk.","This dairy uses the buttermilk to make ice cream.","The popcorn butter--  all 1,500 pounds of it-- has the same consistency as a regular butter at room temperature.","A worker now flavors it with 30 pounds of salt.","This dairy also makes unsalted butter.","The worker closes the churner by sealing the glass window with a rubber ring and a metal collar.","This keeps the internal air pressure roughly equal to what's outside the churner.","Doing this ensures the churner works efficiently.","Another 30 minutes of churning, and the fat molecules thicken even more and blend with the salt.","What results is butter, which is yellow because of its natural vitamin a. next, a worker scoops about 66 pounds of butter into a milling machine.","The mill moves the butter into the final production phase, where it'll be shaped and put into packages.","This machine squeezes butter into an injector that's shaped like a block.","The injector then deposits blocks of butter into open packages.","The packaging paper has an aluminum outer coating.","This prevents light from penetrating.","Light can make the butter rancid.","Each sheet is 10 1/2 inches long and 7 1/2 inches wide.","Before the butter is inserted, a plastic former bends the paper into shape.","This mill operates four days a week, making up to 33 blocks per minute.","That's a fairly small quantity compared to some dairies, but this relatively slow pace allows greater quality control.","To monitor the mill's precision, workers check every 15th block to ensure it weighs exactly one pound.","The dairy then ships the butter to stores in refrigerated trucks.","Clocks on posts became popular fixtures in town squares during the 1800s.","Railways were spreading fast, and these public clocks helped people to get to their trains on time.","Today, post clocks are often designed to look like they're from the past.","But the technology that goes into making them is actually very up-to-date.","It all starts with what's called a transfer sheet.","A worker positions it over an aluminum disc that'll become the clock's dial.","She removes the sheet, sprays on a chemical, and repositions it.","The chemical will act as a release agent, detaching the vinyl numbers from the sheet so that they transfer and stick to the dial.","She then peels the sheet off.","This worker prepares a more elaborate model, with numerals in 23-karat gold leaf.","After coating them in glue, she applies a hair-thin sheet of gold.","Then she gently brushes the gold onto the numeral.","Using a computer-guided cutter, workers cut a 1/5-inch-thick sheet of aluminum into a clock's hand that's more than 3 feet long.","To boost the hand's rigidity, they crease it in a press.","This structurally reinforces the metal, helping retain the hand's shape over time.","A 1 1/2-ounce counterweight will balance the hand when it rotates.","Here, a welder builds the post by fusing a base and a column made of cast aluminum.","On another model, workers attach the housing for the clock head.","This clock will have four dials.","Other models have two.","In the paint shop, workers give the base, column, and head four coats of paint.","After applying some lubricant on a steel shaft, called a stud, a worker installs one of the clock's eight brass gears-- brass, because it's strong and durable.","A steel loop called a snap ring holds each gear in place.","One gear has what's called a vane to regulate the pulsing of the gears.","Next, a worker attaches the shaft and gear that'll control the minute hand.","Altogether, the gears form what's called the clock movement.","He screws on a brass panel called a backplate to hold the clock movement in place.","Then he attaches an electronic circuit board that'll later connect the clock movement to another component.","He installs a 115-volt motor to supply the clock's electric power.","Finally, he connects power wires and turns on the clock movement.","Here, he's checking to see that everything's properly linked and that the gears are moving well.","This company makes clock movements for clocks ranging in diameter from just 8 1/2 inches to more than 70 feet.","The gears in the largest clock are nearly 3 1/2 feet wide.","Here, you can see how the shaft that'll hold the minute hand revolves inside what's called the sleeve of the hour hand.","A worker attaches the clock movement to the back of the dial.","Then he ties wires through what's called glass standoffs.","These standoffs will cradle the clock's neon light.","The neon tube encircles the clock's perimeter.","It attaches through holes to a transformer hidden behind the dial.","He fastens the tube with rust-resistant copper wires.","Next come the hour and minute hands, now painted black.","He uses an allen wrench to attach them to what's called the hand hub.","This hub holds the hands on the shaft that's part of the clock movement.","The assembled dial now goes into its casing.","The casing has two parts-- an aluminum ring, called a bezel, around a glass cover known as a crystal.","He connects a wire to link the dials so that they'll move in sync.","The worker then inserts this casing into what will be a two-dial post clock.","Workers then turn on the neon clock light to test it.","Once the post clock's installed, a built-in sensor turns the light on at dusk and off at dawn.","Inside every clock is a controller that sets the time.","It's linked to a satellite through a global positioning system.","The gps tells the satellite where the clock's located to set the correct local time.","After starting up, the controller takes six minutes to adjust the hands to the exact time, which is determined by an international observatory in greenwich, england.","Certainly not your average pocket watch, this company's post clocks can stand more than 19 feet high and cost up to $35,000."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Headphones","Diving Regulators","Reflector Light Bulbs"]},"text":["In the early part of the 20th century, headphones were used mainly by telephone operators and radio technicians.","But in the 1930s, they were redesigned and marketed to the public, so music lovers everywhere plugged in and turned on to the concept.","Everyone is a music critic, but headphones allow people to crank up the volume without negative feedback from neighbors.","To make high-end headphones, an injection-molding machine first makes plastic back covers.","The mesh area will allow sound waves to pass through instead of reflecting back into the headphone.","Down the line, equipment stamps trademark and other information onto two more casing components-- a decorative metal disk, and a plastic housing.","The next machine winds copper wire that's as thin as human hair around a cylinder hundreds of times.","The winding is computer controlled to produce a critical component-- the headphone's voice coil.","When magnetized by an incoming signal, the voice coil vibrates a diaphragm, causing it to emit sound.","That diaphragm now takes shape as a press applies heat and pressure to a plastic membrane.","These tools mold the plastic to the desired shape.","The press molds the plastic thicker in the center and thinner around the outer zone for a wide and flat audio-frequency range.","A technician punches out the molded shape.","She applies a bead of glue to the diaphragm, then positions the copper voice coil in an assembly device.","She aligns the glued section of the diaphragm with the coil.","Ultraviolet light activates the glue to seal the coil to the diaphragm.","The plastic housings each contain a magnet.","The next technician installs the diaphragm and voice-coil assembly on that housing.","This takes skill because the coil must be positioned precisely for the best sound quality.","And this headphone speaker is now ready for an audio check.","A technician tests the audio-frequency range, distortion, and other factors.","Here, a technician joins the ends of curved wires in a plastic clip.","These wires serve a dual function.","They hold the headphones snugly over the ears and deliver audio signals from the left side of the headphones the right.","The next technician installs a connector for the headphone's audio cable and a plastic strain relief.","An adjustable band will allow the headphones to fit on heads of all shapes and sizes.","The operator presses the parts together with a hydraulic tool.","Moving down the line, a technician now joins the two halves of the speaker housing.","She forces the two parts together with a pneumatic tool...","And finishes it off with a decorative metal ring.","She inserts the speaker mechanism in the center of the housing, then places plastic brackets over it for protection.","She then secures the entire assembly to the housing.","Next, she solders two wires to each headphone speaker.","A plastic ring and cover protect it while still allowing the wires to protrude.","She attaches the end of the headband to the speakers...","Then solders the wires from the speaker to those protruding from the headband.","She presses a plastic grille into place over each speaker very carefully, to prevent scratching.","The headphones are now wired and ready for audio.","And whether it's rock or classical, the choice of music will be silent to all but one individual.","The diving regulator is a lifeline when you're underwater.","Invented in 1937, this device converts compressed air from diving tanks into a breathable form and delivers it to the diver via a mouthpiece.","And that means, once you've taken the plunge, you can breathe easy.","The two main parts of a diving regulator are called stages.","Computerized tools transform a piece of brass into the first-stage housing.","They carve a cavity and holes for attaching hoses and other components.","A blade cuts the part to size.","Then, a drill creates a space for the pressure-reduction valve.","This end also gets holes for more attachments.","Another tool sculpts the side to reduce the weight of the part.","Sliced in two, this is how the first-stage housing looks inside.","After it's been chrome-plated, they insert plugs for the holes that will later be used for attaching gauges, hoses, and other parts.","The fitting that connects the regulator to the scuba tank goes into a holding device, while the technician assembles a special valve for keeping salt water out.","He fits a piston onto the end of a spring, and then slips the assembly through a hole to confirm it's the right size.","He installs a filter on the other end of the spring.","Now he inserts the valve in the fitting.","He secures it with this rubber ring, pressing it into a groove in the fitting.","The valve appears to be firmly entrenched.","He presses it to confirm it operates correctly.","And he pumps water into a bunch of these fittings to confirm the valves inside are, indeed, watertight.","He attaches a rubber cover and a chrome-plated yoke to the fitting, then installs this assembly in the housing, using a long-handled socket wrench to get the right torque.","This yoke swivels to give the diver some flexibility in attaching it to the diving tank.","He now assembles a crucial component-- the high-pressure reduction valve.","Installed inside the first-stage housing, it converts high pressure to medium pressure.","He caps the yoke with a knob, then inserts a pressure-sensing mechanism at one end of the first-stage housing.","He covers it with a rubber membrane.","As the diver inhales, this membrane will trigger the valve to release more air.","The diving regulator's first stage is now complete.","He just needs to calibrate the pressure-reduction valve inside.","He hooks it up to compressed air and adjusts the valve so it reduces air pressure to a precise level.","He immerses it in water to test for air leaks.","There are a few bubbles from plunging it underwater, but nothing that would indicate a problem.","They now move on to the diving regulator's second stage, which will convert the medium-pressure air from the first stage to a breathable level.","The diver's breathing will trigger this diaphragm to open the air valve.","He attached a protective cover, and he's ready to install the second-stage valve.","After he inserts it in the second-stage housing, the technician makes an initial adjustment.","Then, using a special tool, he precisely calibrates the valve.","He removed the diaphragm for the last steps, so he reinstalls it.","Then, it's over to a guy with an ear for the job.","As air is pumped into the second stage, he listens for hisses that would indicate a leak.","Satisfied there are none, he hooks the regulator up to a device that simulates breathing and measures the effort required to inhale.","If it checks out, they link the two stages with a hose, and this diving regulator is now equipped to handle the pressure.","Good lighting is often a matter of reflection, and that's why, early on, lamps often came with reflectors.","But, in 1935, a company figured out how to make light bulbs with built-in reflectors.","Sealing the reflectors inside the bulb kept them clean and maintenance-free.","As track lights or in recessed fixtures, reflector bulbs can light up a room at the flick of a switch.","The creation of these bulbs begins with the bulb shell, known as the glass envelope.","It's comprised of numerous raw ingredients and recycled glass.","Production is almost entirely automated.","An operator activates equipment that weighs the ingredients and releases them into a huge hopper, where they're mixed thoroughly.","This concoction then flows into a furnace heated to 2,700 degrees fahrenheit.","It takes up to 24 hours for the mix to melt into a taffylike glass.","It flows between rollers that shape it into a ribbon.","One roller has little pockets on the surface, which form the ribbon into segments.","These devices, called blow heads, inflate the glass segments through holes in the conveyor chain.","This stretches the glass into oblong bubbles called blanks.","Iron molds encase the warm and pliable glass blanks.","The molds spin as the glass hardens into the desired shape.","The glass blanks now look like upside-down martini glasses.","This is the reflector bulb's glass envelope.","It takes just seconds for a glass blank to be transformed inside one of these molds.","The envelopes are still linked by a ribbon of glass at the top, so an automated hammer now gently knocks them free.","The glass envelopes cool down slowly.","This stage, called annealing, toughens the glass to reduce brittleness.","They measure the thickness and diameter of one of the envelopes.","If it's not up to standards, the entire production run will be crushed, and the glass recycled into new ones.","But the envelope is good, and so, production continues.","They lower the envelopes over nozzles that inject hydrofluoric acid.","It coats the inner surface of the glass with a frosty finish that will smooth the light emitted by the bulb and widen the beam.","The envelopes now head down a chute, into a padded channel that cushions their fall.","Guides gently position them.","Then, other devices thrust them into holders which move them down the line.","Next, a robot inserts aluminum wire in a heating coil and places a protective metal dome over top.","Suction cups pick up the glass envelopes and slide them onto the wire-and-dome assemblies.","A pump pulls air out of the bulb as an electrical current energizes the heating coil to melt the aluminum wire.","The aluminum adheres to the walls of the light bulb's shell, giving it a reflective finish.","The glass envelopes then move on to be stamped with the company trademark and other information.","Meanwhile, on another production line, they're preparing the glass mounts for the filament and wire contacts.","A cutting wheel slices them to size.","The tubes then travel past a flame, which melts the ends just a bit to make the edges smooth.","Once they've cooled, grippers deliver the tubes to a more intense flame, which flares them at one end.","Coming up next, we'll show you the inner workings of the reflector light bulb.","A reflector light bulb can cast one's surroundings in a whole new light-- one that's more intense and focused.","The source of this light is an electrified filament of wire.","And assembling that filament in the bulb is a very delicate task that's performed entirely by machines.","Production now focuses on the glass tube that will serve as the mount for the filament and its electrical contacts.","Machinery inserts two copper wires into each tube.","These are the lead wires that will eventually connect the base of the bulb to the filament and deliver the electric current.","These long glass tubes will be used to suck air out of the light bulb, preventing oxygen from reaching the filament and destroying it.","They protrude from the glass mount, but that's just temporary.","They will later be cut shorter.","Torches now melt the glass mount, lead wires, and exhaust tube together.","Mechanized fingers then pinch the layers together, and the wires are now encased in glass but protrude from the glass base.","Grippers transfer the closed mounts to a carousel.","It revolves to allow the mounts to receive a coil made of tungsten metal.","This coil is the filament of the reflector light bulb.","Mechanized fingers attach the small coil to hooks on the two lead wires.","The coiled filament is wobbly, so next it gets some support.","First, machinery bends the lead wires to move them and the filament out of the way.","Then, a robot presses the tip of the glass exhaust tube onto a burner.","The tip melts, allowing a metal support wire to be embedded into it.","Another robot bends the lead wires to position the filament adjacent to the support wire.","The next station loops the wire around the filament.","This gives the filament the necessary support, and it stops wobbling.","This 2-pronged device then straightens out the lead wires.","The mount is now upright and riding another carousel.","Flippers set it straight so a metal disk can be installed on the pinched section of the mount.","This disk is reflective.","It will bounce light downward to the shiny coating inside the light bulb, to create just the right effect.","With the disk wrapped around it, the assembly is now positioned on the next turntable.","Suction cups deposit the glass envelope on the assembly, to encase the filament and reflective disk inside.","The holder twirls the bulb as it travels past a row of torches.","The flames melt the neck of the glass envelope, and it closes around the glass mount.","This secures the filament, contacts, and reflective disk inside the bulb.","Another set of torches, heated to a much higher temperature, trims the base of the bulb.","Molding devices now move in to shape the bottom of the bulb so a metal base can be fitted to it.","A gripper then puts that metal base on a track to meet up with the reflector light bulb.","By now, the bulb has been flushed of oxygen and filled with argon gas so it will last longer.","The metal base finishes it off and will allow the bulb to be screwed into a light fixture.","Another flame heats the metal base to cure adhesive that was preapplied for a strong bond to the bulb.","Then, robots cut off protruding wire and form a contact on the base.","It has taken just 12 minutes to assemble this reflector light bulb, but it will provide about 2,000 hours of light."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Patterned Glass Panels","Road Cases","Stop"]},"text":["Used for windows, doors, and partitions, patterned glass panels add beauty and light to a room.","But their purpose is more than decorative.","The designs in the glass also obscure the view, making patterned glass an effective privacy screen.","They let light in and keep prying eyes out.","With patterned glass, windows become something to look atrather than through.","There are a variety of designs and textures to choose from, offering different degrees of privacy.","At the heart of the process are engraved metal rollers that transfer designs onto glass.","Before production can even begin, this roller rotates through a chamber where grit blasts off grease and dirt.","If the designs on the roller are damaged, they shave off the outer skin, exposing a smooth surface for re-engraving.","But that isn't always necessary.","Small problems can be fixed, so they circle those for repair.","Some need no refurbishment whatsoever, so they move on to the next step.","A worker brushes a polishing compound onto the printing roller.","A buffing wheel rubs the compound into the roller's chrome surface, taking it from dull to a high shine.","Meanwhile, at another part of the factory, craftsmen repair trouble spots on other rollers.","The work has to blend in perfectly.","The craftsmen do their jobs with a finesse that comes from natural skill and years of practice.","One false move, and the entire pattern could be ruined.","But the touch-ups are perfect, and these rollers are now ready for the production line.","The raw ingredients for the glass panels are stored in huge silos.","These ingredients all come from the earth-- sand, limestone, dolomite, soda ash, and salt cake.","Here's a sampling in a jar.","Conveyor belts feed a mixed batch of ingredients to a roaring furnace.","They add waste glass and recycle it into the process to reduce the effect on the environment.","Fired at 2,900 degrees fahrenheit, the ingredients melt quickly.","Now a molten mass, it circulates in a looped pathway.","An inspector checks the melting status of the glass ingredients, as well as the flow of gas fuel to fire the furnace.","This furnace is burning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is monitored constantly.","The hot, liquid glass now flows between two rollers, one of them engraved.","The rollers imprint designs onto the glass and squeeze it to its final thickness.","The glass rapidly solidifies, fixing the pattern in the ribbon of glass.","It then travels through a 65-foot-long temperature-control zone.","The glass ribbon is exposed to flames to relieve stresses caused by the manufacturing process.","This is called annealing.","The glass slowly cools as it leaves the zone.","This seals in strength and durability so it can now be cut cleanly without fracturing.","This cutter scores the glass lengthwise but doesn't cut it all the way through.","The scored line maps out the desired width of the glass.","Another cutter moves to and fro to create horizontal score lines.","These score lines establish the length of the patterned glass panels.","Then a roller pops up and breaks the glass along the horizontal score lines.","The sides of the glass now collide with little wheels known as bonkers, which snap the glass along the lateral score lines.","The waste glass falls down a chute to rollers that bust it to bits.","These bits are called cullet, and they'll be recycled into new glass.","A worker now backlights glass panels and examines their finish for flaws.","This solar glass panel has a matte finish.","Compared to the small sample of standard, clear glass, it's less reflective, allowing more of the sun's energy to be captured.","Minerals high in iron produce greenish glass that's light-absorbent.","For solar glass, they go easy on the iron to produce white glass that transmits light.","A carrier with suction cups stacks the glass for shipping.","Now all that's left is the window shopping.","Road cases are designed for the job of transporting sensitive equipment, like musical instruments and audio systems.","These wheeled trunks are tough on the outside, with cushy foam on the inside.","With road cases, the gear arrives intact and ready to rock 'n' roll.","Behind every superstar, there is plenty of this custom luggage.","Each case is designed for a particular piece of equipment, like an audio-mixing console.","The case is being made to measure.","They load the dimensions of the audio console into a computer and then design a virtual case around it using three-dimensional software.","Once a customer approves the computer blueprint, they're ready to build.","Workers roll adhesive onto thick birch plywood.","They coat the entire sheet.","The plywood is now ready to receive a thermoplastic outer skin.","They align the thermoplastic with the adhesive-coated plywood and lower it into place.","They feed the thermoplastic and plywood layers to rollers that squeeze out any bubbles for an airtight bond.","Then the heat from this hot press activates the adhesive, and it cures for an even better bond to the plywood.","The result is a laminated thermoplastic plywood sheet.","Next, a computer-guided router carves through the laminated sheet, following the design drawn up in cyberspace.","This produces the exterior panels, each one precisely sized for the audio-console case.","The router also cuts out holes for latches and other fittings.","A worker pieces together the panels to form the basic carcass of the case.","He tacks them together temporarily with a staple gun.","He'll join them permanently with extruded aluminum trim.","He preps the aluminum edging by punching rivet holes in it at strategic locations.","He also cuts notches for bending it around corners.","He's now ready to install the aluminum trim.","He can actually bend the corners by hand for a perfect fit.","The edging gives the case a tailored look, and once riveted to the panels, it will hold it together.","He drills through the holes in the trim to make corresponding holes in the laminated plywood.","He inserts rivets into the holes.","These rivets have mandrels attached to them.","He drives those mandrels through the rivets, causing them to expand around the drilled holes and secure the trim to the trunk.","With the job done, the mandrel breaks off and is disposed of.","With the case now held together by the metal trim, he rivets the latch to it, and then it's on to the inner framework.","The plywood parts have also been cut with computerized precision designed to hold the audio console.","He reinforces a piece called a cheek with a thick block of wood.","This cheek is one of the two that will cradle the audio console.","He bulks up the wide end with plywood copies of the cheek's contoured profile, gluing them and nailing them to the main part so this reinforcement job holds.","He spray-paints the cheek substructure black, giving it a durable, textured finish.","He fits the cheeks in the case, one on each side, and bolts them into position.","Another worker hot-glues blocks of foam, each specifically cut to fit together like pieces of a puzzle as he installs them in the case.","All this padding will cushion the impact of any bumps on the road or backstage jostling.","He even covers the top of a plywood drawer made for a keyboard.","They slide the audio-mixing console into the case to try it for size.","From start to finish, it's taken about three hours to make this road case.","It should last for as long as the audio equipment does, but it all depends on how rough it gets on the road.","Many animated films and tv shows use stop-frame animation.","The characters are three-dimensional puppets with movable facial and body parts.","The animator moves the puppet ever so slightly for each frame of film or video.","When you view the frames at regular speed, the puppet appears to be moving.","Timmy  it's timmy  he's the little lamb...","Bringing a make-believe world to life through stop-frame animation takes a large and talented team, which includes writers, directors, animators, set and prop makers, camera crews, and, of course, puppet makers, who create, maintain, and repair the puppets.","To see how stop-frame animation works, let's rewind this scene, which stars timmy and features a red balloon.","The director takes the writer's script and breaks down each scene of the episode into a series of shots.","This shooting script then goes to the storyboard artist, who draws each shot of the scene on a digital storyboard tablet.","For each scene, the director prepares a set plan detailing the background elements, the puppet placement, and the camera angles.","The storyboard artist sends his drawings to the editor, who works with the director to edit them into an animatic, a still-drawing version of the episode.","actors, meanwhile, have recorded the dialogue in a sound studio.","Now the editor cuts that dialogue into the animatic.","The visuals in this soundtrack must be perfectly synchronized, because the animators will use the animatic as a frame-by-frame guide for moving the puppets' bodies and lips.","Baa!","Ooh!","[ squealing] baa!","Baa!","The show's animators refer to a large schedule board to see which scenes they've been assigned to animate.","A printout of the animatic shows all the episode shots at a glance.","In the art department, construction of the episode's costumes and props is well underway.","To make a few red balloons, for example, the prop makers sculpt one out of molding material and use it to produce a hard, silicone mold.","Then they pour a thick-setting resin into the mold cavity.","After the resin has hardened overnight, they open up the mold and extract the casting.","They drill a hole in the bottom...","Dab some glue inside...","Then insert a small, triangular peg, also made of quick-setting resin.","This forms the tied balloon end of the balloon.","Now a coat of gray primer.","Then, once it dries, red paint.","When the paint dries, they drill another tiny hole at the base of the balloon and insert a strand of flexible copper wire wrapped in cotton thread.","This is the balloon string.","The team of animators shoot several scenes concurrently.","Therefore, in the puppet department, model makers produce multiple puppets for each character, plus lots of extra body parts.","Certain puppet body parts, such as hands and wings, are made of silicone with a wire skeleton within.","After forming the wire to shape and applying a base coat of silicone, the puppet maker lays it in a two-part mold, then fills both cavities with silicone.","She closes the mold...","Clamps it tightly shut, and leaves the silicone to set overnight.","The flexible, wire skeleton at the core enables the animator to position a hand or wing various ways.","In stop-frame animation, the more movable the puppet and its facial features, the more lifelike the animated character appears.","The animator moves the puppet incrementally for each frame they shoot, and 25 such frames produce just one second of animation.","Timmy's torso is a polyurethane-foam core dressed in a wool coat.","It has channels for interchangeable wires that support his head and arms.","His head is made of resin, his arm silicone over a wire skeleton.","Timmy and his friends' faces can express a wide range of emotions thanks to interchangeable mouths, flexible ears and blinks, an assortment of exchangeable eyelids conveying expressions from wide-eyed to cockeyed.","These facial features attach either magnetically or with tacky wax--  a flexible, quick-release glue.","The puppet-maintenance team packs each character and its parts in a travel box, then sends it to the animator on the studio floor.","During shooting, the animator changes the facial expressions as required.","While their work does indeed require great technical skill, the animators are actors who, under the director's guidance, perform through the puppets they bring to life.","The puppet's legs must be sturdy enough to support the weight of the upper body when the puppet is standing, so the leg skeleton is made of metal rods connected with ball-and-socket joints.","The feet are metal plates hinged to allow movement.","Just like the flexible, wire skeletons, this metal skeleton also goes into a mold to be encased in silicone.","The arms attach with square-section brass tubes so they can be easily interchanged with a few turns of an allen key.","Certain puppet movements require rigging.","A rig is a device that enables animators to raise the puppet off the floor of the set to perform jumping and skipping.","The animator can incrementally lift or lower the rig to any height and lock it there.","There are many preparations before shooting begins, such as lighting, puppet positioning...","And set dressing.","Using the animatic playing on a monitor as a reference, the director and camera operator frame the shot.","Meanwhile, the set dressers prepare the next set, gathering whatever scenic objects they need from the set-dressing kit.","To create these objects, artists first sculpt the shapes out of modeling material.","They create a mold from which they produce copies in fiberglass or quick-setting resin.","Then they paint the copies.","With the set dressed and approved, the animator can begin.","With great care referring to the animatic, he positions the rigged puppet.","Then, with the push of a button, he shoots a frame, or, in animation lingo, grabs the frame.","Next, he moves the puppet incrementally and makes slight changes to body positioning...","And grabs another frame.","25 consecutive frames equal one second of animation.","The animator's art is knowing how and by how much to move the puppet to create lifelike movement.","To get special close-up facial shots that they'll later intercut with the full-body sequence, they sometimes set the puppet on a rig positioned directly in front of the camera.","Once they've shot the animation, they take what's called a plate-- a shot of the set with puppets, props, and rigs removed.","They send the plate digitally to the editing suite, where the editor uses the visuals to cover up the rig, essentially erasing it from view.","This process is called compositing-- a little bit of behind-the-scenes artistry to create a whole lot of onscreen magic.","baa!","Ooh!"]}
{"meta":{"things":["Handcuffs","Caulking Compound","Propane Tanks","Forensics"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Handcuffs...","Caulking and joint compound...","Propane tanks...","And forensic facial reconstruction.","When a crime is committed, a slap on the wrist usually isn't enough.","It's time to handcuff them.","The need for some restraint goes back centuries, but the handcuff's design was really improved in 1862 when adjustable ratchets were added.","They allow the cuffs to snugly grip the suspect's wrist.","When they put the handcuffs on you, you know you may be in trouble.","Handcuffs start with a roll of steel.","A machine pulls it through a straightener and then through a die that punches out a handcuff frame part.","A revolving barrel cage sifts out the waste and kicks the frames into a bin.","Here, a worker stacks \"u\"-shaped steel parts on a fixture, which he then clamps onto a machine.","A cutter makes ratchet teeth in the parts.","Coolant keeps the tool from heating up and getting too soft to do the job.","Each set of handcuffs will have two of these ratchets.","Next, they load steel rods into a slowly revolving device.","It moves the rods through a series of cutters.","This is how they make swivels for the handcuffs.","They round the tips of the rods and then carve necks below.","This tool slices the swivel to the proper length.","And then the partially finished swivel falls into a basket.","Next, a drill works on the rounded tip, scooping out the center.","And now you have a finished swivel.","They take two chain links and two swivels.","They make a small chain-- two links with swivels on the ends.","They lock the links and the swivels together.","And now the swivel-link assembly is complete.","The swivels will provide some rotational freedom between the cuffs.","But if they don't weld the links together, the prisoner could have total freedom.","It's time to assemble the handcuffs.","They install studs in the outer framework and attach the ratchets to them.","The swivel link fits into the little grooves in the framework.","They hammer the inner frame on and then lift the top and bottom assemblies together.","A tap with a hammer holds them loosely together.","Then a press bears down to make a tight seal.","These cuffs look complete, but they aren't quite ready for a life of crime.","They need to be toughened up.","So they spend 25 minutes in a furnace, and the searing heat hardens the seal.","This is the pawl, a spring-loaded bar that will engage the teeth of the ratchet.","They lock the pawl and spring in place.","A press pushes pins into the assembly to hold everything in position.","Then they stamp serial numbers onto each set of handcuffs so that the police can keep track of them.","Now the handcuffs shake in a vibrating bin full of stones.","This polishes the rough edges.","It's time for the ultimate test.","They activate a 500-pound pull, and the handcuffs remain strong.","They also tap each set to make sure the ratchets drop freely.","Handcuffs are temporary restraints, and most can be opened with the universal key.","They pack two with each set, along with the instructions.","There's no doubt they'll have a captive market because there's always someone who needs to be locked up.","But then again, there are also those who deserve their freedom.","The need to seal windows and cracks in walls and floors has been around since antiquity.","Lucky for us, we no longer have to stuff rags or smelly fish glue into these crevices.","Today's caulking and drywall compounds form durable synthetic seals that also blend into the decor.","This company's caulking comes in two types, latex and acrylic, both good for indoor and outdoor use.","To make acrylic caulking, they blend water with chemicals that prevent mold and help the caulking withstand cold weather.","Everything blends for about one minute.","The batch then goes into another mixer containing 1,500 pounds of synthetic resin.","They add a plasticizer that keeps the caulking flexible over time.","A combination of colorants tints the caulking-- in this case, a shade of brown called sandalwood.","After 15 minutes of blending, the caulking is ready.","To test the batch, they cure a sample at 77 degrees fahrenheit for one week...","Then check its flexibility.","If the batch gets the okay, it goes into this machine, which lines up plastic caulking tubes.","Piston pumps lift four tubes at a time, and the nozzles fill each tube with 10 ounces of caulking.","The machine can fill up to 1,000 tubes per hour.","The machine then seals the bottom end of the tubes with plastic covers.","The top ends have closed nozzles with replaceable caps.","Thanks to the resins and plasticizers, this company's products last up to 30 years.","That's the tough side of caulking, but there's also a gentler, craftier side.","Start by drawing a pattern on a piece of paper.","Then lay glass on top and run caulking along the pattern.","After 48 hours, the caulking hardens into a delicate lattice.","Then fill in the spaces with clear silicone for a frosted look.","Use a small steel brush and rubber gloves to spread it and create texture.","Perfect for a door or a bathroom window.","This factory also makes joint compound.","Use this product to cover cracks, holes, and seams in drywall.","To make it, they mix 185 gallons of water with chemicals that prevent mold and a type of clay that makes the compound more spreadable.","Now for the main ingredient--  440 pounds of chalk.","It's what remains on the wall when the compound dries.","Next, they add mica, a mineral whose tiny plates slide over each other to make the compound flexible and help prevent cracking.","They test the thickness with a device that gauges how much pressure it takes to stir the compound.","Next, they take a sample from every batch and measure the ph level.","It should have a reading of 8.8, quite high because of the chalk.","This is what's called a sandability test.","Technicians first let a precise amount of compound harden on a piece of drywall.","This machine then sands it down, applying 100 strokes in 2 minutes.","Technicians then remeasure the combined weight of the compound and drywall, registering how much has been lost.","Maximum weight loss should be 4%.","If the batch passes the test, they feed it into this machine.","It pumps compound into either small-size, 6.6-pound or large-size, 15.5-pound plastic buckets.","Then using a hydraulic press, a worker seals the containers with plastic covers.","To open the bucket, you break a small plastic tab and lift off the cover.","Joint compound also has its crafty uses.","With a stencil, you can apply small amounts in intricate patterns to decorate a picture frame or a mirror.","Now, that is some fancy filler.","Compressing propane allows you to sell it by the bottle.","When you compress it, propane gas turns into a liquid, and as a liquid, it's much more compact, which means you can pack a lot of energy into a small container.","Opening the valve converts it back to gas, giving you energy that you can put to good use.","Bottling energy means you can always have fuel on hand.","To make these tanks, they start with this big coil of steel.","A press punches out 3 disks 19 inches in diameter with each swoop.","A second press clamps the disk as a cylinder-shaped die thrusts upward, transforming it into a shell.","Each shell is 1/2 of a barbecue tank.","Next, suctioning devices carry the tank shells over to a trimmer, where a blade gives it a neat edge.","Workers then insert flanges into prepunched holes in the top shells.","The top and bottom halves of the barbecue tanks now move in separate directions.","The tops head into an automated welding station where the flanges are fused to them.","The weld has to be perfect so it can take the pressure of compressed fuel without exploding.","This die simultaneously bends steel strips into rings and punches holes in them.","These rings will be used as pedestals, and the holes can be used to mount the tank to a barbecue.","Next, a machine welds the rings to the bottoms of the tank shells.","The top and bottom tank shells converge.","And a pusher device nudges the tops onto the bottoms.","They load each freshly assembled tank onto a welding lathe.","The lathe turns as an automated welding gun follows the seam precisely, melting and bonding the two pieces together.","But this processing has hardened the steel...","Not a good thing because these tanks will need to expand and contract to accommodate pressurized fuel.","So they temper the tanks in a furnace.","They do random tests of the welded seam.","They cut out a piece of the tank and grind it on both sides to expose the weld.","Then they use a jack to bend the sample right at the seam.","It doesn't split and passes the test.","In another test, they lower a tank into a water-filled drum.","They pump water into the tank, causing pressure inside the drum to rise, proving the tank will indeed expand with pressure changes.","The tanks then travel down a row of paint guns, which spray them with electrostatically charged powder paint.","The tanks journey about a half mile to an inspection station.","Here, workers check for contaminants.","Then they drop valves into the flanged openings and place the barbecue cylinder in a special machine that screws the valve on very tightly.","In one final test, they submerge air-filled tanks in water.","If the water doesn't bubble up, it means the valve isn't leaking.","And after all that, these barbecue tanks should be able to take plenty of grilling.","When the usual ways of identifying human remains fail and the investigation stalls, police sometimes need a little image building, as in facial reconstruction.","Using the skull, they re-create the face of the deceased in hopes that it will jog someone's memory.","It's a high-tech way to solve a mystery.","To reconstruct a face, the specialist uses resin to make an exact replica of the unidentified man's cranium.","He attaches it to the rest of the skull cast.","And now he has an exact copy of the man's skull.","Next he measures rubber pegs to different lengths that are equivalent to the various thicknesses of facial skin.","The short one is placed on the forehead where the skin is thin.","Then he installs actual prosthetic eyes made of plastic.","Those are suction cups protruding from them now.","They help him to align the eyes.","He shines a light into them to confirm that they're looking straight ahead.","Next he cuts out muscle shapes from rolled clay.","This piece simulates the area around the mouth.","The man's muscles have left tension marks on his skull.","Those marks combined with the knowledge of facial anatomy help him decide where to build up muscle.","He makes the face expressionless because expressions are unique and impossible to extrapolate from a skull.","Next he sculpts muscle around the prosthetic eyes.","There are no clues about the actual shape of this man's eyes, so he gives them a generic look.","The skull does divulge the length and width of the nose as well as the location of the nostrils.","Now he builds up smiling muscles followed by fat and a salivary gland.","He uses different-colored clay so he can see them more clearly.","He maps out a location for the ears but doesn't yet attach them.","He shapes muscles in the neck, working from measurements and photos from the crime scene.","Next he gives the model skin.","As he applies this layer of clay, he uses the protruding pegs as thickness guides.","And after much sculpting, the model has come to life.","But he needs one more clay ear.","The skull offers some hints about the ears' size but not their shape, so he keeps that generic.","Now he sponges the clay to give it some texture so it looks more like real skin.","The artist snaps his picture with a digital camera and then downloads the image onto a computer.","Using photo-editing software, he transfers some hair to the shot of the clay model.","He knows from evidence on the scene that the man's hair was styled in dreadlocks and that he had a beard.","He borrows brows from another photo.","He paints in the brows with a stylus, which is a kind of computer mouse.","Using the same technique, he gives the image facial hair.","This digital artistry takes a couple of days, and the skull mold and clay model take 12 days to complete...","Time well spent because once the pictures and information are posted on police sites like this one, it may finally help them put a name to this face."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Stagecoaches","Road Reflectors","Fire Baked Pottery","Custom Motorcycle Tanks"]},"text":["Long before trains and buses, the stagecoach transported passengers and goods.","The coach would travel an established route in stages.","But over time, the word \"stage\" was used to describe the coach itself.","Drawn by two or four animals, it relied quite literally on horsepower.","Like a classic movie scene come alive, seeing a stagecoach in action is a throwback to a bygone era.","Even today, building a stagecoach, horse-drawn carriage, or covered wagon borrows techniques from a time when engineering and design were done by hand.","The creation of the stagecoach begins with drawings detailing both the look of the final product and its exact dimensions.","They start with construction of the stagecoach body.","A worker puts framing rails for the back wall into place using a mortise and a tenon joint.","The final panel slides into place, and another framing rail holds the end wall together.","The end wall is added to other pieces of the stagecoach body that have already been assembled.","The end wall has ribbing for added strength.","Although the floor is partially curved, passengers will sit or stand on the part that is flat.","The coach maker inserts the door pillars into the mortise with a few taps of a hammer.","He lowers the roof beam onto the top part of the door pillars and fastens it firmly into place.","Forging of stagecoach suspension components is done by hand.","The blacksmith begins stretching the heated bar of steel into a component called a jack.","He repeatedly heats and hammers the steel bar until it reaches the desired shape.","He hammers the tapered steel bar over an anvil to shape it into a curved hook.","Once the hook becomes an eye, he hammers a pin into it.","The blacksmith wraps the heated steel around the pin to form a snug joint.","The transformation is done without the help of presses or dies.","It's the blacksmith who essentially sculpts the metal bar into a piece that has both function and form.","The blacksmith positions the finished and cooled jack onto the undercarriage and attaches it firmly into place.","The assembly has to withstand the stresses of the leather suspension used to make the stagecoach ride more comfortable for passengers.","Using a clip, the blacksmith attaches the step used to climb into the stagecoach to the jack assembly.","He attaches a clevis to the jack assembly.","With four jacks in opposing corners, the leather suspension will rest in the clevises.","Now on to the stagecoach interior.","The trimmer inspects the hide of leather.","He positions patterns carefully, choosing leather cuts that match.","Then he'll cut the leather pieces with each pattern designated for a specific part of the stagecoach.","He places the newly upholstered cushion on the seat bench and buckles the retaining straps that hold it securely in place.","In the paint booth, this particular undercarriage is given coats of yellow and black stripes.","A worker coats the running gear and wheels with sealer to weatherproof the undercarriage.","Workers gently lower the newly painted and upholstered wagon onto the undercarriage.","They connect the two using mounting bolts.","They fix the name plate to the center of the rear axle.","To help protect passengers from the elements, this particular model comes with a roof.","Workers lower the roof posts into receiver eyes and make sure they're securely attached.","Next, a worker positions a brake pad against one of the rear wagon wheels.","He then tests the brake assembly.","The face of the brake pad can be wood, steel, or rubber, depending on the vocation of the wagon.","Now for a suspension test.","The process that began with raw lumber and steel ends up about 1,200 hours later with a stagecoach that's ready to hit the dusty trail.","Road reflectors originated in britain in the 1930s.","A cat's eyes reflected in headlights on a foggy night, alerting a driver to the fact that he was about to veer off the road, provided the flash of inspiration.","The driver went on to invent a mechanical version of the cat's eyes-- reflective road studs.","Today's reflective road studs are shining examples of innovation.","These versions are computerized and solar-powered, so they're energy efficient and they'll function in a power blackout.","It takes more than 20 parts to make one road reflector.","The assembler first solders two wires to the back of a solar circuitry board, establishing a connection.","She flips the solar circuitry board around and applies double-sided tape.","She places two strips of copper on conductive pads in the corners above the tape.","She removes the backing from the double-sided tape.","Using a vacuum tool, she transfers the solar cell to the tape.","Once in place, she turns off the vacuum and smoothes the cell to the tape.","She solders the copper strips to the conductive pads, creating the circuitry.","She connects the solar panel to the board with short, little wires called jumpers.","She slides rubber protectors onto the board.","Each road reflector will have two of these solar units.","Next, she assembles the flashing l.e.d. lights.","She solders wires to the back panels to link the lights to the main computer board.","She then applies adhesive to the panel and presses the framework for the l.e.d. lens to it.","She inserts the polycarbonate lens into the framework, and it clicks in.","There are two l.e.d. lights per road reflector.","She now assembles the reflector.","She angles shiny aluminum flaps to bounce light.","She tucks the lights into the reflector, and they adhere to the double-sided tape applied to the base.","She powers up the flashing lights and checks the intensity and the effect of the reflective flaps.","Things are looking good, so now she inserts foam in a slot at the center of the aluminum casing.","She places the reflective light unit on it.","She installs a foam-wrapped rechargeable battery in a compartment on one side of the lights.","She places the main computer board and solar cells in the compartment on the other side.","And then a computer technician programs the road reflector to interface with a control system on the street pole.","The reflector is now ready to stop traffic or at least slow it down.","A crew carves a slot in the road sized precisely for the reflector.","To keep the pavement clean during installation, one of them tapes the perimeter of the hole.","He then pumps industrial-strength epoxy into it.","He inserts a cast-iron framework into the epoxy-filled hole.","He wipes up the epoxy overflow and removes the tape.","Entrenched in the pavement, this cast-iron framework will encase the road reflector, allowing it to hold up to heavy traffic.","He screws a protective crossbar over the lights and then secures the road reflector to the support structure.","They install the wireless communication system atop a pole.","This positions it to activate the road reflectors when the curbside crosswalk button has been pressed.","Modern communications technology has improved on this 1930s invention.","Today's road reflector systems are flashier than ever, designed to attract a driver's attention and keep it on the road.","In tribal communities in the american southwest, pottery takes shape much as it has for 2,000 years.","In the hands of native artisans, mud becomes a cooking pot or a storage vessel.","No pottery wheel necessary, no kiln required-- just a roaring campfire.","Times may change, but in the southwest, tribal culture is true to its roots, creating pots that look like ancient artifacts, except they're new.","Crafted from local clay, the pots are both lightweight and durable, and their appeal is truly timeless.","The potter gathers her own clay.","This is micaceous clay from volcanic deposits in new mexico.","She also mines minerals like iron oxide to paint the pottery.","In its raw form, micaceous clay sparkles in the sunlight.","Its natural glitter will make the finished pottery shimmer.","She picks out leaves and tree roots because anything organic will outgas and cause the pottery to crack.","She transfers the clay to a bucket of water.","After three or four days, it dissolves, and she filters it to remove smaller contaminants.","Once the clay thickens to a gravy-like consistency, she transfers it to a fabric-lined mold.","She leaves it to set and coagulate to a dough-like consistency.","She kneads a chunk of it to remove air bubbles.","She then shapes it into a bowl.","It will serve as the base of a traditional storage pot.","She scrapes the pot base inside and out to thin it as it dries.","The thinning process also works the clay into a harder state.","She moistens the tip of the bowl to make it malleable and flattens the edge, creating a foundation to build up the pot.","She now rolls another piece of clay into a long, thin strand and coils it around the pot.","She blends the strand into the pot base and then shapes it to extend the pot upward.","The process is called coiling.","She continues to build up the coils, blending them until they become completely enmeshed and seamless to the rest of the pot.","As she coils and blends, she turns the pot inward, creating a shoulder near the top.","She smoothes the lip and thins the extensions to ensure the thickness is consistent.","This will prevent structural weakness.","In the hands a skilled artisan, a lump of clay has become a pot, but there's more work to be done.","She narrows the opening.","She cuts the lip in six symbolic orientations, representing north, south, east, and west, the sky, and the earth.","She scallops the edge in the direction of the cuts to accentuate them.","She smoothes the pot with a wet sponge.","Before dawn, when the wind is low, she lights a fire and places the pots directly into it.","She stacks wood around the pots, and flames engulf them.","This changes the clay's molecular structure so that it can never turn back into sticky mud.","She covers the fire with a metal tub.","The flames subside, and the pots cool.","Curing clay over an open fire isn't an exact science.","Heat is uneven, and this causes fracturing.","20% of these clay pots will be damaged.","She examines them carefully and rejects anything that is not intact.","In addition to the micaceous clay pots, she also fires some red clay ones.","She paints geometric motifs onto those, using the mineral paints she's prepared herself.","Each pot is one of a kind.","Quality varies depending on the nature of the clay and smoke patterns created during firing.","She leaves the pots made of micaceous clay unpainted for traditional reasons.","She signs the vase and includes the name of her tribe.","She tucks her biographical information into it.","She's been making pottery since childhood.","From a handful of mud to a storage vessel or cooking pot, southwest native pottery continues to be a triumph of ingenuity.","As a group, motorcycle riders aren't big on convention.","So when it comes to the look of their ride, they often go their own way.","The gas tank presents the greatest opportunity when customizing the facade of the bike.","Prominent and up-front, the tank both fuels the ride and defines it.","On a car or truck, the gas tank is tucked away out of sight.","But on a motorbike, there's no place to hide it, so you may as well just show it off.","To make a custom gas tank, the metalworker starts with a sheet of sturdy cold-rolled steel.","He traces around paper patterns to transfer their outline to the steel.","There are seven pattern pieces.","The design is a tapered classic one.","He follows the lines with an electric metal shear.","With it, he can produce a rough cut quickly.","He switches to a lever-operated shear to trim the parts cleanly and precisely.","He physically bends one piece around a tube to create the tunnel.","The tunnel is the lower section of the tank that fits around the backbone portion of the bike frame.","He cuts the tunnel to size along marked lines.","He drills holes in the tunnel for the mounting tubes.","Using threaded bolts as guides now, he positions the two mounting tubes on the holes and welds them to the tunnel, creating leak-proof seams.","With rods attached as a mockup of the rest of the tank, he tests the fit to the bike.","He confirms the handlebars move freely and that there's no interference with the engine.","Next, he uses an english wheel on the two top panels.","He rolls each panel between two wheels to take the profile from flat to curved.","He tests the curvature against the mockup rods.","It needs tweaking.","He continues to shape it until the custom gas-tank part matches the mockup perfectly.","Using another machine now, he forms a stylish curl onto the edges.","This will also allow the two parts to be joined neatly at the peak.","After marking the location of the fuel cap, he punches small holes for mounting screws.","He cuts out the hole for the gas cap.","He joins the two top sections of the custom gas tank with tack welds.","A more permanent weld will come later.","He drills holes for mounting the top panel assembly to the tunnel, spacing them to correspond with the mounting tubes.","With the mockup rods removed from the tunnel, he joins the top panel assembly to it.","He then tack-welds the sides to this custom gas-tank assembly.","He hammers the tank's front cap against a form to give the outer edges a rounded profile.","He sands the part around the edges to fine-tune the contours and ensure a perfect fit.","He tack-welds the front cap to the rest of the motorcycle tank.","And with the tank structure complete, it's time to make it leak-proof.","He does a full penetration weld on every seam.","Using a pneumatic tool, he sands the seam smooth and flat.","He then sands the rest of the tank by hand to make the entire surface uniform.","He positions the tank on the bike.","After equipping the gas cap with a gasket, he screws it tightly to the custom tank.","Using mounting screws and wing nuts, he secures the tank to the bike frame.","This custom gas tank now becomes a canvas.","He paints it and applies silver borders and graphics requested by the customer.","He connects the tank to the carburetor, and this bike is ready to show off its new custom look."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Manhole Covers","Range Hoods","Artificial Logs","Snowmobiles"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Manhole covers....","Range hoods...","Artificial logs...","And snowmobiles.","Manhole covers are those metal lids on maintenance holes and roadways.","Workers lift them to enter and repair sewers and other underground utilities.","Foundries make the covers out of heavy-duty cast iron so they last for decades and don't budge under passing traffic.","This company makes hundreds of models of manhole covers and collars, the rims upon which the covers sit.","They come in two types of cast-iron alloy-- either ductile iron, which has magnesium to reinforce it, or gray iron, which is heavier but just as strong.","To make a cover, they first have to make a mold.","This one's got the design of the cover's top side carved into it.","Workers pour in about 650 pounds of sand mixed with glue and a hardener.","For the underset of the cover, they repeat the step in another mold.","A worker creates a channel in the sand mold through which they'll pour the molten metal.","He plugs the hole with a wooden block to preserve the cavity beneath.","He removes the block and briefly reinserts the pipe to ensure the cavity hasn't caved in.","It takes about 15 minutes for the sand mix to harden.","A machine then inverts each box and vibrates to shake out the mold.","To make one manhole cover, workers will join molds of the top and bottom sections.","Alignment lugs and glue between the sections help them align properly and form an airtight seal so molten metal won't leak out.","Next, the machine flips the bottom mold, moves the top mold into position below, then mates the pair.","The factory buys scrap metal from demolition sites and also recycles its own.","It'll melt these metals with certain minerals to enhance the mix.","Graphite to make it malleable, silicon to make it stronger, and magnesium to make this batch of ductile iron lightweight yet strong.","Here, a giant magnet picks up chunks of recycled iron and steel.","The metal is preheated to 780 degrees fahrenheit then transferred to a furnace.","There, at 2,700 degrees fahrenheit, it takes about a half hour to melt enough metal to make 35 covers.","Workers then transfer the molten metal to a cauldron and add more silicon.","This evens out the consistency so it's easier to pour.","Besides the channel for pouring in the metal, some larger molds have vent holes to evacuate burning gasses.","It takes about an hour and a half for the metal to harden.","A conveyor then drops the molds into a container and breaks them open.","Using a hook, they pick up the casting.","This one's a collar weighing about 220 pounds.","They knock off the remaining bits of sand and excess bits of metal that formed during the casting.","These scraps get recycled into a new batch of iron.","Manhole covers vary in size according to the specifications ordered.","Most are roughly the diameter of a car tire.","The average weight is about 140 pounds.","A worker now smoothes out the edges of the collar, and then the perimeter of the cover.","This way, it will sit flush on the collar.","This machine tests the strength of the cover by applying pressure.","It must withstand the weight of a car on every one-inch area.","They paint the covers and collars by dipping them in a bath of black tar.","Once dry, the pieces have a rust-resistant finish that lasts for decades.","And the buyers expect them to last, because a manhole cover and collar cost up to $1,400.","People have cooked on stovetops for centuries, but it wasn't until about 1800 that metal stoves with flues vented steam and smoke outdoors.","Today, factories make encased fans that powerfully ventilate and also light the stovetop.","A stovetop is often called a \"range,\" hence the name \"range hoods\".","No matter how well you cook, steam and smoke are inevitable.","Fortunately, the range hood's fan, called the blower, clears the air in seconds.","Production begins with this computer-guided machine.","It cuts out a sheet of galvanized steel to make part of the hood's housing.","A 300-ton press then perforates the sheet and cuts out up to 50 openings for screws, wiring, and exhaust outlets.","A worker inserts another panel for the housing in a 25-ton press.","The machine bends the steel in two places.","They'll use this component to make a circular channel that evacuates smoke and steam that often contain grease particles.","To curl the panel, the worker uses another machine with three rollers.","It forms the circular channel that fits around the blower to direct air through the exhaust.","Here a spot-welding machine joins two corners of the hood's housing.","This is mainly for aesthetics.","A weld looks better than a screw or bolt.","This 80-ton press bends the hood's shell, making one of 80 folds that give the component its final shape.","Now a worker removes the plastic coating that protected the steel during the cutting.","He applies a sticker with a product i.d. code.","Then a pad printing machine marks the brand name, 1 of 12 this factory produces.","This is the first of eight stops on an assembly line.","A worker installs a transformer to power the blower's motor and two halogen lights.","This circuit board regulates several functions, including three light intensities and the blower's four-speed motor.","She attaches the board to the housing with three screws.","This panel has lights that indicate what functions are on.","Next, the worker installs the blower's 165-watt electric motor.","The motor attaches with three screws into rubber bushings that reduce noise...","Then, light sockets made of heat-resistant plastic.","The blower's housing snaps into place around the motor.","A little silicone on the housing ensures an airtight seal around the blower.","Then she installs the blower wheel.","Next, she plugs the lights in to test them.","You press this button three times to make the lights increasingly bright.","There's one button for each of the motor's speeds.","After snapping a panel on to enclose the hood assembly, a worker attaches a plastic ring to direct air through the blower.","A computer system tracks each model's assembly.","When workers complete a step, they input it into the system.","An optical scanner also senses when they remove a part from 1 of 25 cubbies, like these removable air filters made of mesh aluminum.","The tracking system's called \"polka yoke,\" a japanese-inspired method that insures thorough assembly.","It follows each model until workers place it in a box for shipping.","The system's final task is to ensure that they put in the mail-in guarantee card and the installation manual.","If workers forget anything, the system reminds them with a loud buzzer.","Once they staple the box closed, a machine with suction cups picks it up and stacks it 10 boxes per pallet.","All this work so you can stay in the kitchen even if you can't stand the heat.","In the mood to light a cozy fire in your wood stove or fireplace?","No need to put on your coat and boots and trudge through the snow to the outdoor wood pile.","Nowadays you can buy a box of manmade logs.","A lot less hassle for you, fewer trees die, and the environmentally friendly brands pollute less and are safer for your chimney.","These artificial logs are made entirely of compressed sawdust.","Their moisture content is less than 9%, compared to 30% in real firewood.","The compression and dryness combine to make these manmade logs easier to light than real ones.","They don't throw sparks while burning, and they produce 300% more heat than real firewood.","The high temperature burns up the gasses better, so the logs emit up to 50% fewer pollutants, and they produce fewer ashes and far less creosote, a highly flammable tar that's a natural byproduct of wood burning.","Creosote buildup in a flu can cause a chimney fire.","The sawdust comes from pure, natural hardwood, mostly oak and maple.","The log company buys it from factories that make hardwood flooring.","So from the start, these logs are ecological because they're made of recycled waste.","The sawdust is clean, and the log factory doesn't add chemicals, so it's safe to cook over the fire.","The sawdust moisture content is so low because the wood it came from was already dried in huge ovens to make the flooring.","The sawdust arrives in different consistencies, so the first step is to put it through a grinder to make the particles uniform in size.","The next step is the key one--  compression.","At a rate of 5,500 pounds per hour, an air-blowing system moves the sawdust from the grinder directly into a compression machine.","The machine is a giant cylinder with a piston that moves inside.","The piston compresses the sawdust using extreme high pressure--  6,000 pounds per square inch.","The result is a 40-foot-long compressed sawdust log.","Unlike some other brands of artificial logs, this one contains no binding agents which can pollute the air.","So how does the sawdust stick together, then?","The secret is the high compression.","The intense heat it creates bonds the natural resins in the sawdust.","As the log exits the compression machine, a cutter shapes a flat edge.","This is a safety feature.","With a flat edge on the bottom, the logs are easier to stack in the recommended three-log configuration, and they don't roll out of position.","Now, a guillotine chops the 40-foot log into 40 smaller logs, each 1 foot long.","A separator pulls them apart.","The company also produces a 10-inch log.","The logs drop onto a conveyor belt that leads to the packaging area.","The factory boxes its logs with instructions and two fire starters.","The starters are made of sawdust and candle wax, more effective than using newspaper to get the fire going.","This competitor's artificial log breaks easily because it isn't as dense.","This company's log, on the other hand, is more solid because it's so tightly compressed.","That high density translates into more burning time.","Three logs will keep your fireplace alight for about three hours.","For centuries, inventors tackled this challenge with determination and frustration.","The first snow machines trudged through winters awkwardly and slowly.","But by the late 1950s, new technologies and materials emerged to make snowmobiles that could blaze through the snow with increasing ease and comfort.","Snowmobilers often face rugged terrain.","Snowmobiles need a rock-solid build to keep the rider safe and comfortable.","It all begins with an aluminum-alloy frame.","The pieces arrive partly assembled to the radiator.","The robot spins and positions the frame.","A computer-guided frame-rivet machine punches holes and inserts rivets directly into the frame with great precision.","This process bonds the parts tightly so they can't vibrate.","Next comes the rear suspension, aimed at making the ride as smooth as possible.","Inserting this plastic slide onto the runner minimizes friction between the track and the suspension.","A conveyor belt carries the suspension system through several stations.","Wheels and sprockets will turn the track that grips the snow.","The suspension kit with springs and coils goes directly into the runners.","Along with these shock absorbers, the suspension will fit snugly into the snowmobile's frame.","Workers tighten everything manually for now.","Later, a machine will tighten things even more.","Assembling the transmission system starts with this countershaft.","First, they install a high-performance brake disc made of forged steel.","The chain case fits snugly on top thanks to the ridges on this ring.","This die-cast aluminum casing will house two gears and a chain.","This bolt connects to a spring that keeps the gears and chain tight as they turn.","The chain-tightener must slide smoothly back and forth in its groove to keep the chain's tension even.","This test checks that the spring expands and compresses properly.","Now comes the oil gauge.","It's essential that oil lubricate the parts thoroughly because the motor will generate a lot of friction.","The transmission fits on top of the frame.","These coils, springs, runners, and wheels fit easily into the rubber track.","The rear suspension system connects to the track system while this white plastic sprocket connects the track to the transmission.","The speed sensor attaches directly to the sprocket.","Four high-grade steel bolts anchor the rear suspension system to the frame.","They're so strong that the suspension can withstand the vibrations that come with high speeds.","Now for the engine assembly.","Bolts attach the electric starter directly to the engine.","The fuel-injected engine generates a lot of heat-- up to 1,300 degrees fahrenheit.","This shield has layers of insulating wool that act as a heat barrier to protect the driver from scorching-hot exhaust.","The engine's made of cast aluminum so it's relatively light--  just 100 pounds-- and it propels the snowmobile up to 120 miles an hour.","Now for the front of the snowmobile.","This front suspension system requires a different assembly from the rear one.","A hoist brings it all together.","The gas tank is made of lightweight molded plastic rather than metal.","The throttle controls the speed just like a gas pedal in a car.","They install the throttle assembly, and a few more functional details.","These lightweight, aerodynamic plastic side panels give this snowmobile a sleek look.","And now, the final step.","The zero-gravity hoist lifts it all onto a skid.","Polystyrene sheets protect the snowmobile during transport to the retailer.","From start to finish, it's taken three hours to assemble this showroom-ready, snow-travelling machine."]}
{"meta":{"things":["DeLorean Restoration","Bison Fibre","Shuffleboard Tables","Friction Forged Knives"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","The delorean sports car was manufactured in northern ireland in the early 1980s.","With gull-wing doors and brushed stainless steel panels, the delorean was known for its flashy style.","Today, many of these cars are in rough shape, but a restoration can make a delorean look like new.","This delorean is a rare relic from the '80s.","Only 9,080 of these iconic cars were manufactured.","No longer operational, this delorean might have been destined for the junk yard.","But with professional restoration, this company has the spare parts to get it up and running.","The process starts with the diagnostics.","The technician examines the suspension, the steering rack, and brakes.","He finds significant deterioration and documents his findings.","He scrutinizes every part of the old delorean and produces an 11-page report on its condition.","Once all the problems have been identified, the mechanic gets to work, removing plugs to drain some of the coolant.","He disassembles many pipes and hoses that run coolant from the radiator to the rear engine.","Many of the coolant pipes will need to be cleaned in order to be re-used.","The rubber hoses can't be salvaged and will need replacement.","The mechanic disassembles the brakes.","The calipers are in bad shape but can be rebuilt.","The rusty rotors are still thick enough that they can be resurfaced.","After mounting new tires and refinishing the cast alloy wheels, another technician bolts them to the hubs.","He lowers the hoist and sets the car on the floor.","He tightens the lug nuts to the final torque setting.","A technician begins disassembling the rear drive engine.","In order to know what needs to be replaced, the technician must take the engine apart.","He removes the air filter box in order to access the intake manifold.","Then he unbolts the \"w\"-shaped manifold pipe that splits the air flow to the engine.","Once it's off, he removes the air-mixture control unit, which needs restored to work.","With the unit out of the way, he can easily get to other parts that need replacing or fixing.","Those include spark plugs, wires, vacuum lines, the distributor cap, and rotor.","Under the front hood, the mechanic pulls the fuel pump out of the gas tank to check for deterioration.","It's beyond repair.","He drains any fuel the remains in the tank.","After the gas tank has been emptied and cleaned, he inserts a new, modern-style pump module.","Another technician holds the top of the pump down as the module is clamped into place.","Next, the technician removes the interior door panels and uses a central tester to operate the power windows.","He confirms the power windows are functional.","He also checks the power locks and mirrors to verify that they're working properly.","He pulls off exterior rubber trim.","He shaves off any remaining rubber bits.","This allows room to repair a dent in the stainless steel body.","He files the area around the dent to remove some scratches.","He places a special tool over the dent.","It has a rod with a fine steel tip that welds to the body, providing a solid grip, as he manually pulls out the dent.","Meanwhile, another mechanic applies tape to various sections of the car to establish borders for the refinishing of the steel body panels.","He sands out any imperfections or tool marks from the repairs and restores the brushed finish bumper to bumper.","Since no paint can be used to cover up repairs on bare stainless steel, the body work must be done perfectly.","Inside, technicians reupholster the seats and treat any discoloration in the vinyl panels and dashboard.","Finally, the entire car gets an extensive exterior cleaning.","It's taken months to restore this delorean, but the question remains, will it run like a new car?","Once tested in various driving conditions, mechanics confirm that this 1980s throwback is ready for its comeback.","The bison is blessed with the perfect winter coat, and now bison fibers are helping people to endure the cold, too.","Processed with polyester strands, the fibers are made into insulation for winter coats, allowing people to hunker down in frigid winter temperatures.","These winter coats have been insulated with bison fiber fill.","It's a by-product of bison ranching and a garment insulation that's no longer going to waste.","Bison fiber fill is a combination of the animal's coarse guard hairs, bison down, recycled and low-melt polyester.","Technicians load the four fibers separately into spiked conveyors.","The fibers were compressed for shipping.","So as they're loaded, the fibers are loosened by hand.","Once loading is complete, an operator turns on the conveyors.","The conveyors' protruding pins snag the bison-and-polyester strands and transport them upward.","The strands travel under rotating spiked cylinders.","The cylinders comb the fibers to open them up and detangle them.","The four different fibers flow into scales, which weigh equal portions and are released.","The fibers drop onto a conveyor and move into a blender for mixing.","Another vertical conveyor with pins picks up the fibers and takes them upward, past revolving bars that knock off the excess.","This ensures an even mass, as the bison-and-polyester fibers move between a series of different wire-covered rollers.","This process arranges the fibers in a parallel orientation and gets rid of any clumps.","A comb further aligns the bison-and-polyester fibers.","The fibers cling together in a web.","The web transfers to a wooden slat conveyor.","A vacuum suctions up loose fibers to be recycled back into production.","An oscillating conveyor layers the fibers in a zigzag pattern called \"cross lapping\".","Cross lapping produces a substantial mat, and it also mixes the fibers.","Next, the web lands on another conveyor, passing between a series of rollers that compress it.","This process gives the mixed fibers the appropriate mass and height to produce a uniform batt.","A sprayer applies an adhesive to the bison-and-polyester insulation.","The adhesive doesn't take right away.","It will need to be heat-activated.","The insulation moves into a 300-degree oven, which triggers the activation.","The heat also activates the low-melt polyester strands in the insulation.","This bonds the interlaced fibers to prevent them from migrating through fabric when used as fill.","Next, the insulation heads downward into a shearing.","Like a pizza cutter, circular blades cut through the center of the insulation mat and trim along the edges.","Rollers wind the strips of bison fiber and polyester insulation together.","Using a paper cutter, an inspector cuts a sample to a specific size.","He weighs the sample and confirms that it's adequate for the size, verifying the density of the fiber mass.","Next, he measures the sample's thickness.","At about .","13 inches, the fiber fill will provide warmth without a lot of bulk.","The team slices the bison fiber fabric fill to its specified length using a hot wire.","Once the roll is complete, they start rolling the next one.","The bison fiber rolls are put in plastic bags for protection during transport to outside clothing factories.","Technicians weigh each bag separately.","After several hours, bison fibers and polyester strands have been transformed into moisture wicking insulation.","Stuffed inside a jacket liner, this bison fiber insulation won't be seen.","But on a winter day, its presence will definitely be felt.","Shuffleboard originated in british taverns in the 15th century.","Players would slide coins, called groats, down the bar, aiming for them to stop as close to the edge as possible without falling off.","It was so popular that king henry viii banned the game, saying it was too much of a distraction from work.","Centuries after shuffleboard was invented, this easy and entertaining game is making a comeback.","To make a shuffleboard table, a technician trims maple strips.","The strips vary in length, but they all have the same width and thickness.","Using a rolling wheel fused with glue, the technician applies adhesive to the strips.","These strips have grooves on one side and protrusions on the other so that they can interlock.","The glue will ensure the interlocked strips stay together.","After he assembles the strips, he counts them to confirm that he has the correct number for the playfield size.","He lowers a curing press, then clamps the strips together.","The press applies applies high-temperature heat to rapidly cure the glue joints.","The slabs are stored in racks for 30 days so that they acclimate to each other.","Once the process is complete, the slabs go into a planer.","The planer removes dried glue, smooths and levels the surface.","On the left is a slab before it went through the planer, and on the right is the one that's had the work done.","A technician applies adhesive-backed strips to mark the score zones and tapes the ends to prevent peeling.","He smooths down the number decals that will designate the scoring zones.","The company logo goes in the center.","Next, a coat of polymer varnish is applied to the board.","The varnish encases the decals, making them resistant to wear.","The parts of the cradle base are built with plywood.","A router cuts slots in the base for the playfield adjustment parts.","A technician joins two sections of the base and builds the cradle skirting.","He adds a piece in the center for extra support, links sideboards to the ends, and staples the corners together.","He turns the cradle over and screws the skirt to the base from the top, beginning at the corners and continuing along the entire border.","He uses rounded maple corners for the end frames to eliminate sharp angles.","He sprays a generous amount of glue on the outside of the frame.","This prepares it to receive a laminated composite material.","He coats the back of the laminate with glue...","And wraps the laminate around the end frame, which adds a different aesthetic.","Then he sands the rims so that it sits evenly on the base of the cradle.","He glues the end frame to the cradle...","Reinforces the glued seams with staples...","And joins the sides of the cradle to the end piece, which fit together perfectly.","Another technician sands the wood until it's silky smooth.","Then a stain is sprayed on the sides of the cradle and the skirting.","The stain enhances the grain of the maple and adds a depth of color.","He sprays on lacquer, which seals the stain and gives the wood a glossy finish.","He adds wooden inlays for visual interest.","Next, the cradle is sprayed with glue.","A technician applies the carpet to the glued areas.","The carpet will absorb the impact of pucks that fall off the board.","With the second end plate installed and the legs attached, the cradle is ready for the playfield to be mounted.","The playfield is so heavy, it takes two people to lower it into the cradle.","This shuffleboard table is now complete.","Even though it's taken three days to build, this shuffleboard is worth every bit of hard work.","The hallmark of a quality knife is a cutting edge that remains sharp despite repeated use over time.","One of the most advanced knife-making methods is friction forging-- a technique applied specifically to the knife's cutting edge to produce sharpness and durability.","Friction-forged blades are used primarily in hunting and fishing but also work just as well in the kitchen.","The blades are made of high-carbon steel.","A laser cutter slices out rectangular bars, each of which will yield two to five blades.","The bars are wrapped in foil and put in an oven at 1,850 degrees fahrenheit for several hours.","The heat hardens the steel.","The bars are removed from the oven and cooled.","Then they're put back in the oven and heated to 700 degrees fahrenheit for several more hours.","This second round of heat treating tempers the steel, drawing down its hardness to between 38 and 42 on the rockwell scale.","The bars are placed on a large electromagnet.","The magnet holds them securely, while the bars rotate under a grinding stone.","A steady flow of coolant prevents the heat the friction generates from changing the hardness of the steel.","The grinder removes carbon deposits caused by the heat treatment, along with any surface imperfections.","A craftsman uses a rockwell hardness tester to measure the bar's hardness.","The machine's needle bears down until it indents the steel.","A measurement of 41 is right on target and within the range of ultra-tough spring steel.","The bar is now ready to be friction forged.","The forging machine's specialized tool applies immense pressure, combined with rotational movement called \"stirring,\" to a specific area of the bar.","The stirring action creates friction, which plasticizes the steel, reducing its microscopic grain structures to levels no other forging or heat-treating method can achieve, 50 to 75 times smaller than that of the steel typically used in a high-quality knife.","The finer the grain size, the stronger the steel, the sharper and less brittle the blades the unforged zone becomes the blade's main body.","This area is the tough spring steel, with a rockwell hardness between 38 and 42.","The friction-forged zone becomes the blade's cutting edge-- 65 to 70 on the rockwell scale.","A computer-guided grinding machine shapes the blade.","This is what the blade looks like before grinding...","And after.","The blade is shotblasted with fine ceramic beads to remove all surface imperfections.","The forged zone is now clearly distinguishable.","A craftswoman assembles the knife's handle.","She places a stainless steel bolster over the blade and inserts two pins made of nickel silver.","She trims the pins, then flattens them with a hammer to lock in the bolster.","Here is the blade before...","And after this assembly.","A laser engraves the model and brand name in the unforged area.","The craftsman applies glue on both halves of the handles, then presses them together.","This model is made of desert ironwood held together with glue and brass nickel pins.","Once the glue dries, a craftswoman runs the handle against a sanding belt to shape the wood to the steel.","She polishes the wood to bring out the beauty of the grain.","Then the blade is hand-sharpened on a belt grinder.","First, the main cut.","Then the edge.","Which stays sharp 10 to 50 times longer than a traditionally heat-treated blade.","Finally, the knife is run through a test for edge sharpness.","If the reading indicates the sharpness of a razor blade, the friction-forged knife passes the test."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gel Caps","Playground Spring Riders","Frozen Pancakes","Natural Rubber"]},"text":["Liquid medication used to always come in a bottle, and you had to pour your dose with a steady hand into a spoon.","Today, many medications and supplements come inside small food-safe casings that are easy to swallow and portable-- soft gel capsules.","Many types of products come in gel capsules, from prescription drugs to health supplements such as fish oils.","Many of these medicine fills go bad if exposed to oxygen, so the gel cap, besides being convenient, also serves as a protective barrier.","Every ingredient in both the gel cap and the medicine fill inside undergoes extensive testing for purity.","The first test phase checks for bacterial contamination.","Lab technicians dissolve the ingredients in solution, apply it to a food source in a petri dish, then incubate the dish for 72 hours to encourage any existing bacteria to grow.","Then they draw samples and examine them under a microscope.","If those samples are bacteria-free, the ingredient moves on to the second phase of testing, which checks for contaminants such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium.","This machine, called a spectrometer, injects the ingredient solution into a plasma flame, then, by reading the changes in light wavelengths, analyzes the chemical composition.","If the ingredient is contaminant-free, it gets the go-ahead.","The gel cap is made entirely of natural ingredients-- gelatin derived from beef bones, palm oil glycerin, and purified water.","The proportions are top-secret.","An industrial blender combines the three ingredients to a uniform consistency, then heats the mixture to 175 degrees fahrenheit.","A vacuum sucks out the air bubbles as this now-ready gel material flows into a holding tank.","Simultaneously, they prepare the medicine fill-- in this case, vitamin d. they combine it with soybean oil to adjust the potency to the specified strength.","Meanwhile, they maintain the gel-cap material in the holding tank at 140 degrees fahrenheit to prevent it from prematurely solidifying.","Even the hose leaving that tank is wrapped in heater tape to keep the gel liquid.","A separate hose feeds the vitamin d solution from another holding tank down to the production floor, as well.","This hose doesn't require heating because vitamin d and soybean oil don't solidify when cool.","On the production line, two stations simultaneously spread a thin layer of molten gel across a cooling drum.","The gel hardens into a solid, yet malleable, sheet about the thickness of cardboard.","Each sheet passes over a rotating die with capsule-shaped cavities.","Just before the two gel sheets come together, pumps inject the required quantity of vitamin d solution into each cavity, the pressure pushing the gelatin into the cavity.","At the same time, the machine heats the gel sheets so that when they meet, they adhere to each other, forming full capsules with the vitamin d solution sealed inside.","In the final second, the die's sharp edges slice the gel caps free, and they fall to a conveyer belt below.","At this point, the filled gel caps contain a fair bit of moisture, so they're quite soft.","If they lay on a surface too long, they'd flatten, so the conveyer belt whisks them very quickly into a rotating drum, where they tumble in slightly cold, dry air for about three hours.","This removes enough moisture to make the gel caps hard enough to lie on a surface without flattening.","After exiting, the gel caps move into a second dryer, where, spread out on trays this time, they dry for about 36 hours.","After that, the gel caps are hard enough to be safely packaged.","The gel caps-- the ones being packaged here contain flax oil-- travel down a series of vibrating plates, which progressively line them up in single file.","As they pass by, electronic eyes count out the number of capsules per bottle, triggering the filling mechanism to collect that quantity and release it into an empty bottle.","The next station applies a plastic twist cap, then the bottles move onward, each one plowing directly into the center of an adhesive-backed label, which rollers then apply around he sides.","Before shipping, the quality-control lab tests random samples from the production batch to verify that the gel caps meet all specifications.","It's a playground staple-- a stationary ride-on cartoon animal that bounces up and down and rocks back and forth, courtesy of a huge spring underneath secured into the ground.","The bouncy coil base is what gives this type of playground equipment its name-- a spring rider.","The spring rider is a playground favorite.","To withstand years of rambunctious riders, it has to be solid and durable, yet for a toddler to be able to rock back and forth, it can't be too heavy.","That's why the spring is made of thick steel, and the animal of lightweight aluminum.","That sand core is comprised of two halves, each made with an aluminum mold-- duck-shaped in this case.","Workers fill it with sand and adhesive mix that sets into a solid block.","They insert several steel support rods, fill to the top, and even out the surface, then expose two hooks they'll later grab to extract the core half once the sand hardens in about 20 minutes.","Meanwhile, other workers use an aluminum pattern to make each half of the duck casting mold.","After applying a powder release agent to prevent sticking, they cover the pattern with a sieved mixture of sand and clay.","They mount a frame around the pattern to contain the sand, as they add more and more, repeatedly packing it down in all areas with a pneumatic ramming tool.","Then they remove the frame and cover the sand with a wooden board.","This provides a hard surface for the press, which now applies the weight of about four mid-sized s.u.v.s.","Then they flip over the mold and remove the pattern which formed the mold cavity.","The sand is now so firmly compacted that it holds the shape.","One half of the sand mold has channels through which the molten metal will flow into the cavity.","Workers now position several quarter-inch-thick foam spacers in the cavity and place half of the core on top of them.","The spacers elevate the core, creating a quarter-inch cavity between core and mold.","The other half of the core goes on top.","After placing spacers on top of that to create a quarter-inch gap on this side, as well, they carefully lower the other half of the sand mold.","Now they're ready to cast the duck.","The melting point of aluminum is just over 1,090 degrees fahrenheit.","However, they heat much higher, to 1,400 degrees, so it'll flow faster and fill the entire cavity before beginning to solidify.","They pour the metal through holes on top.","It flows through the runners into the mold cavity, which is that quarter-inch gap surrounding the duck-shaped core.","About 20 minutes later, the metal has cooled and solidified.","They break the mold apart on a vibrating sieve, releasing the aluminum duck and shaking out the core sand through a hole at the bottom of the duck.","After cutting off excess aluminum that hardened in the runners, they grind down the seam, which formed in between the two halves of the mold.","Next, they weld on aluminum handles for the child to grip when riding.","These handles are cast in sand molds just like the duck.","Workers grind down the weld and any sharp edges, making the entire surface nice and smooth.","Next--  a coat of polyester powder in bright rubber-ducky yellow.","Then-- a 20-minute trip through an oven to bake the coating, making it ultra-durable.","Now, delicately airbrushed with the urethane enamel paint, the details that bring mr.","Duck to life-- his feet, wings, bill, and eyes.","The thick coil that makes this a spring rider is made of a flexible type of steel.","They bolt a steel spacer plate to it...","Then hide the bolts under an aluminum cover.","After attaching a foot rest--  steel, again-- they bolt the duck to the plate.","All these parts, like the duck, are painted with baked-on polyester coating.","The spring bolts to a concrete block buried underground.","Ducky and friends are designed to withstand even the harshest winters, letting children enjoy a little spring all year round.","Early versions of pancakes were thin like crepes.","By the 1780s, american cooks were adding a leavening agent for a fluffier, more filling pancake.","That's when pancakes transitioned from side dish to main course for the first meal of the day.","Call them hot cakes, griddle cakes, flapjacks, or pancakes, there's nothing like a heaping helping of them splashed with syrup.","And with frozen pancakes, whipping up some for breakfast has never been easier.","Pancake production starts off with a leavening agent-- the baking powder.","They combine salt, whey, and various flavorings in a big blender to create a dry-ingredient premix.","Since these will be buttermilk pancakes, they add powdered buttermilk for flavor.","They now pump liquid ingredients from storage tanks into a huge blender.","These include water and eggs, sweet cream, liquefied sugar, and soybean oil.","They add the dry premix and flour until the batter reaches the desired consistency.","An employee tests the batter's viscosity by pouring some in a device with a little gate.","He opens the gate and measures the flow down a ramp.","If it runs too thick or too thin, it won't produce pancakes that are the desired diameter and uniformity.","The pancake batter passes the viscosity test.","They release the batter from the holding tank, and it flows into a depositor system.","The depositor has nine nozzles.","Each nozzle shoots an exact amount of the pancake batter onto a hot moving griddle.","Because of the perfect viscosity, each deposit of batter radiates out to form a neat, round shape, each one the same size as the next-- about four inches in diameter.","They run three depositors and moving griddles simultaneously to produce 750 pancakes a minute.","That's an incredible 45,000 pancakes an hour.","After several seconds on the griddle, one side is cooked, so automated stainless-steel spatulas flip the pancakes over.","There are two sets of flippers.","After flipping, the first set repositions, and the second set flips the next row of pancakes.","It's mechanized synchronization.","The flippers are spaced apart exactly as the depositors are so the pancakes arrive at the flippers in the correct order to be picked up and turned over.","Once flipped, the pancakes continue along the cooking conveyer, and the other side is cooked.","It's a short ride for these pancakes to be completely cooked.","From dollops of batter to uniformly rounded and cooked pancakes, this process has taken just 90 seconds.","The pancakes somersault off the cooking griddle and over a roller to land on the next conveyer.","The somersault exit has a purpose.","It keeps the pancakes from folding over so they land flat.","Hot off the griddles, the pancakes cool down on the ride, as all three production lines merge and head into a freezer.","Inside the freezer, it's a very frigid minus-18 degrees, and the pancakes freeze fast.","Now it's over to the packaging line.","This is where the uniformity of these pancakes pays off.","Their similar diameter means they can be neatly packed in groups of six.","Machinery seals two stacks of six frozen pancakes in one wrapping.","It has taken less than five minutes to prepare, freeze, and package these pancakes.","At home, prep time in the microwave should be mere seconds.","Just add syrup, and this story has a sweet ending.","Natural rubber comes from the milky sap of a tropical tree.","Thousands of years ago, the native people of central and south america discovered that the hardened sap was elastic and bounced.","They played games with the balls of sap.","When european explorers came along, it was soon a whole new ball game.","Today, we make thousands of useful things from the fluid that circulates through rubber trees-- everything from tires to balloons to boots.","The seeds are sewn on plantations like this one in thailand.","It takes several years for the rubber trees to mature, then the sap is ready to tap.","In the coolness of the morning, when the sap flows freely, the farm worker slashes the bark with a hook blade.","The sap oozes from the abrasion.","It spills onto a metal spout inserted below the slashed section.","The spout funnels the sap into a ceramic cup below.","It flows for about five or six hours, partially filling the cup.","They wait a couple of days for the tree to recover and then tap another section of the tree.","After straining impurities, they pour the rubber sap into a plastic tub.","They add formic acid and swish it around.","The acid causes the sap to coagulate.","After 15 to 30 minutes, it thickens to the consistency of tofu.","This tofu-like sap has a sticky structure that allows it to now be rolled out like dough.","The rolling squeezes out excess water and leaves a ribbed pattern on the sheets that increases the surface area to hasten drying.","Then they rinse off the formic acid.","They hang the rubber sheets to dry for about five hours.","As they dry, the rubber thickens and becomes stronger, and the color darkens.","The coagulated rubber sap has been transformed.","In a few short steps, it's gone from a liquid to a solid.","Workers pile the rubber sheets onto pallets and weigh the load.","There's a little over a ton and a half of rubber in this stack.","They store the stacks in a warehouse until the next stage of processing.","When they're ready to move on, workers peel each sheet from the stack and soak them in water for about 20 minutes.","This washes away some of the surface contaminants, but not all.","The rubber sheets then go into a machine with many brushes that scrub off more of the dirt.","After one more rinse, the rubber sheets are squeaky-clean.","As you can see, the color of the rubber sheets vary somewhat depending on the tree they came from, their thickness, and other factors.","They hang the sheets on racks to drip dry.","Next, they build a fire in a brick oven and smoke the rubber sheets in a chamber overhead for five days.","It's a slow, low-temperature smoking that preserves the sheets to prevent the growth of mold.","After smoking, they clip out contaminants like bark or insects that have become imbedded in the rubber.","In many cases, they can't get it all.","They grade the rubber sheets by examining them against a bright light.","Sheets with fewer remaining contaminants receive a higher rating and will command a better price.","They stack the sheets according to the grade, and then it's into a hydraulic bailer.","It presses the stack of rubber sheets into cube form.","The dimensions of the cubes conform to international packaging regulations so they'll fit neatly into containers for shipping.","They spray the rubber cubes with a mix of calcium carbonate and solvent.","The mixture forms a film on the cubes that prevents mold and keeps them from sticking together during transport.","This rubber is now ready for the next factory and the next transformation.","It could become almost anything."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ball Bearings","Electrical Wires","Lost Wax Process Casting","Automated Machines"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Ball bearings...","Electrical wires...","Lost wax casting...","And automated machines.","With all the high-tech hoopla these days, the lowly ball bearing gets forgotten.","But many machine parts need ball bearings to rotate.","They're in household appliances, industrial machines, and car engine parts such as alternators and fans.","This is what's called a deep groove radial ball bearing.","It has steel balls that move inside tracks called raceways.","The raceways are carved into a set of heavy-duty steel rings.","The balls are made of the same type of steel.","They first prepare to shape the rings to the right thickness.","They insert the inner ring into the outer ring.","The set then passes through a grinder that alters the width to the correct thickness.","A gauge checks the width of each ring as it exits.","Now they separate the inner and outer rings in order to grind their outer circumference on separate machines.","The outer ring enters the grinder, which shapes its outer surface to a precise roundness and diameter.","A water-based liquid keeps the ring from overheating, which would cause warping.","The ring exits the grinder through a gauge that checks the diameter.","Next, the outer ring's raceway goes for grinding.","Abrasive stone wheels with an oil coolant shape the surface to precisely the correct roundness and size.","The inner ring and raceway go through a similar machine.","Now the rings go for polishing.","An abrasive stone lubricated with oil polishes the steel surface until you can see a reflection.","Here's the before and after.","Next stop-- washing.","They coat the rings with thick oil and a fine stone grit.","They clean the raceways with kerosene.","Elsewhere in the plant, they classify the steel balls according to size.","These balls started out as steel wire.","A machine cut them into pieces and a die punched them into rough balls.","Those rough balls go into a grinder, which removes the bumps.","Then other machines round them out and give them a mirror finish.","This entire process takes a few days.","The balls go through a furnace to harden.","Then they get a bath in cleaning solvent.","After several quality checks, the finished balls go into hoppers.","The hoppers load onto the automatic assembly machine.","The ball feeder sends the balls through tubes to a ball pusher that feeds the correct quantity of balls into the raceways of the now-reassembled inner and outer rings.","A ball divider positions the balls evenly around the raceways.","Next comes the ball cage, a metal cage that retains the balls in position around the raceways.","The first machine installs half of the cage, the half with rivet holes.","The next machine carefully positions the other half of the cage, the half with rivets.","The machine test-spins the bearing, then rivets the two halves of the ball cage together.","The bearing is now fully assembled.","Now it goes into a solvent bath, then to a series of automated quality-control tests.","This noise-vibration tester makes sure the ball bearing operates quietly.","Some types of bearings are lubricated with grease.","A machine squirts grease evenly into the bearings' raceways, then inserts a rubber seal to contain the grease.","A final quality-control test-- an automated scale tosses out any bum bearings that aren't the required weight.","The good ones move on to the laser, which marks them with information such as the part number and the trademark.","What is genetically modified food?","Scientists manipulate the genes in crop seeds to increase yield or to make the crop more resistant to disease or insects.","There's a worldwide debate over whether this manipulation of nature poses a risk to our health or to the environment.","We're so used to them that we barely notice that electrical wires are all around us.","They're in aerial and underground cables running along our streets and to our homes.","They're behind our walls and inside our electrical appliances.","To make color-coded electrical wires, they use what's called rod, made of either solid copper or solid aluminum.","They feed the rod into a machine that draws it out through a series of lubricated pulleys and dies-- stretching, lengthening, and thinning it out...","And eventually winding it onto a large bobbin.","What was once a rod 4/10 of an inch in diameter is now just 8/100 of an inch, the width of about a dozen human hairs.","They load the bobbin onto what's called a stranding machine.","They cold-weld the end of one bobbin to another, guaranteeing an uninterrupted flow once they start up the machine.","At high speed, the stranding machine twists seven wires together, forming an electrical conductor, also called a bear conductor.","This is a low-voltage conductor-- under 1,000 volts-- the kind you find in the cables that run electricity to your home.","Bear conductors need to be insulated so the people handling them won't get an electric shock.","A plastic extrusion machine coats the conductor with polyethylene or pvc.","This insulates the conductor.","This is what the polyethylene looks like in its raw form.","As the conductor exits the machine with its new insulation, a precision laser gauges the diameter to make sure the insulation is uniform and the right dimension.","The extrusion process has heated up the conductor, so it has to be cooled down with water.","Sometimes two or more conductors are twisted together.","When that's the case, a printing machine applies a white stripe to identify which is which.","The client who's ordered the conductors specifies the colors of insulation.","It chooses them based on how it wants to color-code its electrical wiring.","Several conductors are often grouped together to form a cable.","The plant performs a voltage test, immersing the cables in water to make sure they don't short-circuit.","These medium-voltage cables can carry from 1,000 to 46,000 volts of electricity.","They're the type used for underground power lines.","They're insulated the same way low-voltage cables are.","The plant prints the date of manufacture, the voltage, and any other information the client has requested.","The cable goes onto a reel to be tested before it's shipped out to its destination.","In the middle of the cable, surrounded by copper grounding wires and a host of other components is the heart of the electrical cable-- the bear conductor.","Many machine parts are simply stamped or machined out of solid metal, but parts with complex shapes or thin walls can't be made that way.","They have to be cast using a technique called \"lost wax process casting\".","It takes anywhere from a week to a month to manufacture a cast-metal part, depending on its complexity.","The first step is to inject wax into an aluminum die, which is essentially a mold whose cavity is in the shape of the part.","This creates a wax model slightly larger than the finished part will be.","They'll use this wax model to make a mold out of a ceramic material.","The mold has to be larger than the finished part because metal shrinks as it cools.","Once the wax model is ready, they stamp on a code to tell the foundry workers what type of metal to use when they cast the part.","Next, using a hot iron, they attach wax components to create what's called a metal delivery system-- channels that will funnel the molten metal into the mold's cavity.","Next, they dip this wax assembly into a ceramic solution called \"slurry\".","They do this by hand to prevent imperfections that would cause defects in the casting.","To strengthen the slurry, they coat it in a fine zirconium sand, then let it dry.","A robot then keeps repeating the process with coarser sand until the ceramic shell surrounding the wax assembly is about 3/10 of an inch thick.","This takes five days.","Now the ceramic-covered wax assembly is ready for what they call the dewax.","Workers place it in a hot-steam chamber called an autoclave for 5 to 10 minutes.","This melts the wax right out of the shell, creating a ceramic mold whose cavity is in the shape of the part.","Once the mold has dried out, workers can begin to cast the part.","First they put the cold mold into an oven and heat it up for two to three hours.","This prevents the mold from cracking from shock when it comes into contact with molten metal that's close to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit.","They pour the metal into the mold's cavity, then let it cool and harden at room temperature.","It takes two hours for aluminum, four to five hours for steel.","Once the metal has cooled and solidified, they break off the ceramic mold using a vibrating hammer.","This takes about five minutes.","They saw off the metal delivery system...","Then grind the surface smooth.","The final step is to make sure the part came to the exact dimensions specified in the technical drawing.","This is called \"sizing\".","Steel parts have to be heated up in an oven for sizing.","Aluminum parts are sized cold.","Technicians use a series of tools and presses to measure the part.","If it doesn't meet specifications, it's either reworked or simply discarded.","They use sophisticated equipment such as this optical comparator to check the angles and radiuses and this coordinate measuring machine to verify dimensions.","Lost wax process casting is used to make metal parts for all types of machines and equipment, everything from military weapons to snowmobiles.","Since the industrial revolution, manufacturing has become increasingly automated.","It's about time \"how it's made\" paid tribute to that marvelous feat of engineering, the automated machine.","Until the 1780s, goods were made one by one in a home or workshop.","Then came the industrial revolution, the mass production of products in huge factories.","Industry's next revolution was automation, made possible by computer technology.","By the 1970s, two centuries after the start of the industrial revolution, robots began replacing humans on the production lines."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mountain Bike Tires","Leaf and Debris Vacuums","Canned Meat","Fillet Knives"]},"text":["Mountain bike tires are true trailblazers, specifically designed for off-road riding.","Wider than regular road tires, mountain bike tires have raised knobs or lugs that add stability on uneven terrain.","Built to withstand the trail, these tires can handle it all.","When the rubber hits the dirt, it's all about control.","Mountain bike tires are designed to grip the ground and provide traction off-road.","First, designers use a computer model of a tire to simulate the effects of different rubber compounds.","Construction begins with rubber compounds being mixed together to create parts of the tire.","Ingredients include synthetic and natural rubbers, sulfur, and other chemicals.","Rotating spiral blades break down the materials.","Friction from the mixing heats and softens them.","This transforms the ingredients into a dough-like rubber compound.","Powerful rollers squeeze the compound into thick long sheets and blades cut the rolled rubber into narrow strips.","Then the rubber travels through more rollers that squeeze it down to the desired thickness.","The rubber sheets land on a cart, ready for use.","Technicians incase steel bead wire with one of these compounds.","The bead wire is the part of the tire that connects to the wheel's rim.","As steel wire travels through an aperture, the rubber is extruded to form the casing.","The machine delivers the bead wire to a spinning disk.","The disk winds the bead wire, shaping it into rings which fit to a wheel rim.","To maintain the diameter of the wire, the technician tapes the ends together, holding the shape until the next stage of production.","Next, rubber sheets with varying characteristics enter an extruder.","Using heat and pressure, the extruder forces the rubber through dies.","This process merges their characteristics into a single sheet.","The sheet will be used to make the bicycle's tread.","The tread rubber travels through a channel of cool water.","Meanwhile, rollers coat fabric with rubber to make plies for the tire casing.","A moving blade cuts it into strips.","This rubber is naturally tacky, so the pieces can be easily spliced.","The system feeds the strips to tire-building machine.","A skilled assembler wraps the strips to the machine drum to form the tire casing and splices the rubber where the ends meet.","Next, robots slide two wire beads around the casing.","The ends of the drum fold the sides of the casing over the bead wires.","The technician applies rubber-coated fabric to the bead wires, strengthening the area.","The tread rubber is placed in the center.","A roller applies pressure as the drum spins to wind the tread around the casing.","Then the ends are pressed together manually.","And one more turn of the drum secures the tread rubber to the casing.","Once vent holes have been cut in the rubber, it's over to an expanding mold, where the tire takes shape.","The technician inserts a rubber curing bladder to maintain the shape of the tire.","Then he places the mountain bike tires in curing molds.","These individual molds will steam-cook the tires under pressure to further shape them.","This process forms knobs and other protrusions on the tire surface that are designed to grip a rugged terrain.","Like a big waffle iron, this mold has cooked and formed the mountain bike tire.","The tire is then placed on a rack to cool.","Next, the bike tire undergoes a durability test while a computer measures rolling resistance.","That's the energy lost when the tire rotates and an indication of how easily the tire will roll.","This mountain bike tire is now cleared to travel off the beaten path.","A leaf and debris vacuum automatically collects all types of fallen debris.","Instead of spending hours raking, this device quickly does it all, making yard work easier than ever.","A leaf and debris vacuum is powered by a gas or diesel engine.","The engine spins an impeller, which creates the suction and also shreds the leaves.","The machine is comprised of about 100 different parts, all cut from 0.11-inch-thick sheets of steel using this computer-guided punch press.","This part is the rear flange for the impeller housing.","To make the side wall of the housing, called the wrap, a technician bends this steel strip with a pinch roller.","Another technician positions the wrap on the rear flange and tack welds them together.","The craftsman places the housing's front flange on top of the wrap, aligns its notches with the wrap's tabs, and tack welds the parts together.","He completes the housing with this rectangular piece.","The shredded leaves exit the housing through this opening.","Next, the parts are placed on a rotary welding table, and the tacked joints are welded together.","The fused seams ensure the housing is airtight.","A computer guides this fiber-optic laser cutter, slicing out the impeller blades from a sheet of abrasion-resistance steel.","This steel is four times thicker than the steel used for the body parts.","Each impeller has four blades with sharp edges that help shred the leaves.","The welder mounts the impeller components onto a fixture.","Each blade has alignment tabs which fit into notches on a backing plate.","After clamping each blade in position, he fuses them to the backing plate.","Next, he welds steel reinforcement straps between each of the four blades.","The straps add strength and stability, thereby increasing the life-span of the impeller.","The technician completes the assembly by bolting a compression hub to the center.","The hub holds the engine crankshaft together, which rotates the impeller.","Then he inserts a simulated crankshaft and tightens the compression hub.","He places the impeller on this machine to balance it.","Since the impeller can spin at a speed of more than 3,000 revolutions per minute, this step is critical for the machine to run smoothly.","To maintain stability, the welder adds beads of weld to the lighter side until the impeller balances.","Then he removes the simulated crankshaft.","Meanwhile an assembler mounts the 29-horsepower gas engine to the engine deck of the trailer frame.","The crankshaft pokes through a hole in the frame's faceplate.","He bolts the impeller housing, which has been painted, to the faceplate.","The technician installs the impeller on the crankshaft with a shear key.","Then he bolts a protective steel cover plate and attaches everything with a central bolt.","Next, he applies a brand decal on the housing's front cover...","And bolts the cover to the housing.","When ready for use, the debris chute, the hose, and the intake hose are attached to the front end.","As this demonstration shows, the impeller can shred leaves into particles small enough to be used as compost.","With so much on their plates, busy people rely on shortcuts to help prepare meals.","Nowadays, you can stock your pantry with cans of precooked meat so there's always something on hand to use in sandwiches, stews, stir-fries, and other tasty dishes.","This canned meat is meticulously hand produced by a craft cannery and made in small batches.","It contains no artificial ingredients or preservatives, just meat and sea salt.","When a shipment of meat arrives at the cannery, the quality control manager records its lot code for tracking purposes.","As a food-safety precaution, he confirms the temperature of the meat, which must come in between 0 to 39 degrees fahrenheit.","A skilled butcher then inspects the meat and trims off the excess fat.","If it's a large piece, the butcher slices it into smaller pieces so that it can pass through the dicing machine.","The dicer cuts the meat into one-inch cubes.","At the filling station, aluminum cans circulate around a rotating table.","As one worker shovels cubed meat onto the center of the table, others manually fill cans while simultaneously performing a quality inspection.","Workers will discard any cubes that are discolored or too fatty.","Next, technicians place a single cube of sea salt in each can filled with meat.","This is the only added ingredient.","At the next station, workers weigh each can individually and either add or remove meat to reach the required weight.","The filled cans now travel on a conveyer belt to the cook room.","There, they enter the pre-heater, which blasts them with steam for 20 seconds.","This expels air that's trapped between the cubes of meat.","Next, the cans move into the closing machine.","The machine compresses the meat to provide sufficient clearance at the top of the can.","This head space creates a vacuum on the can to draw out the remaining air.","Then a device attaches the lid by a process known as double seaming.","The process rolls the edges of the lid and can together, forming a rim that provides an airtight seal.","It's time to get cooking.","A worker lowers the cans into a commercial-sized pressure cooker.","Cooking under steam pressure produces the tenderizing effects of slow cooking in a fraction of the time.","The meat cooks in its own juices.","The cooking temperature varies depending on the type of meat and the can size.","When the meat is ready, the technician removes the cans and sets them aside for about an hour to cool and dry.","The cans are then moved to the packaging area.","As a worker loads the labeling machine, he inspects each can for dents or damaged seals.","One by one, the cans roll over a glue applicator, then a stack of labels, wrapping themselves and the top seal.","At the same time, the machine counts the number of cans.","After rolling off the labeling machine, the cans pass through an ink-jet printer which applies the best-used-by date.","That date is next to the lot code, which the closing machine printed while attaching the lid.","This can of meat has a five-year shelf life due to two crucial factors-- it is cooked properly, and the can's seal is airtight.","Have fish to fry?","If it's fresh and whole, a fillet knife will come in handy.","This is no ordinary kitchen knife, equipped with a thin, flexible blade and a sharp tip.","This design allows the user to move easily along the backbone and under the skin of the meat.","A fillet knife is a precision cutting tool.","It makes the work of removing bones and skin from fish possible.","Making a fillet knife starts with a sheet of thin and pliable stainless steel.","A computer-guided laser cuts the steel into blade blanks.","A craftsman clamps the blank in a fixture.","The fixture moves the blank across a grinding wheel, beveling it from the spine to the cutting edge on both sides.","Then sanding belts are used to shape the blade blank.","A craftsman rounds the spine of the blank using a rough-grit sanding belt, eventually graduating to a finer one.","With a rounder spine, the blade will be safer to handle.","At the next station, a craftsman drills a hole into a solid block of composite material that contains resin.","The material is cut into smaller chunks.","Each one will be formed into a handle end cap or pommel.","The center hole will house the tang.","He slices other pieces of the material almost wafer thin.","They'll become spacers for the handle's other end.","These compound parts will support the center material for the cork handle.","The craftsman stacks the parts of the handle on a stand.","He brushes waterproof glue onto the spacer and slides eight pieces of cork onto the prong.","He applies glue between each one.","He places the pommel piece on the end.","Since cork is buoyant, if the knife is dropped in water, it will float and can be easily retrieved.","Once the glue dries, the handles are transferred, two at a time, to a fixture.","The fixture moves back and forth as a rotor rounds the spacer, carving the cork and the pommel.","At the next station, a worker places one of the fillet knife blades in a rubber holder.","He clamps the holder in a fixture, stabilizing the blade for the installation of the bolster.","The bolster is the steel ring that acts as a transition piece between the blade and handle.","Then the craftsman applies glue to the composite spacer on the handle.","He slides the handle onto the tang of the knife.","He inserts a hexagonal nut into the hole and the pommel as well as some epoxy.","He screws the nut onto the tang, securing the blade to the handle.","The epoxy provides reinforcement.","The craftsman unclamps the knife and works on shaping the handle.","He sculpts it with rough-grit sandpaper.","He angles the outside of the pommel, making it smoother and more attractive.","Switching to a finer abrasive, he sands the cork to blend the layers together so they appear to be one uniform piece.","Next, a worker drills into the pommel to widen and slope the opening.","He pipes more epoxy into the recess.","He inserts a snap that will be used to retain the knife in a sheath and drives it further into the recess using a press.","Once the epoxy cures, he submerges the knives into water.","This step is a test to confirm the knives can float.","After the handle dries, the knife undergoes a final sanding for the user's gripping comfort.","You can see the difference the sanding makes in the knife on the right.","Next, the craftsman works on the fillet knife's cutting edge, sharpening it against a sanding belt.","The blade slices a sheet of paper cleanly without snagging, proving that it's been well-honed.","Finally, another worker cleans and lubricates the fillet knife.","She slides it into a leather sheath and snaps the tab of the sheath to the end of the pommel.","With all the work that's gone into this fillet knife, the customer will be in for one tasty, well-cut meal."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Innerspring Mattresses","Stand"]},"text":["An innerspring mattress is made with steel-wire springs to support a person's body weight.","The quality of the mattress is usually determined by the thickness of the steel wire, the number of springs, and how the springs are configured and linked to form the inner support system.","Most of this innerspring mattress is crafted by hand.","The material in between the springs contains multiple layers of batting made from a blend of polyester fiber and organic cotton fiber.","Cotton allows the batting to be breathable, so the mattress won't trap body heat.","Polyester prevents the cotton from matting, so the batting doesn't flatten over time.","This machine feeds both materials to a carding machine.","At the first station, rollers and cylinders with metal teeth open and comb out the fibers.","Next, the blended poly cotton is formed into a thin, fluffy sheet.","The next station layers the sheet.","Rollers compress the layers to form a thicker sheet about 2 3/4 inches high.","The machine cuts the sheet to the width and length of the specified mattress.","A technician places the finished bat on a scale to ensure it hits the target weight.","He piles 18 bats on a cart, which is how many are required for just one mattress.","Meanwhile, another technician builds the mattress's support structure, known as the innerspring unit.","A coiling machine pulls spring-steel wire off a spool, then winds and cuts it into coils.","The top and the bottom of each coil are crimped, creating inter-connection areas.","A technician inserts spring-steel wire into a lacing machine and places a row of coils on a table.","As the machine advances, the helical wire catches the coils at the points where they're crimped, lacing them together.","The process is repeated until the spring structure is the size of the mattress.","The perimeter of the mattress is framed with more helical wire.","He fabric surface of a mattress is known as the ticking.","A seamstress marks the required dimensions on a stack of cotton fabric.","Using a rotary cutting blade, she cuts the ticking fabric along the marked dimensions.","A sewer hems the edges of all three panels.","This step will strengthen the connected seams.","He also sews on the labels listing the product and safety information.","The side wall consists of four layers-- the ticking, two types of bats, and a backing fabric.","A seamstress pulls the layers through a stamping machine, which fastens the layers together with a pair of brass eyelets every 2 3/4 inches.","Using another stamping machine, she attaches cord handles with large brass grommets.","The handles make it easier to flip and rotate the mattress to ensure even wear.","Another technician covers the innerspring unit with a lightweight fabric and pads the corners with batting to prevent indentation.","He attaches the fabric backing of the side wall to the wire perimeter of the innerspring unit with hog-ring staples.","He tops this side of the mattress with nine bats, equivalent to 27.5 inches of padding.","He trims each bat by hand, gradually narrowing the layers as he works his way downward, creating a tapered shape.","Then a polyester fabric layer is added for comfort, and a non-woven flame-resistant barrier fabric layer on top.","The ticking is put into position, and the excess filling is trimmed.","The technician pulls the ticking and pins it to the top of the side wall.","He flips the mattress and repeats the process on the other side.","Using an industrial sewing machine, he sews the top and bottom tickings to the side wall with edge tape.","Woven cotton ticking is more durable than knitted cotton.","Finally, the automated machine tufts the mattress and inserts a woven band through the middle, locking each tuft in place with a pom-pom on both sides.","This prevents the materials inside from shifting and sets the level of firmness.","Stand-up paddling has become a popular sport, but paddleboards have been around for over 3,000 years.","Contemporary boards rely on modern materials to make light and reliable paddleboards suited for leisure as well as for competition.","This paddleboard is made with vinyl-ester resin and laminated fiberglass.","It's equipped with an onboard lighting system, an anchor, and a neoprene rubber non-slip pad.","In the gel-coating room, a technician wipes a release agent on the paddleboard mold to make the surface smooth and clean.","Another technician positions the fin channel on the mold using a thin fiberglass template as a guide.","He uses an airless pumping system to spray the mold with a vinyl-ester gel coating mixed with hardener.","He takes a mil gauge to make sure the hull thickness is even.","A technician prepares to make the first structural layer of the hull, using a 3/4-ounce bi-directional fiberglass mat.","First, he pulls out a panel of fiberglass and covers the gel-coated surface.","Using fabric scissors, he cuts the mat and makes the fiberglass skin as tight as possible.","He tears the mat to conform it to the rounded shape of the gel coat and fits the mat to the edge of the hull.","He applies vinyl-ester resin with a paint roller.","The resin saturates the fiberglass, which merges with the gel coating.","Extra material is placed over the fin channel to strength the structural bond between the channel and the hull.","Then the technician uses a bubble roller to push out air bubbles.","He applies a second coat of fiberglass to reinforce the structural integrity of the board.","In the assembly room, another technician fits a template on the board deck and traces the contours of the hand-grab mount with a pencil.","He uses an air saw to cut out a slot in the fiberglass laminate to fit the hand-grab mount.","He binds the hand-grab mount to the hull with a coat of vinyl-ester resin.","Within about 20 minutes, the laminate hardens.","Next, plastic tubing for the internal anchoring system is installed.","A technician applies a bonding adhesive to the tube, securing it in place.","He attaches the tube with tie wraps so it doesn't get tangled inside the hull.","He installs a jam cleat for the rope that will allow the paddler to manually control the anchor from the deck.","The hull's cured vinyl-ester resin is now firmly bonded to the structural laminate.","The assembler applies expanding adhesive and positions an expanded polypropylene foam stringer inside the hull.","The foam stringers are the backbone of the board.","They support the weight of the paddler on the deck while keeping the board as light as possible.","Using a nylon wedge and a rubber mallet, the assembler removes the mold from the hull.","Since the hull is so lightweight, two assemblers can lift and flip it on to a cart.","An assembler trims off the excess laminate using an air cutter fitted with a diamond cutting blade.","He levels the foam stringers with a file blade, ensuring the tightest possible fit between the hull and deck.","He applies expanding foam adhesive on the stringers before he places the deck on the foam with the help of a co-worker.","The adhesive quickly binds the parts together.","The vinyl rub rail designed as a side protection masks the joint between the deck and the hull.","The hull contains a dry storage hatch where the onboard battery is housed.","The 8 amp hour battery can activate the power pull, a microanchor designed for shallow waters.","In deeper waters, a paddler can manually activate the internal anchor system with a 16-foot nylon cord.","Finally, this board is ready to hit the water.","Invented in 1901 by a british engineer, the vacuum cleaner was considered a game changer.","The original versions were made substantially heavier than the vacuums built today.","In fact, they were so large, they had to be pulled by horses to get from building to building.","Through the magic of suctioning power, a vacuum cleaner can make dirt disappear almost instantly, really improving personal space.","Production starts with the electric motor that powers the suctioning fan.","A machine picks up a rotor and transfers it to an imaging system.","Using a camera and laser, the machine measures the part and confirms that it's to specification.","Next, an automated system attaches plastic discs on to both sides of the part.","These plastic discs will serve as electrical insulators.","A computerized camera confirms the discs have been correctly placed.","A carrier transfers the rotor to the next station.","Here, a rotary copper switch is placed on to the shaft.","The switch is called a commutator.","Its role is to periodically reverse the electrical current as it flows through the motor, allowing the motor to operate more efficiently.","The next robot places the rotor in a device that winds thin copper wire around the part hundreds of times.","These windings will be used to create a rotating magnetic field in the motor.","A welder joins the commutator to the copper windings using small hooks.","This step establishes a connection.","A machine slides a slatted plastic cover over the rotor.","The slats fit in the rotor grooves.","The cover reduces the noise the rotor makes as it revolves at high speeds.","Spouts drip synthetic resin on to the copper windings.","As it hardens, the resin stabilizes the windings, ensuring there are no loose wires.","A computerized cutting tool shaves off a small amount of the commutator, making it round and smooth.","A robot then deposits the rotor on looped belts.","The belts spin the rotor, and sensors detect vibrations that indicate any imbalance.","If an imbalance is found, the system sends the rotor over to a tool that removes material until the part is balanced.","Then it's over to another testing machine.","This one probes the copper windings to detect failures using a complex measuring system.","A mechanized system installs a substantial bearing on one end of the shaft.","A robot retrieves it, flips it, and the system attaches a bearing to the other end.","The motor housing with the stator moves into position.","A machine places the rotor in the center of the stator.","All the work on this vacuum cleaner motor has been done by machines.","Now a technician installs a carbon brush that will make electrical contact with the rotor.","A diffuser shield is placed on the housing.","Meanwhile, the computer system screws the diffuser to the motor assembly.","A small metal spacer is deposited on the protruding rotor shaft.","A robotic arm places the lower fan impeller plate over the shaft.","The mechanized system screws the assembly together, and then the upper part is installed with the suctioning fan blades.","A machine spins the fan to test it for any imbalances.","Then a cutting tool removes material to calibrate the fan assembly.","A steel cover is flipped into position by a platform which elevates the fan and motor assembly.","Stay tuned.","There's more dirt on how the rest of the vacuum cleaner comes together.","While the vacuum cleaner may alarm your pet, to an enthusiastic cleaner, this is an awesome machine.","Not only does it remove the dirt you can see, it suctions up fine particles that aren't visible, leaving your home even cleaner than it looks.","Inside every vacuum cleaner, there's a high-speed suctioning fan.","Machines test the fan for quality control.","A conveyor delivers the fan to a completely mechanized system that evaluates the interaction between the carbon brush and the rotor.","This final inspection ensures the vacuum fan is balanced and fully operational.","A technician applies a rubber seal to the rim of the vacuum's lower housing.","He inserts the power-supply reel in a hollowed-out compartment.","The fan is installed and connected to the power-supply reel.","He snaps the back panel to the lower housing.","The power-supply cable is plugged in for a later check.","The next component assembled is the control panel.","A technician screws the control panel to a mounting plate.","A rubber bumper is placed along the edge of the cover frame.","The cover frame is then transferred to the vacuum.","A dust bag is attached to a bracket that straddles the frame.","At the next station, a robotic system stabilizes the assembly and attaches the frame to the housing.","Then the vacuum cleaner is released from the machine, and the carrier takes it forward for an inspection.","An inspector installs foot switches for the power cord and for machine activation.","He tucks a filter into its slot.","The cover panel now arrives via conveyor.","The technician snaps it into place on the cover frame.","He installs a hinged access panel, which houses the suction tools until needed.","This is the final step to complete the assembly of this vacuum cleaner.","Another kind of vacuum cleaner uses easy-to-empty plastic canisters for dirt collection.","It uses a substantial filter to separate dirt from the air.","Suctioned air and dirt spin within this canister.","Larger dirt particles fall to the bottom, while finer particles become embedded in the filter.","A technician installs the filter canister in the vacuum-cleaner housing and inserts a nozzle accessory in a slot.","Down the line, another worker installs a top plate.","Next, a clear plastic interceptor is installed, which collects the majority of the dirt.","The technician apples a plastic bumper to the back of the vacuum.","With the assembly complete, this bagless vacuum cleaner heads towards the inspection station.","Both kinds of vacuum cleaners undergo final testing.","A robot plugs the opening for the hose, turns the power on, and tests every function while a computer measures its performance.","Cleared for retail, the robot removes the hose.","The vacuum cleaner heads toward the packaging line.","A robot lifts and carries the vacuum cleaner, stopping above a vacuum cleaner that's already on the conveyor.","The vacuum on the conveyor moves forward, and sensors signal the robot to set the second vacuum down.","The vacuum cleaner moves along the conveyor belt into a sheet of plastic wrap, which envelops the product.","Heated knives cut and seal the ends in one action.","This protects it from superficial scratches during transport.","A technician uses molded pieces of foam to slide the vacuum into a cardboard box.","The foam pieces remain in the box to stabilize the vacuum during transport.","Equipped with either a bag or a plastic receptacle, the technology is all up to the consumer's preference.","Regardless of the model, each type of vacuum can make dust bunnies stuck in the corners of rooms and under beds vanish before your eyes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Graphite Pencil Leads","Clarinets","Special Effects"]},"text":["Despite the name \"lead,\" the core of a pencil isn't actually made of lead.","It's made primarily of graphite, a form of carbon that's very abundant in the earth's crust.","To produce pencil leads, they combine graphite powder with water and clay.","The higher the ratio of clay, the harder the lead.","Quality graphite pencil leads don't break easily and glide smoothly on the page.","Graphite is mined from both open-pit mines and shaft mines, like this one in germany.","Miners use hammer drills to bore holes for explosives.","The chunks of ore must contain at least 30% graphite to make the area financially viable for mining.","At the surface, a crusher breaks the ore into small pieces.","Then, adding water and oil, they pulverize it in a rotating mill.","This ore soup then flows into a system that separates the graphite from the impurities.","The graphite particles cling to the air bubbles and float to the surface.","Skimmers send this layer of graphite foam back into the mill.","5 cycles later, the graphite concentration is 96%.","However, it's soaking wet, so it has to go into a dryer.","After spinning around at 572 degrees fahrenheit for about 30 seconds, the graphite becomes a completely dry, fine powder.","Mined and processed, it's ready to be shipped to the pencil factory.","To make pencil leads, the factory combines graphite powder with clay and water.","During the 35-minute mixing cycle, it's critical to control the blending speed, pressure, temperature, and moisture level.","This produces homogenous granules-- the key to ensuring that all the leads will be uniform in quality.","The granules go into a hydraulic press, which shapes them into a cylindrical block.","Workers then wrap the block in film to prevent drying out and set it aside for a week to cure.","They load each cured block into a hydraulic press, which pushes it through a forming die, producing one long, continuous lead.","Different dies give different-sized leads.","The next machine then cuts the continuous lead into pencil lengths.","The leads are the right thickness and length, but they're soft and pliable because they still contain water from the mixing process.","Workers load the leads into a rotary dryer at 320 degrees fahrenheit.","12 hours later, the leads exit the dryer straight, but not quite strong enough, so next they go into a kiln for 10 hours at more than 1,800 degrees fahrenheit.","This firing transforms the clay that's mixed with the graphite, strengthening the leads to their final hardness.","Finally, a 12-hour bath in a mixture of high-quality waxes.","The waxes fill the pores in the leads, leaving them with a surface that glides smoothly across paper.","Throughout the production process, the factory puts samples through quality-control testing to check hardness, break resistance, diameter, and, of course, writing quality.","This company produces three different qualities of graphite leads in 16 different hardness levels, plus a full array of colored leads made similarly, but with pigment powders and waxes rather than graphite.","When the clarinetist blows into the instrument, a reed in the mouthpiece vibrates, creating sound.","To turn that basic sound into different notes, the player manipulates the length of the air column inside the instrument by opening and closing different tone holes.","The standard clarinet has 24 tone holes.","The musician covers some with his fingers, the rest by pressing keys.","Those keys are made of nickel silver or, sometimes, brass.","They inject hot wax into a plaster mold of a specific key.","Then, using hot wax, they attach several models of the same key onto a stem.","They put this tree, as it's called, into a cylinder, then into a mold-making machine, which fills the space around the tree with a silica-based ceramic material.","When the ceramic hardens, they melt out the way through an exit hole at the bottom, leaving behind a tree-shaped cavity.","Now they transfer the mold to a casting machine and load nickel silver into a miniature furnace.","The metal melts and fills the entire cavity.","To cool and solidify the casting, they submerge the mold in lukewarm water.","The metal contracts as its temperature drops, loosening from the mold.","They extract the tree and remove the keys.","Then they grind off the little stub left on each key.","Next the keys go into a tumbler filled with synthetic stones.","The stones polish the keys, preparing their surface for silver plating.","Silver doesn't adhere directly to nickel silver, so they plate the keys in copper first.","For each layer, they submerge the keys in a chemical solution, then apply a negative electric charge while running a positive charge to pieces of the plating metal.","Like a magnet, this draws particles of the plating metal onto the keys, forming a thin overall coat.","A clarinet's two-part body is typically made of wood or, like these, plastic resin.","A computer-guided drill bores 24 tone holes and 40 smaller holes for the posts, which support the key mechanisms.","A sonic welding machine presses each post into its respective hole while zapping it with a high-frequency sound wave to melt the plastic around the base.","This anchors the post securely.","The next machine reams a hole through the head of each post for the rods that operate the keys.","They wrap natural cork around the connecting ends of the body, then illuminate the interior for a quality-control inspection.","It's time for the final assembly.","They lubricate all the moving parts, then install the 17 keys onto their mechanisms.","Each key has a foam pad to prevent air from leaking out when the hole's covered.","They use a strip of foil to test whether the seal is tight enough.","With both body sections of the instrument finished, a musician assembles them and checks that each and every key moves fluidly.","Then, after attaching the bell and the mouthpiece, she conducts a sound-quality test, performing a set of musical exercises.","The clarinet now goes to the packing department where the packager gently removes fingerprints, lint, and lubricant residue, then lays the instrument parts in a velvet-lined case.","It's a fitting finale to the making of an instrument that looks as good as it sounds.","Special effects in animated films breathe life into characters and scenes that are completely imaginary.","It usually takes a mix of different effects to give the fantasy a realistic texture.","From miniature-scale models to computer-generated imagery, it's all about the big picture.","3-d animation and photographic tricks make this miniature village loom large on the big screen.","It all starts at the drawing board.","An artist sketches the various components of the fantasy village.","Once he gets it down on paper, the rest of the crew can build it.","Using one of the sketches as a reference, a sculptor carves foam into sections of a roof, and he glues the pieces together.","This foam roof will then be used to make a mold.","The mold maker builds a box around the roof, which is now gray-colored due to the application of a nonstick substance.","He pours liquid silicon rubber onto the foam roof in the box.","After 12 hours, they pull apart the box and remove the foam to reveal the mold.","This mold will be used to cast multiple roof parts for the mini film set.","They mix a two-part urethane solution and pour it into the mold.","A chemical reaction causes the urethane to solidify, and as it does, it takes the shape of the mold with all the details.","After half an hour, he extracts the cured urethane from the mold.","It's a perfect copy of the original roof carving.","They mold various roofs for visual interest.","The crew then paints all the molded parts of the mini village set in colors that are true to life.","The palette has been selected beforehand, but if it doesn't look right to the eye, adjustments can be made.","For larger-scale structures, a technician arranges reflective dots in a grid pattern.","These dots serve as reference points to laser-scan the image of the house into a computer.","The technician transfers the image a section at a time.","Once the image has been loaded into the computer, animators can really play around with it.","They can insert digital characters or impose a digital image over a filmed one to cast a shadow.","Meanwhile, another member of the crew plants molded trees onto hills of plastic and shapes the landscape of the set.","The trees and vegetation are very small-scale because the landscape will be in the background.","In the world of digital animation, clumps of moss can mimic shrubs, and a hot-glue gun is an indispensable tool.","Once buildings have been inserted in the set, the crew brings up the lights and checks the effect.","They add props, and, sometimes, take others away to improve the look of each scene.","Technicians tweak the lighting, which can add visual depth and credibility to any scene, but it's even more critical with a small-scale vista.","Little rectangular mirrors attached to the lights allow for minute adjustments.","The director of photography operates the camera remotely.","Adjustments to the shot's frame or depth of field can trick the eye and make miniatures seem much larger.","The computer records the camera movements so they can be repeated at any time.","Later, water will be digitally added to this riverbed.","Coming up next, animated characters enter the scene with the help of computer-generated tricks.","Today, virtual beings are a hollywood phenomenon.","Computer effects have rocketed 3-d animated characters into superstardom, but even for digital creatures, fame doesn't come easy.","It takes years of work and a large crew of skilled professionals to make them look good on the big screen.","It all starts with a good, old-fashioned sketch pad.","Once the character is defined on paper, the artist sculpts him with clay.","Then the high-tech wizardry begins as they laser-scan the 3-d character from all angles and load the image into the computer.","Once he's been captured, the computer artist wraps the character in a digital wire frame.","He manipulates the wire mesh to make the character move and breathe.","After he creates a dozen or more facial expressions, this machine makes hard copies of those many faces.","It repeatedly deposits layers of plastic to build up a physical version of the image.","They insert eyes in the sockets, then give these washed-out plastic faces some color.","An artist paints each one of the faces along the same lines.","Continuity is critical because the faces will be filmed and the images edited together to create the illusion of movement.","It's a traditional animation technique called stop-motion, and these plastic models are called puppets.","Next a seamstress builds a suit of clothes for one of the puppets.","He has to look great because he'll be used to promote the character to merchandisers who might market him as a toy.","They scan the fabric and wrap it around the digital character to give him the same outfit, then add creases for a more realistic texture.","The crew lights the mini set for one of the character's big scenes and plans the camera moves.","It's a kind of dress rehearsal.","One of the puppets acts as a stand-in for the animated character.","They move him around in a process called rough placement.","It's a critical step which ensures that everyone is in sync-- cinematographers, lighting artists, and animators.","Seeing the puppet in the room will help animators place his digital counterpart in the various visuals.","They literally cover all the angles and leave nothing to chance.","Now the physical merges with the virtual in a special-effects trick called human motion capture.","A man walks around in a special suit covered with reflective dots.","The computer recognizes the dots to transfer the man's movements to a version of the digital character instantaneously.","The computer artist uses those captured movements to manipulate the character and insert him into the scene.","The effect is one of a digital character who moves just like a human being.","They layer digitized images of the set and blend them seamlessly into a single image.","This digital layering is called compositing.","It allows animators to accurately place the character in the scene.","The blend of high-tech special effects with traditional animation techniques gives the best of both worlds.","Combined, all these special-effects tricks can generate 3-d characters with star quality.","They are virtual puppets, and the animators are the puppeteers.","And on the big screen, the fantasy has never looked so real."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Cine Cameras","Glass Christmas Ornaments","Giant Tires"]},"text":["A cinecamera is the type of camera they use for making motion pictures.","It captures what it shoots on 16- or 35-millimeter film.","Running like a well-oiled machine, its intricate components work with ultimate precision, all inside a powerful marvel of technology and craftsmanship.","The internal mechanics and electronics of a cinecamera perform an impressive choreography to capture images.","To make the main housing, a computer-controlled milling machine cuts precise spaces in a block of aluminum.","Then a probe scans it so a computer can verify the shape meets engineering specifications.","Next, a variety of computer-guided drills and cutters shape the film gate-- the component that holds the film for exposure.","A grinding wheel completes this highly precise task.","They buff the film gate on a rotating drum, infused with diamond powder and a polishing compound.","Next, workers apply glue to the film guide, which pushes the film into the film gate.","Then they put glue on the film movement, mate the guide and movement, then drive in screws to secure the bond.","These two registration pins hold the film in place.","Now for the pulldown claws.","Workers mount these aluminum devices inside the film movement--  one on each side.","They move forward and downward as the registration pins retract, dragging the film along the guide.","As the claws pull the film down, the pins enter.","This exposure repeats at a rate of 150 frames per second.","Next, workers screw on a cover to protect the movement's fragile parts.","Another cover fits on the other side.","Workers then test each of the buttons.","Now they attach the camera's drive shaft.","The motor drives the movement using a toothed belt.","A mechanics test comes next to ensure the claws and pins perform with precision.","This part of the camera is the shutter.","It sits between the film and lens.","Workers mount a mirror over half the shutter.","The mirror reflects the image into the viewfinder when it rotates in behind the lens.","A dab of special cleaning fluid yields a pristine surface.","Any dirt on the mirror would create a fuzzy image.","The protective cover plates will shield existing openings.","Here the shutter and mirror spin in unison.","In this model, the shutter is electronic, so it requires a tiny microchip and electrical wires with plugs on the ends.","Technicians scrutinize the parts and connections.","Then they test the electronics again to ensure everything is working, starting with the shutter.","With all the internal components complete, it's time to install them in the camera's housing.","The film gate we saw earlier snaps into position.","Next, technicians carefully mount the film guide behind the film, then fasten it tightly.","Last but not least, the shutter gently slides into position.","They close up one side of the housing with the cover to protect the circuit board inside.","Workers then lay an accessory controller gently into the camera's side cover.","It takes tweezers and a steady hand to insert this focusing screen through the lens mount at the front of the housing.","Finally, the lens takes its place front and center.","With the camera structure now complete, workers attach a magazine containing the film.","A little nudge here and there leads the film down the right path.","The movement swings forward to allow the film to run its course.","With the touch of a button, the film successfully races through a mechanical maze.","This camera excels at high-speed and special effects.","All it needs now is some action.","It's hard to beat the glitter and glow of glass christmas ornaments.","For many people, the christmas tree just wouldn't be the same without them.","They were invented in the 19th century by a german glassmaker who decided to improvise because he couldn't afford to decorate his tree with the usual nuts and candy.","They're christmas eye candy.","Today's glass ornaments are a visual treat.","To make some of the ornaments, they start with a sketch and make a plaster model of it.","They use it to create a two-part metal mold.","They take a glass cylinder and fire its wider end so it softens.","The glassmaker blows into the pipe end to stretch the supple glass into the basic shape of a bauble ornament.","Other glass tubes are more bulbous at the center, and that's the section that's fired as the glassmaker blows it into a more elongated bubble.","He places that bubble in the mold and blows extra hard.","The glass expands into its crevices and takes its shape--  a snowman.","He burns off one of the blowpipe ends and then aims the torch at the snowman's nose to pull it out.","A quick cooldown could shatter this ornament, so he gradually lowers its temperature with a less-intense flame.","Blowing and molding glass figurines is quick work.","The glassmaker has just a few seconds to complete the job before the glass becomes too cool and stiff to shape.","The ornaments now head down the line to get some shine.","This will be an inside job.","The glassmaker pours silvering solution into the baubles through the stem.","She then dips the bauble in warm water.","This activates the silvering chemicals, and shaking the ornament accelerates this process.","She swirls the silvering liquid around to completely coat the inside of the ornament.","A final dip gives this bauble a mirror finish from the inside out.","She empties the silvering solution into another tank for recycling.","They also use this technique on the figurines, like the snowman.","A quick shake gives this guy an inner beauty.","Next, they submerge the glass ornament in lacquer to give it some color.","The mirror finish inside shines through the lacquer.","Now the snowman ornament gets an artist's touch.","She airbrushes white lacquer onto the figurine for a frosty finish.","It makes the snowman look more like old frosty.","The artist paints some of the details by hand, like the trim on the hat and robe of this santa ornament.","This gives it more visual depth.","Once the paint dries, she brushes glue onto sections where she wants glitter dust to stick.","The glue dries quickly, so the artist applies more.","When it comes to christmas sparkle, you just can't get enough.","Next, she makes an incision in the stem and snaps it off.","A metal cap fits on the ornament stub.","Time to pack up these fragile beauties very carefully.","They put them in boxes that cradle each one individually to ensure they arrive safely.","Now these glass ornaments are ready to go \"out on a limb\" to add beauty to the holidays.","Tires for construction and mining equipment are truly giant-sized.","They can be twice the height of a human being and weigh thousands of pounds.","These giant tires also come with a hefty price tag.","Just one can cost more than an average family sedan.","Giant tires are made to carry heavy loads in conditions that are seriously off-road, like mining and construction sites.","To make giant tires, they feed rubber into a powerful mixer.","They add sulfur and antioxidants to boost the rubber's durability, as well as recycle pieces of used tires.","At the top of the mixer, they add carbon black in measured amounts.","It's an oil by-product that helps bind everything together.","The mixing generates heat, which softens the rubber, making it doughy.","The rubber dough then falls between rollers that squeeze it into a sheet.","The process is called milling.","They slice the sheeted rubber and feed it back into the machine several times.","This repeated milling essentially kneads the rubber to give it the right consistency.","Once the rubber has been sufficiently processed, they feed it to a conveyor.","A wheel rolls over the rubber to impress the date and identification number onto it.","The rubber then winds through a tank of soapy water.","As it exits, it falls over hangers that move it through a dryer.","A soapy residue remains, keeping the layers from sticking together as they await more processing.","They write the i.d. number on a sample of the rubber and tag the production run with the same number.","This signifies that testing is under way.","They tuck the test sample in a canister and send it up a chute to the lab.","Once it's confirmed the rubber has the right characteristics, it's ready to be made into the various components of a giant tire.","At the next station, dozens of steel cords unwind into a machine.","Each cord is made of numerous steel threads, and each thread is brass-plated.","These steel cords will be used to fortify the processed rubber.","The cords enter a machine called an extruder.","It grinds and heats some of the processed rubber and then forces it around the steel cords to encase them.","The result is what's known as steel-belted rubber.","They cut several of the steel-belted strips on an angle and fuse them together.","This exposes steel cord around the edges, so hot rollers seal them with rubber.","The steel-belted rubber will make the tires more resistant to punctures.","But they make the tires' basic structure from rubber-coated nylon cord.","They cut the nylon-rubber ply to a specific length.","Workers then piece several of these sheets together to form a loop.","The pieces adhere because uncured rubber is naturally tacky.","And a machine rolls the loop to the correct size.","They layer more of the nylon-rubber ply in a crisscross fashion to add strength.","The machine that helps size the loop also applies a thin layer of ordinary rubber between each crisscrossed layer.","This thickens the rubber loop.","The finished loop is called the band.","It's the skeleton of the giant tire.","They hoist it onto a cart and move it to the next station.","Stay tuned, as they shape and inflate this band of rubber to turn it into a giant tire.","When it comes to tires, it takes time to supersize.","Making a giant tire can take 24 hours or more, mainly because the rubber needs a lot of curing.","It's not mass production.","It's massiveproduction.","As a result, factories only produce a few of the largest ones a day.","This machine is about to stretch the big band of rubber like an elastic.","The machine pivots, and its many rollers expand and turn to transfer the band to a spinning drum.","The machine pumps air around the protruding rollers to make the transfer easier, while the drum turns at a constant speed to aid the process.","Once the transfer is complete, the rollers retract, and the air escapes.","This causes the rubber to shrink to the drum and take its shape.","They fold the overlap into the center of the drum.","The giant rubber band now has the basic contour of a tire.","Next, another machine coats numerous steel wires with rubber, creating strips of rubberized steel.","This will be used to make the bead-- the part of the tire that sits on the wheel rim.","They wind the rubberized steel around a metal wheel up to 20 times to form the bead.","They remove the bead and inspect it.","Then they pack a thick layer of rubber onto it so it will be easier to shape to the tire.","Using a special applicator wheel, they push the bead against the lip of the rubber tire shape.","The bead adheres, but it needs to be more solidly attached.","A spinning disk forces the bead more firmly to the rubber tire shape.","Then the tire assembler folds back the extra rubber from the tire and wraps it around the bead, using sheer physical strength.","They install two or three beads on each side of the tire.","The multiroller device takes over from the assembler and folds back extra rubber to lock the beads in place.","Next, the tire turns as they wind steel-belted rubber around it, followed by a continuous strip of ordinary rubber.","That strip builds up contours for tread.","The assembler then wraps a thick piece of ordinary rubber around the outer edge.","This is the tire's sidewall.","The spinning-disc device presses the sidewall to the tire.","This tire is now ready to move on.","Here, a huge rubber bladder inflates and deflates as they spray it with a nonstick coating.","This bladder will act as the inner part of a mold.","They lift the tire onto the deflated bladder.","They then pump steam into it, expanding the tire.","A metal mold with a tread pattern engraved in it closes around the swelling tire.","The tire cooks in this mold for up to 18 hours, causing the rubber to cure.","The giant tire pops out of the mold with tread.","The brand name and identification numbers have all been molded into the rubber.","After cooling, an inspection team examines the giant tire inside and out.","And once it gets the okay, it's ready to roll.","And with all that deep tread, each giant tire is guaranteed to make a big impression on the jobsite."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Hockey Gloves","Snack Cakes","Remolded Tires","Wastewater Treatment"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Hockey gloves...","Snack cakes...","Remolded tires...","And wastewater treatment.","Ice hockey can get pretty rough, so wearing the proper equipment is a must.","Hockey gloves protect the forearm, wrist, and hand.","A good glove has padding in all the right places, but is still lightweight and comfortable.","It also has to be flexible, so the player can hold and maneuver the hockey stick.","The covering material of a hockey glove is called the outer shell.","It can be made of genuine leather or synthetic leather.","There's even a new synthetic material called carbon that's tearproof, even if a sharp skate blade slashes it.","What it's made of is a closely guarded trade secret.","One hockey glove is made up of about 30 different parts, depending on the model.","Workers lay a die in the shape of each part on the outer-shell material.","A hydraulic press forces it down like a cookie cutter.","Workers then cut foam pieces to line the glove.","This low-density foam is stiff enough to provide protection, but flexible enough to enable the player to grip the stick properly.","A seamstress now lockstitches the outer-shell and foam-lining parts together, assembling each section of the glove separately.","After finishing the back of the hand, called the back roll, she pieces together the thumb.","She sews three sides closed.","One end stays open so they'll be able to insert more protective foam afterward.","These are the finger pieces.","The seamstress uses a tacking machine to sew up the sides and tack the corners for added strength, again leaving one end, the top, open.","Now they assemble the fingers to the base of the glove.","They use what's called a cylinder arm machine.","It has a narrow sewing surface that protrudes, making it easy to access the fingertips.","Next come the parts that make up the palm and the gusset, the piece that goes between the fingers and the palm.","Like before, workers cut the parts using a die.","The palm and gusset can be made of high-end synthetic suede or leather or even genuine leather.","The advantage of real leather is that it can be treated with an antibacterial product that combats odor caused by the hand sweating inside the glove.","Again, the seamstress uses the cylinder arm machine to sew the palm to the glove base, which already has the fingers attached.","Next, the glove goes onto a machine that's custom-made for the hockey-glove industry.","Using air pressure to power a piston, it injects pieces of high-density foam padding into the open end of the fingers.","High-density foam is rock-hard, so it provides maximum protection.","But high-density foam is too stiff to go into the thumb, which needs some flexibility.","So instead, they make what's called an armored thumb plate, which is essentially a plastic thumb shield.","A hot forge presses a flat piece of hard plastic onto an aluminum mold in the shape of the plate.","Then they wrap the plate in low-density foam and, with another machine custom-made for this purpose, inject it into the glove thumb.","The lower part of the glove is now complete.","A seamstress finishes off the edge with cotton tape.","All that's left is to do is assemble and attach the cuff.","The standard cuff is a little over 2 inches wide.","You can buy the gloves this company produces for retail stores, or order customized gloves with your name embroidered on the cuffs.","Professional hockey players have the factory build gloves to their own specifications with extra protection in key areas or certain adjustments that they feel give them an advantage on the ice.","The most important part of the glove is the palm.","That's the area that endures the most wear and tear.","The sturdier the palm material, the longer the glove will last.","But at the same time, the palm padding can't be too thick.","That would make the glove uncomfortable to wear and take away the player's feel for the hockey stick.","When marie antoinette said, \"let them eat cake,\" she probably didn't mean those mini jelly logs.","Still, in the realm of treats for the sweet tooth, snack cakes have been revolutionary.","They're just the right size for a quick snack and individually wrapped to stay fresh.","Veteran snackers will recognize this as a jelly log, a sponge cake rolled up with jam and a creamy filling.","First the factory bakes the sponge cake.","It comes out of the oven in continuous strips.","Those moving arms align the strips to receive the fillings.","One machine then does it all.","First it deposits an even layer of cream filling...","Then blobs of strawberry jam.","Now the rolling begins.","One side of the cake strip runs against a metal guide.","This lifts and folds over the edge.","Then the cake strips run against a second guide which rolls it over some more.","Now the machine cuts the continuous strip into separate cakes.","Then an automated roller completes the logs.","The jelly logs go onto a conveyor belt that positions them closer together, aligning them for the next phases of production.","They travel through a waterfall of strawberry-flavored syrup.","This sticky coating acts as a tasty glue to adhere the shredded coconut that showers them next.","The conveyor belt shakes off the excess which, like the excess strawberry syrup before, gets fed through the machine again.","Now, if all this doesn't have your sweet tooth tingling yet, the next snack cake will.","It's a chocolate cream cake covered in a chocolate coating.","Production begins in the mixer, where they combine eggs, a vegetable-oil mixture...","Flour...","Sugar...","Water...","Glucose, a liquid sweetener...","And cocoa powder.","The mixer blends the ingredients at high speed for one minute.","Then it pumps the batter into a machine called the automated depositor, which squirts the batter into cake molds.","The conveyor belt transports the mold pans to the oven.","The batter bakes for 7 minutes.","To achieve just the right texture, there's a very specific heating pattern.","Once the pans exit the oven, a robot flips the cakes upside down onto a conveyor belt.","It stacks the empty mold pans onto another conveyor that sends them back for more batter.","Now the cakes flip right side up onto a wire conveyor belt.","Air circulating between the wires cools the cakes.","The next machine aligns the cakes in position for the next phases of production.","First thin blades saw the cakes in half.","Then suction tubes remove the tops and place them next to the bottoms.","Next the machine drops a portion of cream filling on each bottom.","The cream is about the consistency of margarine.","As the feeder tube above each cake delivers it, a wire cutter slices off a piece about 1/4 of an inch thick.","Then the suction tubes put the tops back on.","Now the cakes pass through a shower of hot, chocolate-flavored liquid.","This coats the top and sides.","At the same time, the cakes travel through a bath of the liquid.","This coats the underside.","Air jets blow off the excess.","The cakes pass through a cooling tunnel.","This hardens the chocolate-flavored coating.","Then it's off to the packaging department.","The cakes file into a sheet of polypropylene film.","The machine seals, then cuts the film between each cake.","This keeps each one fresh until snack time.","If you need new tires for your car or truck and are looking to save money, you might consider buying retreaded or remolded tires.","Retreads are worn-out tires onto which the factory glues new rubber treads.","Remolds, on the other hand, are actually rebuilt.","This company specializes in remolding commercial truck tires.","The worn-out tire is called a casing.","This is a cross section.","That steel reinforcement rod, called the bead, won't be replaced.","But most of the rubber around it will be, along with most of the tread area.","The steel belts underneath the treads-- those dots-- will remain.","They begin the remolding process by thoroughly inspecting the casing to determine whether it's indeed salvageable.","They consider its age, whether it's had repairs.","They examine the steel components to make sure they haven't rusted.","If the casing passes inspection, it moves on to the buffing machine.","There, sharp blades spinning at high speed shear off most of the worn-out rubber tread.","Buffing prepares the surface so that the new rubber will adhere well and stand up to road friction.","Buffing takes about 6 minutes per tire.","It leaves just over 1/16 of an inch of tread on the casing.","Now they use a tool called a skiver to shave off any imperfections.","A rubber tire is like a car windshield-- even the smallest crack can spread outward, so it has to be stemmed.","After excising problem spots, they smooth them with a grinding stone.","Then they repeat the buffing-skiving-grinding procedure on the sides of the casing, but they use a less abrasive grinding stone because the sides don't need such aggressive treatment.","Unlike the tread area, they won't be subjected to road abrasion.","Now, using a drill, workers remove dirt and rust from each spot.","Then they work the area some more with a grinding wheel, so that the rubber they'll use to patch it will adhere properly.","Now they glue the patch from the inside with rubber cement, pressing out any air bubbles with a roller to ensure full contact.","Workers can now start rebuilding the tire.","They feed a rubber strip into a machine called an extruder.","First it heats up the strip, making it malleable.","Then it wraps it onto the casing, building up anywhere from two to four layers depending on how thick the customer wants the tire to be.","That depends on several factors-- for instance, how much traction the tire needs to have and whether the truck will be doing mostly local or long-distance driving.","Now they apply a wider rubber strip to the sides, building up one to three layers, the choice again depending on the customer's thickness needs.","Using a perforating roller, they release the trapped air.","This enables the layers to adhere well.","Now they sprinkle the tire with rubber powder, residue from the buffing.","This will prevent the tire from sticking to the mold.","The mold consists of sections which allows it to open wide enough to receive the tire.","The backward lettering inside will imprint the remolding company's brand name on the tire.","The mold applies about 220 pounds of pressure as well as heat--  320 degrees fahrenheit.","This fuses the molecules in the old and the new rubber-- a chemical reaction called polymerization.","Once the mold closes to begin this process, a tube inflates with air and fills the void.","This provides counterpressure, so that the tire doesn't get crushed.","Molding time is anywhere from an hour to an hour and 15 minutes per tire, depending on the thickness.","After extracting the tire, workers remove the seams of excess rubber with a special comb.","This remolded tire is now ready to hit the road at considerable cost savings.","Depending on the size and type, a remold is 30% to 60% cheaper than a new tire.","Have you ever wondered where all the rainwater goes, or the snow once it melts, or the water in your sink, tub, and toilet after you've used it?","This wastewater flows through the underground sewer system to a treatment plant.","The plant removes most of the pollutants, then releases the water into a lake or river.","The underground sewer network feeds into a regional interceptor, which is a kind of sewer highway that runs to the treatment plant.","The action begins at the plant's pumping station.","It doesn't look like much from above, but the building extends some 15 stories belowground, right through solid rock.","The wastewater collects in huge underground wells.","It's not a pretty sight.","It's full of dirt, garbage, and fecal matter.","It also contains high levels of phosphorus, a poisonous element in the nitrogen family harmful to waterways because it promotes the overgrowth of algae.","The water flows from the wells to giant pumps that force it to the surface.","The plant has backup generators to keep the pumps working in case of a blackout and devices to prevent water from backing up should a pump have to be shut down for servicing.","Once the wastewater reaches the surface, it flows through the pumping station down discharge channels leading to the treatment building.","Along the way, it's sprayed with either aluminum sulfate or ferric chloride, two chemical coagulants.","They gradually transform phosphorus in the water from liquid to solid so it can be removed later on.","Once the water reaches the treatment building, it flows through screens.","This preliminary filtration removes any solids larger than one inch in diameter-- such things as stones, paper, and plastic.","Giant presses compact this garbage, squeezing out the excess water.","Trucks then haul the stuff to a landfill, where it's buried.","The wastewater, meanwhile, flows into large tanks called grit chambers.","Grit refers to particles in the water such as gravel that are inorganic, meaning they don't decompose or burn.","These particles, some as tiny as a grain of sand, gradually settle to the bottom.","Then they're pumped out and trucked to the landfill.","To remove organic particles, mainly phosphorus, they add a polymer, a type of chemical compound.","This demonstration shows what happens.","Remember, as the wastewater left the pumping station, it was sprayed with coagulant.","That transformed the phosphorus in the water into solid particles.","The polymer solution completes the process.","It binds those particles, forming what are called \"flocs,\" masses of phosphorus that look like snowflakes.","They're heavier than water, so they sink to the bottom.","And that's exactly what occurs in the plant's clarifier tanks.","It takes about two hours for the flocs to settle at the bottom, forming a layer of sediment called \"sludge\".","A system of rakes and pumps collects the sludge and transfers it to the sludge treatment building.","Unless testing shows a need for additional treatment, the clarified, fully treated wastewater now flows to what's called the outfall, a series of channels that discharge into the river.","In the sludge-treatment building, they spray the wet sludge with another type of polymer.","This further solidifies it, so that filter presses can more easily squeeze out the water.","Most of the sludge goes into giant incinerators to be burned.","The ashes go to a landfill.","The gas that the incinerators emit powers several machines that dry and transform the remaining sludge into pellets.","These pellets are sold as organic fertilizer.","When it arrived at the plant, the wastewater was full of contaminants that harm aquatic life.","Now, after treatment, it contains 80% fewer suspended solids such as fecal matter and 75% less phosphorus."]}
{"meta":{"things":["High"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","High-precision cutting tools...","Stained glass...","Semi-trailers...","And recorders.","Industrial cutting tools are the metalworking components of factory machinery.","They're designed to form metal into product parts or into devices for making product parts.","High-tech industries use high-precision cutting tools.","These are the end mills-- tools specifically designed for cutting and shaping metal.","They're made from a very durable grade of steel or from tungsten carbide-- a metal even stronger than steel.","Steel bars in their raw state are actually soft enough to be cut and shaped.","But it takes loads of lubrication to cool the intense heat that metal-on-metal friction generates.","Using a giant band saw, they cut the bars into end-mill-size pieces, called blanks.","Workers turn each blank individually on a computer-guided metal lathe.","First, they form a point on one end.","Then they flatten the opposite end and drill a center hole.","Then they trim the diameter to the required size.","Next stop-- a computer-guided milling machine.","It works on three blanks at a time, carving helix-shaped ridges called flutes.","The flutes run almost the full length of the blank.","Once again, lubrication is essential to prevent overheating.","This milling process transforms each blank into a tool.","From this point on, the shorter, smooth portion is called the shank, the longer, fluted portion, the cutting end.","Here's the same milling process again but for a different model.","Here are both models before and after.","Now they cure the steel using a two-step heat-treatment process.","The first stage hardens the metal, using molten salt-- salt that's been heated until it liquefies.","They soak the tools in five progressively hotter salt baths, whose temperatures range from 1,200 to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit.","The second phase of heat treatment is a process called induction.","They set each tool into a large metal coil.","The coil's internal magnetic field generates intense heat, which softens the shank, making it more flexible.","Now the finishing process.","They run the shank against a grinding wheel, whose grit is made of diamond particles.","This gives it the strength to erode steel with a high degree of precision.","They verify the final diameter using a digital micrometer.","Then a robotic arm runs the tools-- one at a time-- through a high-precision automated grinding machine, this time to finish the cutting end.","The machine uses diamond grinding wheels to grind the precise cutting angles and finalize the diameter.","More complex tools go into this even more sophisticated grinding machine.","It, too, uses diamond wheels and runs robotically.","The end mills are now completed.","This factory makes high-precision cutting tools, primarily for the aerospace and automotive industries, where precision is everything.","So at each stage of the production process, the factory verifies measurements using various optical and digital instruments.","This sensing probe conducts the final quality-control test.","It scans each and every finished end mill to ensure that the surface is as smooth as silk.","These high-precision cutting tools are now ready to be put to work machining aluminum, titanium, and different types of steel.","Around 1,000 a.d., craftsmen began making intricate window designs using lead--  rather than wood or plaster-- between pieces of colored glass.","Before long, the church began commissioning stained-glass windows depicting religious scenes to adorn the great cathedrals of europe.","You can make stained glass two ways-- using copper foil, a technique developed about 100 years ago by the american artist louis comfort tiffany, or you can use the centuries-old european lead technique, which we're about to see.","First, the artist lays a plate of glass over a pattern and traces the parts of the design that she'll cut from that plate.","Then she scores her trace line using a glass cutter.","A quick snap, and the glass separates neatly.","She follows the same procedure with different colors and textures of glass, making all the pieces of the design.","By running the cutter slightly inside the trace line, she leaves room for the strip of lead that will later hold the pieces of glass together.","Once she finishes cutting all the pieces, she checks them against the pattern, making sure they'll fit together properly.","Now it's time to assemble the pieces, using the pattern as a guide.","This zinc molding will frame the panel, its inner groove fitting over the edge of the glass.","The artist positions this molding along the perimeter of the pattern.","Then she drills an l-shaped wood frame into the worktable to hold everything in place during assembly.","A few nails keep the molding in place.","She'll join the pieces of glass using strips of lead, called came.","Lead is used because it's soft enough to bend to the shape of the pieces.","After straightening out a long strip of came, she cuts the various lengths she needs to border each piece of glass.","The came is shaped in such a way that the glass on each side just slides right under.","The cutting pliers, called nippers, are specially designed to slice through the came without deforming it.","Once the artist finishes assembling the glass pieces, she pushes everything gently against the wood frame.","This squares the panel and ensures the pieces fit together snugly.","Now she brushes on flux, a type of acid.","This cleans the lead came so that the solder will adhere well.","Using a soldering iron, she applies a bead of lead-and-tin solder wherever two strips of lead meet.","Then she uses a short-bristled brush to coat the lead in black putty.","This makes the seams watertight and gives the lead a darker, aged look.","Finally, she sprinkles on calcium chloride powder, called whiting.","This sets the putty and polishes the glass and lead to a shine.","After four painstaking hours, the panel is finished.","More elaborate stained-glass works feature hand-painted detailing.","The artist first prepares the design on paper, then cuts the pieces of glass accordingly.","He paints the design outline on the pieces in black, then fires them in a kiln to set the paint.","To create shading, he applies a coat of brown paint called grisaille.","Using a dry brush, he removes it from the parts he wants to highlight.","Then he fires the glass again.","Now he paints in the fine details and fires the glass for one last time.","The paint contains powdered glass, so the intense heat of the kiln bonds it to the glass pieces.","The result is nothing short of spectacular.","For those of you who flunked truck anatomy 101, here's a quick review.","The front of the truck, where the driver sits, is called the cab.","The back that carries the cargo is the trailer.","A semi-trailer is a type of trailer whose front end goes on the same wheels as the rear end of the cab.","This type of semi-trailer is called a van.","It has a closed-in compartment for transporting cargo that needs protection from the elements.","To make the coupler plate-- the part that attaches the van to the truck cab-- they submerge steel plates in water to quell the smoke that metal-cutting generates.","They use a computer-guided plasma cutter.","This powerful torch ejects hot gas at high pressure, slicing through the metal with detailed precision.","Elsewhere in the factory, they take prepainted aluminum panels and rivet them onto aluminum or steel support posts...","The same way drywall goes onto 2x4s in house construction.","These thin, lightweight panels will be the van's exterior walls.","Plywood on the reverse side makes up the interior walls.","A computerized sensor guides the robotic drills to drive screws through the plywood, into the support posts underneath.","For heated or refrigerated vans, there's a layer of insulation in the walls.","The floor is made of either laminated hardwood or aluminum screwed onto narrow steel beams.","After assembling the walls, the steel door frame, and doors, workers install a steel floor plate at the doorway.","This protects the floor from damage when truckers load and unload their cargo by forklift.","Workers fold aluminum flashing over the roof's perimeter to prevent water infiltration.","Fiberglass roofing like this allows daylight into the van.","Aluminum roofing doesn't, so those vans sometimes have electric lighting.","Another type of semi-trailer is the flatbed-- an open trailer used mostly for hauling raw materials, such as logs and pipes.","Heavier flatbed models are made of thick, higher-grade steel.","Workers cut the bulkier parts using what's called an automatic oxy cutter.","It combines two gases to create a flame intense enough to slice right through metal.","Once cut, the parts have to be formed to the required shape.","To do that, workers use what's called a press brake-- a machine that applies up to 330 tons of pressure-- to bend the steel.","They measure the result to ensure it meets design specifications.","The chassis will have two main beams running the length of the flatbed.","A semiautomatic robot welds together the various sections that make up each beam.","A worker follows behind, inspecting the joints and removing welding residue.","Now they position two main beams side by side, inserting steel cross members through them to support the floor.","They install the coupler plate and other components, then weld everything together.","Flatbeds come in extendable versions designed to accommodate loads of various lengths.","They extend and retract on steel rollers operated by controls located inside the truck cab.","With the chassis complete, they can now work on the axle assembly.","Semi-trailers have an air-brake system.","When the driver applies the brakes, there's a release of air pressure into the brake chambers, triggering the brake shoes to bear down on the brake drums and stop the vehicle.","Once the wheels and suspension system are in place, workers install the axle assembly under the trailer.","The average semi-trailer weighs between five and seven tons and can haul up to five times its weight.","The recorder is a type of flute that's played vertically.","It consists of a mouthpiece that works like a whistle, connected to a tube with finger holes.","Mass-produced plastic recorders are a staple of elementary school music programs.","Real musicians, though, play finer wooden recorders.","The recorder dates back to medieval europe, though it was likely modeled after flutes from asia.","Back then, recorders were called flutes.","And, by 1500, they were among the most popular musical instruments.","Around 1750, though, the new transverse flute banished the recorder to musical oblivion.","It took a 20th-century revival of music from the renaissance and baroque periods to bring the long-forgotten recorder some noteworthy attention.","A recorder is composed of three hollow sections made of a lightweight hardwood, such as boxwood.","Crafting one section at a time, they find a portion free of cracks, knots, and other faults, then cut away the surrounding wood using a band saw.","They measure the block's diameter to ensure it's large enough.","Then they carefully mark and drill through the midpoint in order to mount the block on a lathe.","Precision is critical.","The block must be perfectly centered as they round it into a cylinder.","Next, they use a large drill to widen the inside hole, known as the bore.","They enlarge it enough to insert a tool called a reamer.","Then they ream the bore to the final diameter, which varies according to the size of the recorder.","The bore tapers slightly toward the bottom of the instrument.","The cylinder, now a tube, goes back on a lathe.","The smooth pencil line means the bore is straight and the tube is centered.","They trim the outside to reduce it to the right diameter, checking the measurement with the help of calipers.","Then it's back onto a lathe for the final profiling.","This is where the maker gets to flaunt his artistry, embellishing the tube with ornamentation typical of the baroque period.","It takes about an hour and a half to cut and shape the recorder's three sections-- the head joint, the middle joint, and the foot joint.","Now they smooth the surface of each joint with fine sandpaper.","Then it's back to the technical tasks.","Locking the middle and foot joints in a vise, they drill the finger holes-- seven holes down the front and one in the back for the thumb.","For the recorder to play in tune, they must follow the precise measurements specified in the technical drawing.","In the head joint, they cut a flat canal called the windway.","It directs the air that's blown into the instrument.","Next, they carve out a rectangular window with a sloped opening, called the labium.","The labium is what regulates the recorder's tone-- the sound quality-- so its size and angle are critical.","The air the musician blows into the mouthpiece travels down the windway and hits the sharp edge of the labium.","This creates a whistle effect, thanks to a block of wood closing off the top of the instrument.","They use cedar because it never rots, despite years of hot air and saliva blowing on it.","They complete the head joint by beveling the top.","This forms the mouthpiece.","Now they glue a thin layer of cork around all the joint ends.","This creates a snug fit when the instrument's assembled.","They test the recorder's tone and tuning, making adjustments to the workings if necessary.","Next, they stain the wood, then wax and buff it to a shine.","Recorders have a 2-octave--  or 16-note-- range, and they come in about 15 different sizes.","The longer and wider the instrument is, the lower its register.","The shorter and thinner it is, the higher the sound it produces."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gingerbread Houses","Livestock Trailers","Bottom Rolling Hangar Doors","Toy Figurines"]},"text":["Gingerbread houses are a holiday tradition.","It used to take a fair amount of time and baking expertise to make one.","But today, there are kits and even pre-assembled gingerbread houses that make the process a breeze.","There's something about this edible edifice that makes the holidays seem more special.","With a kit, you can let the factory handle the tricky part and just have fun with the trimmings.","To make a gingerbread house kit, the factory starts with baking soda.","Then a worker adds a scoop of salt, measuring the ingredients by weight.","He transfers the baking soda and salt to a mixer.","He measures the spices-- cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.","There's actually a lot more cinnamon than ginger in gingerbread.","But the flavor of the ginger is more pronounced.","He closes the mixer, and the system adds water, molasses, and sugar.","At the top of the mixer, he tosses in a block of vegetable shortening.","The mixer combines all the ingredients and blends in the flour.","The result is a putty-like dough.","A spiraling machine helps move the dough onto a conveyor.","A roller flattens the chunks so they won't fall off during the steep climb.","The conveyor delivers the chunks of dough to a machine called a sheeter.","It gets this name because it rolls the pieces into a seemingly endless sheet.","A large cookie cutter comes down.","It punches out the various shapes needed to form the gingerbread house.","The cookie cutouts land on moving rubber-coated wires.","Separators between the wires trim the excess gingerbread dough, which is captured and mixed into the next batch.","Then the cookies transfer to a mesh conveyor, which takes them up to a baking sheet belt.","The cookies travel slowly through a long convection oven that's heated to just over 160 degrees.","Here's an inside look.","At any time, there are parts for 150 gingerbread kits in this oven.","The baked gingerbread exits the oven and transfers to a spiral conveyor.","After a 30-minute ride, the dough is cool and firm.","Workers stack the pieces for one gingerbread house onto a piece of cardboard.","They're ready to be packaged with the rest of the kit.","Factory workers assemble the houses for certain retailers.","They glue the gingerbread structure together with royal icing made of confectioner's sugar and egg whites.","It dries fast, giving this gingerbread house instant structural integrity.","For the customer, all that's left is the decorating.","Elsewhere in the factory, they make the icing for the kits.","Plastic packaging moves toward hot jaws that seal the bottom.","Then a robot grabs a package and opens the top.","A fill nozzle pumps icing into it.","Another robot applies an applicator tip and heat-seals the plastic around it.","The tubes of sugary icing fall on to a conveyor.","A worker places them in a box for transfer to the kit-assembly station.","These gingerbread houses are ready for retail.","Decorated with icing and candy, they look good enough to eat.","Livestock should be transported in a vehicle that keeps them comfortable and protects them from injury and stress.","The best way to haul cattle and horses humanely is in a livestock trailer.","They're designed to be easy to load, unload, and clean out.","A proper livestock trailer keeps its passengers as comfortable as possible.","It's built to reduce rattling and other stress-inducing noises.","It lets in natural light, which has a calming effect, and it has openings along the sides to circulate air.","A designer builds a 3-d model on a computer then breaks it down into units for assembly.","The factory orders long pieces of extruded aluminum designed for the trailer model then cuts them to specific lengths.","To construct the floor, workers slide planks into end rails.","They pull the planks tightly together using ratchet straps then weld them to the rails.","They weld two flat aluminum bars across the planks as floor supports.","The floor is upside down during this part of the assembly.","Once they flip it over, these supporters will be under the floor planks.","Next, they install the axles, two or three depending on the size and style of the trailer.","These steel axles are mounted to a steel frame that provides structural support for the trailer.","To attach the frame, they drill holes for lock bolts and lock collars.","They use a special tool to squeeze the collar down into the bolt.","This ensures the bolt won't loosen with vibration.","Now they flip the floor over.","They weld the reverse side of the rails to the floor planks using a track welder.","To construct the trailer walls, they weld together horizontal slants, uprights, and a top rail.","They connect the wall to the floor then weld it in place.","This trailer is designed for a warm climate, so the side walls have openings at the top to improve air flow.","Several parts of the trailer are cut from sheets of textured aluminum called tread plate.","After welding on a large piece of tread plate for the trailer's front wall, they attach the gooseneck nose.","This nose connects the trailer to the back of a pickup truck.","It can also transport tools, feed, and baby animals.","Trailers that don't have a gooseneck are called bumper hitches.","They connect to the back of a tow vehicle.","Workers attach the gooseneck using welds and lock bolts.","They build the trailer's access gates the same way as the walls-- cutting aluminum extrusions to specific lengths, assembling them, then welding the parts together.","They mount the gates by welding the hinge plates to the wall structure.","The roof can either be a sheet of aluminum or a sheet of translucent woven glass fiber.","They pull the sheet taut then rivet it to the top rail of the walls.","They add an aluminum strip to secure the roof in high winds.","Workers install reflective tape and l.e.d. lights where transport regulations require them.","A rubber grommet around each light reduces vibration and prevents water infiltration.","Workers complete the assembly by mounting the wheels and tires onto the axles.","They add a spare tire under the gooseneck and a vinyl graphic decal on the side wall.","After a thorough inspection, they give the trailer a mild acid wash to remove any grease and handprints.","The factory can customize any trailer design.","This includes higher windows for horses or installing troughs so the driver can give the animals food and water.","Every trailer is designed for easy cleaning, which includes unloading the livestock, removing the bedding material and manure, as well as pressure-washing the floor.","A hangar is a closed building structure designed for storing aircraft or spacecraft.","They provide protection from direct sun exposure and bad weather.","As aircrafts grew bigger, so did their hangars.","Many hangars today use giant bottom-rolling doors.","The bottom-rolling hangar door moves along rails embedded in the floor and top guide beams built into the ceiling.","They use several smaller panels to construct the 184-foot-wide hangar door.","An oxy fuel cutter carves door parts out of a carbon-steel plate.","The torches heat up the metal, then blast it with oxygen.","This creates iron oxide, which melts and flows out of the cut.","The operator uses an iron rod to lift the machined parts off of the burn table.","He cleans up the edges with an electric grinder and removes any iron oxide left over from the cutting process.","The machined parts go to a cnc mill, which turns each round blank into a wheel.","A carbide insert carves the rail's tread profile into the steel.","The machine sprays coolant to prevent overheating, which would warp the finished wheel.","Next, a machinist uses a smaller blank to make an upper-guide roller.","The mill runs at a speed of approximately 200 rotations per minute.","It quickly turns the round blank into a finished roller ready for assembly.","A worker starts fitting rollers inside the upper guide head.","He inserts them into machined holes in the steel housing and tack-welds them in place.","He positions the larger rollers outside the upper guide head housing.","These rollers will bear the load of the door.","Using a metal sheet as a gauge, he sets the clearance between the roller and the housing then welds the parts together.","A cnc drilling machine prepares to make the outside frame of the door panels.","A pressure sensor on the drill moves its carbide insert back automatically as soon as it pierces the surface.","Meanwhile, two welders assemble the bottom door truck on a welding jig.","They weld a spacer to the main beam using an electric mig welder.","They tack-weld the tube in place then bring in the side channel of the door truck assembly.","They clamp the side channel tightly against the spacer tube.","Then weld the spacers to the beam, making a clean, continuous weld.","A worker sand-blasts the door truck assembly.","He blows compressed air and sand to prepare the metal surface for painting.","Using a spray gun, a worker applies corrosion-resistant metal primer on the door truck and leaves it to dry.","Workers assemble the panels before the door leaves the shop.","They use high-strength structural bolts to assemble the parts.","Workers install the unitized operator assembly.","It contains the engine powering the bottom roller wheels.","A worker bolts the electrical control panel to the operator assembly frame.","He puts the cabinet door in place and secures the hinge.","Tightened brace cables keep the door square and prevent racking.","They mount the upper guide on a telescoping assembly.","They add the door's corrugated exterior panels, and it's ready to ship.","At the push of a button, the assembled door slowly opens.","Each panel rolls on the bottom rail and hangs from the top guide rail.","The door opens wide enough to let the aircraft through.","Playing make-believe is a common pastime for children.","Research shows that playing with dolls and toy figurines can improve a child's creativity, communication, and social skills.","This includes problem solving and empathizing.","Whether it's an animal, person, or fictional creature, a toy figurine can be a passport to a fantasy world where imagination rules and the story plays out in the child's hands.","The toy company designers study photographs or drawings of the creature they plan to create.","Then they prepare a sketch of the figurine showing the physical characteristics, such as size, colors, and textures.","Once the sketch is finalized, they use specialized software to transform it into a 3-dimensional model.","Then a 3-d printer creates a plastic model.","The company also employs traditional wax modelers.","It may look like a slow process, but an experienced wax modeler can often sculpt a model faster than a computer.","The company's engineers determine whether the toy should be produced in one piece or multiple parts.","Then the modeler makes a wax or plastic model accordingly.","This particular dino is divided into four parts-- head, body, jaw, and tongue.","For each part, workers create a silicone mold, which will be used to make several copies in hard plastic.","Workers place the model of the dino's head in a box then fill the box with silicone.","It takes about 12 hours for the silicone to cure.","Then they cut it open and extract the model.","They use the vacated cavity to cast several hard-plastic copies of the part.","The art department uses most of them to sample paint colors.","One copy, however, goes to the company's tool makers, who use it to make the production mold.","They bury the copy in putty up to the midpoint.","They leave the top half of the copy exposed.","Next, they set the half-buried copy in a metal form and fill it with plaster.","Once the plaster hardens, they cure it in an oven for about an hour then they extract the copy.","What's left in the plaster is a cavity in the shape of half the dinosaur.","They fill the cavity with molten zinc, alloyed with copper, aluminum, and magnesium.","Once the metal cools and solidifies, they break the plaster, revealing one half of the two-part metal production mold.","They repeat the entire process to make the other half.","Workers mount the two-part dino mold in an injection molding machine.","The machine shoots hot, molten plastic into the metal mold cavity.","The machine immediately cools the plastic then releases the figurine.","The plastic is solid but still soft, so they dip it in cold water.","This hardens it further.","Next, artists hand-paint the figurines using both traditional and airbrushes.","The paint is nontoxic and very durable.","It's designed to flex with the plastic to prevent cracking.","It also withstands abrasion because children often drag these toys along the ground.","Once the paint dries, they assemble the toy.","A worker glues the dino's tongue into the hinged jaw, snaps the jaw into the head, then glues the head to the body.","The company performs safety testing on every new figurine designed.","This tensile test makes sure a child can't pull or bite off a piece of the toy.","Chemical analysis confirmed both the plastic and the paint are completely nontoxic.","So this dino may look dangerous, but in reality, he's perfectly harmless.","This ferocious beast is ready to hit the playground."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Foosball Tables","Marseille Soap","Laguiole Pocket Knives"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Table football was first patented by a british inventor in 1923.","It became popular throughout europe with leagues forming by the 1950s.","A decade later, an american working in west germany brought the game to the u.s., trademarking the german word for it, foosball.","In france, the game of foosball is known as baby foot.","This company produces ready-made, as well as custom-made tables like this one featuring biker players.","Production begins at a foundry, where workers melt down bars of aluminum.","An injection-molding machine shoots the molten aluminum into molds in the shape of players.","A robot removes the casting from the injection machine.","The mold yields four players, each one sporting the manufacturer's name on the front of his jersey.","A worker places each casting on a press then, with one strike, separates the four players and cuts off excess metal.","A computer-guided machine drills a hole in the center of each player, through which the rod will pass.","Then the machine threads a hole through the player's back for the screw that secures the player to the rod.","Another machine saws a 2-millimeter gap in the back to allow clearance for a screwdriver to tighten the player onto the rod.","Once ready, the players move to the foosball table factory, where a worker sprays on a base coat of white paint.","Once that dries, workers continue painting the players but, now, using an airbrush.","They mask the player's body to paint only his head.","The company offers a selection of skin tones.","Then they mask the player with another stencil, covering the skin and exposing the shirt and socks.","Next, they mask everything except the player's head and feet.","A player can be brunette, blonde or redhead.","They paint the shoes black then the player's eyes and mouth.","Manufacturers construct the table out of solid beech.","A computer-guided milling machine profiles the wood components, drills the required holes, and engraves the company name.","Workers then assemble the parts, starting with the four sides, which connect with bolted steel rods and glue.","After closing up the ends with wood panels, workers install wood support bars which will reinforce the table and, after a goal, direct the ball to the ball return tray.","The table now goes to the paint shop where workers either stain the wood or leave it natural.","For this model, they also spray red stain into the recessed stripes and logo.","All tables receive a finishing coat of transparent varnish to protect the wood.","They install the sloped ball-return panel.","When a player scores, the ball rolls down the panel to an aluminum ball-return tray.","After sliding the plywood table bottom into place, workers turn the table right-side up, mount the aluminum goal nets, and the scoring units right behind them.","Then they lay the playing surface, made of green vinyl on pressed wood, on top of the wooden support bars.","Wood trim around the perimeter holds the surface in place.","A worker mounts the players for each line onto a hollow stainless-steel rod.","Using a template to space them correctly, he bolts each player to the rod then attaches a rubber bumper to the players at each end to prevent them from slamming against the side walls.","He inserts a narrower stainless-steel rod into the hollow bar to make it telescopic.","After preparing eight rods of players, a worker installs them in the table.","The telescoping handle end of the rod has spring-loaded bearing that fits in a hole in the table.","He secures it from the outside.","After bolting the opposite end, workers protect the top edge of the table with a plastic trim.","After threading plastic handles to the telescopic end of the rods and mounting the tables on four sturdy, solid-wood legs, this foosball table is ready for kickoff.","Marseille soap is a vegetable oil-based soap first handcrafted in the port city of marseille, france, in the middle ages.","This gentle hypoallergenic all-purpose block soap became prized across europe for washing clothes, dishes, floors, and cleansing oneself.","Marseille soap is crafted from just four traditional ingredients with no animal fats, colorants, perfumes or preservatives.","It's still produced today as it has been for more than 600 years.","The four ingredients are sea salt, water, on the right, caustic soda and either coconut oil, palm oil or, most often, olive pomace oil, the second oil extracted from olives after they've been pressed to extract virgin olive oil for consumption.","A worker releases the required quantities of oil and caustic soda into a cooking cauldron, then brings the mixture to a boil while stirring for 1 to 2 days.","The fatty acids in the oil react to the alkaline caustic soda, producing a thick soap paste containing glycerin, a natural compound.","This transformation is known as saponification.","Workers add more caustic soda and cook to 248 degrees fahrenheit for another day.","They wash the paste with saltwater two or three times, each washing lasting half a day.","This removes impurities and glycerin.","Without glycerin, the soap has better detergent power to remove grease stains on fabric.","Next, over the course of a day, the workers repeatedly rinse the boiling soap paste with freshwater.","Then they let it set for 2 days.","They reheat the paste for about 10 minutes at 158 degrees fahrenheit, just to resoften it enough to be pumped to a series of super heaters.","The super heaters heat the paste to 230 degrees fahrenheit, liquefying it.","As the liquid soap leaves the last super heater, it passes through a nozzle, which sprays it onto the walls of an atomizer.","The atomizer cools the soap under a vacuum, solidifying it into a dry moldable consistency.","Motorized blades then scrape the dried soap from the atomizer walls.","The soap falls directly into an extrusion machine, which works much like a pasta maker.","The machine forces the soap through small round dies as revolving blades chop it into noodles.","As the soap noodles fall into the conveyer belt, the soap workshop chief inspects the quality by assessing the color, the aroma, and the texture.","At the company's in-house lab, a technician conducts quality-control tests on samples drawn from each production run.","In this test, he measures the percentage of pure soap.","He weighs the sample, then heats it in a microwave oven for 10 minutes to evaporate all the moisture.","This leaves only pure soap without water.","He reweighs the sample to calculate the percentage of pure soap as well as the oil content, which must be 72%.","The factory sells a portion of its marseille soap noodles to companies who mold their own soap bars.","It also molds a house brand right here, compressing the noodles into a homogeneous paste that extruding the long continuous bar.","An automated guillotine slices the bar into the selected shape.","The conveyer belt ferries the cubes to the stamping machine, which stamps all six sides.","Each cube bears the company's name and logo, the soap's oil content, and the savon de marseille designation, attesting that this is indeed authentic, traditionally made marseille soap.","For centuries, people have migrated back and forth across the french-spanish border.","The traditional laguiole pocketknife is a result of the mixing of these cultures.","It's a blend of an arab-hispanic knife, called the navaja, with a southern french knife, known as the capuchadou.","These are not pocketknives for camping trips.","They're high end cutlery, perfect for slicing through delicious french cheeses.","They feature the unmistakable wavy pattern of damascus steel.","To recreate the legendary metal known as damascus steel, a cutler, who is an artisan who specializes in knifemaking, stacks alternating layers of nickel and carbon steel.","He then uses a grinder to even the edges for the next step.","He welds the nine layers of carbon steel and eight layers of nickel steel together.","He begins the forging process by placing the layers in a coal-fired forge where they heat up to 1,472 degrees fahrenheit.","Step-by-step, the layers will be forged into a single piece of damascus steel.","An automated hammer pounds the layers, forcing them to bind to each other at the molecular level.","As the powerful hammering process forces the layers together into a unified piece of steel, it also flattens out and lengthens the metal.","The cutler can then break the piece in three places and layer them all together.","This triples the number of layers from 17 to 51.","The cutler will repeat this process again and again until the steel has around 300 layers.","Here, a cutler prepares a specialized model of laguiole pocketknife, which will have a distinctive shape.","He continues the forging process of heating and hammering.","The carbon steel will give the knife its sharp edge, while the nickel will provide flexibility.","This manufacturer uses the forged steel to create several different types of blades for its pocketknives.","A cutler places the formed blades in an oven where the intense heat will help flatten them.","Once a blade has cooled, a cutler cuts it to size, drills a hinge hole, and uses a belt sander to reduce its width to about a tenth of an inch.","Next, a worker will heat and rapidly cool the blades to temper them before sharpening them.","He then dips then into a solution of ferric chloride to reveal the unique wave patterns in the damascus steel.","There's more to a pocketknife than just the blade.","This manufacturer hand crafts each component of its knives.","To create the bolster component, a cutler starts by heating a third-of-an-inch stainless-steel rod.","Once the steel reaches 1,562 degrees fahrenheit, he then stamps it into a mold.","The production process can stamp out 20 bolsters in just 12 seconds.","Once they've cooled, a cutler spot-welds them to a blade.","To shape the spring plate, which forms part of the folding mechanism, a cutler heats one end up to 1,562 degrees fahrenheit.","He uses a specialized tool to stamp the top portion flat.","This flat surface will be the starting point for cutlers to create the bee figure, an emblematic feature of laguiole knives.","Workers start by reducing the surface to a triangular shape.","Using a series of different files, the cutler carefully sculpts the bee's eyes, body, and wings.","It seems that pierre-jean calmels, the inventor of the laguiole knife, used a bee symbol in 1829, and the cutlers have been using ever since to set the knife apart from other types.","Cutlers shape the entire spring plate, and it takes more than skilled work with a few files to complete.","Stay tuned to see how high-tech instruments refine the images before workers assemble the rest of the knife.","Even the simplest one-piece knife requires 109 production steps to complete.","In the 1820s, cutlers began crafting laguiole pocketknives in aubrac, france.","The tradition came to an end after world war i but was revived in the late 1980s.","Today, the artisans of aubrac blend time-honored craftsmanship with advanced technology.","To carve each unique spring plate, a cutler starts by placing one in a vice.","With the metal stabilized, the cutler can focus on carving with the aid of powerful magnifiers.","The tungsten carbide drill bits he uses are no larger than four-tenths of a millimeter.","No wonder the details on each spring are so precise.","To temper the steel, the cutler heats it to 1,886 degrees fahrenheit for several minutes.","Next, he cools it suddenly in a bath of oil.","He will then heat it to 446 degrees fahrenheit for 1 hour to complete the process.","This manufacturer makes the knife-handles from different materials, including antlers, wood and bone.","When making a handle from bone, a cutler starts by slicing it into sections with a specialized blade.","He then cuts the slices into smaller sections that approximate the sides of a knife-handle.","Cutlers can use the bone with its natural color or immerse it in a stain for several hours.","All of the components for this laguiole pocketknife are complete.","The cutler uses a belt sander to give the spring a light sanding.","Next, using the same tool, he begins working the bone handle components.","With the framework of the knife as a template, he carefully reduces both of the components to their required dimensions, achieving a perfect fit.","With the metal as a guide, he uses a drill press to pierce holes in the bone.","With the practiced hand of a skilled artisan, the cutler drills the famed shepherd's cross pattern by eye.","The shepherd's cross is another signature of laguiole knives.","The cutler connects the spring to the components known as scales, which form the internal structure of the knife.","To join the parts, he inserts stainless-steel pins and hammers them flat on either side to hold them firmly in place.","He inserts short lengths of thin steel wire into the holes drilled to form the shepard's cross.","He now begins adding the bone side covers, which will form the knife-handle.","He carefully screws the bone covers securely to the scales from the inside with three stainless-steel screws per side.","He then snips off the ends of the screws that protrude.","Now, he can install the damascus steel blade.","He does this by inserting a stainless-steel pin through the hinge hole.","Teflon washers will keep the opening and folding operation smooth and functional.","The cutler uses a specialized clamp to grip the knife as he installs the pin at the back of the spring.","This pin, together with the one that holds the blade, are the two essential elements of the laguiole knife mechanism.","With the belt sander, the cutler now refines the handle, smoothing the pins, and rounding the edges of the bone covers.","A final polish gives the bone a shiny finish that highlights the iconic shepherd's cross, an innovation introduced to allow shepherds to celebrate mass, even when far from a church.","A cutler puts an extra fine edge on the finished knife with the help of a belt sander that has a fine-grit sandpaper.","The cutler makes several passes on a piece of leather with a practiced hand to give the knife its final edge.","This knife is now ready to join the legendary company of other laguiole pocketknives and peel a ripe apple or slice some aged cheese.","Bon appétit."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Speed Skates","Synthetic Rubber","Cocoa Beans","Bulk Chocolate"]},"text":["The first ice skates were invented in northern europe about a thousand years ago when people began lacing animal bones to the soles of their boots to cross frozen water.","In 1592, a scotsman invented an iron skate blade, and before long, the sport of speed skating took off.","These elite-level racing skates are produced by a small company cofounded by a canadian speed skater, a three-time olympic medalist in short track.","Every single pair is custom-made.","After measuring a skater's feet, a technician applies layers of wet plaster bandages, the same way one makes a cast for a broken limb, only here, each foot cast is comprised of two parts.","Each cast serves as the first-stage mold for a skate boot.","The plaster bandages take 5 to 10 minutes to harden and dry, at which point the technician carefully removes the mold one part at a time, then reassembles it with elastic bands.","He surrounds the mold, called a negative, with sand.","He then pours liquid plaster into the negative to produce a positive mold.","The sand provides counterpressure so that the plaster can't push the walls outward and distort their shape.","The plaster fully cures in an hour or two, at which point the negative mold can come off.","Then the technician mixes up some thicker plaster pigmented to make it easily visible against the dried, white plaster.","He applies it in select areas, touching up imperfections and tweaking the shape of the mold.","He files the toes and the rest of the contours smooth, producing the final shape of the boot.","He labels the finished mold with the skater's name and puts it in the storeroom until it's time to begin constructing the skate boots.","Construction begins with boot lining.","They staple a piece of genuine leather to the mold, pulling taut because any wrinkles in the lining would irritate the skater's foot.","Next, they glue on the various structural pieces, such as this ankle padding.","It's made of memory foam so it gradually forms to the skater's ankle and holds the shape.","The next step is the most technically critical because it determines the angle of the skate blade.","They apply a epoxy-resin putty to the front and back of the sole and adhere two aluminum blade holders...","Then prop up the boot as the putty dries over the next four hours or so.","Once the putty's hard, they sand off the excess to lighten the skate and round out the remainder.","Then they begin constructing the outside of the boot.","First, they layer pieces of carbon fiber, a strong fabric commonly used in high-performance sports products.","They tie the bottom piece around the blade holders with strong thread and bind the layers with spray adhesive.","Next, they slip a plastic bag over the boot...","Tie off the ends...","And vacuum out the air.","This tightly compresses the layers of carbon fiber.","Now they inject resin, a type of liquid plastic, and distribute it evenly throughout the bag.","The resin impregnates the carbon fiber.","After a couple of hours, the resin dries and hardens, leaving the carbon-fiber boot stiff and durable.","Next, they glue on the outside of the boot, made of vinyl.","Once the glue dries, they remove the plaster mold and stitch the vinyl in place.","They also take a vinyl lace cover, sew one side of it to the boot, and attach the other side with a hook and loop fastener.","That way it hinges open and closed for lacing and unlacing the skate.","The final step is to attach the inline wheels, or steel blades, to the blade holders.","Synthetic rubber was invented in 1909, but the technology languished for a couple of decades.","A shortage of natural rubber during world war ii spurred its development.","A kind of elastic plastic, it was actually more resistant to temperature extremes than natural rubber.","Synthetic rubber reinvented the wheel.","We're talking about the rubber tire.","Tires for all kinds of vehicles are now made from it.","This manmade material is also used to make everything from garden hoses to golf balls.","Manufacturing synthetic rubber is now a computerized process, one that takes place under the watchful eye of a control-room operator.","He monitors numerous computer screens and live camera images.","The plant itself is 437 yards long.","There are a dozen or more enormous storage tanks for the raw materials, as well as several reactor units.","The raw materials include a petroleum-based liquid called butadiene and solvent called hexane.","They pipe these ingredients through columns to boil off any residual water, essentially purifying them.","This is a laboratory demonstration of what happens next.","They combine the purified butadiene and hexane and add a catalyst.","The catalyst triggers a reaction that changes the chemistry.","The mix becomes polybutadiene, a kind of synthetic rubber used to make tires.","Adding another catalyst stops the reaction at just the right moment.","The white, milky liquid that exits the tank is synthetic rubber.","They now pump in chemicals to tailor the rubber for a specific use, in this case tires.","The additives will increase traction and improve wear.","A mechanized whisk stirs the additives into the liquid rubber.","They pipe the synthetic concoction into insulated storage tanks.","Inside, pumps mix it constantly so the additives don't settle on the bottom.","Here's a close-up look at the liquid synthetic rubber in a laboratory beaker.","It looks like a big vanilla milkshake, and it's about to be coagulated into crumbs.","Here's where it all happens.","This coagulation unit is like a big kettle.","They pipe in the liquid rubber, a solvent mixture, and water.","As they boil off the solvent, the rubber coagulates into crumbs the size of beans.","The water remains because it has a higher boiling point.","The mix of water and rubber crumbs bounces about in what's known as the crumb tank until it's time for more processing.","They then pump the mix into a rotary sieve.","As it spins, it drains off the water.","They add more water to cool the rubber crumbs.","The rubber and water mix gushes onto a conveyor which is a vibrating sieve.","As the crumbs bounce along, the water drains off through the perforations in the conveyor.","The synthetic rubber is now a lot like wet snow.","Next, it's into the lab, where they aim a beam of infrared light through a sample to analyze the microstructure.","If it's acceptable, production continues.","A screw-like mechanism presses the wet rubber crumbs against a metal plate to squeeze out more moisture.","Another trip on the next vibrating conveyor drains off droplets.","Then it's into a quivering, spiral conveyor.","As the synthetic rubber travels upwards on the spiral, hot air is piped in from the side to dry it.","Now mostly devoid of moisture, but still sticky, the synthetic rubber crumbs head down a chute and into a baler machine.","This machine uses pressure to compress the crumbs into big bales.","The bales of synthetic rubber head down a conveyor towards a quality-control inspector.","This inspector examines them for imperfections.","Once he gives them the okay, they head to the packaging station.","As they travel through a curtain of plastic film, machinery heat-seals it around them.","These bales of synthetic rubber have taken about six hours to manufacture.","And this purely chemical creation isn't much different from the real thing.","Like natural rubber, it can be melted and shaped into many different things.","Soon, this batch will be turned into tires, and that's when the synthetic rubber will really hit the road.","Cocoa beans are the primary raw material for making chocolate.","They come from the fruit of the cocoa tree, native to central and south america.","The ancient mayans would grind them up to make a special beverage for marriage ceremonies and other rituals.","Today, cocoa is cultivated in the rainforest areas of many countries in the tropics.","These cocoa beans from costa rica were cultivated without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or fungicides.","Farming cocoa organically requires meticulous care and maintenance of the crop, along with grafting techniques to help establish disease-tolerant tree varieties.","The farmer cuts a budwood, a young branch about to bud, from a healthy, productive tree and grafts it onto a sucker growing from the base of a tree which is either diseased or old and unproductive.","She cuts a slot at the top of the sucker, then wraps a plastic strip around the budwood to hold in moisture until the graft takes.","Next, she cuts a pointed end on the budwood and inserts it into the slot she made in the sucker.","Then she binds the union and covers it with a plastic bag.","Bagging protects the graft against two potential extremes, dehydration and excessive rain, which causes rot or fungus.","If the graft takes, the union seals itself in a month or even sooner.","Strategic pruning strengthens the tree and keeps it growing low and in a shape that's easy to maintain and harvest.","Before long, flowers begin to bud and bloom.","Tiny beetles pollinate the flowers, after which tiny pods--  the tree's fruit-- begin to emerge.","The pods grow and grow...","And gradually change color.","When the color transformation is complete, they're ripe for harvest.","There are many varieties of cocoa trees, with pods of different colors.","It generally takes about five months from first blooms to pod maturity.","Come harvest time, they collect only the pods which are undoubtedly ready.","If a pod isn't fully ripened, the cocoa beans inside will be acidic and bitter.","They carefully cut the pod stem off the branch without damaging the tree in the process.","The pod's rind is a little over an inch thick.","It's rough and bumpy.","They hack it open with a machete to remove the fruit inside.","The fruit is made of a sweet, edible pulp encasing 30 to 50 large, white seeds.","These are the cocoa beans.","The beans and pulp go to the fermentation area, where workers lay them in boxes, or heaps, and cover them for four to six days.","As heat under the cover builds up, fermentation kicks in.","The natural sugars interact with oxygen, the pulp slowly breaks down, liquefies, and drains away.","The color and chemical composition of the beans change, and they become less acidic and develop a chocolaty taste.","The next step is to dry the beans.","Workers spread them out on big trays and lay them out in the sun for about a week.","Here's what a cocoa bean is like wet...","Versus dried.","The dried beans now go through a selection process.","Workers examine them, removing pod remnants and any beans with mold or other imperfections.","Beans which fail inspection are sold locally at a lower price or go to the compost heap.","Beans that pass are weighed, bagged for export, and sold to chocolate makers.","Depending on the size of the beans, which varies according to the cocoa-tree variety, it takes about 300 to 600 cocoa beans to produce one kilogram of chocolate.","Chocolate owes its existence to the cocoa bean.","The ancient civilizations of mexico and central and south america cultivated this seed to make a drink.","The spanish conquest brought this chocolate drink to europe, but it wasn't until 1847 that a british company invented solid chocolate.","This factory makes chocolate in various forms and sells it to companies which manufacture chocolate products for retail sale.","It also supplies chocolate components, such as cocoa powder and cocoa butter.","Most of the cocoa beans arriving here come from west africa, which grows 70% of the world's crop.","A conveyor belt moves them through a cleaning system, a series of sieves that screen out twigs, stones, and other debris.","Next stop is a micronizer, a revolving drum that heats the cocoa beans to loosen their shells.","Then they enter a shell-removing machine called a winnower.","Inside, successive rakes drag the beans across screens, pulling off large pieces of shell.","Then a vacuum sucks away the remaining smaller pieces.","Removing the shell exposes the inside of the cocoa bean, which is called the nib.","The factory will roast the nibs to develop their flavor.","50%-plus of the nib is fat, which is cocoa butter.","To make chocolate, they'll combine processed nibs, cocoa butter, and sugar, along with milk powder if they're making milk chocolate.","First, the factory processes the nibs by grinding them.","The heat and friction activate the cocoa butter, producing pure liquid chocolate called chocolate liquor.","The factory extracts some of the cocoa butter to sell it separately as chocolate-making ingredient and to use for in-house chocolate production along with other ingredients in various proportions.","The dark-chocolate recipe, for example, calls for more chocolate liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter, but no milk powder.","The recipe for unsweetened chocolate contains no sugar.","The mixer blends the ingredients to the consistency of a very thick cake batter.","The flavor is fine by this point, but the coarse texture needs to be smoothed out, so the chocolate moves to a refining machine, passing between a set of five rollers that reduce the particle size, so much so that within just minutes, the chocolate leaves the refiner as a fine, dry powder.","But now it needs to be reliquefied, so the next stop is a machine called a conch.","The friction and heat once again activate the cocoa butter, returning the powder to a liquid state.","At this point, they add more cocoa butter, enough to reduce the viscosity to the exact thickness they need--  just a bit, for example, if they're making chocolate chips or much more if they're making a thin chocolate coating.","For chocolate chips, the conch feeds a machine called a drop depositor.","As the name implies, it deposits drops of chocolate onto a conveyor belt.","The nozzle trays are interchangeable, so the machine can be set up to produce various sizes of chips, disks, or other shapes.","The chocolate chips, still warm and soft, enter a cooling tunnel...","Traveling for about five minutes through several temperature zones, which vary between 30 and 50 degrees fahrenheit.","By the time the chips exit the tunnel, they're hard.","A conveyor belt then takes them through a metal detector, a standard food-safety precaution.","The factory also produces 10-pound, bulk-format chocolate bars.","A depositor fills bar-shaped plastic molds.","The conveyor transfers them to an elevator system, which moves through a cold room for about two hours.","This constant motion ensures optimal air circulation, helping the cooling process.","Chocolate shrinks slightly as it cools, so the bars pop out of the molds easily.","To make the chocolate look as good as it tastes, the factory cools, then reheats the liquid chocolate before depositing it.","This process, called tempering, promotes the growth of the most stable cocoa-butter crystals, making the surface of the chocolate smooth and shiny."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Nuno Felt","Drum Crushers","Kimchi","Traditional Parquet Floors"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Nuno felt is an artisan-crafted non-woven fabric.","Nuno is the japanese word for cloth.","The technique bonds layers of wool and other types of loose fibers into a lightweight gauzy felt with contrasting textures.","Each piece is a unique creation.","Nuno felt is often made into striking featherlight pieces of clothing.","Unlike fabrics which are made by weaving thread or yarn, nuno felt is made by interlocking and compressing fibers.","The greater the contrast in the texture and luster of those different types of fibers, the more interesting the design.","For this project, this artisan constructs the base of the felt out of merino wool roving, which is wool that's been cleaned, processed and dyed.","She tears off short lengths of fibers and lays them down side-by-side, forming a layer.","She lays another layer on top perpendicular to it.","She builds up three to five layers this way, a technique called cross-hatching.","This process interlaces the fibers, strengthening the base of the felt.","Next, she takes pattern silk chiffon fabric that color coordinates with all the fibers she's using, cuts out squares and rectangles and lays them onto the wool base.","It's critical to create the right balance of wool and non-wool fibers so that the wool will be able to grab and hold the layers together to form the nuno felt.","She adds some mica.","Mica is a shiny natural mineral which, in thin flakes like this, is practically weightless.","Sprinkling a bit of mica onto the surface produces a sequin-like effect.","The artisan adds some wisps of angelina, a shiny, hair-like polyester fiber which wool roving easily grabs and holds.","Then she includes some variegated wool yarn, which is the term for yarn with a variation of color.","It adheres to wool roving, silk and angelina.","And for subtle texture, she lays in wool bouclé.","Bouclé is yarn with continuous tiny loops.","Once the layout is finished, the artisan sprays the materials with soapy water.","Absorbing water makes the fibers more flexible.","It also changes the ph level of the wool, making it more alkaline, which triggers the wool fibers to grab the adjacent fibers.","Next, she wraps her design in bubble wrap and begins the process of felting the fibers with a combination of pressure, agitation and heat.","First, she presses out trapped air with a palm washboard.","The bubble wrap acts as a cushion, preventing the design from distorting.","The artisan takes a foam cylinder and gently rolls up the piece, working out any wrinkles as she goes.","She ties the roll with nylon laces, then rocks it back and forth from her elbows to her wrists.","She does this a total of 1,000 times.","At each stop, she unwinds the roll to smooth out the wrinkles.","Once this process is finished, the artisan unwinds the roll to add what's called open work or lacework.","She cuts small slits in the piece and gently pulls them to form oval openings.","The wool is wet, so it stretches easily.","Next, she amps up the agitation by rolling on a series of textured surfaces.","Each change of texture hits the piece at different points, pushing out the air between the fibers.","While the wet fibers continue to interlock and compress with rolling, the wool and silk elements of the design shrink at different rates, producing contrast in the surface texture.","By the end, the piece, which started out being almost a 1/3 inch think, is now just 1/10 inch thick.","After reshaping some openings, she applies the palm washboard one last time.","Then, through the bubble wrap, the artisan agitates the fibers with an orbital sander.","This friction generates heat, which further bonds the fibers.","After a final touch-up of the openings, she gathers up the felt and gently rinses it in water with a bit of vinegar.","This removes the soap which would damage the wool over time.","The wash also returns the ph to normal, which closes the fibers and stabilizes the felt.","After removing as much moisture as possible by rolling up the felt in a towel, she lays it on a counter to air-dry.","Now, this handcrafted nuno felt shawl is poised to make a one-of-a-kind fashion statement.","Drum crushers are machines that flatten bulky steel drums, the world's most popular shipping container.","At a certain point, they can no longer be reused and need to be recycled.","Drum crushers compress them into disks so that they can be economically transported to recycling facilities.","This drum crusher wields 26 times more force than the average household trash compactor and can flatten steel drums in seconds.","To make the drum crusher, a computerized plasma cutter carves out many of the parts from thick steel.","The machine both cuts out the profile and makes holes for components.","This particular part is a locator plate for the drums.","At another station, a worker traces around a template, transferring the outline to partially machined parts below.","These parts are the crusher's top and bottom panels.","He grinds off flaky areas of the surface to prep the steel for welding.","This process is time-consuming, so he works only within the outline.","Next, workers saw steel tubes to specific lengths.","The tubes will serve as forklift pockets for loading the crusher onto a truck or simply moving it around in a recycling plant.","Another worker now sets up a fixturing system to hold the crusher housing panels in position for welding.","He clamps the parts to the fixturing table.","This first part is the bottom of the crusher chamber.","He assembles the side supports and the top of the unit within the fixturing device.","He clamps the supports at the corners.","And with the structure now held together with clamps, he tack welds it and follows up with permanent welds.","Next up is the back of the crusher chamber.","It's been rounded to accommodate the cylindrical steel containers.","Again, the worker tack welds it to the crusher structure.","He then does full thick welds both from the inside and the outside.","And after that, he'll add the locator plate to the base.","He then welds structural supports to the crusher door.","Turning the door to the other side, he installs horizontal reinforcements.","This braces the door to withstand the substantial crushing force.","After hinging the door to the chamber, the worker inserts the large latch into a support bracket and tack welds it.","A powder coat paint job completes the housing.","Workers now assemble the crusher's hydraulic power unit.","After bolting a pump motor to the lid, the team flips it over.","They insert a hydraulic pump into its housing on the lid's underside.","They plumb the pump and attach a suction strainer to filter contaminants from the hydraulic oil.","They flip the lid back to the top side.","One of the workers screws a pressure relief valve to a fitting that connects to the pump on the other side of the lid.","This valve will regulate the flow of hydraulic oil to ensure there's adequate pressure for the crusher's operation.","If there's too much pressure, the valve will shut the crusher down.","To attach the hydraulic power unit, a crane does the heavy lifting as a worker guides it into place at the back of the crusher chamber.","Moving to the top, a member of the team installs the crusher cylinder.","He bolts the retaining plate to the chamber.","The substantial and hefty crusher head is next.","Using a forklift, workers maneuver it into position on the shaft and then secure it with a thick steel pin.","The head isn't complete without this pierce point.","Fixed to the end of the crusher head, it will puncture the drum to drain residual fluids and release air for better compaction.","Now complete, it's time to put this crusher to the test.","And it easily flattens the steel drum.","This flattened drum will be recycled into new steel that can be used to make many things, including more drum crushers.","Kimchi is korean comfort food.","This zesty blend of fermented vegetables has been part of the korean diet for at least 2,000 years.","It's so valued by koreans that some even have special refrigerators for it in their homes.","Like fine wine, kimchi must be kept at a specific temperature to be at its best.","Full of stomach-friendly probiotics, kimchi is believed to be good for one's health, which is why demand is on the rise beyond korean borders.","Making kimchi starts with a preparation of organically grown vegetables.","There are many different recipes for kimchi.","This one is vegan and less spicy than some other versions.","The kitchen staff trims unwanted bits from carrots and scallions.","They then peel wilted leaves off of napa cabbage, which is the main ingredient in kimchi.","Its taste is sweeter and softer than regular cabbage.","Over at the scrub station, a worker cleans the trimmed vegetables under cold running water.","If he misses even a speck of dirt, it could interfere with chemical reactions during the fermentation process.","This could sour the flavor of the kimchi and spoil the batch.","Each vegetable must be pristine.","The next member of the team shreds the carrots using an industrial food processor.","Shredded bits of carrot will ferment quicker than big chunks.","Scallions can't easily be shredded, so he dices them by hand.","The kitchen staff carves the cabbage into fairly large strips.","Because cabbage is thin, bigger strips will ferment at the same pace as the shredded carrots and diced scallions.","The next ingredient is ginger, a spice that will add flavor and soothe the digestive system.","Another worker transfers the shredded ginger to a porous cotton bag.","She folds the bag a few times to create a packet and then places the packet under a press.","The press squeezes juice from the ginger and extracts the ginger essence while leaving the stringy pulp behind.","The worker weighs the ingredients, beginning with the shredded carrot.","This is the largest ingredient after napa cabbage.","She then measures the portion of scallions that the recipe calls for.","She adds a scoop of celtic sea salt and checks the scale.","Other ingredients include crushed garlic, chili flakes, and the ginger juice.","She stirs the seasonings into the vegetables, and the ginger juice begins to saturate the scallion and carrot pieces.","All the ingredients now come together in this mixer with a big dough hook.","The worker adds the carrot and scallion blend to the napa cabbage in the base of the mixing bowl.","She activates the mixer, and the dough hook folds all the elements together.","Fermentation begins, triggered by the evenly distributed salt.","Workers then transfer the mixture to special fermentation crocks and pack it down.","Two half-circle ceramic weights add pressure to the salted ingredients.","Juices flow and immerse the kimchi vegetables, creating an oxygen-free environment.","The salt suppresses the growth of bad bacteria, allowing the good bacteria to flourish.","Another worker pours water into a moat around the lid, creating a ring of water that acts as a kind of seal, one that will keep air out of the crock but will allow fermentation gases to escape.","One week later, the kimchi is sufficiently fermented.","It is now a living food full of good bacteria.","A worker packs the kimchi into jars and weighs each container to confirm that the amount is correct.","The jars must be completely full with no air space between the kimchi and the lids that could compromise its shelf life.","She labels the jars and shrinkwraps a plastic collar around the lids.","Once refrigerated, kimchi can last for up to 14 months.","Well-preserved, it's practically always ready to be served.","Parquet floors are a mosaic of geometric-shaped pieces of wood that form a repetitive block pattern.","They date back to the palaces and grand homes of 17th century france, where they were welcomed as an easier to maintain yet still decorative alternative to the marble floors of the day.","Traditional parquet floor patterns range from a simple paving-stone style to parquet de versailles, the complex pattern of large diagonal squares that debuted at france's versailles palace in 1864.","To produce it, manufacturers begin with long planks of oak just over an inch thick.","This particular company produces only custom orders and sizes the motif in proportion to the room.","A worker first measures and marks the dimensions of the pattern pieces that will be cut from each plank.","Then, with a circular saw, another worker cuts the required length and width.","This yields several pieces which, together, will form the pattern's crisscrossing rectangles.","A worker now runs each piece through a machine called a molder.","Just one pass does four things.","It thins the piece to just under an inch, squares all the sides, smooths all the surfaces, and it makes a groove on each side.","This next machine removes an equal amount of wood from the top and bottom of one end of the piece to form a centered 1/4-inch thick projection called a tenon.","When assembling the pattern, the workers will ultimately insert tenons into slots in adjoining pieces.","These slots are called mortises.","This machine cuts the mortises.","The floor is an assembly of square panels, each one containing a set number of crisscrossing rectangles and diagonal squares within the frame.","The frame pieces also have tenons and mortises.","The squares, however, are different.","Workers use a router to form a tongue on all four sides.","The tongue fits into the groove on the rectangular pieces.","Once the tongues are in the grooves and the mortises are in the tenons, not a single nail or drop of glue will secure those joints.","They'll be held together the traditional way, with oak pegs.","Each panel assembles like a puzzle.","The 43 components fit together with a few taps of the hammer.","A pencil mark indicates the nicer side of each piece of wood so that it can be placed face up.","The tongues of the squares slide into the grooves of the crisscrossing rectangles, which join by mortise and tenon.","The frame pieces attach to each other and to the perimeter of the interior assembly, also by mortise and tenon.","A worker now transfers the assembled panel to a press which clamps it tightly together.","Next, he drills two holes through each tenon...","And then hammers a wooden peg through each hole to lock the tenon in the mortise.","No one wants their antique-style parquet floor to look brand-new.","So the next step is to lightly sandblast the panel's surface to make the wood look worn with time.","Another worker goes over the panel with an electric sander to soften the surface for the next step, which is to randomly scatter some sand and work it in with the wood block attachment on the sander.","This process creates and antique appearance and worn-in look.","After brushing off the sand, the worker scratches up the surface with a rotating wire brush.","The panel now looks like it could be from a centuries-old french chateau.","The last step is to finish the wood.","First, a coat of stain for color.","Then a coat of oil to protect the wood from moisture.","And finally, a coat of hot wax which gives the surface a rich luster.","These steps also highlight the contrasting grains of the wood due to certain pieces having been cut from the tree horizontally and others vertically.","This intricacy enhances the timeless beautiful of classic parquet flooring."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wooden Matches","Tillage Machines","Telescopic Gangways","Mabe Pearls"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Controlled use of fire by humans dates back several hundred thousand years, but the invention of matches is fairly recent.","The first known use of matches dates back to the 5th century in northern china.","And commercial safety matches were only invented in the early 19th century.","You just need to rub a match head against the striking strip on the matchbox to start a fire.","Matches come in a variety of matchbox formats.","A linerboard paper roll feeds into a machine, passing under a hot iron to reduce the moisture level to 5% or 6%.","An automatic paper roll match inner box machine like this one can produce up to 55,000 liners per hour through high-speed die cutting, folding, gluing, and forming.","The speed of the process depends on the inner box's size and on the paper's density.","The machine shoots out formed inner boxes on a conveyor at a dazzling rate of nearly 1,000 liners per minute.","The conveyor then drops the formed liners into storage bins.","An automatic sorting machine files the boxes in single rows and arranges them upright on the conveyors, feeding the filling machine.","In the meantime, a worker feeds precut inserts to the outer box machine.","High-speed die creasing and cutting tools automatically fold the inserts.","As the folded liners run through the rollers, the machine forms and glues the box skillets.","Each insert has two striking strips.","In an industrial mixer, a worker pours gelatin capsules over potassium chlorate.","Gelatin serves as a binder for the match head compound.","The worker adds hot water before he starts the mixer to dissolve the gelatin, which combines itself with the potassium powder.","The worker then adds silica granules, which act as a combustion-controlling agent.","He rinses the sides of the mixer with water as the compound mixture reduces.","After about 40 minutes, when the mixture is liquid, the worker adds red coloring as well as other compounds that make the match head burn more vigorously.","On the splint production line, a worker inspects a batch of splintered aspen wood impregnated with ammonium phosphate to prevent afterglow.","The splints run over perforated plates to shake off any residue or waste.","Then, they go through a machine which automatically discards broken or undersized splints.","The splints now reach the match-dipping line, where the perforated steel match bar runs down an endless chain.","The automatic feeder inserts over 2 million splints per hour into the sockets of the match bar.","The splints first get a paraffin coating.","While a mixer keeps the match head compound liquid, the loaded match bar lowers the splints to dip their heads in.","After 5 seconds, the match bar moves back up.","And the head compound mixture flows down into the mixing pan to be renewed before another section of the match bar moves in.","After dipping, the splints keep rolling down the match bar chain for drying.","The chain loops up and down for about 1 hour, leaving the match head compound time to dry slowly and thoroughly.","Once the heads are dry, the finished matches are ready for packaging.","But first, the filling machine routes the outer and inner matchbox liners onto parallel conveyors.","On a high-speed line, the machine can process at least 500 boxes per minute.","The finished matches finally come off the match bar.","And the filling machine places them into the inside liner.","At this point, the machine processes about 200 matches per second.","The filling machine pushes the inner liner to the outer skillet.","The machine is calibrated to fill each box with a set amount of matches and reject the extra ones.","Filled boxes come out on a packaging conveyor.","You can find them in small cartons, medium-sized packages, or heavy duty crates.","But it takes just a single match to light your fire.","A tillage machine is a large tractor-pulled implement which tills the soil.","Tillage can refer to deeply plowing the soil after a harvest to break up clumps and remove plant remains.","Or it can refer to a shallow turning of soil to prepare the field for planting.","This tillage machine is an agricultural multitasker.","Its rotary disk blades turn the soil and chop up crop remnants.","The harrow behind the blades rakes the soil.","Then, the rolling baskets at the rear smooth and level it.","The machine can be fitted with various blades designed for different soil conditions and crops.","The first machine flattens the curve out of a just-unwound sheet of steel.","Then, a press stamps the sheet with a die, cutting out circular blades each 4 1/2 feet in diameter.","The steel is a proprietary formula engineered to withstand high abrasion and to be flexible enough not to chip when the blades hit rocks in the soil.","After machining a sharp edge, they heat the blades and form them in a die, simultaneously quenching with water.","This tempers the steel so that it holds the shape.","After cleaning, the blades go through a vat of water-based paint, then a furnace to cure the paint.","The paint coat is simply to make the blades look snazzy in the showroom.","Once they actually hit the soil, it wears off, which is intended, as bare steel moves through the ground more effectively.","Agricultural equipment plants like this one purchase the blades to install on the tillage machines they manufacture.","This computer-guided plasma torch cuts the flat components of the machine's frame out of a thick steel sheet.","Other parts are cut from steel tubes.","Here, workers use a brake press to punch holes for assembly bolts.","Once all the frame parts are ready, workers weld them together into frame sections.","This is the main section.","Here, they're welding a cut-tube part to a pair of plasma-cut parts.","Once each frame section is welded, it goes to the paint room, where workers first sandblast the steel to clean off lubricating oil and other residues.","They spray on primer and paint and put the frame section in an oven to simultaneously bake on both coats.","Given that tillage machine's work outdoors, the paint is designed to protect the steel from sunlight and corrosion.","Next, they install hydraulic cylinders on the main frame, attaching them with large bolts secured by washer-and-cotter-pin locking mechanisms.","The cylinders, made of a steel that has anticorrosion chemicals baked into it, lift and fold the tillage machine before and after use.","Workers pump hydraulic fluid through the cylinders to test them.","They bolt the other frame section, called the subframe, to the front of the main frame.","Then, to the front of the subframe, they install a hitch.","This is what connects the tillage machine to the tractor.","Not only does the hitch have to be exceptionally strong to withstand the pull of the tractor, it must also be flexible because the tillage machine runs over bumpy terrain.","For the same reason, the main frame has two pivoting axles.","Workers install two wheels with tires on each one.","These tires are 3 feet in diameter.","Tires can be larger or smaller depending on the overall size of the machine and where they're positioned on it.","Workers now mount the bracket to which they'll attach the harrow.","Then, they install the harrow and the rolling baskets behind it.","These and many other components are mounted with sturdy steel u-bolts, plated with zinc for corrosion resistance.","One last time, workers hook up the tillage machine to a hydraulic fluid pump for testing.","There are two hydraulic circuits, each activated by a lever.","One folds or unfolds the machine.","The other raises or lowers it.","This tillage machine is an agricultural triple threat-- blades to churn up the ground, harrow tines to rake it and heavy steel rolling baskets to level the farming field.","Gangways bridge the gap between ship and shore to allow passengers or cargo to be loaded or unloaded.","They're also known as gangplanks, hearkening back to the days when these bridges were simple wood planks.","Today, telescopic gangways extend and retract automatically.","Telescopic gangways can extend their reach or shorten it and change the angle, too.","They'll also fold up for compact storage on the ship.","These are gangways that can adjust to different circumstances.","Each model starts with a computer design, one that takes an engineer up to 800 hours to devise.","Once all the details have been worked out, production begins.","Using a crane with air clamps, they transfer an aluminum plate to a laser cutting station.","The gangway design has been loaded into a computer that guides the tooling to cut out parts according to the plan.","In this case, it cuts out a panel that will be made into a framework for one of the gangway planks.","Workers then serve up the panel to a computerized brake press.","The press bears down on the part to make 90-degree-angle bends.","This transforms the flat panel into the plank framework.","Next, tools carve thicker aluminum into hinges for raising and lowering the gangway.","A drill bores a hole in each hinge for the pin.","With another bit, the machine sculpts a countersink profile around the hole.","They're now ready to assemble the hinges and other components to the plank framework.","A worker positions a reinforcing bracket on the framework.","He clamps the bracket to a hollow metal cube to keep it correctly aligned to the framework.","He welds the bracket to the framework from the inside and then assembles another bracket to the other side.","He slides a metal subfloor into the top grooves of the gangway plank structure.","This subfloor will support teakwood decking.","He inserts flat bars between the framework and the subfloor to create a space for the installation of the teak.","He welds the rails to the plank structure and then adds supports for wheels.","The thick welds look a bit unsightly.","So a worker grinds the seams smooth.","He also abrades the entire metal structure to give it a brushed texture that paint will adhere to.","Painting is an intensive process.","They prime each gangway plank body three times with sandings in between.","They also give the planks three coats of paint.","This particular gangway is being custom-made for a luxury yacht.","After assembling the teak decking to the planks, a detail person sands the surface.","This ensures that the synthetic rubber caulking between the planks is flush to the wood.","He caulks the space between the decking and the metal plank structure using more synthetic rubber.","With a putty knife, he scrapes off the excess and forms a neat, concave profile.","After a 24-hour cure, he removes the tape that's protected the metal frame and wood decking during the caulking process.","They're now ready to assemble the planks into a gangway.","They move the upside-down planks into position and then drive thick pins into the hinges to attach one plank to the next.","He then installs the hydraulic cylinder that powers the folding mechanism.","He links it to the hinges with a long, thick pin.","He equips one section of the gangway with telescoping hydraulics that allow the gangway to extend and retract.","He runs the hoses for the hydraulic fluids through the gangway into the cylinder.","And he installs locking valves to ensure the cylinder stays in position when a load is applied.","The gangway is now completely assembled.","They secure one end in a thick concrete fixture to simulate the weight of the yacht it's been made for.","This allows them to fully test the telescoping action and the load-bearing capacity.","Seven months in the making, this gangway is now ready to go to any length to link ship to shore.","A pearl forms when a foreign object enters the shell of a living mollusk.","To protect its soft body from irritation, the animal coats the intruder with layers of iridescent nacre.","Most pearls today are cultured pearls.","They can be round, oval or, like mabe pearls, semispherical.","Pearl cultivation started in 13th century china when people realized they could put foreign objects inside mollusks to encourage nacre growth.","It's the mollusk's species and its home waters that determine the pearl's shape and color.","Fake pearls have an unnaturally smooth surface.","Natural pearls are slightly gritty and very delicate.","Even gentle rubbing can remove the precious nacre layer.","Mabe pearls are flat-bottomed, semispherical cultured pearls.","They grow attached to the inner shell of a pearl oyster when a foreign object is implanted in a shell.","In the nursery, oysters start their lives as tiny larvae.","When the larvae are big enough, they can be released outside in the pearl culturing farm.","The farm is actually a big raft structure that floats on the sea.","Oyster larvae naturally attach themselves to natural or man-made structures, at which point they start growing their shell.","This net acts as a trap for the developing oysters.","Juveniles are moved to underwater cages, where they will grow for several months.","The oyster on the right is about 6 months old.","In another 6 months, it will be large enough to start growing a pearl, suspended on ropes underwater.","To grow a pearl, each oyster must first receive a plastic nucleus.","Workers use wedges and speculums to keep the shells open as they work.","They gently move the animal to the side, looking for a suitable position for the nucleus implantation.","The nucleus size depends on the size of the oyster.","Following implantation, the oyster will start secreting nacre over the surface of the nucleus.","Workers drill a hole in the oyster's hinge.","This does not hurt the animal.","They fasten each shell to a rope using stainless steel wire.","Each rope holds between three and five oysters.","They fasten those ropes to the raft structure.","Oysters will spend at least another year underwater, feeding on plankton and growing the pearl.","Every 2 or 3 months, they remove the oysters from the water to clean them.","Tropical waters are rich in food and teeming with life.","So each oyster becomes a microhabitat for smaller plants and animals.","These organisms could prevent the oyster shell from opening and closing freely, hampering its feeding.","Using a cleaver knife, they eliminate the thick crust of sea moss, barnacles, and other marine organisms.","Once the oysters have grown to a suitable size, it's time to harvest the pearls.","Using a thin paring knife, she opens the oysters and removes the animals from their shells.","Mabe pearls are most often used in certain rings or earrings, where their dome shape is desirable.","Using a diamond saw, they cut the shell around the pearl.","After cutting, the nucleus will be removed and replaced with a mixture of resin to improve strength and luster.","They use a grinding machine to shape the pearl.","Then, they polish it to enhance its natural beauty.","Jewelers working with pearls arrange them according to size and quality.","This artisan is creating a tiara for an international beauty pageant.","She uses a magnifying glass to control the quality of the various gemstones and pearls.","For other jewelry pieces, they use spherical pearls, such as this south sea pearl.","They insert a miniature screw in the hole.","That screw is endowed with a proprietary double-lock system which secures the pearl in its setting.","The pearl farmers have been growing pearls for three generations.","Today, they farm three species of oysters and produce a total of about 25,000 pearls every year.","Even though cultured pearls require human intervention, they are all real pearls.","Their color, luster and shape may vary slightly.","But each pearl is unique and naturally beautiful."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fishing Reels","Miniature Houses","Kitchen Mixers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fishing reels...","Miniature houses...","And kitchen mixers.","The chinese in the 12th century were first to wind excess fishing line on their rods before unreeling it back into the water.","Today's reels have gears to quickly deploy and retrieve the line.","They're made with lightweight, high-strength materials so you can catch bigger, stronger fish-- or at least try to.","Antique reels are heavy and have just one speed.","Modern reels have two speeds and fewer parts.","To make a reel's frame, a computer-guided router cuts four openings in a cylinder made of aluminum.","They let the angler--  the person fishing-- access the spool inside the frame to undo any knots in the line.","Another cutting machine shapes a stainless-steel blank into a spindle, the inner part of the reel around which the fishing line winds.","It also carves two pinion gears into the piece.","The high gear retrieves line faster.","The low gear gives more power to fight big fish.","The machine's cutters are made of carbide, an extremely durable material.","Even so, workers change them weekly.","Another cutter carves the reel's main gears-- a high-speed and a low-speed.","These main gears interact with the pinion gears to make the spool revolve.","This lets the angler wind line back onto the reel.","This cutter drills small indentations, part of the reel's drag system, which lets the angler adjust line tension to fight large fish.","The next cutter engraves the company name into one of the reel's two side plates.","Yet another cutter engraves the drag settings-- \"1\" through \"4\" and then \"strike\".","Strike lets the angler fight fish weighing up to 2,000 pounds.","Next, a process called anodizing.","The side plates are dipped in a series of chemical baths that bind a gold-colored dye to their surface.","Now time to assemble the fishing reel.","First, they apply waterproof grease and lubricant to two safety catches that prevent an angler from applying too little or too much line tension.","A worker then adds a bearing to support the spindle in the spool.","He also installs what's called a click plate that makes clicking sounds when a fish takes the line.","He adds a stainless-steel spindle sleeve and drag plate...","And a sturdy synthetic washer.","He then adds the spindle and pinion gears to the spool.","The spool is now ready to go into the frame.","Using a rotating clamp to steady the reel, another worker installs a stainless-steel fixture that attaches the reel to the rod...","And installs the left-side plate with six screws.","This metal spring and plunger enable the angler to change speeds from high to low with just the push of a button.","A metal clip locks the mechanism in place.","A little grease to the gearing, then a plastic cover, and the spool is fully assembled.","He inserts it in the frame and installs a harness lug, used to attach the reel to what's called a fighting harness, worn to prevent a fish from yanking the rod out of your hands.","Now the worker mounts the right-side plate.","He adds a lever and a knob to adjust the drag settings.","You turn the knob clockwise for more tension, counterclockwise for less.","Next, he installs the stainless-steel-and-plastic knob you use to reel in the line.","And finally, the button for switching speeds.","He tests the drag lever and gears to check if they engage properly.","He puts it into high speed to see if the safety catch prevents what's called free spooling, a glitch that could send a 1/2 mile of line flying wildly out of control and leave you \"reeling\".","For hundreds of years, dollhouses have been hot property.","At first, they were built to entertain the children of the wealthy, but eventually, mass production made these mini mansions widely available.","And today, they continue to be great places for childhood fantasies to reside.","Any home-building project is all about the details, but the details don't get much smaller than this.","These dollhouses are miniature versions of actual homes, made to scale.","They take a big sheet of plywood and slice it into smaller pieces.","For a consistently accurate job, they use a saw guide, which positions the wood for a specific cut.","There's a different guide for each dollhouse part.","Using a hot iron, they brand the company name onto a foundation part.","This dollhouse will be sold as a kit, and here, they demonstrate how to put it together.","Back on the production line, they're milling the siding.","This machine cuts furrows in wood panels to mimic a clapboard finish.","Next, using a router, they cut window and door holes.","And now the walls go up.","Because this is a kit, each piece has to be a perfect fit, because, unlike a real construction project, they can't do recuts on-site.","They install the second floor and tape it with ordinary masking tape while the glue dries.","And now for the second story.","It can take up to 100 hours to paint and assemble all the parts in a dollhouse kit, depending on how elaborate the design is.","Next, they raise the roof.","This victorian design has a two-part roof with a tower in the middle.","They add weight to apply pressure while the glue dries.","This machine's protective cover has been temporarily removed to show its inner workings.","They carefully feed in a piece of pine.","It cuts the board into little shingles, which fall into a bin below.","Once the shingles are stained, they hot-glue them to the roof, following a grid that was penciled on in advance.","They wrap the roof with tape to stabilize it while the glue dries.","Back in the factory, four cutting wheels shape a piece of pine into moldings that will be used for trim on various models.","The door now goes on.","It's been trimmed with some of the molding we just saw being made.","The windows also have some molding details.","All this trim has been made on the same machine, using different cutters for the different profiles.","This railing is a nice touch and will also provide support for the structure.","All that's left is the interior decorating.","Some people spend a small fortune on this stuff-- tiny toilets...","Chairs...","Even full kitchens in miniature.","And in this model of president lincoln's home, the details are historically accurate.","Now they carefully pack up all the pieces.","Soon, they'll make some child's dream of home ownership come true, but first, somebody had better read the instructions.","Whipping up a dessert used to take a fair bit of muscle power, until they invented a mixer with a motor in the early part of the 20th century.","The first ones were very industrial-looking and not much like today's sleek models.","But with this invention, the job of pastry-making has become a piece of cake.","Today's mixers can whisk you into a world of the culinary arts.","To make one, a machine straightens wire between a row of wheels.","Computer-programmed forming tools make a total of a dozen bends to produce arc shapes, which will be used to build a whip attachment for the mixer.","To assemble a whip, a technician fits the wire arcs into an aluminum hub, starting with the largest one and graduating down to the smallest.","Underneath, a punch mechanism dimples the hub to fasten each wire to it.","Here, they drop some dough hooks and beaters into a vibrating bowl full of metal nuggets.","The friction polishes these zinc mixer attachments and gets rid of the sharp edges.","Next, they thread a band of aluminum into a machine that bends it to the contour of the mixer.","It's a piece of trim that carries the brand name.","A bowl feeder now funnels hollow iron weights toward a system that threads wire through each of them.","Mechanical arms pinch and bend the wire, making little hooks on the ends.","Two of these weights will be used in each speed governor, a device that keeps the mixer's speed constant, despite changes in the load.","To assemble the speed governor, they arrange a brass hub, spring, and a washer in a holding device...","And then press-fit them together.","They attach the two weights to the spring assembly, using the protruding wires.","The speed-governor system is now complete.","Here's how the governor weights fly out to regulate the mixer's speed.","And now it's time to prepare the motor shaft.","They lower this spinning steel cylinder to a revolving cutter.","Lubricant keeps the cutter cool as it carves spirals into the end of the shaft.","The spiraling grooves will allow the shaft to drive the mixer's internal gears.","They install the shaft, with motor windings and bearings attached, into the mixer body.","Next, they rivet electrical contacts to plastic control boards.","These contacts will convey electricity to drive the motor.","They deliver an electrical charge to the contacts to make sure they're working.","Then they attach screws, nuts, and springs to complete the control-board assembly.","The control board will work in concert with the governor weights to control the mixer's speed.","For these mixers to really shine, they'll need a good paint job.","To prepare the mixer parts for painting, they polish them on an abrasive belt.","Then it's into the paint booth.","This is a highly charged process.","The paint has a positive electrical charge and is attracted to the zinc mixer parts, which are negatively charged.","Now all the parts are in the mix.","Coming up next...","We'll show you how they all come together.","Behind many a successful cook is a well-oiled machine that's made for speed, and that's the electric mixer.","It produces the best results when the blades turn rapidly.","If they turn too slowly, they won't mix the batter thoroughly, and that means your pastry could be a flop.","To assemble this tilt-head mixer, they install a gear to drive the attachments.","Next comes the stator, which creates the electrical field for the motor.","A dab of oil, and then they mount the shaft and motor windings inside the unit.","They slide two motor brushes into predrilled holes.","The motor brush will supply electricity to the internal components.","This bearing bracket holds the motor in place.","They lubricate the front of it before installing the electrical control board.","They wrap a trim band with the brand name on it around the outside.","Next, they pour gobs of grease into the section of the mixer that will hold the gears.","The gear section will be sealed so the grease can't leak out.","They attach the other half of the unit that has some gears already fixed to it.","They insert a drive pin in the shaft that moves the whisk and other attachments and screw the two halves together.","They apply more grease to this section and then install the planetary gear.","This gear will rotate the mixer attachments around the bowl.","With a mallet, the worker hammers a pin to attach the planetary gear.","He taps a decorative ring onto the outside.","He mounts the motor unit to the base...","And marks an identification number onto the bottom.","Now they take the tilt-head mixer for a spin.","And the next step is to adjust the speed.","The technician installs a speed-setting tool in the hub of the mixer.","While the gears turn, he checks the readout and tunes it up.","Each mixer has to be able to make a dizzying 200 rotations per minute.","They cap the hub.","The final step is testing the beater.","They check that it's correctly positioned above the bowl.","One last polish, and it's ready.","Over at another station, they're making a more commercial type of mixer, one with a bowl that lifts to the beater instead of a tilt-head that lowers to the bowl.","They screw a base to a bowl-support piece.","Then they attach the lower housing for the beater motor.","As the mixer moves on a conveyor, they install the motor and gears.","They add a generous squirt of grease to lubricate the transmission and then encase the top of the motor with more housing.","Continuing down the line, they install the electrical speed controls, topping it off with more housing.","They wrap the signature piece of trim around it.","Using a probe, they check the wattage and speed.","It passes inspection, and it's ready for packing.","It's taken approximately 10 minutes to assemble this bowl-lift mixer, but it's been made to last a lifetime.","And with such a range of attachments for these mixers, you can really go \"stir\" crazy."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Turf Grass","Beef Jerky","Wood Chippers","Bowling Pins"]},"text":["With commercially cultivated grass, you could have the perfect lawn in minutes.","It comes in pre-grown sheets, fresh from the turf farm, ready to transplant.","First produced in the middle of the last century, commercially grown grass continues to change the landscape and make the neighbors green with envy.","Don't feel like sitting around, watching the grass grow?","With commercially cultivated turf, there's no need.","Upon delivery, workers simply unroll it and trim it.","It's like installing carpeting, and this is, in fact, a living carpet.","With regular watering, it will start to put down roots.","It should take about three weeks to become established, and then it's time to rev up the lawn mower.","It starts with a seed variety appropriate to the climate.","This farm is in the american midwest, and that calls for a cool-season species, kentucky bluegrass.","They compost grass clippings and leftover turf in a big pile and use it to enrich the farm's soil.","Next, using an aerator, they punch holes in the soil.","This loosens it, allowing nutrients and oxygen to infiltrate.","Aerating also breaks up the rootstock left from the previous crop.","Since grass is a perennial, a new crop will grow from these leftovers, and they'll only need to plant seed every three or four crops.","After about five weeks, the grass has begun to sprout.","A sprinkler system helps spur the growth.","It's a central-pivot irrigation system, a wheeled tower that is 1,200 feet long, with numerous sprayers.","It slowly circles the turfgrass field to give it a thorough soaking.","Next up is the fertilizer.","It will give the grass the energy it needs to flourish.","The big three ingredients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.","But the mix also contains micronutrients, like iron, zinc, and magnesium, for an extra boost.","They fertilize the field four to five times a year, using a supersized version of a home rotary spreader.","Pulled by a tractor, it flings fertilizer out the back to cover a lot of terrain very fast.","An application of herbicide keeps the weeds at bay as the grass grows and the blades become denser.","Once it's thick enough, it should resist weed invasion.","They mow it three to four times a week, never cutting more than a third of the total leaf.","Anything more would cause the grass to focus on repairing top growth at the expense of establishing a substantial root system.","When an ordinary lawn tractor can't keep up, they bring out a mega version.","It has three mower decks, each with three blades.","It can mow an area the size of 10 american football fields in one hour.","They leave the clippings behind for added fertilizer.","It takes about 18 months for the roots to fully develop and form a thick mass.","That means the turfgrass can now be harvested without falling apart.","As the harvester moves forward, rollers at the front compress the grass.","Behind the rollers, a wide blade cuts the turf at the roots, removing just 2/10 inch of topsoil.","At the sides, spatula-like mechanisms lift the turf onto a conveyor.","Once there, another blade cuts it into strips.","The strips head up to a device that rolls them up like one would roll a sleeping bag.","The conveyor transfers the rolls to a platform where a robotic arm with spears retrieves them and stacks them on a pallet, five at a time.","When the stack is big enough, the harvester lowers the pallet of grass rolls onto the field.","It moves on to continue harvesting.","A forklift collects the rolled turf for shipment.","This turf has been cut to order for same-day delivery.","They'll install it fresh from the farm so it doesn't have time to dry out and turn yellow.","This grass has been a year and a half in the making.","It's now ready to transform a dusty yard into a lush, green one for instant curb appeal.","If you're craving a snack that's portable and packs a good dose of protein, then some beef jerky might just hit the spot.","Eating dried, cured strips of meat dates back to the ancient cultures of south america.","Jerky may be an english mispronunciation of a native word for burnt meat.","Beef jerky is no longer a means of sustenance but rather a popular snack food that comes in a variety of flavors.","This premium brand is hand-crafted in small batches.","The process starts with bee rounds-- a lean cut from the muscular hindquarter of the cow.","There's just a bit of fat-- enough to give the meat good flavor.","Workers put the beef rounds through a slicer, which cuts them into thin strips of identical width so that the jerky pieces come out as uniform as possible.","The direction in which the slicer cuts, as well as the thickness of the slices-- 2/10 inch-- are calculated to maximize flavor and tenderness.","The next step, marinating, will further tenderize the meat.","Many large producers inject the marinade prior to slicing.","This company marinates after slicing so that the marinade is sure to tenderize and flavor every single slice of beef.","After loading a small batch of meat into a rotating drum, workers add the marinade ingredients-- a secret recipe consisting of both dry and liquid seasonings.","The meat and marinade spin together for more than an hour.","By the time the strips come out of the drum, they're drenched in marinade.","After marinating for another 24 hours, they're ready to go into the smokehouse.","Workers lay the marinated beef strips on stainless-steel rods.","They space them well apart to enable the hot air to penetrate each and every one from all angles.","Once they fill a rod, they hang it on a rolling rack.","A rack holds 100 rods-- roughly 240 pounds of beef strips.","Each rack goes into its own individual smokehouse, inside which two simultaneous processes occur.","Water-soaked hardwood chips burn, slow-smoking the meat.","The jerky also cooks slowly at low heat, no higher than 180 degrees fahrenheit, to maximize the flavor.","The variety of beef jerky dictates the type of hardwood they use.","For sweeter flavors, such as honey barbecue or teriyaki, they smoke with hickory or applewood, whereas for more savory or spicy flavors, they use mesquite wood.","Over the course of 5 to 7 hours in the smokehouse, the circulated warm air gradually dries out and cures the meat, and the smoke from the wood infuses it.","Quality-control technicians take samples from each fully-smoked batch and measure to make sure it's the required thickness of just over 1/10 inch.","After workers cut the strips to between 2 and 3 inches long, the jerky enters an automated scale, which weighs out the quantity per package.","Meanwhile, an automated packaging machine heat-seals the bottom and sides of printed plastic film, forming a pouch, then inserts a resealable zipper and prints on the lot number and best-by date.","The machine then cuts apart each individual pouch and flushes the inside with nitrogen.","This forces out fresh food's worst enemy, oxygen.","Then, the machine drops in additional ammunition-- a tiny oxygen-absorbing packet.","Now the pouch is ready to receive its allotment of beef jerky.","In the smokehouse, the raw beef loses about three-quarters of its weight as the moisture inside evaporates and the fat cooks off.","So one pound of raw beef yields only about 3 1/2 ounces of beef jerky.","A conveyor belt transports the now-sealed pouches to the boxing and shipping area.","Every 5 minutes, quality-control technicians take a sealed pouch off the line to measure the nitrogen and oxygen levels inside.","Earlier on, they tested samples from every single batch coming out of the smokehouse to make sure the slow-cooking process killed off all the bacteria in the beef and dried it sufficiently to ensure this meaty treat has a minimum shelf life of 14 months.","The wood chipper was invented in germany in 1884.","Today's commercial-size chippers devour wood debris and even entire trees in mere seconds, spitting out chips that can be used as garden mulch.","That's why the wood chipper is one fierce recycler.","Whether it's a fallen tree or just a few broken limbs, a wood chipper will sink its teeth into the problem and transform it into something useful.","There are different kinds of chippers.","This one is drum-style.","It has a feed wheel with serrated edges that pushes wood into the revolving drum.","Inside, knives tear into the wood to chop it into little pieces.","It's the forestry equivalent of a paper shredder.","To make the chipping drum, rollers curl a rectangular sheet of steel to transform it into a cylinder.","The gap between the rollers determine the cylinder's diameter.","It takes a few passes through the rollers before one end of the rectangle meets the other and it becomes round.","At the next station, a worker cuts four large rectangular holes into the cylinder, using a plasma torch.","He staggers the location of the holes.","Each hole will be equipped with a blade and a deep pocket for catching the wood chips.","He now inserts those pockets into the slots and welds them to the drum.","The staggered location of the blade pockets means that no matter where the tree branch ends up in the drum, it will come into contact with the chipper blades.","Those blades will be installed later.","Next, he welds the ends to the chipper drum.","The ends have holes for a shaft and for accessing the inside of the drum.","Then, the drum spins, and sensors pick up vibrations, which would indicate an imbalance.","A computer analyzes the data and determines how much weight needs to be added to the drum and where.","The technician locates the spot on the drum, using this gauge.","Once he finds it, he marks it with a piece of soapstone.","He then places a metal weight on the mark and welds it there.","Like the tires on a vehicle, a wood-chipper drum needs to be balanced in order to run smoothly.","Four super-sharp blades are installed horizontally above the blade pockets.","He bolts them down tightly to withstand a spinning speed of 1,200 rotations per minute.","Once the drum has been equipped with a shaft and a fan for moving the wood chips out, they lower the drum onto the base.","A crane does the heavy lifting as a worker guides the shaft bearings into the mounts.","He adds some upper housing to protect the bearings from debris.","These bearings will need to be replaced after extensive use.","The hood is next.","It's equipped with a chute for ejecting the wood chips.","They attach the hood to the base, and this encapsulates the wood-chipper drum to keep the chipping action under wraps.","Moving to the other side now, they install the feed rollers and another chute.","They activate the feed rollers manually and check the distance between them and the chipper drum to confirm that there's adequate clearance.","With a crane again bearing the load, workers now steer the diesel engine towards the chipper and lower it into position.","They thread a drive belt around the engine pulley and link it to one that's been attached to the drum's side bearings.","They complete that installation and install the tires.","They mask the tires with plastic to protect them as they now prime and paint the entire wood chipper.","They use a polyurethane paint developed for american military vehicles.","This tough finish will resist scratching as tree trunks and branches are dragged through it.","They paint the wood chipper a brilliant orange so it will stand out on the work site.","Once the paint is cured, they shield the drive belt with a metal cover, painted to match the rest of the machine.","They transfer a vinyl decal onto the side.","It conveys the make and model of the wood chipper.","After nine days of work, the wood chipper is ready for action.","Ripping big trees to shreds should be no trouble at all.","Here's a somewhat striking statistic.","An estimated 95 million people worldwide partake in the sport of bowling.","One of the most popular variations is 10-pin bowling, in which you roll a big, heavy ball down a lane, aiming to knock down 10 large pins.","The sport's international governing body dictates very strict and precise specifications for pin manufacturing to ensure pins worldwide react uniformly to the ball.","As required, this bowling-pin factory uses hard maplewood with a moisture level within regulation range.","Workers weigh the slabs and calculate which ones they'll group together to produce a regulation-weight pin.","They glue together three slabs to form a starting block for a single pin.","Then, they stack several blocks in a vise and clamp them tightly until the glue dries-- about 15 minutes.","A few light taps with a rubber mallet separates any stuck-together blocks.","Next, a custom-designed machine drills three holes in each block, hollowing out what will be the center of the bowling pin.","This removes some weight and leaves space for the wood to expand and contract with humidity levels.","One hole is at the bottom of the block for the base ring they'll later attach underneath the pin.","They lay the block in a carousel vise and glue a small slab of wood to each side.","After 12 to 15 minutes under pressure, the glue sets and the now-wider block comes off the vise.","They transfer to another carousel, which runs it through a planer.","This removes gobs of dried, excess glue and levels the top and bottom surfaces.","Now on to another carousel, to receive wood slabs on the two remaining sides.","After the glue fully cures for 24 hours, those sides also go through the planer.","The block is now ready to acquire the bowling-pin shape.","Workers mount the block on a lathe, via the hole on the bottom for the base ring.","As the lathe spins, cutters gradually shave away wood, forming the pin shape.","This whole operation takes about 45 seconds.","The next machine saws off excess wood from the top and bottom, then drills and cuts those surfaces smooth.","The machine inserts a nylon ring into the hole in the pin's base.","Next stop, an injection-molding machine.","It coats the entire pin surface in liquefied nylon, then quickly cools the nylon solid.","This protects the wooden pin with a hard, durable covering.","Now a weigh-in to make sure it falls within regulation range-- between 53 and 56 ounces.","In the final operation, a printing machine spins the pin under an inkpad to apply decorative stripes.","Then, another pad prints the manufacturer's logo.","The ink dries to the touch in just 5 minutes and fully cures in 24 hours.","Crafted from wood slabs in about 40 minutes, plus ink-curing time, these bowling pins are alley-ready."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mountain Bikes","Rice","Lever Action Rifles"]},"text":["In the late 1800s, the american military tried modifying bicycles to help infantrymen cross rough terrain.","Cyclists continued experimenting, and the first mountain bike was created in 1978.","The popularity of mountain biking has grown ever since.","Mountain bikes are specially designed to perform on rough terrain.","They have a suspension to help keep the wheels in contact with the ground, deep-treaded tires for added traction, and powerful disc brakes for safety.","At the core of a mountain bike is the small, robust frame.","It needs to be lightweight yet highly durable.","The factory uses a test bench to simulate the effects of repeated impacts and vibration on the bike frame.","Three days of testing can simulate 10 years of intensive use.","The frame is made from tubes of aluminum alloy.","Aluminum is lighter than steel and cheaper than carbon fiber, and it won't burst like carbon in case of a large impact.","They cut each tube to the required length.","They use jigs to get consistent dimensions and precise cutting angles.","This will be extremely important when they assemble the frame.","Each model and size of frame has its own welding jig.","They start tack-welding the tubes in place.","Then they proceed with the final welding.","It's a delicate step because the tubes are very thin.","After welding, the aluminum frame will undergo a heat treatment.","First, the frames will be heated intensely, then quickly quenched in a cool bath.","This makes the metal easier to work with.","This next step is necessary because slight deformations are created in the frame during welding.","Using precise measuring instruments and a rubber mallet to avoid denting the metal, a technician ensures the frame is perfectly parallel to the alignment table.","It's not easy to align the shorter tubes, so he uses a longer rod for this task.","After alignment, the frame will be heated one last time to harden the aluminum.","Once the aluminum exhibits the right mechanical properties, it's ready for boring.","This crucial procedure makes the inside of the hole perfectly straight and aligned with the frame's geometric design.","In the painting department, they spray auto-grade paint, which then dries in an oven for 20 minutes.","Next they use ink transfer tape to apply the logo on the bicycle frame.","After that logo dries in the oven, they will finish with a clear coat of varnish.","Everything must be perfect.","When buying a new bicycle, most mountain bikers pay very close attention to the quality of the paint job.","The bicycle is ready for the final assembly.","The assembler starts with the rear shock absorber, which contains oil to dampen the suspension movement.","This way, the suspension doesn't bounce up and down uncontrollably after an impact.","The stiffness of that dampening is adjustable by the rider.","The assembler links the shock absorber to the seat stay.","He installs the handlebar and the stem on the steering column.","Next he installs the rear brake caliper.","This is a hydraulic brake, actioned by brake fluid that travels through a hydraulic hose.","It's positioned on the frame in such a way that anchoring clips don't restrict its movement.","Now it's time to install the crankset and the derailleurs.","These are useful on technical terrain, where quick gear changes are key to successfully maneuvering trail obstacles.","He installs the rear wheel.","It's equipped with 10 cogs and a disc brake.","Its deep-treaded tire will grip the ground of treacherous mountain paths.","Now he screws in the front brake caliper.","It takes about an hour to fully assemble the mountain bike.","The fork provides the front suspension...","While the rear suspension is connected to the rear wheel through a system of pivots at the back.","As the wheel and pivots move back and forth, their movement is dampened by the shock absorber, helping to keep the wheel in contact with the ground.","Mountain bikes are engineered to withstand the demands of off-road riding.","Precise manufacturing and testing also ensure that the mountain bike will survive years of use and abuse.","In many parts of the world, rice is the main grain.","In fact, it is a food staple for nearly half of the planet's population.","Native to asia, it has been grown and consumed for thousands of years.","But today, machines do much of the harvesting and processing in order to feed the enormous demand.","These perfectly formed kernels of rice are essentially a crop that has been allowed to go to seed.","After about 150 days of growth, the rice seed is ready for harvest.","Machinery strips it from the stalks and also suctions out some of the empty husks.","Trucks transport the rice to storage facilities.","They empty it into a grated opening at the receiving pit.","The grates filter out some of the larger stalks and debris.","From the pit, a chain conveyor moves the rice up to storage silos and into warehouses.","Inside the storage facilities, fans blow air through the mountain of rice to lower the moisture content substantially.","With the rice sufficiently dried, it's on to the processing plant.","Here, a probe vacuums up samples from both the front and the back of the massive truckload.","The probe delivers the samples to a lab.","A technician first tests the moisture content to confirm that it's on target.","He then transfers batches to a sifting bin to screen for bugs.","He switches on a heat lamp to wake them up.","He shakes the rice and scrutinizes.","He also examines the tray underneath for tiny bugs that may have fallen through the holes.","If he finds just one moth or beetle, the entire 5,500-pound truckload of rice will be rejected.","Next the rice falls through perforations in rolling cylinders, screening out the straw which spills over the side.","The next machine sifts out the remaining straw bits and any weed seed.","It also suctions out empty rice husks.","They're lightweight and pulled out with a weak vacuum.","Finally, they remove mud balls.","Free of contaminants, the rice now spills between two rubber rollers, one moving faster than the other.","This shears off the husks.","The rice and empty husks then cascade into another machine.","This is a demo version of the actual production one.","Weak suctioning pulls out the husks to separate them from the heavier rice.","The dehusking process misses a few kernels, so next giant sifting machines screen out that rice.","Still in husks, it's bigger and doesn't pass through the holes in the shaking trays.","They dehusk that rice and mix it with the rest.","Grinding machines now mill the rice to remove the bran.","The bran spills out of perforations and is recovered for use in cattle feed.","With the bran removed, the rice goes from brown to white.","The final grinding polishes the rice to give it a pearly sheen.","This is the unmilled brown rice.","And here it is with the bran removed.","During milling, some rice kernels are damaged.","This spinning, dimpled cylinder now separates the broken kernels from the whole ones.","The broken rice kernels fall into the dimples of the cylinder, and from there, into an internal catch pan.","They'll be used to make cereal or beer.","The whole rice now moves through a color sorter.","Computerized cameras analyze it for dark imperfections and signal air nozzles to blast them out of the mix.","Of course, there's also a market for unmilled brown rice.","Now ready for packaging, a scraper moves it across a table and into plastic tubes below.","Hot jaws seal the tubes at both ends, and this rice is in the bag.","Brown or white, short or medium grain, there are plenty of options.","Different types of rifles load the gun in different ways.","A lever-action rifle has, as the name implies, a lever, which you move downwards to load the ammunition cartridge into the gun's chamber.","When you pull the lever back up, it cocks the hammer and the gun is ready to fire.","This italian company makes exact reproductions of the renowned winchesters produced in the u.s. starting in 1866.","These lever-actions were a game-changer in that era, because you no longer had to reload your rifle one cartridge at a time.","To make the barrel, the long tube through which the ammunition shoots, the factory starts with a bar of solid steel that's one inch in diameter.","A computer-guided circular saw slices it into barrel-length pieces.","Next a computer-guided drill bores through the center of each barrel-length bar.","The drill is fluted, which provides a channel for a continuous high-pressure flow of cutting oil.","This breaks down the metal shavings as the drill advances from one end of the bar to the other over the course of five minutes.","A reamer gradually widens the bore to the required diameter.","This takes 15 minutes.","The diameter of the barrel is what determines a firearm's caliber.","A rifle gets its name from the next operation.","This specialized tool rifles the barrel, meaning it carves spiraled grooves into the barrel bore's smooth walls.","This process takes twice as long as drilling and reaming combined.","The grooves in the barrel put a spin on the cartridge's bullet as it exits the gun.","Like the perfect pass of a football, this spin stabilizes the bullet, rendering it more aerodynamic.","That makes the shot more accurate over a long distance.","The next machine mills the outside of the barrel.","This particular model has an octagonal barrel, so the machine mills eight sides.","Another machine then makes threads on the back end so the barrel can later screw into the adjacent part of the rifle.","A local foundry, meanwhile, forges the rifle's lever.","Workers feed solid steel bars into a small furnace.","The furnace temperature, a blazing 2,200 degrees fahrenheit, softens the steel in a matter of seconds.","While the bar is still red-hot, they place it in a die and stamp it with a press to bend it.","Then two more pressings in a different die form the bent bar into the basic shape of the lever.","A fourth pressing, against a razor-sharp die this time, trims the perimeter.","The roughly shaped lever is now ready for machining in the rifle factory.","There, a computer-guided mill works at it for eight minutes.","It meticulously shaves off bits of steel until the lever's shape is perfected.","The mechanical section of the rifle is called the action.","Like the lever, it's forged out of a steel bar.","Then, over the course of an hour, it's machined to specifications by 100 different computer-guided tools.","This operation not only finalizes the action's external shape, it also hollows out areas for the internal components, namely the rifle's lever-activated loading and firing mechanism.","But before that assembly happens, the action takes a side trip to a metal treatment plant where it undergoes a two-step process.","First it's submerged for three minutes in a hot-water bath with special salts which harden the steel.","Then a quick dip in a second bath, where a coloring chemical gives the steel an antique finish.","The action now returns to the gun factory to rejoin the rifle's other components.","The action is the middle section of the rifle.","The barrel screws onto the front of it, while the gun's wooden handle attaches to the back of it.","When you pull the trigger, the hammer hits the firing pin.","This strikes the cartridge, igniting the explosive primer inside.","The blast propels the bullet out of the barrel of the gun.","To assemble the rifle's firing mechanism, workers first attach the trigger and the hammer spring to a larger component called the trigger guard.","Then they connect the hammer itself with a tight-fitting pin.","The hammer spring provides resistance, allowing the hammer to hit the firing pin hard enough to fire the cartridge after it's cocked.","Taking the action, they insert the bolt containing the firing pin, then the firing pin extension.","This wedge piece links those two components.","They insert the trigger guard into the action, coaxing it into the correct position with a few taps of a mallet.","They attach the lever underneath the trigger guard.","They mount a spring on each side of the lever to put tension on it.","Then finally, they connect the lever to the firing mechanism with two sets of links.","To cock the hammer and prepare to pull the trigger to fire, you pull down the lever, then pull it back up.","After firing, you move the lever up and down again to eject the spent cartridge and reload and cock for the next shot.","They finish assembling the action by attaching side plates, one of which has a side-loading gate for inserting the cartridges.","The action has two threaded holes-- one for attaching the magazine to that holds the cartridges and the other for attaching the barrel.","Its threaded end requires some top filing in order to meet the various strict specifications set out by the proofhouse.","The proofhouse is responsible for ensuring that firearms conform to all manufacturing regulations.","To attach the barrel to the action, they lock the barrel in a vise, then screw the action on to the threaded end.","They use various tools and gauges to ensure the two parts are perfectly aligned and that the lever closes completely when pulled up.","Next they insert what's called a check cartridge of the appropriate caliber into the chamber.","This checks the internal spacing to ensure the ammunition feeds correctly and fires safely.","Then they mount a temporary stock on the other end of the action and send the rifle to the proofhouse for performance and safety testing.","There, technicians place it in an enclosed chamber, load ammunition, and fire twice.","The proofhouse hand-punches markings onto the bottom of the rifle.","These markings, recognized by the european economic community, officially certify that the firearm functions properly and safely.","The gun factory contracts a woodworking company to produce the rifle's stock.","It's made from a block of walnut.","First workers trace a template that's in the basic shape of the stock.","They saw along the trace line.","This gives them a starting form, which computer-guided machines then refine.","A mill progressively carves the detailed profile with a series of different tools.","Then they mount the stock on a lathe, which rotates it against a sander to smooth the surface and perfect the shape.","The stock has two holes in the back to which they attach an endpiece.","The woodshop stains and varnishes the finished stock and sends it to the gun factory, where workers attach it to the action.","After that, they mount the magazine tube to the action.","When you feed cartridges into the side-loading gate, they drop into the magazine tube.","Upon levering the rifle, a carrier pushes up one cartridge, which the bolt then pushes into the chamber, preparing the rifle to fire."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wind Generators","PVC Gloves","Thermo"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Wind generators.","Pvc gloves.","Thermoformed glass.","And fire trucks.","Wind generators harness the power of the wind to produce electricity.","As the turbine's blades revolve, they drive a rotor that generates power.","This can charge a set of batteries or even feed a transmission grid.","Wind power is a renewable energy source that doesn't pollute.","This type of wind generator is a recreational model designed to power a boat or a cottage with up to 500 watts of electricity.","To make the propeller, they lay a template on a plank of western cedar, a rot-resistant wood that's flexible and durable, yet lightweight enough for the slightest breeze to set it spinning.","After tracing, they drill a hole at each end and in the middle, then remove the template and do a rough cut using a band saw.","They put the template back in place, using those holes they drilled to align and secure it in place.","Using a router this time, they do a precision cut.","The plank of wood now has the contour of a propeller.","The next step is to form the profile.","To do that, they bolt the wood onto the right side of a specially designed device called a propeller-carving machine.","On the left side is a model propeller.","After adjusting the model to the proper angle, they start to cut.","As the machine's roller runs over the model, it guides a shaver to carve the wood exactly like the model.","It takes about eight passes to get the propeller's profile just right.","You can see the profile well, once they've marked and cut off the excess on the ends.","One side is flat, while the other is curved like an airplane's wing.","Now they widen the hole in the middle of the propeller and sand off the ridges left by the carving using a low-pressure inflatable drum sander.","It's the only type flexible enough to really get into the curves.","Next they check the balancing.","Watch how a mere penny can throw off this perfect equilibrium.","Finally, a coat of waterproof epoxy paint-- the kind used on the hulls of boats.","Now they assemble the alternator, the component that generates electricity when the propeller spins.","They wrap insulation around what's called the \"proportional electronic regulator\" and then install it, along with wiring, into the alternator's casing.","This regulator controls the electrical charge and current.","The propeller spins this rotor shaft, creating an electrical charge that sends a current from the alternator to the batteries.","Once the casing's bolted shut, they mount a cooling fan on the shaft's protruding axle.","This fan will expel the heat all that spinning generates.","Next they assemble the parts that make up what's called the \"lolly shaft\"-- the axis on which the propeller sits.","This axis enables the propeller to pivot toward the direction of the wind without twisting the wires that run to the batteries.","Finally, they connect the wires from the lolly shaft to the alternator.","This rubber cover protects the connection from the elements.","Now they assemble what's called the propeller governor-- a key component that prevents the propeller from overspinning and breaking down in high winds.","When the propeller spins too fast, the centrifugal force pulls on these springs.","This activates the braking flaps, generating drag to slow the propeller down.","Again, precision balancing is critical.","Otherwise, you'll have a damaging vibration.","After applying the manufacturer's decal, they mount the propeller's rudder onto the back end of the wing generator's frame.","On the other end, they install the alternator, followed by the propeller and propeller governor, both painted black to protect the waterproof coating underneath from the sun's damaging u.v. rays.","Polyvinyl chloride, commonly known as \"pvc,\" is a durable material similar to plastic.","Pvc gloves are waterproof--  even chemical-proof.","All kinds of laborers wear them, from commercial fishermen to oil-refinery workers.","Pvc gloves are comfortably flexible, yet sturdy.","Production begins at the cutting station with stacked sheets of cotton flannel.","Using a hydraulic cutting machine and a series of dies, workers slice through some 20 layers in one fell swoop, cutting out the pieces required to make cotton gloves.","Those gloves will either be sold as is or used as linings for pvc gloves.","The next step is to sew the pieces together.","It takes a speedy seamstress just 30 seconds per hand.","Next they sew on a wrist made of a stretchy, cotton-and-lycra knit.","This seamstress works the wristing machine so quickly, we had to ask her to slow down so that we could actually see what she's doing.","Throughout the sewing process, these cotton gloves have been inside out.","This next machine turns them right-side in, transferring them onto a heated hand form.","The machine then presses each glove onto the form.","The gloves drop down to a conveyor belt below.","It transports them to a worker, who inspects them and pairs them up-- left and right.","Elsewhere in the factory, workers prepare the pvc solution.","The recipe varies according to the glove model, but generally consists of coloring and five to eight different chemicals.","They add in antibacterial, antifungal solution to combat odor from hand perspiration.","To apply the pvc, workers slip a metal form into the thumb of each lining, then put the lining onto a thumbless hand form.","If the hand and thumb forms were in one piece, it would be difficult to remove the stiff pvc glove without tearing.","The linings go through what's called the singer-- a propane flame that burns off any dust or loose threads.","Then it's into the pvc bath.","The basin of liquid pvc moves upward, coating the liners.","As the basin descends, the excess drips off.","Then the gloves go for a spin under infrared lamps for 45 seconds.","The spinning spreads the pvc uniformly so that it doesn't accumulate on the tips of the fingers, forming clumps.","After a second coat, the gloves pass through a propane-fired furnace for about 20 minutes at 370 degrees fahrenheit, then through a cooling chamber for five minutes.","For glove models with extra-strong grip, they blow pvc chips onto the first coat of pvc while it's still wet.","When the gloves go through the furnace, the heat embeds the chips.","After cooling, the gloves are dried and cured and ready to handle a hard day's work.","Decorative glass objects can be blown or thermoformed-- two very different glassmaking techniques.","In glass blowing, the artisan shapes hot glass by rolling it and blowing air into it.","Thermoforming is more of a molding process, better suited for making flat objects.","When you look at these magnificent pieces, it's hard to believe they begin as run-of-the-mill window glass.","It comes in ready-made panels in thicknesses ranging from 1/10 to 4/10 of an inch.","The first step is to measure the overall dimensions of the glass panel, then divide it into pieces, each slightly larger than the object it will become.","They'll turn this panel into large decorative plates, so they divide it into three squares, each about 14 inches in diameter.","They place each square over a paper pattern.","Using a glass cutter, they score the shape of the plate.","Then they apply pressure with a rubber mallet to separate the glass along the score line.","They cut away the excess, breaking it off with a few gentle taps.","Now they position the plate-shaped glass over a drawing and begin the artwork.","First they trace the outline.","Now they embellish the design and fill in the details.","They use enamel paints specifically designed for painting on glass.","Once the brushwork's done, they use a paint gun to apply the background colors and shading.","The glass has been cut and decorated, but it's still perfectly flat, so the final step is to mold it using extreme heat, hence the term \"thermoformed\".","The mold they use is made of fireproof materials designed to withstand high temperatures inside the oven, known as a kiln.","They carefully lay the glass over the mold.","They mold several different pieces at the same time.","In the intense heat of the kiln, the glass will melt and take on the exact shape of the mold right down to the most intricate textural detail.","These small pieces of glass will become the paint pots on this glass replica of an artist's palette.","It takes an hour and a half for the kiln temperature to climb to a scorching 1,550 degrees fahrenheit.","At peak temperature, they briefly open the kiln to make sure that everything is progressing well.","The glass at this phase should be the consistency of taffy and glowing bright red.","If it is, they can close the kiln and begin the cooling phase.","Six hours later, the glass pieces have hardened into the shape and texture of the respective molds.","These plates, spoon rests, and other pieces are cool enough to come out of the kiln.","The beauty of thermoformed glass lies in the striking combination of transparency and vibrant color.","Add to that the endless shape possibilities, and you've got truly functional art.","There are different types of fire trucks.","Pumpers hook up to fire hydrants, boost the pressure, then shoot water out through hoses.","Ladder trucks elevate firefighters on either a ladder or platform.","Rescue trucks have tools to cut through metal and clear obstructions.","Early firefighters couldn't do much more than pass buckets of water from man to man.","The 1720s saw the arrival of wagons carrying water tanks and hand pumps.","Those newfangled pumps could spew out an impressive 60 gallons of water per minute-- about what you'd get from two garden hoses.","The first horse-drawn fire trucks with steam-powered pumps went into service in 1852.","Gas-powered trucks replaced them in the early 1900s.","This pumper truck can deliver almost 1,600 gallons of water per minute.","Mechanical engineers usually custom-design fire trucks to suit the particular needs of the fire department placing the order.","The truck's body is made from sheets of marine-grade aluminum 2/10-inch thick.","Following the technical drawings, workers cut the aluminum panels to the sizes required, notching certain corners at a 90-degree angle.","Workers weld the pieces together to form what's known as the crew cab.","The crew cab not only carries the firefighters, it also houses the control panel for the water system.","Meanwhile, other workers measure and then cut pieces of aluminum to build the subframe that will support the crew cab from underneath.","They weld the parts together.","Installing the steps, workers leave a gap of about half an inch to enable water to drain down.","They line the storage compartments with aluminum sheets, using a sander to make textured circles on the smooth surface.","This pattern will camouflage the scratches that moving equipment in and out will inevitably create.","They use a machine called a press brake to bend the sheets to the required shape.","Then, using what's known as a punch press, they cut holes for the built-in lights, the door handles, and the various control knobs.","Workers now assemble the pieces and make any necessary adjustments before painting, rather than after, to avoid damaging the finish.","After this fine-tuning, they'll disassemble everything and send the parts to the paint department.","After that, they'll put it all carefully back together.","The full-scale assembly can now begin, starting with the water pump.","It arrives here ready-made from the supplier.","Next comes the crew cab.","This one isn't for the pumper, but rather for a yellow rescue vehicle.","The pipes that lead to and from the water pump go into a threading machine.","The pipes are part galvanized steel, part stainless steel.","Once they're threaded, they're ready to be screwed into the pump's water outlets.","The drive shaft-- that long piece coming from the transmission-- performs its usual job of turning the rear axle when the truck is in motion.","It also powers the water pump when the truck is parked, fighting a fire.","This control box runs the fire truck's electrical system, including the flashing emergency lights.","Each wire is color-coded, number-coded, and function-coded.","Workers run the wires from the box to the control panel in the crew cab.","Then they hook up the odometer, speedometer, and other dashboard indicators.","They install water-pressure gauges, adapters for connecting the hoses to the water system, and pressure-release valves for adjusting water pressure.","Lo and behold, a shiny, new fire truck built to a department's exact specifications.","Only there's one thing the client didn't have to specify-- that it be painted fire-engine red."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Leather Wallets","French Horns","Soy Sauce","Children's Ride"]},"text":["The pocket wallet was invented in the 17th century.","Europe had switched to paper money, and the gents of the day needed a handy way to pocket their cash.","There's a slot for everything-- credit cards, i.d., and, of course, cash.","And yet these wallets remain slim enough to fit into a trouser pocket.","These fine handcrafted pocketbooks are made from high-grade vegetable-tanned leather.","An employee selects a hide and arranges it on a work table.","Then he chooses a die shaped like one of the wallet's inside pockets.","Using this hydraulic press, he punches out the part.","He cuts 11 different components for the wallet's interior, using a custom die for each one.","He chooses tougher leather in a contrasting color for the wallet's exterior.","He now measures the thickness of the interior components.","Using what's called a skiving machine, he shaves them down to .","7 of a millimeter.","Another worker preheats an embossing machine.","It hot-stamps a pocket part with the company name and the royal warrant logo, which signifies that the prince of wales purchases this company's leather goods.","Using a different skiving machine, they shave down the edges of the exterior wallet parts.","This thinner border will make the parts easier to assemble later.","The next worker applies a water-based adhesive to a leather strip.","It will reinforce the top of a fabric square.","With this manual device, she turns the top edge to fold it in a straight line.","This leather-trimmed fabric square will be used to create a credit-card pocket.","She stamps a thin groove onto the leather trim to give it some definition.","Next, she builds a credit-card slot with two of the squares.","Using an awl, she scores a line in the fabric.","The line serves as a guide as she stitches the squares together to complete the slot.","She layers a third leather-trimmed block of fabric to create a second slot, then adds a leather panel that forms the third credit-card slot.","She glues and tucks the excess leather over the back of the fabric pocket.","Then she checks the alignment of the slots with a tool called a bone folder.","The next worker sews the credit-card compartment together.","There are two of these per wallet.","They glue both compartments to the wallet's spine made of fabric and leather.","This spine is called the bend section, because it bends to fold the wallet in two.","She attaches the bend section to a divider for the money pocket.","This divider is a bit longer than the assembled interior components, to facilitate the bending action.","She glues a lining to the wallet's leather exterior.","Here, she uses a special hammer to ensure the interior and exterior components of this wallet adhere well.","Then she trims the corner of the rim to make it look neat.","She rounds the corners of the wallet to give them a gentler profile.","Now she stitches the assembly together, leaving the bill pocket open at the top.","The next worker tucks a metal wedge under the rim to protect the rest of the wallet as she trims the rim close to the stitch.","Removing these few slivers will make the wallet more flexible.","She slides the bone folder into each credit-card slot to remove excess glue.","Finally, a few dabs of leather preservative, and this luxury wallet is ready for retail with a price tag to match.","The only question is, will that be cash or credit?","The french horn has a four-octave range and distinctive mellow sound.","As with other brass instruments, the musician plays certain valve combinations and alters lip tension to produce the right notes.","However, on a french horn, the mouthpiece is relatively small, making this instrument one of the most challenging to play.","The french horn is made up of 13 feet of coiled tubing, a set of valves, and a flared bell.","To make the tail end, they shape a sheet of brass around a steel mandrel, then braze the edges together to form a tube.","With a burnishing tool, an artisan rounds out the shape.","Next, they lubricate a brass disk as it spins on a lathe.","Using a variety of tools, they shape it into a bell.","This plasma-weld machine fuses the bell and tail together.","Back on the lathe, they trim the diameter of the bell...","Then roll the edge into a rim called a bead.","This reinforces the bell.","Next, they fill the bell with a hot, tar-like liquid called pitch.","Once the pitch cools, they put the tail into a forming block and carefully bend it.","The hardened pitch provides support, preventing the tail from collapsing.","They verify the bend against a template.","Using the same technique, they shape the pieces that form the horn's tubing.","Of all the brass instruments, the french horn has the most complex bends.","These valve knuckles connect the tubes to the cases that will house the valves.","Some french horns have three valves.","This double french horn has four.","Each valve case goes onto this alignment device, which pushes in the knuckles to the correct depth.","After brazing the knuckles to the cases, they hollow out the case interiors with a cutter.","Then they solder the valve cases to each other with connecting rings.","They insert the tubing parts into the valve knuckles.","These curved tubes are the horn's slides.","The musician tunes the instrument by adjusting them in and out of the straight tubes.","After soldering the straight tubes to the knuckles, they remove the slides for now to make other areas accessible.","Then they solder this partially assembled valve section to the tail and bell.","Now they apply buffing compound and polish the horn's interior surfaces.","They polish the more accessible surfaces with a cloth buffing wheel.","Then they wash off the compound and coat the entire surface in a protective lacquer.","Now final assembly of the valve section can begin.","They install rotors in the valve cases and levers to activate them.","Unlike piston valves on a trumpet that move up and down, these valves rotate to direct air flow through specific tubing combinations.","A lever connects to each valve via a rod and nylon cord.","With the valve section now complete, they reinstall the slides, then do a final wipe-down to remove grease residue and fingerprints.","This pristine finish complements the superb sound quality.","soy sauce is a staple of asian cuisine, used as both a condiment and cooking ingredient.","Its roots are in the seasonings of ancient china.","Today, you can buy artificial or chemically enhanced versions, but authentic soy sauce is all-natural and made the traditional way, by brewing soybeans and wheat.","At this small soy-sauce company, they use the centuries-old slow-fermentation method and just five ingredients--  soybeans...","Water...","Wheat...","Sea salt...","And yeast.","They begin by pouring soybeans into a cooking device called a steam kettle.","After thoroughly rinsing the soybeans twice, they fill the kettle with water...","Then close the lid and boil the beans for four hours.","Meanwhile, they pan-roast wheat in a skillet for about 25 minutes.","Then they put the roasted wheat through a mill.","The mill's steel rollers crack each grain into several pieces.","This will enable the yeast to better penetrate the wheat during the fermentation process.","When the soybeans are ready, they take them out of the kettle and spread them out in large trays to cool.","When the beans cool to 91 degrees fahrenheit, it's time to add the wheat.","After mixing everything thoroughly, they sprinkle on yeast and mix again.","The ingredient proportions are key and therefore a company secret.","To activate the yeast, they transfer the mix to shallow boxes and stack them for about 48 hours in a controlled incubation room.","This process generates heat, which rises, so they have to gradually move boxes to lower racks to prevent overheating, which would kill the yeast.","For the next stage, they make a brine by mixing fine sea salt with spring water.","To give its soy sauce a distinctive taste, this company repurposes bourbon barrels from local distilleries to use as fermentation vessels.","Traces of bourbon in the wood permeate the mix as it ferments, imbuing the sauce with a subtle smoky and sweet flavor.","After dissolving the sea salt in the spring water, they add the soybean mix, creating a moromi, the japanese word for soybean mash.","They blend for a few minutes then seal the barrel and leave it to ferment.","For the first six weeks, once daily, they open the barrel and mix the moromi to aerate the gases that build up.","This keeps the yeast active and helps develop the flavor.","Then, after that, they open and mix just once a week.","After 12 long months of fermentation, it's finally ready.","They open the barrel and mix one last time.","Then they empty the barrel onto a sheet of muslin lining the tub of a stainless-steel press.","They fold over the sheet to enclose the moromi...","Then lay down planks of wood to form a solid surface.","The press applies six tons of pressure, forcing the planks downward against the moromi.","This squeezes out all the liquid, which is the soy sauce.","It exits through a hose at the base of the tub and moves on to be filtered and heat-pasteurized.","The pressed moromi gets a new life as high-protein animal feed.","While many soy sauces are mass-produced, this factory brews small batches at a time.","A batch yields about 600 bottles, each of which workers here fill manually.","They top each bottle with a plastic diffuser, which dispenses just a dash of sauce at a time.","Then they twist on a plastic cap and slip a shrinkable plastic band over it.","Using a heat gun, they seal the band tightly around the cap and bottle.","Then the label, on which they write the batch code and bottle number by hand, a fitting finale for this signature soy sauce.","Children's ride-on cars are, quite simply, fun to drive.","These molded plastic cars come in hot colors and often have a friendly face on the front.","These cars have character, and that's why it's often bumper-to-bumper at the neighborhood playground.","There's nothing like that new-car feeling, especially when it's your first set of wheels.","Like many toys, the appeal of the ride-on car lies with children's desire to emulate adults.","And behind the wheel of their own little vehicles, a child can feel all grown up.","Today's child-size coupes are synthetic creations.","They start with plastic resin pellets.","They mix in chemical additives and recycled plastic and grind it all into a powder.","The powder funnels into a shaking sifter, which screens out large pieces the grinder missed.","It then flows into a big blender.","The plastic powder looks a lot like pastry flour, but not for long.","The next ingredient is the colorant.","There are various vivid hues to choose from.","They pour a measured amount of red colorant into the blender, and a spiraling beater evenly distributes it, turning the white powder to red.","They portion it into jugs, which then shuttle down a conveyor.","They arrive at a carousel of molds of car shapes.","A worker empties the jugs of colored plastic granules into them.","These little grains of plastic are about to be transformed into car parts.","They lower the lid, which contains the top halves of the molds.","The mold cage then spins as it travels through an oven.","The plastic inside melts, and the spinning action ensures it completely coats the inside of the molds to create solid parts with a hollow interior.","The cage then rolls into a station, where a spray of water cools everything down and causes the plastic inside to solidify.","The mold cage stops spinning, and a worker hooks it up to a crane, which lifts the lid.","The powdered colored plastic has been transformed into ride-on-car parts, and it's taken just 35 minutes.","Some parts fall out, and others have to be pulled out.","But it's easy work, thanks to the mold's nonstick surface.","Seepage during molding creates unwanted bits and nubs on the main car body that they trim off by hand.","They also shave areas that appear uneven.","Vents were formed in the molding process to release air in the core of the part.","They now cap the vents to keep little fingers from getting stuck inside.","They trim the car roof to improve its contours.","This also gets rid of any rough edges, making it child-friendly.","They fit company medallions into slots in the roof pillars.","And they do a bit more trimming to improve the profile of the parts.","Drills now work in concert to bore assembly holes into the main part of this coupe.","An employee then blasts out the plastic shavings with an air nozzle.","He applies a sticker with production information on it...","And then does a final inspection.","If he's satisfied with the quality, he applies another company logo.","Now flames lick the plastic roofs and doors as they briefly torch them.","They melt the surface just enough to give it a shiny veneer.","At the end of the production line, they pack up all the parts of this children's ride-on car, from the roof pillars...","To the tires...","To the steering wheel.","Everything fits neatly into one package.","Then it will be up to mom or dad to assemble all the pieces of this ride-on car.","It's a job that should take about 15 minutes or so.","Then zoom away--  no driver's license required."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sharpening Steels","Bladder Pumps","Ironing Boards","Kayak Paddles"]},"text":["A well-made knife is an essential tool in any kitchen.","Having a sharp blade can be the difference between a perfect meal and a culinary nightmare.","No matter how expensive the knife is, it will dull with use.","A high-quality sharpening steel can restore any knife to its former glory.","Professional-grade sharpening steels have an oval shape.","The shape provides more surface area for efficient sharpening and allows pro chefs to hone their blades frequently as they work.","The manufacturing process begins with a machine that quickly cuts rods of oval steel.","From handle to tip, the finished sharpening steel will be 12.5 inches.","A custom-made lathe grips the rods and guides them inside a cutting area.","The lathe rounds off one end to fit inside the handle.","It sprays the steel with cooling liquid to prevent overheating during the cutting process.","Next, they use a device called a drawing machine.","Ultra-fine teeth scrape the steel to create an abrasive sharpening surface.","The grain of the abrasions runs parallel to the length of the steel.","The steel is still soft enough for a stamping machine to punch in the company logo.","In an oven, they heat the steel rods to 1,500° fahrenheit.","Then, a machine dips the rods in a pool of saltwater, to harden them.","The sharpening steel is now 20% harder than the average kitchen knife.","A worker dips the components in a series of baths to clean them.","Next, a machine with multiple nozzles blasts sand onto the sharpening steels.","The sand cleans off the residue left over from the production process and prepares the steel for chrome plating.","The chrome plating protects the surface from rust.","An enormous industrial- strength dishwasher cleans the sharpening steels.","Then, workers conduct a quality-control inspection of the abrasive sharpening surfaces.","The sharpening steels have been changed from their original oval shape.","Using a set of high-speed, specially calibrated sanding belts, a preprogrammed robot smooths and shapes the steel.","The final piece has a polished and rounded look.","A grinding machine carefully tapers the metal to give the steel its sword-like shape.","It takes more than 50 steps to create a sharpening steel.","A machining tool drills and taps the rounded end of the sharpening steel.","This creates a threaded hole for attaching a handle.","The handle includes a section that folds down, allowing it to double as a hook.","A worker applies glue and installs two rivets to hold the wood section of the handle in place.","The wood handle is carved out of a 100-year-old oak wine barrel.","A worker carefully sands the edges of the handle, ensuring a smooth grip.","Another worker applies a protective coating of wax to the wood handle.","A worker installs the third and final rivet.","It bears the company's logo.","They install this rivet last so it's not damaged during the finishing process.","After a final cleaning, the sharpening steels are ready to be packed up and shipped out.","It takes a lot of slicing, chopping, and dicing to make a great meal, but, with a good sharpening steel, cutting is never dull.","Environmental laws require many industries to monitor groundwater for contamination.","An engineering firm is usually hired to collect the groundwater samples for testing.","Some firms collect samples using a bladder pump.","It's a small device that pumps water using pressured air.","It's called a bladder pump because the flexible tube inside works like a human bladder connected to a catheter.","When compressed, it forces the groundwater out of the pump and into the sample collection container.","The pump is made from polyethylene because it's flexible and inert.","The plastic is immune to chemical or biological reactions that could contaminate the water sample.","The extruder melts the polyethylene pellets and forces the liquid through a tube-shaped eye.","Then, it uses cold water to cool and solidify the poly.","This produces a 1-inch tube.","A razor cutter slices the tube into either 15- or 32-inch-long pieces, depending on the pump size.","They use a different eye to produce a wider pvc plastic tube for the pump's housing.","This tube goes on a computer-guided lathe, which cuts threads on the ends.","The same lathe works with a computer-guided mill to shape the pump's top cap.","It's also made from pvc plastic.","They make the pump's bottom cap and bladder cap the same way.","The lathe also carves a solid rod of stainless steel into a small disc-shaped weight.","The weight helps the pump sink in the water and collect the samples.","A technician preps the weights for engraving.","He sprays them to hide their shiny surface.","Without this masking, the laser would bounce off the surface, instead of penetrating it.","He loads the weights into the computer-guided engraving machine, then starts it up.","The laser engraves the name of the manufacturer, the pump's model number, serial number, and other product information.","When the engraving is complete, he separates the weights and washes off the coating with water.","Next, they make the air supply line.","They mix 2% concentrated blue polyethylene pellets with 98% colorless ones.","They use the same extruder as before to create a narrow tube; as well as an opaque polyethylene tube, for the pump's discharge line.","Then, they combine the air supply and water discharge tubes with a heat-bonding machine.","It bonds them in 6-inch intervals.","This lets engineers in the field cut the tubes to the length they need.","Now, it's time to assemble the bladder pump.","They fit the top of the bladder into a cap that has a hollow center rod.","They place an o-ring seal around another cap and attach that cap to the bottom of the bladder.","The o-ring will prevent water from leaking out of the pump and air from seeping in.","They insert a ball-shaped valve in the top cap.","Then, they attach a hose bar for connecting the discharge line.","They insert the bladder into the pump's housing.","They connect an air supply hose barb next to the discharge hose barb.","They place the weight on the bottom cap of the pump and insert another ball-shaped valve.","They complete the pump by attaching the bottom cap to the bottom of the bladder.","When engineers submerge the pump in a well, water enters through the bottom and slowly fills the bladder.","They drive compressed air into the pump housing via the air supply tube.","The pressurized air surrounds the bladder, squeezing it.","This forces the lower ball to close off the bottom of the pump, trapping the water sample inside the bladder.","The trapped water moves the ball at the top of the pump, which clears the exit route.","Then, they send bursts of air to the pump in timed intervals.","Each burst squeezes the bladder.","This gradually forces the water sample to the top of the pump.","It's then collected in a container on the surface.","It helps to have a flat surface when you're ironing wrinkled clothing.","The first ironing boards were simple wooden panels held up at ends by chairs.","Folding legs were added in the 1860s, creating a standalone structure that could be collapsed for easy storage.","This professional ironing board is equipped for every pressing need.","Its heated surface ensures that every garment is expertly steamed or ironed.","Each board starts with a hand-drawn design that includes detailed measurements.","They upload the information to a computer.","Computer-guided tools cut the ironing board surface out of steel.","Then, they drill 300 vent holes.","A machine melts and molds plastic under pressure.","It creates 20 different parts, including this control panel.","The plastic is a strong polycarbonate that won't deteriorate when exposed to the heat of an iron.","The molded components include the ironing board's base structure and numerous body parts and attachments.","A worker assembles the fan's motor.","The fan will blow the fabric for easy steaming or suction the fabric to keep it on the board.","He secures the fan shaft to the base plate and motor.","He flips the structure over and installs a small fan for cooling the motor.","He fastens the cooling fan to the shaft with a clip.","Next, he inserts a metal base plate in the ironing board's molded plastic housing.","He places an electric coil underneath the ironing surface.","He bends the tabs on the plate around the element to secure it in place.","He then makes the makes the electrical connections.","He installs the perforated steel plate on top.","Then, he screws the plate to the rest of the unit.","He flips the ironing board over and tucks the fan into a molded plastic slot in the back.","He screws the fan to the rim of the plastic compartment.","He transfers the ironing table to a rack until the next step.","When the worker's ready, he places the central body part over the fan and electronics.","He attaches the wired control panel to the end of the ironing board.","He drives large pins into it to secure it to the molded casing.","He connects the the control panel to the fan, the heating element, the thermostat, and the temperature sensors.","He tucks the wiring into the central body part.","He attaches a latch for accessing the mechanics of the ironing board.","Then, he screws a molded plastic side plate to the central body part.","He closes the control panel, encasing the mechanics of the ironing board.","He secures the legs to the central body part using a pivot mechanism.","In this professional ironing board, the work surface folds and unfolds.","The legs will remain stable at all times.","He secures the legs with the molded plastic structure.","He turns the knob on the pivot mechanism to set the board's height.","He peels the protective plastic off of the perforated steel structure.","He fits an elastic cover snugly over the ironing board.","It's made of breathable, synthetic fabric and foam padding.","The worker tests the ironing board.","He sets plastic-covered pods on the ironing board.","He activates the blow function and the plastic expands.","Then, he activates the suction option and the plastic collapses.","The tests confirm that the ironing board works properly, ensuring that these ironing jobs will go more smoothly.","Kayaking with a proper paddle can make the experience more comfortable and more efficient for a longer period of time.","Paddle designs are different for flatwater kayaking, versus whitewater kayaking.","Within both those categories, there are many different blade shapes and shaft designs.","This is a premium touring kayak paddle.","It's designed to be stiff, strong, and very lightweight.","The angle of the blades is called the feather angle.","Kayakers can adjust the feather angle for wrist comfort and aerodynamics.","The first step is to make the mold for the blade.","It's comprised of many complex parts.","Each one is shaped out of a block of copper or steel.","This is a high-precision process.","Producing a mold for just one blade style costs about $100,000.","Once all the components are ready, workers assemble the mold.","The corners have long alignment pins.","The pins guide the mold as it opens and closes on the injection press.","Workers mount the mold on the press, then load transparent nylon pellets into the hopper.","They position a black reinforcement rib inside the blade mold.","The press closes and injects hot, melted nylon into the mold cavity.","Then, the press cools the mold and solidifies the nylon.","The mold opens and ejects the kayak blade, which is now reinforced with the newly incorporated rib.","This entire molding process takes 3 minutes.","The press only molds a preliminary shape.","Next, they clamp the blade to a template and start up a computer-guided router.","The computer contours the blade to its final shape.","Here's the blade before and after this step.","The shaft is made of molded carbon fiber.","Each paddle is comprised of two connecting sections.","Workers prepare a right and left shaft piece for each paddle.","They saw each one to the required length and cut orientation slots in the end.","The orientation slots correctly position the piece, relative to the feather angle adjustment mechanism.","They roughen the surface area with a belt sander to optimize adhesion.","They apply a fifth layer of epoxy glue...","Then insert the shaft into the blade.","They wipe away the excess, then let the glue dry for 24 hours.","Next, they assemble the feather angle adjustment mechanism.","They place a nylon retaining cap on a spring and insert the spring into a nylon housing.","They flip the assembly over and put it into an ultrasonic welder.","Then, they place another retaining cap on the other end of the spring.","The welder uses high frequencies to generate heat.","The heat melts the nylon and quickly fuses the second retaining cap to the housing.","They attach the part to the rest of the paddle.","Then, they glue it into the right shaft piece.","They wipe away the excess glue and attach the final section of the adjustment mechanism.","They wrap tape around the mechanism to contain the glue.","After the glue has dried, they connect the right and left sides of the paddle with the feather angle adjustment.","They put it in the lock position, which is indicated by a white line.","They apply a decal denoting the feather angles; then, a second decal, illustrating how to select them.","A third decal with the brand name goes on the blade.","Adjusting the feather angle is simple.","First, you push the left and right shafts toward the middle and rotate them to the desired angle.","Then, you pull them apart, to lock it in the new blade position.","Some paddle models do not have feather angle adjustments, however, every kayak paddle this company produces separates into two pieces, to make transporting easier."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Kayaks","Safety Boots","Electronic Signs","Cereals"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Kayaks-- we'll tip you off to how they're made.","Safety boots-- we'll walk you through the manufacturing process.","Electronic signs--  a sign of the times.","And cereal--  we're milking this one big time.","In days gone by, kayaks were made of wood and animal skin and used by people who hunted to survive.","Fast-forward to today, and you'll see that kayaks have updated their image.","Now they're marvels of molded plastic coveted by sports enthusiasts far and wide.","A kayak is formed by the melting of plastic on a mold of nickel.","This mold is made in two parts-- an upper and a lower section.","The surface of the mold is perfectly smooth and has a mirror finish that guarantees an excellent luster.","The graphics are laid on the mold before molding begins.","This way, they're well-impregnated in the plastic.","It's an operation that requires quite a bit of dexterity because, contrary to self-adhering stickers, these graphics can't be lifted off if they haven't been well-positioned.","This is the yellow powder they're going to melt-- linear polyethylene.","It comes in several colors.","The amount of powder to be melted is determined by the kayak model to be made.","At the same time, in other molds, they're going to fabricate other parts of the kayak, such as the baggage compartment cover, the central support, and the seats.","The polyethylene is poured into the mold, which is then closed.","All the other molds are closed, as well.","Before entering the oven, the molds are securely closed with clamps to avoid any loss of polyethylene.","The kayak mold is put onto a transporter and placed facing the oven.","Because of the large dimensions of the craft, the oven had to be custom-made.","The whole kayak goes in.","The oven is 23 feet long and has a diameter of about 6 feet.","The polyethylene melts at 550 degrees.","To completely distribute the powder throughout the mold, it pivots on several axes.","It turns on itself while the oven oscillates 30 degrees towards the front and rear.","This procedure is termed \"rock 'n' roll\" and lasts 19 minutes.","Cooking is now over, and the mold exits the oven.","But the plastic has to cool in order to solidify.","To do this, they place the mold in this cooling chamber.","It must not be cooled too quickly or it deforms.","A 16-foot kayak can lose up to 6 inches of its length.","Now the cover of the mold is lifted off.","Then they unmold the cover and the other small parts.","The kayak is finally unmolded.","Now they can proceed to machining it.","While inspecting the kayak, they remove any plastic ridges left by the joint between the two halves of the mold.","They now move to finishing.","This begins with the screwing on of carrying handles.","Here, they cut the opening for the baggage compartment.","And then they install the trimming.","The central support is positioned.","It plays an important role because it links the bottom and top portions of the craft.","All that remains now is to finish the baggage compartment.","They attach fasteners, then put the cover in place and hold it down with a retaining strap.","Finally, the kayak is packaged, ready for delivery.","This company makes 12 kayak models of various dimensions.","Here's a lesson we hope you won't have to learn the hard way.","Drop a hammer on the job, and you might have a few broken toes to show for it.","Enter the sturdy work boot.","Lace on a pair, and chances are, your feet will survive even your klutziest moments.","Work boots are made from cowhide that has undergone both mineral and finishing tanning.","A waterproofing treatment completes the preparation.","Let's follow the process.","This machine is a shaver.","It evens up the hide and opens its pores before it receives other appropriate treatments.","They treat the hides in this retanning drum.","Water, coloring products, and retanning products are at temperatures varying from 90 to 180 degrees.","Hides are removed from the retanning drum.","The leather will then be vacuum-dried for 2 minutes at a temperature of 160 degrees.","Then, the hide will be hung for 24 to 48 hours.","Here, the hide is stretched on a vacuum-drying plate.","It's evened out to get rid of any creases.","A hide measures almost 22 square feet.","They'll need about 4 square feet of leather to make a boot.","They begin cutting the boot parts.","This punch, with the help of a press, cuts the different pieces of leather.","They also cut brown fabric pieces-- the interior lining of the boot, made from a foam base and woven polyester fibers.","This paring machine thins the edges before they're sewn.","During the cutting, each piece of leather is identified by its size.","They now begin assembly of the boot.","The two sides of the boot are sewn together on this machine.","Now the front part of the boot is assembled.","Excess leather is progressively cut away.","The eyelets-- made of steel, brass, or aluminum-- are then positioned.","Here, they attach a foot mount on a form with tiny nails called tacks.","The last is placed in the boot to facilitate the assembly of the front part.","This carding machine removes any unevenness at the level of the lining before proceeding to the next step.","They now install the tempered-steel toe cap.","The lining is pulled.","They insert the cap and fix it well in place.","The leather is folded beneath the boot, the bottom secured with a tack, and the sides fastened with hot glue on this seat and side lasting machine.","The boot front is now finished.","We get a good view of the application of the hot glue.","At this stage, they remove the last installed at the beginning.","It's no longer needed.","Now the sole will be installed.","The heel core is of pine.","It's put onto the sole, which will soon be secured into place.","Here, they proceed with machining and welding of the rubber sole to the boot tip.","It's called vulcanization, done at a temperature of 330 degrees.","And the sole is solidly installed.","This machine sands the edges of the sole to eliminate any vulcanization residue.","They also apply a sealant.","They now place an insole inside the boot.","Here, they install the laces and stitch on the labels.","The boots now leave for the packaging area.","Building a pair of boots required no less than 123 different fabrication steps, including packaging.","Each pair needs 330 feet of nylon, cotton, and polyester threads and over 10 square feet of thick and rugged leather.","Take a stroll down tokyo's downtown drag, and you'll get the distinct impression that neon is passé.","Today, electronic signs are all the buzz-- futuristic miracles of light, color, and animation that make the world their matinee screen.","Digital electronic signboards are sometimes used as giant television screens or to post written messages.","They come in different sizes--  from a few feet all the way up to many thousands of square feet.","The creation of a sign starts with plans drawn by engineers and architects.","Hundreds of plans are created by computer, among other methods, and require between two days or even a month of work.","Millions of tiny lights, or light-emitting diodes called elements, make up the screen's surface.","These elements are made of germanium, gallium nitrate, and silicon semiconductors covered with plastic.","These elements have to be placed so as to form a matrix.","Each of the 20 machines at this plant can install and solder 1,500 elements an hour.","Lighting up an element requires only 10 to 20 milliamps, and they last for about 150,000 hours.","All the wires are placed behind the matrix in the different electrical connections.","This conceals everything behind the sign and shelters it from the weather.","Depending upon the distance from which the sign will be seen, spaces between the elements vary from 1/10 of an inch to several inches.","A workman now makes the electrical connections.","The wires have to be solidly connected to resist shaking caused by movement of the signboard.","The matrices must operate together and require controllers, which send information from one to the other.","Thus, each group controls its own image.","Each matrix has to be electrically powered and integrated to its own 5-volt element-illuminating connector.","Sometimes the matrices are made up in two pieces-- one supporting the elements and the other having the components.","In this case, it simply requires two cards to establish the contact.","Now they connect the information cable that lights up and extinguishes the elements.","Each matrix has two connectors-- one that supplies the electric current and the other that carries the sign's information.","Here, they verify the functioning of each matrix.","Then, they can begin to join matrices together to construct the signboard.","We see here all the colors assembled as they will be on the screen.","The boards are sometimes installed outside and are thus vulnerable to the weather.","That's why they put on this rubber strip, which waterproofs it.","The matrices are now assembled together.","Then, 10 matrices are joined to make up a module.","At this stage, they insert the signboard conductor.","Then the wires are connected.","These wires transmit electric current and all the information relating to the sign.","The elements require a very low-voltage current-- about 5 volts.","Each module is then provided with its own converter to maintain a steady voltage.","Then all the modules are assembled in the signboard support.","And the many electrical connections linking the different modules are made.","This gigantic signboard is a composition of 35 modules and 12 matrices.","The signboard is almost finished.","They now check the color, the luminosity, and the resolution of the screen.","The signboard is made of 120,000 electrical light diodes and took nearly 3 months of work.","Each year, this company constructs hundreds of digital signboards requiring about 100 million lighting elements.","If you aren't the type to rise at the crack of dawn and wolf down a hearty breakfast, chances are you eat a bowl of cereal or a granola bar on the fly.","One of the best ways to beat the early-morning blahs, the goodness of cereal now comes in as many forms as our fast-paced lifestyles demand.","Our breakfast cereals were born out of the religious beliefs of the seventh-day adventists.","The seventh-day adventists are vegetarians who, in 1860, founded a sanatorium where patients were fed only cereals-- wheat flakes invented by dr.","John harvey kellogg.","His brother, william keith, saw a promising future and built the first flakes factory to market the product.","His success would later be imitated by the famous charles william post of post cereals.","The making of frosted corn flakes starts in this cooker.","The corn kernels are cooked here for 2 hours and 20 minutes.","Then the corn kernels are ground up.","They're ground up by this endless worm screw.","It also determines the number of pounds of kernels needed to make up a cereal recipe.","The ground corn is next dried in a dryer unit, an important step before they're cooked.","To give them their nice, flat shape, the corn kernels are crushed in the flake roller.","Two rollers turn opposite to each other, and the kernels fall into the constricted space between them.","The flakes fall onto this conveyor, and the next step will be cooking.","The flakes arrive at the cooking oven.","They're shaken to make sure they will be uniformly browned.","The flakes exit the oven well-browned.","They then fall into this chute and head in the direction of the next step.","This vibrating conveyor sorts the flakes and retains only the right-sized ones.","This drum mixes the flakes and sprays them with a sweet solution boiling at 445 degrees.","The sweet solution is dried, and a rake uniformly spreads out the frosted flakes on the canvas.","Now they add in vitamins.","The cereals are placed into this rotating drum.","The vitamins are sprayed onto the flakes by a series of jets.","The cereals are now finished, and they head toward the packaging site.","This packager fills the bags with cereal.","It handles between 40 and 45 bags a minute before they head off for final packaging.","This plant doesn't only make cereals.","It also makes soft cereal bars.","This kneader mixes the ingredients-- oat flakes, rice, and syrup.","The preparation is mixed twice a minute.","When well-mixed, the preparation is poured into a large container.","They will now proceed with the molding of the bars.","The contents of the bin are emptied onto a conveyor.","And the mixture is spread out.","Here, they add chocolate chips to the mixture.","The mix is compressed to the desired bar thickness by this roller.","The bar separator then divides the mix into 35 equal strips.","And then a guillotine cuts the bars to their proper length.","The bars continue circulating.","This equipment is used to line up the bars and make the packaging process easier.","Side by side, the bars are turned here so that they run one behind the other.","This roller applies a delicious caramel fondant to the bars.","This caramel fondant then cools and sets.","They're now at the final stage of production-- coating with chocolate.","About 400 pounds of chocolate are needed for the bar recipe.","Now finished, the bars are ready for packaging.","This machine individually bags the bars.","Finally, they proceed with the packaging.","These tasty bars will be enjoyed by children, as well as adults."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steel","Apple Juice","Aircraft Landing Gear","Cosmetics"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Steel--  the original heavy metal...","Apple juice--  from the tree to the glass...","Aircraft landing gear-- what you really need to score a touchdown, and cosmetics-- we'll tour a factory where they make it up as they go along.","They call superman \"the man of steel\" because, flying and x-ray vision aside, he could bend solid steel with his bare hands.","Thanks to its legendary strength, steel is used for everything from bridges and skyscrapers to household appliances.","Steelmaking usually begins with a pile of scrap metal.","Using this 11-ton electromagnet, scrap iron--  composed of crushed car bodies, electric appliances, cans, and other steel scraps-- is gathered up.","This powerful magnet is able to lift 5 1/2 tons of metal.","About 83% of this scrap will be transformed into bars of steel.","This metal is then dumped into a basket which, by itself, weighs 35 tons.","The basket can hold up to 65 tons of metal.","And now they're going to melt the metal.","This furnace reaches a temperature of 3,000 degrees, hot enough to liquefy the metal.","It is heated by three electrodes and by four natural-gas burners.","The contents of the basket are dumped into the furnace.","Here, the pieces of metal come into contact with liquefied steel, which always remains at the bottom of the furnace.","There's a reaction, and an aeration system draws out the smoke that's produced.","At this high heat, the 66 tons of metal will melt in about 60 minutes.","Then the cover is placed on the furnace.","This liquid is composed of impurities that rise to the surface when the metal becomes molten.","At this stage, a workman draws a sample of steel to determine its chemical makeup.","And now they make use of a supersonic oxygen lance.","This lance blows oxygen into the molten steel.","This reduces its carbon content, homogenizes the mix, and speeds up the melting process.","A ladle is positioned beneath the furnace.","The molten steel will be transferred from the furnace into this ladle.","The molten steel easily pours into the ladle.","The ladle weighs 60 tons and holds 127 tons of molten steel.","An overhead crane capable of lifting 200 tons carries the ladle filled with steel.","Additives are introduced in order to obtain the correct steel tone.","Here, the electrodes are taken out of the furnace ladle.","A workman now opens the pouring nozzles of the distributor.","It is equipped with four pouring holes.","The molten steel runs into molds.","It cools very quickly and begins to harden.","Steel billets are produced in lengths varying from 15 to 35 feet.","The billets are then cut to the desired length with a natural-gas torch.","A pouring identification number is marked on them with a wax crayon.","The difference between a steel billet and the nearly finished flattened product is clear.","Flattening of the billets remains to be done.","Before flattening begins, billets are placed in the furnace to be reheated for 2 hours at 2,000 degrees.","Water jets cool the billet ejector.","The billets are placed on the flattener, where powerful rollers compress them.","This operation gives the billets the required shape and size.","Water-cooled rollers crush the billets.","Some billets go from a thickness of 5 inches down to 1/2 an inch, while other reduce from 6 inches down to 3/4 of an inch.","At the end of production, bars move along at a speed reaching 22 miles per hour.","Once they reach their required dimensions, the bars must be cooled.","This cooling bed allows the steel bars to cool uniformly.","A total of 440,000 tons of steel bars are made at this plant each year.","Dump thousands of apples into a giant press, apply several tons of pressure, and what do you get?","Apple juice, of course.","And good thing it's made on such an enormous scale, when you consider how many people drink gallons of this popular juice every year.","Here at rougemeau, they make apple juice mainly from mcintosh apples.","Some 90% of juice production is done at harvesttime in october.","A conveyor transports apples to an inspection location.","Apples tumble in the reverse direction of the conveyor belt so that wet leaves and undesirable materials adhere to the belt.","The apples are stored in silos for several hours.","So the apples don't get too bruised in their descent, they're slowed down in this stepped chute.","Juice making can now begin.","Now they wash the apples.","Since they use some apples that have already fallen to the ground, this first water bath must eliminate pebbles.","A shower of cool water completes the washing process.","The apples are cut into little pieces in this grinder and produce gratings.","Enzymes are added, which break down the cellular structure of the fruit, allowing for maximum juice extraction.","Next, the gratings are transferred into maceration reservoirs, where they'll stay for 60 to 90 minutes.","Then they extract the juice.","The gratings are pumped into a powerful hydraulic press.","Inside the press, filter sleeves hold back the skins, seeds, and stems of the apples.","Quality control is strict.","At each stage of the process, they draw off samples of juice to evaluate its quality and to make sure that fabrication parameters are well adhered to.","The juice is filtered a first time.","The very smallest undesirable particles are held back by this sieve.","The fabrication process continues.","Juice flows from one stage to another via these immense reservoirs.","The next step will be pasteurization.","Juice enters this exchanger at 72 degrees and is heated up to 190 degrees, then cooled back down to 122 degrees.","Enzymes are then added to hydrate the pectin and facilitate the second filtration.","This is the ultra-filtration process, where filter membranes with microscopic pores retain the smallest of particles.","The apple juice is now perfectly filtered.","Its clarity is verified, as well as its flavor, color, and natural fruit-sugar content.","Since juice is produced in october, it has to be conserved throughout the year.","A portion of the production is stored in this sterile warehouse area to await being bottled during the year.","Each reservoir can hold 29,000 gallons of filtered juice.","No preserving agent is added.","Now we move to the next stage, the filling of containers.","These little drinking containers are filled at the rate of 100 a minute.","The containers are then hermetically sealed.","Two little sprays of hot glue are applied to the containers.","This secures the straws to their sides.","Another automated production line fills bottles with juice.","They circulate in a row on this conveyor.","Bottles are washed and disinfected with hydrogen peroxide in this white, sterile room.","Then they're rinsed with sterile water before being carried to the filling location.","Each minute, 120 bottles are filled with pasteurized apple juice and sealed with a cap in a sterile environment.","Bottles are then labeled and sent to shipping.","Between 20,000 and 40,000 tons of apples are transformed into juice yearly.","Thanks to its perfect preservation, consumers can enjoy this juice at any time of the year.","What goes up, they say, must come down, and when what's up is an airplane, you need dependable landing gear to get you back down safely.","This critical piece of aircraft equipment is the product of expert mechanics combined with sophisticated technology.","This heavy piece of steel is the undercarriage of a kc-135r airplane.","A landing gear comprises a central shaft to which an axle and wheels are attached.","They begin machining the shaft.","This digital lathe machines the exterior surface of the part.","Sprays of water and oil cool the part, which heats up due to friction.","They're now going to pierce the shaft.","This drill head will ream out the inside of the shaft.","Alignment of the head must be perfect, so they're cautious with their work.","The perforating gets under way.","Turnings from the cutting are saved, and these will be sold to foundries, where they'll be recycled.","We see here the cutting tool used to pierce the holes in the landing gear.","To perforate the part, very sharp cutting tools are used.","Here, they complete an attachment hole.","The hole is enlarged on its sides, as required by this machine tool.","The part is cooled with a mix of water and oil.","Cutting is completed, and the hole is now cleaned out with compressed air so that they can proceed with a visual inspection.","Here, three pieces are rough-cut at the same time by this machine.","Because they'll be used in aviation, these pieces have to be machined to perfection.","The machining of the shaft is now almost completed.","This deburring unit polishes the machine's surfaces with a compressed-air tool and sandpaper discs.","And now they have to verify the dimensions of the parts.","This digitally controlled machine has three axes and does the verification with extreme precision.","Here, another unit allows for the machining of parts with greater dimensions.","This facility also reconditions used landing gears, such as this one from a boeing 707.","They strip off the paint with a sandblaster to verify the condition of the parts with great precision.","And here are those parts stripped clean.","But a visual inspection is not enough.","They can detect cracks by magnetic-particle concentration.","They magnetize the part, and any cracks will become visible under ultraviolet light.","Now it's time for the shot-metal procedure, where they spray steel balls onto the metal's surface to increase its resistance to fatigue.","Before repainting the part, they first plate it.","The part is immersed for 10 minutes in cadmium, which forms a protective coating on it that will resist corrosion.","Then the part is quickly soaked in a weak concentration of chromic acid.","Water, agitated by air jets, cleans away the chromic acid, and the part is rinsed with water another time.","The part is now baked at 375 degrees over 23 hours to remove hydrogen induced during the plating process.","Then the part is immersed in liquid nitrogen at -200 degrees before it's inserted in order to reduce its size.","This collar is easily pushed on with a hydraulic jack.","Reheating the collar makes it return to its normal size.","Now the different components and the leakproof joints are inserted into the piston.","The shock-absorber tube goes into the piston.","This part absorbs the shock stresses when an aircraft lands.","The piston is now slid into the cylinder, and they verify that the shock absorber is leakproof.","Fabrication finishes with paint baked in an oven.","Some six to eight months are required to make a new landing gear and between six to eight weeks to recondition a used one.","Perfume, eye shadow, foundation, lipstick-- they're all products of a huge industry driven by our desire for beauty.","Well, \"how it's made\" is about to show you how they manufacture cosmetics, and we assure you, we're not making this up.","During archaeological excavations, mummies were discovered wearing makeup, the egyptian technique of enhancing eye contours with antimony, lead, and metal oxides-- all toxic, lethal substances.","Greek women also adorned their cheeks with a dye made from lead oxide.","In 1910, florence nightingale, under the name elizabeth arden, would change the whole makeup picture, launching the vogue for cosmetics without toxic agents.","Cosmetics have been in existence since the dawn of time.","There are many ingredients that make up a cosmetic formula.","The industry heavily uses iron oxides to color its products in a multitude of attractive tones.","Before moving into fabrication, each ingredient must be carefully and accurately weighed.","These raw materials are often dry, such as powder, but can also be liquid and even oil or wax.","Every ingredient will have first been approved by the quality-control laboratory.","A single formula may contain over 50 ingredients.","The other essential ingredient is water.","The water used in making cosmetics is first purified by an inverse-osmosis system.","When it meets strict company standards, it is put into a stainless-steel tank.","Depending on the complexity of the recipe, between 4 and 10 hours of work are needed to make up a product.","Let's begin with a bubble-bath recipe.","A part of the recipe is prepared in an adjoining container to make certain ingredients more soluble.","A stainless-steel screw propeller mixes all the ingredients thoroughly.","All along its fabrication processing, the product will be subjected to many tests.","Here, an acid-based neutralization-reaction test is performed with a color indicator.","The bubble bath has to be colored.","A fragrance and a color are added, for in this recipe, the final product will be mauve.","Before the filling process, the quality-control and microbiology laboratories make sure that the product meets strict quality standards.","Now it's on to the next step.","This filler can simultaneously fill up to 12 700-milliliter bottles at a steady pace of 50 per minute.","The fill level is adjusted electronically.","Capping remains to be done.","This capper positions and tightens the caps automatically.","Urethane rollers apply the precise tightening force.","The bottles now pass beneath a sealer via induction, which generates a magnetic field, heating the metal piece placed in the cap.","When hot enough, it welds itself onto the neck of the bottle.","Another product made here is the peeling mask.","The mask is poured into this funnel, whose end is attached to the tube-filler pipe.","The product descends via gravity.","The filler pours the peeling mask into 50 tubes each minute.","Then, with heat and crimping, the tube end is sealed, and the tube heads for packaging.","Other products made here--  cologne and perfume.","The liquid is drawn into the bottle by suction.","This rotating filler operates with intermittent vacuum to fill 50 bottles a minute.","Bottles are positioned beneath the 16 filling spouts that seal their opening to allow for the creation of a vacuum, which draws in the product.","Now atomizer pumps are inserted.","Handling two bottles simultaneously, this machine seals the pump, securing it around the neck of the bottle.","We see the white sleeve aligning the pump, while the gray one tightens the pump.","Then there are the sprayers.","This machine applies the spray stoppers and, with a hammer, presses them onto the pumps of the bottles, which are now finished.","And one final product--  roll-on deodorants.","This machine fills 115 bottles a minute, handling 8 bottles at a time.","A filling stem pours the product into the bottle, and here they place the roller ball at 115 per minute.","Then the ball is lightly pressed into the cavity in which it turns freely.","This plant makes over 1,200 different products and yearly sells 32 million items per year."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Statue Restoration","Tripods","Polish Sausages","Welding Guns"]},"text":["People have been crafting religious statues for years.","But time can take a toll on these sacred works of art.","That's where restoration experts come in.","These professionals work small miracles to return statues to their former glory.","This is a wooden sculpture of the christian messiah.","It was originally crafted in the 15th century.","But today, it's riddled with termites and broken.","A major restoration has been its salvation.","Now, this historic work of art is once again on display in an italian church.","Like the messiah statue, this 18th century madonna is damaged.","The plaster on her face is chipped.","Her fingers are broken, and her robes are crumbling.","First, the restorer dusts off some of the surface dirt.","He uses a soft brush and gentle movements to avoid further destruction.","Then, he prepares a cleaning solution.","He mixes a low-acid, perfume-free soap with water.","He uses mild soap because it's gentle on old plaster.","He heats up the mixture to melt the soap.","Then, he starts cleaning the statue.","He applies the cleanser to the madonna's face and body.","He lets it soak into the plaster for 7 to 15 minutes.","He makes sure the statue doesn't absorb too much water because that would cause more deterioration.","Next, the restorer wipes the statue down with a damp sea sponge.","Centuries of dirt and grime come off.","For serious stains, he combines alcohol and ammonia.","He applies the cleansing mixture using a cotton swab.","He lightly scrubs off the deep stains.","The alcohol evaporates quickly so it's not on the surface of the statue long enough to do any more damage.","This madonna statue is starting to look like her old self.","The restorer uses rabbit glue for the next step.","It's a strong and flexible adhesive that won't chip or crack.","He dissolves some glue in distilled water.","He applies it to the cloth exposed underneath the broken plaster.","Then, he mixes a special plaster called gesso with the rabbit glue.","The mixture is 80% plaster and 20% glue.","He dabs the plaster mixture onto the glued sections to fill in the gaps in the madonna's robes.","He repairs her chipped nose using a thicker version of the plaster solution.","He applies it with a small spatula.","After the first coat of plaster on the robes dries, the restorer adds another thicker coat.","He adds more layers until he has enough material to work with.","Then, he sculpts the robe's contours using a surgical scalpel.","He blends the repair into the original plaster and sands it until it looks seamless.","He mixes water-based paint to match the original colors.","Then, he carefully covers the repaired sections, blending the old with the new.","He mends the brocade by pressing gold leaf onto the border of the robes.","The gold leaf sticks to the glue applied earlier, matching the original pattern.","He seals the paint with carnuba wax-- it gives the surface of the statue a hard and resilient finish.","It can take up to 4 months to restore a damaged statue.","A sculpture that's hundreds of years old can look as good as new in just a few months.","Then, churchgoers can enjoy it for centuries to come.","Humans have been making three-legged objects for thousands of years.","The third leg gives these structures extra stability.","Some of the earliest photographs were taken with cameras mounted on tripods.","In fact, the tripod has been called the most important photographic accessory ever invented.","Early tripods were made out of wood.","They were heavy and cumbersome.","Their design and materials have improved over time to meet the needs of both hobbyists and professionals alike.","Today's state-of-the-art tripod is lightweight, collapsible and equipped with precision adjustments.","Contemporary tripods are made from aluminum tubes that have four different diameters.","The tubes are electrowelded and anodized for precision, hardness and durability.","A machine cuts the tubes to the required lengths.","A press expands one end of the d-shaped tubes to keep the smaller diameters in place.","Here are two of the different-sized diameter tubes.","A worker inserts a tube into this machine.","It uses a high-precision laser to etch the company's name into the aluminum.","The laser process turns the etched aluminum white.","They coat aluminum castings with powdered paint.","The casting is part of a component called a spider.","It connects the tripod's legs.","Once painted, the components are taken to a cnc machine.","The machine shapes the parts to the designer's exact specifications.","A worker puts foam sleeves called leg warmers on two of the tripod's three legs.","The sleeves allow photographers to easily handle the legs in extreme temperatures.","The worker uses a pressurized air device to open the sleeve, then she inserts the leg.","She uses a specialized machine to add the top hinge collar to the upper leg section.","The parts were designed to work together and click neatly into place.","Next, she applies the locking collars.","When a photographer adjusts the legs, the locking collars will hold them in place.","She threads a bolt through the collar ends and adds a quick-release lever to the assembly.","Then, she fastens all the components in place.","The levers are ergonomically designed and can be opened with one hand.","She presses bushings into place on the upper collar to complete the leg assembly.","Now, the tripod is ready for the next phase.","But first, the worker performs a quick quality control check.","She makes sure the legs slide in and out correctly.","Then, she checks the locking collars.","Next, she brings the legs together to form the tripod.","She positions the bottom of the spider component on a specially-designed support mechanism.","She installs the legs and caps them with the top of the spider, then she bolts everything in place.","Next, a worker assembles the tripod head.","This state-of-the-art component can be adjusted in three directions.","She places plastic rings between the three main parts to ensure smooth and accurate adjustments.","She installs leveling bubbles to help photographers accurately position their cameras.","She adds the upper plate and the adjustment knobs.","The plate screws into the camera, which conveniently mounts onto the tripod.","The knobs also adjust for easy storage and transport.","She labels a knob to indicate the scale of friction intensity.","Once the entire head assembly is complete, a worker carefully threads it onto the tripod column.","The final step in the assembly process is to slide the column and head down through the spreader.","A worker checks to ensure the mechanism is working correctly, then tightens the locking knob.","The finished tripod is lightweight, compact and durable.","This tripod is ideal for both professionals and hobbyists.","It'll keep the camera steady for anyone who wants to take portraits, profile architectural features, or capture panoramic landscapes.","Polish sausage isn't necessarily made in poland.","Also called kielbasa, the term refers to the style of sausage rather than its location.","It's usually made entirely of pork, or a mix of pork and veal.","The meat is seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic.","These sausages might be made in canada, but there as polish as warsaw.","This kielbasa is 100% pork, traditionally seasoned and cooked by natural wood smoking.","This company uses the hind leg meat leftover from the hams they sell.","Each sausage recipe calls for specific portions of lean, medium, and fat meat.","Workers fill three separate meat carts with the required quantity of each.","They grind the contents of each cart separately.","The three types of meat are ground to different sizes.","The lean meat will be the largest, and the fat meat will be the smallest.","The small chunks of fat meat will fill the gaps between the large, lean chunks.","They also add whole garlic cloves to the grinder with the fat meat.","Then, they prepare a spice mix that includes garlic powder, white pepper, coarsely-ground white, red, and black peppercorns, and a proprietary blend of dried herbs and spices.","They also add pickling salt as a preservative.","They blend the spices, pork, and cold water in a mixer.","The mixer also vacuums air out of the meat.","This helps the seasoning thoroughly saturate the pork.","It also makes the sausage denser and concentrates the flavor.","They mix the ingredients for 15 minutes, then let it rest and marinate for several hours.","After marinating, the meat is ready to be put into sausage casings.","The casing is made out of hog intestine.","The filling specialist controls the fill speed with a knee-operated lever.","He applies the right amount of pressure with his fingers to stuff the fragile casing without tearing it.","No two hog intestines are identical, so this process can't be automated.","The filling specialist constantly adjusts the speed and pressure as he works.","The filling specialist takes the finished casing and gently loops it over his arm.","Then, he puts the loops on the rack of a smokehouse trolley.","A fully-loaded trolley holds about 550 pounds of raw sausages.","They roll the trolley into the smokehouse chamber, shut the door...","And light the fire.","They feed maple and hickory logs into a 10-foot fire pit located directly below the chamber.","They monitor each sausage while it's smoking and adjust the heat exposure as needed.","The smoking period lasts for 6 to 8 hours.","The meat cooks at about 160 degrees to kill off all the bacteria.","The smoke infuses it with additional flavor, naturally curing the sausages.","After the sausages leave the smokehouse, they're cleaned with hot water.","Then, the sausages are rinsed in cold water and sent to a blast fridge.","This minimizes the amount of time the sausages are warm enough for bacteria to grow.","The rapid cooling procedure eliminates the need for additional chemical preservatives.","A worker cuts the sausage into 4 1/2-pound portions.","He places each portion in the bottom tray of the plastic package.","Before sealing the tray, a machine sucks out the air and replaces it with a mix of 80% nitrogen and 20% carbon dioxide.","This extends shelf life because mold and yeast can't live without oxygen.","The carbon dioxide also inhibits bacterial growth.","The nitrogen fills the package to protect the sausage during transport.","Every sealed package passes through a metal detector.","Then, a scale weighs each package and prints out a label indicating the weight and the sell-by date.","A sealed and refrigerated package of sausage can stay fresh for up to 35 days.","Once opened, these sausages taste best if eaten within 7 days-- and even better with a little sauerkraut.","Welding guns are regulars on \"how it's made\".","They're used in many factories all over the world.","They have copper claws that hold parts together with high force, then weld items together.","The guns are designed to do precision work at a steady pace.","A welding gun is designed to make the same weld over and over again.","They're programmed to accomplish a repetitive task with pinpoint accuracy.","Production starts with the gun's electrode caps, which are made out of copper rod.","The rod uncoils and travels to a forming machine with a series of punches and dies.","Mechanical fingers move the rod from one die to the next.","The punches drive the rod into the die cavities to shape it into electrode caps.","The electrodes come in thousands of different shapes and are made it many different ways.","The make this electrode, automated tools taper a thick copper rod at one end.","Then, a drill bores a hole in the other end for cooling water.","Smaller electrodes are made of partially-hollowed blanks.","They shave down the blank so that it will be able to weld in small areas.","They also shape it so that the electrode cap will fit on top.","They use another drill to make an entrance for cooling water.","The entrance intersects with the hollowed part of the cylinder.","Then, another machine bends the electrode into its final shape.","Next, they make the shunt adapter.","A worker uses a hydraulic machine to bend a copper bar around a die.","He measures it to confirm that the dimensions are correct.","A high-pressure water jet carves through a thick copper plate to create the welding arms.","The water jet can precisely cut out the part without scorching the copper.","At the next station, computerized tools shape a solid block of steel into a mount for the welding machine's motor.","It's a substantial transformation.","An employee bolts steel plates to the end of the copper arm.","He places a washer over the plates and then tightens the bolts.","He inserts the electrode in the other end of the arm.","Then, he places the cap on and hammers it in place.","The worker uses a crane to move the second weld arm into place.","He aligns the holes and joins the arms with the temporary metal pin.","The transformer delivers electricity to the electrodes.","A worker attaches the robot welding arms to it.","He replaces the temporary pin with a permanent one.","Then, he bolts the arms to the transformer.","Now, the welding gun is ready for the motor.","He joins the motor to the arms and tightens the bolts on each side.","The mechanics of this robot welding gun are complete.","Now they need to add the plumbing.","An employee cuts plastic tubing and connects it to the welding gun.","The tubes will supply a constant flow of water to the gun.","Without it, the gun would overheat and the electrode tips could melt.","He bundles some of the hoses and ties them together for neater installation.","They test every robot welding gun to confirm that it's fully operational.","This gun is a slightly different version that the one that was just assembled.","The technician also confirms that the tips have sufficient force for a good weld.","Too much force could damage the tips.","Too little force would result in a poor weld.","It takes about an hour to assemble a robot welding gun.","This gun is ready to leave the factory and be part of the action at another one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Javelins","Cuckoo Clocks","Hearts of Palm","Windshield Wipers"]},"text":["The sport of javelin throw dates back to the olympics in ancient greece.","The athlete sprints down a runway and just before reaching a line on the ground, hurls the javelin forward.","For the throw to count, the athlete can't step over the line and the javelin has to land point-first in the ground.","This modern javelin consists of a long, hollow tube and a point.","The tube portion is called the shaft.","This company uses strong, lightweight aluminum, but javelin shafts can also be made of steel or carbon fiber.","The tube is 1.2 inches in diameter.","It first goes into a taper machine, where forming dies narrow the back end to very specific dimensions.","The taper profile varies by model but has to conform to international rules.","After making the exact end of the taper, they slice off the excess tubing.","The shaft is now its final length-- 7.2 feet for a woman's model and 8.5 feet for a men's.","A straightening machine sandwiches the shaft between two hydraulic cylinders.","They apply extreme pressure, straightening any large bends.","This is just a preliminary straightening.","The final one comes later.","Next, working strictly by eye, a specially trained technician sands the shaft, fine-tuning it to a very precise diameter and weight.","The javelin's point section is made of steel tubing that's a hair wider than the shaft.","After tapering the front, they saw off the excess, making the point around 12 inches long.","Now for the point's steel tip that jabs into the ground.","They position it in a holder, place the point body behind it, then weld the two parts together.","To make the point more aerodynamic, they sand down the weld line until it's flush with the surrounding steel.","Using progressively finer grits of sandpaper, they polish away any imperfections until the point is perfectly smooth.","Now for the final assembly.","The shaft is sporting two coats of paint, and the point is nickel-plated to rustproof the steel.","They mark how far up the shaft the point will go and slip it on temporarily.","As the javelin pivots precisely where international rules dictate, they add pieces of lead until the javelin balances.","Then all the components go on a scale to ensure their combined weight abides by international rules-- 1.3 pounds for a women's javelin, 1.8 pounds for a men's.","Next they squirt a little glue inside the point and drop the chunk of lead inside.","They drop in some knotted cord and ram it in with a metal rod.","This packs in the lead so it won't rattle around.","They use glue to adhere the point to the shaft.","They drive home the point, so to speak, by throwing the javelin against a lead slab.","The force of impact pushes the point into its final position.","Now they recheck the javelin's overall weight.","If it's underweight, they simply tape some sheet lead to the center of gravity, where the handgrip will hide it.","Using a gauge to measure the grip's permissible length, they mark the grip position at the center of gravity, then mount the javelin on a lathe and coat the marked area in glue.","They wind cotton cord around the shaft over the glue.","Before cutting the end, they verify the length of the grip with the gauge.","They apply two decals-- one bearing the company name, the other a safety warning.","But no seal of approval just yet.","The javelin still has to undergo a final straightening.","This takes an expert eye and a small hand-operated press to straighten out any bends.","It's all a question of aerodynamics.","The straighter the javelin, the more likely it is to go the distance.","The black forest region of southwest germany is world-famous for its cuckoo clocks, which have either one-day or eight-day movements, meaning that's how long they run on one winding.","The standard feature is a little bird that emerges and cuckoos when the clock strikes.","Some clocks also play music and have moving figures.","the intricate carvings that decorate many cuckoo clocks start out as a block of linden, a soft wood that's easy to carve.","An artisan first outlines the basic shape using a stencil and paint, then cuts it out with a jigsaw.","Here he's cutting three blocks at once.","To steady the piece, he mallets it to nails protruding from a block of wood.","Then he begins carving, using up to 50 different knives to sculpt exceptionally fine detail.","The clock cases these carvings decorate are made of pine or plywood, depending on the model.","Often a case has no carving at all.","Instead, an artist paints an elaborate design.","Some cases feature a combination of painting and carving.","The technical artistry is on the inside.","The clock's brain, called the movement, is a system of brass and steel gears.","It keeps time and triggers the cuckoo function.","The components and configuration vary according to whether it's a one-day or eight-day movement.","Workers sandwich the movement between two brass plates, connecting them at the corners with long screws.","Then on the outside, the install the mechanism that times the chime.","Next the steel wire on which the cuckoo bird will perch.","Then last but not least, the reels that will move the clock hands.","The factory runs every finished movement for two days straight to ensure it functions perfectly.","The first part that goes on the clock case is the dial.","They tack it with tiny nails.","Next, the wooden cuckoo bird.","They insert the movement's perch wire through a hole in its foot, then secure it with a screw so he doesn't fly off.","After trimming his tail so he'll fit, they screw the movement, bird and all, inside the case.","Next, the steel wires that operate the components that produce the cuckoo sound.","We'll see them shortly.","And, finally, the dial's wooden hands.","Every cuckoo clock has two chains that regulate the speed at which the movement gears turn.","As we see here in slow motion, an automated machine makes these chains one link at a time by first cutting, then bending pieces of brass wire.","Each chain goes into the case through a hole in the bottom, then onto a wheel in the movement, then back out through another hole in the bottom of the case.","\"s\" hooks go onto the ends.","These will hold cast-iron weights that pull the chain.","Workers rig up a small wire connecting the bird and the door.","This opens the door when he comes out to cuckoo.","as this demonstration shows, the bird's cuckoo is actually the sound of air pumping in and out of two miniature bellows.","Before each cuckoo, the hammer on the end of this steel wire hits a tiny gong.","The number of gong cuckoos indicates the hour.","After connecting the bellows to the movement, there's just one step left-- running a wire from the movement through the bottom for the pendulum.","The technical choreography can now begin.","Winding up the clock raises the chain, pulling up the weight on the end.","As the weight falls back down gradually, it pulls the chain, which turns the movement, which drives the hands of the clock.","The pendulum regulates the pace.","At this factory, a clock gets the seal of approval only after a two-day test run during which it must perform impeccably.","It's this attention to detail, both artistic and technical, that makes these traditional german cuckoo clocks such timeless treasures.","heart of palm is a vegetable that comes from certain species of palms.","It doesn't grow on the plant the way fruits and vegetables usually do.","Rather, it's the soft, edible inner core of the stems.","Harvesting palm stems and then processing them to extract the heart is very labor-intensive, which is why this delicious vegetable is a delicacy.","Life for this tropical vegetable begins in the farm's nursery, where they plant a palm seed in a pot of soil.","After a couple of weeks, they transplant the seedling into a bag, and the seedling grows.","Life in the nursery is one of routine-- scheduled feedings of fertilizer, regular weeding, and a daily shower.","After about three months, that little seedling has matured into a plant that's strong enough to go into the field.","Workers remove it from the bag gently, careful not to harm the roots.","Then they plant it in loose soil.","After about a year and a half of field growth, it's time for the first harvest.","Using a machete, the harvester grabs and chops off the main stem.","One of the remaining smaller stems will become the new main stem and be ready for harvesting in about six months' time.","This cycle continues for about a decade.","After cutting off the stem, the harvester strips the bark.","This exposes a shell underneath that protects the palm heart at the core of the stem from damage and dehydration.","Later the factory will slice off this shell like so to extract the heart.","Once the stems arrive at the factory, they go into a basin of water immediately.","This prevents dehydration.","Next workers load them on a conveyor belt, lining the bases right up against the edge.","Someone else, meanwhile, clicks a counter to tally the number of stems passing by.","The conveyor belt transports the stems to a circular saw that slices off a portion of the base.","Next workers slide each stem across a razor-sharp blade, slicing open the shell that encases the heart.","With a quick twist, the shell comes off, and they place the heart on a conveyor above.","Further down the line, the hearts run against another circular saw, which slices off what's left of the base.","Next a row of saws spaced six inches apart cuts each stem into pieces.","Now the hearts of palm are just the right size for packaging.","In the field, the stems' bark and outer shell acted as a dirt barrier.","Still, the hearts get a rinse in cold water before going into the jar.","Each jar has to contain a specific weight and number of pieces, so it goes on a scale, and, if necessary, a worker adjusts the weight by swapping a piece for one of a different size.","The jars now move onto a machine that fills them with brine, a special recipe of water, salt, and citric acid that acts as a preservative.","The brine-filled jars then go into a hot-steam machine.","It heats the liquid for about 10 minutes, almost to the boiling point.","This forces all the air out of the hearts, preparing them for pasteurization.","On the way to the pasteurization chamber, the jars pass through a capping machine, then under an ink-jet printer head, which applies the lot number and product expiration date.","Now it's into the pasteurization chamber for an hour and a half.","This intense heat, 207 degrees fahrenheit, kills off any microorganisms lurking inside the jars.","After a one-week quarantine period to ensure the hearts of palm don't deteriorate in any way, the jars are ready for labeling.","The brine and pasteurization combined give the sealed container a four-year shelf life, so whether served alone, in a salad, with pasta or rice, these hearts of palm are guaranteed to be as fresh as they are tasty.","The first windshield wipers were invented in the early 1900s by a woman who got the idea from watching a trolley driver wipe the sleet off the windshield with his hands.","After 1920, wipers became standard equipment on all cars.","Today, even the space shuttle has them.","These windshield wipers all have a rubber wiping blade.","To make it, workers load natural rubber into a mixer that breaks it down into fine grains.","Then they add powdered carbon to the rubber and leave it to mix.","After several hours, a worker cuts the rubber away from the mixer and feeds it into a heat-treating machine.","Next the natural-rubber strips enter an extrusion machine, which will combine them with the strips of synthetic rubber.","The rubber extrudes through this steel die to form a continuous profiled band.","The rubber band cools in a salt bath before it's cut into lengths, then split in half to form two wiping blades with a clean, sharp edge.","The blades go through a spray of graphite to reduce friction, then drop onto a grate to dry out.","The rubber is so smooth, it's hard to grasp, so workers must insert each blade by hand into an assembling machine.","In the center of the wiper blade is an opening into which a machine will insert a metal tension strip.","It serves to press the blade on the windshield and hold its shape.","The machine applies pneumatic pressure to literally blow the strips through the length of the blades.","This steel coil feeds into a stamping machine that repeatedly cuts and bends it to form brackets.","These brackets connect the windshield-wiper blades to the wiper arm and give them the shape they need to wipe on curved windshields.","The brackets come out of the machine in rows, still attached to the edges of the coil.","Next, the rows of brackets dip into a vat of paint to receive a base coat, followed by two more coats of black paint that will protect them from corrosion for several years.","Assemble all these pieces together, and you'll have this complete windshield wiper.","Thanks to this machine, it's a fully automated process.","First it sets a plastic joint on the smallest brackets, then clips them two at a time onto a larger middle bracket.","Next the machine sets an adaptor onto the top-center bracket so the wiper can attach to a variety of car wiper arms.","Finally, all the trays on which lie the assembled wiper parts come together as the machine proceeds with the final assembly.","Four brackets held by joints branch out from the main center bracket.","They hold the wiper blade in eight different places.","This design allows a full range of movement to the wiper while applying an even pressure all along the blade-- the key to a clean wipe with no streaking.","The completed wipers come off the assembler two at a time.","Workers visually inspect the wipers and then test the performance of the blade against a rotating sheet of wet glass.","They monitor the amount of friction the blade applies to the glass and gauge its durability.","Finally, they test the wipers on an opaque black windshield that reveals just how well they work.","With a life-span of more than a million wipes, they're surely the most reliable device on any car."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fish Rubbings","Clay Shooting Machines","Almonds","High"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"...","Fish rubbings.","Clay shooting machines.","Almonds.","And high-end motorcycles.","fishermen like to exaggerate about the size of their catches.","In 19th century japan, fish rubbings were used for actual documentation.","Fishermen coated the fish with non-toxic ink and rubbed it on paper to transfer the image.","They called this form of record-keeping gyotaku.","Over time, the practice of fish rubbings has evolved into an art form.","Why paint a picture when you can print one using the real thing?","The artist traces the outline of the fish onto a foam block.","Following that outline, he cuts out a fish-shaped cavity.","He sets the fish in the cavity.","The foam will keep the fish level and stable during printing.","He tucks paper wadding into the mouth to keep it open for a more interesting print.","He also inserts wadding under the gill flaps to impede the flow of fluids from the fish.","He props up the fins with pins and leaves them to dry overnight in this elevated position.","This will give the rubbed image the illusion of action.","He wraps cosmetic sponges around wine corks and tapes them at the base.","These improvised ink applicators will eventually provide a smooth finish with no brush strokes.","He makes one for each color, plus a few extra for blending.","Next, he selects different ink colors to create a bluish green shade that's close to the one on the bluegill.","He adds poppyseed oil to thin the inks a bit and blends it all with a palette knife.","With the fins now dry and stiff, he removes the pins.","With a metal probe, he pulls up a fin that hadn't been raised earlier.","He places a paper towel between the foam support block and the fish.","He pats a greenish black color onto the gills and tail using a foam brush.","This process leaves some smears on the paper towel, but that's what it's there for.","Switching to one of the improvised applicators, he applies the bluish green ink to the upper part of the fish's body.","He dabs a yellow color onto the belly of the fish.","He adds a bit of red to the chest because during spawning, it usually turns this color.","He places a piece of paper under a fin as he coats it with green ink.","Then he removes the paper towel that has protected the foam support block from smudges and places the fish back in the cavity.","He lightly sprays a sheet of rice paper with water.","This makes it easier to manipulate, as he drapes the damp paper onto the inked fish.","He rubs the paper onto the inked fish to transfer the image.","This takes skill and the right touch.","Once he's finished, the artist peels the paper away from the fish and examines the rubbing.","After the ink has dried, he lightly sprays the rubbing with water and then a water-based dye.","The dye provides background color but doesn't affect the oil-based ink guard.","He brushes wheat paste onto a second piece of rice paper.","This paper will serve as an extra layer of reinforcement for the fish rubbing.","He wets the rubbing thoroughly.","An assistant slowly lowers the wet print onto the paper as the artist smoothes the rubbing, ensuring there are no wrinkles as it adheres.","The image of the fish's eye doesn't transfer during rubbing, so he paints one.","He defines the pupil with black watercolor and paints the iris yellow.","The painted eye adds a soulful expression to the print.","The fish rubbing is now ready to be mounted to a more rigid paper backing for extra support.","He trims the borders, ensuring that they're symmetrical and the correct measurements.","He then tapes the fish rubbing to the mounting board and signs it.","With numerous and extensive dryings between steps, it has taken several weeks to produce this fish rubbing.","Clay shooting machines launch the flying targets used in the sport of clay pigeon shooting.","The saucer-shaped targets are called clay pigeons because they replace the original targets, live pigeons.","Shooting machines can launch the targets at various intervals, angles and velocities.","This company has been building clay shooting machines since 1927.","Older models like this one were heavy steel clunkers that ran on high voltage, were difficult to move around and weren't terribly precise.","Today's machines weigh from just 88 to 220 pounds.","Not only are they easily portable, they run on just 12 volts and perform with great precision.","The machine's sturdy base is constructed from thick steel.","Its parts were cut by a computer-guided laser then welded together.","The base design enables the machine to move both laterally and vertically.","The first component the worker attaches to the base is the frame.","Made of durable epoxy-coated cast aluminum, it supports all the machine's key components.","One of them, the main shaft assembly for the throwing arm, is already installed.","A technician connects the frame to the base with heavy-duty bolts.","This slot in the frame allows the machine to tilt vertically, up to 65 degrees.","He attaches a steel extension for the throwing plate across which the throwing arm moves the clay pigeon.","This extension enables an optimal positioning of the throwing plate.","Before installing the throwing plate, he installs the indexing shaft assembly.","The indexing shaft is the finger that moves the carousel forward one column at a time.","He mounts the steel throwing plate.","It has three steel springs on its underside.","One goes over the bolt, attaching it to the far end of the extension.","The other two go over the bolt, attaching it to the frame.","These springs keep the arm parallel to the throwing plate.","Next, he screws the throwing arm to the main shaft assembly.","He checks the gap between the arm and plate to make sure the arm makes contact with the clay pigeon at just the right level.","If the alignment's off, he adjusts the height of the plate.","Then he manually turns the main shaft to make sure the throwing arm rotates smoothly.","The machine runs on a powerful electric motor that has an integrated gear train.","The technician installs the motor on the frame beneath the main shaft assembly.","Next, he attaches the steel arming spring which can withstand up to 440 pounds of pull force.","Its sudden release generates the propulsion to launch the clay pigeon of a flying speed of more than 62 miles per hour.","He mounts the support base for the carousel that holds the clay pigeons, then he screws the arming spring to the main shaft assembly.","As the shaft swings back and forth, it stretches and releases the spring.","He links the indexing shaft assembly to the motor's gear shaft.","He installs the carousel, made of cast aluminum, on the support base.","This model has a different type of motor design that enables the base to pivot automatically, launching random trajectories.","This patented system increases the carousel's capacity.","By clicking retractable extensions onto the rods that separate the columns, the operator can stack 50 percent more clay pigeons in the carousel.","When the operator presses a button on the remote control, the throwing arm rotation begins.","When the arm passes a specific point, the stretched arming spring releases, launching the pigeon.","As the arm continues its rotation, the linked indexing shaft moves the carousel forward, dropping a new clay pigeon onto the throwing plate.","When the arm comes full circle, re-stretching the arming spring, a sensor cuts power to the motor until the next press of the button.","This entire cycle takes just 2 seconds.","Almond consumption dates back to biblical times.","They're even mentioned in the old testament.","Around 100 a.d., the ancient romans showered newlyweds with almonds.","This ritual came from the belief that they increased fertility.","But today, it's the nutritional value of almonds that keeps us coming back for more.","Almonds are a guilt-free snack.","They're full of vitamins, minerals and protein.","More than 80 percent of the world's almonds come from california where growing conditions are ideal.","Upon arrival at a processing facility, the almonds are still encased in leathery hulls.","They flow through equipment that combs out debris.","The next machine, called a destoner, targets any rocks.","Air blows through it to separate the lighter almonds from the stones.","The almonds travel between a rubber roller and belt.","This spins off the hulls and releases the almonds.","The operator periodically examines the de-hulled almonds.","Vibrating decks with slots sort the almonds by size.","The system also shakes off hull material and vacuums it up.","The almonds head to a gravity table for finer separation.","The spent hulls and other material float to one side while heavier contaminants float to the other.","The in-shell almonds tumble down channels.","Cameras examine the shells for imperfections and look for contaminants, then a blast of compressed air knocks them out of the flow.","These are some of the contaminants that have been removed.","At another facility, machinery will now grade the almonds according to the condition of their shells.","Once again, the almonds fall through the open air, and a computerized camera scans them for broken shells and other flaws.","A compressed air gun then knocks the flawed almonds out of the mix.","The almonds bounce along a vibrating grid and any kernels or missed shell fragments fall through.","Finally, people sort through the almonds and reject any that don't have perfect shells.","They also toss out any contaminants the mechanized sorting system missed.","Some buyers will pay a premium for the best nuts.","The almonds with broken shells will have the shells removed.","These raw almonds are also sorted by size.","They flow onto a vibrating conveyor.","Further along, the conveyor has holes.","The smaller almonds fall through these holes and into bins.","The larger almonds continue forward.","These larger kernels are worth more and will be sold separately from the smaller ones.","As with the in-shell almonds, good looks are important.","A camera photographs the cascading almond kernels, and a computer scans the images.","The system knocks the less-than-perfect almonds out of the production stream.","Next, the almonds head towards a robot.","Along the way, another camera sends the images to a computer scanner.","This one has been programmed to find chips, scratches and even small broken bits.","The computer sends the coordinates of the damaged almonds to the robot.","The robot then finds them and plucks them out of the mix.","A human inspector now picks out any imperfect almonds that the robotic system missed.","Their flaws are just superficial.","They still taste the same, so these almonds will be processed into chocolate bars, almond butter or milk, baked goods and cereals.","The perfect almond kernels travel forward.","Just ahead, machinery moves cardboard boxes into an open position on a packaging carousel.","Sprayers apply glue to the bottom flaps, and pushers close them, sealing the boxes.","The almonds now arrive at a scale.","It releases them into the boxes in approximately 50-pound batches.","These big boxes of almonds will be shipped to other facilities to be processed into other products.","Smaller amounts will be packaged for consumer use.","A snack anyone can crack or enjoy pre-cracked, almonds are a natural and nutritious choice.","No wonder they're consumed by the handful.","During the great depression, motorcycles were an inexpensive transportation option.","They were a cheaper way to get around town.","But these days, a motorcycle can be an expensive machine.","Not for the penny-wise, high-end motorcycles are engineered and crafted for the rider with discriminating tastes.","This is not a standard mass-produced motorcycle.","This performance cruiser takes things in a different direction.","The high-end design is executed with precision, with most parts machined specifically for this bike.","Production starts with a conceptual layout.","The designer draws the motorcycle on a digital pad, producing a blueprint for the manufacturing process.","The manufacturer uses aircraft-grade aluminum to make most of the parts.","Computerized tools carve the solid aluminum into the desired shape.","This part will be the motorcycle's belt drive cover.","The carved patterns make it more visually appealing, and they reduce the cover's overall weight.","The company builds the exhaust system using stainless steel.","A technician welds the exhaust pipes together.","He then attaches several spring hangers to the steel pipe assembly.","The next part is an ignition coil mount.","A ruby probe scans the part to find the center.","Once it's been located, a software-driven cutter descends, and etches brand information and artwork into the black anodized aluminum.","This steel structure will serve as the motorcycle's skeleton.","The technician installs the 100-horsepower, fuel-injected v-twin engine.","He then mounts the six-speed transmission system to the engine.","It's equipped with a high torque shaft that's shorter than usual to make the system more compact.","He bolts it in place.","The steering stem has a framework at the base with three openings known as the triple clamp.","He slides the stem into the tube on the frame and screws a bearing onto the top.","He fastens it with a nut that will keep the bearing pressurized.","He installs a second triple clamp on the top of the assembly.","The center hole fits onto the nut.","He secures it with a steering head nut.","He inserts the suspension fork into the other two openings in the triple clamps and makes some adjustments.","He places a carbon-fiber wheel between the fork tubes.","He installs the axle that links the suspension to the front wheel hub and tightens the titanium nuts on the axle for a better fit.","Next, he connects a six-piston brake system to the suspension fork and tightens the bolts that hold it in place.","This completes the front wheel assembly.","He now attaches the handlebars, complete with dashboard gauges, controls and side-view mirrors.","He makes the final connections for the electronics.","He encases the gauges and wiring with a part called the front cowling.","The shape diverts air over the rider and away from his or her face.","A two-piece gas tank will provide more capacity.","The tanks have been carved from a solid aluminum bar, a process that's taken over 60 hours.","The tank on the right side becomes part of the frame structure, providing additional strength.","He loops belt drive pulleys around shafts to transfer power from the transmission to the rear wheel.","The motorbike is now ready for the belt drive cover we saw produced earlier.","While protecting the belt drive, this cover also gives the motorbike a distinctive look.","He mounts the left foot peg to the frame through a hole in the pulley cover.","This high-end motorcycle is now ready to hit the open road.","Making it has taken 2 weeks.","Preproduction fittings with the client have dictated the position of the foot pedals, handlebars, and the seat.","It's been tailor-made for a precision ride.","It costs more than many mid-range cars, but this high-end bike isn't for the budget crowd.","It's for those who want a one-of-a-kind ride."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Orthodontic Retainers","Orange Juice","Retractable Saunas","Sawmill Blade Knives"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made,\" orthodontic retainers...","Orange juice...","Retractable saunas...","And sawmill blade knives.","After spending a fortune on braces to straighten your teeth, you don't want that new beautiful smile to shift back to its original position.","So, orthodontists recommend wearing a retainer for several months after the braces come off, to avoid any shifting.","Oftentimes, an orthodontist advises their patients to wear a retainer for about a year after their braces are removed.","Retainers are custom-made for each person using a model of the patient's mouth.","The orthodontist scans the patient's teeth and palate, and sends the 3-d images to a lab.","A 3-d printer builds each model by printing approximately 750 layers of material, which takes about 4 1/2 hours.","The printer prints resin and a support material.","The support material prevents the model from shifting during the printing process, and provides structural support for the resin in complex areas.","The support material is water-soluble.","Once a model is printed, they soak it in water for 10 minutes, then remove the material with a pressure washer.","A technician places the model in a vice.","Using preformed clasp made of stainless-steel wire, she fits the wire around the first molar, bending it with pliers to fit snugly around the tooth.","Then, she bends the end in a specific shape.","This step will help to anchor the wire in the retainer's acrylic palate at a later time.","She clips off excess wire, and repeats these steps for the opposite side.","Once both clasps are in position, the technician secures them with sticky wax.","Next, she assembles the front of the retainer, called the \"labial bow\".","To do so, she bends a piece of wire against a form.","Then, she marks where to bend the wire to create an adjustment loop on each side.","The labial bow is secured to the model with wax.","Using a pulse welder, a technician tacks the labial bow and the clasps together.","He applies flux, a chemical that preps an area for soldering.","He also applies a heat-shielding product to prevent the wires from overheating.","Next, the labial bow is soldered to the clasps with a silver-based solder that's safe to wear.","He steams off the wax, removes the finished retainer wire from the model, and polishes the solder joint.","The retainer's palate is made of acrylic, and comes in multiple colors.","A technician waxes the wire onto the model, then, applies the acrylic to the palate, embedding the ends of the wire.","The acrylic is made up of liquid and powder, which react when mixed.","She applies about three layers of each the the palate, producing an 1/8-inch thick mold.","The excess acrylic is trimmed off with a knife.","Then, she the model is placed into a pressure cooker for 10 minutes.","The pressure removes air bubbles in the acrylic, while the heat speeds up the curing.","When the acrylic is ready, the technician uses a steam gun to melt the wax holding the wire to the model.","She removes the fully formed retainer off the model.","She trims the acrylic with a grinding wheel to smooth out rough areas and refine the shape.","With a hand tool, she smoothes the entire surface, so it won't irritate the patient's mouth.","Another technician runs the acrylic palate against a muslin-rag wheel with pumice, a natural abrasive.","This makes the surface glossy.","He applies a greaseless polishing compound to another muslin-rag wheel, and polishes the acrylic to a high shine.","Finally, he drops the retainer into an ultrasonic cleaning machine containing mild acid.","The combination of acid and sonic waves removes the pumice and polish residues.","Once the retainer has been rinsed with water and dried, it's placed it in a storage case.","Now, it's ready to be shipped to the orthodontist.","No one knows who came up with the idea of squeezing oranges to make juice.","The popularity of orange juice increased dramatically in the middle of the 20th century, as techniques were developed to extend its shelf life.","Today, many people start their day with a tall glass of o.j. in its purest form, orange juice fresh-squeezed and made with no preservatives or other additives.","The appeal is indisputable.","Fresh-squeezed o.j. contains vitamin c, and the flavor is authentic.","Orange juice production starts in groves.","The trees take several months to bear fruit, and are harvested in early november.","Picking oranges a job that's done entirely by hand.","An automated picking system could damage both the trees and the fruit.","The picker uses a bag made of vinyl composite that's lightweight and heavy-duty.","There are multiple types of juicing oranges.","This one is called \"the hamlin\".","Hamlin oranges are small and juicy, the trees they grow on are productive and resilient to cold.","The picker plucks the fruit from the trees before they turn orange.","They may be green on the outside, but they are still sweet on the inside.","The fruits' size and condition are indications of maturity and flavor.","As the picker empties the bag into a bin, he examines the oranges.","Anything with tears or punctures may also have internal degradation, but superficial flaws won't affect the quality of the juice.","The oranges are taken to a processing facility, and transferred to a sloped chute.","The gradient of the chute prevents damage as the oranges tumble into a wash station.","A sprayer rains soapy water onto the oranges as spiraling nylon brushes scrub and clean, while simultaneously moving them forward.","After the wash, another sprayer rinses them off as the spiraling brushes continue scrubbing.","The oranges transition to a roller conveyor that takes them up and under drying fans.","As the oranges exit the dryer, an inspector checks them for any missed damage.","The oranges then travel across more revolving brushes.","The bristles on these brushes are gentler than on the first group.","They buff the skin of the fruit, and remove any residual dirt.","Finally, the oranges fall off the conveyor line into a bin.","Now cleaned, the oranges can be juiced with no contaminants that could spoil either the product or juicing machinery.","As a final precaution, the juicing operator performs one last inspection.","If she's completely satisfied with their cleanliness and general condition, she loads the oranges into the extractor.","There's no need to slice them beforehand.","She feeds them to the juicing machine whole.","The system feeds the oranges one at a time to the extractor.","The extractor punctures the fruit, and metal teeth peel away the skin.","It squeezes out the juice while simultaneously filtering out the seeds and the membrane between the flesh of the orange and the skin.","The juice flows into a vat.","A screen in the vat filters the pulp to the desired consistency.","There are different filters for different amounts of pulp.","The juice is bottled in jugs.","The plastic jugs will accommodate any expansion of the unpasteurized juice due to fermentation.","Instead of pasteurizing this fresh-squeezed juice, it is chilled immediately.","The unpasteurized orange juice won't have an extended shelf life, but the trade-off is an unaltered flavor and color.","Refrigeration will preserve the juice for a few days-- and after all, fresh-squeezed orange juice is a drink that's best served cold.","There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in a hot sauna.","Our ancestors figured that out at least 1,000 years ago.","Today, saunas are a substantial part of finnish culture, but they also have a long history in other parts of the world, especially in korea.","When you live in a city, it's hard to find the space to fit a sauna.","Luckily, this retractable indoor sauna solves the problem.","The manufacturer uses high-strength laminates from sustainably sourced wood products.","Laminate wood is not only strong, it's torsion-resistant, which is an important factor when you're constructing something that will undergo significant shifts in temperature.","To cut the laminate, a craftsman uses a chop saw, which contains a computerized system that positions the fenced tolerances within a tenth of a millimeter.","At the next station, the craftsman positions the laminate so that a cnc machine can drill end holes before assembling a pair of dowels.","Meanwhile, another craftsman preps several wood components for assembly.","After placing them on an edge, he fills a set of open holes with high-strength glue.","He assembles the laminate by inserting dowels into openings and gently hammering everything into position.","This part will form the framework for one of the highly engineered insulated panels.","The framework is placed into a press that exerts a calibrated amount of pressure to every side.","This steps ensures a solid and durable connection at all points.","This is high-performance insulating material.","Thanks to specialized engineering, it insulates more effectively than many other sauna materials.","This material also allows the manufacturer to maintain the sleek design of the sauna system.","With the insulation in place, a craftsman feeds the panels into a precision planer, to ensure the wood contains a uniform thickness.","A technician begins a process called \"frame-stability construction,\" this method adds a series of layers to each panel, including exterior sheathing, insulation material, a vapor barrier, and interior plywood paneling.","These will add up to a thickness of only 30 millimeters, achieving a high-insulating value while remaining lightweight.","A specialized adhesive is applied to attach each layer.","Then, a customized press applies heat and pressure to bond all the layers securely together.","After a quick inspection check, a technician carries the panels to a cnc milling machine, where they position it for trimming.","The cnc machine gauges the dimensions of the panel, and runs a bit around the perimeter, trimming the edges to a uniform width at high speed.","Once complete, the panels advance on conveyor belts.","An automated machine uses an adhesive to add a veneer to the perimeter then, it applies heat and pressure to secure the bond.","The process is known as \"zero joints,\" because it covers up the panel's visible joinery.","The machine can apply a range of different veneers, depending on customers' specifications.","The control panel allows users to customize the temperature and duration of a sauna session.","Customers can also choose from a variety of pre-installed programs.","Two drive buttons control the extension and retraction of the sauna.","To extend and retract, the manufacturer custom-made this track-wheel system, the system includes durable guides, self-lubricating components, and industrial-strength ball bearings.","A craftsman carefully joins the structured wall, ceiling, and floor panels.","Thanks to precision machining, they fit together perfectly, making it easy to assemble the parts wherever a customer wants their sauna.","Then, the craftsman installs the heart of the sauna.","The manufacturer has engineered this compact powerful heater with a specialized finish that makes the usual safety guard unnecessary.","Retractable saunas-- for the most efficient sweat possible.","After years of carving wood into lumber, sawmill blades eventually lose their cutting edge.","So, craftsmen are salvaging the discarded carbon steel, and making them into knives for hunting and outdoor use.","When it comes to sustainability, this is a new kind of cutting edge.","What was once an old sawmill blade is now a sleek, new brush-cutting knife-- proof that the future doesn't have to be dull for discarded mill blades.","A sawmill blade lasts 5 to 10 years.","But when it jagged edges wear thin, it can't cut logs anymore.","Luckily, the carbon steel can be salvaged.","A computerized high-pressure water tool cuts into a stack of three sawmill blades.","In doing so, it carves out numerous knife blade blanks.","The computerized tool also cuts holes for the handles and a tab for attaching the knife sheath.","Next, the blades are transferred to a vibratory tumbler.","The tumbler is filled with triangular ceramic stones and a soapy solution.","For several hours, the vibrating stones smooth and clean the blades.","Once complete, a technician secures the blades in a fixture with screws.","The screws hold the blades down flat, and lock them in position for the next step.","This tool's spiral bit carves into the steel to shave small amounts from around the edges.","This improves the shape of the knife and ensures that the knife handle will fit perfectly on the tang.","The trimming also removes the lines left by the water-jet cutting.","One of the blades is placed in a fixture that holds the knife with the cutting edge in an upward position.","A technician ignites an automated torch.","The torch follows the blade, exposing it to intense heat.","The torch doesn't touch the blade's spine.","This selective heat treatment hardens only the blade.","An operator places the blade into a bucket of quenching oil.","This rapid cooldown completes the hardening process.","Next, the cutting edge is beveled, and the entire blade is coated with a thermoplastic polymer, which provides a hard finish and prevents rust.","Then, the knives are transferred to a laser-emblazoning chamber.","Another technician closes the chamber doors and activates the laser.","The computerized laser etches the company logo, the knives' model number, and other information into the steel.","At the next station, a technician moves a blade against and abrasive belt held in by a special fixture along a track.","This angles the blade precisely to the abrasive belt to grind the cutting edge and complete the bevel.","This brush-cutting blade is now almost razor-sharp.","He sharpens the tip of the knife by gentling pressing it against another abrasive belt.","Next, he applies an abrasive compound to a buffing wheel.","He presses the cutting edge of the knife against the wheel, and the abrasive compound works its magic, honing the edge to its final sharpness.","He presses threaded fittings into the tang of the knife.","He installs them so that the fittings protrude from both sides of the tang.","The fittings in the tang have been spaced to match holes in a handle.","This handle is made of composite glass and resin.","There are two parts, one for each side of the tang.","Due to the precision prep work, the two parts fit together perfectly as one.","Screws hold the handle parts together.","He dips the tips in a thread-lock solution.","When the thread-lock solution cures, it stabilizes the screws.","With multiple thread-locked screws, the composite handle now has a solid handgrip.","It's taken several hours to transform a blunt sawmill blade into a sharp brush-cutting knife.","Through recycling, steel that lost its edge now has a new one."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rally Cars","Pork Pies","Floating Fountains","Artificial Stone Ornaments"]},"text":["A rally car is a compact vehicle that's had a radical makeover.","It's been stripped to the steel core and completely rebuilt.","International rally regulations govern the process.","In the end, that efficient little vehicle becomes a lean, mean racing machine.","Fresh out of the factory, this compact car is about to be ripped apart and put back together again.","The rebuild will pump up the power and transform a quiet road car into a vehicle that roars on the rally racing circuit.","Bold graphics will also make this compact car look fierce.","As they dismantle the car, they get rid of some superfluous brackets and panels to shed weight.","They blast off the paint.","Then they weld a tubular steel roll cage to it to protect the driver and co-driver in a rollover or crash.","The roll cage also stiffens the chassis for better handling on hard turns.","They widen the back end slightly to accommodate an upgrade to a 4-wheel transmission and a larger fuel tank.","Then they paint primer onto the modified body shell.","They're now ready for the rear transmission.","This will convert this compact car to 4-wheel drive.","The technician bolts the transmission to the rear floor panel.","Upgrading from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive adds traction and allows the car to handle more precisely.","Now the seats.","They're individual survival cells made of carbon fiber, a virtually indestructible material.","It's also extremely light, and this helps offset the extra weight added by the rear transmission and roll cage.","The new dashboard fascia is made of lightweight fiberglass and covered with a velvety fabric to block the reflection of light.","With the dashboard in place, the car gets the steering column and wheel.","The car is now ready for the fiberglass bumper.","It's been redesigned slightly to accommodate new fenders that are flared for bigger tires.","The technician then equips the rally car with heavy-duty dampers to absorb the shock of high-speed bumps on the rally course.","He slides the stiff spherical bearings into the car shell and secures them.","He links the dampers and the driveshaft to the hub carrier and bolts them into place.","He inserts brake pads into lightweight aluminum calipers and mounts them to the rotors.","This braking system is extra large for serious friction, allowing the rally car to be slowed efficiently when needed.","Using a crane, they now lift the engine into the chassis.","This is the original 1.6-liter engine, but seriously ramped up to boost performance.","They've upgraded the pistons and camshafts, among other things, and added a turbocharger.","This takes the compact-car engine from 90 horsepower to 300.","Instead of a metal fuel tank, they install a rubber one.","It's pliable and expands, so it's unlikely to split or crack in a crash.","The rubber fuel cell fits perfectly under the trunk floor.","Strapped to that floor is this little tool kit.","They've lightened these tools by drilling holes into the handles.","As the race heats up, so will the engine and its fluids.","They custom-designed this u-shaped radiator to keep the power-steering oil cool.","They tie it to the front of the supersized engine radiator.","Without this substantial radiator system, overheating could kill the engine, and that would be the end of the rally for this car.","The mechanics of the rally car have now been completely rebuilt.","They now install windows.","They use double-sided tape to bind the rear side windows to the car.","Taping the windows means they can be easily kicked out in the event of an accident.","The windows are made of shatterproof plastic.","So there shouldn't be any cuts or scrapes when busting them out.","Instead of painting the car, they glue on graphics from bumper to bumper.","The graphics are made of plastic film that is much lighter than paint.","The crew saves about 11 pounds by not painting the rally car.","Saving weight and redistributing it for better handling, while adhering to tight weight regulations, is just part of the challenge.","And a good finish in the rebuild shop could lead to a strong finish in the rally.","British pork pie is made of chopped pork and pork jelly nestled inside a crust pastry.","Mass-produced versions contain cured pork in a soft pastry.","Premium pies are handmade with fresh, uncured pork inside a pastry that's hard and crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.","Among the best-known premium varieties of pork pies is melton mowbray, named after an english town which has produced this british snack since the 19th century.","Only manufacturers situated within a defined radius of the town can legally call their product melton mowbray pork pie.","And they have to follow the traditional recipe, which begins with blending hard bread flour.","Then workers put lard into a pot of cold water...","Sprinkle with sea salt, then bring the water to a fast boil, dissolving the lard.","Then they add this hot mixture to the flour.","They blend for a few minutes until the ingredients form a medium-soft golden dough.","Unlike dough made with cold water, which bakes soft throughout, hot-water dough bakes hard on the surface, but soft within.","They roll the dough into balls of approximately half a pound each...","Then roll half the balls flat into a layer roughly 2/10 of an inch thick.","With a round pastry cutter, they slice circles.","Each one will be a pie top, called a lid.","The other dough balls will later become the base of the pie, called the case.","The pie filling is made from fresh pork shoulder, white pepper, and sea salt.","They prepare the filling in small batches in order to better control the distribution of ingredients.","After cutting the pork into small chunks, they sprinkle with salt and pepper...","Mix by hand...","Then form balls the same size as the pastry balls.","In the assembly area, workers lay a plastic sheet over the hoop of a pie press to prevent the dough from sticking.","They put a pastry ball in the hoop and cover it with another sheet...","Then plunge a round metal die into the hoop to form the case.","Now they drop a pork ball inside, pushing it down to force out some of the trapped air.","They brush water onto the edge of the case to make it sticky.","Then they apply the lid, lightly thumb-pressing all around to adhere it to the sticky edge of the case.","Then with a different hand press, they score the perimeter of the pie...","And gently run a wooden block across the top.","This removes the excess dough without unsealing or ripping the pie.","A ventilation hole in the middle lets just enough steam escape to prevent pressure from building up and bursting the lid.","The steam that remains helps tenderize the pork.","A pie decorator crimps the edge inward.","Then the pies go onto a baking sheet and into the oven for an hour at just under 400 degrees fahrenheit.","Earlier, workers prepared the pork jelly by boiling pigs' feet in a large pot of water...","Then simmering for nine hours to release the natural gelatin from the bones.","Now they strain the pot's contents to isolate this natural jelly.","They've timed this perfectly so that the jelly is still warm when the pies come out of the oven.","When they do, their pastry crust is a golden color.","The pork, as meat tends to do, has shrunk during cooking, creating empty spaces inside the pastry.","It's into those voids that workers now inject the warm pork jelly until it starts bubbling out the hole at the top.","This indicates the jelly has filled all the nooks and crannies.","The pies go immediately into a fridge set at 43 degrees fahrenheit.","They remain inside for about 90 minutes until the jelly sets.","From now on, the pork will remain moist thanks to this congealed jelly surrounding it.","Each pie is wrapped in a see-through package bearing a \"best before\" date.","Kept refrigerated, a pork pie stays fresh for about a week.","You take it out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature before digging in.","No self-respecting brit ever warms up pork pie.","A floating fountain adds visual interest to a pond or pool.","It continuously shoots water several yards high, producing ribbons of cascading water.","A submersible pump generates the effect.","And all you have to do is just sit back and enjoy the show.","A floating fountain is a pleasant sight, but it's also practical.","The constant pumping action aerates the water, preventing stagnation that breeds mosquitoes and causes algae growth.","Production begins with the floatation ring, which they cast a section at a time.","A worker pours a measured amount of plastic powder into the bottom half of a clamshell mold.","The mold is attached to an arm that swings it into an oven and rotates it on two axes.","The mold heats up.","The powder melts and adheres to the walls of the mold, forming a hollow part.","The mold now moves into a cooling zone, where it first rotates in front of a fan, then under a cool spray of water.","The constant turning minimizes sagging or buckling in the plastic as the hollow part cools and solidifies inside.","The mold opens, revealing a quarter section of the flotation ring.","Stainless-steel inserts for attaching it to the other sections have been embedded into the plastic.","They now mechanically push the hollow part underwater.","This is a test.","They pump air into it and check for bubbles that would indicate a hole.","The fountain ring must be leakproof because water will eventually be added to it to level it.","A worker now bolts the four quarters together using brackets and the steel inserts molded into the plastic earlier.","Next, they focus on the framework for the submersible pump.","A mechanical saw cuts the stainless steel parts to size, and a welder pieces them together.","Another worker now attaches the completed framework to the brackets protruding from the bottom of the floatation ring.","Using a press, they bend steel to create brackets to hold the fountain's lights.","They bolt the light brackets to the pump frame in a position to illuminate the upward spray of water.","They slide the long, tubular casing for the pump and its motor through brackets on the bottom of the frame.","This is the pump.","It's open to display the inner workings.","Those steel disks are the impellers that will force water upward.","The next employee applies pvc glue to attach a flange to the pump assembly.","The flange will be used to connect the pump to the fountain's plumbing.","He now inserts the pump and motor assembly into the casing.","The motor has been hermetically sealed to keep water out.","Using a special gripper, he pulls the assembly all the way through the tube to complete the installation.","He spreads more glue onto the flange and attaches a pvc elbow that links it to the rest of the plumbing.","The entire assembly is painted black so the fountain workings will seem to disappear underwater when viewed from the surface.","With the assembly now flipped right side up, they install the lights.","Then a worker screws a circle of eight brass nozzles onto a pvc base.","These nozzles will split the flow of pumped lake water into a eight sprays and configure them in a circle.","He tightens each nozzle to ensure the connection will withstand the powerful and perpetual pumping action.","He places the nozzle assembly on the plumbing protruding from the fountain raft and twists the threaded ends together.","The connection must be extremely tight.","Another worker then rolls a sheet of perforated steel to build a tubular screen to filter the water as it flows into the pump.","The screen fits perfectly onto the intake end of the pump and motor tube.","With the floating fountain now complete, it's ready to be wired to the control panel.","This panel will be positioned lakeside for onsite activation and programming of the timer.","The floating fountain is now ready for launching.","This particular one is a larger version of the one we saw being built, but big or small, it's all about going with the flow.","Artificial stone is a cast material that looks just like sculpted natural stone.","Since the early 18th century, manufacturers have cast stone in molds, producing beautiful garden and landscape ornaments, as well as architectural components designed to enhance buildings.","Classical-style statues and other garden ornaments came into fashion in england in the 1700s.","It was trendy for the upper classes to tour italy and admire ancient roman art and architecture.","Not every noble was wealthy enough to haul home a solid stone antiquity by stagecoach, so english factories began producing facsimiles in artificial stone.","The production process today is much like it was then, beginning in the studio, where a sculptor makes a plaster model of the ornament.","This one's a copy of an antique bust of pan, the greek mythological figure.","They use this intricately detailed model to make the production mold.","After coating the plaster with a sealer, they cover the entire model with thin strips of clay, making certain divisions between strips to create the production mold's various sections.","Over the clay, they apply six or so layers of fiberglass cloth saturated with resin.","The resin cures, producing a 3/10-inch-thick multi-sectioned case around the clay-covered model.","Next they open the case and remove the clay, which leaves a gap around the model.","They close the case and fill that gap with their specially developed rubber.","When the rubber cures, they open the case and remove the model, revealing a rubber mold that bears all the model's intricate details.","They send this cased mold off to the production facility and put the model in storage until the rubber mold wears out and it's time to pour a new one.","The artificial stone is a natural-looking off-white color.","It's made of fine sand, white cement, and limestone, plus plasticizers, waterproofers, and a few secret ingredients.","The factory adds stone pigments into the mix to produce terra cotta and other colors.","A computer-controlled system feeds the ingredients into the mixer in all the right proportions, then adds a small amount of water to activate the cement that binds everything together.","On the production floor, a caster repeatedly shovels a bit of stone mixture into the fiberglass-encased rubber mold, then, using both hand and pneumatic tools, compacts it in the mold.","The quality of the ornament depends greatly on the caster's technique.","The trick is to ram enough stone mixture into every nook and cranny of the mold, but not compact too much at a time, as this mold would produce unattractive layers in the finished ornament.","They trowel the open side of the mold by hand and smooth the surface.","The stone mix takes 24 hours to reach an initial set.","Then, section by section, they unbolt the case and peel off the rubber mold.","This may be artificial stone, but its surface texture closely resembles carved limestone.","The final step is a vapor curing.","The ornaments go into a chamber overnight.","The steam forces moisture into the pores, curing the cement inside.","This type of artificial stone is called dry cast limestone.","Other ornaments are made of wet cast limestone, a mixture of similar ingredients, but in larger particle size and containing much more water.","Because you can embed stainless-steel reinforcement bars in it, wet cast is the better material for making objects such as garden benches or large fountain bowls that require structural strength.","Wet cast doesn't have to be vapor-cured because of its high water content.","However, unlike dry cast, which is finished when it comes out of the mold, wet cast does require finishing.","Workers have to grind away excess material that sometimes seeps out of the joints in the mold and hardens.","The wet cast surface is smooth and sealed, so it's normally easier to clean.","Dry cast stone, by contrast, has a textured surface and weathers to an antique look."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Mobile Concert Stages","Mascara","Continuous Miners","Wood Gift Boxes"]},"text":["The mobile concert stage was invented in canada in the 1980s.","It uses hydraulics to fold into a trailer for transport and then unfolds upon arrival at the event venue.","It takes 45 minutes for a crew to set up a mobile stage, and then it's show time.","No stage?","No problem.","Just order a mobile hydraulic stage, and in less than an hour, you're ready to rock 'n' roll.","The convenience means it has plenty of fans in the event-production industry.","A mobile stage starts with the trailer framework.","A worker saws aluminum beams to length.","At the same time, another member of the team pieces together aluminum tubing for the roof.","He welds the joints to complete the roof's skeleton.","He then welds the trailer support structure together.","With the girders assembled, the trailer's substructure is ready for the axles and wheels.","Each axle can support 10,000 pounds of weight.","They install hydraulic cylinders on each corner of the trailer.","These cylinders are the extendable legs that will stabilize the stage trailer on the ground.","Next up is a panel with valves to control the flow of hydraulic fluid.","They bolt the panel to the back of the trailer and connect hoses to the valves.","This network of hoses will circulate fluid for the hydraulics.","They cover the valves and hoses with a metal plate.","The plate has slots for control levers.","They screw the levers to the valves.","He then installs a hydraulic pressure gauge.","The team now lowers the tank for the hydraulic fluid into the base frame and secures it.","They run the hoses for the hydraulic fluid through a filter at the entrance to the tank.","They're ready for the extendable supports for the stage mast.","Using a forklift, they maneuver the parts into place at the ends of the trailer.","They return to the floor and bolt six hydraulic cylinders into the framework.","They'll be used to lift and lower the floors.","The roof structure is next.","A crane does the lifting, and a worker guides the panels onto the beams.","They secure the panels with hinges, torquing them tightly.","The team transfers the floor panels to both sides of the main chassis.","The install leg jacks to support them.","There are eight jacks for each floor panel.","They install more hydraulic cylinders for raising and lowering the floor.","This mobile concert stage is ready for the outer skin.","An employee glues fiberglass sheeting to the sides.","A team then lays the plywood floors sheet by sheet.","The plywood is marine-grade.","It has a laminate composite surface.","The laminate is textured for skid resistance.","It's also waterproof for outdoor events.","Once all the paneling is in place, this mobile stage is ready to go on tour.","Eight weeks in the making, it will be a time-saver on the road.","One way to enhance eyelashes is to coat them with mascara.","Early mascaras were made of petroleum jelly and coal or soap cake tinted with black dye.","Today's liquid mascara comes in a tube with an applicator brush built right into the cap.","Mascara formulations vary.","The basic ingredients are wax, water, pigment, and binders.","Additional ingredients produce features such as water resistance.","Every formulation is comprised of an oil-soluble phase and a water-soluble phase.","To prepare this mascara's oil phase, a technician combines four types of wax-- carnauba, from a brazilian palm tree; candelilla, from a plant that grows in parts of mexico and texas; beeswax; and glyceryl stearate, an emulsifier which helps ingredients blend well.","Next comes vitamin \"e,\" which conditions lashes and gives the mascara a smooth texture.","After that is a chemical compound called pelemol d-2000, which makes the mascara water-resistant.","The technician heats this oil phase of the formulation.","Once the waxes begin melting, blends the ingredients.","Wax is a thickener.","This calculated combination of four different waxes produces a semiliquid gel that coats lashes with a shiny film.","The technician now prepares the water-soluble phase of the formulation separately, first, heating up cold water, then adding an emulsifier.","This will bind the water and oil phases when they're combined later on.","Without an emulsifier, oil and water solubles would naturally separate.","The next ingredient is a cosmetic-grade iron oxide pigment.","The color is black because she's making black mascara.","She blends the mixture until the color is uniform.","Then she adds t.e.a. this organic compound balances the mascara's ph level so that it isn't too acidic or alkaline.","Next, she adds a cosmetic powder to make the mascara silky and a chemical to provide additional water resistance.","Finally, she completes the formulation by adding the oil phase to this water phase.","Heating the mixture while blending prevents the waxes from solidifying.","Before packaging, the factory's chemist runs quality-control tests.","Using a viscometer to measure thickness, he makes sure the mascara isn't runny or gooey.","He also tests the ph level.","If the sample meets specifications, the lab gives the go-ahead to package the mascara, and a worker pours the batch into a filling machine.","The machine continuously mixes the mascara and keeps it hot so that it remains liquid.","Otherwise, the mascara would begin to cool and jellify and clog the filling nozzle.","A mascara bottle typically contains about 2 ounces of mascara.","As it cools in the bottle, it transforms into a semiliquid gel.","She seals the bottle by pressing in a plunger-style plastic stopper.","The stopper has a hole in the middle for inserting the brush applicator that's built into the bottle's cap.","The lip of the stopper hole is designed to wipe off excess mascara as you pull the brush out of the bottle.","This helps prevent the mascara from clumping.","This manufacturer fills small orders manually, like this one for a private-label brand.","Its automated production line is reserved for large orders.","Regardless of quantity, clients specify the characteristics they want in their brand of mascara, such as lengthening or water resistance, and the manufacturer tailors the formulation accordingly.","The continuous miner is always on the job.","This machine constantly bores into deposits of coal, salt, or pot ash to break them into little pieces.","Its invention in america in the 1940s was an earth-shattering development.","The continuous miner is a force to be reckoned with underground.","A spinning drum is spiked with tungsten carbide teeth.","It tears into the rock face and spits the pieces out onto a conveyor.","The continuous miner can remove 24 tons of minerals per minute.","That's more than a human miner can dig in an entire day.","The work is hard on the equipment, and, so, eventually, the continuous miner undergoes a complete rebuild.","It starts with an extensive cleaning.","After a steam wash, a worker aims a torch at the bolts of the drum.","The heat causes the bolts to expand and move away from the hole.","This makes it easier to pull them out, using a pneumatic impact wrench.","Once all the bolts have been removed, the drum can be pried from the shaft.","Once free, a crane lifts the heavy drum, and workers guide it to the next station.","Here, a worker in protective gear blasts the drum with tiny steel shot.","This removes any remaining dirt and grime.","Some parts, like these centrifugal loading arms, are beyond repair, so they build new ones.","Connected to a hub, these arms will move mined material onto the machine's conveyor.","A worker reinforces each one with a wear plate.","He then heats the wear plate and loading arm before welding them together.","Preheating reduces the possibility of the weld cracking.","They lower the loading-arm assembly into the machine framework.","Then a computerized cutter carves a sheet of steel to make new access panels for the continuous miner.","The slicing force comes from a pressurized mixture of water and garnet granules.","No blade is necessary.","The operator of the machine hoses off the filings.","He retrieves the cut part with a magnet.","Over to the conveyor part of the continuous miner now.","They had built up the hole for the pivot pin because it had stretched from wear.","A tool mills the built-up hole to return it to the correct diameter.","The team then focuses on the main frames of the continuous miner.","They weld the cracks and grind them smooth.","Now beginning with the conveyor tail, a worker spray paints the continuous miner one piece at a time.","Another member of the team inserts new plugs into an electrical control box.","He bolts the panel, holding electrical controls to the machine casing.","He then installs heavy doors that swing open so the electrical can be easily accessed.","There are a total of 25 covers and doors on the continuous miner.","Some protect hydraulic hoses.","Others encase the wiring or gear boxes.","They can all be removed if maintenance needs to be performed.","It's taken several months for this massive overhaul, and they're ready to put this rebuilt continuous miner to the test.","Using the machine's remote control, a technician checks the function of every component.","With his approval, the continuous miner goes back underground to pick up where it left off.","A product presented in a beautiful, high-quality, wooden box is sure to stand out.","Companies use them as special-event displays or as corporate gift boxes.","Because they're handmade, the boxes can be customized to showcase each product.","Wood gift boxes make wonderful cases for spirit bottles, collectible coins, watches, or christmas ornaments.","Not only do they display the product beautifully, they also protect the contents inside.","Today, they're making a box with maple boards, which are cut on an automated saw.","A mortiser's parallel blades cut square-shaped notches at the end of each plank.","These will serve to finger joint the sides of the box later on.","The pieces of wood are pressed against the corner so that the resulting fingers are perfectly aligned.","The factory usually makes fingers that are 6 millimeters wide.","Wider fingers would be unsightly, and thinner ones would be too fragile.","They now prepare the top of the wood box.","A press uses heat and pressure to stamp the company's logo on the surface of the wood.","They brand the wood with a magnesium plate, heating to 840 degrees fahrenheit.","The process takes just two seconds.","Next, they assemble the sides, interlocking the pieces manually.","They use a rubber mallet to avoid damaging or denting the wood.","When the four sides are end to end, they apply a small amount of wood glue on the inside of each joint.","They form the corners at a 90-degree angle.","Once the box is assembled, a press will finish pushing in the fingers on each joint.","When the box comes out of the press, they check the square.","They apply wood glue for the bottom of the box.","Since the bottom is less visible, clients sometimes choose plywood instead of solid wood to save on costs.","They glue a solid maple top, and the boxes go into press for 35 minutes until the glue dries.","After sanding, a router shapes the edge of the box's top.","By changing the router-bit, they can create all kinds of decorative profiles.","This one is simply rounded.","They sand the whole box again with 120-grit sandpaper, and finish with 180-grit sandpaper.","Now they can cut the box open, starting at the back.","They create a wide angle so the lid can open freely on its hinges.","Next, they make a straight cut through each of the three remaining sides, sawing the box in half.","They separate the body from the lid, and the two match up perfectly.","Each half of the box goes on an automated milling machine called a slotter.","It cuts the slots in the wood on the back of the box.","These slots will receive the hinges.","The bottom of each slot is rounded to cradle the rounded ends of the hinges.","These hinges are made of nickel-plated metal.","They're designed to be pressure fitted, so they won't need any screws to stay in place.","The worker uses a rubber mallet to insert the hinges in the body of the box.","Once the hinges are aligned with the lid, he squeezes them tight, using the hammer again if necessary.","The angled cut creates enough space for the hinges and helps to open the lid.","They apply a coat of sealer, lightly sand the wood, and finish with a coat of lacquer.","When the lacquer is dry, they install the magnetic closure in a pre-drilled hole.","Another magnet goes into the lid, and that makes for a nice-closing box.","They stick a piece of self-adhesive felt to the bottom of the box and trim the excess.","Next, they line the box with foam in order to protect its contents.","Some clients prefer thermoformed plastic trays molded to their product's specific shape.","You can choose the size, shape, type of wood, color, and hardware of the box.","The only limit is your budget and your imagination."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Clay Liquor Jugs","Poultry Deli Meats","NASCAR Engines"]},"text":["The clay liquor jug is a product with an elicit past.","In 19th-century america, this distinct stoneware jug was used to contain backwoods brew, moonshine whiskey that was produced under the cover of night to avoid scrutiny from the authorities so it could be sold tax free.","Today they still uncork the little brown jug to serve up old-time corn whiskey.","Replicas like this one add an authentic touch to the traditional brew.","The jug starts with raw clay dug out of the ground and crushed into little particles.","They also break up defective and damaged pottery and recycle it into the process so nothing is wasted.","Next, a shaft with protruding knives mixes the clay with water and fortifying chemicals.","When the clay reaches a doughy consistency, a vacuum sucks out the air pockets, and then machinery forces it through a dye to form a long log.","In log form, the clay is easier to handle.","The potter pulls off some chunks of clay and shapes them into patties.","He presses the patties into molds of the top and bottom parts of the clay liquor jug.","He inserts each mold in a holding ring and spins it.","A wooden tool now sculpts the jug's top section from the inside.","Clay migrates up the walls of the mold and takes its shape.","The potter pokes a wooden dowel in the neck of the jug to round it out.","As tools shape the lower body of the liquor jug, the potter sprays water on the rim.","This makes the rim sticky, which will allow the bottom portion of the jug to adhere to the top.","Still in the molds, he presses the two parts of the jug together, and the moistened clay bonds.","Once the clay is dried, the next craftsperson pries it from the molds, and it comes out in one piece.","She removes any unwanted bits and transfers the jug to the workbench.","She levels the lip of the jug with a stick and spins the jug on a pottery wheel to scrape off surplus clay at the seam.","She smooths down rough spots on the exterior surface with a wet sponge.","At this point, the clay is still fairly supple and responds to moisture.","Meanwhile, jug handles are taking shape in this tub.","Steel paddles force the clay through holes in the bottom, producing ribbons of clay that will now be shaped into curved handles.","The potter moistens one end of the clay ribbon and presses it to the neck of the jug.","She must apply just the right amount of pressure, or it will fall off.","She pulls the clay ribbon into a distinctive curve and presses the other end to the side of the jug.","The curvature must be similar from jug to jug, and producing a consistent shape every time takes practice.","At the glazing station, an operator tests a pump that spurts glaze upwards, creating a brief fountain of glaze.","With a paddle, he swishes the solution around to keep the glaze particles suspended.","Then he immerses the top of the jug in the liquid to give the clay liquor jug that familiar two-toned look.","He pumps glaze inside the jug, giving it a leakproof lining that will allow it to hold liquids.","The next worker stamps product information on the side of the jug using ceramic inks.","Next, they prepare a different glaze.","The worker dips the bottom portion of the jug in it, and it appears to completely obscure the carefully applied product information.","But when the glaze dries, it will become transparent, and the stamp will be visible again.","The next worker scuffs off the glaze on the base to keep the jug from sticking to the shelves in the kiln.","They fire the whiskey jugs at around 2,200 degrees fahrenheit for eight hours.","This hardens the clay and deepens the glaze.","It's taken a total of 19 steps and one week to transform a couple of lumps of clay into a little brown jug.","And it's sure to add a touch of nostalgia to cocktail hour.","Man cannot live by bread alone.","But add a few slices of chicken or turkey deli meat, and you've got a meal.","Poultry deli meat is a popular alternative to corn beef or salami, and that's because it's less fatty any way you slice it.","When it comes to making deli meats, it's all in the seasoning.","From fiery southwestern turkey to hot-sauce-marinated chicken, they really know how to spice it up.","They begin with plenty of filtered water.","It will be used to disperse the specially formulated seasonings.","There's a different blend for every product, and they include salt and different herbs and spices.","They add honey because this is a honey maple recipe.","And while that's all being mixed, they check the temperature of the raw poultry to confirm it's in the safe range.","If it's even slightly off, there's a risk of bacterial growth, so the whole batch would have to be rejected.","But this poultry has been well-chilled.","The stitch pump machine's long steel needles repeatedly inject seasoning solutions into the breast meat.","Excess liquid drains through the conveyor as the chicken is transferred to a holding area to marinate for at least two hours.","Next, numerous lumpy rollers massage the chicken and break down fiber to tenderize the meat.","Then, in a tumbler, metal paddles vigorously knead the meat.","This tenderizes it even more and releases a natural protein that will eventually bind several breasts into one big piece.","Meanwhile in the turkey kitchen, workers shape and season previously marinated meat and apply strips of bacon to the top.","The employee arranges them in a crisscross pattern for full coverage.","He dusts it with a mix of seasonings and then wraps it in thick plastic.","Once enclosed in the plastic, he can press the turkey breast into a more perfect shape.","For a different flavor, they drench some turkey breast in a spicy southwestern marinade.","After folding the turkey meat to the desired shape, the worker adds salsa and seasonings to complete the recipe.","A little more hand shaping and it's ready for the oven.","Back on the chicken line, it's the same idea but with a different twist.","Chicken breasts are too small to shape by hand, so they funnel them into thermoformed plastic molds.","As the molds move forward, a worker sprinkles spices onto the meat while another swabs juices to test for pathogens as part of a quality-control program.","Equipment heat-seals the plastic molds and then cuts them free from the matrix.","Then they're on their way to the smoke oven.","They spend six hours smoking at 165 degrees fahrenheit.","The protein released earlier by kneading causes the chicken parts to adhere and take the shape of the mold.","Once they've been temperature checked, it's on to the next station.","Here, workers peel off the cooking mold and drain the excess juices.","Then the molded breasts go through a fryer.","The hot canola oil browns the outside of the chicken meat for a more appealing and tasty effect.","Meanwhile, workers swish other cooked chicken breasts in hot buffalo-wing sauce to really kick up the spice a few notches.","And after extra seasoning, the chicken travels through a long arc of electric heat rods.","This is a special convection oven.","Fans blow the heat from the rods onto the meat to complete the cooking process.","By now the turkey deli meat has also been thoroughly cooked and crisped.","They transfer the turkey-filled bags to clam-like devices that close around them.","Inside, a vacuum sucks out the air to shrink the packaging around the turkey and keep it fresh.","It has taken about eight hours to produce this poultry deli meat.","Refrigerated, it should last about 35 days, unless there's a hungry crowd.","Nascar, an acronym for the national association for stock car auto racing, is one of the most popular spectator sports in north america.","Nascar vehicles are modeled after certain american-made four-door passenger cars, but with far more powerful engines.","No overhead camshaft engines on this track.","For tradition's sake, nascar rules require an overhead valve engine, an older type of configuration also known as a push rod engine.","Designing the engine takes about a year and a half.","It culminates in a detailed computer model, an anatomical rendering of the engine in full detail, right down to every last nut and bolt.","The computer model guides a stereolithography machine to produce a plastic prototype of each engine component.","The machine repeatedly outputs paper-thin layers of photosensitive liquid resin, which an ultraviolet laser instantly solidifies.","Over the course of several hours of resin layering, their prototype component takes shape.","Technicians test it in conjunction with other prototype components and make any necessary adjustments to the design.","Then, computer-controlled machining equipment produces a metal prototype.","When every component has gone through this process, the engine design gets the go-ahead to move into production.","The factory first casts the basic shape of certain components in a mold, then machines that shape to its final form.","Here, computer-guided hones finish the engine's eight cylinder bores, the chambers in which the power-generating combustion cycles will occur.","Technicians take very precise measurements to ensure the bores' diameter and roundness meet specifications.","Then they flip the engine block upside down, oil the crankshaft bearings, position the crankshaft on those bearings, and lock it in with bolted-on caps.","As the pistons inside the cylinders move up and down, they rotate the crankshaft, driving the clutch and transmission, which propel the racecar.","With this little black component called a wrist pin, they join the piston to a connecting rod.","Next, they fit two rings on the piston.","The top one seals the cylinder, maximizing the pressure inside, which optimizes combustion.","The bottom ring skims excess oil off the cylinder walls between combustion cycles, which prevents the car from burning oil.","After inserting a piston all the way down into the cylinder bore, they grease the upper portion to prepare for measuring the compression ratio which must comply with nascar rules.","The compression ratio refers to the volume of space in which the piston compresses the gas and fuel mixture entering the cylinder.","To take this critical measurement, they raise the piston all the way to the top dead center point, then verify the positioning with gauges.","They seal the top of the cylinder with a see-through plastic plate.","Then, with a syringe, inject alcohol into the space in between.","The markings on the syringe tell them how many ccs-- cubic centimeters-- filling that space requires.","This volume measurement indicates the compression ratio.","The higher the compression ratio, the more horsepower the engine produces.","They repeat this test with each cylinder.","They flip the engine block upside down and put each piston's connecting rod in the corresponding position on the crankshaft.","Then lock the piston in place with bolted-on connection caps.","Now the technician closes up the bottom of the engine.","Meanwhile, a device called a profilometer inspects the camshaft.","The camshaft moves the intake and exhaust valves at the top of each cylinder, allowing the fuel and air mixture in and the combustion gases out.","This testing ensures the camshaft is straight and that its surface is slightly rough so that lubricating oil will cling to it.","The engine build is now about halfway there.","In a push rod engine, the camshaft is located, as we've just seen, above the crankshaft.","It opens and closes the valves with a system of lifters, rods, and rocker arms.","In the more modern overhead camshaft configuration, the camshaft sits on top of the cylinders, moving the valves directly.","Building the nascar engine continues with the installation of this aluminum motor plate by which mechanics will mount the engine in the car.","Next, the timing belt, which links the camshaft to the crankshaft, ensuring they turn in sync and maintain the correct timing.","At the core of the belt is a woven material that's five times stronger than steel.","Other technicians use a gauge to measure how much force it takes to compress the valve springs.","This quality-control check ensures that spring tension is within a specific range.","Each cylinder has an intake valve and an exhaust valve.","Technicians use a compression tool to squeeze a spring over each one.","Then they secure the spring with a locking clip.","The valves are located in the top section of the engine, called the cylinder head, that technicians now bolt on to the engine block.","Next, they assemble the push rod system by which the camshaft opens and closes the valves.","First, rocker stands.","Then push rods.","These insert into lifters which connect to the camshaft.","And finally rocker arms.","One end of each arm goes on the push rod.","The other sits on the valve.","When the camshaft turns, the system opens and closes the valves.","Technicians close up the cylinder head with a valve cover.","Next, they install the engine cooling system, starting with a water manifold.","After mounting a cover to protect the cam belt from rocks and other debris, they install the water pump.","It circulates cold water through the engine to prevent overheating.","Having absorbed the heat, the water exits the engine via the manifold, then travels to the radiator which cools it back down.","Then the pump, driven by this pulley, sends the water back into the engine to repeat the cycle.","Next, technicians mount the alternator.","It generates electricity to run the engine and other components, such as the air-conditioning, the dashboard gauges, and fans which cool the brakes, tires, and rear end.","This belt drives both the alternator and water pump pulley.","Next, technicians install the oil pump.","It sucks hot oil out of the engine, sends it to the oil radiator for cooling, then pumps it back into the engine.","Now the distributor.","It sends electricity from the alternator-charged car battery to the spark plugs.","The spark plugs fire, igniting the fuel and air mixture in each cylinder, producing a mini explosion that drives the piston.","This component, the intake manifold, feeds the air and fuel mixture to the cylinder intake valves.","The carburetor regulates the mixture ratio by metering the right amount of fuel to the amount of air coming in.","Technicians install the numerous parts that make up the clutch.","Next, the starter ring, which engages with the starter to fire up the engine.","Finally, they mount the bell housing, a cover that protects the clutch from debris and connects the engine to the transmission.","The factory hooks up every engine it produces to a testing machine.","The machine starts up and runs the motor, analyzing some 300 performance criteria, from revolutions per minute to fuel flow.","At the same time, three remote-controlled cameras shooting from different angles enable technicians to zoom in and view on a monitor anything they need to visually inspect.","All this to ensure the engine they've built will have a winning track record."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wooden Bowls","Chainsaws","Stackable Potato Chips","Jet Compressor Blades"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Wooden bowls...","Chain saws...","Stackable potato chips...","And jet compressor blades.","There was a time when bowl making was a cherished trade passed down through generations of woodworkers.","But today, with so much mass-produced tableware, handcrafted wooden bowls have become a specialty item, and this centuries-old traditional craft is practically a lost art.","Each of these exquisite bowls is made from a solid piece of hardwood-- beech, maple, walnut, or cherry.","Logs arrive at the bowl mill fresh from the forest, so they're still very damp, and that's an advantage because the moisture lubricates the cutting tools.","The first step is to divide the log into blocks with a chain-saw operator measuring and inspecting as he goes.","Defects such as knots or scarring dictate the length of each block.","Any cracks or other flaws are marked with a red crayon.","Next, a rip-saw operator uses different-size bowl patterns to determine the best way to cut the block.","The goal is to get the biggest bowl-size pieces possible without including any defective wood.","Each bowl-sized piece is called a bowl blank.","This block is large enough to yield three blanks, each of which will produce a 17-inch bowl and a series of progressively smaller bowls that nest inside it.","The blank is mounted onto a woodworking lathe.","From this point on, production is entirely dependent on the lathe operator's skill.","As the block spins, he carves out the bowls using a series of specialized knives designed and forged at this very mill.","First he uses this curved knife to shear off the outer portion of wood.","It takes great expertise to know exactly how to angle the tool and when to pull it out and release the wood shavings and prevent a jam.","After two or three minutes, the exterior bark shell has been sheared off.","The bare wood that's left represents the outside of the largest bowl that he'll mill from this blank.","With a finer blade, he sculpts the wood to just the right thickness and smoothes the surface.","Now he switches to a smaller curved knife and cuts into the wood.","This forms the inside of the largest bowl and the outside of the next smaller one.","The lathe worker repeats the smoothing and cutting process with progressively smaller knives, making bowl after bowl at a rate of about one a minute.","This one bowl blank produces four nested bowls, the smallest measuring about nine inches in diameter.","The bowls are steamed for about four hours to draw out the sap and hydrate the pores of the wood uniformly.","Once a bowl is dry--  about a month later-- workers even out the top rim on a sanding table.","Then, using a belt sander, they smooth the outside and inside surfaces.","A motorized saw shaves off the bottom of the bowl, giving it a flat base on which to sit and a place to inscribe the company name.","Businesses can order custom-made bowls featuring their company logo.","Artists burn the design into the wood or paint it on.","The bowls now go for a bath in food-safe mineral oil.","This nourishes the wood, preventing dryness and cracks.","Oiling also brings out the natural beauty of the wood grain, and because all raw wood is unique, no two bowls are ever alike.","Up next...","High-tech production at a chain-saw factory.","It's loud, it's powerful, and it rules the forest.","The chain saw has revolutionized the logging industry by replacing simple muscle power with mechanical might.","The chain saw can fell a tree and quickly turn logs into lumber.","Production begins with the plastic housing.","Three aluminum inserts must be molded into the housing to provide solid anchors for other parts.","A robot picks up the inserts one at a time and delivers them to an injection molding machine.","Then it places the inserts into a mold at the front of the machine.","The machine injects melted plastic into the mold to make the chain saw's engine cover.","During the molding process, the metal inserts become integrated into the housing.","It takes just seconds to transform these plastic pellets into a chain-saw engine cover.","The robot carries each engine cover to an automated cutter that removes any unwanted bits of plastic.","The scraps drop into a bin below.","The hot covers cool for about 10 minutes.","Then the robot moves them to the next station.","There's one more piece of plastic housing-- the fuel tank.","The sonic welder melts and fuses it to the engine cover using high-frequency vibration.","Now it's time to move on to the engine and install a spring system for the starter cord.","The two-stroke engine slides into the plastic casing.","And a spark plug is popped into place.","After the crankshaft is lubricated, the chain saw's automatic oiling system is installed.","The carburetor is attached, along with a pull-cord starter system.","This saw gets an air filter.","Then the chain bar's stud bolts are dipped in adhesive and screwed into the inserts molded into the plastic housing.","The rear handle goes on...","Along with a safety-release trigger.","The front handle is screwed into place.","And the oil line gets a filter attachment that lubricates the bar and chain.","That will strain out any impurities.","Next, workers install bearings and the crankshaft clutch system.","The clutch is the link between the engine and chain.","When it's engaged, the chain will move around the cutting bar.","The engine is now ready for a test run at typical speed-- 8,000 rpm.","Technicians adjust the carburetor so that it mixes the right amount of gas and air and check the exhaust to make sure it doesn't exceed pollution standards.","Workers attach the company's logo and other operational information.","Then the brake system goes into place.","Finally, the metal bar and chain blade are packed in a protective sleeve.","Once the saw's chain blade is installed, the owner has a power tool with teeth for almost any job.","When we return...","Get the skinny on stackable chips.","It's a snack that's made to stack.","Unlike other chips that come in irregular shapes and sizes, these chips have a uniform concave shape that allows them to tightly interlock and fit neatly in a tubular container.","The process for making these tubes starts with big rolls of plain brown paper and foil-backed paper that help keep the chips fresh.","The streams of paper travel across rollers that apply a coat of glue.","The paper layers then twist around the mandrel that's turned by a big belt.","The belt also presses the glued layers together.","Next, the label paper gets a coat of glue.","This helps it stick to the paper on the mandrel.","A camera photographs the white edging on the label paper, then relays its location to a set of circular knives.","They make a precise cut just below the white edging.","Cued by the camera, the carriage then moves the knives into position for the next cut.","You the tubes then head into a turning station...","A box with a pathway inside that flips the tubes right side up.","Hot metal heads curl the tops to accommodate lids.","A roller pulls foil-backed paper into a cutter that punches out the lid shapes.","Little vacuums take the lids to the tubes and heat-seal them on.","Plastic lids go over the paper ones.","The lidded tubes are now turned upside down, ready to be stacked with chips.","The chip recipe is 1/3 water to 2/3 potato flakes with a little cornstarch mixed in.","A conveyor delivers the mix to an auger, which disperses it.","Then it sets out on the production line.","Using four tons of pressure, the mix is rolled into one long potato sheet.","A rotary cutter then punches out oval shapes.","A device pulls away the scrap dough, leaving flat, uncooked chips.","This scrap dough goes back into the chip-making process, while the potato chips head for the fryer.","As they travel through the fryer, rolling molds give the chips their uniformly concave shape, making them more easily stackable.","The chips spend 11 seconds in hot oil, crisping.","Then they travel under blowers to get rid of excess oil.","The chips get a coat of seasoning, then do a backflip off one conveyor and onto another, falling into neat piles.","A worker inspects the rows of chips.","Then it's onto another conveyor that shakes them up to loosen the stack.","They travel over scales to be portioned out for packaging.","Automated spoons shove the chips into the open ends of the tubes.","Guides tap the tops of the tubes to nudge the chips into position.","Grippers then lower the stacks of tubes to a station, where spinning heads force metal bottoms onto them.","Now they're ready for shipping.","It takes about 20 minutes to make a tube of stackable chips, but it takes less time to polish them off.","Up next, jet compressor blades that really make the cut.","Compressor blades are key components in a jet's engine.","Thousands of them whirl inside the engine, rotating 400 times per second and whipping air into small hurricanes.","Large compressor blades made of titanium compress the air in front of an engine's turbo chamber.","In the back of the chamber, smaller blades made of nickel alloy compress it even more.","The air heats up to more than 1,000 degrees, then combines with jet fuel, creating a powerful mix that explodes out the back of the engine.","The blades start off as metal pellets called slugs.","A ceramic layer prevents their surfaces from oxidizing when exposed to intense heat.","The slugs are heated for 15 minutes in an 1,800-degree oven.","Meanwhile, a robot sprays lubricant on two dies inside a press.","The robot retrieves the slugs and loads them in the first die.","The press applies over 1,000 tons of pressure to preform the metal.","The robot then transfers the slugs to the second die, where they take the initial shape of the blade.","The blades are dipped in water to cool.","Another robot cleans the metal burrs off the edges.","The blade is now an airfoil.","Robots will shape the rounded base of the blade, called the dovetail, later.","The airfoil has gone from this to this.","After a new ceramic layer is applied, the blade is heated again.","Each heating and cooling cycle tempers the metal, making it more resilient.","Almost 1,800 tons of pressure gives the airfoil its final shape.","A trimmer shaves off the excess metal.","The searing heat has turned the protective ceramic layer into glass.","That will come off later.","It's taken an hour to shape the blade's airfoil.","The dovetail, that nub on the right, is next.","But first, this measuring machine inspects the airfoil.","If any measurement is off by just half the thickness of a human hair, the blade doesn't make the cut.","This casting machine will encase the airfoil in a matrix, a coating that protects the airfoil during work on the dovetail.","The matrix is molded from liquid tin and bismuth.","It solidifies into a metal cast around the airfoil.","The future dovetail sticks out at the end.","The cast is then loaded into what is called a broach machine.","Its series of teeth carve the dovetail into its final shape.","Now the cast can come off.","A worker loads it onto the removal machine, and a hydraulic cylinder hits the cast at its weakest point, breaking it in half.","The finished airfoil emerges unscathed.","A dot-matrix machine punches identification numbers onto the blade.","Next, the blades are submerged in a fluid that penetrates any flaws in the metal.","This inspection is critical because even the tiniest nick can spell disaster when a jet's engines are working at full speed.","Inspectors examine the blades under a black light.","This one's perfect, but spots of fluorescence on this one indicate microscopic cracks and weaknesses.","This one gets rejected.","The dovetail gets two strips of rubber silicone that ensure an airtight seal when the dovetail slides into the slot on the compressor drum.","A final check, and the blades are now ready for takeoff."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Belts","3D Metal Printers","Detectable Warning Panels","Model Stirling Engines"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" belts...","3-d metal printers...","Detectable warning panels...","And model stirling engines.","Belts have been worn with different types of garments since the invention of clothes.","Made to cinch your waistline, this accessory is worn with pants, shirts, robes, or dresses, making a fashionable addition to any outfit.","Durable and flexible, leather is the classic material used for belt making.","This production facility manufactures stylish, high quality belts at top speed.","A designer creates a belt pattern on her computer and sends the design electronically to the in-house laser etching machine.","A craftsman places a cowhide on a large table.","He examines the hide for any flaws and carefully marks each one.","The cowhides are made from meat industry byproducts, and most are sourced from italy.","A device scans the shape of the hide and the craftsman digitally marks the location of the flaws.","A specialized cutting machine uses the marked information to create an efficient series of cuts.","This process results in a high quality product with minimal waste.","Another technician sorts the various belt lengths into containers, preparing them for the next step.","The cutting machine is capable of slicing up to 2,400 belts per day.","The cutting machine creates straight, sharp-edged strips.","The technician feeds the belts into a machine that bevels the edges at the rate of 6,000 per day.","At the next station, a series of small suction devices quickly lift and place each belt on a conveyor system.","A stamping machine accurately cuts the shape of the belt tip and the holes for the prong.","The craftsman stacks a group of belts and packs them tightly together, then he dyes the edges with ink and sands them down.","These steps complement the edge dyeing machine process, which can add color to the belt edges.","Then the belts are transferred to a drying machine.","The edges must be completely dry before they move to the next step.","Powered by world war ii jeep engines, a rotating wooden drum tumbles the belts, while simultaneously burnishing the leather.","This type of machinery comes from italy's famous leather working region.","This imported machine, from milan, rapidly punches out the pattern of perforations, which make up the belt's signature design elements.","Since the machine's die is less than 20 inches long, the complex pattern along the belt can't be stamped at once.","Instead, the machine punches out a section at a time resulting in a production rate of 1,400 belts per day.","A laser etching machine burns a second pattern into the leather surface.","This pattern was created by the designer prior to production.","At the next station, a craftswoman fills the holes of a specially crafted two-part metal die with nail heads.","The nail heads are made of zinc with a brass finish.","Using a press, an operator places the die in a waiting repository.","She removes the top half, ensuring that all of the holes are filled with nail heads.","Then she turns the belt around and places it over the die before sliding the belt inside the press.","The press affixes the nail heads to the leather.","Before attaching the buckle, the belts go through a process called skiving.","This device shaves off a section of the leather so that when it's folded over, it won't be too thick.","A loop is attached on to the end of the belt, followed by a buckle.","The craftswoman uses the loop to temporarily hold the buckle and tag in place.","The tag contains the belt's size, price, and brand information.","Another craftswoman sews the belt buckle and tag in place, using 69 weight thread and a bar tacking stitch.","This facility manufactures nearly 10,000 belts per day.","This intricate leather fashion accessory might be a cinch to wear, but not to make.","3-d printers generate metal parts for spacecraft, cars, and medical devices, to name a few.","3-d printing technology allows for the production of complex design structures which can't be achieved using traditional manufacturing methods.","The 3-d metal printer could truly break the mold.","Thanks to advancements in technology, it's now possible to print metal parts.","This 3-d printer melts and layers metal powder and a part materializes.","This part will become a rocket nozzle heat exchanger.","At the core of the 3-d metal printer is the deposition head, which feeds and melts the the metal powder.","So far the designing process has taken hundreds of hours.","Tools guided by the design software transform a brass cylinder into the nozzle cone.","The profile of the nozzle cone can vary slightly, depending on the parts the 3-d metal printer will be used to produce.","Next the powder inlet component is added.","Metal powder will flow through this part to a mixing chamber and, eventually, the nozzle cone.","Computerized tools cut angled channels, delivering different metal powders to the mixing chamber with an angular velocity, creating a vortex to help blend the powders.","The part has been nickel plated and fasteners are installed.","The technician aligns the laser delivery channel to the powder inlet part, and screws them together.","The laser will melt the metal powder as it flows through the inlet.","She installs latches on the rim of the powder inlet part and tightly torques the screws that hold them in place.","Using the latches, she locks the mixing chamber to the inlet.","The latches will help make further assembly and disassembly of the 3-d metal printer head a snap.","Next, a laser nozzle is screwed onto the mixing chamber.","Then, the technician places the main nozzle cone over the laser nozzle and connects the threaded rim to the mixing chamber.","The deposition head is now complete.","Next, another the technician mounts the laser system to a vertical axis in the printer housing.","He runs coolant lines for the laser and attaches the deposition head, screwing it in place with a threaded brass collar.","The laser system and deposition head are now integrated.","First, the powder feeder is assembled with a substantial base to accommodate a feed drive system.","The technician installs the feeder shaft in the upper half of the base.","Then, he screws a disc to the shaft.","The disc will spin to move the metal powder into the printer head system.","He slides a spring on to the shaft which helps maintain its position.","Then, he connects the upper half of the base to the bottom half.","He installs an inlet for carrier gas that will be used to move the powder through tubing to the printer head.","He assembles windows to a lid.","They'll provide a view of the metal powder swirling in the feeder disc, so that any problems can be identified.","He press fits the hopper cone into a ridged hole in the lid.","He attaches the hopper to the cone.","He clamps the feeder motor to the hopper using long screws, which seals the hopper and turns it into a pressure vessel.","The resulting pressure will help force the powder through tubing to the deposition head.","He installs the lid and hopper assembly on the base.","Once assembly is complete, the technician sets the base on a mount, sliding protruding pins into corresponding holes in the lid.","This completes the powder feeder.","The powder feeder now ready to supply the raw material for 3-d printing.","An operator connects it to the printer and pours metal powder into the hopper.","The system delivers the powder to the printer head.","The dispensing and melting of the metal powder, as well as the layering, are all controlled by a computer generated program.","This 3-d printer can manufacture a part in a few hours, so you can sit back and watch it materialize.","Detectable warning panels are cautionary signals for the visually impaired.","Their specific pattern of domed bumps are detectable by touch or with walking aid equipment.","They also serve as warning systems at intersections or on transit platforms, alerting all people to proceed with caution.","For the visually impaired, these little bumps on the road aren't a problem.","They're a solution.","Embedded in surfaces at intersections, detectable warning panels help people find their way through touch.","Making a fiberglass polymer version of the panels starts with a carefully calculated formula.","Technicians add pigment to resin paste keeping a close eye on the scale to confirm the amounts are correct.","Next, a chemical thickener is added, this ingredient will increase the viscosity to a syrupy consistency.","Then the ingredients are blended together.","The agitation from the blender causes the mixture to heat, starting a chemical reaction which will eventually cause solidification.","As the mixture thickens, it turns a vivid color that people with compromised vision can still perceive.","The technician gauges the temperature to confirm that the chemical reaction isn't too advanced.","Then, the mix is set aside, so technicians can prepare other ingredients.","Rams punch the bag of mineral fillers to break up any clumps as they flow into a hopper.","Stearic acid is added to cut the thickening.","A computer dispenses the mineral filler and resin into a large mixing tank.","An operator adds an inhibitor to delay the chemical reaction as the mixing blade blends the ingredients into a paste.","Zinc stearate is added to the mixture, which will allow the completed panel to release from the mold.","Glass bundles, known as rovings, then unwind.","A blade chops them into toothpick sized pieces.","The pigment mixture, which has been blended into the resin paste, flows on to a plastic liner.","Shards of glass fall down on to the yellow resin mixture.","As the machine pulls the mixture forward, the liner takes the glass-encrusted resin to the next stage.","More resin and a top plastic liner, create an encasing with the glass in the middle.","Rollers squeeze the encasing together, forcing the resin to flow around the glass shards.","The material is compacted to the desired thickness.","Then, the glass and resin material cures for 24 hours.","This allows the materials to thicken, so it can be cut into panels.","A circular cutting wheel moves on a carriage across the mat slicing it to length.","The mats are retrieved from the machine and stacked.","The plastic liners on both sides are still intact.","Next, the material is weighed to confirm the specified amount.","If more is needed, a technician will adjust accordingly.","He then peels off the liners.","The glass and resin material are transferred to a heated mold.","The mold applies 500 tons of hot pressure.","The material liquefies and flows into the crevasses of the mold, forcing air out.","As the bumpy panels take shape, a chemical reaction causes the material to solidify.","A worker trims the freshly molded panels to give them a cleaner line.","And sands the edges smooth.","He clamps the panel to a fixture at both ends.","The clamps keep the panel in position and prevent it from bending.","As mounting holes are drilled into the panel.","The technician uses an air gun to blow off drilling residue and dust.","This detectable warning panel is now ready for installation.","Two craftsmen pipe adhesive into channels at the back of the panel.","The panel is installed in a recessed part of the curb and screwed into anchors in the concrete.","For people with limited vision trying to navigate their way around, these tactile panels will make a difference they can feel.","A stirling engine produces power by circulating hot and cold air, or other types of gas, at different temperatures.","Heating expands the gas, while cooling contracts it.","These alternating reactions move up to four pistons at a time, driving the machine and the pulleys attached to the engine.","This german company manufactures model stirling engines and accessories, like this marble tower.","The engine parts move by a closed loop of air that circulates inside the engine, expanding and contracting as it repeatedly heats and cools.","A specialist designs the engines and produces digital renderings for each component.","The dimensions must be accurate within 1/1,000 of a millimeter.","A computer guided turret machine shapes the engine's cooling cylinder out of a solid piece of brass.","Heat escapes brass quickly, making it ideal for a component to rapidly reduce its hot air temperature.","The cooled air contracts, producing a vacuum that draws the engine's working piston downward.","When reheated, the air expands, pushing the piston up.","This repetitive motion drives the crankshaft.","The cooling cylinder has fins to help diffuse heat, a hole on top for the working piston and another hole on the side for the displace piston.","After cleaning the cylinder with compressed air, a technician performs a quality control check.","First, he inserts multiple test pins into the hole for the working piston until one is the right fit.","This tells him the diameter measurement.","Using a digital caliper, the technician measures a series of aluminum working pistons until he finds the one that's the correct size for the hole's diameter.","He inserts the piston into the cylinder, then holds the cylinder upside down.","If the piston falls out slowly, it's the right size.","The fit must be precise to prevent the circulating air from leaking out of the cylinder.","In the assembly area, another technician superglues a crankshaft ball bearing into each of the engine's stainless steel side frames.","She glues the displace axle to the displace piston.","The part should fit loosely in the cooling cylinder to allow the air to flow around it, while moving back and forth between the engine's heating and cooling zones.","She inserts the displace piston into the side hole of the cooling cylinder.","Then the heating cylinder is mounted over the piston.","The heating cylinder draws heat generated by the flame into the engine.","She attaches it to the cooling cylinder with four screws.","A connecting rod is attached to the working piston and the piston is inserted into the cooling cylinder.","Next, the technician mounts one of the side frames to the cylinder, attaches a rocker arm to the side frame, then puts one end of the crankshaft through the side frame's ball bearing.","She attaches the second side frame, by inserting the other end of the crankshaft through its ball bearing.","She mounts what has been assembled so far on to a wooden base plate, then she connects one end of the rocker arm to the working piston's connecting rod.","The other end of the rocker arm is joined to the crankshaft connecting rod, which is connected at a 90-degree angle to both the rocker arm and the crankshaft.","On each end of the crankshaft, a heavy brass flywheel is mounted.","The flywheels increase the momentum of the engine.","To power an accessory with the stirling engine, one end of a drive belt is run around a pulley on the accessory, and the other end of the belt around a plastic drive wheel.","The finishing touch is an engraved brass identification plate.","Here's how this engine works.","First, the burner case is filled with denatured alcohol and the wick is attached.","The burner case is placed under the heating cylinder, light the wick, and let the engine preheat for 10 to 15 seconds, then turn a flywheel to kickstart the engine.","The flame heats the air inside the heating cylinder.","The hot air expands into the cooling cylinder, causing the cylinder to cool and contract.","This moves the working piston up and down, turning the engine's crankshaft."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Sanders","Solid Terrain Models","Stucco","High"]},"text":["Most experts will tell you that the key to the perfect paint job or wood-refinishing job is to prep the surface properly before applying the paint or wood stain.","That requires sanding to remove old finishes and to level uneven areas.","The easiest way to do that is with a motorized sander.","Professional-caliber sanders are typically pneumatic, meaning you plug them into an air compressor.","Air-driven tools are more powerful than tools than run on electricity.","This type of sander is called a straight line, because the pad to which you attach sandpaper moves in a straight line back and forth.","Many of the tool's components are made of powdered metal, then machined to exact dimensions on a computer-guided lathe.","Powdered metal is iron powder that's compacted with high pressure and heated in a furnace to bond the particles into a solid part.","Sometimes they further strengthen the powdered metal by infusing it with copper in the furnace.","Using an induction welder, which heats the metal with an electric current, they fuse a powdered-metal gear to each end of a steel shaft by melting on silver.","This constructs the sander's timing driveshaft, the regulating component that makes each stroke of the sanding pad just under an inch long.","Heating the metal softens it, so they now cool the timing driveshaft in oil.","This quenching hardens the component.","Meanwhile, they coat a sheet of aluminum rectangles with industrial-strength contact adhesive.","Each rectangle is a base for a rubber sanding pad.","The rectangular pad, which they coat with the same adhesive, is 6 1/2 millimeters thick, the same dimensions as the base with identical holes for the mounting screws.","Once the adhesive becomes tacky, they mate the base to the pad.","Using a small pneumatic press, they force out trapped air to ensure a thorough bond.","Elsewhere in the factory, they paint the recessed lettering of the polished aluminum plates, two per sander, which bear the manufacturer's name.","Once all the remaining components are prepared, technicians begin the assembly.","First, the motor's piston.","They place the piston rack in an arbor press and push a plastic piece onto each end.","Then, on each end piece, they mount a piston ring made of a proprietary wear-resistant material.","They insert the now-assembled piston into the sander's aluminum motor block.","The ring creates a tight seal to prevent air leakage.","Next, a technician installs the timing driveshaft and the idler gear shaft, pressing the gears of both into the piston rack's teeth.","The powdered-metal counterweight goes on each side to balance the piston rack, then guides made of that proprietary material to align and lubricate the counterweights.","A second set of anti-wear guides goes in the lower part of the motor block.","These help balance the sanding pad.","Then the start of the valve system, which controls the entry of compressed air into the sander.","At the front of the motor block, they install a paper gasket to prevent air leakage, then seal it with an aluminum end plate.","Continuing with the valve system, they install the components, which control the timing of the pistons' back-and-forth motion.","After sealing the top with a cap, they install the air-valve block, then the handle, which contains the inlet to which the air compressor connects.","The handle squeeze trigger is mounted to the cap above the handle.","They install the counterweight for the pad.","Here, you can see the two shafts the piston rack rotates.","Workers connect them to an aluminum drive shoe, which will move back and forth.","A pair of side rails holds the drive shoe in place.","Where the air exits the tool, they install a muffler made of porous plastic.","Finally, when the technician screws the base to the drive shoe, the chain is complete.","Compressed air moves the piston, which rotates the shafts, which moves the drive shoe holding the rubber pad with sandpaper.","This pneumatic sander is ready to level and smooth a surface in seconds flat.","A solid terrain model, \"stm\" for short, is an exact, three-dimensional, miniature replica of a geographic area.","Stms are indispensable tools for museums, visitor centers, and for planning everything from industrial projects to military operations.","To create a solid terrain model, the first step is to gather data via satellites and aircraft.","Two types of data--  color photographs of the surface showing the precise location of vegetation, rock, buildings, and so on, and elevation measurements, taken with lasers and other equipment.","A cartographer digitally merges the black and white elevation diagrams with the color photos and adds artwork for roads and place names.","He produces a 3-d computer model of the area.","This model will guide the machines that manufacture the physical model out of a block of polyurethane foam.","Foam is a durable material and lightweight, making the model easy to transport.","A computer-guided cutting machine first shapes a ledge around the block's perimeter.","This is for mounting the model on a frame.","Then the machine reads the computer model's elevation files and carves a miniature replica of those elevations into foam.","The machine first does a rough cut.","Then--  and this takes much longer-- it carves the fine details.","Depending on the complexity of the terrain, cutting the elevations into the foam can take just a few hours or several days.","When the cutting's finished, the technician cleans off the foam dust with compressed air and a brush.","The foam goes into a spray booth where it first receives a coat of primer to seal the porous surface, then multiple layers of special coatings to make images printed on the surface sharp and vibrant.","Once the coating's dry--  that takes about a day-- technicians put the model into a custom-designed inkjet printer, which reads the computer model's photograph file.","Just like an ordinary printer, this printer produces a multitude of shades from just four basic colors-- black, yellow, magenta, and cyan.","The jets pass just a few millimeters above the model, emitting one microscopic drop of ink at a time at precisely the correct location.","The end result is a miniature replica of what the surface looks like in real life.","Other workers, meanwhile, construct a sturdy frame for the model by gluing, clamping, and nailing together four lengths of oak.","This frame will protect the model from damage and make it easier to lift and move.","Once the glue dries, they remove the clamps, and with a saw, trim each corner to a 45-degree angle.","Then they round the edges with a sander.","They complete the frame by protecting the wood with a coat of clear polyurethane.","When that dries, they spread glue onto the frame's inside edge.","Then they position the model so that the ledge along its perimeter sits on top of the frame.","After printing, they spray the model with clear polyurethane or lacquer.","The protective finish allows people to now touch the model without damaging it.","Sometimes, an area they're modeling has buildings, bridges, or other structures.","When that's the case, an engineer designs a computer model of the object.","Then, guided by this model, a 3-d printer produces a physical model out of plastic, building the miniature replica from the bottom up one thin layer at a time.","These mountaintop castles in portugal are the finishing touch on this model that's set to go on display at the local tourist center.","Solid terrain models are a creative and valuable tool for educating people young and old.","By translating complicated technical data into a unique and scientifically sound visual aid, a solid terrain model delivers a fascinating bird's-eye view from the ground.","Stucco is one of the oldest construction materials on the planet.","The earliest formulations date back to ancient greece and mayan mexico.","Stucco has stuck around, and as an exterior siding, it's come a long way.","Modern stucco is more attractive and offers better protection.","Whether cement- or acrylic-based, stucco always starts out as a sticky paste, and that's the great thing about stucco.","In this wet and gooey form, it can be worked as it's applied to the exterior of a building to achieve a variety of textures.","It hardens to provide a tough exterior that shields the building against the elements.","To mass-produce cement stucco, they start with tons of silica sand.","They unload it into a conveyor and elevator system, which delivers the sand to silos for storage until needed.","They select sand with various grades of coarseness for different stucco finishes.","They mix it with cement, lime, and other ingredients to create the stucco base.","A technician demonstrates how the ingredients come together using this research lab mixer.","She blends all the ingredients dry, achieving a consistency that's similar to cake mix from a box.","Cement stucco is sold in dry form.","Water will be added to liquefy the ingredients on the job site.","In this demonstration, she also adds pigment.","With the stucco pre-colored, there's no need to paint the building.","To mass-produce cement stucco, they use this mega-mixer.","The operator adds three or four different pigments to create a custom color in the dry stucco batch.","Large paddle blades spiral vigorously.","Usually, this is a closed operation, but they've opened it up for our camera.","After three minutes of mixing, the dry stucco mix is ready for scrutiny.","An employee takes a sample and sends it to the quality control lab for evaluation.","At the lab, the technician weighs the stucco mixture and adds water.","He keeps an eye on the scale to ensure that the amounts are proportionate.","He mixes them and visually checks to confirm that the pigment and raw materials are well dispersed.","Acrylic stucco, on the other hand, calls for an entirely different recipe.","They use calcium carbonate instead of silica send and acrylic as a binder instead of cement.","They mix it with water and sell it wet in a bucket instead of dry.","To color it, they use a computerized tint machine, similar to what you find in a paint store.","They load the machine with liquid pigments and enter a color formula into the computer.","It mixes the pigments to produce the exact color.","And it releases the precise amount needed.","They blend the color into the acrylic stucco, and the batch ends up looking like blue mud.","It's now ready to apply to a home.","No prep required.","They also sell acrylic stucco with no color at all.","It's called tint base.","The pigments will be added on the job site, where they can be adjusted if needed.","An airtight seal keeps the stucco in its viscous state.","Acrylic stucco dries quickly, like paint, while cement stucco takes 28 days to totally cure into a more durable finish.","Over on the cement stucco line, a rotating machine handles all the packaging.","A suctioning device pulls a paper bag into position under a spout, which then fills it up.","It takes just 8 seconds to fill a 90-pound bag.","That works out to over 1,300 bags per hour, enough material for 30 houses.","The machine transfers the bag to the conveyor belt.","This stucco is now ready to provide a strong finish to building projects.","Applied to a building's exterior, stucco can be textured to suit the homeowner's taste, and it will harden to provide the building with a tough skin.","That's why stucco continues to be part of the urban landscape.","An industrial roll-up door opens and closes at least three times as fast as your average residential garage door.","That means machines and products can be moved in and out quickly.","These heavy-duty rubber doors are also engineered for a good seal, so they're weathertight.","In many workplaces, doors are always opening and closing.","A high-speed roll-up door is designed for heavy traffic.","Coal mines, parking garages, and large food freezer rooms are just a few of the places you will find them in action.","They start with rubber panels.","Their number and size depends on the width of the door being manufactured.","Workers brush high-strength epoxy onto the edges to bind the panels together.","The epoxy will take a couple of hours to cure, so there's time to smooth out the air bubbles by applying pressure to the seams with a heavy roller.","After the epoxy cures, they map out areas with masking tape to contain glue for the application of extruded rubber strips.","The horizontal one is a stiffener, and the vertical strips at the sides are wind blocks.","They'll secure the curtain to the building even in bad weather.","The employee also applies synthetic fabric to both sides to prevent wear.","He adds reflective yellow strips to the front and back to make the black rubber door visible at night.","A machine now drills holes in a steel tube.","This tube is the header that the rubber curtain will be rolled up on to.","The holes will be used to attach the curtain to it.","He tack-welds axles onto both ends of the tube.","The axles will be attached to mounting plates, so these are critical welds.","He measures the axles to confirm that the assembly is level and won't wobble.","Satisfied, he welds them permanently to the steel tube.","Next, he assembles and welds the side frame for the rubber curtain.","He assembles a hinge cover to the front of the frame, creating a compartment for the curtain that can be opened when needed.","Then it's on to the paint booth.","Here, an employee primes the frame components to protect them from rust and then gives them a coat of paint.","A worker assembles the bottom beam now.","He bolts an aluminum track for the rubber edging to a heavy steel frame.","He screws the box for the wireless transmitter that opens and closes the door to the beam.","Two workers now pull the rubber edging through the aluminum track.","The edging is equipped with an electric safety wire to detect movement and abort a door closing.","This will keep the door from hitting anyone who walks under it.","It's now time to pull everything together.","The team screws the rubber curtain to the steel tube, making use of those pre-drilled holes.","They move down and position the bottom beam on the curtain.","They attach it to the curtain with numerous nuts and bolts.","They roll up the rubber curtain to prepare for assembly to the mounting brackets.","With the attachments, the curtain now weighs over 1,100 pounds.","A crane transfers it to the end mounting plates and holds it steady while workers slide the end brackets onto the axles.","They build a steel support structure around the brackets and the rolled-up curtain.","They attach the motor to one of the axles.","This roll-up door is now ready for delivery.","Two days in the making, it's ready for whatever comes its way."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Lace","Antique Frame Replicas","Orchids","Unicycle Wheel Hubs"]},"text":["Lace began as a fringe fabric.","Back in the middle ages, it was handcrafted by european women to trim fashion finery.","The ladies' fingers got a break with the advent of lace-making equipment in the 19th century.","With mass production, lace moved from the fringe to the mainstream.","In the material world, lace used to be a luxury, handcrafted for decorative rather than practical reasons.","Machines now produce lace quickly, and you don't have to be wealthy to afford it.","To manufacture lace, hundreds of nylon and polyester threads unwind simultaneously into a separator.","It arranges the threads in a configuration for manufacturing and keeps them from tangling as they move forward.","To maintain the formation, the the threads pass through a comb-like apparatus.","Still in that neat configuration, the threads wind around a large spool.","This spool is known as a ground beam because the threads on it will be used for the lace's ground, or mesh.","These smaller spools supply the threads for the pattern.","They all unwind into the lace-making machine, which will interweave them to create a pattern on the ground.","Here's how it happens.","A long thick card with holes punched into it defines the pattern and guides a system of hooks and needles.","It's called a jacquard card, and the technology has been around for two centuries and was actually the inspiration for computer technology.","Each hole on the card corresponds to one hook, and the hooks are attached to these guide bars.","If the hook encounters a hole in the jacquard card, it loops a thread, and if it encounters the solid card, it stops.","The guide bars shuffle back and forth to move the hooks in concert with needles and weave the design on the ground.","This is the lace-weaving action in slow motion.","The punch-card system allows for the same pattern to be woven repeatedly without error.","It's all perfectly choreographed, and this complex lace design comes together quickly with no snarls.","The result is a thing of beauty-- an intricate floral pattern on a mesh background.","The lace rolls by inspectors, who scrutinize the needlework for flaws.","It then heads into a station with high-speed knives.","They cut the loose threads that run between the floral patterns on the front of the lace.","A worker finishes the job by hand, removing what the knives miss.","Here you can see the difference the trimming makes.","The mesh between the needlework is now completely transparent.","They mend the lace when needed, and then it's into a dying machine to add some color.","After rinsing, the now bright-yellow lace travels over bars under tension to wring out the water.","The lace, still damp, lands and accumulates in a bin, which they wheel over to a finishing machine.","The finishing machine is equipped with rollers.","The first ones remove the curl from the lace.","The others take it through a chemical bath for a treatment that both softens the lace and prevents shrinkage.","A trip through a dryer removes the water from the fabric and cures the finishing chemicals.","Now complete, the lace exits onto a network of rollers.","The final one swings the fabric to and fro so that it lands neatly folded for transfer to the packaging line.","Heavy industrial machinery has produced this delicate lace in a matter of minutes.","They roll it and wrap it, and it's on its way to the fabric store or another factory.","No ordinary textile, the factory-made lace will add beauty to things of necessity like curtains, a tablecloth, or a dress.","Its sheer good looks will add visual appeal to these ordinary items.","It's important that the frame around a painting be stylistically consistent with the period in which the artist created the work.","When you're dealing with a centuries-old painting, however, the original frame has often been replaced with a newer one.","The solution is commissioning an historically accurate antique replica.","When a painting's original frame is lost, a specialist can produce an exact replica or a historically accurate alternative.","Basswood is the wood of choice because it's relatively soft and even-grained.","First, they saw the length required for the frame.","Then they plane the sides to smooth the rough edges.","Next, they saw the piece to the required dimensions.","Once pieces for all four sides of the frame are cut, workers set up a machine called a molding planer.","As its contoured steel blade spins, they run each piece against it, carving the blade's profile into the wood.","The workshop has thousand of blades, each with a different profile.","They all began as a flat bar of steel, which the shop milled to shape following a profile drawing.","Once each side is contoured, workers saw the ends at 45-degree angles...","Then cut a slot in each one.","They spread glue in the slot and over the entire surface, then insert a beechwood biscuit.","The biscuit goes in just halfway.","They insert the other half into the glued slot of the adjoining frame piece.","Once the glue dries, the master carver gets to work.","With a pencil, he draws the frame's design onto tracing paper, then lays the paper upside down on the replica and retraces the design, which transfers it in graphite onto the frame surface.","Then he turns to his arsenal of 40-plus chisels and begins carving out the design.","Each chisel has a different shape and sized tip and therefore makes a very specific type of cut.","He first cuts straight down along the outline to sever the wood grain.","This prevents the angled cuts, which follow, from splitting the wood beyond the outline.","Interchanging chisels, he repeatedly removes small chunks of wood until the design emerges.","He clears away the wood chips with a wire brush.","Now the master gilder takes over, brushing on up to 20 coats of gesso-- a traditional mixture of water, calcium carbonate, and a very flexible glue made from rabbit skin.","Flexibility prevents cracking when the wood expands and contracts.","He brushes on four coats of another traditional mixture called bole.","The ingredients-- ultra-fine particle clay, water, and, again, rabbit-skin glue.","Bole provides background colors.","It also provides a cushion between the gesso layer and the gold leaf.","Next, a coat of what's called gilder's liquor-- a combination of water, alcohol, and either gelatin or rabbit-skin glue.","Then he cuts a piece of gold leaf-- a sheet of genuine gold a mere 1/10,000 of a millimeter thick.","He applies it with a fine brush made of squirrel hair, which he has lightly oiled.","As soon as he taps the frame, the water in the gilder's liquor grabs the gold leaf, pulling it away from the oil, adhering it to the bristles.","This is the tricky part, because too much oil on the brush or too little water in the gilder's liquor can hinder this delicate transfer.","Next, the master gilder rubs select areas with a polished agate, a natural stone.","This burnishing process compresses the gold leaf, making it smooth and shiny.","Now he'll make the frame look old.","He removes some gold from the high points to create the appearance of wear.","Then he applies a tinted glaze to simulate patina-- natural darkening that develops over time due to the accumulation of airborne dust and dirt.","He works in the glaze with a brush to distribute it strategically so that the fake patina looks perfectly natural.","For this frame, he uses 23-karat gold leaf.","Gilders will also use 6-, 12-, 14, 18-, and 22-karat leaf to achieve different shades of gold.","The higher the karat, the yellower the color, due to the greater proportion of gold in the composition and lesser proportion of copper and silver alloys.","Orchids are a standout.","Their exquisite beauty even caused a frenzy in the mid-19th century when wealthy british collectors hired orchid hunters to search the world for new species.","Today, the fascination with orchids continues, and cultivating them is a growing industry.","In thailand, orchids grow wild, but the wild orchids have been tamed.","They've been hybridized and domesticated to satisfy a global demand for this fantastic flower.","At this farm, cultivation starts with bud cuttings, mixed with nutrients and water in glass bottle.","The bottle provides a germ-free growing environment, keeping the cuttings disease-free as they grow into baby orchids.","This takes a year or more.","When the plants have developed a strong root system, they're ready to come out into the world.","The worker deposits the baby orchids in a tub of clean water and swishes each one around to give their roots a good rinse.","She transfers the baby orchids to a perforated plastic basket.","A wad of coconut fiber soaked in water provides the next growing environment.","The worker places the roots of each baby plant in one of the wads.","She wraps the fiber snuggly and ties the wad.","She places the fiber-wrapped orchids in growing cells.","The team waters and fertilizes them for four to six months.","The orchids grow to midsize, and the plant's root system flourishes.","The plants are now ready for the next phase of growth.","They transfer the mid-sized orchids to coconut husks.","The husks act as a kind of plant pot and growing media in one.","They absorb water to provide a constant supply to the plants.","The plants grow on the husks.","No soil is needed.","In nature, orchids flourish on tree bark or cracks in rocks, and coconut husks are the next best thing.","Overhead, a nylon-fabric roof diffuses sunlight to simulate conditions found in a shady rainforest.","Too much light and the heat would harm the plants.","Gardeners regularly observe the growth of the orchids.","They're on the lookout for disease or other problems.","Not all of the plants will thrive.","They'll lose about 10% of the crop.","They fertilize and water the orchids over a period of several months.","Many of the plants are hybrids, created by crossing species to achieve a certain color or shape or to improve the plant's vigor.","With thousands of species available in nature, the potential combinations are never-ending, and the results are always stunning.","With the orchids in full bloom, it's time for the harvest.","Workers cut the orchids at the base of the stems, with an eye to making them approximately the same length.","In the packing room, they tweak the length of the stems until each bunch is perfectly uniform.","They make this final cut on an angle.","This creates a larger surface for absorbing water so the orchid will stay fresh longer.","They sort the flowers by the size of the bloom.","They insert the stems in plastic capsules that contain a flower-food and water mixture.","This should maintain the orchids' freshness during shipping.","It's time to wrap up each stunning display.","The plastic sleeve will preserve them on the journey ahead.","This particular orchid is a hybrid species known as mokara.","Extremely desirable, cut mokara orchids should bloom for up to three weeks.","En route to the airport in a climate-controlled truck, they'll soon be on an international flight.","Thai orchids are sold around the world.","Chances are they'll end up at the center of a big event in someone's life, and whether it's a wedding or a birthday, these stunning orchids will add something special to the party.","The key part of a wheel is its hub, the central point to which all the spokes attach.","It's comprised of a body which receives the spokes and houses an axle and bearings.","If the wheel has a gear system, then those gears and a clutch are also integrated into the hub.","This is the only commercially available unicycle with a gearing system.","Located on the wheel hub, it enables the rider to push a button to shift from regular gear into high gear and reach 25 miles per hour-- twice the speed of a regular unicycle.","The geared wheel hub contains six identical small gears, rotating around a large central gear.","The central one is called the sun wheel and the small ones, planetary gears, because they revolve around the central gear the way planets revolve around the sun.","Each of the small gears begins as a disk-shaped steel blank.","A conventional, 1950s-era gear-cutting machine cuts teeth into it as a shower of oil washes away the shards of metal.","The oil also cools and lubricates the tool so that it doesn't overheat or jam.","After about 30 seconds of machining, the blank is a fully shaped gear.","An even older machine, circa 1930, mills a larger blank into the central gear.","However, because this gear is bigger, cutting the teeth into it takes much longer--  about two minutes.","Once all the gears are machined, they, along with the hub's other steel components, undergo a complex heat-treatment process to strengthen the steel.","Elsewhere in the factory, workers assemble the two halves of the clutch, the component which locks into regular or high gear when the rider shifts.","Using a cylindrical tool called a broach, the machine grooves in the center of the clutch.","Slots on the axle will fit into these grooves.","Next, they unscrew the two halves of the clutch and mount eight hollow pins in each one.","In one half, they also install three longer alignment pins and a greased spring inside each hollow pin.","Then they thread the two halves of the clutch onto the axle, aligning the axle slots in the clutch's grooves and the pins on one half with corresponding pins and holes on the other.","After fastening the halves together once again, they mount the six planetary gears on a ring called the planet carrier, then install it on the axle.","The spring-loaded pins on the clutch click into corresponding slots on the planet carrier.","These slots are engineered to fit the pins with no more than .","01 millimeters of clearance.","After securing the planet carrier to the axle with a retaining clip, they insert ball bearings with a spring in two holes on opposite sides of the axle.","A retaining ring holds these spring-loaded bearings in place.","Meanwhile, a laser engraver etches the company logo and product identification on the wheel-hub body.","The body is made of high-strength aluminum that's undergone an electrochemical treatment to make it corrosion-resistant.","They mount the hub body on a hydraulic press and insert the sun wheel, surrounded by a large ball bearing.","Then they activate the press, which forces the sun wheel into the body.","They install the body on the axle, positioning the sun wheel right in the center of the planetary gears.","A cover protects the gears from dust, dirt, and precipitation.","On the opposite end of the body, they install additional bearings and affix a cover with nine screws.","Now the shift buttons-- a chrome-plated one for shifting down, a gold-plated one for shifting up.","Both screw into a shaft running through the center of the axle.","The two spring-loaded bearings workers inserted in the axle earlier hold that shaft in place.","This cross-section model shows how everything comes together.","The shift button moves the shaft, which moves the clutch to lock into the selected gear.","In regular gear, pedaling one revolution makes the wheel turn one revolution.","When the rider shifts to high gear, pedaling one revolution makes the wheel turn 1 1/2 revolutions.","The unicycle moves 50% further as a result of the same action.","Riders use the regular gear for climbing and the higher gear for flat or downhill terrain.","They hit the shift button with their heel or ankle while pedaling-- a quick, slight movement that won't throw them off balance."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Springs","Pavers","Pianos"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Springs...","Pavers...","And pianos.","A spring is a flexible metal device that returns to its original shape or position after it's stretched, squeezed, or twisted.","Springs were first used in clocks during the 16th century and, starting in the late 1800s, in chair seats and bedding.","Today springs pop up all over.","They're crucial components of modern technology.","Different types of springs include compression, on the right, and extension, on the left.","During use, these torsion springs will twist at one or both ends.","Workers start with rolls of steel cord.","The cord diameters range in size depending on the type of springs being made.","A machine called a dereeler unwinds the roll, feeding it to a computer-guided forming machine.","This forming machine forces the cord through a channel, shapes it into a coil, and then cuts it into segments.","Small wheels and a metal shaft guide the cord into shape.","These are torsion springs for use in the automotive industry, which relies heavily on a variety of springs.","The average car, for example, has about 350 of them.","A cone-shaped yellow sensor detects the correct angle of each spring.","A good reading is required so the machine can move the next spring forward through the channel to be formed.","This machine can produce up to 2,000 springs per hour, depending on their size.","Here another larger forming machine creates extension springs that are over 6 inches long.","A mechanical arm grabs the coil and chops it into segments after it's formed in a channel.","As the coil emerges, another mechanical arm steadies it to prevent it from vibrating.","This keeps the spring tension constant, enabling the machine to produce at top speed.","In slow motion, you can see how the machine grabs the coil's first ring and bends it to form a hook.","This all takes place as the coil emerges from the channel.","A vise then secures the last ring on the end of the coil, while another arm twists it to make the spring's other hook.","Slowed down, you see how two arms surround the coil being held in the vise.","One arm then grabs the last ring while the other arm twists it upward.","This machine makes compression springs-- a model with tapered ends that's often used in seat belts.","A metal probe detects the correct length of the springs after they're formed.","The machine has four rotary shafts called cams.","A computer ensures each spring has the desired specs.","The springs are also heated to relax the metal.","This gives them the ability to retain their shape after flexing.","Another machine creates longer, thicker torsion springs.","It shapes the cord into a coil with a shaft and then passes it over a tube to steady it.","This ensures the spring will have the required tension.","Springs can be as thin as a human hair or as thick as a broom handle.","Train wheels, for instance, include some of the industry's thickest compression springs.","This machine makes another type of spring, often called wire forms.","They're flexible steel cords curved or bent at an angle.","These ones, shaped like a \"w,\" are used in ovens.","Here, a worker places a spring into a machine that makes its hooks.","He uses an adaptor to avoid hurting his fingers.","He places each one individually because specs for springs can vary by minute amounts.","This company makes some springs with hooks made of two rings instead of one.","Clients order them this way because the hooks are more durable.","Custom orders for springs can range from just a few to many thousand.","This is another type of wire form.","It'll be used in a firearm.","A worker assembles it by hand because it's so intricate.","After joining two base pieces, he places them into a small die.","Using a foot pedal, he controls the die to bend the segments and complete the assembly.","To check the compression spring's tension, a worker tests it with a weight gauge.","The correct tension varies depending on what the client wants.","A 1 1/2-inch long spring, for example, might need to withstand 5 pounds of tension when compressed to 1 inch.","To test an extension spring, workers just add hooks to the weight gauge.","Whether they're extension, compression, torsion, or wire form, and whether they're inside pens or satellites, springs prove that some old ideas definitely still work.","You could say that interlocking concrete pavers came out of the rubble of world war ii.","In post-war holland, there weren't enough clay pavers to rebuild city streets, so the dutch began making concrete pavers.","The germans refined the technology and exported it to north america, and they found a quick road to success.","These pavers are solid, and the interlocking design disperses weight, easing the load on the road.","To make these pavers, a conveyor belt delivers concrete sand to a weigh belt that weighs the coarse sand as it falls onto it.","The weigh belt carries the sand forward, while another conveyor belt unloads stone chips to be weighed.","These chips are no longer than an 1/8 inch.","The ratio of sand to stone chips varies depending on the type of paver being made.","The weigh belt transports the stone chips forward along with the coarse sand.","Both are en route to the skip hoist.","They spill off the conveyor into the skip hoist, which is essentially a bucket on rails.","Cables pull the loaded bucket upwards.","It stops about 30 feet up, just above a big concrete mixer.","A trap door opens and dumps the sand and stone chips into the mixer.","Six giant steel paddles mix and then rotate and mix again, while cement is added automatically through several nozzles on the side of this enormous mixing bowl.","Making pavers is a bit like baking cookies.","Too much or too little liquid in the batter, and it won't bake properly.","Water is added until the consistency is just right.","Nozzles also shoot a pigment into the mix to tint it.","The mixture looks dry and crumbly, but the recipe gives it just enough moisture to form the concrete.","Now a filling wagon spreads the mix over a steel mold containing up to 50 paver-shaped cavities.","The mold presshead applies 11 tons of vibrating pressure.","This pulsating force compacts the mixture in the paver mold and removes any air pockets, which could weaken the pavers.","Hydraulic cylinders lift the mold, leaving the pavers on the press board.","The press board slides out, and the mold once again gets filled in and makes another 50 paver stones.","It only takes about 10 seconds to mold, compact, and release a batch of pavers.","The press boards filled with pavers slide into a rack.","A hydraulic chain hoist lifts each board into a large holding rack.","There, a special moving wagon, called a finger wagon, picks up all the boards from the rack in just one move.","The electrical wagon moves along a rail to a curing kiln, where it's almost 100 degrees fahrenheit.","The pavers actually generate the heat, due to a chemical reaction from the combination of cement and water.","About 12 hours later, the finger wagon carts the pavers out of the kiln.","They are now 70% cured as a result of the chemical process that binds the cement, sand, and gravel, causing the pavers to harden.","The rest of the curing will happen over the next 28 days.","The pavers are now sturdy enough to handle, so four steel arms with rubber pads move in and straighten the stones on the board.","These alignment arms are hydraulically driven.","They arrange the concrete pavers so they interlock snugly.","Now hydraulic clamp arms lift the pavers off the board and begin to pile them up.","They're making a cube of stone.","This stacking machine is called a cuber.","It packs 9 or 10 layers of pavers on top of one another to make this cube.","The cube is actually called a bundle.","It will be strapped and shipped out to the jobsite.","These concrete pavers will be on the road soon building and rebuilding our streets.","Piano keys were once made out of ivory.","This sought-after material isn't used anymore because it's banned to protect elephants who were killed for their ivory tusks.","Pianists now play plastic keys, but the techniques involved in manufacturing a piano haven't changed much and still rely on handcraftsmanship, just like a century ago.","beautiful music is a triumph, but so is the piano itself...","Made of inner and outer rims, a soundboard, treble and bass bridges over which the strings are stretched, and a heavy cast-iron plate.","To make a piano rim, automated rollers spread glue onto sheets of hard rock maple, coating both sides.","Then they layer the glue-soaked sheets 5 to 8 deep, depending on the model of piano.","Workers feed the wet layers of wood to a rim press.","An impact wrench, powered by compressed air, turns the clamp screws.","The screws bend the wood into a piano rim form.","They measure the pressure on the layers with a torque wrench.","Steel arms reach across the wood, holding the shape while the glue dries.","After 24 hours, workers loosen the machine's grip, and the rim now holds its contour.","Now it's into what's called the conditioning room for more drying out.","The piano rims stay in this warm, arid room for 30 days.","It's time to make the bracing structure.","They place glued struts inside the rim, then apply pressure with a clamp.","The framework remains in this embrace for an hour while the glue dries.","This piano will have a tension resonator for extra support.","Steel turnbuckles attach to a center hub.","A worker tightens the turnbuckles with a wrench.","Then he thumps it to make sure it's tight and won't rattle.","Next, they'll install the soundboard made of spruce and the two bridges.","Strings will straddle the bridges and transmit vibrations to the soundboard, which is the amplifier of the piano.","A worker glues ribs onto the soundboard.","He lowers wooden clamps over each rib to apply pressure while the glue dries.","That takes about an hour.","Next, he thins the ribs around the edges with an automated stagger-tooth shaper cutter.","This will allow the soundboard to resonate freely when the piano is played.","Now they position the soundboard in a bridge press.","Then they place a bridge-locating fixture on top of the soundboard.","This device holds the bridge in place while it's glued to the soundboard.","After the two bridges are glued down, they lower the soundboard onto the piano rim.","Then they hoist a cast-iron plate onto it.","It's a critical fitting.","If they don't get it right, the piano will never function properly.","Then the plate is removed for finishing.","A worker cuts notches in the bridges, which are now topped with a lubricant.","This very sharp chisel cuts through the hard maple like butter.","Each notch will cradle three piano strings, giving them the freedom to vibrate.","Now they roll glue onto the outside case of the piano, which is made of rosewood veneer on maple.","They fit it snuggly over the rim structure.","A mechanical clamp holds it in place for an hour while it dries.","Then they stand the entire piano on its side.","Spinning cutters shape the arms that sit next to the keyboard into an elegant curve.","This is called a vertical stroke sander.","A worker runs it along the side of the piano to smooth out the wood.","After a black polyester paint is applied, they buff it up with this electrical cloth polisher.","Then they hand-rub a mirror glaze cream into it until you can really see yourself in this half-finished piano.","To play a piano, you need time to practice and lots of money because a grand piano can cost about the same as a luxury car.","And like a luxury car, when you lift the top of a grand piano, you'll see that a lot has gone into its construction.","the bass and treble bridges are now fixed to the soundboard of this half-finished piano.","Then to add glamour, they spray gold paint on the cast-iron plate.","The next step involves the pin block, which holds all the stress.","It bears 45,000 pounds of tension from the strings and transfers it to the iron plate.","He drills into the maple pin block, through holes in the iron plate over it.","The holes are for the tuning pins, hence the name-- pin block.","They unfurl pieces of steel wire from big coils.","Using a vise grip, the worker twists the end of the wire into a neat loop.","Then he hooks it onto a hitch pin on the back side of one of the bridges, making sure it runs between the guide posts over the bridge.","Now he threads the wires through another guide called an agrafe.","Using wire cutters, he snips the wire to the exact length that he needs.","Then he wraps the wire on the tuning pin using a device called a stringing crank.","He taps it into a hole in the pin block.","Then, using a pneumatic hammer, he drives the tuning pins into the pin block.","Now the string stretches from above the bridge to the pin block.","Each string is under a tension of up to 425 pounds, again, a force that will be kept in check by the heavy cast-iron plate.","Now he places little felt-covered blocks called dampers above the strings to stop them from vibrating when a note is played.","Using pliers, he makes parallel bends in the damper wires, so they're aligned.","He pounds the key frame, checking for gaps that could cause knocks under a pianist's vigorous blows.","He smoothes out the gaps, shaving off bits of wood with a strip of sandpaper attached to a handle.","Now another worker presses the piano keys in between steel guide pins that have been installed in rows on the key frame.","She uses an air cylinder to push the backcheck into the end of a piano key.","The backcheck is a piece of wood covered with felt and buckskin that will catch the piano's hammer after it strikes a string.","It's time to make those hammers.","She glues the felt-covered top onto a thin piece of hornbeam, a species of very strong wood.","When a pianist hits a key, it will catapult the hammer into the string, and that produces a note.","Now she aligns the hammers to be perfectly parallel, using a plastic square as a guide.","This is called \"squaring it up\".","Next, she sands the tail of each hammer with a file so there'll be no sharp edges to damage the backcheck.","Then she attaches the hammers to the top of the keyboard with screws.","Now she places weights on each key and then gently taps the rail to get the hammers moving.","She's testing the amount of effort it would take for a pianist to push each key down.","This is called \"the weigh off\".","After she determines how much weight is needed, she marks a place on the side of the key and drills one or two holes.","She plugs each hole with a piece of lead.","In a process called swedging, she pushes a divot into the lead so it expands and fits snugly into the key.","The lead will counterbalance the weight of the hammers and give the key the required amount of weight.","Next, this technician checks each hammer and each key, making subtle mechanical adjustments so they move smoothly and fluidly.","It's the piano's first big tune-up.","He fine-tunes the hammer action by using a let-off tool to adjust the driving mechanism.","The piano is now ready for the hands of a skilled pianist and the ears of an appreciative audience."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Padlocks","Hair Clippers","Wooden Shoes","Synthetic Leather"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Padlocks...","Hair clippers...","Wooden shoes...","Wooden shoes...","And synthetic leather.","And synthetic leather.","As long as there have been thieves, there's been a need for locks.","Padlocks date back to roman times and were likely first used to protect cargo in transit.","Thousands of years later, the padlock continues to keep burglars at bay.","The modern padlock's strongest feature is its lock body.","The process begins with a stack of 24 steel plates that are laminated together, the same technology that's used to make doors for bank vaults.","A punch press cuts and shapes pieces of steel into caps that will be riveted to the lock bodies.","The rivets tumble down a feeder.","While below, an operator places a lock body and a cap into a fixture.","A powerful press then drives the rivets into the assembly, securing the top cap to the lock securing the top cap to the lock body.","Body.","At another station, cutters contour steel rods so they'll fit into the lock body's holes while lubricant keeps things while lubricant keeps things cool.","Cool.","The finished rods are now ready to be shaped.","Workers load them into a form press.","This machine bends the steel as easily as you could bend a pipe cleaner to make a u-shaped shackle.","Then the shackles roll into a furnace for tempering, a process that makes the steel even stronger.","After a little more machining, the shackle is ready to be installed.","This shackle will need to move up and down as the lock is opened and closed.","And that's where these ball bearings come in.","Two of them are slipped into the lock cavity.","Lubricant gel aids the process.","Workers use it to grease the inside of the lock while they push the ball bearings to either side of the cavity.","A cylinder extension is inserted between the ball bearings, then a protective casing and bumper slide over the lock.","Now it's time for final assembly.","A machine loads copper-plated shells onto mandrels.","Plugs, pins and springs funnel into the lock assembly station.","A device installs pins and springs in a lock shell.","The shell slides onto a brass plug.","A key-shaped groove is cut into the plug, transforming it into a lock cylinder.","A carbide cutter notches the matching keys.","There are tens of thousands of key profiles.","This sorting station holds just a few.","The keys and lock cylinders are all numbered.","This worker matches them up, making sure there are two keys making sure there are two keys for each lock.","For each lock.","She selects a padlock and pushes one of the lock cylinders into it.","Then she tops it off with a retention plate.","A machine press fits the plate to the bottom of the padlock.","This secures the lock cylinder.","A spring for the shackle is inserted, and the bottom cap goes on next.","Then the entire assembly is riveted together.","Each key is tested to make sure it matches.","A computerized system opens and closes a randomly selected padlock thousands of times to make sure it's up to the job.","The lock also has to hold up to force.","Weights are dropped to replicate a hammer blow.","And the padlock withstands the strike.","This day's work is done.","It's time for the folks at the factory to \"lock up\" for the day.","Up next, making the cut at a up next, making the cut at a hair-clipper factory.","Hair-clipper factory.","The electric hair clipper was invented in 1919.","It was the first clipper with a motor in the actual unit, allowing the barber to cut hair allowing the barber to cut hair at quite a clip.","At quite a clip.","Hairstyles may change, but this device is still on the cutting edge.","These days, hair-clipper casings are made out of heavy-duty plastic.","An automated mold melts and shapes the plastic material into shapes the plastic material into casing parts.","Casing parts.","Meanwhile, a robot picks up brass contacts and places them in fixtures.","A plastic switch is then attached to each contact.","A blast of air sends the assembled piece to a bin.","Here, a robot slides a plastic spool onto a mandrel, then anchors copper wire to it.","The wire is wound around the spool more than 2,000 times to make part of the electric relay that will drive the blades.","Police keep the wire fed at an police keep the wire fed at an even tension.","Even tension.","Next, robots work on the clipper's lower casing.","One installs a blade slide for adjusting the blade, and another attaches the lever that controls attaches the lever that controls that slide.","That slide.","An automated screwdriver fastens everything together.","The clipper assembly is then on its way to have a metal arm installed.","This piece will move the cutting blade.","And for that, it will need a couple of springs.","Next, the switch assembly goes in.","And then the arm is screwed into place.","Workers install a screw for adjusting the power setting.","And now they fit the copper wire coil into the lower housing where it will drive that metal where it will drive that metal arm.","Arm.","A power cord is run from the switch to the coil.","And now the clipper's inner workings are complete.","Over at another station, a punch press stamps out clipper blades.","The blades are toothless to start.","But after a good washing and heat treatment, they head over to another station to get some to another station to get some teeth.","Teeth.","A worker pops a blade into a fixture to hold it steady, then a jagged cylindrical cutter carves the teeth.","Coolant keeps the process from overheating and compromising the overheating and compromising the integrity of the steel.","Integrity of the steel.","Each hair clipper has two blades.","The first one has cutting teeth which moves over the second, a larger, stationary blade that ensnares the hairs so that they can be cut.","Next, the company's logo is printed on to the clipper's lid.","And the lid is attached to the casing that holds the electrical components.","Workers mount the blades on the head of the clipper for that double-edged cutting action.","And finally, each clipper is tuned for optimum performance by adjusting that power screw that was installed earlier.","These clippers come in a kit that includes some additional accessories for those consumers who want to try their hand at a little home grooming.","Now these electric hair clippers are ready to get buzzing.","With those sharp blades, they'll make short work of any \"hairy\" make short work of any \"hairy\" situation.","Situation.","Coming up, the art of the wooden coming up, the art of the wooden shoe.","Shoe.","Call them the poor man's answer to the rubber boot.","Centuries ago, farmers chipped out holes in wooden blocks to keep their feet dry.","Over the years, the blocks were refined into inexpensive but durable footwear.","Today they're most commonly associated with the history and tradition of the netherlands.","How they're made remains as basic as the shoe itself.","Most wooden shoes are crafted from poplar, a wood that's easy to carve and generally free of knots, so the wearer won't knots, so the wearer won't encounter any splinters.","Encounter any splinters.","A worker feeds pieces of poplar into a band saw, careful to toss any pieces with defects.","The blade slices the wood into blocks called blanks.","The factory uses vinyl patterns like this one to create the shape of the shoe.","There's a pattern for each size of every clog style.","A worker locks the pattern into a duplication machine called the shaper, then right next to it, shaper, then right next to it, two blanks.","Two blanks.","As this tracer moves over the shape of the pattern, the wheel on the left copies its movements exactly, its blade shaving the exactly, its blade shaving the wood as it moves up and down.","Wood as it moves up and down.","There's only one pattern loaded, yet the machine carves out a pair of shoes.","That's because the wheel on the far left spins in the opposite direction.","So as the blade saws away, it's creating two mirror image copies.","That allows the machine to carve out both a right and a left shoe out both a right and a left shoe simultaneously.","Simultaneously.","Now for the instep.","A worker positions the blanks on to what's called a dual-action boring machine.","The center rod is called a tasker.","Its rolling head follows the curves inside the pattern.","Spoon bits on either side of it copy the tasker's movements, gradually carving out the inside of the shoes.","Now workers shift the angle so the spoon bits can get in deeper, boring all the way to deeper, boring all the way to the front of the shoe.","The front of the shoe.","All that carving makes for a lot of wood chips.","After a drying period, the toe knobs are cut off with a band saw, and the clogs are inspected saw, and the clogs are inspected for any flaws.","For any flaws.","A disk sander grinds down the knob on the heel and refines the shape of the toe.","The shoemaker uses a barrel sander to smooth out the opening then they switch to a balloon sander.","This sander has an air-filled sack inside it that flexes to the shape of the shoe.","Now for the final step.","An artist lays carbon paper on the shoe and a pattern on top of that.","Then she traces the pattern.","The carbon sheet transfers the the carbon sheet transfers the design to the wood.","Design to the wood.","Now she goes over the design with a woodburner.","She changes tips and varies the temperature according to the size and depth of the lines she's burning.","This design commemorates holland-- holland, michigan, that is.","The artist now uses water-based paints to enhance the scene with paints to enhance the scene with color.","Color.","She applies three coats of a water-based varnish to preserve the artwork and help keep the the artwork and help keep the shoes clean.","Shoes clean.","While most clog-wearing farmers opt for a plainer version, true clogaholics appreciate a little pizzazz.","But they'll leave crafting the clogs to the experts, because they've got some pretty big shoes to fill.","When we return, the know-how when we return, the know-how behind faux cow.","Behind faux cow.","Is it leather or is it pleather?","It's not always easy to spot the fake.","Synthetic leather, or pleather, can look and feel very much like real cowhide.","It may not be the genuine article, but today, plenty of good-looking products are made good-looking products are made from this popular material.","From this popular material.","The recipe for synthetic leather begins with a petroleum-based plasterizer dumped into a mixing tub.","An ultraviolet-light stabilizer is added to provide protection from the sun's rays.","And then a flame-retardant solution for a little fireproofing.","Powdered vinyl is added until the mix reaches the consistency the mix reaches the consistency of pancake batter.","Of pancake batter.","Next, different dyes are poured into another tub, following a formula for a specific shade.","The liquid-vinyl mix is then piped into the tub with the piped into the tub with the coloring agents.","Coloring agents.","Now a big roll of paper with a leather-like texture unwinds into the coating machine.","As tinted liquid vinyl flows into the machine, a mixing arm agitates it, and rollers below apply it to the paper.","The vinyl-coated paper then travels through an oven.","The vinyl hardens, taking on the paper's texture.","This first layer is a thin one to establish the surface grain.","A second batch of vinyl will contain a thickening agent.","That's why they call it \"the foam\".","It will give the fabric shape it will give the fabric shape and structure.","And structure.","Workers pour this second vinyl concoction into the coating machine, which rolls it on top of the first layer.","The double-layered vinyl then travels through another oven.","The heat activates the thickening agent causing the second layer to expand.","Once the expanded vinyl is hardened, it gets a fabric backing.","A machine then peels away the paper to reveal the textured first layer.","Sometimes a pattern is printed onto the vinyl to make it look burnished or two-toned.","Then workers mix a solution to build up the material's durability.","Rollers apply it to the synthetic leather, finishing off this production run.","But this pleather isn't quite ready to be shipped out.","Samples from every run undergo a battery of tests.","This machine rubs the fabric up to three million times to see how it wears.","Then there's a stretch test.","A weight is fastened to a strip of synthetic leather.","The weight pulls the swatch to double its length, but it doesn't tear, which means this fabric has a lot of give.","Next, a trial by fire.","To pass this test, the fabric must self-extinguish in two seconds.","And it does...","Thanks to the flame retardant thanks to the flame retardant that went into production.","That went into production.","Next, a cutting is placed in a framework...","And heated in an oven to and heated in an oven to increase its pliability.","Increase its pliability.","A vacuum mold sucks the fabric to its form, proving this sample also has some thermoplastic qualities.","You can't do this with real leather.","With so many prints, textures and colors now in production, this product seems to have everything \"covered\"."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Storage Sheds","Industrial Fans","Parchment Paper","Climbing Walls"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Throughout history, people have needed a place to store their personal belongings.","Early storage sheds were basic huts.","Today, factories produce substantial structures that can be easily assembled from a kit.","This means finding extra storage space should be no problem.","Storage sheds provide a home for things that don't belong or fit in the house.","They're made from plastic panels embossed with a wood grain.","Making one starts with a computer design.","Once they have a plan, machinery rolls into action.","High-density polyethylene plastic flows into a big mixer.","Some of the plastic pellets are new material, while the rest are pellets recycled from previous processing.","This is called regrind.","An automated scale measures out the correct amounts of ingredients as they enter the mixer.","They add a cooling accelerant and a colorant to the polyethylene pellets.","Thorough mixing ensures that the final product will be evenly colored and have structural integrity.","A vacuum pump moves the blend out of the mixer and through a network of pipes along the factory ceiling.","The pipes deliver the polyethylene mix to a machine called a blow molder.","It will blow melted plastic into a two-part mold-- in this case, a floor panel mold.","The blow molder melts the plastic into a tubular shape.","The plastic emerges hot and malleable.","In manufacturing lingo, this is call a parasin.","The mold closes around the parasin as little needles pierce and inflate it.","The parasin swells against the walls of the mold, taking its shape.","The mold embosses a tread design on one side and a ridged one on the back for strength.","A long, automated clamp extracts the hollow panel.","At this point, the plastic is partially cured but still hot.","When the panel is ready to be handled, a team trims the overflow.","This material is called flash.","The flash is warm and has a taffy-like consistency.","The team leaves it to cool and firm up before feeding it to a grinder.","The grinding process produces the pellets known as regrind that will be used to make more panels.","Next, the team cuts slots and tabs that will be used for assembling the floor panel to the walls.","They stack the panels.","It's quite a pile.","They manufacture several thousand panels a day.","Now, it's over to another blow molding machine.","This one creates roof panels, complete with cedar shingle detail.","Once again, they trim the flash and grind it up to make new panels.","Very little polyethylene goes to waste.","The next machine molds door panels with a tongue-and-groove beadboard look.","Although all of the shed panels are made of plastic, they look like a variety of materials: cedar shakes, siding, beadboard, and even treaded vinyl flooring.","A worker randomly pulls panels off the production line for testing.","She verifies that the assembly holes are the right size.","She also weighs and measures the panel to confirm it meets specifications.","Another member of the testing team dabs gel onto the panel in various locations.","This gel allows an instrument to measure the thickness of the plastic.","Once the panels pass the tests, it's time to pack up the kits.","There are 15 to 20 panels per kit.","Employees pack the parts in the order that they are to be assembled.","On the computer, the parts come together in seconds.","But in the real world, it takes up to three hours to assemble this plastic storage shed.","However, it's a lot easier than building one from scratch.","And in the end, you have a place to store things.","Industrial fans are extra large to provide air circulation in a large factory or a warehouse.","They whip up a breeze to keep workers cool, and in the process, they clear the air of dust and other harmful particles.","Almost 3 feet in diameter and a body tough enough to survive a run-in with a forklift, this is no ordinary fan.","It's an industrial fan.","They're designed to circulate air in large spaces like warehouses and factories.","Production starts with the motor.","A worker slides the fan's aluminum hub onto it.","Then, he inserts wing-like blades known as airfoils into notches in the hub.","Using a hammer, he taps the ends to set them in the hub.","He places a part known as a taper lock into a hole in the center.","The taper lock will fasten the motor shaft to the hub.","He screws the lip of the lock to the hub.","He confirms that each screw has been set to the desired torque.","Next, he installs a blast-reinforced plastic cone on the hub.","This one secures the ends of the blades in the hub.","He snaps a cap onto the center of the nose cone.","Now, he transfers the motor and hub assembly to a mount that's in a heavy-duty plastic ring.","He adds an upper mount and screws it to the lower one.","This completely encases the motor and hub assembly.","He trims the outer ring of the fan with rubber molding.","The rubber will reduce vibration noise.","He lowers a steel yolk onto the plastic surround and attaches it with a screw.","He wires a speed control mechanism to the fan motor and fastens it to the outside of the plastic surround.","He installs a plate with a control knob on the front of the speed control mechanism.","He screws on two metal screens to the fan's yolk.","This forms a safety cage around the fan.","He plugs the fan into a power source and turns it on to test its function.","Satisfied that it's in good working order, he tightens the screens to the yolk.","A two-person crew bolts a wheeled pedestal to the stem of the fan.","They set the 108-pound fan upright.","It's now ready to circulate.","Designed to move large volumes of air, this industrial fan generates a considerable breeze inside a factory.","To make an industrial ceiling fan, they use long, aluminum airfoils.","Their wing-like profile will generate lift to produce more air.","A punch cuts holes to assemble them to a hub.","A worker then attaches the main fan assembly to the end of a long post in order to facilitate the installation of the long airfoils.","He activates a lift that raises the hub assembly, then slides the airfoils onto spars that protrude from the hub.","This ceiling fan has 10 airfoils.","He reinforces the installation with boomerang-shaped metal retainers.","High-strength bolts secure the retainers and airfoils to the spars.","He attaches plastic winglets to the ends of the airfoils.","The winglets will direct air downward.","He installs a trim ring on the hub.","This completes the assembly of the industrial ceiling fan.","Using a remote control, he tests its operation at multiple speed levels.","From this vantage point, it seems pretty cool.","Lining a cooking or baking pan with culinary parchment paper instantly makes cleanup a whole lot easier because nothing sticks to the pan.","With parchment paper, there's no need to grease the pan with messy butter or oil.","This culinary parchment paper comes in a standard sheet roll or an assortment of specialty shapes.","It's heat resistant to a temperature of 450 degrees.","Making paper begins with pulp, which is pulverized wood.","This parchment paper manufacturer uses eucalyptus because it's a sustainable resource.","They mix the pulp with water in a huge, industrial mixer.","This special recipe of eucalyptus fibers produces tan-colored paper.","Once the consistency is just right, they pump the soggy pulp out of the blender and into a machine that spreads it evenly across a metal mesh belt.","The water drains through the openings in the mesh.","By the time the pulp rolls into the first drum of the next machine, it is formed into a sheet of paper.","Sprayers rehydrate what's trimmed off the edges so it can be recycled.","The paper travels through a long line of heated rollers.","They squeeze out the remaining water and dry the paper.","A high-resolution scanner looks for imperfections as the paper exits the machine.","Workers unwind the bolt and conduct a visual inspection against backlighting.","Next, the bolt undergoes the first of two critical operations, which transforms this regular paper into culinary parchment paper.","First, the sheet passes through two baths in a proprietary water-based solution.","This eliminates air pockets and renders the paper heat-resistant.","After a series of rinses, another long line of heated rollers squeezes out the rinse water and dries the paper.","The next station sprays both sides of the sheet with food-grade silicone, then bakes on the coating in a gas-fired dryer.","Silicone withstands heat up to 1,500 degrees, so even at the highest cooking temperatures, there will be a barrier that prevents food from sticking to the paper.","Silicone also repels water.","This is the paper before the treatments make it heat-resistant, nonstick and waterproof.","And here's how the paper performs after those treatments.","Because it's waterproof, you can wet the paper to make it malleable enough to line a pan of any shape.","The factory cuts the bolts to consumer widths, then shrink-wraps and ships them to factories that supply restaurants and supermarkets.","Here, machines unwind the bolts, then wind specific lengths of parchment paper onto cardboard tubes.","Winding a 165-foot roll takes just three seconds.","The factory also applies its logo to the paper at regular intervals.","However, that operation is top-secret.","The automated packaging equipment tapes down the edge to prevent unraveling, then places and seals the roll in a cardboard box.","The machine stamps the box with a lot code so, if a problem arises, the factory can trace the roll back to the large bolt from which it originated.","This parchment paper, cardboard tube, and box are all made from sustainable resources.","The box edge is rigid enough to tear off a sheet, so there's no need for an unrecyclable metal cutting edge.","You can throw the used parchment paper in your compost bin or rinse off the food remnants and put it along with the box and tube in your recycling bin.","A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet.","These walls mimic the experience of outdoor rock climbing but in a more controlled environment, allowing people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to climb.","A climbing wall can have a flat surface, studded with hand holes that the climber grabs or steps on.","Or it can be what's called rock-realistic, designed to look like a natural rock wall.","That type can also have hand holes, or just cracks and fissures like the real thing.","The factory builds the wall structure out of thick steel bars.","Workers weld them into frames.","Each frame will hold a panel that's one portion of the wall face.","They reinforce the corners of the frame with gusset plates.","Each frame is a distinct size and shape.","To make the panels for a flat-surface climbing wall, workers trace the frames on plywood or engineered wood particle board.","After spray-painting the corresponding part code, they cut out each panel to match the wall plan.","Then they screw in t nuts.","These nuts have a larger-than-standard flange for extra strength.","They screw a bolt in the middle of the t nut to protect the threads from the cement finish they will spray onto the wood.","To make a rock-realistic wall, they mold cement panels to attach to the steel frames.","To mix the cement, they combine ice and liquid polymer.","Ice keeps the cement from overheating in the mixer.","The polymer is a binding agent.","It also makes the cement flexible so the wall doesn't crack or chip.","While they mix the cement ingredients, they monitor the temperature with an infrared thermometer.","Correct temperature is critical for the cement to properly set.","They pour the cement through a sieve to filter out large pieces.","Then, they pump the cement into a spray gun.","With slow and even strokes, they shoot the cement onto a silicone mold of the mountain face.","After brushing it into the mold's nooks and crannies, they spray two more coats.","This time, they simultaneously shoot a gun that chops and sprays fiberglass string to reinforce the cement.","They compress the fiberglass-reinforced cement with rollers to even out the thickness.","Then, they embed rebar loops.","Rebar is a steel rod used for reinforcing cement.","They embed thick, steel rods 1 to 2 feet long along the perimeter.","Then, they let the cement set overnight.","The next day, they extract the panel from the mold.","A cement panel like this can weigh more than 600 pounds.","They knock off jagged edges with a mallet and check for any weak areas caused by air pockets.","After drilling numerous holes for the hand-hold t nuts, they grind the edges smooth.","They weld the wall panels to their corresponding steel frame and fill gaps between panels with cement.","When they're building a flat-surface wall, they spray a cement finish on the wood, then a coat of paint.","Once the paint dries, they mount the hand holds.","They're made of molded polyurethane.","Then, they attach the wall panel to the steel frame with a nail gun.","Flat surface walls are more versatile because they can hold far more t nuts than rock-realistic walls.","The more t nuts, the more locations for hand holds.","This enables a gym to create a greater range of climbing routes, suiting both experienced climbers and rookie mountaineers."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Dial Thermometers","Hummus","Spent Fuel Containers","Straw Sombreros"]},"text":["In the world of temperature-gauging, the dial thermometer is a lot easier to read than a glass-stem thermometer.","A needle points to bold numbers on a dial, and even from a distance, it only takes a quick glance to confirm an initial impression that things are heating up.","All the highs and lows are plain to see on the face of a dial thermometer.","It often comes with lengthy tubing to measure temperature from afar.","It's a handy feature for power plants and heating and refrigeration systems.","To begin, rollers straighten very narrow metal tubing.","Then a blade cuts it to length depending on the application.","As the blade makes the cut, a mechanism pries open the ends.","Next, a worker inserts a fitting into a much wider tube that will become the thermometer's sensor bulb.","He secures the tube in a fixture and welds the narrow tubing machined earlier to the fitting on the end of the bulb.","With the bulb and tubing now linked, production moves to the next stage, the making of the burden tube, which is a kind of a spring.","A worker cuts flat, wafer-thin tubing to length.","Down the line, they clamp the flat tubes in a device that's on a track.","It moves past an arc welder that melts and closes one end of the flat tubes.","Here's a before-and-after comparison.","A worker now encloses the tube in a die and drives a pin into its open end.","This widens and redefines the opening from inside and outside.","He slides it over another pin and activates a mechanical punch press.","This fine-tunes the shape and dimensions of the opening.","The next worker clamps the tube in another device.","He operates a roller to wrap it around a mandrill, bending it into a \"c\" shape.","This completes the thermometer's burden-tube spring.","The next worker clamps a bracket to the bottom of the burden tube.","He inserts a small piece of connector tubing in the burden-tube hole and applies liberal amounts of a flux compound.","The flux prevents tarnishing of the metal as he melts silver solder to braise the parts together and to seal the opening.","Now a test.","He pumps gas into several burden tubes and immerses them in water.","If no gas bubbles out of the tubes, it means the tubes are perfectly sealed.","The gas pressure also causes the tubes to spring into action.","It's this action that will move the pointer on the dial of the thermometer.","The next worker attaches a brass connector to the tubing.","He braises them together to create a solid bond.","He folds the braised parts into the curve of the burden tube and pushes it into place with a mechanical press.","He installs the gear assembly that will translate the linear movement of the burden tube into the rotational movement of the thermometer pointer.","He screws the dual-temperature dial to the burden-tube assembly.","The more detailed and extensive the scale, the bigger the dial.","This one is mid-sized.","And now everything comes together as he tethers the sensing bulb, along with a short fill tube, to the back of the burden-tube assembly.","Using a braising torch and solder, he seals the connection.","He then steam-cleans the braised joint.","He buries the bulb in a hot sand bath that causes any moisture in it to evaporate.","Through the fill tube, he fills the bulb with nitrogen gas.","To calibrate the thermometer, he plunges the sensing bulb in boiling water and adjusts the pressure of the nitrogen gas until the dial reads 212 degrees fahrenheit.","The fill tube's job is now done, so he crimps it to seal it off.","He tests its accuracy by immersing the sensing bulb in numerous controlled baths, each one a different temperature.","And if it's on the mark, he encloses the inner workings in the stainless-steel case.","He protects the joint with a special metal spring...","And snaps a clear window to the case.","A gasket between them ensures a dustproof seal.","He screws a part called a well to the sensing-bulb connector.","The well will protect it in high-pressure situations.","And this dial thermometer is now ready for the ups and downs of temperature-gauging.","Hummus is the original snack food.","People have been eating this chickpea dip for thousands of years.","Countries from the mediterranean to the middle east lay claim to its invention.","But one thing is beyond dispute-- as an appetizer or side dish, hummus has real staying power.","Hummus is a vegetarian form of protein, which could be why more and more people are choosing to take a dip.","The word \"hummus\" is actually arabic for \"chickpea,\" which is of course the main ingredient.","The chickpeas arrive at the factory in dried form.","They ride a conveyor upward and then spill down onto a long, vibrating tray.","It shakes out heavier contaminants like pebbles or twigs.","The contaminants fall into a bin below, while the chickpeas bounce off the tray and into a tub of filtered water to be rinsed.","Still dripping wet, it's onto a conveyor with perforated buckets.","The water drains from the chickpeas as they're transferred to big tanks.","Each tank holds thousands of little chickpeas.","They add clean water and soak the chickpeas.","After 14 hours in the tank, they swell to twice their size and soften up.","They pump the softened chickpeas into big trays, which they stack on a cart.","Then it's into a huge, cylindrical steam cooker that's been preheated to around 255 degrees fahrenheit.","They bake the chickpeas for just over half an hour.","This softens them even more and darkens the color.","From dried beans to soaked and then cooked.","They now transfer the cooked chickpeas to the next conveyor, and they're on their way to being ground to a pulp.","This is the grinder, now being reassembled after cleaning.","It has two sharp-toothed, circular blades.","One is stationary, and the other revolves.","A big turn screw will force the chickpeas through these toothed blades to grind them up.","A quick test confirms this grinder is in working order.","Meanwhile, the chickpeas have arrived at a hopper above the grinder.","As the chickpeas spill into the hopper, they add water and a blend of sunflower and olive oil, followed by salt, garlic, and other dry ingredients.","The chickpeas and other ingredients flow into the grinding device below and are turned into a paste.","The next ingredient is tahini.","It's a thick paste made from ground sesame seeds.","Three powerful pumps pulverize the tahini to evenly disperse the particles so it can now be blended with the chickpea mix.","Big, steel blades revolve to thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a tank and produce hummus.","For different-flavored hummus, they add red pepper, more garlic, or other ingredients.","After the blended product is pasteurized, a technician takes samples for lab testing, for mold, shelf life, and other tests.","She also does her own taste test.","If the flavor seems even slightly off, they'll put the product on hold and tweak the ingredients.","But this batch gets the nod.","Meanwhile, plastic containers are queuing for a fill-up.","Machinery moves them forward toward piston fillers.","The pistons push the creamy hummus out of nozzles and into the tubs.","Now filled to the brim with hummus, the tubs travel under a sheet of plastic film.","Hot, round irons melt the plastic to seal it to the rims.","Suctioning devices swoop down to apply the lids, and the hummus heads towards a roll of adhesive-backed labels.","A sensor detects the approach of the tubs and triggers a device with little air jets to slap the labels on the lids.","This hummus production has gone very smoothly indeed.","Spent fuel containers are designed to take the heat, the kind caused by the most radioactive of waste-- used nuclear fuel.","These fuel rods are too dangerous to be casually disposed of, but encased in special spent fuel cannisters, the risk should be contained.","Nuclear waste sits in a holding pattern, and that means storing it in massive cylinders until there's a way to dispose of it.","These containers start with a big, rectangular sheet of stainless steel.","A special circular cutter carves a beveled edge onto it.","They feed it to rollers which curl the sheet into a cylinder.","It takes four trips through the rollers to really round it out.","They tuck a template inside the curve to check the radius.","Next, a welder joins the neatly beveled edges to complete the cylinder.","This cylinder will be the outer wall of a cannister.","The cannister will fit inside a big cylinder called an overpack.","Its outer shell is just under an inch thick-- about the diameter of a quarter.","As you can see, building a container to hold used nuclear fuel is a many-layered process.","The next step involves the lid, made of multiple steel disks with concrete placed between the steel layers like a sandwich.","Incredibly, high-pressure water jets easily cut through the thick steel to produce the disks.","A computerized tool cuts a groove profile along the edge of each disk.","They also machine the top of each disk to the correct profile and then measure to confirm it's exactly right.","Next, a computerized laser slices through more stainless-steel plating to produce long, narrow panels.","Each is designed to fit together to create a grid of storage cells inside the cannister.","They line each panel with an aluminum alloy that's neutron-absorbent, and they place a piece of steel sheeting on top of that.","They weld the steel sheeting to the steel panel, encasing the neutron-absorbent material.","Working within a metal framework for guidance, they weld four of the lined steel panels together to create a fuel-cell grid for one used nuclear fuel bundle.","They then build a 68-cell grid.","With that complete, they're ready to piece together all the parts of the spent fuel cannister.","They first lower the inner shell onto the base plate.","The shell is held steady by a supportive structure as they weld it together at the seams.","Moving inside, they install numerous bars to support the fuel-cell grid.","With the cannister now wrapped in plastic to keep it clean, an automated cutter gradually shaves down the rim to trim it to the correct height.","Precision is everything.","Using a level and a laser, they ensure that the trim job is even and exact.","Once they're satisfied, a crane carries the fuel-cell assembly over to the cannister and then suspends it above the open cavity.","It dangles briefly as workers inspect the assembly.","They give it the thumbs-up, and the crane then lowers the fuel assembly into the cylinder.","It's a snug fit, with about 4/10 of an inch of clearance between the inner assembly and the wall of the cylinder.","This technician inserts a camera into each cell of the grid and scrutinizes the image.","He's looking for any debris that could hamper the installation of the nuclear fuel bundles.","Both the cylinder and the fuel cells have been meticulously cleaned, but the camera inspection confirms they haven't missed anything.","So it's time to put a lid on this nuclear-waste cannister.","It's a trial fit.","The lid will be permanently welded to the cannister later once the used fuel rods are safely inside.","The cannister will then be placed inside the overpack, with concrete poured between the walls.","That should keep the hazards of nuclear waste entombed indefinitely.","The word \"sombrero\" is derived from the spanish \"sombra,\" which means \"shade\".","The expansive brim of these mexican hats is designed to cast a wide shadow over the face, neck, and shoulders.","Fancier sombreros are made of felt.","Regular ones are woven out of straw.","this workshop makes traditional, straw sombreros in many styles.","This model's called a winston.","This one, an americano.","Here's the speedy, after the cartoon mouse speedy gonzales.","And the casidy.","These sombreros are hand-crafted.","The straw is white palm leaves purchased from a supplier in the region.","First, workers soak a bunch in water for a minute or so to soften them up.","Then, using a needle, they tear strips about 2/10 of an inch wide.","Then they take three strips at a time and braid them together into a single strand.","They intertwine several braided strands, making a long, braided straw rope.","Then they feed this rope into a manually operated press.","The press flattens the rope until it's just about 4/100 of an inch thick.","This flattening makes the coarse rope soft enough to sew.","With the raw-material prep work done, hat construction can begin.","They take the rope and wind it in concentric circles, sewing one circle to the next.","They first make a flat base, then turn the base on its side and keep sewing until they've formed the cup-- the part of the sombrero that sits on the head.","They place the cup over a form to check the size.","Then they resume sewing on more straw rope, working outward now to form the hat's brim.","Brim width varies by style.","They measure to make sure it's the correct size.","Once the sombrero is finished, they boil water, pour in gelatin...","Stir until it's completely dissolved...","Then soak the hat for about a minute.","The gelatin penetrates the straw fibers.","Then they hang the sombrero out to dry in the sun for about three hours.","The workshop has a steel mold for each sombrero style it produces.","Workers place the sombrero on the appropriate one in a hot press, then close the press for three minutes.","The heat and pressure combined form the straw to the mold's shape.","The heat also hardens the gelatin, locking in the shape permanently.","Many sombreros have a decorative band encircling the base of the cup.","This band, called a scarf, is hand-crafted, typically out of leather, or like this one out of magee, a fiber from the stalk of a tropical plant native to mexico.","A few dabs of glue hold the scarf in place.","Once a sombrero is finished, the workshop tags it with a certificate stating the model and serial number.","Sombrero shapes can vary significantly, but they all share a common characteristic-- a wide brim to protect from the blazing sun.","Certain models have an extra feature-- a cord or leather drawstring so the hat doesn't fly away in windy weather."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steel Safes","False Teeth","Airplanes","Maple Syrup"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Steel safes...","False teeth...","Airplanes...","And maple syrup.","The first bank safes were made of wood reinforced with sheet iron.","Thieves would just smash them open.","Then came safes made of solid iron.","Thieves would just blow them up.","But then, to the crooks' dismay, came safes made of steel.","It all starts with sheets of solid steel up to 1 1/2 inches thick and an automated machine with an oxygen-and-gas-fueled flame.","The flame slowly cuts the plates that will form the walls of the safe.","The cutting creates gases that are doused with water.","A welder with a manual version of the same flame frees up the plates with a few last cuts.","Then, using a large magnet, they stack the plates.","Each one is labeled so the workers will know in what order to assemble them.","They're assembled by a welder who uses a machine called a mig welder.","The welding wire is made of several different metals.","It rolls off a spool as needed.","Elsewhere in the factory, a semiautomatic saw cuts flat bars of steel.","These bars will form the frame that will surround the steel plates.","Meanwhile, another machine, called a turret, fashions steel bars into moving parts for the locking mechanism and also into hinges.","That milky liquid is a lubricant.","Normally, you see raw material move on an assembly line from tool to tool.","This is just the opposite.","The steel bar stays on the turret from start to finish.","The tools come and go.","Workers take pieces of sheet metal cut into shapes by laser and bend them in a press to make various parts and mechanisms.","Meanwhile, the large steel plates they cut earlier go into a hydraulic press to make them perfectly flat.","It's finally time to put all the components together.","They construct the frame in an assembly jig, then insert the plates for the sides, top, and bottom.","Using the mig welder again, they fuse the pieces together.","They measure the angles, then use a giant clamp to square the safe.","Finally, they install the plate for the back of the safe and weld the joints.","They stand the safe upright and grind down the welding lines until they're smooth.","This factory also produces what's called a composite safe, made of soft materials such as copper, aluminum, and low-grade steel.","But it has a cement core, making this safe harder to break in to.","The finished safe gets three coats of paint.","Then, in the finishing department, they install the mechanical or electronic locks and locking mechanisms, as well as the internal time-lock mechanism.","The time lock allows access to the safe only at certain times of day, such as a bank's business hours.","Even if someone picks the outside combination locks, the door won't open outside those set hours.","The machines that sterilize medical instruments use ethylene oxide, a highly toxic gas.","Now there's a new method that's safer, more effective, and less expensive.","This new machine uses ozone as the sterilizing agent.","Ozone is a form of oxygen.","Until the 1800s, false teeth were made of animal bone, ivory, or actual human teeth.","They came from poor people, who sold their teeth, and from dead bodies.","Today's dentures are usually ceramic.","They start by heating a sheet of wax over a flame.","They press it onto a rough plaster model of the patient's mouth, sent in by the dentist.","The lab technicians use this model to prepare what's called an impression tray, what the dentist will use to make a rubber mold to cast the dentures.","They apply an acrylic material over the wax lining, forming a handle so they'll be able to remove it afterwards.","Once the acrylic hardens, they pull it out of the model and discard the wax.","The dentist fills this new acrylic tray with rubber to take a final impression.","The lab uses the hardened rubber as a negative mold of the patient's mouth.","They fill it with plaster to make a new, more precise plaster model.","Then they use the new model to make the part of the dentures that fits on top of the patient's gums.","They take special orthodontic acrylic and press it into the model to form what's called the baseplate.","Then they heat a sheet of wax to form a rim on the base.","This new acrylic-and-wax model now goes back for another fitting in the patient's mouth.","The dentist takes a series of measurements to show the lab exactly where to place the teeth.","The model goes back to the lab, where technicians select the teeth that'll best suit the size of the patient's mouth.","They install the teeth one by one into the model's wax rim.","Then they send the model back to the dentist for the final fitting.","The dentist checks that everything is centered and that the patient's bite is properly aligned.","If the model fits well and looks good, the lab can finally begin to manufacture the dentures.","They position the model in a special holder called a flask, then attach channels through which acrylic will later be injected.","This acrylic will replace the wax holding the teeth in place.","But first, to get rid of the wax, they have to cast a plaster mold to hold the teeth in place.","Once the plaster dries, they submerge it in hot water for five minutes to melt the wax inside.","They rinse the plaster mold with warm water to remove any wax residues.","Then they apply what's called a separator, a chemical that will keep the acrylic from sticking to the plaster mold-- just like greasing the pan when you're baking.","They position a cylinder of acrylic right over the flask.","Using an air-pressure piston, they force the acrylic into the plaster mold.","They submerge the mold in boiling water for 35 minutes to harden the acrylic.","Once the flask has cooled down, they break the plaster.","The false teeth are now securely rooted in acrylic gums.","A bit of finishing, and they'll be done.","An ultrasonic bath gets rid of any remaining plaster.","They polish the acrylic with pumice, then shine it up with a polishing compound.","The set of false teeth is finally ready.","When a patient doesn't need a full set of dentures, just a few teeth, they get what's called a partial-- made much the same way, but hooked on at either end to the patient's natural teeth.","Aviation was once the exclusive domain of commercial and military pilots.","Not anymore.","Today many amateurs get their pilot's license and take to the skies in light aircraft not for a job, but for the sheer pleasure of flying.","To construct the body of these light aircraft, they start with two types of cloth, one woven from glass fibers--  fiberglass-- the other from carbon fibers.","Carbon is a chemical element that's stronger than steel.","Both materials go through a laminating machine that coats them with an epoxy resin.","To begin forming the various parts that make up the body, workers lay strips of the laminated fabric into molds.","The engineering plans dictate the precise positioning of the strips, which is critical for strength and durability.","They lay in carbon-fiber cloth where they need to have extra strength without additional weight, areas such as this-- the passenger compartment of the cockpit.","To make the fuselage, they sandwich a foam core less than 1/2 inch thick between two layers of the fiberglass cloth.","The foam also insulates against heat, cold, and noise.","Workers coat the edges and joints with resin, filling any voids.","Once all the fabric is in the mold, it's time to vacuum-bag it.","First, they cover everything with a layer of perforated plastic, then with a breather cloth, which looks like a white wool blanket.","Then comes another layer of plastic.","They attach a vacuum to suck out all the air.","The excess resin exits through the tiny holes in the plastic and soaks into the breather cloth.","Now that the mold is airtight, it can begin to cure.","They put it into an oven at 40 degrees celsius for 8 hours.","Once the molds come out of the oven, workers install the internal structure.","Then, using the same epoxy resin they used earlier to laminate the fiberglass and carbon-fiber fabrics, they bond the tail's upper and lower shells together.","They do the same with the wings.","The parts are left to cure overnight.","The next day, they finally come out of the molds.","Next stop, the trim shop.","Workers remove the excess fiberglass and cut out the windows.","The parts go back for a final curing.","The oven is around 175 degrees.","18 hours later, out they come for painting.","Workers sand the parts and coat them with an epoxy primer.","The finish coat is polyurethane, which resists weathering.","Meanwhile, other workers assemble and test various components, such as the electrical system.","A computer guides a machine to cut all the metal parts, such as the instrument panel.","The cutting machine doesn't have a blade, but rather a sand-and-water jet that's powerful enough to cut through metal.","A certified aircraft welder prepares the engine mount, the base that will hold the engine in place.","It's made of high-grade carbon steel.","At the final assembly stage, workers install the engine and other previously assembled components into the fuselage.","Workers position the wiring and plumbing, then hook them up.","They screw on the wing tips, which already have their navigational lights.","An avionics technician powers up the airplane for the first time to function-test everything.","The final inspection takes place where it really counts-- in flight.","How do maple trees make sap?","They accumulate starch during their growing season.","With the spring thaw, enzymes transform the starch into sugar.","When the trees absorb water through their roots, it mixes with that sugar to make sap.","Long before the white man came to north america, the native indians revered the maple tree.","In early spring, they'd pierce its trunk with a tomahawk, then place a wood chip under the hole to channel the sap into a bark container.","Then they boiled the sap over a fire in clay pots.","The indians introduced maple syrup to the european settlers.","Today most producers use tubing instead of sap buckets-- no more trudging through the snow from tree to tree.","The time to collect sap is in the early spring, when the maple trees are still dormant and when the temperature hits 3 or 4 degrees above freezing.","The freeze-and-thaw cycle alters the pressure inside the tree and starts the sap flowing.","The first step is to tap the trees.","They drill a hole 1/2 inch in diameter, 2 inches deep, then gently insert a spout made of metal or plastic.","It's important not to damage the bark.","That not only harms the tree but also lets air in the sap, which ruins the flavor.","You don't see too many sap buckets around anymore.","Today sap is pumped through polyethylene tubes to larger collector tubes...","Then into the pumping station.","Sap is 97.5% water and only 2.5% sugar.","To transform the sap to syrup, they have to boil it down.","It takes 35 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup.","When the tank fills up, the sap is automatically pumped to the sugar house into a stainless-steel tank.","The more advanced producers use a specialized machine that partially concentrates the sap by reverse osmosis.","This more than triples the sap's natural sugar level and means they'll have less boiling to do.","From there, the sap flows to the evaporator.","They heat the sap to the boiling point and keep it boiling however long it takes to evaporate 66% of the water.","If the water evaporates too slowly or too quickly, that'll adversely affect the color, flavor, and texture of the syrup.","However-- and here's where expertise is everything-- there's no set cooking time.","Experienced maple-sugar producers can tell when it's ready just by looking at it.","They test the sugar level using a device called a hydrotherm.","When the syrup is just right, they run it through a pressure filter to remove calcium residues and other impurities.","They store the syrup in steam-cleaned barrels.","The lab at the central warehouse tests a sample from each drum.","Using sophisticated instruments, technicians classify the color from dark to extra light.","They also assess the quality.","Lower-grade syrup is for industrial use, higher-grade for the retail market.","They pasteurize the syrup, then put it into huge stainless-steel storage tanks.","The tanks are vacuum-sealed with a nitrogen barrier to preserve the flavor and color and to prevent fermentation.","It also keeps the syrup from crystallizing.","The lab then uses an instrument called an atomic absorption spectrophotometer to analyze the syrup's mineral content, making sure it meets market standards.","Next, they warm the syrup in stainless-steel heaters...","And run it through industrial-sized filters.","This step ensures the syrup will be perfectly clear.","Then, just before bottling, they heat the syrup again, this time to 180 degrees.","This not only sterilizes the bottles but also guarantees the syrup will have a 4-year shelf life.","Maple syrup is high in sugar but has somewhat fewer calories than honey or brown sugar.","It's 100% pure and natural, and it's a good source of three essential nutrients-- calcium, potassium, and magnesium."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Paper Fans","Walnut Oil","Copper"]},"text":["The oldest existing chinese fans, made of woven bamboo, date to the 2nd century b.c. the folding fan was invented in japan between the 6th and 9th century.","Fans were typically made of paper or silk, and famous artists were often commissioned to paint them.","The traditional asian fan-- an object of beauty with a practical purpose.","The structure is comprised of bamboo sticks, called ribs.","The paper surface is called the leaf.","In this fan workshop in northern thailand, they begin with narrow poles of locally harvested bamboo.","With a sharp knife, workers cut them to the approximate length of the ribs, then split them down the middle.","Using traditional blades, they shave each bamboo strip to the shape of a rib.","Ribs are typically about 7/100 of an inch thick and perfectly flat so that they can smoothly slide on top of one another.","Workers drill a hole in each rib 2 to 3 inches above the base, depending on the fan size.","Then they assemble the ribs on a bolt.","The number of ribs and their length are what determine a fan's size.","The two ribs on the extremities are wider and thicker than the others and are rounded on the outside.","These are called thumb guards because you flick your thumb on them to open the fan and they guard the ribs in between from damage.","To make the leaf, they begin by spreading the ribs, spacing them out evenly.","They lay this onto white cotton and cut out the semicircular shape of the leaf with the fabric extending 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches beyond the rib tips.","This fabric will be the leaf's structural backing, giving the paper rigidity and strength.","They make that paper just as their ancestors did-- mixing the fibrous bark of the mulberry tree with natural dyes-- the marigold flower for yellow, for example, or, as we see here, the root of the madder plant for vibrant red.","They mix the dyestuff with the mulberry bark fibers, then gather a thin layer of dyed fibers onto a rectangular mesh screen.","They keep repeating this process, adding layers until they build up the paper thickness they need.","Then they let the fibers dry in the sun into a finished sheet of paper.","When the paper's ready, they cut a piece to match the shape of the cotton backing and iron them together.","The two layers naturally adhere to each other, thanks to the paper's moisture and a compound in its fibers, called lignin, which acts as a natural glue.","They fold the leaf in half and trace a template in the shape of the lower section of the fan, where no paper is required.","Then they cut this part off.","They brush homemade glue made with white flour onto the parts of the ribs that will be in contact with the leaf.","They lay the ribs on the paper and, with an upward sweeping motion, press them down, at the same time wiping away the excess glue.","Next, they trim the leaf, leaving about 7/10 of an inch beyond the tips of the ribs.","They glue the edge...","And fold it back over the ribs.","Then they trim the edges along the thumb guards.","Now for the most delicate step of the entire process-- folding the fan for the first time.","Each fold is permanent and will give the fan its form, both open and closed, so precision is everything.","Now the fully constructed fan is ready for decoration with water-based acrylic paints.","Sometimes the customer requests a certain theme or scene, but usually it's left to the artist's creativity.","The artist can manipulate the paints to produce a range of effects, modifying with acrylic gels, media, or pastes to create the bold effect of oil paint and diluting with water to varying degrees to create a transparent effect much like watercolors.","The final touch is what's known as piping-- paint applied through a cone-shaped tip to produce a raised line.","This highlights the artwork with raised details.","The paint becomes water-resistant once dry, protecting the artwork from damage and ensuring this ancient objet d'art will always be simply fantastic.","Walnut oil has a distinctive, mild, nutty flavor and aroma.","It's also nutritious because it's high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for brain function, reduce inflammation, and may even help lower the risk of heart disease, arthritis, and other chronic conditions.","Walnut oil is sometimes used for sautéing, but it's more often consumed cold, typically in salad dressings.","Walnut oil for nonculinary purposes goes through a refining process which removes the flavor.","Walnut oil produced for gastronomy is unrefined, so it retains its nutty taste and scent.","Walnut oil has one ingredient and one ingredient only-- english walnuts.","The oil factory buys them from the supplier already shelled.","Production methods are much the same as they were 150 years ago.","The first step is to shovel the walnuts into a grinder.","The grinder pulverizes this combination of full kernels and broken pieces until everything's fairly uniform, roughly 1/10 of an inch in size.","Next step-- roasting.","Workers pour the ground walnuts into a cast-iron kettle on a gas burner.","For 30 minutes or so, a rotating arm continuously stirs them to ensure they roast evenly.","Roasting enhances both the flavor and aroma.","The shelled walnuts have gone from large pieces to ground pieces to roasted pieces.","Now they're ready to have the oil squeezed out of them.","This cast-iron expeller press dates back to the early 1900s.","Workers line the bottom with a mat made of natural fibers.","This will prevent the walnuts from leaking out under pressure.","After loading the press with the walnuts, they close it up and set the press in position.","Then they release the piston.","It descends and applies 2,800 pounds per square inch, crushing the walnuts and expelling the oil in the process.","The oil exits the press through small slots around the perimeter, flows down to a trough, which channels it to a spout, which pours it into a collection vat.","4 1/2 pounds of nuts yields 1 quart of oil.","What's left in the press is walnut meal.","It's used by pastry chefs to add a nutty crunch to cakes.","It's also sold to farmers who use it for cattle feed.","The extracted oil, meanwhile, moves on to the last phase of the process-- filtration.","The filter press is comprised of 16 grooved plates made of food-safe plastic, with paper filters in between.","Workers compress the plates and filters...","Then start up a powerful pump, which forces the walnut oil from one end of the press to the other.","Along the way, the filters trap all the miniscule particles of walnut, wax, and other natural materials, clarifying the oil.","This process takes a few hours, at the end of which the once-cloudy oil is clear.","Packaging walnut oil in clear glass bottles would look appetizing but would actually shorten the product's shelf life.","That's because walnut oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which, while good for you, are sensitive to light.","Therefore, walnut oil is traditionally bottled in tin.","After the automatic equipment fills the tin container, workers loosely apply a snap-on cap, which the next machine presses into position.","Last stop-- labeling.","As the tin spins, the machine wraps it in an adhesive-backed label, neatly aligning the label's seam with the welded seam on the tin.","Now the oil's ready to drizzle a rich walnut taste onto your pasta, grilled meat or fish, or salad.","Humans have been making things out of copper longer than any other metal.","Archaeological digs around the world have unearthed copper vessels, tools, weapons, and jewelry dating back at least 10,000 years.","Fast-forward to today and copper is one mineral we still really dig.","Peel back the layers of modern civilization, and there's a lot of copper.","It's used for electrical motors and wiring, high-tech gadgetry and plumbing.","The metal known chemically as cu is essential to modern living.","Pure copper is rarely found in nature.","It usually occurs with other elements, like iron and sulfur.","To mine the copper-bearing rock, a huge drill chews into this arizona terrain.","It drills around 130 holes at least 50 feet down.","A truck pumps explosives into them.","It's a powerful mix of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil.","A mine worker lowers the electronic detonating devices into each of the 130 holes.","From a safe distance away, he actives the detonators, staging the explosions milliseconds apart.","It's an explosion sequence designed to fracture as much of the copper-bearing rock as possible.","Shovels scoop up the blasted rock, lifting 55 to 88 tons in one bite.","The rock is less than one half of 1% copper.","Freeing the copper from it involves different techniques.","The technique depends on whether the ore is iron-oxide-based or sulfide-based.","To process copper from oxide ore, they pile the rock in specially prepared leeching areas.","They irrigate the rock with a diluted sulfuric-acid solution.","Over months, the solution percolates down and dissolves the copper.","The copper solution drains into a pond.","A pump transfers this solution to the plant.","In this channel, the copper solution binds with an organic agent and floats to the top.","They add an acidic solution that increases the concentration of the copper and makes it electrically conductive.","They transfer the copper solution to a series of tanks that contain starter sheets of pure copper, called cathodes.","They pass an electrical current through the tank, and the copper migrates to the cathodes.","At the outset, the cathodes are wafer-thin, but over a period of 10 days, they thicken substantially.","They're now an inch thick.","Each one weighs about 275 pounds.","The purity is now 99.99%.","That's important if the copper is to be processed into electrical products.","Freeing copper from the sulfide rock is more difficult.","It starts in a massive tumbler, called a sag mill.","Inside, steel grinding balls smash wet rock to pieces.","Exiting the mill, the smashed rock travels over a perforated conveyor to screen out smaller, pebble-sized rocks.","These smaller rocks continue on to different grinding mills.","The larger rocks circle back to the sag mill for another round.","Once all the rock has been sufficiently ground, they add chemicals which coat the copper particles and mix in a frothing substance.","The slurry flows into floatation tanks.","Air blasts create bubbles that the chemically coated copper minerals attach to.","The bubbles carry the minerals to the top of the tank, and they overflow.","After filtering the overflow, they have a concentrate that's now 25% to 30% copper.","They transfer the concentrate by rail to a smelter facility.","Here, it goes into several large beds.","Each one is the size of two basketball courts.","They add silica sand, creating a layer cake of sand and copper concentrate.","The silica sand is known as a flux.","It will serve as a purifying agent as the concentrate is smelted.","In the intense heat of the furnace, the silica sand melts to form a slag that absorbs the iron and other unwanted minerals.","The slag floats up, and the copper sinks.","Its purity is now 60%.","Then it's into a second furnace, where they up the copper content to 98%.","Coming up, there's much more to the story of copper.","There are networks of copper in the walls of modern buildings-- wires and pipes that supply utilities and keep the household humming.","Hidden behind drywall, it's easy to overlook the contribution of this thermally and electrically conductive metal.","But behind the scenes, copper is a big player.","With the copper now extracted from the ore, they pour the residue onto a heap.","This molten slag flows down like lava from a volcano.","As it cools, it becomes part of the landscape.","Meanwhile, in the smelter, a crane delivers the fiery liquid copper into another furnace for further purification.","Inside this furnace, the purity level increases from 98% to 99.4%.","The molten copper flows out of the furnace and into rotating molds.","The molds shape the copper into big, rectangular slabs, called anodes.","The slabs will serve as positively charged electrodes in the electrorefining process that's still to come.","That process will take the purity level up one last notch.","The copper begins to cool in the molds.","A sprayer douses them with water to speed the cooling process, and the copper hardens into the anode shape.","A hydraulic cylinder pops them out of the molds.","Then a carrier system retrieves them and takes them for a rinse.","This gets rid of any traces of a nonstick substance applied to the molds earlier for easy release of the copper slabs.","Hooks formed during the molding make it easy to rack up the slabs for shipment to a texas refinery hundreds of miles away.","At the refinery, the copper slabs shed any lingering impurities in this tank as an electrical current is applied.","The current causes the copper to gravitate to thin starter sheets.","The impurities fall to the bottom.","The copper deposited on the starter sheets is 99.99% pure, the purity level required by wire manufacturers.","They load it into a furnace that's essentially a tall shaft.","Midway down, the pure copper melts and flows to the bottom of the furnace.","From there, they transfer it to an insulated metal channel, which keeps it molten as it now travels into a vertical mold.","This mold shapes it into rectangular forms known as copper cakes.","Copper cakes are used for manufacturing things like copper sheeting and plumbing parts.","Fresh from the mold, the copper cakes are roughly 20 feet long.","A conveyor serves them up to a circular saw that slices them to lengths required by the customer.","Stacked and labeled, this pure copper cake is now ready to ship to the manufacturer.","They also process pure copper into rods, a form more suitable for manufacturing electrical wiring.","Molten copper moves through an opening in a mold, and, cooled by water, the copper forms a continuous rectangular bar.","These grooved rollers will now take it from rectangular to round and reduce the diameter substantially.","As the copper travels through the grooves, it becomes a 3/10 of an inch thick copper rod.","The rod exits, and the machine loops it into coils.","They land neatly onto a steel spool.","Machinery compresses the copper coil, squeezing it down so it will take up less space when it's transported.","There's one last squeeze from an overhead press.","And an employee ties the tightly coiled copper with extra-strong plastic banding.","From the earth's crust to the factory floor, it's been quite a journey.","Shipped to manufacturers, it will now be drawn into electrical wiring, and the future is sure to be high-voltage."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fishing Line","Industrial Mixers","Natural Baking Soda","Tow Trucks"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Early fishing lines were made of vines and braided horsehair.","But today, fishermen rely on braided synthetics to reel in their catch.","With a higher tensile strength than steel, these lines are unlikely to snap when they hook the big one.","This fishing line may be thin, but that doesn't mean it's not strong.","It's made of a synthetic called ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.","This same synthetic is used in milk jugs, water pipes, and even bulletproof vests.","To make these fishing lines, numerous microfibers are braided into a single, tight cord.","An employee starts by threading fibers through needles.","She pulls the needles through spring-loaded devices.","The devices keep the fibers at an even tension as they unwind onto small bobbins.","These bobbins are designed to fit in the braiding machines.","The machines are called maypole braiders because the spools spin like dancers around a maypole.","As they spin, they weave the strands into a tight braid.","There are 4,500 braiding machines in operation at this factory.","Producing a tight braid is slow work.","It takes about 10 days to braid a 7,500-foot section of fishing line.","Big spools overhead slowly revolve to take up the braided polyethylene line.","At the same time, a worker fills a metal tank with hot water...","And adds yellow dye to it.","A pump at the bottom of the tank keeps the water moving to evenly distribute the dye.","He stirs it a bit while he inspects the mixing job.","They heat and pressurize the dye in a tank filled with fishing line.","The dye penetrates all of the strands for an even dye job.","These fishing lines go through a different process.","They unwind through metal eyelets into a tray of yellow silicone resin.","This proprietary resin makes the line abrasion-resistant.","It will be less likely to break if dragged across a surface like a rock.","Next, the line travels through an oven to cure the resin.","It travels over a series of tensioning rollers as it exits.","Then, the line goes through an abrasive eyelet, which removes external contaminants.","Finally, it's rolled up by a spool.","Now it's over to a test station.","A technician clamps a piece of fishing line in a testing apparatus.","It pulls the fishing line from both ends until it breaks.","A gauge measures the line's breaking point.","It snaps at 118 pounds of pressure, exceeding requirements.","With the test piece of fishing line approved, an automated system now transfers the line to retail-sized spools.","It loads about 450 feet of line onto each one.","A worker applies a label with product details and packages it in a cardboard box.","It takes about 17 days to braid, color, and process a single spool of synthetic fishing line.","Strong but very thin, it can be cast and reeled in with ease.","If the fish take the bait, they may not be able to get away.","The applications for industrial-grade mixers are limitless.","From construction and recycling to food processing and medical supplies, mixers chop, crush, and blend any combination of dry and wet materials into a variety of products or compounds.","This mixer consists of a bin called a u-trough and an agitator.","It's controlled by an interface module with simple start and stop buttons.","The agitator shaft is the main component.","Its arms and paddles turn at a speed of 10 to 50 rotations per minute.","A discharge valve underneath the u-trough controls the unloading of the mixture.","First, a hydraulic 40-ton press roll-forms a carbon steel sheet.","The sheet rolls back and forth under the press until it takes a \"u\" shape.","An overhead crane brings the sheet over to the end plate for welding.","A worker spot-welds the sheet to the end plate.","Then, he makes a continuous weld on the end plate along the inside and outside of the sheet.","A high-definition plasma cutter burns paddle shapes into a stainless-steel plate.","The extreme heat of the plasma cuts right through the steel, making very precise lines and angles.","Then, the paddles go to a forming press.","The 150-ton press pushes the plate down on a die.","Steel is a formable metal, so it can bend without cracking or breaking.","A slight curvature in the paddles will maximize the lifting and scooping effect of the agitator.","A machinist turns the agitator main shaft.","It takes a very hard and resistant material to machine such a massive steel shaft.","This tungsten carbide insert can resist high temperatures and maintain a sharp cutting edge.","The machinist measures the diameter.","He cuts a groove into the end of the shaft using a stagger-tooth side-mill cutter.","This groove, called a keyseat, is designed to lock the agitator to the mixer's drive gearbox.","Machining of the agitator requires extreme precision.","The shaft must fit into the drive gearbox and match its drive key slot.","A worker assembles arms and paddles to an agitator shaft mounted inside a u-trough.","He bolts the arms onto the shaft.","He tightens the nuts with a pneumatic torque driver and assembles paddles to the arms.","Both the paddles and arms are angled.","Machine slots in the paddles allow clearance adjustment.","Next, a worker rotates the assembled shaft and arms to check the clearance between the paddles and u-trough walls.","A welder creates a solid stainless-steel agitator shaft for a larger mixer.","He welds the base of the arms to the shaft and grinds down the welding profile to obtain a uniform shape.","Welded agitators are often used in food processing because they make cleaning easier.","Now, workers attach an electric motor to the mixer.","They mount the drive assembly on the agitator shaft.","A taper bushing centers the drive gearbox on the shaft.","Fasteners secure the bushing in place, locking the agitator shaft into the drive.","A worker installs a safety grate on top of the mixer and closes the covers.","Then, he installs air-pressure regulators.","These supply air to the main shaft seals.","Air purge seals prevent product loss or contamination.","Air lines connect the pressure regulators to both ends of the main shaft agitator.","The mixer fits on a support frame for easy access to the discharge valve.","It's equipped with clamps, safety latches, and a control panel, which includes an emergency stop button.","Baking soda is a white crystalline powder.","When added to dough, it reacts with the acidic ingredients to form bubbles, giving cakes and cookies a light and fluffy structure.","It's also used in livestock feed, fire extinguishers, and detergents.","Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate.","It can be produced through a chemical process, or it can be mined from the ground.","Large mineral deposits exist in northwest colorado, left behind as lakes evaporated millions of years ago.","Mine operators dissolve the sodium bicarbonate underground using hot brine.","The brine is a mix of the minerals and water left over from prior processing.","They pipe the higher-concentration brine to a processing facility about a mile away.","The brine collects in a holding tank outside and flows through pipes into the facility as needed.","Inside, a technician tests the liquid and confirms that the level of sodium bicarbonate is adequate.","Then, the brine flows through several tanks, where heat exchangers gradually cool it.","This causes the sodium-bicarbonate brine to crystallize, making the granules larger and heavier.","The crystals sink to the bottom of the last tank.","This forms a mixture of brine and crystals.","They pump this mixture into a device called a hydroclone.","The hydroclone spins out the brine through the center.","The crystals gravitate to the sides and sink to the bottom.","This creates a sodium-bicarbonate slurry.","It has a meringue-like consistency.","The slurry is about 40% sodium bicarbonate at this point.","A lot of water has been removed, but there's still work to be done.","As the dewatering continues, the system recaptures spent liquid and pipes it back into the mine to dissolve more minerals.","The slurry goes for another spin, this time in a centrifuge.","It wrings out more water, transforming the slurry into something called wet cake.","Wet cake is 95% sodium bicarbonate.","Next, the wet cake travels to a mixer that blends dry sodium bicarbonate powder into it.","The dry powder brings the moisture content down to 3%.","Next, the wet cake makes a quick trip through this dryer to remove the remaining moisture, leaving pure baking soda.","The baking soda now shakes through three tiers of vibrating screens.","The crystals are sorted by size, producing several different grades.","From brine to powder, it's been quite a journey.","It's time to determine how this naturally mined baking soda measures up.","A technician dissolves some of the baking soda in water.","He adds an acid to neutralize the sodium bicarbonate.","This allows him to measure its purity.","He also places the different grades of baking soda in a screening device.","It vibrates to shake the granules through perforations, verifying that the crystals have been correctly graded by size.","With the lab's approval, this baking soda is ready for the marketplace.","A robotic arm picks up the bag and transfers it to a fill station with a scale below.","The scale signals when there's 55 pounds of baking soda in a bag, prompting the fill nozzle to shut off.","These 55-pound bags will be sold to commercial bakeries and companies that use large amounts of baking soda daily.","It will no doubt rise to the occasion.","When an 18-wheeler has an accident or construction equipment breaks down, you need to call in the big guns to haul it away for repair.","Large tow trucks are equipped with specialized tools to recover and transport massive vehicles.","This tow truck can haul a vehicle as large as a semitruck.","The towing apparatus is called the underlift.","This is one of four outriggers.","These legs stabilize the tow truck when the using the recovery boom.","This extendible boom is equipped with dual-wire ropes and hooks to retrieve a vehicle that's gone off the road.","These hydraulically powered towing and recovery machines are made up of 2,500 parts cut from steel sheets.","The parts are cut by one of two types of computer-guided machines-- a high-pressure water-jet cutter, as we're seeing here, or a laser cutter.","Workers position the parts in an assembly fixture...","Then tack-weld them together.","Tack welding is an initial welding in select spots, just to hold the parts together until a robot does the final welding.","Next, workers sandblast the welded component.","This preps the surface for painting.","They apply one coat of epoxy primer...","Then one coat of polyurethane automotive paint.","The paint dries in about two hours and fully cures in about two days.","Workers hook up all of the hydraulically powered components to this testing machine.","If everything functions properly, workers connect permanent hydraulic lines.","To assemble the recovery boom, they install hydraulic cylinders that will move it up and down, a winch that winds and unwinds the thick wire ropes, and an enormous ring gear that enables the boom to rotate 360 degrees.","Then, they attach the extendible boom.","It's secured with massive steel pins.","Workers also attach he underlift at the back and the four stabilizing outriggers underneath.","This completes the towing and recovery unit.","Now they attach it to a prebuilt truck.","Steel mounting plates are bolted to the truck's frame.","The towing-and-recovery unit is then welded to those plates.","Workers bolt aluminum tool cabinets to the side of the truck's frame.","Inside the cabinet, they make the wiring connections for the emergency lights and other electrical components.","They install the electronic control panel that the driver uses to operate everything.","The control panel monitors oil temperature, hydraulic pressure, and other important indicators.","They also install a set of control handles to give the driver the option of manual operation.","Once everything is hooked up, they perform a quality control inspection.","This factory makes several models, ranging from a light-duty tow truck...","To one like this, designed to haul the heaviest trucks and machinery."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pharmaceutical Blister Packs","Deli Slicers","Oysters","Weathervanes"]},"text":["While the pill bottle isn't yet passé, we're seeing many medications being sold in blister packs-- those cards on which each pill is lined up in a row and encased in a packaging bubble.","To take your medication, you simply press the blister and push out the pill through the breakable backing.","Blister packaging prevents moisture and air from coming into contact with the medicine.","The package is comprised of two layers-- typically, an aluminum foil sheet called the lidding and a pvc plastic sheet with rows of blisters.","Once the manufacturer designs the packaging format, the engineering department tailor-makes the tools to produce it.","This computer-guided mill creates the die that will form the blisters in the pvc sheet.","They mount the die on a machine called a thermoformer.","As the pvc sheet enters the machine, an oven heats it up, making it soft and malleable.","The die then strikes it, imprinting the pattern of circles.","A split second after the forming station closes, a blast of air forms the circles into raised blisters.","Refrigerated plates then sandwich the sheet, setting the new shape.","The pills arrive at the packaging facility in bulk containers.","Workers sift off any pill dust that may have formed, give the pills a preliminary inspection, then load them into a large hopper.","If they were shipped with any moisture-absorption packets, an employee now removes and discards them.","The hopper feeds the packaging machine.","The blister sheets move through open side up so that the pills fall right in.","Rotating brushes and paddles dispense the pills into the passing cavities, which are designed to fit no more than one pill per blister.","An inspector fills any empty blisters while a sophisticated vision system detects any broken or chipped pills, flagging them to be rejected later.","The blisters enter a seal station, where they're mated with the foil lidding.","One side of the lidding is printed beforehand with product information.","To make the printing plate, technicians mount a blank rubber mat on a cylinder.","As the cylinder revolves, a powerful laser cuts away at the rubber until the information to be printed appears in raised lettering, just like a traditional rubber stamp.","They transfer this rubber plate to the packaging line's printing station, where the rubber plate picks up ink and rolls it onto the lidding.","The ink dries by the time the lidding reaches the sealing station, where lidding and blister sheet meet.","The next station simultaneously applies pressure and heat.","This activates an adhesive on the lidding, heat-sealing the sheets together.","Then, refrigerated plates cool the surfaces to set the adhesive.","Here a die punches the hole through which the blister pack will lock into a childproof case.","Then another die punches the individual blister packs apart.","Vacuum arms transfer the packs to a single-file conveyer belt, dropping any packs which the vision system identified for rejection.","This automated arm sets childproof cases on a track moving in parallel to the conveyer that holds the blister packs.","Then a loading arm slides a blister pack into each plastic case, mating the hole in the pack to the case's internal lock.","Finally, an applicator places an adhesive label, bearing all the required identification and safety information onto each passing case.","Random samples undergo a series of quality-control checks.","In this test for water- and air-tightness, technicians submerge the blister pack in blue dye and apply a vacuum.","Any dye penetrating the pack would indicate a hole in a blister or a flaw in the seal between the plastic and lidding.","Should a particular medication require extra protection, the blister pack can, for example, be made of light-resistant materials or contain an extra moisture barrier.","Invented in holland in 1898, the deli slicer launched a revolution behind the meat counter.","No longer was it necessary to carve meats and cheeses entirely by hand.","With a turn of a crank, the deli slicer produced precise cuts in a jiffy.","The modern deli slicer is powered by electricity, with a manual override for the carriage that delivers food to a spinning blade.","Production begins with a cast aluminum base.","A worker installs a cam mechanism that is part of a system for adjusting the thickness of the slice.","He threads wiring, connected to an on/off indicator light, through holes in the base.","Then he screws an index knob onto the shaft protruding from the cam mechanism installed earlier.","An important warning label comes next.","Then he seals the gap around the blade shaft with silicone and removes the excess with soapy water.","Next up is the wiring for the slicer motor.","She clamps the wires together and bolts the clamps to the inside of the aluminum base.","She inserts the on/off switch and the plastic trim, then attaches a device that will slide to adjust the gap between the gauge plate and the blade, thereby controlling the thickness of the cut.","The deli slicer is ready for the slide rod and carriage sub assembly that will deliver food to the spinning blade.","The carriage will move across a track that she now attaches to the lip of the base.","She tests the carriage assembly to confirm that it's on track.","The next worker secures the blade motor to the wiring with bolts.","He connects the motor to the blade shaft with a drive belt.","Operating the motor allows him to observe the drive belt and pulleys in action, confirming that they operate smoothly.","Once the gauge plate is installed, they move on to making the blade.","Computer-guided cutters slope the steel surface and carve a precise bevel onto the rim.","It goes from a rough blank to a precisely shaped blade in just minutes.","The next worker etches the company logo and production date into the blade metal.","Another lathe pre-sharpens the blade to the point where it could cut through something as fine as several thousandths of an inch.","A worker slides the blade onto the drive shaft and secures it in place with a nut.","He now checks the alignment of the gauge plate in relation to the blade.","He turns the thickness mechanism to close the gap and checks it again.","With a dial indicator, he measures the position of the blade even more precisely.","This tool confirms that the blade is in the exact position for cutting and that it won't lose that position once activated.","This deli slicer comes with its own sharpening system, a grinding wheel in protective casing.","He mounts the grinder and activates it to hone the edge to razor-sharpness.","When the blade cuts through tissue paper cleanly, it's ready for real slicing action.","A worker screws the arm for the sliding tray to the carriage.","He uses a spacer disc to establish the correct distance between the food tray and the blade.","He sets the food tray on the arm and checks the gap between it and the blade.","Once the two are correctly aligned, he removes the spacer and latches the safety guard to the blade.","And now for a test, verifying that the tray doesn't drag or scrape against the blade guard.","Below, they've installed rods to move the carriage on the track.","The system can be manually operated or driven by a second motor.","Finally, a worker cleans the slicing machine until it gleams.","At 135 pounds, this deli slicer is no lightweight, so they use a crane to lower it into the packing box.","Hefty and heavy duty, this deli slicer should have what it takes to cut it at the meat market.","Oysters are a versatile shellfish.","You can bake them, boil them, smoke them, or eat them raw right from the shell.","Over the years, wild oyster stocks have declined due to overfishing and pollution.","So today, 95% of the oysters we consume come from oyster farms.","Oysters are filter feeders, meaning they draw seawater over their gills to trap and eat the phytoplankton-- microscopic aquatic organisms.","An adult oyster can filter more than five quarts of seawater per hour.","Oyster farms are located in or by the sea because the oysters need to feed off seawater to survive.","The hatchery keeps the oysters in upwellers-- mesh-bottom buckets sitting in seawater.","Oysters can reproduce once they're six months old.","However, the ideal breeding age is between two and 10 years.","At breeding time, workers put the oysters into breeding trays, oscillating the temperature between 68° and 86° to stimulate spawning.","The females squirt out eggs, the males squirt out semen, and 16 hours later, the fertilized eggs hatch larvae.","Right from birth, the oysters feed on a blend of the phytoplankton they'd eat in the wild.","The hatchery dilutes this plankton mix in seawater and pumps it to the oyster containers.","Marine biologists manage the ponds in which the hatchery grows its phytoplankton supply.","The larvae are so tiny, you can't see them in the water.","They're visible only under a microscope.","Right from the time they hatch, they already have a shell and can swim.","By about the two-week mark, they've grown to the size of a speck, about 1/64 of an inch long.","However, now they act like miniature adults and stay put.","The hatchery keeps them in suspension in circulating water so they have an ample supply of food and oxygen.","As they grow, they're transferred to progressively larger bottles.","By the time they're four to six weeks old, they're ready to leave the hatchery and move to the oyster farm.","The farm floats in a harbor.","The baby oysters arriving are a tiny fraction of an inch long.","They go into upwellers.","Pipes circulate seawater, and the babies filter-feed on the natural phytoplankton.","Over the next six weeks or so, they quadruple in size to about 2/10 of an inch in length.","Workers then pack them in plastic mesh bags, stack the bags on metal racks, and suspend the racks in the sea.","The oysters live like that for three months, getting transferred into progressively larger mesh bags as they grow.","Halfway into it, the oysters are this big-- about 8/10 of an inch long.","By the end of three months, they're double this size, grown up enough to leave home and venture out into the real world.","Workers lay them on the sea floor and leave them for six months to reach harvest size, which is determined not by length anymore, but by weight--  just under three ounces.","To finally harvest the oysters, they lower a custom-built machine that's part dredger, part conveyer.","It generates jets of water that blow the oysters off the sea bed onto the conveyer.","They travel up out of the water into the boat.","That conveyer dumps the oysters onto another conveyer that leads to the picking station.","There, workers select the correct size oysters and put them into baskets.","Whatever they leave on the conveyer-- smaller oysters, rocks, and such-- continues to the end and drops back into the water.","Of course, the harvesting machine misses some three-ounce oysters.","Those remain on the seabed sometimes for years, growing larger like this guy, weighing about 2.2 pounds.","Prior to sale, the harvested oysters go through a cleaning process called depuration.","For 42 hours, they sit in tanks filled with seawater sterilized by ultraviolet light.","The oysters draw this clean water through their gills.","This flushes out all the bacteria.","Thanks to this depuration process, it's safe to eat raw oysters.","It's taken a good 18 months to grow from microscopic organism to dining delicacy, which has a refrigerated shelf life of about a week.","Long before satellites and doppler radar, people relied on weathervanes for storm tracking-- a folk-art figure balanced on an axis turns with the wind to indicate both its direction and speed.","Though more ornamental than practical, it's still a great way to find out what's in the wind, weather-wise.","As it swings with prevailing winds, a weathervane offers important clues.","Northeast winds, for example, could mean a storm is brewing.","Learn to read the signs, and the weathervane offers up-to-the-minute weather information.","To make a weathervane the old fashioned way, a craftsman starts with a sheet of soft copper.","It can be easily cut, bent, and shaped.","Using electric shears, he slices the copper to the appropriate size.","Then he clamps it to a steel mold of a rooster body and head.","With a rubber mallet, he now carefully pounds the copper into the crevasses of the mold.","This is a critical first shaping of the copper, and he has to hit it with just the right amount of force.","If he's too heavy-handed, he could break or tear the copper.","Too little force, and the shape won't properly transfer to the metal.","With a basic rooster shape now established, he reaches for an air hammer that's equipped with a plastic tip.","It beats the copper into the mold thousands of times per minute.","This transfers finer details, like feathers.","And with its smooth plastic tip, the air hammer inflicts no damage.","It takes less than 20 minutes, and the rooster comes to life in copper.","He unlocks the clamps and removes the molded copper rooster.","He'll make another one just like it for the other side of the weathervane.","This will distribute its weight correctly and make it look good from all angles.","He then pounds copper into the shape of the rooster's tail.","It has generous plumage for just the right balance.","With a band saw, he slices around the molded shapes to remove the excess copper.","This liberates the molded rooster from the matrix.","He now trims the rooster with a set of clippers to give it a cleaner edge.","Using long clippers, he snips copper from inside the beak.","This opens it up.","Once the ragged bits have been trimmed, he's ready to match the two sides of this weathervane rooster.","He secures it in a vise and cleans the seam with a solution called flux.","He tacks it with solder and then checks the evenness of the seam.","When the two molds match perfectly, he solders the entire seam.","This weather rooster is now ready for its tail.","It will give the weathervane a larger surface on one side, offering greater resistance to the wind.","This will cause the front of the weathervane to point into the wind.","He inserts the weathervane axis through the rooster's foot, into the cavity, and it emerges from the back of the neck.","He pounds the top of the shaft flush to the surface and then solders it in place for a permanent installation.","For some extra pizzazz, he slides a decorative copper ball up the turning rod, resting it just below the rooster foot.","He secures it with solder.","He now cuts out the feathered end for an arrow.","It's known as the fletching, and it will help balance the weathervane.","He turns the crank of a press to roll numerous creases into the fletching.","The creases mimic feather lines.","He solders the feathered end to the pointed shaft.","It has a hole for installing it onto the weathervane's turning rod.","As the weathervane spins with the prevailing wind, the arrow will point in its direction.","A waddle below the beak and a comb atop his head, and this rooster is ready to rule the roof.","Exposure to the elements will weather the copper and give it a blue-green patina.","For customers who don't want to wait a few years for this to happen, instant results can be achieved by applying a special acid.","Depending on its complexity, a copper weathervane can take up to two days to build.","With luck, it could last a century or more.","Like the weather, predicting a weathervane's long-term viability is not an exact science."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Amphibious Vehicles","Putters","Model Ships","Drumheads"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Amphibious vehicles...","Putters...","Model ships...","And drumheads.","A vehicle is amphibious when it travels on land and water.","This one's used mainly by hunters and fishermen, but also by utility companies and the military.","Wide, rugged tires easily trek through mud, snow, and bushes.","When the vehicle's in the water, the tires' deep treads also function as paddles.","This eight-wheel model can carry six people on land and four in the water.","Buoyancy requires a lighter load.","They begin production by welding 8 steel sections together to make the driver's seat, then 12 other parts for the vehicle's main frame.","This frame will later house the seat, a gas tank, the battery, and a storage box.","Next, a worker assembles what's called the axle hub.","A robotic press punches five bolts through the components to fuse them.","This design keeps the hub lightweight and strengthens the axle for driving on rough terrain.","Next, a worker inserts what's called the axle shaft through the hub.","A robotic welding machine then fuses the shaft to one side of the hub.","After he flips it, the machine welds the shaft to the hub's other side.","This company uses a robot for this important step because it's faster and more precise.","Here, a worker reveals some of the vehicle's secrets to functioning in water.","Each axle's bearing has rubber and steel collars called flanges.","They form a waterproof seal over the axle.","The worker greases these flanges to lubricate them and to keep dust and water from infiltrating.","He inserts one of 16 gaskets between the flanges.","They're made of cork to keep moisture out and grease from escaping.","After adding another flange and a gasket, he applies a liquid compound to rustproof the steel shaft.","Here, a computer-guided cutting tool carves teeth on a steel ring to create one of the vehicle's 17 gears.","Lubricant cools the heat this generates so that the machine doesn't overheat and break down.","When the cutting's complete, robotic arms remove the gear and replace it with a new, unshaped ring.","The gears range from about the size of a coin to the size of a dinner plate.","Here's how the shift lever changes the gears from neutral to low to high and into reverse.","And here's how the clutch will transfer power, via a component called the input shaft, into the transmission.","A worker hooks up the transmission to the engine, then he slides two clutches onto the input shaft.","He attaches each one with a bolt and two washers, then connects the engine to the transmission with a rubber drive belt, encircling the clutches.","Two brake calipers connect the brake system to the transmission.","Now he tests the drive belt, clutch system, engine rotations, brakes, and steering.","The wheels don't turn.","The driver steers the vehicle by slowing or braking either set of wheels and skidding to one side.","To make the vehicle's lower body, they take a sheet of polyethylene, a heavy-duty plastic, and heat it in an oven.","After 4 1/2 minutes at 450 degrees fahrenheit, the sheet emerges, softened by the heat.","An aluminum mold drops down, and a vacuum-forming machine stretches the plastic around it, sucking out the air from between the two.","After the plastic cools for 4 1/2 minutes, the machine lifts the mold, leaving a cavity about the size of a large bathtub.","Two workers then move the lower body to an assembly line.","They insert the vehicle's main frame, now painted black.","Then, on the outside, they mount four extensions that will carry the vehicle's two front and two rear axles.","These will enable the axles to withstand greater punishment.","They install eight drive chains onto sprockets on the axle shafts, then two more linking the transmission to the components that propel the vehicle-- what's called the drive system.","A worker then attached an end plate to complete the link.","Workers lower the 26-horsepower engine into the carriage and attach it with three bolts.","Next, the polyethylene upper body, and then the wheels.","They test the drive chains for tension and sprockets for vibrations.","The wheels are twice as wide as most car wheels but 10 times softer, to cushion the ride.","On land, this $16,000 vehicle travels up to 21 miles per hour.","Top speed in the water is only 3 miles an hour.","But, hey, it's easier than swimming.","Golf players in 17th-century scotland were the first to hone their game by using differently shaped clubs for specific tasks.","Today, you use what's called a putter to gently roll the ball into the hole using the fewest number of strokes.","The club's high-tech, streamlined design is crucial to any golfer's putting strategy.","This company uses a robotic tester to spot-check its putters for quality.","The club passes if the balls roll along a straight line into the hole.","That means the putter's striking with just the right impact.","Production begins with bars of aluminum, a metal that's lightweight and easy to sculpt.","A band saw slices them into 4 1/2-inch-long pieces.","Each piece will become a putter head, the part of the club that hits the ball.","A computer-guided cutting tool sculpts the heads by shaving away up to a third of the aluminum.","The machine first mills one side of the head into tiny steps.","Another cutting tool then shapes this area into a smooth curve.","The process takes 10 minutes.","Then the four-sided platform revolves, and the cutter begins working on the next putter head.","Another milling machine carves blocks of copper-nickel alloy into what's called the insert.","This part will fit into a cavity in the putter head, making the area that strikes the ball firm yet resonant.","It's why the golfer feels the impact reverberate through the putter-- what's known as feedback.","This device performs random quality checks of the insert cavities in the putter heads.","A vise holds the head as the probe gauges the cavity's width and depth.","Next, these chunks of copper go into a chemical bath with putter-head models made of different metals.","The material from which a putter head's made determines the weight and feel of the club.","This 10-minute bath removes any contaminants from the surface of the metals and coats the heads in copper.","This ensures that the plating they're going to get will stick.","After that, the heads are plated in a different metal.","This determines how the club looks.","For this, chunks of mat-finished nickel go into a second chemical bath.","They'll provide one of this company's four finishes, ranging from mat to shiny.","During this 15-minute step, a mechanical arm occasionally shifts the rack to disperse the chemicals and thoroughly plate the heads.","To fit the insert, a worker first positions the head in a vise.","He applies four drops of epoxy glue inside the rim of the insert cavity.","This provides additional bonding once they force the inset all the way in.","After placing the insert in the cavity by hand, a worker uses a press to force it inside.","They cover the press with paper so it won't scratch the insert, which must be flush with the surface of the head.","Any air under the insert escapes through a hole underneath, where they'll insert the club shaft.","A worker first applies glue inside the hole, then he inserts the shaft and secures it to a template with rubber bands.","The shaft is made of stainless steel.","They usually come in standard lengths of 33, 34, and 35 inches.","They're set at the angle most players prefer-- 18 degrees.","The next step is to mount a handgrip at the top of the shaft.","First, a worker wraps the top in double-sided tape.","Then he pours water over the tape to dilute the glue on its surface.","This will enable the grip to slide on more easily.","He pours water inside the grip, as well.","The grip is a rubber sleeve that's just under 10 inches long.","Once lubricated, it shimmies over the shaft for a snug fit that lasts up to three years.","He lines up the flat part of the grip at a 90-degree angle with the flat part of the putter head.","This helps the player strike the ball properly.","Next, a worker colors the club's engraved logo.","Using a tiny nozzle, she applies minute amounts of epoxy paint inside the groves of the design.","She controls the amount of paint with a foot pedal that released pressurized air into the nozzle.","This company makes putter heads in some fairly luxurious materials, including beryllium copper.","That's one for players wanting a club with a softer feel and who don't mind paying up to $500 to get it.","Model ships are made for naval gazing.","They're representations of real ships.","Some are built meticulously to scale with extreme attention to detail and are truly museum pieces.","You can buy model ships preassembled or in kits.","But be careful.","These are truly delicate works of art.","The portlandsteamer sank in the atlantic in 1898, all lives lost.","But its image survives in models.","To make a model like the portland, the worker selects some wooden pieces from a stock room.","Model ships are actually made of thousands of parts, big and small.","These are just a few, and some are to be cut down.","A computer guides a laser beam as it carves the larger, flat pieces of wood into many parts.","They'll be components for the ship's deckhouse.","Next, a worker shapes a hull, or main body, using a machine called a duplicating carver.","Holding the machine's stylus on the left, he traces around a master shape.","This motion guides two routers on the right as they chisel into basswood, making exact copies of the master hull.","To make resin parts, they mix polyurethane with some plasticizer and pour it into a mold.","A chemical reaction causes it to harden.","This take up to a half-hour, and then they pull a newly shaped lifeboat out of the mold.","Next, a worker cleans up another mold.","It's to be used to shape cast-metal anchors.","He places the mold in a centrifuge and pours a melted mix of tin, antimony, and copper into it.","The centrifuge spins, and this causes the metal to fill the cavities in the mold and solidify.","He opens the mold and finds the anchors formed like spokes around the hub.","It's anchors away as he snips them free.","Now a worker sands smooth the bottom of the hull.","Then he positions the first of the ship's five decks.","He glues wooden spacers between the decks.","A special glue that dries in about 10 seconds allows him to work quickly as he builds the tiers.","Next, he submerges a deckhouse sidepiece in water to soften the wood.","He cuts the little tabs to free other deckhouse parts from a matrix.","After that, he carves out the center of two of the pieces.","Then he glues a block between them and applies more glue to the edges.","He bends the deckhouse side, which is now wet and supple, around the structure.","The moisture causes a chemical reaction in the glue which strengthens it.","After he positions the deckhouse starboard side, he sticks a strip of clear acetate to the back of a band of windows.","The acetate simulates glass.","He paints the front of the windowed wall white and then turns it around to paint red curtains on the acetate.","Other detailing has been laser-etched into the wood.","He glues the wall of windows between deck tiers, and the look is authentic.","He positions paddle wheels on each side.","These have 57 wood paddles held in place by brass radials.","Remember the anchors cast in the centrifuge mold earlier?","He now positions some on the ship deck.","Then he prepares the lifeboats.","The larger plastic one goes on the upper deck.","This golden eagle is the finishing touch.","Here, another worker rigs up a four-masted schooner.","Using surgical clamps, he pins the ropes down so they don't get in the way.","Then he measures a piece of decking to make the top of the deckhouse.","He glues it to a base...","And then positions it on the ship.","Next, a jeweler's lathe spins a piece of brass as a worker manipulates a cutter, milling parts for the ship's bell.","Once it's mounted, this ship model is ready for everyone to admire.","A drum's playing surface is called the drumhead.","It's the part of the instrument that vibrates, creating sound.","Some drumheads are still made the traditional way, from animal skin.","But a natural skin is very susceptible to temperature and humidity changes, so most drummers today prefer heads made of modern, synthetic materials.","The drumhead surface is often called the skin because, traditionally, it was made of calfskin.","This synthetic skin is a flexible plastic film called polyethylene terephthalate, the same polyester-based plastic they use to make soft-drink bottles.","Workers load several sheets of it into a press that applies 75 tons of force onto sharp, circle-shaped dies, pushing them upward through the film sheets.","The die-cut film circles become the skins.","A skin could be made up of just one film circle or several taped together.","Workers assemble the layers using a vacuum turntable.","The suction keeps the bottom film steady while they apply tape to its outside edge and then adhere another film on top.","Each layer is called a ply.","The more plies a skin has, the more bass frequencies it'll produce.","Now the skins go onto a computer-guided drill press.","The machine drills tiny holes all along their perimeter, about 1/8 of an inch in.","The holes are roughly the size of a nailhead.","They're spaced about 1/4 inch apart.","The next machine heats the edge of each film to soften it, then applies pressure to mold it to shape.","The skin comes out with a fluted edge, like what you see on a paper cup.","This shape keeps the tension even when the musician tightens the skin to tune the drum.","Meanwhile, this roll-forming machine uses a series of pressure rollers to gradually shape an aluminum strip into a hoop.","The hoop will hold the skin tightly over the drum's body, called the drum shell, creating the tension you need to produce sound.","This machine also imprints tiny dimples onto one side of the strip.","When the factory later glues together the skin and hoop, this rough texture will improve the bond.","Now the machine folds the edges of the strip inward to create a channel on the inside of the hoop.","That's where the glue will go.","Once the machine finishes forming the hoop, a small, built-in circular saw cuts the end.","A worker then loads each hoop onto a rotation soldering jig, positioning the ends together.","The rest is all automated.","A glob of silver solder on the joint...","Then natural-gas torches fuse the hoop closed.","After water cools off the hot metal...","The jig ejects the finished hoop.","Drumhead hoops can be as small as 6 inches or as large as 40 inches in diameter.","Finally, it's time to fit the skin into the hoop.","This is the tricky part, because the film must be perfectly level and centered.","Otherwise, when you tighten the skin to tune the drum, the short side would tighten before the rest, and that uneven tension would throw the tuning off.","So they do this critical assembly step on a specially designed table, placing the skins on circular vacuum fixtures that are perfectly level.","As suction holds each one steady, a robotic arm runs glue in the hoop's channel all the way around.","The glue drains downward through the tiny holes along the skin's perimeter, then dries, anchoring the skin securely in the hoop.","Some drumheads go on to get a textured coating.","By adding weight, the coating muffles the higher sound frequencies, enhancing the lower ones.","This produces a warmer, deeper tone.","It also produces that swooshing sound when jazz drummers play softly with brushes.","Once the coating dries, a pad-printing machine stamps on the company name.","Only about 30% of drumheads on the market are coated.","The rest are what's known as clear heads.","And that's how drumheads are made."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Windows","Woven Cashmere Fabric","Plastic Recycling Machines","Architectural Glass"]},"text":["When it comes to windows, there's a variety of materials to choose from.","Wood windows are typically the most expensive option, but they are also the most versatile.","They can be constructed in any style, stained any shade, or painted any color.","Wooden windows can be custom made to match the home's existing windows.","This style is called a traditional double hung.","Its upper and lower sections open independently of each other.","Manufacturers make windows from a variety of woods.","This company uses mahogany, a premium rot-resistant hardwood.","This computer-guided saw cuts pieces of wood to the required length.","The next machine, called the jointer, squares the edges and smoothes the surfaces.","Now, they mill each piece to the final shape.","A vacuum holds it steady while a computer-guided router works at it from all angles.","The router uses up to 33 different tools from its on-board magazine.","This piece will be part of a curved window.","One tool cuts the basic shape, another tool profiles, and the other bores holes for the dowels.","Twelve different tools later, this is the final shape.","An assembler pours glue in the holes...","Then inserts wood dowels.","Their unique shape allows the glue to surround the dowel, maximizing adhesion.","Using the dowels as a guide, he connects the two vertical pieces of the window, the rails, with the horizontal pieces, the stiles.","This forms the window's sash.","He clamps the sash in a hydraulic press.","It's calibrated to join the parts together with just the right amount of pressure.","He dries the glue with a radio-frequency heating device.","They return the piece to the computer-guided router for the final milling.","This sideways saw cuts a slot down each side for weather stripping.","For double hung windows, another tool cuts openings along the edge.","These openings will hold weighted cords that counterbalance the sash.","Then, they put the finished sash through a sanding machine.","The machine removes tool marks and preps the surface for a paint primer.","They install the muntins, short pieces inside the sash that form decorative squares.","First, the horizontal muntins, then the vertical ones.","Each square will contain its own pane of glass.","They sand the muntins by hand to smooth the surface for finishing.","Then, the sash is sprayed with a water-based primer.","Once the primer dries, the sash goes to the glazing department.","This is where they cut the glass panes to size.","Windows can have single, double, or triple panes, separated by an aluminum spacer bar.","This is a single-pane window.","The glazer applies a bead of caulk to the inner ledge of the sash...","Then sets the glass on it.","He secures the glass in place by one of two methods-- either by driving in tiny, flat nails called glazing points, or by caulking the perimeter and applying small moldings called glazing beads.","The glazing beads are fastened to the sash with small nails.","Once the glass is secure, the worker removes the excess caulk, cleans the glass, and inspects it for any marks or scratches.","The final step is to install the hardware.","It varies by window style.","A double-hung window has a bar lift on the bottom and a latch that locks together the two sashes.","You release the latch to open either one.","Once the sashes are installed, they can be painted to match any home's exterior.","The art of weaving has been around since the stone age.","Traditional weavers use techniques and designs that reflect their cultural origins.","Today's fashion industry has built on this tradition to produce fine wool garments.","Designers keep a record of the fabrics they have created over the years.","They pin samples in books based on quality, colors, and patterns for their customers to choose from.","This is what cashmere goat hair looks like when it arrives at the wool mill.","Short fibers, called flocks, go through a carding machine.","This machine opens up the fibers and mixes colors together.","The carding process removes impurities and reduces the fibers to a flat layer.","The machine combs and twists the layer of fiber in preparation for spinning.","The spinner separates the layer into threads and winds each one on bobbins of over 40 pounds.","An operator loads yarn into a dyeing machine.","The entire fiber-drying process takes about two hours for a reel this size.","Uncarded locks of hair called wool tops are used to make worsted yarn.","A worker feeds the ribbon-like thread into a blending machine.","The blending process merges twelve threads into one large strip.","The machine re-combs and twists the blended fibers, then spins them into a single strand.","The coning machine winds the single thread around a cone by pulling it through a tensioning device with a series of spindles underneath.","This machine can comb 20 pounds of wool in about one hour.","Another spinning machine slowly unwinds worsted-wool bobbins.","It accelerates as the threads run through a tensioning device and onto spindles.","Even though the machine processes dozens of bobbins simultaneously, this process will last several hours.","The set of threads that will make up the woven cloth is called the warp.","Hundreds of parallel threads wind up on this roll, called the warping machine.","These rolls can stretch several miles long.","The warp is now ready for weaving.","This shuttle loom holds the warp under tension while it interweaves the over and under threads using two sets of weaving needles.","This moving part, the beater, keeps the fabric under tension as it comes out of the loom and onto the cloth beam.","This rapier loom can weave fabrics four or five times faster than an automatic shuttle loom, and about 200 times faster than a hand-operated loom.","The completed fabric goes to quality control.","A worker performs a visual check, looking for any defects in the fabric.","If she finds a broken thread, she repairs it by hand.","Using a sewing needle, she replaces the broken thread with a new one.","Once the fabric passes quality control, it goes through a two-hour cleaning process.","Then, the cloth rolls through a steaming machine before accumulating at the end of the production line.","The finishing process for a woven cloth can take up to a week.","Designers study the fabrics and choose arrangements to make a collection.","They mark selected patterns with codes and cut out samples.","Then they make a sample booklet of their fabrics for customers to choose from.","The fabric collection changes twice a year, providing a wide variety of styles suited to the season.","Plastic is a convenient form of packaging, but can be harmful to the environment.","Most plastics don't decompose, so they litter the landscape forever.","Machines called granulators can help ease this pollution problem.","They grind the plastic waste into tiny chips that can then be recycled.","Granulators greatly reduce the amount of waste we humans produce.","Instead of throwing plastics like these milk crates away, they can be tossed in a granulator.","They chop the waste into little pieces, which can be used to make new plastic containers.","Making a granulator starts with star-shaped rotors that will hold and rotate the blades of the granulator.","A worker machines the center hole of the rotor so that it will fit a steel shaft.","Employees slide the shaft through the center of the rotor.","Multiple rotors are machined and installed on the steel shaft.","The rotors are spaced evenly apart.","A member of the team welds the rotors to the shaft.","These welds will stop the rotors from sliding out of position during grinding.","Next, steel blades are exposed to intense heat for 12 hours.","Once they're red hot, an employee plunges them into cooling oil.","This removes stresses and strengthens the metal.","Next, a grinding wheel refines the shape of the blade so it will fit nicely to the rotors.","It also hones the cutting edge until it's extremely sharp.","They transfer the rotor-and-shaft assembly to a metal cradle.","This rotor system is smaller than the one assembled earlier.","It also has triangular rotors designed to chop up plastic jugs.","A worker screws six blades to the rotors.","He then attaches four blades to the casing, placing them at different angles than the rotating blades.","Together, these blades will chop plastic very effectively.","But, the gap between the blades needs to be fine-tuned.","A worker adjusts the gap to the optimal width.","Now, it's over to the granulator's lower casing.","A rotating blade shaves the edges to specification.","The next worker spray paints the outer-casing parts.","This protects the steel from rust.","After the paint dries, they install the blade system in the outer casing and add a wire-mesh screen.","The screen acts as a sifter, allowing only plastic small enough for recycling to travel through the holes.","Now, the upper housing is lowered onto the blade unit.","A long hinge is added into the holes so the plastic granulator can be opened for maintenance.","They give the blade system a test spin, and it turns freely.","Another employee assembles a hopper for the granulator.","He drapes a steel curtain over the opening to keep in any flying plastic chips.","Using a crane, the team lowers the hopper onto the granulator.","They confirm that the two components are correctly aligned, and bolt them together.","Next, a 50 horsepower motor is installed below the blade shaft.","Then, they loop a pulley from a flywheel on the blade shaft to the motor.","Now, the workers cover the pulley system and motor with the steel housing.","Then, a drawer is installed to collect the plastic chips as they fall.","They're now ready to power up the granulator.","Every machine is tested before it leaves the factory to confirm that it's fully functional.","This plastic granulator is now ready to take on the growing problem of plastic waste.","Glass lends a sparkle to any interior.","From a bathroom sink to a staircase, architectural glass is both functional and artistic.","The glass can be either handmade or mechanically formed.","It's called architectural glass because an architect usually designs its aesthetic features and the objects the glass will be paired with.","This company fuses multiple sheets of glass, each about a quarter of an inch thick, to create a finished product of any thickness.","For example, this soon-to-be kitchen countertop uses 5 sheets of standard glass.","Grabbing one at a time with handled suction cups, they gently place it on a pneumatically operated cutting table.","They measure and cut the correct size using a square angle with a diamond tip blade.","Diamonds are the only material that can cut glass.","This kiln is a specialized oven for baking glass.","A craftsman sprinkles white powder onto the base of the kiln.","The powder will leave a texture in the sheet of glass.","Next, he sprinkles ground-up, colored glass across the glass sheet to give the kitchen countertop a unique color scheme.","They sandwich the glass with another sheet of glass, repeating this coloring process with each of the remaining layers.","Once the last sheet of glass is put in place, they clean the top surface.","Now, it's time to close the kiln and bake the glass.","Inside the kiln, the five layers fuse into one unit.","At another kiln, a stack of glass has been fused together and is ready for the next step.","Workers open the kiln and carefully transfer the newly formed glass countertop onto a rolling cart.","They take the counter to the polishing machine.","With stones and water, the machine grinds down the edges until the layering is no longer visible.","The finished glass countertop is strong enough to span over nine feet without structural support.","And because of the heating-and-cooling process, the glass is now scratch-proof and chip-resistant.","You can even chop food directly on the surface.","At a different kiln, they're making a sink.","First, they use a textured glass stamp to press a pattern in the powder.","Then, they place three layers of glass over the pattern, carefully aligning the edges.","After baking, the three layers are fused into one thick circle of glass.","The bottom of the glass has taken on the pattern of the powder, leaving a unique look.","This will be the outside surface of the sink.","They place the glass over a sink-shaped mold in a different type of kiln.","Over several hours, the glass melts into the sink-shaped mold.","Once the glass cools, they extract what is now a sink.","They carefully measure and mark where the drain hole goes, then they drill the hole with a diamond bit.","This generates a lot of heat, so they must continuously cool the bit with cold water.","Otherwise, the tool could overheat and jam.","The glass sink is finished.","They use the same technique to produce glass sinks in various colors and shapes.","Sometimes, these sinks are even integrated with glass countertops.","Countless other interior-design components can be made from architectural glass."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Graphene","World's Smallest Car","Force Testers","Composite Cans"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","In 2004, british scientists extracted a substance called graphene from graphite, which is the material used to make pencils.","They won the nobel prize for this discovery and left their mark on physics history.","Scientists continue to explore graphene's extraordinary potential.","These silicon chips are dyed with thin flecks of carbon, known as graphene.","Just one atom thick and transparent, graphene can sniff out chemicals in the air and disease enzymes in blood.","This lab manufactures graphene using a process known as chemical vapor deposition.","A technician loads a capsule containing a copper foil sheet into a furnace.","He screws a cap on the end of the capsule and shuts the furnace.","He activates a system that uses argon gas to drive out oxygen.","When the furnace reaches about 1,800 degrees fahrenheit, methane gas and hydrogen are added.","A reaction occurs that deposits graphene onto the foil.","Graphene can't be seen with the naked eye.","A technician applies tiny gold contacts to a silicon wafer and then submerges it in solvent to rinse off the excess gold.","The remaining gold bits serve as electrical contacts.","A dip in acetone cleans off more of the loose flakes, and a final rinse in alcohol removes the rest.","Using a diamond-tip scribe, he scores the silicon wafer and breaks it along the score lines, creating rectangular chips.","Another technician deposits liquid plastic onto the transparent graphene on the copper foil.","He locks the foil in a machine called a spin coater.","It spins at 3,000 r.p.m. this spreads the plastic evenly across the graphene film on the foil.","It also accelerates the plastic's curing process.","He then separates the plastic-coated graphene from the copper foil.","To do this, he clips a wire to set of tweezers.","Using the tweezers, he picks up a small piece of the plastic, graphene, and copper sandwich and plunges it in the water.","The tweezers apply an electrical charge through the copper, causing bubbles to form in the water.","These bubbles lift the graphene and plastic film away from the copper.","The graphene now clings only to the plastic backing.","He scoops the plastic-backed graphene square out of the water using a large piece of plastic.","To remove contaminants, he immerses the square in a series of solutions.","In the last solution, he slides the square off the carrier.","And the square floats freely.","He picks up the silicon chip with tweezers and uses it to retrieve the floating graphene and plastic square.","It now sits on the silicon chip.","After taping metal stencils over three of the graphene-covered chips, he suspends them above gold pellets in a machine known as the evaporator.","He closes the evaporator, then turns up the heat.","A vacuum pulls the gold toward the stencils as it evaporates.","The gold and exposed graphene adhere to one another as they cool and solidify.","The technician removes the stencils from the chips, revealing gold horizontal runners between the gold contacts.","He transfers the chip to a plasma etcher.","He activates the chip, and plasma gas floods the chamber.","The gas strips off any graphene that's not protected by gold.","Only the gold contacts and gold-covered graphene runners remain on the chip.","Solvent dissolves the plastic backing on the graphene runners, taking the protective gold with it, leaving only graphene.","The technician now has a graphene sensor chip.","It's time to test its sensory powers using antibodies for a certain disease protein.","The antibodies attach to the surface of the graphene.","She tests the signal from the chip to confirm that it reads the protein correctly.","This graphene chip is ready to act as a high-tech sixth sense.","The world's smallest car has held the guinness book of world records title for more than 50 years.","Designed and manufactured in the u.k., it's about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide.","It fits one driver but no passengers.","Intended as a commuter vehicle, the world's smallest car travels up to 40 miles per hour.","Technicians craft the body in molds section by section.","First, they spread an epoxy resin in the customer's color choice.","Once the resin cures, they lay a sheet of fiberglass matting and impregnate it with resin.","This bonds the matting to the gelcoat layer.","Narrower strips of matting are applied around the perimeter.","Certain areas are reinforced with a more porous fiberglass matting to absorb more resin.","Finally, a second layer of fiberglass matting and resin is set over the entire mold.","The molds cure for a day.","When they're ready, the body sections are extracted from their molds.","This is the main section.","The gelcoat forms a smooth and shiny finish on the sturdy fiberglass underneath.","Using a saw equipped with a small blade, technicians smooth the edges of the fiberglass.","Elsewhere in the factory, technicians weld together the car's lightweight aluminum gas tank.","It holds 1 gallon of gas.","They drill a hole through it...","Then weld on the filler tube and screw on the cap.","The car runs on three wheels-- two at the front and one driven by the engine at the back.","Technicians assemble the wheel hubs, then mount them onto the triangular suspension of the axle.","They flip over the steel chassis and install the disc brakes on each wheel.","On the rear wheel, they mount a sprocket, which allows the engine to drive a chain that rotates the wheel.","They connect the shock absorber on the rear wheel to a mount underneath the body and install hydraulic brake lines and brake calipers on all three wheels.","They bolt the wheels and tires onto the wheel hubs.","Each tire is about 6 inches in diameter.","After installing the one-cylinder engine in the middle of the body, technicians bolt on the chassis.","They connect the shock absorber on the rear wheel to a mount underneath the body.","They install all the electrical components, such as the headlight, the brake lights, the turn signals and the wiper.","The car can be ordered with an electric engine, in which case they install four 12-volt rechargeable batteries.","The car has a rack-and-pinion steering system.","The steering column is attached to a circular gear, called a pinion.","When the driver turns the steering wheel in one direction, the pinion moves in that direction along the rack.","The rack is a track with teeth, connected by rods to the front wheels.","It moves and turns the wheels, steering the car.","The vehicle is mechanically complete.","Now, they install the windshield and windows, sealing the aluminum frames with silicone.","Inside, they mount the steering wheel and the dashboard, which houses the speedometer, turn signal light, and high beams.","They hang the door, which has been fitted with chromed hinges and a handle.","The style is consistent with the 1960s design of the car.","They finish the job with the installation of a vinyl driver seat, gas tank, and windshield washer fluid reservoir.","The world's smallest car is ready to hit the road and make a big impression.","Force testers pull and compress products to their breaking point.","They're used in labs and factories to evaluate a product's quality.","A force tester verifies that an object meets the manufacturer's required specifications.","Force testers are built to pull and compress.","Here, a tester arm bears down on a pencil.","It determines how much force can be applied before the pencil bends or breaks.","Measurements are displayed on a screen.","In the 1930s, basic force gauges were attached to cranes to measure a product's strength.","Today's force testers are high-tech.","They have digital displays and computerized controls.","An assembler starts by screwing brackets into a steel base for the main computer board.","The computer board comes next.","He uses nuts, called standoffs, to raise it above the steel plate.","This creates an air space between the two, preventing electrical shorting.","Throughout the assembly, the technician wears an electrostatic discharge band on his wrist.","This arrests static electricity to prevent damage to the parts.","He screws the motor drive board to the force tester base and moves on to the next batch of parts.","They include the power supply board, a mechanism to turn the unit on, and an emergency stop assembly.","He routes the wires for the power switches and installs the push buttons.","He connects a ribbon cable to the main circuit board.","Then, he attaches the other end of the cable to the motor drive board.","This allows them to communicate.","Finally, he completes the power supply connections.","Another member of the team assembles a vertical support rail to an aluminum base.","This rail is the backbone of the tester.","It supports the force arm and the track it moves on.","He attaches the track to the support rail.","Using an alignment tool, he slides the shuttle into the grooves of the track, then confirms it moves freely.","He's ready to mount the force arm to the shuttle.","A long, threaded rod, known as a lead screw, is fastened to the force arm.","The lead screw rotates, allowing the force arm to move up and down.","He lowers an aluminum cover over the force arm assembly and secures it to the base.","One side of the casing is open.","He'll install an accordion-style rubber curtain to it later.","Next, he threads a rubber belt around a pulley, which is attached to the end of the lead screw.","He installs the motor and wraps the other end of the rubber belt around the motor pulley.","The motor drive assembly turns the lead screw to move the force arm.","The base is now mounted with the electronics to the force tester frame.","After connecting switches that limit the force arm's range of movement, he installs an encoder on the motor to provide feedback on speed and power.","The electronics are covered with a tough plastic casing.","Next up is a slotted table.","He clips a computer tablet to the tester.","An adjustable bracket is attached, which is used for changing the screen's position as desired.","A force tester doesn't just bear down on things.","It also pulls things apart.","A technician conducts a pull test on a piece of nylon cord.","He activates the force arm.","The force arm pulls the cord as it grips the base.","The tester measures the peak force required to pull the cord apart.","The results are displayed instantly on the control screen.","There are different force testers for different applications.","But the purpose is always the same-- pull and compress objects in order to test their limits.","One of the ways a manufacturer can package a product is in a composite can.","It's a cylindrical container made of cardboard with a moisture barrier lining.","Composite cans are less expensive to produce than glass or metal containers.","And they're recyclable.","Many products are packaged in composite cans, everything from automotive grease to parmesan cheese.","The cans are cardboard with an interior lining that prevents it from absorbing moisture.","The top can be a sifter, a pull-tab cap, a ring and plug, or peel-off foil.","To make composite cans, they begin winding a strip of thin paper over a long steel rod, called a mandrel.","The machine applies glue to the top of the strip.","Simultaneously, two strips of cardboard wind off rolls and pass over a glue applicator, which coats their underside with adhesive.","Then these overlapping twin strips wind around the coated paper-wrapped mandrel.","The adhesive binds the layers, producing a two-ply cardboard tube with an interior moistureproof lining.","The machine pushes the tube off the mandrel to an automated circular saw.","The saw cuts the tube into shorter pieces.","They fall into a bin, which feeds the labeling machine.","Suction cups pick up the sheet of labels and run it over a glue roller.","It applies adhesive to the back side.","A vacuum carpet carries the label onto another set of mandrels.","The machine slips the tube onto the mandrel, then wraps the label around the tube.","Next, knives cut the spinning tube into seven cans.","The can-making line has been slowed by our camera.","At the regular output speed of 250 cans per minute, all you'd see is a blur.","A pusher moves the cans toward a device called an upender, which stands each can upright.","The cans then spin through a gluer, which applies a bead of adhesive along the top rim.","Meanwhile, another station lines up the closures in single file.","These cans are for parmesan cheese, so the tops are plastic sifters.","They go one by one onto a carousel.","The tops align with cans on another carousel with perfect timing.","A plunger pushes the top about a 1/2 inch into the glued rim of the can.","As the cans exit the machine, a conveyer turns them upside down.","The cans reach the end of the line, where workers stack them on shipping pallets.","The parmesan cheese producer will receive them like this-- open end up, ready for filling.","To make the metal bottom for the can, a punch press stamps circles out of a strip of tin that's been coated with a food-safe lacquer.","The gold-colored coating prevents the tin from rusting when it comes into contact with the moisture in the cheese.","The next machine uses forming rollers to shape the rim that will grip the can.","This production line is making composite cans for grease cartridges.","Mechanics use them in a device similar to a caulking gun.","For this product, the cardboard tube has a plastic-coated liner.","The liner is heat-sealed to the cardboard to prevent grease from leaking out.","The closure is a rigid aluminum top that you remove with a pull tab.","This machine, called a seamer, crimps the metal edge tightly around the can's rim.","As the cans exit the machine, a computer takes measurements of each top.","If it doesn't meet specifications, the machine ejects the can from the line.","The cans that pass inspection continue on to the packaging area, where an employee does one last visual inspection before shipping to the grease manufacturer.","Once a composite can is empty, the cardboard can be separated from the metal and tossed into a recycling bin."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Potash","Leather Bracelets","Wild Rice","Hex Key L Wrenches"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\": potash, leather bracelets, wild rice and hex key l-wrenches.","Potash is used primarily as an agricultural fertilizer.","It's extracted from underground by either conventional mining or by injecting hot brine into the formation to dissolve potash in salt crystals.","It then pumps the solution back up and separates out the potash in settling ponds.","Potash is potassium chloride, the chemical compound kcl.","It can be processed into a granular agricultural fertilizer or into a higher grade product for industrial use.","At this canadian potash mine, the deposit lies just over a half a mile underground.","The ore is comprised of three materials: kcl, clay and sodium chloride, the chemical compound nacl, better known as table salt.","The big machine manufacturers use to cut the face of the rock is called a continuous miner.","It has two rotors, each with three arms.","Each arm has six pairs of bits with carbide tips that grind the face of the rock, flaking off the ore.","The rotor arms sweep the ore into the machine, which feeds it off the back onto bridge conveyors, a series of conveyor belts that lead to a main conveyor belt.","Miners fasten sheets of polymer to the rock above to erect walls which direct the flow of fresh air that's pumped down into the mine for ventilation.","The bridge conveyors transfer the ore to a main conveyor.","At this particular potash mine, up to 10 machines work simultaneously at different locations.","All those main conveyors, nearly 22 miles of moving belts, converge at the skip, a gigantic elevator bucket which hoists up to 49 tons of ore at a time to the surface and dumps it into a storage bin.","A conveyor transfers the ore to the mill for processing.","First the ore tumbles down a series of vibrating screens.","Smaller particles drop through the openings and move on to the next station while larger particles stay on top where they are whisked off with the flow of brine into a crusher.","The finer particles flow to the fine flotation tank while the larger ones sink to the bottom, drain out, then travel to the course flotation tank.","The particles are treated with chemicals.","Over the course of five minutes in flotation, the chemical treatment makes the kcl particles attach to air bubbles and rise to the surface.","In the course flotation tank paddles skim the surface, pushing the floating kcl into a collector.","The clay and nacl particles drain out the other end.","Similarly in the fine flotation unit, the kcl particles attach to air bubbles and rise to the top where they overflow into a collector.","The collected potash then goes through a centrifuge and a dryer to remove all the moisture.","The dryer feeds this vibrating screening machine, which separates the kcl particles into three categories.","Oversized particles go back to the crusher.","Undersized particles go to machines which compact them into boards then break the boards into new particles which then go back to the vibrating machine for another round of screening.","The final product size particles go directly to the shipping warehouse.","This granular potash is the type used as agricultural fertilizer.","It's kcl concentration is 95 percent because there's some residual clay and nacl.","Technicians regularly test product samples to verify the kcl content.","They grind each sample into a find powder and compress it inside a stainless steel cap to form a pellet.","Then the workers load the pellet into an x-ray fluorescence analyzer.","The pelletized sample absorbs that energy then releases energy as fluorescent radiation.","The analyzer measures the fluorescent radiation to determine the sample's concentration of kcl.","The mill also processes potash for industrial use.","This higher grade potash with a kcl concentration of 99 percent is a white powder manufacturers make it by dissolving the 95 percent kcl granular potash in hot brine to remove more of the residual nacl and clay.","Then workers crystallize the potash by evaporation and cooling.","The result, potash that's almost pure kcl.","Handcrafted leather bracelets are an unconventional jewelry choice.","Traditional bracelets are chains or bangles made of metal or stones.","But these fit like a cuff and are eclectic in design.","Each one is an original.","So the wearer can express individuality.","Handcrafted leather bracelets are substantial pieces designed to draw attention to the wrist.","They can also complement an outfit in a big way.","Making one starts with a strip of stainless steel that will serve as the bracelet's base.","The artisan bends it by hand into a round shape.","Using pliers she closes the gap a little more.","This bracelet is meant to be large, so the loose fit seems right.","She sorts through a collection of leather pieces and ideas for the design begin to take shape.","She selects a piece to cover the inside of the bracelet.","She draws an outline of the bracelet on paper to create a pattern and she cuts it out.","She sticks the pattern to the leather.","Using a utility knife, she follows the pattern to cut the shape in leather.","The edge of a triangular ruler serves as a guide for a straight cut.","She peels the cut leather away from the paper pattern and applies a textile adhesive to the back of the leather.","She curls the leather and inserts it, glued side down, into the steel bracelet form.","She applies pressure for a strong adhesion.","For the bracelet's outer materials there are many colorful options, from dyed exotic leathers to luminous semi-precious stones.","She sorts through the different leathers and stones, looking for inspiration.","She selects a quartz stone and a piece of fish scale leather.","Once tanned, fish skins can be surprisingly tough.","She cuts the fish leather to size using a paper template of the front of the steel bracelet base.","She wraps it around the bracelet band to check the fit.","She applies glue to the back of the quartz and then positions the stone in the center of the leather.","The glue tacks it in place while she now stitches a beaded surround to permanently secure the stone to the leather.","She selects special beading needles for this.","The heads of these needles are tiny enough to pass through the mini beads.","She'll use beading cord made of a tough polyethylene to string and stitch the beads.","For the first three rows she uses silver beads that are two millimeters in diameter.","She pulls the beading snug to the quartz stone as she stitches the beads to the fish leather.","In addition to securing the stone, the beaded surround also serves as an embellishment to it's beauty.","She completes the three rows of silver beads and switches to glass beads.","At 1.7 millimeters diameter, they're a little smaller and trickier to work with.","She pulls the thread through the eyelets of the beads a total of for times to form a tight pouch around the perimeter of the stone.","She now applies strong glue to the steel exterior of the bracelet base.","And it's time for the next decorative elements, black lace.","She glues the lace to the base so that the flowery border overhangs.","She now spreads glue onto the back of the fish leather.","She wraps the leather around the lace-covered base and presses it firmly to it.","She then stitches silver beads around the edges to join the leathers and encase the steel base.","The beaded stitching matches the quartz stone surround for another decorative touch.","This handcrafted leather bracelet is now complete and ready to add something completely different to someone's jewelry collection.","Wild rice is the grain harvested from four species of aquatic grasses that grow in many freshwater lakes in northern united states and canada.","Historically, indigenous people harvested this plentiful and nutritious food which they considered to be a sacred gift.","Wild rice was a vital food source for thousands of years.","It also became a valuable commodity, which indigenous people exchanged with fur traders who traveled the territory by canoe and needed portable, nutritious food that didn't spoil.","Beds of wild rice plants still grow today in the shallow areas of rivers and lakes.","People still harvest the rice by traditional means, in a canoe using two cedar flails and winnowing baskets.","The baskets are made from bark pieces laced together with dried roots of black spruce trees.","Harvest time is usually in early september, once the plants are protruding from the water at least half a yard or so.","Paddling through the rice beds would uproot the plants so one person propels the boat with a forked pole while the other gently bends the plants over the canoe with one flail and gently knocks off the mature kernels with the other.","The harvested kernels pile up at the bottom of the canoe.","Harvesting wild rice is a delicate operation.","You have to knock just hard enough to dislodge the kernels, yet not break the plant stalks.","Each kernel is comprised of a fibrous hull encasing a rice grain.","Back on land, harvesters transport the harvested kernels by a winnowing basked or a grain sack.","The harvesters dump them onto either birch bark sheets, a tarp, or smooth bedrock then spread them out to cure in the sun.","Sun curing takes anywhere from several hours to several days depending on the weather.","The next step is to parch the kernels over an open fire.","This evaporates addition moisture, enabling the rice to be stored indefinitely without spoiling.","It also gives the rice a roasted nutty flavor.","For centuries indigenous people parched the kernels on a woven willow rack above the fire, letting the rising heat and smoke permeate the rice.","Once the trade began with the europeans, the indigenous people began using cast iron kettles set directly on the flames.","Fresh rice grains are green and flexible.","After parching they're brown or black and snap cleanly into two when bent.","Next comes threshing, removing the grains from the hulls.","Harvesters cool the kernels in the basket, then pour them back into the parching pot.","Before acquiring cast iron implements, indigenous people would pour their kernels in a hole in the ground lined with wood or animal hide.","Threshing doesn't require any special handcrafted tools, just a pair of feet.","The pressure of each step forces the rice grains out of their hulls.","This is what the rice looks like before threshing and after.","The last step is winnowing, separating the rice grains from the now-empty hulls.","There are two traditional techniques: repeatedly flipping the rice in a single winnowing basket like this or pouring it from one basket to another.","The movement creates wind that blows away the feather-light hulls.","Eventually only the rice grains remain in the basket.","Today, instead of deerskin pouches, harvesters store wild rice in containers or plastic bags.","The grains range in color depending on the body of water from which they were harvested and how long after harvesting the grains were parched.","Wild rice is high in protein in fiber, low in calories in fat, contains all essential amino acids and is rich in b vitamins, potassium and phosphorous.","Hex key l-wrenches are designed to turn screws and bolts that would otherwise be tricky to reach.","They have ball-shaped hexagonal heads that take an angled approach to installing threaded fasteners.","The long arms of these l-shaped wrenches also extend the user's reach into tight spots.","Hex key l-wrenches often come in sets to provide tools for almost every job, big or small.","Making these wrenches starts with 13-foot long steel bars formed to a hexagonal profile.","A technician tests the short piece to confirm it could be bent without breaking.","The steel must be hard, yet elastic.","A diamond-tipped tool presses into another piece.","The depth of the indentation is a measure of the steel's hardness.","After the steel passes all tests, workers slice the just over 13-foot long bars into smaller lengths using a die cutter with a hexagonal profile to prevent any distortion of the shape.","Each steel piece then spins in a lathe as a computerized tool carves a gentle slope into the end.","This is before and after the contouring.","A second computerized tool shapes the end rounder to create a sphere shape that retains the hexagonal angles.","An automated loader serves up the steel pieces to a spiral copper heating element.","The element heats a specific spot on the piece to 1,112 degrees fahrenheit to soften it.","A mechanized tool then bends the steel at this softened point to give it an l shape.","The hex key l-wrenches have now taken shape.","In the next operation, workers heat treat the wrenches to make the steel even harder.","Workers fire the parts in an electrical furnace, quench them in oil and then heat them in a second furnace that's not as hot as the first one.","The heat treatment strengthens the steel but leaves a residue.","A wash and then a sand blast cleans them up a bit, but the wrenches are quite tarnished looking so it's into a vibrating machine with ceramic stones and polishing solution.","This cleans and brightens the steel.","A magnetic conveyor extracts them from the mix and takes them to a revolving drum.","Here the wrenches bounce around with corn grains that absorb residual moisture from the polishing.","What a difference the cleaning has made.","On racks now, the wrenches take a dip in different nickel and chrome baths.","The rack delivers an electrical charge to the parts, which attracts the nickel and chrome.","The metals coat the wrenches for a shiny rust-proof finish.","Next a device spins the wrench in front of a sensor.","The sensor detects and crookedness in the wrench's long arm.","If needed, he straightens the steel with a special tool.","The wrenches are now ready for a spray of powder coat.","It will provide a durable finish and the color will indicate the wrench's size.","After powder coating a robot transfers the wrenches to a printing station.","A mechanized tool nudges the wrenches forward to put them in alignment.","Another robot moves in.","It picks one of the wrenches and moves it under a printing pad.","The pad stamps brand information and a serial number on the wrench.","The robot retrieves the wrench and places i on a conveyor.","They now make the plastic holders for the wrenches.","This machine melts and molds plastic under pressure to produce them in seconds.","A robot removes the plastic holders from the machine and deposits them in a bin.","A worker now places two of the holders under a laser.","He lowers the protective shield and the laser etches company information onto the plastic.","Another member of the team inserts the color-coded wrenches into the correct slots in the holders.","They now have a full kit of hex key l-wrenches.","It should have all the angles covered."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aluminum Pots and Pans","Artificial Limbs","Peanut Butter","High"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Aluminum pots and pans, artificial limbs, peanut butter, and high-intensity light bulbs.","There are several different ways to manufacture aluminum pots and pans.","Some factories have giant machines that simply stamp out or mold the cookware, while other factories use a technique called metal spinning.","To make cookware that's safe for food use, the aluminum must be pure--  no other metals mixed in.","It all starts with a round aluminum sheet called a blank.","They stamp the pot size and the company name on what will be the bottom of the pot.","They clamp it onto a lathe, centered against what's called the chuck-- a metal mold shaped like the inside of the pot they're going to spin.","The lathe spins at 2,000 revolutions per minute.","Guided by computer software, the spinning tool-- a round wheel made of special plastic-- pushes against the chuck, stretching and shaping the aluminum blank much the way potters stretch and shape clay against their hand on a pottery wheel...","Except that metal spinning works sideways, not up and down like pottery.","The machine trims off excess aluminum as it rounds the edges.","The factory has no use for these very sharp metal leftovers, but it doesn't throw them out.","Aluminum is difficult to mine and, therefore, very expensive, so scrap aluminum is sent off to be recycled into other products.","After the final trim to the finished size, another trimmer moves in to take the sharpness off the edge.","It's taken 4 minutes to spin this 8 1/2-gallon pot.","Now it comes off the lathe.","They punch out handle holes...","Then rivet on aluminum handles.","The pot is now finished.","Items that aren't as large and heavy are spun on a hand lathe.","This is where you need an experienced metal spinner because this trade isn't a mechanical science.","You've got to have a feel for it.","Besides cookware, many other aluminum products are spun on a lathe.","This is a light reflector-- that round aluminum fixture that covers light bulbs in factories, stores, and arenas.","When working the hand lathe, the metal spinner uses what's called a scissor tool.","It's the equivalent of the plastic wheel on the automated lathe.","As the blank spins, he moves his tool further and further down to stretch the aluminum into the right shape.","This is a sausage funnel.","And this will be the inside tube of a cake pan.","He makes the body of the cake pan on a different lathe using a variety of tools to get a variety of effects.","This beading tool creates an edge, for example.","Almost all metals can be spun, though some are better suited for the technique than others.","Aluminum and steel are very formable metals, so they provide the best results.","Can a baking ingredient be the answer to global warming?","Researchers have found a way to transform harmful carbon dioxide into harmless sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda.","They mix co2 with water then force it through plastic balls treated with an enzyme from alfalfa.","Today's artificial limbs are a far cry from the wooden leg of yesteryear.","They look very realistic.","And thanks to advances in prosthetic technology, artificial limbs function more and more like the real thing.","They start by measuring the amputee's stump-- what doctors call the residual limb.","First, they measure the circumference at different points...","Then the diameter at different points.","They protect and lubricate the residual limb by coating it in petroleum jelly.","Then they immerse it in algin, a gelatinlike substance that comes from algae.","After about 5 minutes, they remove the residual limb.","The algin has already begun to stiffen and maintain the limb's shape.","A couple of hours later, it's stiff enough to be used as a negative mold.","They pour in plaster of paris then insert a metal rod.","The rod is what will later allow them to mount the dried plaster to work on it further.","The plaster takes about an hour and a half to harden.","They cut off the algin.","Then, using sandpaper and files, they refine and smooth the surface.","This plaster copy of the residual limb will now be used as a positive mold to cast the artificial limb.","Sometimes they use a different technique to make the positive mold.","They build a negative mold using strips of plasterized cloth, much the same way they make a plaster cast when you break your leg.","Then a scanner takes a detailed 3-dimensional reading and programs it into a computer.","A technician then makes any necessary modifications.","They put a plaster block on a cutting machine.","The computer guides the blade to carve out the positive mold.","With either technique, once the positive mold is ready, they can make the artificial limb.","The process they use is called lamination.","First, they cover the mold in fabric socks-- some made of nylon, others of a material that contains fiberglass.","They layer 6 to 10 socks in all, depending on how rigid they want the artificial limb to be.","Then they coat the socks with a liquid resin made of either polyester or acrylic.","Here they're using acrylic tinted to look like caucasian skin.","It's important to ensure the surface is evenly soaked.","It's a meticulous process that takes about an hour.","The acrylic solidifies in about an hour.","Polyester takes about 12 hours.","They then break the plaster mold inside, leaving a durable plastic shell called a socket.","That will be the basis of the artificial limb.","The socket connects to another plastic shell containing the mechanics, or, like this artificial leg, the mechanism can be modular and covered in just a skin-colored foam.","If the muscle at the site of the amputation still emits a good electrical signal when contracted, the patient can get a myoelectric prosthesis.","It has an electrode that captures and amplifies the signal, triggering the artificial hand to open and close.","As early as the 1400s, africans made peanut stews.","Peanut butter, as we know it today, was invented in 1890 by an american doctor.","He used it as a protein substitute for people whose teeth were so bad they couldn't chew meat.","The best peanuts for making peanut butter are runner peanuts.","Because they're uniform in size, they roast more evenly than peanuts that vary in size.","They arrive at the peanut-butter factory already shelled.","To make an 18-ounce jar of peanut butter, it takes 20 ounces of peanuts.","That's about 1,100 peanuts.","The first step is to roast them.","The nuts travel through a hot-air roaster heated to 399 degrees fahrenheit.","The shaking motion moves them around so they roast evenly.","Almost 4 tons of peanuts go through this roaster per hour.","When they come out, they've turned from white to light brown.","Next, they go into another machine, which fast-cools them at room temperature using suction fans that circulate air quickly.","This rapid-cooling process is critical.","It halts the cooking and prevents the peanuts from losing too much oil.","Next, the peanuts go through a machine called the blancher.","It removes the outer skins by rubbing them between rubber belts.","Then it splits the kernels and removes the heart of the peanut, which has a slightly bitter taste.","But what's discarded doesn't go to waste.","The skins go to farmers for pig feed, and the hearts go into bird feed.","The peanuts land in a big stainless-steel hopper.","From there, they drop down into the grinder to be ground into a paste.","At this point, the other ingredients go in-- salt, sugar or another natural sweetener, and a small amount of hydrogenated vegetable oil, which acts as a stabilizer to keep the peanut oil from separating and floating to the top of the jar.","Peanut butter contains no artificial coloring or artificial sweeteners.","It has no preservatives either, yet doesn't need to be refrigerated.","The peanut butter is finally ready.","All that mixing has heated it up to 140 degrees fahrenheit.","It goes through a cooling system to bring it down to 100 degrees.","Now it can go into jars.","Peanut butter is a healthy, protein-rich food with plenty of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.","It has no cholesterol, but it does contain fat.","The good news is that more than 80% of that fat is unsaturated-- in other words, good fat that may actually help lower certain cholesterol levels in the blood.","The bad news is that the rest of the fat content is trans fat, or bad fat.","It comes not from the peanuts themselves but from the hydrogenated vegetable oil that's used as the stabilizer to keep the peanut oil from separating.","If you want to avoid that, you can eat all-natural peanut butter, which doesn't contain a stabilizer.","You'll just have to stir the peanut oil that collects at the top of the jar.","Once the jars are filled with peanut butter, they go through the capping machine.","The caps have an aluminum seal inside.","As the caps pass through a heat machine, the seal drops down and adheres to the top of the jar, creating an airtight seal.","A machine prints the production date and the expiration date.","These unopened jars of peanut butter will stay fresh for one whole year.","A household light bulb creates light through a metal filament.","A high-intensity industrial light bulb uses not only a metal filament but also coils, electrodes, and mercury vapor.","It's more durable but needs a cooldown period before relighting.","In 1809, a british chemist invented electric light.","Over the next few decades, other inventors produced electric lamps and bulbs, but the light didn't last very long.","The big breakthrough came in 1879, when thomas edison invented a carbon filament that burned for 40 hours.","Then, just a year later, he produced a bulb that burned for more than 1,200 hours.","That finally made electric lighting feasible.","They start by making the coil support.","Later, they'll thread the filament through the support.","They take a glass rod about a half an inch long and heat it up enough to insert a pin just 1/1,000 inch thick.","The pin is made of tungsten, a hard metal that won't melt under high heat.","The rod and pin go into a machine that heats the glass and pressures it into a mushroom shape.","They insert 3 or 6 wires just .","0005 inches thick, depending on the model of light bulb.","They cut the wires to the required length, which also depends on the model.","Then they curl the ends into little circles.","The coil support is finished.","Next, they build the mount onto which several other parts will be assembled.","They weld on the arc tube-- a quartz tube containing a coil, electrodes, gas, and mercury.","Next, they weld on the bimetal switch, which cuts the current to the coil and the arc tube.","Then they weld on the coil support they prepared earlier.","They bend the coil support down to receive the filament, which is made of tungsten.","Now they weld one end of the filament to the mount and feed the other end through the little circles of the coil support...","Then weld it to the other side of the mount.","The mount is now fully assembled.","Next, they apply a specific amount of pressure to the bimetal switch to calibrate it.","They submerge the finished mount in alcohol to remove any dust or other contaminants.","They let it dry for 10 minutes then apply a liquid called zirconium getter.","This draws moisture away from the filament.","It's finally time to put the mount in the glass bulb.","The sealing machine cuts off excess glass from the bottom then melts what's left until it attaches to the mount.","How will this light bulb work?","The electric current travels through the filament to the coil inside the arc tube.","The coil warms gases, which then vaporize the small amount of mercury.","The mercury vapor then conducts the current from one electrode to another, creating light.","The bulbs are made into different shapes and sizes.","A machine blows air in the hot glass while a mold creates the form.","A special flame lets the glass cool slowly so it won't become brittle from the stress.","They print the wattage and voltage on the bulbs, then run them through an oven at 932 degrees fahrenheit to draw out any humidity or impurities that may be caught inside.","Then they go through what's called the tipping torch.","It seals in nitrogen gas, which prevents the filament from overheating.","Now the bulb is ready for its first test-- a 10-minute burn to make sure it operates properly and there's no air inside.","Finally, it's time to attach the socket.","They apply cement on the base then hook up the bulb.","The bulb passes through a flame that cures the cement.","The next machine cleans the socket with acid...","So it can be soldered at two points.","The finished bulbs are put aside for 48 hours then retested before being shipped out."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Oil Pressure Sensors","Large Format Printing","Heavy Equipment Simulators","Head & Neck Restraints"]},"text":["In motor vehicles, an oil pressure sensor is a critical part of the engine.","As oil lubricates, cools and cleans the motor, this sensor constantly measures the pressure and signals a problem before it causes serious damage to the engine.","Screwed to the engine block and connected to the car's computer, the sensor can detect the smallest change in oil pressure.","The computer relays the information to the gauge on the dashboard.","It allows the driver to tell at a glance if there's a pressure problem under the hood.","To manufacture motor oil sensors, a robot picks up a perforated ceramic board and transfers it to a carriage.","The carriage shuttles the board into a screen printing machine.","It squeegees palladium silver paste onto it, creating a pattern for a sensor around each of the holes.","The silver will serve as an electrical conductor.","A trip through a long oven bakes the silver paste onto the ceramic.","Then it's back to the screen printing machine.","This time, the squeegee applies a green glass glaze onto the silver.","The pattern leaves some of the silver exposed for the attachment of components like capacitors and diodes.","A robot then applies those components faster than you can blink an eye.","The next robot transfers terminals to the sensors.","To align the prongs of the terminal with exposed silver on the sensor, the robot takes a picture and sends it to the computer.","The computer then guides the positioning.","It all happens in a flash.","Once the terminal has been soldered to the sensor, another robot dispenses adhesive around the components.","This seals the circuitry from the oil that will flow through the center hole.","The next robot places a silicon chip on the sensor, covering and sealing the center hole.","This chip will react to changes in oil pressure.","Another robot bonds the silicon chip to the circuitry using aluminum wire that's thinner than a human hair.","This completes the electrical connection.","An employee now inserts the ends of the sensors in a fixture and breaks them along score lines.","This separates them into strips of five.","She transfers the strip to a machine that bends the terminals to a precise shape.","She snaps the ceramic along more score lines to separate the strips of five into single sensors.","Next, she connects the terminals to posts in plastic housing.","After soldering them in place, she folds the rest of the sensor over them.","She then places brass shells in a carrier.","She inserts two rubber o rings in the shells-- a large one and a smaller one around the center hole.","The robots take it from here.","The first one picks up the sensor assembly, and using a camera as a guide, transfers it to the brass shell.","Then it's over to a press and crimp station.","The top tool applies pressure to compress the o rings as forming tools crimp the shell around the sensor.","An applicator coats the threads of the brass shell with sealant.","When dry, this sealant will enhance the sensor's fit to the engine to prevent oil leakage.","A test hit probes each sensor, performing a full electrical evaluation.","It also applies air pressure to test for leaks.","After passing the test, the oil sensor is complete.","Businesses looking to advertise will often commission a printing company to produce a large poster or banner.","The quality of large format printing is better than ever thanks to digital technology.","Commercial equipment can typically print a banner up to 16 feet high by 150 feet wide.","If the required size is larger, it's printed in sections, then joined together.","A prepress technician preps the clients' design for printing-- adjusting colors, sectioning, and adding a bleed.","This is a blind border around the design because the machines can't print all the way to the edge.","Then it's time to load a roll-to-roll printing machine with weather resistant vinyl mesh.","They feed the leading edge of the roll into the machine and pull it through the output end.","This aligns the vinyl so that the printing won't come out crooked.","They slip a cardboard tube over the roller which will receive the printed vinyl and tape on the leading edge.","If this job required printing on a ridged material, they'd be using a flatbed printer rather than the roll-to-roll.","Both machines print with ink-jet technology, similar to a home computer printer.","However, rather than using dye-based inks, they're typically solvent-based.","They're designed to withstand outdoor conditions for three to five years.","The machine uses the standard ink-jet colors-- black, yellow, cyan, and magenta.","It also includes light cyan and light magenta to provide additional shade variations.","The machine has 12 print heads, 2 per color.","Each head has 256 nozzles.","Once daily, they're put through a full cleaning procedure to prevent clogging.","The print head moves back and forth across the vinyl.","The computer guides the individual nozzles to deposit dots of ink at specific spots.","All those colored dots together form the printed design.","The first 6 inches the machine prints are a color bar test to make sure that every nozzle is working properly.","The printing of the actual design follows.","The printed vinyl banner exits the machine and winds around the receiving roller.","Then they mount the roll onto another machine, which trims off the excess vinyl and the bleed with rotary blades.","When the banner is compromised of sections, workers connect them.","First they align the edges, then they bond the joint temporarily with masking tape.","They flick a switch to project laser lines, which indicate the width and center of the weld.","The weld will permanently connect the sections on the reverse side.","Turning the banner facedown, workers align the joint with the center line.","A magnetic strip secures the banner to the table to prevent it from shifting, and a vacuum pulls the banner taut.","At the same time, a hot air welder fuses the joint with heat-activated adhesive tape.","Then they flip the banner faceup again and remove the temporary tape.","The last step is to reinforce the perimeter with webbing-- the material used for seat belts.","This gives the banner a nice finished edge.","It also creates a strong border in which to secure grommets for hanging the banner.","Workers apply the grommets manually with a pneumatic press.","A banner typically has a grommet every 24 inches, plus 3 in each corner.","To hang the banner, you run bungee cords through the grommets, pull taut, then hook the ends to plates affixed to the building facade.","A few screws for reinforcement, and you're done.","Wind passes right through the tiny holes of the vinyl mesh so the banner doesn't billow.","When you're learning how to operate heavy equipment, one wrong move can cause damage or injuries.","That's why it's becoming more common to train on a simulator, which can replicate real-life scenarios from typical maneuvers to emergency situations.","Whether learning to operate a crane, backhoe, or excavator, it's safer for a trainee to make rookie mistakes at a virtual work site.","The instructor simply installs heavy equipment controls and loads the appropriate software.","Then the simulator is all set to replicate how the equipment maneuvers.","A heavy equipment simulator begins life as a series of 3-d technical drawings.","Mechanical engineering technicians plug in the details of the customer's order, including foot pedals and joysticks to control the equipment's various movements.","Then assembly can begin.","Following the plans, technicians build the steel motion platform which replicates the movement of the cab.","Its base has wheels for rolling the simulator from one location to another.","This drive controls the three actuators which raise, lower, and tilt the platform.","Once the technicians have installed and wired up all three actuators, they install the platform cover.","Next, they mount the height-adjustable seat.","At its base, enclosed in a bellow, is a pneumatic suspension system.","This enables the seat to realistically bounce or jerk in response to the action being simulated.","Meanwhile, another technician assembles the simulator's control box.","He mounts the joystick controller and connects its wiring to a cable inside.","The cable leads to a connector on the base of the box.","That connector simply plugs into the motion platform right next to the operator's seat.","The box attaches securely with large screw knobs, making it easy to disconnect and switch to different kinds of simulations.","The foot pedals are mounted to a separate platform.","Technicians attach it to the motion platform with two screws.","Like the control box, the idea is to be able to switch this pedal platform easily for a different one.","The simulator's cab is now fully assembled and it moves just like a real one.","The virtual view from the cab, spans five l.c.d. screens to give the trainee a realistic perspective of the work site.","After installing the screen supports, workers mount the screens.","The configuration mimics the window layout of the typical cab.","The simulation runs on software that's designed in-house.","However, the client can further customize the program for a specific make and model of heavy equipment or to simulate specific scenarios that might arise on a particular work site.","The simulator has five different computers.","Three of them run the seat movement, the screens, and a small touch screen to the trainee's right.","That screen displays the buttons, knobs, and levers of the heavy equipment's dashboard.","The fourth computer calculates the physics of the simulated environment such as the excavator's digging movement and the corresponding soil movement.","The fifth computer manages the training scenarios.","For instance, an instructor can program adverse weather conditions to make the exercise more difficult.","To simulate a different piece of equipment, the instructor simply switches the joystick and pedals if necessary and loads the appropriate software.","In the simulator, the trainee has the same perspective he or she would have in the real-life cab.","Three reflective markers on the helmet enable an infrared camera mounted above the screens to track the trainee's head movements.","This prompts the software to display the corresponding view.","Tragedy on the racetrack led to the development of the head and neck restraint in the 1980s.","Investigations had revealed a deadly trend in motor sports.","With the driver's body restrained, the head moved violently in a crash, causing fracture to the base of the skull.","Clearly, more restraint was needed.","Attached to a helmet, a head and neck restraint is designed to save the racer's skull.","It has become required equipment in many racing organizations.","To make these restraints, they mix plastic and carbon fiber pellets.","The carbon fiber fortifies the plastic, which is made from castor bean oil instead of petroleum products.","A machine melts the mixture and injects it into a mold under pressure to produce the base structure for the restraint.","The operator breaks off what's known as the sprue-- plastic that's solidified in the channels leading to the mold.","He trims the plastic and carbon fiber overflow from around the edges.","This overflow is known in the industry as \"flash\".","He hangs the parts to cure over a 24-hour period.","The next day, the employee clamps the part in a jig and activates computerized tools.","The first one drills holes for tethering restraint to the helmet.","Another trims it to its final size.","An automated hot knife now cuts nylon tether material to the correct length.","Then it's over to a computerized sewing machine to stitch the tether around a chrome fitting.","The stitching pattern has been designed by an engineer to withstand the force of impact.","The operator then stitches on a label, which says the tether's design has been sanctioned by both american and european racing organizations.","Next, using a dye powered by bursts of air, a worker punches out shoulder pads from cushion foam.","The next member of the team slides the shoulder pads into casings made of fire-resistant cotton.","It's a snug fit, and without a special installation tool, the job wouldn't go smoothly.","By folding the pad into the tool and then inserting it into the long case, there are no bunch ups.","Some head and neck restraints are adjustable so drivers can find a more comfortable fit.","They assemble those restraints in three pieces with the adjustable fittings in the joints.","The employee then paints adhesive primer onto the base structure of the head and neck restraint.","He coats most of the plastic and carbon fiber surface with it.","He applies neoprene padding to the primed surface.","The padding is adhesive backed and it bonds instantly.","He attaches the tether to the back of the restraint with plastic clips and screws.","Using hook and loop tape, he secures the shoulder pads to the other side of the restraint's yoke.","Another worker applies more certification labels.","They signify that the actual structure of the head and neck restraint meets standards.","They now test a randomly selected restraint.","A hydraulic arm pulls the tethers until the restraint snaps, mimicking the force of a violent impact.","The restraint withstands more than what's required and breaks in the right place.","Next, an employee attaches a head and neck restraint to the helmet using the tethers.","Two crash dummies put the restraints to the test.","The one on the left isn't wearing a restraint while the right one is.","Steady nerves and a steady head could save a racer's life, and a head and neck restraint definitely improves the odds."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Electrophoretic Displays","Dry Erase Boards","Air Rifles","Quartz Countertops"]},"text":["Electrophoretic technology mimics the effect of ink on paper.","The screens reflect light, unlike conventional back-lit displays that emit light.","Also known as e-paper, this technology has changed the way we see our screens.","Mobile devices, e-readers, smart watches, and credit cards all contain electrophoretic displays.","With its print-like readability and bluetooth capability, it's easy to see the attraction.","To make an electrophoretic screen, polyethylene film is placed on a sheet of glass, which holds the film as its processed.","Production takes place in a filtered room, to keep the area contaminant-free.","Inside the room, robots move the glass carrier through processes that transform the film into the backplane.","The backplane is the main structure of the screen.","It carries the organic transistors that drive the electrophoretic display.","Machinery builds up micro-thin layers of metal, organize solutions, semiconductors, and isolators.","This spin coder evenly spreads the material across the film.","Nozzles apply an organic solution that acts as a booster for the semiconductors.","The spin coder closes and rotates the glass carrier to spread the deposited material by centrifugal force.","The automated system adds layers of semiconductors, electrical isolators, and metal.","A rinse of de-ionized water cleans the coated film, and a blast of air blows off the water.","Rollers apply gentle pressure to ensure the film sticks to the glass even when positioned vertically.","Once the photoresist chemical has been applied, the film goes into an exposure chamber.","A patterned mass is placed in front of the film to block out lighting in some areas.","The exposure defines the structure of the metal layers so that, when combined with the other materials, they'll serve as transistors.","The backplane film is removed from the glass carrier.","Now the film is ready for the electronic-ink-sheet placement.","A technician places the backplane in a laminator.","He uses a camera to magnify and position the backplane.","A vacuum in the laminator chuck holds the backplane in place.","He places the electronic ink sheet on the chuck beside the backplane and peels off the liner, exposing the adhesive.","Then the ink sheet and the backplane are fused together.","A roller presses the assembly for full adhesion.","Once the lamination process is complete, a technician removes the screen from the chuck.","This is the backplane before and after the electronic ink lamination.","An automated system bonds the electronics to a circuit board that's attached to the display screen.","The system mechanically seals the circuit board.","Polymer resin is applied for stability.","U.v. light cures the resin.","This is the electrophoretic display before and after the electronics have been added.","This particular display screen will be an e-reader.","They load a graphic with black strips onto the screen.","The strips serve as reference points, as a printer applies a combination red, green, and blue filter.","The filter adds the option of colored text or pictures.","The primary colors can be combined to create other shades, expanding the visual possibilities of the electronic ink.","A machine bends a sample screen repeatedly to confirm that the sample is flexible enough to be formed into a bracelet or credit card.","Additional tests are conducted to confirm that the electrophoretic display has the desired clarity and color.","Display patterns can be sent from a phone to a bracelet that has an electrophoretic screen.","With electrophoretic technology, there are many different ways to enjoy screen time.","A dry-erase board is a non-permanent surface most commonly used in professional or classroom environments.","You simply write on the board with the dry-erase marker and use a specialized cloth to wipe away the markings.","These effective tools are an easy way to get your message across.","Dry-erase boards are also known as whiteboards.","The boards wipe perfectly clean due to its non-porous surface and the dry-erase ink.","Dry-erase ink contains release agents which prevent the pigments from permanently adhering to the surface.","Green and black dry-erase boards can also be used as chalkboards, while gray and low-gloss white double as projection boards.","The surface material is a porcelain-coated steel sheet-- flexible enough to be rolled up, but also pressure sensitive.","To start, the roll is mounted on a cutting machine.","A technician programs the machine to cut the roll to a specific length based on the board's dimensions.","Workers verify the length and check that the piece is square.","The surface material will be applied to one of seven types of substrate, ranging from cardboard to medium-density fiberboard known as mdf.","The next step is to cut the large sheet of substrate-- in this case, mdf--  into board-size pieces.","Another technician enters the length and width into the cutting machine.","Once complete, the machine ejects the substrate, which is now cut to the exact size of the board.","Next, the substrate is put through a hot-glue machine.","The machine applies polyurethane adhesive to what will be the back of the dry-erase board.","As the substrate exits, a sheet of foil is applied to the glued surface.","The foil prevents moisture from entering, which would warp the substrate.","The board moves through two steel rollers which flatten the foil and press out any trapped air.","Next, the surface material is applied to the other side of the substrate.","A craftswoman uses an air hose to clear away any dust from the side of the board.","Once cleaned, the board goes through the glue machine.","The porcelain steel sheet is placed on the glued surface.","Technicians work carefully to ensure they don't touch the pressure-sensitive surface with their fingers.","Then the board moves through the steel rollers to press the porcelain steel flat and remove any trapped air.","Once 50 boards are stacked, technicians put them in a press for half an hour, until the glue cures.","In another part of the factory, a machine cuts material to create the board's frame.","It punches \"v\"-shaped notches in a length of aluminum trim.","The trim bends at each notch to form a wraparound frame.","Some boards come with a marker tray that runs along the bottom.","To make these trays, a technician cuts board-length pieces from a piece of \"l\"-shaped metal trim.","Since the tray ends are sharp, a technician attaches plastic covers for protection.","He secures the plastic end covers with screws on both ends of the part.","Meanwhile, technicians peel off the protective film covering the writing surface.","Then they flip over the board to assemble the parts from the back.","This model doesn't have the traditional wraparound frame.","Instead, it has a frame comprised of four straight \"c\"-shaped pieces that fit over the board's edges.","To add stability, technicians attach screws through the trim into the substrate.","Once assembly is complete, the dry-erase board is placed into a box, ready to be shipped to a business or classroom near you.","Air rifles are not toys.","They're serious weapons.","Used primarily for hunting, air rifles should only be handled by trained, licensed professionals.","Chemically, air rifles use one of three types of power depending on their design, all of which utilize compressed air instead of an explosive charge.","Handling air rifles should always be treated in a serious manner.","It is very important to follow proper storage and operating safety guidelines to ensure it does not go off accidentally.","Air rifles are made out of pre-machined parts for the trigger assembly.","To build one half of the trigger housing, a craftswoman uses a jig to align the end pieces to the side plate.","Then she screws the parts together.","She attaches the release latch to the inside of the trigger housing and installs a base for the trigger shoe.","She hooks one end of a spring to the side plate, and the other end to the release latch.","A second spring links the first spring to the trigger-shoe base.","Next, a lever is installed which releases the firing pin.","Once the trigger shoe and the trigger are attached, the assembly is complete.","This part absorbs the recoil effect from firing.","A technician inserts the recoil spring in a cylinder and adjusts the tension.","He slides the recoil assembly into the bolt housing.","The bolt housing seals the end of the gun barrel.","He installs the recoil system and the housing, a lever for cocking the rifle, and inserts a lever pin.","This end screw will enable the user to adjust the cocking position.","He attaches the firing pin and the spring system...","And builds the air-pressure regulator by joining metal rings with rubber seals to create the housing.","He stacks washer springs on a shaft.","He inserts the assembly into the regulator housing and attaches an air-pressure adjustment mechanism to the end.","Using a special measuring device, he connects the regulator to an air cylinder.","The cylinder feeds compressed air to the pressure regulator.","The measuring tool indicates the regulator's performance.","If needed, he'll adjust the pressure setting.","A technician inserts the pressure regulator in the firing chamber housing and places a rubber seal in another opening, followed by a spring.","The spring will open and close the one-directional valve that supplies compressed air to the firing chamber.","Once the valve is installed, he joins the firing chamber to the recoil assembly.","The two units are held together with substantial screws.","Assembly of the air rifle's mechanics are now complete.","A metal cover is screwed on top of the trigger system.","Meanwhile, automated drills bore into steel cylinders to convert them into rifle barrels.","A technician aligns one of the barrels to the firing chamber.","Using a spacer tool, he tweaks the barrel's placement against the firing chamber and tightens the bolt to the barrel.","The trigger system is run through a test using a special machine that measures the force it takes to open the valve.","An inspector fires the air rifle to measure the pellet's velocity and the accuracy of the shot.","He adjusts the tension on the firing-pin spring.","He loads the rifle again and fires it once more to confirm the accuracy of his adjustments.","Another technician attaches the stock, also called the shoulder stock, to the rifle.","He screws the compressed-air cylinder to the pressure regulator, securing it in place.","Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals on earth.","It's no wonder artisans are crafting this plentiful crystal, mixed with polymer resin, into kitchen and bathroom countertops.","These engineered countertops have low porosity, are resilient, and can be enhanced by pigments, sparkles, or other minerals.","Quartz countertops offer more creative designs than other stone surfaces.","Some are fused with flecks of mother of pearl, metal for a more dramatic look...","Or speckled with materials like glass, porcelain, and granite for visual effect.","Quartz rock arrives at the factory broken up into small, sharp-edged crystals.","They're stored in outdoor bins until production.","The crystals tumble into a hopper that follows them into the factory.","The glittery quartz crystals cascade onto a conveyor, heading to a rinsing station.","The crystals enter a revolving drum, known as the tumbler, and are tossed in the fire burning inside the drum.","The intense heat removes residual moisture and sanitizes the crystals.","Then the crystals are transferred to sifter machines.","The sifter machines shake the crystals through screens fitted with smaller mesh.","The particles flow into separate bins.","The ingredients for the quartz countertop formula are loaded into feeder bins.","The formula calls for a black countertop with shiny flecks and green undertones.","The ingredients include two different sizes of quartz crystals--  green glass and mirror chips.","A computer releases specific amounts of the ingredients into a hopper.","As the hopper opens, a conveyor takes the ingredients to a blender.","Black pigment is mixed into the blender, along with powdery filler quartz.","The mix is over 90% quartz.","A polymer resin will act as a binder and add strength.","Down the line, a large mold moves into position...","And an overhead mixer disperses the quartz blend into the mold.","The mixer repeats the process twice to build up the materials to the desired thickness.","Then the mold vibrates, shaking the mixture into a more level state.","This will be the back of the quartz countertop.","For additional strength and flexibility, nylon mesh is added to the countertop mixture.","A device pulls the mesh over the mix.","Once it's aligned with the mold contents, the machine drops the mesh into place.","An automated dispenser spreads granulated limestone, filling any voids in the countertop mixture.","Next, the ingredients are placed in a kiln for two hours.","A blade scrapes off the loose limestone from the slab backing.","Polishing heads studded with industrial diamonds will now give the top of the slab a serious shine.","Simultaneously, an operator adjusts the tension of the polishers.","The polishers spin as water flows across the countertop to produce the desired level of gloss.","This particular quartz slab is about 1/4 inch thick.","Its thin, flexible profile means the quartz can be shaped to different structures if needed.","A technician preparers the transfer of pattern onto a white quartz slab.","He drapes a long sheet of paper, pattern side down, onto the slab and tapes it to the work surface.","He activates a heat press, which turns the ink on the paper into a gas that penetrates the resin in the slab.","The pattern becomes intrinsic to the engineered stone.","With this process, any design can be part of a slab, including some that give the illusion of marble.","But unlike marble, engineered quartz won't stain.","With quartz countertops, the possibilities are almost endless."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Kitchen Accessories","Central Vacuums","Papier"]},"text":["When it comes to kitchen accessories, many cooks choose to forgo metal, plastic, and silicone in favor of a more classic material, wood.","Wood is not only elegant, it's lightweight and very durable.","And its look fits in with traditional, contemporary, or modern kitchen decor.","Rolling pins, meat mallets, cutting boards, trivets are some of the many items this czech company makes out of beech, a hard and durable type of wood.","The first step is to dry out the logs.","This prevents the wood from expanding and contracting with humidity changes and eventually cracking.","The factory air-dries the logs outdoors for about seven months, then heat-dries them in a kiln for three to four weeks.","When the moisture level is down to between 8% and 10%, the wood is ready.","Each log first goes through a large automated hacksaw.","It slices vertically, cutting the log into several pieces of the specific thickness required for the kitchen accessory in production.","Next, a dimensioning saw cuts the pieces to the required length.","The final saw cuts the pieces to the required width.","To make a cutting board, they run one edge of the cut piece through a gluing machine.","Then, they assemble the pieces edge-to-edge in a press.","The number of pieces they put together depends on the size of the cutting board they're making.","After an hour clamped under pressure, the pieces bond into a large panel.","Workers then cut the panel into the smaller pieces, each of which will become a cutting board.","A computer-guided milling machine cuts the shape of the cutting board, which, in this case, is a model with a recessed middle designed to catch crumbs.","They submerge the cutting boards in vegetable oil, then let them air dry for a day.","Oiling nourishes the wood, which prevents it from drying out.","The oil also enhances the color and brings out the beauty of the wood grain.","To make rolling pins, workers feed the cut wood through a planer.","It finalizes the dimensions to 2.8x2.8 inches wide by 10.2 inches long.","Then they mount several pieces at a time onto a machine which has multiple lathes.","As each lathe spins over the course of about 30 seconds, successive tools turn the wood to a cylindrical shape...","And sand the surface.","One cylinder at a time, workers drill a half-inch hole right through the middle.","Meanwhile, a small lathe turns 1.2x4.2-inch blocks of wood into rolling-pin handles.","Workers saw off excess wood at the outer end of the handle...","And sand the area flat.","The finished handle goes into a revolving barrel of varnish for about an hour.","All the parts are now ready and assembly can begin.","After giving the ends a quick sanding, they hammer a nylon ring into the hole on each side of the pin.","The ring diameter is slightly larger than that of the hole so it locks in.","Next, they insert a zinc-coated steel rod all the way through, position the rolling pin in a press, fit a handle on one protruding end of the rod, then a second handle onto the other end.","They activate the press, which forces the handles all the way onto the rod.","The pin rolls smoothly thanks to the nylon rings.","These kitchen accessories showcase the natural beauty of wood, wood that's fsc certified, meaning it comes from a forest that's managed according to standards of environmental protection.","A central vacuum doesn't have to be pulled or carried from room to room and up and down stairs.","Its power unit containing the motor and dirt receptacle is mounted on a wall, usually in the basement or garage.","This stationary unit connects to plastic ducts that run inside the walls to inlets in different parts of the home.","You plug the attachment hose into the nearest inlet and the central power unit suctions the debris through the wall ducts.","Being stationary, weight isn't an issue.","Therefore, central-vacuum motors are larger and more powerful than those in portable vacuum cleaners.","A factory makes the main body of the power unit out of a steel sheet about 4/10 of an inch thick.","A press punches out the openings required for the various components.","A forming roller rounds the sheet into the unit's circular shape.","They close the circle by tack-welding a few key spots.","Then, they weld the entire length.","This continuous seam makes the unit air tight for optimal suction and to prevent the collected dirt from escaping.","They use the same material and technique to form the sides of the power unit's large dirt receptacle.","Then a hydraulic press rolls a rim at the top, making the receptacle safe for the user to remove, empty, then put back in place.","They make a rim on the bottom edge as well, sealing it over the bottom plate of the dirt receptacle.","Then they put the power unit's main body on a hydraulic press and shape a rim that connects to the dirt receptacle.","Next, they make a support for the motor and tack-weld a mesh basket under it.","The basket supports the vacuum cleaner's filter.","The power unit's main body goes on top of the dirt receptacle.","The motor support and filtration basket fit inside.","And a cover goes on top.","Now the unit gets a coat of high-quality epoxy paint.","The application system is electrostatic, meaning it charges the unit with a negative current and the powder paint particles with a positive one.","This magnetically draws the particles onto the unit in an even layer.","Then 45 minutes in an oven bakes it on for extra durability.","They seal the connection between the dirt receptacle and the power unit main body.","This must be airtight for two reasons-- to prevent air from leaking through, which would lessen suction power, and to prevent collected dust from escaping.","Next, they line the main body's motor compartment with soundproofing foam.","An adhesive backing holds it against the compartments walls, and dabs of liquid adhesive secure the corners.","They install a filter on the outside to capture carbon dust.","Carbon dust is a fine black dust which electrical motors emit.","Now they apply decals bearing the series name and model number.","They use a laser level to position them perfectly straight in just the right spot.","Back to the motor compartment now.","The electric motor sits on this rubber-foam gasket and rubber legs, both of which absorb vibration.","They also prevent metal-to-metal contact between the motor and body, the secret to the vacuum's quiet operation.","Whereas portable vacuum cleaners have a lightweight motor with a single fan, this motor is a large, heavy-duty, long-life steel motor with three fans.","The electronic components go into the neighboring compartment.","Then workers use a variety of equipment to test suction, voltage, and other specifications.","They connect an lcd display on the outside, cap the compartments with a motor-cooling insulated disk, then the unit's cover.","The factory's lab selects a certain percentage of units at random for quality-control testing.","During operation, the lcd screens on both the power unit and hose handle display the power level.","They also indicate when the unit needs technical maintenance, when to empty the dirt receptacle, and when to remove and wash the filters.","They're a bold option for people looking to go a bit wild with their home decor.","Large, colorful animals made of paper-mache-- inanimate, exotic pets that make quite the conversation piece.","Sold in galleries or upscale design boutiques, each creature is a unique work painted by an artist.","These large-scale paper-mache animals are hand-crafted by artisans in tonala, mexico, a town renowned for colorful, decorative arts.","They cast the animal shape in plaster and fiberglass molds.","There's a two-part mold for each of the animals' main body parts.","The artisans dampen pieces of recycled cardboard...","Then glue them onto the walls of the mold cavity.","They continue until they've fully lined the cavity five layers thick, three layers if it's a small-sized animal.","Then, they close the mold and set it aside to dry.","Depending on the size, this takes from three to six days.","Then they open the mold and extract what is now a hollow cardboard shell of the body part.","They assemble the animal by adhering all the body-part shells, reinforcing the joints with strips of newspaper.","Then they paper over the entire surface to even it out.","The paper dries in 3 to 12 hours, depending on the size of the animal.","Next, they mix together talc, water...","Glue...","And wet cardboard.","This recipe produces a thick adhesive paste that they spread evenly over the entire animal.","The paste takes about 40 minutes to dry and harden.","Then they apply a second coat.","When that dries, they water down the paste to a thin, runny consistency and apply a third coat.","Once that dries, they send the animal to the detailing department.","There, using the thick paste, artists sculpt and apply raised body and facial features.","Once the paste detailing dries, they sand the entire animal to prep for painting.","In the art department, they first apply a primer coat, white or beige.","This seals the surface.","Once the primer is dry, they paint the animal's background color.","Now the true artistry begins.","Using water colors, artists make the animals come alive with expressive eyes and fanciful features.","No stencils or predetermined designs.","The artists follow their imagination and create a unique work of art.","The last step-- four coats of transparent lacquer in either a high-gloss or matte finish.","The lacquer dries hard as a rock, forming an impenetrable, protective layer over the paint.","The paper-mache surface is now durable and moisture-resistant.","These hand-crafted animals are sought after by collectors around the world, which might explain why it's a jungle out there.","When the pressure is on, that's when a lot of machines really perform.","We're talking about the kind of pressure that comes from hydraulic fluid as it's pumped through cylinders.","From crane claws to snowplows to a lot of manufacturing equipment, hydraulic cylinders are truly a driving force in the world.","This is fluid power in action.","Pressurized fluid pumped into cylinders does all the heavy work, making this forklift actually lift.","Production begins with the cylinder barrel.","A band saw cuts steel tubing to the correct length.","Then computerized tools carve a solid cylinder to transform it into the piston rod.","It's this rod that will be moved by hydraulic pressure to transfer force to a machine like the forklift.","The tools cut threads in one end and also carve various diameters.","This will have a cushioning effect as the machine the cylinders powers cycles down.","The other end of the rod will be attached to the piston which is now taking shape as a special tool bores through the center to create a threaded hole.","Using a special gauge, a worker measures the hole's dimensions to confirm the piston rod will fit into it exactly.","Another computerized cutter then carves grooves on the outside wall of the piston.","With the piston now complete, they install a web of sealer rings on both it and the cylinder head, which has been machined in a similar fashion.","These sealers will prevent leaking of the pressurized fluids as the piston rod moves through the center holes of these parts.","This blue sealer will also act as a wiper, removing dirt from the piston rod and keeping contaminants out of the cylinder.","This \"o\" ring installed on the outside of the cylinder head will stop fluid leakage between it and the cylinder barrel.","With the sealers installed, a worker now lubricates the mouth of the cylinder head.","This allows for the a smooth installation of the part to one end of the piston rod.","He then slides the piston onto the other end of the rod and secures it with a nut.","He tightens the nut to the rod using an impact gun.","Production now returns to the cylinder barrel as a robot welds a cap onto it.","The opening fitting adjacent to it was installed earlier to attach the hose that delivers the fluids.","The worker now clamps the cylinder barrel in a device to stabilize it.","He lubricates the threaded open end so he can easily slide a metal sleeve into it.","This sleeve prevents snags so those critical sealer rings remain intact as he now inserts the piston-rod assembly into the barrel.","Once the piston is safely in the barrel, he removes the sleeve.","He then shoves the rod further into the barrel and screws the cylinder head to the threaded lip.","Using a spanner wrench, he tightens the assembly to the required torque.","He dabs adhesive onto a screw.","He inserts the screw in the cylinder head.","The adhesive dries and expands to lock the screw tightly in place.","They now etch the client name, part number and other information onto the assembled cylinder using a computerized engraving tool.","This cylinder is now ready for fluid-- hydraulic-grade oil specifically formulated to operate under pressure.","The technician attaches hoses to the cylinder to fill it with pressurized oil.","As the pressure builds at one end, the piston rod extends.","He then supplies fluid to the other end and the rod retracts.","He runs a finger around the fittings and sealers to check for leaks.","He gives this hydraulic cylinder the all-clear.","After a good wash, a worker spray-paints the hydraulic cylinders to protect the metal against rust.","Now complete, these hydraulic cylinders are ready to leave the factory.","They'll soon be under a lot of pressure to keep machines and mechanisms operating.","But it's the kind of pressure they've been made for."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Grapples","Flavorings","Dog Sleds","Athletic Shoes"]},"text":["At many work sites, grapples do all the heavy lifting.","Dangling from crane booms, these huge mechanized claws move mountains of material one load at a time.","Some are equipped with powerful electromagnets for gathering small bits of metal along with the large ones.","Not much can escape the grasp of the mighty grapple.","A magnet at the center pulls metal from the scrap heap, while four fingers dig into the pile.","It then transfers the load of steel for recycling.","It actually takes some of that recycled steel to make a grapple in the form of steel plate.","A computer-guided flame burns through the steel to cut out the various part shapes.","It will take approximately 50 pieces in a range of shapes and thicknesses to make one grapple.","A press brake repeatedly rams one of the parts while an operator adjusts it forward between thrusts.","The process curls the part to give it a claw-like profile.","It's the basic shape of a grapple finger.","Using a template, he checks the curvature to confirm it's on target.","He'll curl four fingers per grapple.","Meanwhile, a welder pieces together the grapple's core, working within a special fixture that allows him to assemble it precisely.","After he tack-welds them together, it's over to the robot.","It does the permanent welds as the core slowly rotates in a special device.","They hoist the welded grapple core over to the magnet and feed its main wire up through the core.","They lower the core, and it fits onto metal dowels protruding from the magnet.","This allows them to align the two precisely.","They thread high-strength bolts into the dowels to secure the assembly.","Next, they place a turntable bearing on the grapple's top flange.","This bearing is an important part of the claw-rotator mechanism.","They fasten the bearing's outer ring to the flange with numerous bolts, torqueing each one tightly to withstand the spinning action of the bearing's inner ring.","As demonstrated here, the bearing turns in both directions to give the grapple's claw movements a lot of flexibility.","A worker now lowers the upper rotator assembly onto the turntable bearing.","This assembly holds the rotator's motor and the manifold that feeds hydraulic fluid to the cylinders that power the claw.","They now slide the hydraulic cylinders into their slots and lock them in place with pivot pins.","They install a total of four cylinders.","Each one will power one grapple finger, and together, they'll open and close the grapple claw.","They connect the hydraulic feed lines to the cylinders and reinforce the connection with a four-bolt flange that can handle the pressure of the hydraulic fluid.","They guide each steel finger into slots in the grapple core and align them correctly.","They slide a pivot pin into the attachment holes to link the two.","This pin will also act as a kind of hinge as the finger opens and closes.","They fasten the pivot pin to the grapple with a nut that's split in one spot.","This split enables it to be squeezed tightly around the large pin with a small bolt.","They attach the hydraulic cylinders to the claw fingers with more large steel pins.","And they're now ready to power the grapple claw and test the gripping action.","The four tines, or fingers, open and close in unison.","The tips mate correctly.","There's no overlap.","They roll paint onto the company emblem, and this grapple claw is now ready for the jobsite.","It weighs 4.5 tons, and just dropping it on a car will crumple it like a piece of tissue paper.","It takes about 150 hours to manufacture a grapple claw that can get a grip on the really big jobs in a matter of seconds.","Whether it's boysenberry in your muffin, hazelnut in your coffee, blue cheese in your salad dressing, or spearmint in your chewing gum, the source is usually a prepared flavoring.","Food and drink makers typically approach a flavorings company to custom-design and produce whatever flavor they need.","Not only do flavoring companies produce ingredients for commercial use, they also manufacture stand-alone flavoring products for retail sale, such as those syrups you squirt into coffee, fountain drinks, and other beverages.","In the company's research and development laboratory, flavor chemists create each recipe, drawing from an elaborate arsenal of ingredients.","If they're designing an orange flavoring, for example, they might combine orange essence and orange peel with extracts from other citrus fruits, tweaking the proportions until they achieve exactly the taste they're after.","This chemist is designing flavoring for a soft drink.","He pours a specific amount of his trial recipe into water, then carbonates the mix by adding pressurized carbon dioxide.","Then he bottles the drink and sends it to the client for approval.","Once the client gives the okay, plant technicians mix a production formula, following very precise weights and measures set out in the recipe.","Once they combine the formula's key ingredients, they add them to the liquid fillers-- such as fruit juice and water-- and solvents such as ethanol.","The solvents trigger molecular changes that transform the oil-soluble key ingredients into a water-soluble state.","Without this conversion, the finished flavoring would simply float on top of any liquid to which it's added.","At several points throughout the process, the company's quality-control lab performs an array of tests to assess color, flavor, viscosity, and other characteristics.","The last ingredients to go into the production formula, when the recipe calls for them, are colorings.","Sometimes a client wants a powdered flavoring rather than a liquid one.","So chemists develop a liquid recipe that a machine called a spray dryer can process into a powder.","In the production plant, workers pour the required quantity of production formula into a large processing kettle.","They add whatever additional ingredients the recipe may call for, and if required, heat the mix.","If they're making a powdered flavoring, then from the kettle, they pour the liquid into a mixer containing water, gums, and starches.","These keep all the ingredients evenly blended.","Then they open a hatch and drop the mix directly into the spray dryer.","The machine uses high pressure to transform the liquid into a fine mist, then heat to dry the mist particles into powder particles.","They put the powder into a machine called a ribbon blender and add whatever dry ingredients the flavoring recipe calls for.","Then mixing blades slowly blend all the powders together.","The plant sends a sample from the blender to the quality-control lab.","Among other tests, lab technicians put the sample under a microscope to analyze the particle size, which indicates how thoroughly the ingredients are blended.","Exiting the ribbon blender, the finished flavoring passes through a vibrating screen, a magnet, and a metal detector.","The packaging equipment weighs a specific quantity and dispenses it into cartons lined with polyethylene.","A suction hose vacuums what dusts up in the process, because airborne powder is an explosion hazard.","The plant sends a sample from every batch it produces back to the lab.","Trained testers smell and taste the sample and compare it to the model lab batch.","The testers flag any production sample that's even the slightest bit off the mark, in which case they alert the flavor chemists, who then diagnose and fix the problem.","This procedure, along with the various quality-control measures throughout the production process, ensures taste consistency, which is absolutely critical, whether the prepared flavoring is an ingredient in a commercially produced food or beverage or a retail flavoring that you squirt into or sprinkle onto a drink or snack.","For centuries, dog-driven sleds were a lifeline across the frozen north, delivering medicine and other supplies to far-flung communities.","Today, aircraft and snowmobiles have mostly taken over that work, and dog-sledding has become a sport.","And a well-made sled is behind every winning team.","A dog-sled race is an endurance test for the dogs, the driver, and the sled itself.","A good sled is both flexible and sturdy enough to go the distance.","At this factory, they make sleds from white ash.","A worker angles the ends of vertical bars so they can be fitted to the sled's top rail and handlebar.","These bars are called stanchions.","He shapes the other end of them so they'll fit into grooves in the sled's runner.","All the parts of this sled are designed to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.","A worker now screws aluminum rails onto the bottom of the two runners.","He slides plastic strips into those aluminum rails, which gives the runners a smooth base for gliding over ice or snow.","He secures the plastic strips at each end with screws.","The crew is now ready to assemble all the pieces of the dog sled.","They attach metal screw eyes to the runners.","They'll thread rope through them when they're ready to tie the parts of the sled together.","All the parts of the framework fit into notches made specifically for them.","The location of those notches has been precisely mapped out.","If one is even a fraction of an inch off, the sled would collapse like a house of cards.","They measure the space between the runners to confirm they're perfectly aligned, and now tie the joints together with nylon rope.","These ties are called lashings, and there are 22 of them on this dog sled.","Historically, lashings were made of moose hide, but nylon is tougher.","They cut the rope with a hot blade, which seals the fibers so that they won't unravel.","They tie the midpoint joints together...","And the focus then moves to the dog-sled handlebar.","A worker glues strips of ash together.","The strips are thin so they can be easily bent, allowing him to curl the glued layer around a u-form.","He clamps the wood to the form, and the glue cures for three hours.","It hardens into the u-shape, creating the dog-sled handlebar.","He secures the handlebar to the dog sled with the nylon lashings.","The team then assembles the bed of the sled.","They clamp the slats into place, and then screw them to the framework.","They install the sled's front bumper, called the brushbrow.","Next, a worker cuts off the metal bead of a bicycle tire and discards it.","He uses the remaining tire tread to create foot pads by wrapping it around pieces of thick plastic and screwing it into place.","He installs a treaded pad on each runner to keep the driver's feet from slipping off.","Then they install an aluminum bar brake.","These pivot bolts will allow this bar brake to be raised when not needed, and lowered to engage the metal talons.","He loops a bungee cord on each side of a cross bar and burns off an end.","He hooks the other end of the cord to the brake.","This simple bungee-cord mechanism will enable the dog-sled musher to activate the brake.","He heat-shrinks rubber tubing around the base of the cord to protect it.","They now weave the back of the sled, using nylon cord to create a basket for carrying things.","It's big enough to hold a tired animal.","The worker then loops and ties the bridle to front stanchions beneath the sled.","He forms a \"v\" as he threads it from the back of the sled to the front.","He paints urethane onto the wood, and even over the lashings.","This will protect them against wear.","It's taken about three days to make this traditional basket dog sled, and now it's ready to mush.","Athletic footwear dates back to ancient times, but the concept gained traction with the development of treaded rubber soles in the early part of the 20th century.","These rubber-soled shoes were lightweight, comfortable, and hit the ground quietly, earning them the name \"sneakers\".","Design improvements have broadened the appeal of athletic shoes.","People wear them everywhere.","The athletic shoe has definitely gone main street.","Using a hydraulic press, this employee forces a die through synthetic fabric to cut out patterns for the upper part of the shoe.","At the next station, he punches out leather toe tips.","The toe tip is one of numerous cut-outs that add shape and structure to the synthetic upper.","After arranging the tip parts on a nonstick tray, this worker places strips of thermal resin onto them.","She drapes a nonstick sheet over the tray, then slides it into a hot metal press.","The resin melts into the leather to stiffen and strengthen it.","Another worker stamps the model number onto the heel cutout.","Then it's over to the sewing department, where a worker stitches a reflector onto the athletic shoe upper.","Other accent pieces call for more intricate stitching, so she arranges the parts on a computerized platform.","The platform moves back and forth, allowing the needle to do a perfect job of stitching the accent pieces to the upper.","This stitching would be difficult to execute manually.","Once some of the more substantial pieces have been applied to the shoe, it's time to sew on a reflective logo, and the needle is once again guided by computer software.","This athletic-shoe upper is now ready for its resin-fortified leather toe tip.","She stitches it in place, and then pieces together the collar and sews it to the back of the shoe.","She installs thick foam padding on the inside of the collar, and then turns it right-side-out to tuck the padding neatly inside and hide the seam.","Putting on the collar has obscured the top lace holes, so she clears them with a compressed-air punch.","Down the line, more computerized needles embroider brand information onto the tongue panels.","The next worker sews a liner and padding to the panel, again working inside-out to hide the seam.","Another worker then stitches a fabric base onto the athletic shoe.","She applies a rigid plastic to the heel.","That adds structure and support to the back part of the shoe.","Further down the production line, a worker tugs the shoe onto a foot form called a last.","They heat it to make it malleable enough for this machine to pull it to the shape of the last.","At the same time, nozzles apply cement to glue the overlap to the fabric base.","Then a machine heats both the upper and the rubber sole.","The heat activates glue applied to the sole earlier and also prepares the upper for bonding to that sole.","They initially use manual force to press the two together, and then the shoe is subjected to mechanized pressure.","Inside this machine, a rubber bladder expands to force the two together for a complete seal.","The shoe then gets a foam insole with an arch support.","The worker laces it partially and then pairs it up with the other shoe.","An inspector examines the pair for defects.","It has taken about 21 minutes to make this pair of athletic shoes.","And they should be able to take a real workout."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Custom Shoe Trees","Clay Targets","Squeeze Chutes","Composite Boat Propellers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Custom shoe trees...","Clay targets...","Squeeze chutes...","And composite boat propellers.","Shoe trees are a device placed inside leather shoes to preserve their shape.","They also absorb foot perspiration by wicking away leather-damaging moisture from the inside of the shoe.","Shoe trees are a worthwhile investment because they extend the life of footwear.","Shoe trees can be purchased at any price.","Some are mass produced and inexpensive, while others can be handcrafted and custom ordered like these from a small workshop in france.","The customer can select their preference of tree style as well as the type of wood and color.","A craftsman uses a model in the customer's size and marks its length on a piece of wood.","Using a band saw, the craftsman cuts the wood to the marked length.","He saws one side flat to be able to lie the piece on its side.","Then he traces the general shape of the model and saws along his previously marked lines to remove excess wood.","Once complete, the block is roughly shaped like the model.","Next, the block is mounted on one side of a pantograph, a milling machine that copies the form of one object to shape another.","He mounts the model on the other side of the pantograph.","Once the machine is turned on, both model and block begin rotating.","The machine's tools, a tracer and a cutter, are linked.","As the tracer runs across the model, the cutter moves in identical carving motions across the block.","By the time the tracer finishes, the block is an exact copy except for those extra inches on the ends for mounting the block to the machine.","The craftsman takes the copy off the pantograph and uses the sanding belt to remove any excess wood.","He repeats the process to make a second copy.","The craftsman measures and marks where he'll drill a hole on each piece of wood.","For this style, he drills a hole right through the wood.","Next, he measures the front of the customer's shoe and measures the length of each shoe tree.","He does this to ensure that he has the correct dimensions.","If the shoe tree is longer, he marks how much wood he needs to remove.","Then he uses a template to create the top opening and traces the design on to the wood.","With the band saw, the craftsman cuts along the marked line.","The top opening is now complete.","He drills holes in the bottom of each shoe tree to hollow it out.","The drill bit is replaced with a different tool, to carve out the remaining wood in the cavity.","With another tool, he smoothes the the surface of the bottom and top openings.","With a band saw, he slices the shoe tree in half to create a hinged style.","On each piece, he makes markings for the hinge, which will connect the two parts and cuts out a notch.","After drilling holes for the hinge screws, he files the notch smooth and attaches the polished brass hinge.","To ensure there are no rough edges, the craftsman sands the shoe tree.","Depending on the style, the craftsman may apply a stained wood finish or a coating of liquid wax.","Finally, the shoes are ready to be shipped back to the customer with the custom shoe trees rooted firmly inside.","Clay targets are made to be destroyed the very first time they're used.","Manufactured in multiple colors, these inverted saucers are used as practice targets and can be launched by hand or through automated machines.","Also referred to as clay pigeons, these targets are not actually made of clay.","They're made with pitch, a ceramic-type material, or resin.","Since the 1920s, this french company has been producing clay saucers for both target practice and competitions, including the olympics.","The founder invented the first automated target molding machine in 1947.","Pitch targets are made from petroleum pitch, a substance derived from crude oil, and calcium carbonate, commonly known as talc.","Talc is the filler while petroleum pitch is the binding agent, which solidifies into a hard, brittle material.","The talc arrives at the factory heated at 176 degrees fahrenheit.","A technician transfers the talc from the truck to a heated storage silo.","A screw conveyor moves the talc from the silo to the blender tank, mixing it with the pitch.","The petroleum pitch arrives to the factory heated to 392 degrees.","The pitch is transferred to a heated storage silo and pumped into a blender.","Every 10 seconds, 22 pounds of petroleum pitch and 64 pounds of talc are released into the blender.","The materials cool as soon as they leave the heated silos.","A gas boiler reheats the ingredients in 509-degree oil.","The hot oil circulates in pipes around the blender, heating the pitch talc mixture to about 390 degrees.","This process changes the consistency to a paste.","The paste flows from the blender to the automatic molding machine.","This valve cuts the flow at regular intervals to time the injections into the target-shaped molds.","The machine compresses the paste while cooling it with water so that it solidifies.","A transfer distance moves the targets on to a conveyer belt one at a time.","As they move to the next conveyer belt, the molds are flipped right-side up.","Even though the molds are still hot, they've remained soft and pliable.","As the targets continue to cool and harden, a separating device lines them up for the conveyer belts that go to the paint chambers.","The paint is made primarily of carbonate and biodegradable powdered pigment.","A technician pours a pre-measured amount of water...","And a bag of pigment into a mixer.","The mixer combines the ingredients together.","Once the water and pigment have blended together, a pre-measured amount of carbonate is added to the mixer, along with a binding and thickening agent.","After additional blending, the paint is ready.","The targets move from the conveyer belt onto spinning holders, which carry the targets through the paint chamber.","Inside, a sprayer coats the spinning targets with paint.","The targets exit the chamber wet and cooled.","Another separator divides the targets on to two conveyer belts, which carry them through a hot-air tunnel for 30 seconds to dry the paint.","The conveyer belt feeds the targets to a machine, which piles them in stacks.","Clay pigeons can be manufactured in several sizes.","Olympic regulation size is the largest, containing a width of four inches.","A smaller target is used for training purposes and contains a width under four inches.","Regardless of their size, all targets are engineered to remain stable in flight while following the intended trajectory.","And, finally, shatter when shot.","The average cow weighs up to 2,000 pounds.","During medical procedures, due to its size, a device called the squeeze chute is used to hold a cow steady.","The walls of this stall immobilize the animal, allowing a veterinarian access to administer treatment.","A squeeze chute holds an animal still for medical and other procedures so that no one gets hurt.","The key to the design is a front gate that closes around the animal's head and a cage-like structure with a squeeze wall that contains the rest of the body.","Production starts with a big coil of steel.","As it unwinds, rollers straighten the steel and the blade cuts it into sheets.","The sheets move to a laser-cutting station.","The laser cuts out the same part multiple times, producing many parts from one sheet.","The part that's produced is a component of the side exit gate.","The steel is formed into tubing.","An operator loads the tubing into a bending machine.","The machine wraps the tubing around dies, shaping it into one of the chute's access hoops.","The machine cuts the ends of the hoop and ejects it.","An automated system transfers the hoops to a rack.","A technician arranges the hoops on the upper half of one of the chute's side frames.","The jig serves as a template for the placement of the hoops.","The bottom of the hoops are welded to hinges on the frame.","These clips are for opening or locking the hoops.","He welds one to the top of each access hoop.","The operator can reach through the hoops to gain access to the animal.","The hoops can also be opened if needed.","Another technician assembles a panel to the bottom of the second side frame.","He welds clips to the top so the panel can be opened for access to the lower part of the animal.","He hinges the panel to the base of the frame.","Next, an operator uses a machine to bend steel tubing against a circular form.","After the first bend, the operator repositions the tubing so the machine can make the second bend in the specified location.","The tailgate frame has taken shape.","With the frame and a jig, a technician installs vertical bars and diagonal linkages and welds a metal shield to the lower half.","This part keeps the cow's hooves safely inside.","Meanwhile, holes have been drilled in both ends of the chute floor.","They'll be used to move one wall inward to tightly contain the animal.","Then the chute's skeleton is constructed.","Using a hoist, a technician transfers the tailgate to the structure.","The technician guides the top on to the squeeze chute framework and welds the structure together.","Next, he attaches the squeeze wall to the structure.","He opens the tailgate to test the clearance and assembles a steel panel to the lower half of the squeeze wall.","He mounts the other side panel with the exit gate to the structure.","He places hinges into the tailgate frame and welds the panel to the frame at the top.","To verify the side gate is operating smoothly, the technician pulls the lever.","Then he opens the tail gate to check its clearance.","He moves the squeeze side to various settings, making adjustments if needed to ensure that the squeeze wall is properly aligned at each notch.","Next, the entire structure is dipped in a paint vat, providing the structure with even coverage.","The head gate has been especially contoured to hold the animal's head in position.","Then a worker slides rubber grippers on to the operating handles.","This squeeze chute is now ready to assist veterinarians and ranchers with a safe way to lock an animal into position.","Until nearly 30 years ago, boat propellers were normally made of steel or aluminum.","Today, developers have since tested the waters with composite propellers.","Made from nylon resin and fiberglass, composite propellers are light weight and don't corrode.","And, in certain models, broken blades can even be replaced.","Composite propellers provide boaters with another way to move on the water.","These props are the latest way to convert rotational motion into thrust.","Production starts with a computer design.","This one is for a houseboat propeller.","The design will drive the machinery that manufactures the molds.","Pellets that are half fiberglass, half resin are placed in a dryer to remove moisture.","An operator takes a sample of the dried pellets.","First, he weighs the pellets.","Then he heats them to evaporate any additional moisture.","The change in weight indicates how much moisture has been removed.","These two-part metal molds form the pellets into propeller blades.","This process takes just a minute and a half to complete.","A technician starts a molding machine that melts the pellets.","A large feed screw forces the molten material into the mold.","The composite material solidifies, and the operator removes the newly formed propeller blade.","The process leaves a piece of unwanted material known as the sprue.","The sprue is composite material that hardened as it flowed into the mold.","Once cut, it falls into a bin to be recycled into the next composite propeller.","The trim propeller is now a functional part.","Next, composite material is molded around an aluminum core to create the hub.","A band saw cuts an extruded bar of aluminum to size.","Each piece will serve as one core.","Using a tool with a sharp-curved blade, the technician trims the rough bits left behind by the saw.","These rough bits are known as burrs, so this process is known as deburring.","Once the edges are smooth, the technician attaches clips to the three wings.","These clips will be used to center the core in the mold.","The technician slides the core into the mold.","The clips hold it in a precise position.","Then the machine is activated.","The machine allows molten fiberglass and resin material to flow into the mold cavity and encapsulate the aluminum core.","It also forms channels for the insertion of the propeller blades.","A computerized milling machine moves the hub into position for trimming.","A drill cuts into the center to widen the hole.","The next operation called broaching will carve teeth into the hole, which will help connect the hub to the motor shaft.","A machine pulls a spiraling tool called a broach through the center hole of the hub.","The tool carves through the composite layer and into the aluminum core to cut the teeth.","Here's a close-up look at those teeth.","Now it's time for all the parts to come together.","An assembler slides the blades into grooves in the hub.","The grooves help hold the blades in place.","Using a hammer, the assembler makes sure the blades are connected accordingly.","Finally, a part called a rear cap is attached.","For an inside look, the propeller has been cut open.","The cut-out reveals how the composite material has become one with the aluminum core.","And now a test.","The technician attaches a chain to a blade.","Using a hydraulic ram, he applies pressure.","He measures the breaking point.","At 1 1/2 tons of force, it's significant.","This composite boat propeller has taken about 20 minutes to produce.","Once attached to the motor shaft, it should last for years.","Now this boat is ready to provide boaters with a ton of fun while out on the water."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Railway Bridge Ties","Membrane Filters","Hydraulic Post Drivers","Bi"]},"text":["The deck of a railway bridge is typically built of wood-timbers called bridge ties.","They're bolted to steel support beams located on concrete piers over the water or gully below.","The rails on which the train travels are bolted to the wooden ties.","Wood absorbs the noise and vibration of the passing train.","The load the railway bridge will carry determines the size of its ties.","To calculate the load, engineers factor in the number of tracks, volume of traffic, weight of the transported cargo, and whether the bridge is straight or curved.","A curve will put additional stress on the structure.","The wood of choice is oak because it's hard and strong.","When the logs arrive at the sawmill, they come face-to-face with a menacing-looking device called a debarker.","A conveyor moves the shipment toward the debarker, then drops a single log in front of it onto spinning rollers.","The rollers rotate the log, while the debarker makes its way from one end to the other.","It chews off the bark with its sharp-toothed blades.","What the debarker shaves off is put to good use.","The bark gets processed into gardening mulch and they burn the sawdust in the wood-fired boiler that runs another part of the plant.","Next, one log at a time drops into a mobile carriage that runs it through a circular saw.","The carriage has sensors which detect the log's extremities and report its dimensions to a console located in the operator's cab.","The operator interprets the data.","Using a joystick controller, he flips the log into whichever position maximizes the yield.","The first few runs trim off the rough surface and square the shape.","The next runs cut boards, which the sawmill sells to flooring plants.","This continues until the log is the exact dimensions of the bridge tie.","Again, nothing is wasted.","The sawmill processes the cutoffs into wood chips, which it then sells to companies that make particle board, strand board, and similar construction materials.","The sawmill stacks the ties for transfer to the bridge mill next door.","The role of the bridge mill is to frame the bridge, also known as dapping.","That's the process of making the specific holes and notches in each tie for attaching it to the steel beam on which it will sit.","At the bridge mill, the bridge layout supervisor processes one tie at a time.","He carefully reviews the engineer's blueprints, which assign a number to each and every tie.","These numbers specify precisely where the saw has to cut notches and where the drill has to bore holes.","The locations of these notches and holes vary, depending on the tie's position on the bridge.","So, he must follow the blueprints meticulously.","After measuring and marking it all out, he sends the tie to the dap saw.","The operator sets up each cut, lining up the mark with laser-lights, which indicate the location and the cutting depth of the blade.","The notches are just the right size to fit over the steel beam on which the tie will lie.","Next, a worker using a drill press bores holes for hook bolts, which go through the tie to secure it onto the steel beams.","Each tie receives a metal identification tag, which includes the bridge and tie numbers.","On each end, workers nail on a mesh plate, made of rust-proof galvanized steel.","The plate has teeth designed to grasp and hold together the wood fiber to prevent the end from splitting.","After nailing the id tag to one of the end plates, workers force in both plates with a press.","The tie's last stop is the adjacent treatment plant.","They spend 24 hours inside a high-temperature, high-pressure chamber which penetrates them with a creosote-borate solution.","This protects the wood from rot and insect damage and extends the tie's life-span from about a decade to at least 25 years.","When filtering liquids, it's all about thinking small.","Membrane filters can separate the tiniest solids from fluids, which purifies the liquids and recovers the solids.","Once separated, the two substances may then be reused so that nothing goes to waste.","Membrane filters can turn murky water clear, almost magically.","To demonstrate, a technician installs a spiral-wound membrane in the housing of a pumping system, which is a small-scale version of what you would see in a factory.","She turns on the tap, and water flows into a tank.","She adds latex paint to purposely sully the water.","The system pumps the contaminated water through a strainer and then the membrane filter while meters measure the flow.","Within minutes, the paint has been filtered out, and the water is clear.","The making of a membrane filter begins with polypropylene mesh.","An automated system unwinds the mesh and cuts it to length.","These mesh sheets will be used as spacers.","They'll create gaps for the liquid to flow through the filter and over the membrane.","Next, the system cuts sheets of polyester fabric.","These will form channels through which the filtered material will travel.","These sheets are known as permeate spacers.","An employee stacks the polyester fabric sheets.","Using high-frequency sound waves, she welds one sheet to the next at just one end.","She layers and welds a total of 15 sheets, and then applies double-sided tape.","The tape is for attaching the packet to a central tube, and it will also serve as a guide to correctly align it.","Next, the membrane soup flows into a long trough.","It's a mix of melted plastics and solvents.","Paper backing unwinds into the trough and is coated with the soup on one side.","The coated paper then travels through two quench tanks, and the plastic components solidify as the solvents are drawn out.","The exiting solvents create a unique core structure in the remaining white plastic membrane.","The membrane now travels by a light box, which illuminates any visual defects.","An applicator also drips a preservative onto the membrane.","A team unrolls the membrane onto a work table.","They lay a sheet of the polypropylene mesh, which we saw cut to size earlier, on the membrane.","The employee then cuts the membrane to twice the length of the mesh.","They fold the membrane over the mesh, creating a membrane envelope.","The mesh serves as a pathway for fluid to flow between the membranes.","Meanwhile, another worker applies epoxy to perforated plastic tube.","He attaches the permeate spacers to it with the double-sided tape, giving the epoxy time to cure for a permanent seal.","He and a colleague apply more epoxy to the perimeter of the bottom sheet.","They transfer the membrane envelope to it and continue to layer, making a permeate fabric and membrane sandwich.","The worker then winds the glued layers snuggly to a perforated plastic core, forming the spiral membrane filter.","He tapes the multi-layered wad from one end to the other.","The tape holds everything tightly in place as the epoxy cures overnight.","They leave the tape on after the cure, and a machine winds epoxy-drenched fiberglass rope around the entire filter.","As the epoxy cures, the rope will form a hard shell around the membrane filter.","Partway through, they apply the label with a company name.","The operator captures the glue runoff during the wind.","And it's a wrap, so he cuts the rope.","From the side, you can see the flow channels between the layers.","Concentrated contaminants will travel through them and out.","The filtered liquid will seep into the core and exit, clearly improved.","The invention of the hydraulic post driver in the 1960s allowed workers to drop their shovels and sledgehammers and let a machine do the job of pounding fence and sign posts into the ground.","When it comes to labor-saving inventions, this one is definitely a striking example.","The post driver raises hefty fence or sign posts into position, and then slams them into the ground.","Inside a vertical case, a hydraulic system drops a 300-pound weight to drive the post, and then lifts it for another hit.","This machine does the work of two or more brawny humans with just one person at the controls.","To make it, they start with a vertical case for the weight.","A high-precision plasma torch cuts steel into a rectangular shape and makes holes for components.","They insert the rectangle into a break-press repeatedly to bend it into a three-sided part.","The profile includes flanges for welding it to the back wall of the case.","He fits the part to the back wall and welds them together, completing the post driver case.","An employee builds the post driver weight working within a weld fixture.","It's a box-shaped weight, and he welds it at the seams.","He taps the corners between the welds to maintain a tight configuration.","This 300-pound weight can later be filled with steel shot to make it even heavier for greater impact.","The next worker assembles yellow steel jaws to a hub to produce the grapple.","This is the part that grips the fence post and raises it into position.","He sticks a danger label onto the hub to warn people to stay clear of these powerful jaws.","He attaches a hydraulic cylinder, which will make the jaws open and close.","He connects the cylinder to the grapple jaw.","Next, they move on to the metal plate that will be used to mount the post driver to a vehicle, like a skid-steer loader.","It includes a hydraulic mechanism for tilting the fence post left or right.","The employee installs a control valve next to the cylinder and links the two with hoses.","He'll also connect the grapple and weight hydraulics to this valve.","Back to the post driver case now-- it's been painted, and they're ready to install the hydraulic motor.","The worker connects it to the sprockets and chains that will lift the weight.","He pins the sprockets into place and installs tensioning rods on either side.","Next, a cover plate protects the sprockets.","The tensioning rods protrude through it.","He slides springs onto those tensioning rods and compresses the springs to maintain the tension.","He now attaches the grapple to the post driver case.","He locks it into place with a long pin.","He links the grapple hydraulics to the control valve.","And it's ready to grab big fence posts and hold on tight.","They attach the metal mounting plate to the post driver case.","The work table tilts back to move the post driver into an upright position.","With the help of a crane, the next worker moves the weight into position and lowers it into the case.","He slides a pin into the top end to keep the weight from falling out when the post driver is on an angle.","One day in the making, this hydraulic post driver is ready for years of heavy labor, taking over for humans so they don't have to move a muscle.","A biplane is a vintage-style aircraft with two pairs of wings sitting one above the other.","The top wings are typically raised above the fuselage with vertical struts bracing them to the bottom wings.","Dating back to the earliest days of aviation, they're still popular for performing aerobatics.","A biplane's lower wings have ailerons, which bank the airplane to the right or left.","On the plane's tail, elevators pitch the plane's nose up or down while a rudder steers it left or right.","A propeller provides the propulsion.","The plane has four wings.","Each wing has two spars, wooden beams at the front and rear, which form the perimeter structure.","A craftsman skillfully fashions these spars out of sitka spruce.","This wood is exceedingly light, yet exceptionally strong, making it one of only a few woods approved for structural use in airplanes.","After sawing the wood to the spar's shape, he mounts attachment plates made of sitka spruce and mahogany plywood.","These are the end struts, steel vertical bars which will connect the upper and lower wings.","He finishes the spar by refining its contour, first with a hand plane, then an electric plane.","Using strips of sitka spruce, he constructs 15 structural ribs for each wing.","He begins with long strips, which have been soaking in water for a week to make them pliable.","He inserts one end into a curved fixture and leaves the strips to dry.","When he removes them a couple of days later, they have a permanent aerodynamic curve.","He glues two curved strips together to form the perimeter of one rib.","In between, he glues short diagonal strips called trusses.","He reinforces both sides of each intersection with a rectangular piece called a gusset.","An assembler mounts the 15 ribs crosswise on the front and rear wing spars, then installs three aluminum tubes called compression ribs.","These absorb air load hitting the spars, keeping the wooden ribs from flexing under pressure.","The craftsman connects the compression ribs with criss-crossing metal rods.","After applying more glue to critical areas, he nails an aluminum trim over the front spar and nose of the ribs.","This is called the leading edge.","It's the first part of the wing to hit the wind, so it takes the brunt of the air load.","Finally, he laces reinforcement tape through the ribs in an x pattern.","The completed structure now moves to the covering department where technicians drape it in heat shrinkable polyester fabric.","They cut the fabric to size, glue it to the wing perimeter, and heat the surface with an iron to shrink the fabric until it's taut.","Then, they stitch over the glued areas with polyester cord.","They brush on a chemical which seals the pores of the fabric.","This primes the surface to receive a spray coat of polyurethane paint, which is a special formulation designed for aircraft bodies.","Technicians construct the fuselage frame out of high-strength steel alloy tubes.","They use an electric torch to slightly melt adjoining pieces so they fuse to each other.","Because there's no filler metal bonding the pieces, the welds don't add any weight to the structure.","After painting the frame, technicians install aluminum floor panels and bulkheads.","In the tail, they add lighter weight bulkheads made of mahogany plywood and sitka spruce.","Then it's time to bolt the engine to the front of the fuselage frame.","The engine drives a propeller made of either wood, aluminum, or a composite material.","Painted aluminum body panels cover the frame.","Technicians install the fuel tank between the front cockpit and the engine.","Then they bolt the wings to the fuselage.","Vertical steel struts connect and reinforce the two levels of wings bolting to those attachment plates on the wing spars.","Next, technicians mount the painted aluminum ailerons, the tail, with its elevators and rudder made of painted fabric over welded steel, and then the engine cover.","They install a windscreen and instrument panel for each cockpit.","The front screen can be replaced with a cockpit cover to keep the pilots warm when flying in cold weather."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Zip Line Brakes","Silk Fibre Lamps","Round Balers","Comfort Shoes"]},"text":["Many thrill-seekers find zip lines exhilarating.","But without the proper braking system, they can quickly become terrifying.","Magnetic brakes are hands-free and engage automatically.","So there's no need to panic.","Just hang on, enjoy the ride, and let the brake take care of the landing.","In early human history, zip lines were used to transfer supplies across dangerous terrain.","Today, zip lines are popular with tourists and adrenaline junkies all over the world.","As the rider approaches the landing, the brake engages using magnets that induce eddy currents instead of friction.","This creates enough drag to stop the ride.","To make a zip line brake, they start with a drum.","It's made of zinc-coated steel to prevent rust.","A worker sends off the zinc so they can add the magnets.","He hammers locating pins into the metal.","He applies adhesive to the sanded areas, then places magnets onto the adhesive.","He uses steel pins as a guide.","As the adhesive cures, the magnets bond to the metal.","Next, he applies a bonding agent to a shaft bearing and inserts it into the hole in the center.","Using a hydraulic press, he drives the bearing further into the hole.","These rotor arms will spin in the magnetic field to create the braking force.","A worker fits gears into two plates and bolts the plates to each side of the rotor assembly.","He tests the rotor arms and slides the rotor gears onto the shaft already installed in the brake drum.","He opens the rotors and spins them.","He adds a ring of magnets to surround the rotors in a magnetic field.","Satisfied with the fit, he removes the rotor assembly from the drum temporarily and clips springs to the rotor.","These reaction springs will cushion the braking action.","Now a worker reinstalls the rotor device in the brake drum.","He places the magnetic ring back on top.","The strong magnetic attraction secures it to the assembly.","The next part is a large ring with more gears inside it.","He hammers and then screws it in place.","He spins the assembly again to confirm it's functional.","He installs the final two gears on the end of the shaft.","This completes the core of the zip line brake.","Another employee stitches a nylon hand grip to tough, synthetic webbing.","When this webbing is pulled out of the brake, it will set the rotor arms in motion to create the eddy currents that are the braking force.","After protecting the brake core with a metal plate, a worker puts the unit in a plastic case.","He installs a plate on the shaft for the webbing to sit on, then loops the webbing around it.","He also places a drum on top for the retraction spring.","He applies silicone adhesive around the drum.","This secures the aluminum base plate.","He now inserts the retraction spring.","He caps the spring with a metal plate and reinforces the clips with metallic tape.","Using a crank, he winds more of the webbing into the brake.","He tightens the metal shackle that holds the two sections of webbing together and winds the rest of it into the device.","He inserts a guide roller for the webbing and adds a two-part retaining clip.","He secures the clip with a rounded metal pin.","This next part is a plastic insert for the top of the case.","He screws a nut onto the shaft to lock down the insert.","He places the top half of the case onto the brake assembly and secures it to the lower half.","He snaps a dust cover onto the case.","They're now ready to test this zip line brake system.","A motor pulls out the webbing to simulate different body weights and different zip lining speeds, while a computer analyzes the brake's performance.","With magnetic zip line brakes, riders can come down at a wide range of speeds but still slow down at the same rate, ensuring that everyone has a fun but safe ride.","Silk fibres can be creatively crafted into a variety of artistic objects, from paper to fabric or even items like lamps.","The fibres are translucent, so they can take bright, white light and diffuse it into warm, beautiful mood lighting.","This lamp doesn't have shades.","Instead, it has natural-looking silk flowers which conceal its lights.","The lamp base is made of branches.","To create this functional artwork, the artisan begins with a roving.","A roving is a bundle of fibres harvested from a silk moth caterpillar's cocoon.","They've been cleaned and straightened.","She places the roving in a nylon mesh bag, then submerges it in a specially formulated dye.","She heats the dye to 185 degrees, then sprinkles in more powdered dye to produces splashes of bolder colors.","After a couple of minutes, she removes the roving...","And rinses off the excess dye.","She hangs the roving on a rack until it's completely dry.","Roving is typically spun into thread to make silk fabric, but this artisan has a different technique.","She spreads a sheet of tulle on her work table.","Then she gently separates the fine, hair-like fibres and lays them out on the tulle.","Each pile will be turned into a flower for the lamp.","She folds over the tulle to create a barrier that keeps the fibers from sticking to her hands.","She prepares the fibres for the textile medium she'll apply next, a polymer adhesive.","She saturates each pile with water containing a few drops of dishwashing detergent to open up the fibres.","Then she sponges up the excess water and soaks up any other remaining moisture with a towel so the medium does not become diluted.","Now she's ready to apply the polymer adhesive.","As the fibres absorb the medium, they fuse together, forming a sheet of silk fibre paper.","After folding back the tulle, she begins molding each paper into a flower.","She spreads the paper over a balloon and lets it dry overnight.","With a few simple steps, she has transformed a colorless roving into colorful sheets of moldable silk fibre paper.","The next day, she pops the balloon.","The silk fibre paper holds its round shape.","Using the textile medium again, she glues her silk fibre flowers to juniper branches.","She secures them with a needle and thread, matching the thread color to the silk so that it blends in.","She further sculpts the flowers with a stitch or two in select spots.","And dabs textile medium on the thread to secure it.","Then she glues in a second, slightly smaller flower, creating two layers of petals.","She takes some fibres she dyed green and glues them under the blooms to form wispy leaves.","Finally, to turn this sculpture into a functioning lamp, she places a battery powered l.e.d. push light in the center of each flower.","The lamp needs no inner wiring and doesn't need to be plugged into an outlet.","You simply press the middle of each flower to turn its hidden push light on or off.","A simple sculpture by day, and a gentle light by night.","Round hay balers automatically roll hay into large bundles.","They can also wrap the rolled hay in twine or plastic.","This american invention allows farmers to put down their pitchforks and leave the work to the machines.","The invention of the round baler was a farming breakthrough.","Round bales of hay stayed drier than square ones.","Making a round hay baler starts with a computerized fiber-optic laser.","It cuts steel sheaths into the shape of the side panels and makes holes for hardware and machine components.","Once the cuts have been made, workers remove the leftover materials.","They'll be recycled into new steel sheets.","Next, the baler side panel goes to a computerized hydraulic folder.","It bends the edges of the panel to prepare it for assembly.","With the side panel clamped in a fixture, a worker slides bolts into a part called the doubler plate.","This plate will be used to reinforce the panel.","He welds the heads of the bolts to the doubler plate.","The bolts protrude up so bearings and other parts can be attached later.","He adds other reinforcing parts, supports for rollers, and a box for twine.","Then it's over to the paint department.","They prime and paint both sides of the panel with an epoxy finish in order to protect the steel from corrosion.","After the paint dries, cranes lift two panels over to a fixture that holds several baler rollers.","Workers insert the ends of the rollers into holes in the side panels.","They add an auger for moving the hay away from the sides of the baler.","They secure all of these components with bolts.","Next, they install a belt-tightening assembly.","The bars will hold the hay-shaping belts at the correct tension.","After adding a bearing to the bottom feed roller, a worker installs sprockets.","He also loops chains around them.","The sprockets and chains will drive the 14 rollers in the baler.","The next part is known as the hay pickup, because its steel teeth lift hay from the field and into the baler.","It fits on the front of the machine.","Now a worker installs the wheels.","He brushes a lubricant onto spindles and inserts them in the wheel axles.","Bolts secure the spindles to the axles.","Then he mounts the wheels to the spindles and locks them in place with nuts.","Once the two wheels are installed, a crane lifts the machine into an upright position in order to install the rear chamber.","A crane lowers the rear chamber onto the baler assembly.","As the hay is shaped with a round bale by the machine, it will gradually expand in this chamber.","These rubber belts will roll the hay into round bales.","The team loops them around tensioning rollers, arranging them closely together.","A worker joins the ends of each belt by pushing steel pins through riveted lacing.","An employee applies vinyl decals to the outside of the baler.","The decals display the company name and the machine model in bold graphics.","The machine is equipped with hydraulic cylinders so the rear chamber can be raised and lowered.","A technician syncs the tractor cab monitor to sensors added to the baler during the assembly.","The sensors indicate the position of the back gate, the status of the bale wrapping equipment, and the moisture level in the hay.","After a complete operational check, this baler is ready to give farmers or ranchers a break by automatically creating round bales of hay.","With footwear, extremely comfortable used to mean extremely ugly.","Not anymore.","Today's comfort shoes don't look anything like they used to.","They can be just as stylish as any other shoe, but also provide sturdy, cushioning foot support.","These comfort shoes come with two interchangeable insoles.","One is an anatomically shaped footbed with good arch support.","The other is a reflexology footbed that massages your feet while you walk.","The top of the shoe is made of leather.","An operator spreads the cowhide on a cutting table and positions a part-shaped steel die over it.","With a press, he forces the die through the leather.","The die has blades on both sides, so after cutting a part for the right shoe, he flips it over and cuts the same part for the left shoe.","They stencil on guide marks for stitching and stamp on a production number.","Due to the natural variations between hides, they cut parts for a pair of shoes from the same piece of leather.","A production number keeps the parts from being inadvertently used on a different pair of shoes.","They place the part under a template and run it through a lateral knife.","This thins the leather where it will overlap adjoining parts so the thickness of the upper shoe is uniform throughout.","They apply reinforcement fabric to the most wear-prone areas of the shoe.","This machine bonds these adhesive factory enforcements with pressure and heat.","Now sewers begin assembling the upper.","They glue the parts for the lining together because stitches that are on the inside of the shoe can sometimes irritate the foot.","The lining is made of soft calf leather, except for a small piece of rougher goat leather at the back to grip the heel.","They sew in the lining one section at a time.","This is the rear section of the upper, called the heel cap.","After sewing one side, they insert a foam padding to cushion the back of the foot.","Then they fold the lining over to encase the padding.","This machine punches holes and embeds eyelets into the upper.","Then a sewer attaches two more parts of the upper, the tongue and the vamp.","Another sewer finishes the upper by stitching on the vamp ring.","They put the upper into a mold on a forming machine.","The machine works like an iron, applying both heat and pressure to form the heel cap into the perfect shape.","The next forming machine uses the same process to round the toe cap.","Now a sewer stitches a hole to the upper.","Then they steam the upper and insert a last.","A last is a foot-shaped plastic form that matches the specific shape and size of the shoe.","They place the upper into a heat setter.","The heat forms the upper to the shape of the last.","They roll out wrinkles and flatten any bulges with heat and pressure.","They place the upper in a template of the shoe's outer sole and trace the top.","They grind the leather below that line.","This roughens the surface to help with adhesion.","They apply heat-activated glue to the roughened area and the sole, which is made of molded polyurethane.","They let the glue dry.","Then they activate the glue with a heater and join the upper and sole.","They place the shoe in a vacuum press.","The press sucks out the air while drawing the upper and sole tightly together.","Next, they add an anatomically shaped footbed insole.","It's made of a moisture absorbing combination of cork and latex with leather on top.","Then they lace the shoes and insert cardboard to support the shape during transport.","They spray the upper with a chemical solution that makes the leather water-resistant.","The second set of insoles goes in the shoe box.","These shoes are designed with enough room to insert a custom orthotic device, if needed."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bead Wire","Mini Pepperoni","Irrigation Sprinklers","Leather Gloves"]},"text":["The bead is the lip of the tire that fits to a wheel rim.","High-tensile steel wires inside the bead pull the tire tightly and uniformly to the rim.","These bead wires provide stability so the wheels can start turning.","These bronze-coated steel wires are the muscle in the bead of a tire.","They're a source of hidden strength that we don't usually think about.","But without them, tires wouldn't properly grip the rim, and riding on wheels would be dangerous.","Production starts with coils of high-carbon steel.","A forklift slides the coils onto metal cones.","A worker cuts the ties around the wire.","Then the cone moves into an upright position on the carousel.","A motorized system uncoils the wire and pulls it up through the cone.","At the top, a guide positions the wire to enter a descaler.","The device has a revolving sandpaper belt which smoothes and refines the wire.","Next, the wire travels through a channel filled with powdered soap, which acts as a dry lubricant.","Then, the system pulls the wire through a series of dies, each with progressively smaller openings.","The process is called drawing because it draws down the diameter of the wire, stretching it longer and thinner.","The process reduces the wire's diameter by almost half.","A carriage lifts the thinner wire onto a spool that winds it up.","The table the spool sits on turns to deliver the wire to the next operation.","The spool of wire is one of 40 that now unwind simultaneously at a controlled speed.","Large cones keep them separate so they'll be ready for the next stage of the journey-- a trip through a long oven.","It's heated to an incredible 1,800 degrees.","Inside, intense heat recrystalizes the microstructure of the wires.","This reduces brittleness.","Then spools take up the wires.","The wires take a dip in a tank filled with hot water and phosphate solution.","A floating foam blanket keeps the solution hot.","The phosphate solution and a subsequent rinse lubricate the bead wire for the next process-- a second drawing that squeezes the wire even longer and narrower.","The holes in a series of dies become progressively narrower to reduce the wire's diameter even further.","After each trip through a die, a drum winds up the wire.","Each drum turns a little faster than the one before it.","That's because longer wires need to be wound up quicker to prevent slack in the system.","This final drawing process brings the wire's diameter down to less than 1 millimeter.","The bead wires are now at the correct width.","Next, the bead wires receive their bronze coating.","Bronzing the steel wires allows them to adhere to the tire rubber.","After the bronze solution dries, two rollers straighten the wires.","Then a spool winds up the bead wire.","They produce bead wire in different thicknesses and metal coatings for a variety of tire sizes.","They test the wires before they leave the factory.","If it can withstand up to 1,500 pounds of force before it breaks, then it's ready to be shipped to the tire factory.","Once they're installed in rubber tires, these bead wires will be an important source of strength, doing their part to keep your vehicle moving forward safely.","Mini pepperoni makes a great portable snack.","It's made of red meat or poultry.","This protein-packed snack can alleviate even the most serious hunger pains.","The meat sticks are fermented and dehydrated, so they don't need to be refrigerated.","This brand of mini pepperoni is made entirely of pork.","It comes in a variety of flavors, each made with different seasonings.","First, they prepare the raw meat.","They combine different cuts in specific proportions to attain their target meat-to-fat ratio.","The meat comes from the pig's back, shoulder, and belly.","The butcher loads the pork into an automated grinder.","It grinds the pork until it's the right texture for mini pepperoni.","The meat was frozen, then partially thawed before entering the machine.","As a result, the pork grinds cleanly.","The seasoning recipe includes paprika, cayenne pepper, dextrose, anise, and salt.","They also mix in sodium nitrate, a preservative that prevents bacterial growth and gives the meat a cured flavor.","They load the ground pork into a mixer and pour in some lactic acid bacterial culture, which will kick-start fermentation later.","Next, they add the seasoning mix and a premeasured amount of concentrated liquid paprika.","They continue mixing for a couple of minutes, distributing the ingredients evenly.","Then they transfer the ground pork from the mixer to a meat buggy.","They roll the meat buggy over to the filling machine...","And empty the contents.","A worker loads a tube of sausage casing.","The casing is made of bovine collagen.","The filling machine pumps out 1.6 ounces of ground pork then twists the casing between each one to form a link.","The machine feeds 25-link chains onto a hanging line.","The line spaces them out to preserve their perfect sausage shape.","One casing tube makes 100 links.","Next, they ferment, smoke, and dry the meat.","Workers hang three dozen 25-link chains on each smokehouse rack.","Then they roll the rack into the smokehouse.","First, they humidify and heat the links to approximately 77 degrees, triggering fermentation.","The lactic acid bacterial culture starts feeding on the dextrose in the seasoning.","The process increases the acidity in the meat, preventing harmful bacteria from growing.","It also produces a fermented flavor.","After about 14 hours, they lower the temperature and humidity to halt fermentation.","Next, they start up the smoke generator, which they've loaded with maple and beechwood chips.","They run several smoking cycles until the links change color and acquire a slightly sweet and smoky taste.","Then they raise the heat again to cook the meat thoroughly.","Finally, they dry the links in a temperature and humidity-controlled room for a couple of days.","Workers separate the links and put 10 into the bottom of each tray.","The trays go into a vacuum-packing machine, which sucks out the air then seals the top with plastic.","The pepperoni is tested by an in-house lab before packaging.","They confirm that the moisture content is sufficiently low and the acidity reading is sufficiently high.","If it is, the final product is considered shelf-stable, meaning that it isn't perishable and doesn't require refrigeration.","Where mother nature fails, a center-pivot irrigation system can succeed.","If you can't afford to wait on the rain, these systems can water your crops.","They're essentially a huge sprinkler on wheels that pivots around a central point in a slow, circular path.","Developed in the 20th century, center-pivot sprinklers have become a staple on large farms.","They can be up to a half-mile in length and sprawl across fields, ensuring there isn't a dry spot in sight.","They custom-design each sprinkler for the field it will be irrigating.","Then, they transform flat, high-strength steel into a water pipe for the sprinkler system.","The steel travels between forming tools and then a series of rollers.","They curve the steel upwards, taking it from flat to cylindrical.","More rollers squeeze the pipe to close the gap.","Then an automated induction welder can fuse the joint.","A carbide blade trims excess metal from the welded seam.","The metal is collected on a spool to be recycled.","Next, they douse the pipe with coolant.","A plasma torch then moves along the pipe to cut it into 40-foot sections.","The pipes fall off the cutting line and roll into a holding area.","After the pipes have been inspected for flaws, a team clamps flanges to the ends.","These flanges will be used to link the water pipes in the field.","They weld the flanges to the pipes.","Next, the welder uses a plasma torch to cut outlets for sprinkler heads.","He welds a threaded fitting onto each outlet.","The water pipe is complete.","They'll use dozens of these pipes for a single irrigation system.","Next, a progressive die stamps hook plates from steel.","Hook plates hold the spans of the sprinkler together.","They also keep the sprinkler flexible as it moves.","Robots weld mounting plates and other parts to a pipe, creating a base for the sprinkler system's wheeled towers.","Then they dip all the parts in molten zinc.","The zinc hardens as it cools to give the pipes a glossy, rust-proof finish.","Next, an employee assembles the sprinkler heads.","She screws a weight to the plastic sprinkler body to stabilize it.","Then she snaps on a spray nozzle.","The nozzles come in various sizes for different applications.","Finally, she adds a pressure regulator.","The next member of the team lubricates the wheel rims with soapy water.","Then he installs the rubber tires.","The tire size and tread are selected based on expected field conditions.","These tires should allow the sprinkler system to rotate freely.","They ship the parts of the sprinkler system to the field.","They arrange the pipes on the ground in the correct configuration...","And set all the structural components beside them.","Then they start assembling the immense sprinkler system, beginning with the triangular supports for the water pipes.","They hoist the ends of two pipes onto the supports and bolt them at the flanges.","They repeat this process until the structure stretches across the field.","A crew member screws the sprinklers to hoses.","He connects the hoses to u-shaped fittings screwed into the pipes.","Next, they complete the electrical wiring.","Then they roll the wheels to the end towers and bolt them to the gear motor hubs.","It takes a full day to assemble a center-pivot sprinkler system in the field.","By tapping into an underground source, the system can pump out water through the sprinkler heads.","During a drought, this irrigation system can provide a long, cold drink for crops on a hot summer day.","Gloves have long been a part of human history.","Up until the middle ages, most people ate with their hands.","So, ancient romans wore silk or linen gloves to protect their hands from hot food.","Today, leather gloves are mainly used to provide warmth, but they can also make a fashion statement.","These gloves are made of high-quality lambskin.","The tanneries process the hides to make the leather smooth, supple, and very durable.","The gloves are then handcrafted in france.","Making a fine pair of leather gloves starts with a master glove-cutter.","Cutting expertise is just as important as the quality of leather they use.","First, he adds water to make the leather supple.","Then he stretches the skin in a single direction.","This prevents the glove from stretching and losing its shape after it's made.","He uses a rectangular template to make indentations in the leather, then cuts them with shears.","He produces two rectangles, one for each glove in the pair.","He stretches the leather again.","A master glove-cutter knows how to optimize the natural stretch in the skin.","He deliberately leaves room in certain areas for comfort and eliminates stretch in other areas to preserve the glove's fit.","Using the template again, he marks and makes his final cuts.","The rectangle is for the section of the glove that covers the hand, called the trank.","He marks the glove size with a white pencil.","He follows the same procedure to cut pieces of leather for the other parts of the glove.","They include the thumb, the pieces that go in between the fingers called the fourchettes, and the decorative trim.","He uses a die to cut each part.","There's a separate die for each part of every glove model.","There's also a different die for each size.","The cutter places a few pieces into a trank die.","Then, he covers the leather with a resin block to prevent damage from the press.","The press quickly cuts the pieces.","Then, all the cut pieces are sent to the sewing department.","The head seamstress makes a paper pattern.","This model has three rows of stitching and three circular openings on the back of the hand.","She places the pattern on the leather then uses talc to transfer the design.","She uses specialized tools to punch out the openings and perforate the stitch holes.","Then another seamstress sews the glove together.","She starts with the three rows of decorative stitching.","They form three raised lines and stretch the round openings into ovals.","The rest of the glove is machine-sewn.","The seamstress turns the trank inside out and stitches the fourchettes to the fingers.","Then she sews on the thumb and the trim on the cuff.","She finishes off the cuff with an engraved rivet.","Another seamstress attaches a silk jersey lining to the inside of the glove.","There are also linings made of cashmere, wool, fur, and polar fleece.","She hand stitches the lining to the leather in each fingertip.","She turns the glove right-side out, using a wooden tool to gently push out the fingers.","A final seamstress slips the gloves onto heated hand forms.","She rubs the leather with a downward motion to manually iron out all the wrinkles.","The packager wears a pair of cotton gloves to ensure the leather remains pristine.","These leather gloves were artisan-crafted using century-old techniques and nothing more advanced than a simple sewing machine.","Now they're ready to stylishly warm up even the coldest hands."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rubber Balls","Motion Chairs","Montreal Smoked Meat","Motorized Scooters"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"-- rubber balls.","Motion chairs.","Montreal smoked meat.","And motorized scooters.","A lot happens when an inflated rubber ball hits the ground.","The rubber compresses and quickly snaps back to its round shape.","That snapping back makes the ball bounce.","In addition, the air inside the ball acts as a tightly coiled spring increasing the rebound.","When an inflated rubber ball falls to the ground, it bounces back, and players catch it on the rebound.","This type of ball is at the heart of many games, from basketball to soccer to volleyball.","At the core is an inflated rubber bladder.","Making it starts with a sheet of natural rubber.","The factory worker folds it in a specific configuration.","He places a die on top and activates a press to force it through the layers, which cuts out the shape.","He now has the bladder of a sports ball.","He brushes an adhesive around the hole in the bladder and inserts a plug.","Another worker inflates the rubber bladder as she places it in a spherical chamber.","It heats and cures the rubber for 5 minutes at a temperature of 284 degrees fahrenheit.","The rubber bladder spins on a revolving cylinder, causing it to take up nylon threads.","The threads twist around the bladder and form a layer that both strengthens it and keeps it round.","The material that will form the exterior of the ball is made using colored synthetic rubber, natural rubber, magnesium carbonate, and mineral oil.","Once it cures, a worker rolls it into thick sheets and slices it to a specific width.","He folds it several times.","This blue rubber will be used for volleyballs.","The folded rubber now travels between a series of rollers.","They flatten it and press it extremely thin, and it becomes both lightweight and formable.","An automated blade slices the rubber into shorter pieces.","A metal pattern cutter will now be used to cut the rubber into strips, which will fit together to form the outside of the ball.","These particular strips are for a basketball.","The worker places the pattern on several pieces of rubber.","A press forces the sharp-edged pattern through the rubber to cut out fish-shaped strips that are designed to fit around the round bladder.","She lines the two halves of a bonding shaper with the strips.","She inserts the bladder and re-inflates it.","She closes the bonding chamber and activates it.","Inside, heat and pressure cause the strips to stick to the bladder.","To make a medicine ball, which is used for exercising, a different pattern cutter is used.","The forming process is the same, but this ball has a unique visual impact very different from that of the basketball.","Back at the basketball station, a worker applies the brand name to the outer skin in two places.","Glue helps the decals stick to the rubber.","This mold will now transfer a pattern onto the rubber ball while also baking the lettering into it.","Another worker places the ball in the mold and pumps more air into the bladder.","He closes the lid.","The mold applies heat and pressure to emboss the pattern onto the rubber.","The lettering has penetrated the rubber, and the worker peels off the decal plastic.","Another worker replenishes the air that's been lost to make the ball completely full and round.","The ball is now ready to receive its stripes.","The worker paints black rubber into grooves that were formed during embossing.","This rubber quickly cures to become part of the ball.","Another worker inserts a fill valve into the hole.","Then, mechanical fists squeeze the ball to deflate it.","This prepares it for packaging.","With the valve inside, it can be easily re-inflated by the customer.","A worker wraps it in plastic and ships it to the retailer.","Making this rubber basketball has only taken a couple of hours, but it should be able to take a lot of knocks and bounce right back.","Having a desk job doesn't mean one has to sit still.","With a motion chair, the office worker can keep moving while staying seated.","The support structure is engineered for flexibility, so while sitting, a person can bounce, tilt, and sway.","Motion chairs redefine the act of sitting.","The stem is springy, and the connection to the seat is elastic.","This allows the office worker to be active while sitting.","Making a motion chair starts with glass-reinforced plastic, which is a strong and lightweight material.","These granules will be used to make the core of the seat.","A robot inserts a steel fastener in the center of the seat mold.","The mold closes, and the machine melts the plastic and injects it into the mold.","The plastic quickly solidifies around the steel fastener, and it becomes part of the seat core.","A robot with suctioning grippers pulls the convex-shaped seat core out.","A worker assembles a height-adjustment lever in the hole beside the one for the seat stem.","A molded plastic top completes the seat core.","He anchors it to the core with numerous screws, so even with heavy use, the top should stay firmly in place.","He visually inspects the seat core and confirms that it looks solid.","Cushioning foam and fabric complete the seat.","A worker assembles roller mechanisms that will facilitate the vertical movements of the chair's stem.","Using a special assembly tool, she presses the plastic roller and two end brackets on a metal cylinder.","She then applies an index to an aluminum support column that serves as a guide for setting the tension of an outer spring.","She inserts the roller mechanisms in slots at the other end of the column.","Strips of fabric tape keep the rollers in place.","An air cylinder presses the outer sleeve onto the column so that it sits above the tension index.","A screw between the inner and outer cylinders keeps them in position.","Next up is a compression part for setting the position of the outer seat spring.","A worker slides a metal ring between the compression part and the support column.","He inserts a gas spring into the double-walled seat stem.","He now slides the outer spring onto the assembly.","He installs a plastic casing over the gas spring.","Then he puts the seat stem inside a press chamber.","He adds a top collar to the center of the gas spring as well as a snap ring.","He activates the press, and it squeezes everything together.","Next is a stand with flexible rubber parts that will make lateral movement possible while sitting.","The worker attaches the flexible stand to a circular base.","He confirms that holes for rolling casters or gliders in the base are the correct dimension.","He screws a dial for setting lateral movement onto the protruding fastener.","He secures it with a nut and tightens it.","He covers the nut with a rubber cap.","A tester will now evaluate the motion chair's performance.","He attaches the stem to the base, and he fastens the seat to the protruding rod.","He sits down and bounces around to test the range of movement.","These tests are done intermittently to confirm that the the product consistently meets requirements.","This motion chair is now ready for shipping.","The packer plugs a hole in the base ring.","This hole is for attaching an optional backrest.","He applies a sticker with the product name.","All of the parts of the motion chair can be easily assembled on location.","Designed to discourage rigid sitting and encourage movement in any direction, it will compel the person using it to use his or her core muscles and be less sedentary on the job.","With the motion chair, it just may be possible to get fit while you sit.","For at least a century, montreal's jewish delis have been serving smoked meat on rye.","The exact origins of this particular deli meat are a matter of debate with many claims to its invention.","The juicy details have been lost to time, but montreal smoked meat continues to have an enduring appeal.","A cross between corn beef and pastrami, montreal smoked meat has attracted a foodie following around the world.","Montreal smoked meat starts with brisket, which is a cut from the cow's upper chest.","A worker thaws the previously frozen briskets in a refrigerator for 10 hours.","A team slices off the biggest chunks of fat using round, air-powered blades.","The excess fat will be shipped to another factory and used to make soap.","The workers use a sharp butcher's knife to remove smaller pieces of fat, leaving just enough for flavor.","Next, they prepare the brine.","Along with salt and sugar, there's a secret recipe of spices that includes peppers, mustard seed, allspice, and cinnamon.","The operator combines the salt and sugar with ice-cold water in a high-speed mixer.","The spices have been premixed in water to produce a spice concentrate.","The next worker loads the trimmed briskets onto a conveyor.","It takes the briskets under an array of long needles that inject the brine into the meat repeatedly.","Laced with brine, the briskets then fall into a bin.","A worker transfers the juicy briskets into a vacuum tumbler.","It pulls air from the chamber, causing the briskets to absorb more brine.","The tumbler tosses the briskets for 10 hours, massaging the brine into the meat.","A layer of protein also forms on the surface.","This holds the brine in place.","In the meantime, a worker mixes the ingredients for the dry rub.","It's comprised of the same spices that were used in the brine along with clumps of fresh garlic.","After the briskets have been well marinated, the operator adds the dry rub.","He turns on the tumbler for another half hour.","The dry rub mixture coats the surface of the meat.","This system is an alternative to rubbing the spices onto the briskets by hand.","It's faster and very efficient.","Coated with smoked meat spices and injected with flavorful brine, the briskets are now ready for roasting.","An employee rolls racks of the spicy briskets into a huge oven.","The briskets steam-roast at 210 degrees fahrenheit for 8 to 10 hours, but the workers don't actually smoke the briskets.","It's the spices and brine that give them that montreal smoked meat flavor.","After the briskets have been chilled, workers transfer them to plastic bags and place them on a conveyor.","Moving forward, a vacuum-sealing head drops down to shrink-wrap the plastic to the meat.","The vacuum seal and the smoked meat spices combined give the meat a long shelf life.","Refrigerated, it will stay fresh for up to 45 days.","This plant ships the entire brisket to restaurants.","At the restaurant, they will re-steam and slice the brisket before serving.","Next, the smoked meat is pre-sliced to sell in supermarkets.","An automatic meat slicer carves it into thin pieces in seconds.","A worker retrieves the sliced smoked meat and sets it on a tray.","Transferred to a weigh station, workers divide the slices into 6-ounce portions.","Then they roll up the smoked meat slices.","A worker places the rolled meat into plastic pouches on a rack.","The racks move forward, and a vacuum sealer applies a top film, creating little packets of sliced smoked meat.","After a quick bake to pasteurize the meat, he puts six packets into compartments on a conveyor.","A pusher moves the six packets of smoked meat into an open box.","The system seals the ends of the boxes.","Workers weigh the box of smoked meat slices.","It has taken about 30 hours to produce this batch of montreal smoked meat.","It's time to slice it thin and pile it thick between slabs of mustard-slathered rye.","Now, that's a deli lunch, montreal-style.","A motorized scooter is a souped-up version of an ordinary scooter.","Instead of propelling the wheels by pushing off the ground with one leg, an engine does most of the work.","Some motorized scooters are kids' toys, but others are sturdy vehicles suitable for commuting, utility, and recreation.","This motorized scooter has wheels large enough and tires wide enough to drive on any surface, even off road.","The manufacturer contracts this factory to make the frame components.","Machines cut hollow steel tubes to the required length.","Then workers program an automated bending machine to bend each one to the required shape.","They make five tubular frame parts per scooter, strictly following the technical drawing supplied by the manufacturer.","The scooter company subcontracts the frame assembly to another factory.","There, a welder mounts the components on a jig, which positions them correctly while he welds them together.","The non-tubular, flat-frame parts are prepared in house, cut from sheet steel by a computer-guided laser cutter.","These flat crossbars support the footboard on which the rider stands.","This flat plate supports the battery, and these arms support the rear wheel and motor.","After applying a coat of anticorrosion paint, workers install the side reflectors and the knob that secures the battery.","The paint is baked on for maximum durability.","The scooter manufacturer subcontracts the wheel rims to another factory that specializes in high-precision metal spinning.","A worker there mounts an aluminum disk onto a computer-guided lathe, positioning it right next to a rim-shaped steel mold.","Two rollers push and stretch the disk over the mold, forming the aluminum to the rim's shape.","Another worker mounts the rim on a manual-spinning lathe to finish the shaping.","First, with a cutting knife, he trims the edge.","After lubricating the edge with soap, he uses a forming bar to turn it inward to form a lip.","Then, with the forming roller, he stretches the lip to shape a flange.","Back at the scooter factory, a worker begins installing the vehicle's silent electric motor.","Its cable will plug into the electronic module that runs the motor, accelerator, and battery.","The motor is actually located inside the hub of the rear wheel.","This mounting ring holds it in place.","He installs a brake disc on top of the motor and another on the front wheel.","A mechanical cable connects each handlebar brake lever to the brake calipers.","When the driver pulls the levers, the brake calipers clamp the discs to the wheels, stopping rotation.","Now the final assembly-- workers bolt the rear wheel to the frame's support arms.","They insert the height-adjustable fork, made of steel and aluminum, into the steering column.","Next, the worker installs the handlebars, which have a thumb-operated accelerator throttle, an lcd monitor and two hand brakes, each with a mechanical cable for the calipers.","Each hand brake also has one electrical cable.","He connects the throttle line and the electrical cables to the monitor.","Then he connects the monitor to the controller.","When the rider brakes, the controller also cuts power to the motor, which allows the scooter's 48-volt lithium ion battery to regenerate.","This screw knob holds the battery securely against the battery support plate.","He connects the battery to the controller, then the mechanical cable from one hand-brake lever to the front brake calipers and from the other hand brake lever to the rear calipers.","Charging the battery takes four hours when plugged in to a regular household outlet, and a full charge lasts 31 to 37 miles.","The scooter can climb an 11% incline and reach a top speed of 20 miles per hour."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ice Cream Cones","Tent Trailers","Shoe Polish","Pliers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Ice-cream cones...","Tent trailers...","Shoe polish...","And pliers.","The ice-cream cone is the original edible container.","Invented over a century ago, it adds crunch to the melt-in-your-mouth taste of ice cream.","And it's one container that doesn't end up in the trash can, so you could say it adds a bit of virtue to the guilty pleasure of the double scoop.","The first ice-cream cones were rolled waffles.","And today's cones are simply modern versions of that.","Waffle-cone batter starts with a lot of dark brown sugar.","Caramel coloring is added...","Along with some secret flavoring ingredients.","Water is piped into the blender.","It's ice cold to keep the batter from getting too sticky.","A computer controls the addition of flour from a tank on the floor above.","Vegetable oil is added as a giant beater mixes all the ingredients.","The batter then flows out of the blender and into a refrigerated tank.","An agitating blade keeps the blend at the consistency of pancake batter.","Next, nozzles deposit batter onto baking plates that look like moving waffle irons.","Top plates flip down, and the baking plates roll through a glass heated oven for a quick bake.","The top plates lift up, revealing the cooked waffle patties.","Automated arms help transfer the patties to rolling tools.","The tools grab the patties and twist them into cones.","The cones fall down a chute and ride an open elevator up and down to cool and harden.","The waffle cones slide down another chute and move into lanes on a conveyor.","Automated fingers help guide them into paper jackets.","A computer with a camera eye counts the cones and sends a message to a machine that stacks them in the right increments.","Here, a technician activates a device that pushes on a ball inside a cone to test the cone's breaking point.","Looks like this waffle cone can hold up to some heavy licking.","Over in the sugar-cone department, the baking-plate system is designed differently.","It makes patties that are fan-shaped and have a flat edge.","This shape, along with a firmer batter, means sugar cones are stronger than waffle cones, so they're a more popular choice for hard ice cream.","Packers stack the cones in styrofoam trays.","Then the packages travel through a curtain of high-density, polyethylene film.","A heated sealer finishes the wrapping job.","An x-ray machine sends information about the contents to a computer that counts the cones and alerts inspectors to any problems.","Next, automated arms pick up cartons and open them so the packs of cones can be inserted.","But there's still one more cone variety in the works-- colorful cake cones.","Cake cones are less sugary than other varieties and have a more cake-like texture.","Batter is pumped into upright molds.","Cake cones are shaped differently from waffle and sugar cones, because they have flat rather than pointed bottoms.","Metal cores plunge into the molds to complete the shape.","This action also enhances the cake cone's flaky texture.","The cones are baked as they pass by a gauntlet of gas heaters.","Then it's down a chute and off to the packaging station.","Unlike the other cones, cake cones come out flaky and crispy without a cooling-down period.","A mechanical arm picks up paper sleeves and drops them in front of the cones.","These cones are now on their way to an ice-cream stand near you, where they'll be used to scoop up ice cream lickety-split.","When we return, building a tent trailer from the bottom up.","Tent trailers allow you to travel without reservations.","Who needs a hotel if you can park the pop-up?","Besides, you don't get fresh air and campfires at a hotel.","Tent trailers have been around since the early part of the 20th century.","And you could describe them as an overnight success.","Today's tent trailers are equipped with modern conveniences that would make anyone a happy camper.","Workers begin production by welding tubular steel components together to establish a solid framework.","Once it's painted, plumbed, and partially wired, wheels are bolted into place.","The water-storage tank goes in next.","Then aircraft-grade steel cables are strung from corner posts to a central bar.","This bar is called a \"whiffletree\".","Cranking up the whiffletree will cause the cables to lift the corner posts, raising the trailer's roof.","The trailer is wheeled to the next station, where workers lower a vinyl-covered wooden floor onto the chassis...","And secure it with screws.","Then they connect a cluster of wires to those already installed on the chassis to run things like kitchen appliances and stereos.","The interior front wall is riveted to steel bulkheads and the trailer chassis.","More wiring is threaded through the bulkheads to the trailer's side lights, and then the exterior panel is installed.","Workers slide the roadside panel over the lift posts and secure it.","The curbside exterior panels come in two pieces to create a space for the trailer door.","Corner molding completes this assembly.","Next, workers move inside and install the framework for some bench seating.","They install the lower cabinetry for the kitchenette, then join it to the upper cabinet with a long, metal hinge for easy pivoting.","A mini fridge is inserted in the lower cabinetry, and this folding kitchenette is complete.","This is the pull-out platform for one of the mattresses.","It slides into channels in the exterior walls.","But there's a lot more work to do before anyone can take a nap.","The trailer's tent is made out of water-resistant fabric.","The five sections are sewn separately, then zipped together at an inspection station.","Inspectors scrutinize every seam for flaws.","Once the tent passes inspection, it's fit onto the trailer one section at a time.","Now it's time for a little roofing.","The trailer's roof is made by sandwiching together many materials.","And that takes a lot of industrial adhesive.","The glue is rolled onto these plywood slats.","These foam insulation boards also get a generous coating.","Workers place the glued foam onto the roof's fiberglass outer skin.","They position the wooden slats along the perimeter and add bands of metal for more reinforcement.","The final layer is vinyl-coated plywood.","It will be the ceiling of the trailer.","A large roller compresses the glued layers together.","After grooves and notches have been cut into the roof, it's wired up, and 12-volt interior lights are installed in the ceiling.","Trim is added to the roof's edges along with a gasket to keep it watertight.","The roof's flaps are folded in a tray-like configuration, and the corners are capped.","Workers are now ready to raise the roof and install the tent.","The assembly is inserted into grooves in the trailer ceiling using a pneumatic hammer.","This tent trailer is now ready to pop up anywhere.","It can accommodate a small family and is equipped to feed them outdoors or inside.","It even comes with a screen door, because you never know when adventure will come knocking.","Coming up, a production line you can really take a shine to.","Mud and scuffing have long been the bane of shoes and boots.","In mediaeval times, wax was used to soften and waterproof leather footwear.","But it had a dull finish.","It wasn't until the early 20th century with the invention of shoe polish that footwear really started to shine.","All it takes is a bit of polish and a lot of elbow grease.","A vigorous brushing can enhance the job and help transform shoes from drab to fab.","Shoe polish starts with mineral spirit solvent and different combinations of carnauba wax.","The waxes go into a melter, where they're heated to 260 degrees.","The mixture cooks for 15 minutes, while beaters keep everything blended together.","This is dye fluid in a deep-black shade.","In another tank, the dye fluid and waxes are added to the solvent blend.","Agitators mix it for three minutes.","Tin-container bottoms tumble down a chute and up a magnetic conveyor belt.","A worker flips the tins right-side up then pushes them onto another conveyor.","Once they're lined up, they're ready to be filled.","Automated arms space the tins as they arrive at the filling head.","The filling heads inject hot, liquid shoe polish into the tins.","The polish is precisely doled out so there is no spillover.","The polish now needs to solidify, so the tins travel through a cooling tunnel.","When they emerge, the polish is a thick paste.","Workers perform a breaking-strength test to be sure the final product has the right consistency.","The polish-filled tins now funnel onto a conveyor that merges with a lid feeder.","The feeder lowers the lids onto the tins.","A compression wheel presses the lids in place with just the right amount of force.","And this polish is now ready to shine.","There's a different packaging system for liquid shoe polish.","A blow molding machine forces hot air into plastic to form containers.","Then the mechanized rack holding the containers rotates and places the newly formed bottles on another conveyor.","It moves them under a flame, which melts the rough edges.","Revolving conveyors move under filling heads, which pump in liquid polish.","Workers insert valves into applicators.","Then this machine press-fits the applicators onto the polish-filled containers.","Using hydraulic pressure, another machine snaps clear domes onto the applicators.","Rollers affix labels onto both sides of the bottles.","The bottles then move through an inspection station.","A mirror helps workers scrutinize the labeling job.","A technician now takes a preliminary reading of the gloss on some leather.","He applies some paste polish and rubs it in with a horsehair brush.","He takes another reading, and the gloss on this leather has increased by a factor of 2, which means this polish passes muster and is ready to add some high luster to your footwear.","When we return, plier production-- the gripping truth.","Pliers date back to around 2,000 b.c. ancient drawings show greek gods with pliers at the forge.","Today, forgers still make pliers, but these days, they use automated tools to shape the metal.","Without them, a lot of electricians, plumbers, and mechanics would be out of a job.","Pliers have three basic parts--  handles, a rivet, and jaws.","All the parts are made from steel that metal workers forge into shape.","First, a powerful electric furnace heats the steel red hot in just a few seconds.","Then a metal worker sets one sizzling rod at a time on a forming die.","A massive die forger hammers the rod against the die with tons of force.","It takes up to four strikes on separate impressions for the rod to acquire the die's shape.","Then the forging is placed onto a press that trims off any excess steel.","Two forged rods are needed to make one pair of pliers.","This pair will be for gripping, so the next step is to machine the teeth into the jaws.","Workers set the plier halves into the broaching machine.","Its tiny cutters, dozens of them, shave away steel under a shower of lubricant.","When the cutters pull away, the jaw of each plier half now has a nice set of teeth.","The factory must heat-treat the steel to harden it, a process called \"austempering\".","The plier halves travel through a gas-fired furnace for about 2 hours at a blazing 1,500 degrees.","Then the steel is dunked in salt water to cool rapidly and evenly.","The teeth on these pliers will have to take a lot of abuse, so they get a laser-heat treatment to make them even harder and more durable.","Now the pliers are ready for assembly.","For gripping pliers, a worker inserts a single piece ribbon and joins the two halves.","He then sets the joint onto a machine that spins at high speed, generating the force and friction needed to set the rivet.","Cutting pliers are also held together with a rivet, but the setting process is different.","The parts go into a press that applies both heat and pressure to secure the rivet firmly.","Next, workers insert the cutting pliers between two stone grinding wheels.","Again, lubricant prevents the steel from overheating as the wheels wear down the rivet until it lies flush with the plier surface.","The cutting pliers go into a gas oven for another two hours of heat treating, a process called \"martempering\".","When they come out, they cool in an oil solution rather than the salt solution that cools the gripping pliers.","Steel is a finicky material, so it's critical to manage the heat-treating process meticulously.","Otherwise, the metal will be substandard.","After heat-treating, the pliers go into a bath of rust inhibitor that helps protect the steel from corrosion and lubricates the riveted joints.","A robotic arm runs one pair of pliers at a time against a grinding belt, polishing all surfaces except the handles for a sleek finish.","Then a laser engraves the company logo and product number.","Automated bars now lower hundreds of pliers handle deep into a tank containing liquid vinyl.","No messy drips here.","Before dipping, the factory heat the pliers to help this coating stick to the steel.","Next, the pliers go into an oven.","The heat hardens the protective coating, cushioning the handles so they're easier on the hands.","Whatever their shape or size, pliers are a toolbox essential for anyone looking to ply their trade."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Steamer Baskets","Three"]},"text":["People have been steaming food for thousands of years.","Once upon a time, steamers were made out of clay pots with perforated floors.","Today, we've come up with all sorts of metal and plastic innovations.","The traditional bamboo steamer is a perfect balance between the old and the new.","Perfected by generations of craftsmen, traditional bamboo steamers are lightweight, strong, and durable.","They look like simple cooking tools, but building them requires enormous artisanal skill.","The craftsman buys lengths of bamboo from local farmers.","He uses a traditional planer he crafted himself to smooth the bamboo joints.","A customized chopper tool helps him split the bamboo lengthwise.","He inserts a bamboo stick to hold the split open.","After removing the chopper, he pulls on the stick to split the entire length of the bamboo.","The craftsman splits the sections again.","To assemble the steamer base, the craftsman will split the bamboo into 32 pieces.","The cover will require 128 pieces.","A custom-made knife knocks down the intersections of the bamboo.","For the steamer's cover, the craftsman splits the bamboo horizontally.","Next, the craftsman uses this slicing tool to cut the wood.","He sets the desired width and slices a thin sheet of wood lengthwise.","He uses this section of wood to form the base of the steamer and slides a bamboo ring over it to hold it in place.","Then he punches small holes with a drill...","And reinforces the joint with stainless steel wire.","The installation process begins.","First by installing a series of inner rings which will serve to reinforce the structure of the steamer and to support multiple levels of steamers inside it.","The craftsman uses special techniques to ensure that each joint is perfectly aligned for maximum strength.","Working almost entirely by hand with skills acquired over time, he meticulously creates a strong, yet lightweight piece of kitchen equipment.","The basket still needs a bottom to rest dumplings in.","The craftsman begins building the basket floor by custom fitting a series of rugged cross pieces.","He ensures that each piece fits perfectly before proceeding.","Then he inserts thin, more pliable pieces of bamboo to hold the cross pieces in place.","Next, he lays the final layer on top, placing the pieces with their outer sides facing up to form a smooth surface for food to sit on while steaming.","With the floor of the steamer in place, it's time to secure the upper pieces by binding them to the support pieces.","To do this, he threads a stainless steel wire through the cracks, twisting the ends tightly to the base.","Then he gives the inner support rings under the steamer floor a few taps, securing them in place.","The basket's base is now complete.","Next, the craftsman begins weaving the bamboo pieces together that will form the cover.","He uses a traditional pattern called a twill weave.","Then he inserts paper before adding a second layer of bamboo.","The paper will help prevent steam from escaping the basket too quickly.","He then snaps in a series of carefully sized reinforcements to keep the layers in place.","Finally, he custom fits another interior ring under the reinforcements to hold everything together, tapping it carefully into position.","The steamer cover is now complete.","A three-wheel motorized scooter provides the rider with more stability than a two-wheeled scooter.","By utilizing three points of contact with the ground, this scooter is less likely to skid or fall over when making a sharp turn, or while driving on an unpaved surface.","This high-end, three-wheeled scooter has the look and comfort of a motorcycle without the high price tag.","It can reach speeds of up to 85 miles per hour and travel about 186 miles on a full tank of gas.","At the factory, mechanics begin assembling the engine by pressing two ball bearings into the left side of an aluminum crankcase.","They insert a third ball bearing that's assembled to the gear shaft.","Then the crankshaft is installed on the opposite end.","In between the two cases, a gasket is mounted to prevent oil from leaking out.","Mechanics fit the right side of the crankcase to the left side and bolt them together.","They place one end of the drive chain around the crankshaft, and then another.","This gear is installed for the oil pump.","As the crankshaft rotates, the interior of the engine is greased with oil.","This gear rotates the crankshaft, which starts the engine.","And this gear, assembled to a generator, goes on the crankshaft.","When the generator rotates, it provides electric current to run the scooter's lights and other electrical components.","Technicians close up the right side of the crankcase with a cover...","Install the water pump...","And cap the generator.","Next, mechanics install reduction gears onto the ball bearings that were placed in the left side of the crankcase.","Reduction gears lower the rotation speed of the crankshaft to make it more manageable for the drive shaft which turns the wheels.","A pulley-based automatic transmission system called a cvt is assembled.","It's powerful, fuel-efficient, and runs smoother than a standard, gear-based, automatic transmission.","Technicians attach the piston to the piston rod and place it into the engine's single cylinder.","The bottom of the piston rod is linked to the crankshaft.","They place an aluminum cover over the transmission and install the cylinder head, which is equipped with several sensors for fuel injection and other functions.","Next, mechanics mount the rear wheel onto the drive shaft.","This aluminum swing arm supports the wheel and engine.","The steel frame is pained black and is engraved with the scooter's vehicle identification number.","Technicians bolt the frame to the front of the engine and to a pair of shock absorbers at the back.","They install part of the front suspension system, one on each side of the frame.","Then they mount the three wheel hubs and install each integrated brake disc with a brake caliper.","Back to the front suspension system, mechanics connect a shock absorber to each triangular arm.","They install the handlebars, brake levers with hydraulic cables, and switches for the lights, signals, and horn.","Once the ignition switch and vinyl seat is built in, mechanics install the rear lights and turn signals, the l.e.d. headlights...","And mount the three wheels and tires.","The last step is to run the scooter through a series of tests.","The test evaluates the functionality of the lights, turn signals, front and rear brakes, acceleration, and the accuracy of the speedometer.","There is no question this scooter provides a ton of stability.","With a front suspension system designed to keep both front wheels on the ground, the rider is guaranteed a smooth and enjoyable ride.","A conservatory is designed to let in sunlight.","It's often referred to as an extension of the home, allowing people to enjoy the warmth of the sun without ever having to step outside.","A prefabricated conservatory can be assembled in three days, so you can quickly have an indoor place in the sun.","Producing a prefab conservatory starts with a customized computer-generated design.","First, a designer selects the parts for the framework.","This piece of vinyl cladding will be part of a decorative ridge.","Then all the materials are placed on racks.","There can be 50 to 500 pieces, depending on the size of the conservatory.","Using a circular blade, the metal cutter trims aluminum components to various lengths and angles, according to his measurements.","Another designer welds aluminum parts to build a gutter system.","He makes tight welds for waterproof joints.","Next, a team assembles the frame to confirm that the parts connect together.","If successful, the framework will be taken apart for reassembly on site.","After the roof's ridge beam is set on stands in the center of the frame, technicians bolt one end of a load beam to the eaves and the other to the elevated ridge.","More beams are added to create a truss system to support the roof.","The stands supporting the ridge beam are removed.","A designer measures and maps out roof panels on polycarbonate.","The polycarbonate has a hollow, waffle structure that gives it insulating properties.","He cuts out the panels according to his measurements.","After sealing the edges with felt, the panels are mounted to the roof.","Vinyl cladding on the exposed structural bar secures the panels.","The designer tapes the vinyl with a hammer to flare it against the polycarbonate.","Then he installs the vinyl ridge gap.","The elaborate, molded finials make a statement while stopping water from dripping into the top of the roof.","He peels off the protective liner to reveal the translucent polycarbonate panels.","On another production line, an automatic saw cuts vinyl components for the walls at the specified length.","Routers carve holes for hardware.","Saws cut notches in specific locations, enabling them to join the rest of the building framework.","A technician arranges the vinyl posts and beams in a thermal welder.","The machine melts the parts where they intersect and fuses them together.","Each part of the wall frame is welded separately, and then joined together.","The welding leaves the seams a bit rough, so a machine trims off any excess vinyl.","A circular saw moves in and cleans up the exterior corners.","To customize the color, designers spray the wall frame with an acrylic paint that chemically bonds to the vinyl to prevent chipping.","Back to the white frame.","A team inserts a glass panel in the ridged rim.","Strips of vinyl around the edges hold the glass in and keep water out.","The team assembles a factory display model.","The wall panels are installed into grooves on the frame and connected by aluminum posts.","Next, the doors are installed.","A technician tightly pulls the wall frames to the aluminum posts using nylon composite devices.","Vinyl casings cover the posts and any nylon locks.","Using a crane, the team lowers the roof onto the structure and bolts it in place.","The conservatory is complete.","Now it's time to relax while sitting indoors.","People have used copper pots and pans for thousands of years.","Copper is an ideal heat conductor, allowing food to be cooked quickly and evenly.","Copper pots allow for more precise temperature control, which means dinner is less likely to be served burnt.","In the culinary world, copper is a precious metal.","Besides being a great conductor of heat, copper pots look good on the cooktop.","To cut out a round blank, a craftsman places a centering disk on a copper sheet.","He links it to a plasma torch using a metal spindle.","The spindle holds the torch at a specific distance so that, as the torch cuts out the circle, the radius is exact.","The coppersmith ensures that the cutout is as close to the edge of the copper sheet as possible to minimize waste.","Next, he examines the circular blank.","The plasma cutting has left the edges frayed, so he smoothes them by clamping the copper blank in a lathe.","He taps the blank with a rubber mallet and centers it between the clamping chucks.","The coppersmith uses a tool to check that the blank is positioned correctly.","Then he adds oil to the cutting tool and moves it against the spinning blank.","It trims the circumference, creating a cleaner edge and removes any flaws.","He files the rim of the copper blank to make it smooth and even.","Using sandpaper, he finishes the edge.","With the imperfections removed, the copper blank is formed into a sauce pan with sloping sides.","Two craftsmen press a roller against the copper blank so that it conforms to the shape of a mold.","That's part of one of the clamping chucks.","This process is called metal spinning.","While one craftsman moves the roller across the copper blank, the other applies pressure.","This shaping method takes eight to ten rounds.","Finally, the pan has taken shape, but the forming process has left fine lines on the surface.","So as it continues to spin, the coppersmith smoothes it down.","He applies lubricant to a cutting tool and trims the rim of the saucepan.","This gives the pan the desired height.","The cutting leaves the edges very sharp, so he files them down again.","The copper saucepan is ready for the cast-iron handle.","Cast iron has less thermal conductivity than copper, so the heat from the pan will travel more slowly up the handle.","The craftsperson clamps the handle to the saucepan.","This holds it tightly in place as he drills rivet holes through both the iron handle and the copper pan.","The craftsman removes the clamp and bolts the handle to the pan temporarily.","This stabilizes it for the drilling of the second rivet hole.","A rivet is inserted in the second hole from the inside of the pan.","The coppersmith heats the tail of the rivet to soften it.","Then the pan is transferred to an anvil.","Using a pneumatic hammer, the coppersmith flattens the first rivet, removes the temporary bolt, and installs the second rivet.","He heats the pan over a flame and melts a tin bar to the bottom.","He spreads the molten tin up the sides of the pan using a rag that's been soaked with a flux chemical.","The flux cleans the copper and allows the tin to flow more smoothly.","The tin lining will prevent acidic foods from leeching raw copper into the food.","The heat from the tinning flame has caused some discoloration.","The coppersmith removes the stains by using a cotton buffing wheel and polishing compound.","As he continues, the polishing takes the copper to a high sheen.","This copper saucepan is now ready for the stovetop.","But first, the craftsman pounds a steel stamp into the bottom of the pan, imprinting it with the company logo.","For cookware that only takes a couple hours to make, a copper pan can last for decades.","And if it's well cared for, it won't even show its age."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Witness Samples","Pressure Washers","Bee Hives","Cast Iron Cookers"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"...","Witness samples.","Pressure washers.","Bee hives.","And cast iron cookers.","Special coatings applied to optical glass change the way it transmits light, so that it becomes more or less reflective or even electrically conductive.","Testing beforehand on little glass discs known as witness samples bears witness to the quality of the coatings.","With witness samples, it's all about the optics.","They must be flawless on the surface in order for optical coatings to be applied and properly evaluated.","A diamond drill cuts solid cylinders out of a block of optical glass.","Each one is an inch in diameter.","A worker glues the cylinders together to a glass plate.","This keeps them in a tight pack so that they can be cut into discs.","The worker suspends the cylinder pack above a grid of piano wire.","The wire moves back and forth to grind a silicon carbide slurry into the glass cylinders, to cut them at intervals about a tenth of an inch.","The sliced cylinders then go into a hot bath for 15 minutes.","This dissolves the glue.","The glass discs separate, and are released from the base plate.","The worker rinses each disc individually to remove any remaining glue.","She sets the discs on a cardboard surface to dry.","Once loaded into slots, a robot collects the disc using suctioning fingers.","The robot inserts a disc into a suctioning clamp, and nudges it to further establish it there.","A diamond cutting wheel meets up with the disc held in the clamp, and machines a bevel into the disc.","A technician places plastic carriers with disc-size slots on a pad in a polishing machine.","The carrier's gear-style teeth intermesh with teeth on the machine's hub and outer frame.","She transfers the glass discs to the slots in the carriers.","The upper polishing pad descends, and the carriers rotate as the pads buff the discs on both sides.","The glass goes from frosty to transparent.","She rinses off the polishing compound.","Then, for an intensive cleaning, an automated rack system lowers the discs into a series of tubs.","In the first one, they undergo another rinse.","In the next tub, a special cleaning solution has been added to water-- one that won't leave a soapy residue.","Sound waves bubble through this washtub to gently scrub the disc.","After another rinse, it's into a dryer.","It blows hot air onto the glass samples to dry them without leaving streaks.","A worker tests one witness sample from every production run.","Both a camera and a laser scan the sample, and a computer analyzes the information.","The witness samples are now ready for coating.","The technician loads the sample into fixtures in the coating machine.","Using a lift, he elevates the fixtures to the top of the coating chamber.","He inserts small crucibles of coating material in the base of the coating machine.","The materials are metal oxide compounds that make glass less reflective.","For demonstration purposes, the chamber remains open, and he sets the fixtures in motion.","As they spin, the coating materials will be heated to the point of evaporation, forming a cloud that will condense on the samples at a certain thickness.","The technician closes the chamber, and the process begins.","An intense electron beam heats the coating materials.","Once the coatings have cured to the glass, they can be evaluated.","A computerized machine takes measurements to confirm that the reflective properties are correct.","The witness sample has done its job, and the coatings are ready for production.","Armed with a pressure washer, it's easy to get carried away and go on an outdoor cleaning spree.","It can be used to wash down the driveway, clean the siding on the house, remove dirt from the deck, wash the car, and much more.","A pressure washer contains an electric motor, which drives a pump that propels water at high pressure down a hose, and out a trigger-operated nozzle.","The machine's mechanics and electronics are hidden from view by a two-part plastic cover.","The two main parts of the electric motor are the rotor and the stator.","To make the stator, this automated station winds 1,640 feet of copper wire-- or, for certain models, aluminum wire-- then inserts the winding into the slots of a steel cylindrical frame.","The rotor is also a steel cylinder.","It will sit inside the stator, attached at one end to the motor shaft.","When the power washer is turned on, the a/c current passing through the stator winding creates a rotating magnetic field.","This turns the rotor, driving the motor shaft, which drives the pump.","At the next station, a worker prepares the stator's electrical connections, securing them with a cable tie.","She contains and protects the copper winding with tape.","Then, the stator moves on to receive the rotor.","On another assembly line, a worker mates the guide for the motor's three pistons with the aluminum cylinder head and the motor, now in an oil-filled aluminum housing.","The motor drives a rubber plate which moves the pistons, which move various internal components that pressurize the water.","A worker places a new stator on the carrier to prepare it for motor assembly.","Then on the pumpset, he installs a plastic water inlet pipe.","He places the bottom section of the motor housing around the new stator that's heading to the motor assembly.","The automated handling system removes the completed pumpset and transfers it to another carrier, which transports it to the final assembly line.","A worker installs a rubber tube, which keeps water out of the motor.","He pulls the stator electrical connections through it, then installs a watertight plastic box containing all the electronics and the power switch.","He plugs the power cord into the circuit board inside the box, then screws down the stator's ground wire.","A worker connects both power and water.","Then a test machine automatically runs the unit through all the functions.","Remember that two-part plastic cover?","An injection-molding machine makes the parts in separate operations--  a yellow top and a black bottom.","The automated handling system extracts the part and places them on a carrier headed to the pad printer.","The printer stamps the model name in quick-dry ink on the top cover.","Workers will later attach the company name to the front of the machine.","The next station takes the top to the final assembly line, where the handling system turns it upside down and places the pumpset inside.","At the next stop, a worker installs a guide for the machine's water hose, then positions the bottom cover.","An automated machine screws the covers together.","Another worker installs a galvanized-steel axle and two rugged plastic wheels.","He applies a decal with safety instructions, plastic wheel covers, and a 33-foot-long rubber water hose wound on a plastic reel.","The pressure washer then goes off to the packaging area, where it's boxed with the handle, accessories, and detergents.","In the product-development stage, a sound engineer tests the prototype at a sound lab to make sure the noise the pressure washer emits isn't too loud and shrill.","He runs the machine amid nine microphones, each positioned three feet away in a different direction.","To pass the test, the noise must be a low bass-range hum.","To operate the pressure washer, the user connects a garden hose to the water-inlet pipe, connects the handle to the machine's hose, turns on the water and power, then pulls the trigger to spray.","For centuries, beekeepers used dome baskets called skeps as hives.","But to harvest the honey, the skeps had to be destroyed.","In the mid-19th century, they came up with a box hive with removable frames.","Bees built their honeycombs on the frames, which beekeepers could remove without destroying them.","A hive is home for thousands of bees.","The queen resides on the bottom level.","Worker bees have the run of the house and move around making honey.","Construction of this beehive starts with the inner cover of the hive.","A worker cuts a piece of pine plywood to the correct dimensions.","He places the plywood in a jig, and carves an oblong-shaped hole into it using a hand-held router.","This hole will provide both ventilation and an upper exit point for the bees.","For the body of the hive, he uses cypress wood because it's resistant to insect damage and rot.","With a table saw, the worker trims one edge of the wall panel, taking it from rough to smooth.","He cuts a little more off the other side of the panel to make it the correct width.","This gives this side a clean edge, too.","A circular saw automatically carves a drawer pull into the panel.","This pull is known as a handhold.","There will be handholds on all sides of the hive box for easy access.","The panel, front-side down now, rides a conveyer to the next operation.","Numerous saws cut long grooves along the bottom and the sides of the panel.","This creates joints that will fit the hive panels tightly together.","A worker stacks the panels to await the next stage of assembly.","Meanwhile, at another station, the next worker notches pieces of wood to make a part called the entrance reducer.","It's the doorway to the hive.","It will allow the bees to enter, but keep intruders like mice out.","He makes a wide entranceway on one side and a narrower one on the other.","A worker then cuts tongue-and-groove joints in wood that will be used for the bottom and the cover of the beehive.","Moving to the beehive stand, he cuts a 45-degree angle on both sides of a piece of wood.","This part will serve as a landing strip for the bees.","A team slices a sheet of galvanized steel to the desired length.","Using a press brake, a worker bends the edges of the sheet against a die.","This forms a cover that will fit over the roof of the hive.","At another station, a worker pipes glue along the inside groove of the roof frame.","He arranges the tongue-and-groove boards in a tight interlock and inserts them in the glued groove of the frame.","He applies pressure to further entrench them, and drives nails into the wood frame to secure the boards.","He fits the metal cladding over the wood roof.","It's been made to fit like a glove, so it takes a bit of maneuvering.","He now joins four of the panels to make a box.","And thanks to the grooved joints, the corners fit together neatly.","He glues them, and then secures the joints with nails.","This assembly will be the brood box that houses the queen bee.","He now builds the frame for the inner cover of the hive ceiling.","He applies glue to the frame.","He inserts the cover and pounds it to drive it further into place.","It's now time for the final assembly.","They install the floor on the stand and position the entranceway piece at the front.","The brood box is next.","They hang frames with starter honeycomb beeswax on the inner ledges.","They place a wire mesh excluder over the brood box to keep the queen bee out of the upper chamber.","The smaller worker bees will be able to move through it to deposit honey on more honeycomb frames.","They stack the inner cover on top, followed by the metal-clad roof.","This empty hive will soon be a-buzz with activity and honey.","humans have been cooking over fire with iron implements since, well, the iron age.","Today, most outdoor cooking requires some type of appliance.","And because of iron's superior ability to retain and diffuse heat evenly, a cast-iron cooker is sure to get everyone fired up.","This cast-iron cooker may look like an ordinary barbecue, but it does so much more than grill.","It also slow-smokes, caramelizes, sears, and even bakes.","To produce the cast iron, the company buys scrap pieces of new steel from steel mills and from factories that use steel to make their products.","Manufacturers heat the steel in a pre-heat furnace.","This evaporates any residual moisture and speeds up melting in the main furnace.","The main furnace operator adds a powdered chemical that solidifies the impurities so that he can scoop them out.","He also adds carbon, silicon, and other alloys to transform the steel into iron.","The molds are made of a sand, clay, finely ground coal, and water mix compressed at high pressure.","The molten iron causes the moisture in the mold to evaporate.","The resulting steam escapes through vent holes at the top.","This machine lowers the top half of the mold over the bottom half.","The furnace empties the molten iron into a ladle, which contains additional alloys.","A worker positions the ladle over an opening at the top of the mold and pours in the molten iron.","After about two hours, he breaks the sand mold and extracts the casting.","Workers use a sledgehammer to break off excess metal.","The cast-iron parts are still encrusted in sand, so workers load them into a shot-blasting machine.","Shot blasting is like sandblasting, except instead of sand, the machine pummels the surface with tiny steel balls.","The shot-blasting cycle thoroughly cleans the surface.","The surface is still quite rough, however.","So workers refine it with hand tools, hammering off any remaining excess metal and grinding the surface smooth.","The top half of the cooker has a handle on the front and half a hinge on the back.","The bottom half has the other half of the hinge.","A worker drills a hole through each hinge half for the shaft that will connect them.","He drills holes in the fire box that will let in air to feed the fire.","Using a template and laser cutter, he cuts an opening in the bottom for the ventilation-draft door.","He drills mounting holes around the vent, and installs the draft door.","Its perforated hole cover lets air in.","Its solid sliding door shuts it out.","The air intake feeding the fire regulates cooking temperature.","The cooker sits in a hand-crafted steel cart.","A welder places the parts for the cart's frame in an assembly fixture, which positions them correctly.","After welding the frame, he files down the welds so that they'll be virtually invisible once the frame is painted.","This computer-guided lathe machines the cart's cast-iron wheels to the final dimensions.","The sand molds used to cast the wheels were designed using century-old patterns for cast-iron pulleys.","Once workers have mounted the two wheels, the cart goes off to be painted.","Then, a worker installs shelves made of either stainless steel, hardwood, or composite decking planks.","Workers bolt the bottom half of the cooker to the cart.","Then they lower in the fire box, which holds the fuel for cooking.","The recommended fuel is hardwood lump charcoal.","Next, a worker mounts the cooker's temperature gauge.","Then he installs the top vent.","It consists of two cast-iron discs which rotate to let in more air or less air.","Having adjustable ventilation at both the top and bottom of the cooker enables more precise temperature control.","They position the top of the cooker over the bottom, and mate the two hinge halves with the steel shaft and two stainless-steel springs.","Fiber gaskets ensure good seal when the cooker is closed over the cast-iron grates.","Those grates are reversible, with one side higher than the other, providing a choice of cooking heights above the fire."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Plasma Gems","Special Effects Snow","Piano Restoration"]},"text":["These gemstones aren't mined.","They're made from garbage.","Using plasma technology, organic waste can be turned into energy, and inorganic waste can be made into a hard black glass.","Artisans then turn the glass into beautiful jewelry.","Black jewels glitter like genuine gemstones and are as hard as quartz.","But they aren't precious or even semiprecious.","They're pure garbage.","They're called plasma gems because of the plasma technology that creates them from waste.","This patented system converts almost any type of waste into clean energy without creating any harmful byproducts.","The process produces two useful materials-- energy and a hard black glass that artisans can cut into gemstones.","The process begins by shredding waste and placing it into the system's plasma reactor.","Inside the reactor, two electrodes generate an electrically-conductive gas.","These plasma arcs create temperatures exceeding 2,900 degrees, converting the carbon-based matter into a gas that can be used to produce electric power.","At the same time, the plasma arcs melt the non-carbon-based matter, such as glass, metal, and ceramics.","The gas fuels engines that produce electric power.","Once melted, the waste separates into two layers.","Metal oxides float to the top, and metals sink to the bottom.","The company casts the metals into ingots, which go to a recycling facility.","The metal oxides seen here solidify into glass rocks as hard as granite.","The company sells these glass rocks to artisans who use it to make gemstones for jewelry.","First, the artisan grinds a chunk of the rock down to a smaller starting shape with a flat side.","Then she glues on a brass dowel called a dob stick.","She activates the glue with a u.v. light.","She returns to the grinding wheel to further reduce the size of the stone and round it as much as possible.","Then she mounts the dob stick on a fastening machine.","She presses the stone against an abrasive disc called a lathe to file down the diameter.","The lathe's surface is made of diamond dust.","It's the only material strong enough to cut through hard black glass.","The artisan measures the stone numerous times as she works, ensuring the diameter is consistent all around.","Once the diameter is perfect, she adjusts the dob stick diagonally and begins cutting symmetrical facets that will reflect light.","You cannot set this machine to cut and polish at an exact angle, so the artisan has to work by feel, sensing how hard she must press the stone against the disc.","She checks her work with a magnification loupe to make sure all the facets meet at a precise point.","Once she finishes faceting the bottom of the stone, she glues a dob stick to the top of the stone.","Then she removes the first dob stick by softening the glue with a propane torch.","Now the artisan begins faceting the top of the stone, called the crown.","Once the sides are faceted, she flattens the pointed top, forming what's called the table.","She repositions the dob stick horizontally to polish a flat edge around the middle called the girdle.","She removes the dob stick and cleans off any glue residue with acetone.","She carefully centers the stone in a sterling-silver pendant.","The pendant is being held upright in a wad of shellac.","She uses a prong pusher to bend the prongs securely over the girdle, then rounds off and softens the prongs with a file.","To remove the pendant, she softens the shellac over a flame, then submerges the pendant in acetone to remove any shellac residue.","On the hardness scale used in gemology, plasma gems are equivalent to many varieties of quartz.","Not bad for garbage that would otherwise be in a landfill.","Mother nature does not deliver on cue.","So when a film or television script calls for flurries, they use a snow machine to generate fake snowflakes.","The flakes are actually tiny soap bubbles that look surprisingly realistic on camera.","It's a sweltering day outside, but inside on the film set, it's winter.","These soapy flakes look like real snow.","They hang around just long enough to show up on screen before they evaporate.","To create these snowflakes, workers start with the same chemicals that are used in soap and shampoo.","A chemist combines the chemicals in a big mixing vat and adds purified water.","This produces a snow-making concentrate.","A machine pumps the concentrate into jugs.","Each jug contains enough base material to make it snow for up to 16 hours.","Now work begins on the snow-making machine.","A worker drills holes into the back of the snow head using a template as a guide.","He threads plastic tubing and wires through the front part of the snow head.","The wires are for a blower, and the tubing will be used to deliver the snow solution.","He applies silicone caulking around the rim and places the blower in the cavity.","This blower will introduce air to mix with the snow solution.","The caulking acts as a sealant to keep the air from escaping.","Next, he routes the wiring and tubing through the back part of the snow head.","Then he joins the two components.","He secures the two components with eight long bolts.","He encases the wiring and tubing in a polymer jacket that shrinks when heat is applied.","Next, a worker carves a hole in the center of a pre-manufactured blower guard.","He inserts the snow head in the hole so that the blower guard surrounds the back.","He ties the wiring and snow-solution tubing to the guard.","Next, he maps out screw holes and drills them into a big fan that will blow the fake snow around.","He screws in brackets that will be used to hang the machine high above a movie set.","He installs a metal guard in the front of the fan...","And attaches more brackets to the side.","These brackets act as a holder for the snow-solution pump.","Now he assembles the snow-head unit to the fan.","He ties the snow-solution hose to the snow-head nozzle using wires.","He flattens the wires to the nozzle and covers them with vinyl tape.","He fits a specially-designed fabric sock over the nozzle.","Liquid snow will be forced through the pores of the sock to form fake snowflakes.","He connects the snow-solution tubing to the pump and pulls the wiring through the top of the fan.","Next, a metal box that contains the controller for the electronics must be installed.","He runs the snow-solution tubing through it and makes all the necessary wiring connections.","The controller box is lowered onto the fan assembly and screwed in place.","He installs a weight on the end of the snow-solution tubing.","The weight will keep the tubing submerged in the snow-solution container.","This snow machine is now fully assembled.","It's over to the test station.","Here, a technician runs it for hours.","He checks that it generates a sufficient number of snowflakes and that the flakes are the right size and shape.","With his approval, these machines are ready to whip up a snowstorm when the director says \"action\".","A piano is a complex instrument.","The inner workings operate with exact precision.","Regular maintenance is required to ensure its longevity.","But even with proper care, a piano deteriorates with age.","This is where a talented team of specialists come in to restore a piano to its former glory.","a piano that's untunable, has sticking keys, or malfunctioning pedals is a pianist's worst nightmare.","These problems are quite common in older pianos, and the only cure is through a major restoration.","After decades of use, wood, leather, and wool felt components naturally deteriorate.","Metal pins develop cavities, screws rust, dust and dirt inhibit moving parts.","An old piano may require anything from minor touch-ups to a complete rebuild.","It takes up to two days just to take apart the piano.","This component, called the action, is the heart of the instrument.","It has thousands of parts, including 88 piano keys and the felt-covered hammers the keys activate.","Behind the action is the damper action.","The dampers stop the strings from vibrating, ending the piano note.","The restorers begin removing the dampers.","Every component must be laid out in an organized fashion.","This is so they know how to reassemble the instrument.","They separate the keyboard frame from the action.","The self-contained part that remains is called the action stack.","Like the dampers, the other wooden parts of the action stack deteriorate with age.","The felts are usually worn, and everything's caked in dust.","The restorers replace these components with custom-made replicas.","After cleaning and polishing the ornate brass structure, they begin reassembling the action stack.","Next, the restorers remove and discard any worn parts on the keyboard.","They clean the wood thoroughly and install replacement parts as needed.","The black keys are made of ebony wood.","They can be refinished to look brand-new.","Older white keys are covered with ivory, which is no longer used.","So instead, they install new synthetic coverings made of white acrylic or a similar material.","The steel and copper piano strings have rusted, tarnished, and fatigued with age.","The tuning pins can no longer maintain the tension on the strings.","This can change the sound of the instrument, so both the strings and tuning pins must be replaced.","The piano will also receive a new pin block.","The pin block is a laminated piece of wood that holds the pins in place.","To access the pin block, they have to remove a heavy cast-iron plate.","The plate holds the strings at a tremendous amount of tension.","Once they've removed the plate, they can take out the pin block.","They restore the ornate cast-iron plate by stripping off the old paint finish with chemicals.","Then they prime, repaint, and apply a protective coat of clear polyester.","Back in the reconstruction area, a restorer removes the piano's wooden soundboard and its support structure.","They use these original parts as a template for the new ones.","If the action is the heart of the piano, then the soundboard is its soul.","When the strings vibrate against the soundboard, it resonates with sound.","On every soundboard, the strings pass over a wooden bridge staggered by pins.","The height and positioning of the bridge and pins are critical for producing fine tone.","After removing the pins, the restorers use the old bridge to make a template for a new one.","Now they install all of the replacement parts-- soundboard, bridge, bridge pins, pin block, and tuning pins.","They install the newly-refurbished cast-iron plate and are ready to perform some cosmetic restoration.","A piano's wooden cabinet or case is constructed from hardwood.","To give the piano the look of fine furniture, the surface is covered in a thin layer of fancier wood such as mahogany, rosewood, or walnut.","This veneer usually requires restoration in older pianos.","Over time, paint peels and varnish darkens.","There's often fading from exposure to direct sunlight or cracking due to dry indoor air.","To restore the veneer, they begin by using a chemical stripper to remove the old finish.","Once they've stripped the piano-case parts down to the bare veneer, they sand away any imperfections.","Then they apply aniline dye.","It's a type of stain that penetrates deep into the veneer and enhances the grain of the wood.","Several coats of clear lacquer are applied over the aniline dye.","This piano was originally black, so they sand, stain, then paint the wood black.","They apply several coats of paint, letting each one dry overnight before sanding the surface and applying the next coat.","After the final coat, they let the paint cure for two weeks, then do a fine sanding.","To make the painted surface glossy, they use a high-speed buffer and a series of progressively-finer polishing compounds.","This is a slow and painstaking process.","It takes two or three days to complete work on a concert grand piano like this.","With the 20-plus parts of the case now refinished, the restorers are now ready to reassemble the piano.","They start by hooking the looped end of each new string onto a hitch pin.","Then they run the string over the bridge to the opposite end of the cast-iron plate, winding it around a tuning pin.","Restorers must wear gloves while restringing.","Natural oils and perspiration on the hands can tarnish the wires.","Next, they install the refurbished dampers.","The original wood has been sanded and refinished.","They also have new felts and new wires.","The dampers go into a brand-new damper action.","The restorers make minute adjustments and alignments, a meticulous process that can take a few days to complete.","But that's nothing compared to regulating the larger and more complex action, which can take several weeks.","They make more than a dozen precision adjustments to each of the 88 notes.","After they reinstall the action, they bookend the keyboard with wooden cheekblocks.","These are the originals, stripped, sanded, and stained.","The cheekblocks help align the keyboard so that the hammers strike in the right place.","The restorer checks the action one last time to ensure it's performing perfectly.","Then he's ready to tune the piano.","He weaves a strip of wool cloth through the strings to mute all but the one string they're tuning.","once he's tuned all the strings, the inner workings of the piano are as good as new.","restorers finish reassembling the piano case and give it a final dusting.","Except for the legs, all of the piano-case parts have a solid wood core covered in a newly-restored veneer.","This veneer isn't just for aesthetics.","It prevents the wood core from expanding and contracting with changes in humidity.","restoring an old piano is part technical challenge, part labor of love.","After many weeks of hard work, this instrument looks and sounds just as it did in its heyday."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Car Engines","Flour","Recliners","Envelopes"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Car engines...","Flour...","Recliners...","And envelopes.","Car engines work by internal combustion, a process that happens in each of the engine's cylinders.","Air and a drop of gasoline enter the cylinder.","The piston moves upward, compressing the mixture.","The spark plug ignites the gasoline causing an explosion that drives the piston downward, powering the engine.","Engine components are housed in what's called the engine block.","It arrives at this plant partially made.","Here, they finish it off by machining the cylinder bores, the holes in which the pistons move up and down.","The tool carves a crisscross pattern on the cylinder bore walls.","Lubricating oil will cling to the grooves in this pattern enabling the pistons to move smoothly.","After machining, the engine block travels upside down to the engine assembly line.","When it arrives there, a scanner records the block's traceability code, a barcode that enables the factory to track the block through every stage of production.","As the engine block travels down the line, error-proofing devices ensure that each component is installed properly.","Elsewhere in the factory, the crankshaft is slowly taking shape.","The crankshaft is a bar that's rotated by the up-and-down motion of the pistons.","As it turns, it transfers power to the transmission.","The crankshaft starts out as a roughly shaped steel forging.","Robotic arms pass it down the line from station to station until, 20 tooling machines later, it's fully formed.","Now they install a steel disc with teeth called the reluctor ring.","They heat it and press it onto the crankshaft.","As it cools, it shrinks to a tight fit.","This ring helps time the combustion cycle.","As it spins, its teeth pass in front of a sensor, which reads the crankshaft's position and tells the engine to fire the spark plugs at precisely the right moment.","Now they balance the crankshaft.","If it's off-kilter, the engine will vibrate.","A computer analyzes the spin and determines whether they need to drill out metal at certain points to achieve equilibrium.","Back on the engine assembly line, the engine blocks are still upside down.","A robot lubricates the four bearings on which the crankshaft will turn, then it drops the crankshaft into position.","The pistons come next-- six per engine because these are six-cylinder engines.","The pistons are made of aluminum.","Robots install them into the cylinder bores of the engine block.","A steel connecting rod attaches each piston to the crankshaft.","Now workers can close up the back of the engine block.","A robot applies sealant to the rear cover.","They bolt it on manually with a tool called a multi-spindle torque gun.","On another line, they assemble the two heads that'll cover the top of the engine block.","This robot is applying sealant to spark plug tubes before inserting them into the heads.","The heads cap off the cylinder bores.","They provide each cylinder with a spark plug and four valves-- two for allowing the fuel mixture in and two for releasing the exhaust.","The black tubes running front to back are the cam shafts, the components that open and close those valves.","There are four per engine.","A robot applies sealant and then bolts a cover onto the front of the engine block, the head, and a component called the timing chain.","This chain connects the crankshaft to the cam shafts so that they rotate in unison.","This ensures the valves open when the pistons are in the right position.","Finally, they spin the engine mechanically to make sure the components function properly.","The grain most commonly ground into flour is wheat.","Flour mills use high-protein or hard-wheat species to make bread flour and lower-protein or soft-wheat species to produce cake and pastry flour.","All-purpose flour is a compromise with medium protein.","As soon as the wheat shipment arrives, a grain probe vacuums up samples from throughout the load.","If the samples pass quality inspection, the mill gives the truck the go-ahead to dump the wheat onto an underground conveyor.","From there, the grain goes into a cleaning machine, where a system of sieves removes impurities such as straw, sticks, and grain dust.","The wheat then goes into storage silos until milling time.","The protein content of wheat varies by species, so the first step is to blend together the right varieties of wheat for the type of flour they'll be making.","From the blender, the wheat goes through a second, more intensive cleaning system that removes the tiniest of impurities, such as weed seeds and dust.","On the way to the milling machines, a scale tracks production quantities.","This mill's vertical-production line is five stories high.","Gravity carries the wheat downward through a succession of milling machines.","Each one grinds the grain between steel rollers and then sifts it.","Particles too large to pass through a sieve continue downward into the next milling machine and so on.","By the time the wheat hits the last machine, anything that's not fully processed gets vacuumed up to the top to begin the cycle again.","Mills make white flour by grinding only the wheat kernel's soft inner part, called the endosperm.","This requires removing the bran, the kernel's hard skin, and the germ, its seed.","That separation begins as soon as the wheat kernels enter the very first milling machine.","Rollers break off the germ and bran and crush the endosperm into pieces called semolina.","Sifting removes the germ and loose bran pieces, but much of the semolina remains covered in bran particles.","So between each milling station is a purifier, a machine that uses controlled air currents to float the lighter bran above the heavier semolina, enabling sieves to separate the two components.","The semolina goes through repeated grind, sift, and purify cycles until it's completely clean.","Only then can it be finely ground into flour.","The ground semolina passes through a series of sieves.","This ensures it doesn't leave the final milling machine until it's been ground to the right powdery texture.","There are three main types of white-wheat flour.","Bread flour has high protein, enabling dough to rise well and bake to a firm texture.","Cake flour has low protein, which produces a crumbly texture.","All-purpose flour is the compromise-- its medium-protein content makes it suitable for baking both bread and cakes.","By the end of production, the flour mill has produced three distinct products-- bran, used for animal feed and baking...","White-wheat flour...","And wheat germ for the health-food market.","Leftover by-products go into livestock feed.","In the mill's quality-control lab, they bake the product for which the flour is designed and then examine its appearance, texture, and taste.","They use specialized equipment to calculate the volume, the density, protein, and moisture contents.","With baked goods destined for retail sale, like these cookies, it's especially important to measure the dimensions.","If dough overexpands, the cookies won't fit in their package.","Just prior to packaging, the mill enriches its white flour with vitamins and minerals.","This replaces the vitamins and minerals lost when the milling process removed the bran and germ.","They shake the bags to settle the flour.","Bagged flour in various sizes goes out to supermarkets, restaurants, and commercial bakeries, while tanker trunks ship bulk flour to large industrial bakeries.","The first reclining armchair was introduced by the la-z-boy company in 1928.","Today, many companies make motion furniture, as the industry calls it, and the term \"recliner\" no longer refers to just armchairs.","You can buy reclining couches and even reclining sectionals.","This factory makes reclining chairs and couches in both fabric and leather.","The furniture construction is the same, regardless of the material, but leather upholstery requires a few extra steps.","They begin by inspecting the hide, marking serious defects with one color of tape and minor imperfections with another.","A computer-programmed cutting machine scans and registers the tape markings, then automatically cuts and discards the defective parts.","It cuts upholstery pieces for hidden areas, such as the undersides of seat cushions, from the imperfect leather and visible parts from flawless leather.","Once all the pieces are cut, they sew together the back, seat, and arms.","Then, they stuff the arms and back.","They position the open end against a blowing machine that fills it with polyester fiber.","Workers weigh each part before and after filling.","This ensures they've blown in the right amount of fiber and that both arms have equal filling.","Next, they'll fill the seat with foam.","A compression machine squeezes it, then a worker sprays on silicone lubricant.","This enables the seat cover to slide on easily.","Foam is made of a chemical mixture, the formulation of which determines the density-- the higher the density, the higher the quality.","Elsewhere in the factory, they cut the frame components from plywood using a computer-guided band saw.","These long pieces will form the seat frame.","A 3-seater couch has 3 separate frames, enabling each seat to recline individually.","A machine lines one side of each piece with steel spring clips.","A worker then dabs the ends in glue and assembles the pieces, reinforcing them with long, glue-coated staples.","As the staples enter the wood, friction-generated heat melts the glue.","The glue then dries, securing the staples.","Now comes the step known as \"springing the seat\".","They hook five thick, steel springs into the spring clips, then hammer the clips closed to lock the springs in place.","They connect the springs with a plastic-covered wire so that, when you sit on the seat, all the springs react in unison.","They assemble the frame pieces for the arm, using glue and glue-coated staples, plus a few screws at strategic points.","They screw the arm to the seat and begin upholstering.","First, a layer of felt to cushion the springs, then wood, cardboard, and foam to form the rounded shape of the armrest.","After lubricating with silicone spray, they slip on the leather and staple it in place.","They upholster the backrest and sides in the same manner.","The reclining mechanism arrives at the factory with the sides preassembled.","Workers install the connecting pieces, then a bushing that reduces the noise the mechanism makes.","Finally, they install a spring to control the recline speed.","They screw the mechanism to the seat frame...","Then hook up the operating handle and test it out.","To cover the back of the furniture, they attach metal tacking strips to the leather...","Then turn the edge under and hammer the tacks into the frame, using a pneumatic hammer.","The last step is to attach the back to the seat.","There's the detachable flap at the bottom, providing access to a locking spring inside.","The locking spring lets you remove the back if you have trouble getting the furniture through a doorway.","At this factory, workers are encouraged to lie down on the job, but only to inspect the furniture.","After examining the fabric and sewing, they assess the comfort and test the reclining motion.","Talk about a cushy job.","We rip it open with barely a thought, more anxious to read its contents than to take a moment to truly appreciate its form and function, and then we ruthlessly discard it.","The humble envelope just doesn't get much respect despite its distinguished 4,000-year history.","As early as 2,000 b.c., the babylonians baked special clay wrappers to transport documents.","Eventually, people made envelopes from lighter materials, such as animal skins and leaves.","By about 1,000 a.d., it became the custom to simply fold a letter and seal it with a drop of wax.","But everything changed in 1837 with england's new penny-postage system.","To mail a letter, the sender now had to buy a postage-paid paper wrapper that folded into an envelope.","One of the many envelope styles this factory makes is a 12-by-18-inch envelope made of natural-colored kraft paper.","A machine, appropriately called the sheeter, cuts the roll into 21-by-25-inch sheets.","A worker selects the cutting die for this style and installs it on an automated press.","As each stack of sheets passes underneath, the press applies 11 tons of pressure, forcing the die right through like a giant cookie cutter.","The shaped sheets are called \"envelope blanks\".","Workers now load the blanks into the feeder of an automated piece of equipment called a blank-sheet envelope-folding machine.","As we see here in slow motion, revolving steel blades first make scorelines, four in all-- one down each side, creating the envelope's side flaps, one across the top, creating the seal flap, and one across the lower end, creating the bottom flap.","Folding blades hold the paper down along the scorelines, while arms push up from underneath, folding the side flaps toward the center.","Just before the flaps meet, the machine runs a line of glue down their edge.","The flaps adhere to each other, forming the center seam that runs down the back of the envelope.","The machine then glues the bottom flap and folds it closed.","You can see in slow motion how it also applies glue to the seal flap at the top, keeping that flap open so that the glue will dry.","The sender has to just remoisten the glue to seal the envelope.","The finished envelope exits the folding machine and enters another machine that counts them and stacks them upright.","This more sophisticated piece of equipment is called a web-roll envelope-folding machine.","They feed the roll of paper directly into the machine and, as we see here in slow motion, it does everything from cutting, scoring, folding, and gluing the blanks to counting the finished envelopes.","For this style, a die even punches out an address window in the front of the envelope.","This all-in-one machine goes through all the steps at lightning speed-- 20 envelopes per second.","The thin, transparent film that covers the address window is usually made of polypropylene.","The machine cuts it to size and glues it to the envelope.","This machine doesn't have folding blades to hold the paper down along the scorelines.","Instead, the blanks roll through a series of rotating cylinders with air holes.","A suction system vacuums the blank to the cylinder while the operation is being performed, then releases the vacuum to transfer the paper to the next cylinder, where it's vacuumed on for the duration of the next operation.","Internal-mail envelopes are opened and closed repeatedly, so they don't have a lick-and-stick seal flap like regular envelopes do.","As we see here in slow motion, an automated machine rivets a cardboard button to the back of the envelope.","At the same time, it rivets another button, with a piece of string, to the flap.","Envelope factories use many different types of paper, from top-quality vellum to kraft paper.","With printing equipment incorporated right into the folding machines, they can print return addresses, even elaborate custom designs."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Gut Strings","Absinthe","Belt Buckles","Lever Locks"]},"text":["The instruments in the violin family have a distinct sound created in large part by the type of strings they have.","While there are strings made of synthetic materials or metals on the market, traditional strings are made of a specific part of a certain animal.","Stay tuned for the details.","Playing an instrument in the violin family takes guts-- literally.","That's because the instrument's four strings are made of sheep intestines.","The two thinner, higher note strings are made of plain gut.","The two thicker, lower note strings have a gut core wrapped in silver wire, then silk thread wound around the extremities.","The intestines, each roughly 65 feet long, come from local slaughterhouses and arrive already emptied, cleaned, and salted.","The first step is to soak them in cold water for one to two days.","This starts a controlled, very smelly decomposition which helps loosen up the intestines' components.","Next, using a half piece of wood cane, the string maker scrapes off the outer layers of fat and mucosa membranes.","Then, five times a day for a week, he softens the gut in an alkaline potash bath and pulls it against a handmade copper thimble.","This gently scrapes away the waste remnants until the gut is a tube of pure, transparent muscle, at which point he slices it with a splitting horn into two gut ribbons of differing widths.","The thinner, right one for making violin strings, the thicker, left one for making cello and double bass strings.","During the scraping phase, guts sometimes break apart.","Rather than discard these pieces, the string maker knots them together to produce full-length strands.","The string maker's assistants cut the gut ribbons into 23-foot lengths and bleach them for four days.","This prevents the gut from turning brown.","Then they count out the number of strands required to produce the various size strings-- from six to make the thinnest violin string all the way up to 120 to make the thickest double bass string.","They tie the ends in a loop and hook them up to a twisting machine, then turn the machine's crank and tightly twist the gut ribbons together to form one strong, single string.","Then, since the guts have begun to dry out a bit, they rehydrate the string to restore a consistent level of moisture.","Then they twist it again and transfer it, along with additional strings, to a drying frame.","There's no set drying time.","They monitor each string individually around the clock.","As a string dries, it shrinks in diameter but grows in length, creating slack.","So, they repeatedly remove and retwist until it dries completely, at which point it stabilizes.","This drying and retwisting process can take up to seven days.","The string is ready when it's hard and stiff and slightly yellowed.","At that stage, they rub it with horsehair-- the traditional equivalent of coarse sandpaper.","It makes the string smooth and even throughout.","Next, they fine-polish the string with abrasive, dried grass in a cloth that's been moistened with olive oil.","Some string makers use almond oil and pumice or powdered glass as the abrasive.","They sever the strings from the drying frame and cut them to standard lengths.","These strings will be for a child-size violin, so they're 100 centimeters long.","To produce the correct sounds, the instrument's two lower-note strings must be considerably thicker than the others.","The problem is this thickness in gut alone would produce a dull sound, so they wrap the string in sterling silver wire-- silver being seven times denser than gut.","This gives the string the right sound and a loud, brilliant tone with minimal thickness.","Next, for decoration, they wrap the top and bottom of these gut-core strings with silk thread.","On a violin string, the silk runs about a centimeter long on each end.","On a longer cello string, like this one, about 5 centimeters.","The finished string is ready to be inserted into its retail packaging.","There are less expensive synthetic strings on the market, however, particularly for early music, many musicians prefer the sound and feel of traditional gut strings-- made by hand today just as they were centuries ago.","Absinthe is a strong alcoholic drink with a colorful history.","During the late 1800s and early 1900s, drinking this anise-flavored spirit was the rage among european bohemians.","Conservatives of the day saw it as dangerous and immoral and succeeded in getting absinthe banned in several countries.","The traditional way to drink absinthe is to pour one part into a glass, straddle a specially designed slotted spoon holding a sugar cube over the glass, then, very slowly, drip three to five parts ice water directly onto the cube, dissolving the sugar into the diluting spirit.","This transforms the drink from clear to cloudy and draws out the subtle flavors and aromas of the herbal ingredients.","You can do this with a single glass or several using a traditional absinthe fountain-- a large mounted glass vessel which dispenses the ice water through multiple spigots.","This 180-year-old french distillery makes both white and green versions of absinthe.","Each is made from a different combination aromatic plants.","However, for both, the primary ingredients are green anise and grand wormwood.","Both also contain fennel.","The white absinthe has more of it.","And only green absinthe contains additional plants, such as petty wormwood, hyssop, mint, and chamomile.","The distillery workers pour the recipe ingredients into a copper still.","They pump in highly concentrated alcohol made from white grapes.","The plants soak in this alcohol base overnight, gradually imbuing the alcohol with their respective flavors and aromas.","This process is called maceration.","The next day, distillation begins.","They heat the still with pressurized steam.","After about 45 minutes, the spirit reaches the boiling point, and a floating gauge monitoring its alcohol level slowly rises and flows out the neck of the still.","However, what comes out during the first 10 minutes or so has to be discarded.","It's white, oily, and has a 90% alcohol level.","What follows is the good stuff-- crystal clear, with an average alcohol level of 78% to 80%.","This streams steadily out of the still for about three to five hours, followed by a weak tail-end flow that they discard like the first flow.","Then they dilute this distilled spirit with water to reduce the final alcohol level of this white absinthe to 60%.","To make green absinthe, before that final dilution, they pump the white absinthe through a burlap bag containing a specific plant-- the identity of which the distillery won't divulge.","They let the plant soak in the absinthe for a specific length of time.","This draws out the plant's chlorophyll, which colors the spirit bright green.","Then they dilute with water to obtain the target alcohol level of 62%, slightly higher than white absinthe.","That extra bit of alcohol helps preserve the chlorophyll.","In the distillery's in-house laboratory, quality-control technicians test a sample from each batch to verify the alcohol content.","Absinthe contains about 20% more alcohol than most spirits.","The lab monitors the level of thujone, a chemical compound in wormwood, the drink's second key ingredient.","Thujone content is regulated to varying degrees in many countries.","The european union permits up to 35 parts per million, for example, while canada, no more than 7 parts per million.","The distillery, therefore, bottles several versions of absinthe, tailoring the wormwood portion of the recipe to the export destination.","White absinthe has a strong anise taste, well balanced with wormwood, whereas green absinthe, containing more plants, has a more complex flavor.","While white is typically bottled in clear glass, green is always bottled in dark-colored glass.","That's because chlorophyll, the plant pigment that produces the green color, is highly sensitive to light.","Without dark glass shielding it from exposure, the green absinthe inside would turn yellow and eventually brown.","This would have no effect whatsoever on the taste, however, the potent drink known in 19th-century france as la fée verte, the green fairy, would lose some of its magic.","There are reports of archaeologists finding evidence of belts and buckles dating back to the 6th and 7th centuries in britain.","Decorative belt buckles appear to have been worn for the first time as symbols of status in the 1500s throughout regional spain.","Today, hand-engraved belt buckles are prized not only as fashion accessories but as inspired examples of workmanship and art.","The buckle maker welds small stainless steel rods together to form the back of the buckle.","After placing them in a welding fixture, he precision-welds them.","Using another fixture, the buckle maker adds a center pin to the back of the buckle.","After precision-welding it into place, he melts the tip of the stainless steel pin into a smooth ball.","This locating pin centers the belt in the buckle.","The buckle maker uses a jeweler's saw to cut the shape of the buckle from heavy gauge solid sterling silver.","He stamps the company logo into the back of the buckle.","Using pure silver, he solders the welded rods onto the back of the buckle, along with a stainless steel keeper tongue.","He uses a jeweler's saw to cut out initials, using the font, material, and size selected by the customer.","The buckle maker uses a soldering gun to apply solder to the back of the letters, which are made of gold fill, a thin layer of gold on top of brass.","He carefully positions the initials on the sterling silver buckle, which has been covered with flux for the soldering phase to come.","Too much solder on the back of the letters, and it could flow out onto the buckle surface.","Heating the belt buckle causes the solder on the back of the letters to attach firmly to the sterling silver surface.","The attachment process happens very quickly.","With a polishing compound and cloth polishing wheel, he gives the buckle a brilliant shine.","The buckle maker hand-engraves the buckle using assorted engraving tools.","He uses a shading tool to add depth to lines.","He follows guidelines drawn in felt pen.","The pattern engraved is chosen by the customer.","The belt maker rolls out a piece of tan strap leather.","Using a gauge knife, he cuts the width of leather needed to make the belt chosen by the customer.","The belt maker uses a variety of tools to cut and shape the leather.","He cuts the tip of the belt.","He places the leather in room-temperature water for about five minutes.","When bubbles stop rising, the leather is saturated.","After the leather has dried, he transfers a pattern from the design strip to the leather.","Stamping tools allow him to stamp intricate designs.","Using a swivel knife, he cuts to a depth of between a quarter to a third of the way through the leather.","The initial pattern has been carved.","With a beveler, he deepens and shapes the carved lines.","He chooses a bar backgrounder to create leaf in the background.","With a swivel knife, he makes the final decorative cuts.","The belt maker applies dye to the background sections of the carved leather, completing the most intricate part of his work.","He stamps in the maker's mark.","Using a piece of sheepskin, he applies an oil finish to the belt.","A thin paste highlights the cuts and gives the belt an antique finish.","A final tanned coat waterproofs the belt and helps protect it.","He makes holes in the belt.","The belt has a bend in it where the buckle will be attached.","With chicago screws, he attaches the buckle firmly to the belt.","Ideally, the belt and buckle complement each other.","Strong and stylish, meticulously handcrafted belt buckles and belts have managed to make a clear fashion statement out of belt-tightening.","The lever lock was invented in the late 18th century by an englishman.","At the time, the ward lock, with its simple, concentric plate mechanism, was the main kind of lock in use.","It was medieval technology and fairly easy to pick.","The lever lock took security to a whole new level.","More than two centuries after their invention, lever locks are still on security duty.","The mechanism hasn't changed much, except instead of two levers, there can be many inside.","They fall into slots, locking the bolt until a key lifts the levers.","This lever mechanism is very rugged.","It will continue to function even if dirt or moisture infiltrates the lock.","It's why many armed forces will only use this kind of lock.","To make the two halves of the lock body, they uncoil a narrow band of heavy steel.","Rollers straighten it.","Then a punch press shapes and cuts out the part.","Four punches produce a fully formed part.","The front half includes the side flange, the keyhole, a post, and rivet holes.","The parts tumble with wood chips, and the friction removes unwanted bits called burrs.","The chips also absorb residual oil from punch pressing.","They punch out the lock levers and other parts.","They plate all 23 parts with yellow zinc.","Next, rivets funnel into a network of tubing.","They tumble four at a time into an assembly device.","There are different-sized rivets to fit different-sized holes.","The delivery system pushes the rivets up through holes in the assembly device.","A factory worker places the back of a lock body on the rivets, and a hydraulic press squeezes them into place.","He keeps a stash of rivets at the workbench in the event that the tubing doesn't deliver.","The back of the lock body is now ready to receive the lock mechanism.","There are 240 different lever combinations.","The next worker determines which one to use.","She places the bolt lever in the casing and slides all the other levers onto a rivet.","There are a total of six levers in this particular padlock.","Some locks have more, some have fewer.","The more levers there are, the tougher the lock is to pick.","She wraps a metal spring around a rivet...","And then hinges the shackle to a third post.","She sets the back half aside and assembles the keyhole cover to the front part of the lock.","She winds a spring around a post and places the cover over it.","The spring will allow the cover to be swung open and shut.","A rivet secures the keyhole cover.","She now brings the two lock body halves together, so the rivets from the back protrude through the front.","She flattens the rivets to hold the parts together.","The next part is the clevis.","It's a u-shaped attachment for a chain to make the lock easier to hang onto when not in lockdown mode.","Another worker now categorizes the locks in separate boxes, according to the key code.","He leaves a key code i.d. card in each box.","When transferring a lock for painting, that i.d. card goes with it.","This system prevents mix-ups, so that later they'll be able to make keys to match.","They spray the locks military green and give them four coats for corrosion resistance.","It's time to rev up the key cutter.","There are 240 key profiles to match the 240 lever lock combinations.","The operator sets the blades in the desired sequence and carves the keys to give them the right geometry.","With the correct profile, the key lifts and lowers the levers in the lock to open and close it.","A standard padlock comes with two keys.","If the owner loses them both, the lock will usually need to be replaced.","That's because the keycode is never written on the lock body to avoid tipping off thieves.","The technician confirms that both keys work, and this lever padlock is now ready to thwart criminals and safeguard possessions."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Surfboards","Stickers","Sandwich Cookies","Concrete Roofing Tiles"]},"text":["Surfing is an ancient polynesian pastime, first documented by europeans in the 18th century.","In the 1920s, the sport spread from hawaii to the beaches of california.","Back then, surfboards were made of solid wood.","Today, they're made of lightweight synthetic materials.","Serious surfers have their boards custom-made and engineered for the types of waves they'll be riding.","At the board's core is a piece of polyurethane foam with a wooden strip down the center.","The factory's shaping specialist inspects the board and checks the foam for defects.","If all is well, he cuts the board to the right length.","Then he chooses a board shape template from his library and traces it.","Then he saws along his pencil line.","Using a planer, he refines this starting shape to the customer's specifications.","When he finishes, he checks to make sure everything's symmetrical.","Next, he shapes the edges.","With a power sander, he flattens and smoothes out the surface then follows with a fine sanding by hand.","Before releasing the foam core to the next department, he checks the dimensions-- thickness, contours, and the smoothness.","A lamination specialist preps the board to receive its first layer of fiberglass.","He masks the top, called the deck, to shield it from the resin he'll now apply to the bottom.","He lays down the first fiberglass cloth, leaving a 3-inch overlap along the perimeter.","Next, he spreads polyester resin that's tinted to whatever color the customer ordered all over the fiberglass cloth.","He folds the overlap onto the deck...","Then grinds the corners flat.","He flips the board deck-side up and trims the overlap.","Next, he covers the deck in two layers of fiberglass.","In between them, he pours clear polyester resin then positions company logos printed on rice paper.","The resin soaks the paper, embedding the logo.","Then another layer of resin-coated fiberglass.","Once that dries, he applies yet another coat of resin on both sides of the board.","Using a router and template, he cuts a hole for the box that'll hold the surfboard's fin.","He fills the hole with black resin then inserts the fin box.","Now a sanding specialist takes over.","He grinds the box flush, which opens its fin slot.","Then he gives the board an overall sanding to smooth the surface.","Next stop is the paint room.","The painter uses masking tape and an acrylic paint pen to decorate the surfboard with black pin lines.","Once they dry, he masks the board and air-brushes in a white pin line.","Once dry, he applies a finishing coat of resin over the entire board.","Now a polishing specialist steps in.","After a fine sanding, he buffs the entire board with polishing compound, producing a slick high-gloss finish.","The factory ships the board to the surfboard shop, where the customer chooses a fin from the many models available.","The fin screws into the fin box, and, dude, the board is ready to go.","Stickers have long been used in merchandising.","But in 1979, they took a crafty turn with the introduction of decorative stickers.","Sticker art soon became a popular hobby, allowing anyone to engage in a little creative embellishment.","Stickers can be used to accent greeting cards, photo albums, or add a certain flourish to any project.","Every sticker begins with a work of art.","The artist transfers the image to a computer and manipulates it until the desired effect is achieved.","Next, a sheet of photopolymer goes onto an exposure machine.","The technician places a negative of the art on top of the photopolymer sheet.","He pulls plastic over the two and closes the machine's lid.","Inside, a vacuum pulls the negative to the photopolymer.","Intense ultraviolet light transfers the art to the photopolymer in seconds.","He makes several photopolymer printing plates, each one a variation of the original artwork.","They will be used to layer pattern and color.","Before they can print, they have to make the art stand out from the background.","This machine removes material surrounding the transferred images using a special chemical and a heavy-duty brush.","Because the images were hardened during the exposure, they withstand the chemicals and abrasion.","The process leaves the images slightly raised against a clear backdrop and ready for the printing press.","They wrap the printing plates around cylinders.","The press operator examines the seam under a magnifying glass to confirm that the edges are perfectly aligned.","He loads the cylinder into the printing press.","Then he pours yellow ink into a reservoir below.","And it's time to roll the printing press.","Rollers transfer the ink to the printing cylinder, and it prints the art onto adhesive-backed sticker paper.","They use a different printing plate for each color to create variations in the design.","As a result, each of these hearts ends up looking different.","It's all about layering color and pattern to give the sticker artists plenty of options.","Next, the press operator prepares a cutting cylinder.","It cuts around the designs, but only penetrates the top layer of the sticker paper.","Rollers pull off the surrounding material.","They wind it up for recycling offsite.","Only the stickers remain on the backing, but they aren't ready for the scrapbook just yet.","First it's over to another press, which hot-stamps foil to the designs.","This process is carefully choreographed.","A sensor on the press detects the hearts which are to be given the metallic finish.","Those get shiny swirls, glossy ribbons, or other trimmings while others are left untouched.","The next machine cuts the stickers into sheets.","Then it's over to a packaging machine where an operator loads the sheets into a hopper.","Wheels with little grippers collect the sheets and drop them in piles of two onto a backer car.","The packaging machine then wraps plastic film around the stickers and seals the package with a static charge.","A hot knife then cuts and seals it at both ends.","When it comes to other designs, there's no shortage of choices, giving sticker artists of all ages plenty of ways to express themselves.","Early in the 20th century, an american biscuit company introduced a cookie sandwich.","It was two chocolate cookies with rich vanilla icing at the center.","This sandwich cookie created an instant sensation, and almost a century later, it hasn't lost its appeal.","People still crave this sugary fusion of crunch and cream.","Dipping the sandwich cookie in milk is a tasty tradition, and whoever started it must have been one smart cookie.","Sandwich cookies start with pure granulated sugar.","This worker heaves bags of it into a mixer as he prepares to whip up the batter for the wafers.","He adds two kinds of cocoa.","The combination will give the wafers the desired taste and color.","A premix of salt and other ingredients follows.","A specially formulated canola-oil mixture will transform these dry ingredients into a batter as huge beaters blend everything together.","They add water, and the batter starts to look like a bubbling chocolate soup.","They add dry ice, which chills the batter as it evaporates.","The lower temperature is key as they add flour to thicken the batter into a dough.","The dough will turn out less crumbly than it would have been if it had been kept at room temperature.","A premix of leavening ingredients goes in next.","One final mix, and this chocolate dough is ready to go.","The worker shovels it onto a grate, which protects his fingers as he presses the dough down into a molding machine.","This machine shapes the dough into cookie wafers while pressing intricate designs and the brand name onto them.","It churns out an impressive 5,000 chocolate wafers an hour.","The freshly molded cookie wafers now move from the silicon conveyer to a steel one.","It takes the wafers into a gas oven, where they travel in a continuous loop for several minutes to receive an even baking.","After that, fans cool the wafers to the desired crispiness.","The chocolate wafers then move to another conveyor, which feeds into a series of chutes.","Then the wafers travel over ramps designed to make them fall into a certain position.","One row lands plain-side up, and the next lands with the embossed side up.","This correctly orients them to be sandwiched around a cream filling.","It's a high-speed operation, as a cylindrical pump deposits the vanilla cream on the plain side of the wafers.","The cream-coated wafers head over to the next station.","Here, machinery moves the top wafers onto the cream-coated ones.","The cookies move up for the count.","Mechanical fingers separate them into bunches of 11.","Then grippers swing into action to move each little bunch forward.","They release the cookies neatly into plastic trays.","The trays full of sandwich cookies move on to the wrapping station.","Here, metallic film unwinds and wraps around the trays.","Hot jaws move in to seal the package at both ends.","Finally, they're shipped to retailers.","But once these sandwich cookies are in the pantry, it might be tough to keep them under wraps.","In moderate climates, tile roofs are the norm.","The tiles are typically rounded and terra-cotta in color, characteristic of mediterranean architecture and made of clay or concrete.","Today, concrete roofing tiles come in a wide variety of colors and styles from traditional to contemporary.","While concrete roofing tiles can emulate wood or asphalt shingles, they have a far longer life span-- more than 50 years.","The tile-making process begins with smooth sand from natural sand deposits combined with sharp, jagged sand made from pulverized rock.","The factory regrinds any concrete tiles that failed quality control and adds them to the mix, as well.","Technicians analyze the composition of the mix, measure the moisture, and assess the silt content.","Too much silt will weaken the concrete.","They measure silt by shaking the sand in a test tube.","Heavier particles settle to the bottom, water at the top, and silt in between.","The amount of silt must not exceed 10%.","The sand mix runs through a vibrating screen, which filters out large objects, such as rocks and sticks.","To make concrete, you mix sand with cement.","The cement-truck driver hooks up a hose to blow its contents into a huge silo.","From the silo, the conveyor system metes out a specific amount of cement into the sand.","It's critical to get the ratio just right.","Roof tiles come in a choice of colors.","They tint the concrete a specific shade by pumping in natural iron-oxide pigments and water.","A cement screw mixes everything until it's evenly blended.","The concrete is now ready to be molded into roof tiles.","This machine sprays the aluminum molds with vegetable oil, which will make it easy to extract the finished tiles.","The concrete drops into an extrusion machine, which squeezes it out in a continuous sheet onto the passing molds.","Knives descend, cutting the sheet to tile lengths.","This is what the process looks like in slow motion.","Real-time production moves at a rate of 110 tiles per minute.","The tiles now run past rollers that finish the edges nicely.","Then an ink-jet printer applies product information along with the date and time.","The next stop is a giant oven.","The factory meticulously controls the temperature and humidity inside so that the concrete dries and cures properly.","The tiles come out of the oven, depending on their size, 5 to 24 hours later.","An automated separator extracts each tile from its mold.","The conveyor then sends the empty molds back to be refilled with wet concrete.","Nozzles spray sealer onto the top of the tiles.","This will force moisture and calcium to exit thorough the bottom, preventing discoloration on the tile's surface.","Workers do a final visual check, removing any tiles with cracks or other flaws.","Automated equipment stacks and straps 36 to 39 tiles into a group called a sleeve.","The factory subjects random samples to rigorous quality-control testing for strength...","Permeability...","Even hail.","To pass this test, the tile must be left unscathed by a 2-inch ice ball flying at 35 yards per second.","This fire-safety test ensures that heat or flames can't penetrate the tile.","Roofs made of concrete tiles can even withstand winds of up to 150 miles per hour, making them ideal for regions prone to hurricanes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Carpets","Drinking Water","Laser Eye Surgery","Acoustic Guitars"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" carpets, drinking water, laser-eye surgery, and acoustic guitars.","People use the words \"rug\" and \"carpet\" interchangeably, but they're not the same thing.","A rug covers just part of the floor.","A carpet goes wall to wall.","Today most carpets on the market are made of synthetic materials.","The first step is to make the carpet yarn.","They start by feeding bales of nylon or polyester fiber into the opening and blending machine.","The carding machine then untangles the individual fibers, lining them up in neat rows, then gathering them into wider bands.","The bands go into cans.","From the cans, they go into a machine called a drawing frame...","Which draws out five threads to make one rough, loose thread.","That thread goes onto spools.","Then they twist threads from two spools to make a stronger and thicker thread.","Next they twist two of those threads together to form a two-ply yarn.","To ensure the two plies don't untwist, the yarn goes through a heat-setting machine at almost 270 degrees fahrenheit.","The continuous heat permanently sets it, much the way a curling iron sets hair.","After 45 seconds of heat-setting, the yarn is rewound on spools.","Those spools then go to the tufting department, where the carpet-making begins.","A standard 144-inch-wide carpet is made from 1,440 spools of yarn.","Each spool feeds into a plastic tube, which feeds into the tufting machine, where the 1,440 lines of yarn feed 1,440 tufting needles.","The needles stitch the yarn into a canvas backing made of polypropylene.","With slow motion, you can see the yarn being hooked on the canvas then cut underneath into carpet pile.","Up to 12 needles work each inch of canvas.","The result is a pile carpet in the standard 12-foot width.","Next they dye it.","For multicolored carpets, they use a machine called a chromojet.","It works much the way a computer ink-jet printer does, forcing streams of dye in different colors into the carpet fibers.","The more complicated and colorful the design, the more often the machine passes over the carpet.","For solid-color dyeing, there's a mixer in each dye reservoir to keep the color even.","They soak the carpet for four hours in a hot bath of dye and water heated to 212 degrees fahrenheit.","Another method uses heat and air pressure in an autoclave.","What the bath method does in four hours, this method does in just 30 minutes and with more carpets at a time.","Once the dyeing is finished, they apply a water-based glue to a polypropylene backing then put the backing over the original canvas backing, locking the carpet fibers in place.","Then it's on to what's called the marriage roll, a roller press that marries the two backings together.","After a quick run through an oven to make the water and the glue evaporate, they cut the finished carpet into rolls.","A standard roll is 100 feet long.","Researchers have invented a pollution-free car that runs on hydrogen.","The research team modified the standard car engine to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline.","Now they have to figure out how to prevent the hydrogen tank from blowing up in a collision.","Drinking water that's fresh, clean, and crystal-clear is something many of us take for granted.","We might not give it a second thought, but between the source and our tap, a lot happens to make that water fit to drink.","Our water may come from mother nature, but it's far from pristine.","It starts its journey to the treatment plant through a water-intake pipe.","On the wall of that pipe, about 6 1/2 feet down, is a 6-inch hole.","Covering that hole is a metal grill designed to keep out large debris, such as tree branches.","The water flows to the pumping station, where it goes through a preliminary screening.","A giant revolving screen removes fish, garbage, and grass.","Once they remove the debris, a low-pressure pump moves the water into the treatment plant.","The untreated water, called raw water, is dirty and smelly.","They first add a powerful form of the chemical element carbon called activated carbon.","It absorbs contaminants such as solvents and pesticides.","That rids the water of bad taste and odor.","From there, the water then goes through a series of mixing tanks.","The first tank holds a chemical called aluminum sulfate.","It acts as a coagulant, a substance that thickens liquid into globs.","In the raw water, the aluminum sulfate forms tiny, sticky globs called flocks.","Bacteria, mud, and other impurities stick to those flocks.","Then the flock-filled water moves on to the second mixing tank.","The second tank holds a chemical called polymer, which is essential to the next step of the process, called sedimentation.","Five pipes inject the water with superfine particles of sand, called microsand.","The polymer coats the sand, making it sticky.","The grains of sand then stick to the flocks in the raw water, weighing them down even more.","The water then flows into a settling tank, where the flocks, because they're heavier, settle to the bottom.","You can see the result in this demonstration.","The water is finally clear, but it's far from drinkable because it's still full of bacteria, viruses, and other organic matter.","So, on to the next step--  filtration.","The water flows onto the top of the filter then trickles downward, passing through a layer of anthracite, a type of coal, then through a layer of sand.","This filters out any remaining particles, which then flow to the middle.","But the water is still teeming with bacteria and viruses, so it has to be disinfected.","They add 1.9 milligrams of chlorine for every 4 cups of water, enough to kill off those germs and bugs.","Then they add a mineral called silicate to prevent calcium buildup from blocking our water pipes.","The treatment plant sends water samples to a government inspector, who continuously monitors the water supply to ensure it meets safety standards.","The amount of chlorine remaining in our drinking water is 20 millionths of an ounce per liter.","The chlorine gas the plant uses is highly toxic.","Should any leak out, emergency teams would have to evacuate a 6-mile radius.","So the plant stores the drums of chlorine in a high-security area.","It's taken about 45 minutes to turn raw water into treated water.","Now these electric motors will pump it through underground pipes, right to your tap.","Short-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism are all due to light not focusing precisely onto the retina.","Surgeons can correct this by using a laser to reshape the curvature of the front surface of the eye, called the cornea.","The surgeon operates on one eye at a time.","He cleans the eye, the lid, and the lashes with antiseptic...","And administers anesthetic drops to freeze the eye and lid.","He opens the lid wide with a speculum then rinses the eye with a saline solution.","Everything's frozen, so the patient doesn't feel a thing.","Next-- antibiotic drops to prevent infection.","Before every operation, the surgeon tests the equipment.","He fires the laser on a metal plate to test its energy level.","The surgeon administers a few more anesthetic drops...","Then inspects the microkeratome, the device he'll use to lift a very thin layer from the outer surface of the eye.","He also measures the patient's cornea using an ultrasonic instrument.","The cornea must be a minimum thickness for it to be safely reshaped.","The surgeon uses the speculum again to prop the lid open.","Then he begins the operation.","He marks the eye with sterile ink, reference marks he'll use later.","Next he positions a metal ring around the cornea.","The ring is attached to a suction pump so it clings to the eye.","Like holding a tomato steady while you slice it, it holds the eye steady while the surgeon cuts the tissue.","The surgeon lubricates the eye with sterile water then mops up the excess water with a small, absorbent sponge.","Then he takes the microkeratome and slips it into grooves in the metal suction ring.","In a matter of seconds, the device moves across the eye, cutting open a flap of tissue, the same way a carpenter's plane shaves a layer of wood.","The surgeon uses a sterile sponge ring to keep tears from contaminating the cornea.","He folds back the flap of tissue, exposing the cornea.","He mops up the excess liquid...","Then starts up the laser.","Meanwhile, a tiny sponge keeps the flap moist.","The laser, an invisible light, fires in pulses--  50 pulses per second.","Each pulse vaporizes an area of corneal tissue 100 thousandths of an inch thick.","The laser has been computer-programmed beforehand so it knows exactly how to reshape the cornea to give most patients 20/20 vision.","In less than a minute, it's done.","The surgeon removes the sponge and then using those little ink marks he made earlier as reference points, folds the flap back to its original position.","If the flap isn't precisely where it was before, the patient will have distorted vision.","Using a syringe that flushes the area with sterile water, the surgeon carefully smoothes the flap the same way you'd smooth out a tablecloth.","Then he removes the sponge ring.","Within 45 seconds, the negative pressure inside the cornea sucks the flap back on.","The flap literally seals itself.","With a sponge, the surgeon dabs up any excess water.","He applies antibiotic drops as a preventive measure then inspects the microkeratome again before moving on to the other eye.","He takes the speculum off, tapes the eye closed, then performs the same operation on the other eye.","When that's done, the surgeon uses a high-powered microscope to make sure the flaps are wrinkle-free.","The patient wears protection shields until the next morning then overnight for a week.","The best guitars come from trees about 800 years old, trees with enough rings in their trucks to provide wood with a tight and straight grain, wood flexible enough to vibrate, yet strong enough to withstand the pull of the guitar strings.","The guitar traveled from north africa to europe with the moors, who invaded spain in the 8th century.","In time, the guitar became the signature instrument of spanish flamenco music and the trademark of the singing cowboy.","In the 1930s, the acoustic guitar debuted as a jazz instrument.","By the 1960s, as the electric guitar took over rock 'n' roll, the acoustic guitar remained a staple of the folk-music scene.","They use spruce or cedar because those woods are lightweight and vibrate well.","Using a 30-ton press that works like a cookie cutter, they punch out the shape of the guitar.","The size of the sound hole affects how the guitar will sound-- the larger the hole, the more treble, the smaller the hole, the more bass.","Then they glue on a wood inlay decoration called a rosette.","Next they make the sides of the guitar.","They first immerse wood pieces in boiling water for about 15 seconds...","Then place them in a heated press to make the curve.","The press applies heat from both the top and the bottom for about a minute.","Then they connect the two sides with blocks of wood made of either mahogany or poplar.","One is glued and clamped at the bottom, the other at the top.","Then they glue on and clamp a wooden lining which will connect the sides to the top and back.","Those little cuts give it flexibility around the curves.","Then with a hand router, they carefully notch the lining to receive four wooden braces to support the back of the guitar.","Strategically placed braces help the top of the guitar withstand the tension of the strings.","They also equalize sound frequencies by controlling vibration differently at different spots.","After a vacuum press makes the bracing adhere evenly, they glue on the top and bottom.","The body of the guitar is now assembled.","It goes into a press, then a drying rack for several hours.","Next they glue on a plastic binding to protect the guitar's edges.","Then comes a fine sanding.","Next a machine with a special sensor measures the precise angle at which the body and neck of the guitar will later be attached.","The angle is critical for sound quality.","It drills the holes and sands the pieces accordingly.","Next they apply lacquer-- four to eight coats, depending on the finish.","The fingerboard is made of rosewood or ebony.","The metal frets separate the halftones on the musical scale.","An adjustable rod goes inside the neck.","This lets the neck adapt to the different tensions that different types of strings require.","They glue the fingerboard on the neck...","Then vacuum-press it to make sure it adheres evenly.","Next they install the machine heads on which the strings will be wound.","The rod in the neck slips into a groove on the body.","The neck is then bolted and clamped until the glue dries.","Next they glue on the bridge, securing it with temporary screws and a clamp.","Then they glue on the headstock nut, a hard, plastic piece that spaces the strings evenly.","Next comes the saddle, then the bridge pins, which lock the strings in the bridge.","Finally they string the guitar using an electric winder.","Because of all the glue-drying time, it takes three weeks to make a guitar.","The wood will become suppler the more the guitar is played, so as the guitar ages, the better it will sound."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Drill Bits","Photo Booths","Stamps"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Drill bits...","Photo booths...","And stamps.","Drill bits are attachments you fasten to drilling tools.","A taper-point drill narrows to a point so the threads of the screw grab the wood.","A countersink makes the top of the hole the same diameter as the screw head so that the head lies flush or below the surface.","A plug cutter removes a round piece of wood with which you plug the hole afterward to hide the sunken screw.","Countersinks and plug cutters start out as steel bars.","To make a countersink, this computer-guided tooling machine uses what's called a center drill to pierce a starting hole, then switches to its main drill, which bores right through.","Next, it uses what's called a rough turning tool to shape the countersink's angled nose, then its body.","The machine now switches to a milling cutter.","This tool shapes the countersink's four blades.","A cross-drilling tool bores a hole for the two screws that'll hold the countersink to the drill.","A tap cuts threads into the hole.","Next, a tool called a dovetail cutter sharpens the blades.","Then, finally, a cutoff blade removes the tool.","The same machine makes plug cutters.","Its center drill makes a starting hole, but this time, the main drill doesn't bore right through.","It stops at the depth that the plug cutter is designed to cut.","Just as before, the rough turning tool shapes the body, and the milling cutter sculpts the four blades.","Some plug cutters on the market have fewer blades.","This company makes four so the cutter will clear the wood chips more efficiently when it tunnels into the wood.","After the dovetail cutter sharpens the blades, a tool called a boring bar refines the hole in the center, making it the proper size.","Another turning tool now forms the shank, the stem of the plug cutter that you insert into the power tool.","Then the cutoff blade slices the tool off.","Now for some manual touch-ups.","First, they grind the plug cutter against an abrasive wheel to remove excess metal from the cutoff.","Then they do what's called side-chipping, grinding the sides of each blade to a particular shape that'll clear the wood chips.","Here's how the plug cutter looks before and after grinding off the excess and before and after side-chipping.","And now for making the drills to which the countersinks attach.","It all starts with a tapered piece of steel because this will become a taper-point drill.","Straight drills begin with a straight piece.","A mechanical arm inserts this drill blank, as it's called, into a computer-guided grinder.","The machine has two wheels made of boron nitrite granules, a natural material that's tough and abrasive.","The first wheel shapes the smooth blank into lengthwise spirals called flutes.","A second wheel then grinds sharp cutting edges on the flutes and shapes the tip of the drill to a point.","Back to the countersinks now.","The steel is still relatively malleable, so a worker runs each one through a stamping machine that imprints the size of the tool and the company name.","Whereas the drills are made of a different type of steel that's already hard enough, the countersinks and plug cutters must undergo a heat-treating process to harden-- about 20 minutes in a fiery oven along with a secret recipe of chemicals.","The intense heat--  1,750 degrees fahrenheit-- transforms those chemicals into gases which then permeate and harden the steel.","After cooling in warm water and oil for about 15 minutes, workers submerge the tools in an industrial-strength cleaning solution that removes all the oil grit, then a bath in acid to remove soot from the oven.","Then, finally, 20 minutes in a blackening solution, the ingredients of which are, again, a closely guarded company secret.","This last step is purely cosmetic.","So, how do the three drill bits we've seen all work together?","First, you use the plug cutter to make the plug.","Then you pop out the plug with a screwdriver.","Next, mounting the countersink, that black tool, onto the taper-point drill.","You drill a hole for the screw.","Then you drive the screw into the hole, sinking it below the surface.","Then you cap the hole with a plug.","These tools come in an extensive range of sizes and grades for both amateur and professional woodworkers and for industrial machines.","Photo booths were first introduced in the 1920s in the united states.","Today, the small, private cabins still enable us to be kooky in several snapshots or one large picture.","The booths are quaint reminders of our pop culture, but they use the latest technology to make portraits worth treasuring.","This model simulates a painting or a drawing based on the photo it takes of you.","To customize the preassembled cabin, a worker applies stickers to the outside.","These advertise local businesses or the booth's eventual location, such as a shopping mall or amusement park.","Inside, there are five shelves for equipment.","Two layers of plexiglass glued together will act as safety glass, protecting the equipment from vandals.","It fits over an opening in the wall that divides the seating area from the camera and a tv monitor.","The worker installs a metal plate in another opening.","It will cover the coin acceptor and give the booth operator access to the money people pay to have their photo taken.","The coin acceptor attaches to brackets on the back of the door.","They'll program it to accept tokens or specific currencies.","A black-and-white photo usually costs $3.","Color is $5.","This 15-watt bulb provides some light for your photo.","It goes in a panel that fits into the wall.","Next, a motorized tripod to hold the camera.","In this model, they use a digital camera with an 8-millimeter lens.","\"up\" and \"down\" buttons on the control panel adjust the camera angle.","A computerized voice from a speaker will prompt you to make selections.","A fan attaches to the ceiling to vent the cabin and keep the equipment from overheating.","And two 40-watt florescent lights will provide most of the frontal lighting for the subject.","Another 15-watt light behind a frosted panel provides some diffuse light.","The booth's power panel has connections for up to 19 pieces of equipment.","Here, a worker plugs in the camera...","Then a tv monitor...","And an ink-jet printer.","Software will process the photos, and the printer will print them on photo-quality paper.","A plexiglass window protects the 15-inch monitor that's used for viewing and making selections.","Two other monitors fit in windowed panels on the outside of the cabin.","The monitors all connect to the computer and show the same images at the same time, including what stage of development your picture is at.","They install a dispenser that sells optional cardboard frames for your portrait.","Money from these sales falls through a slot into a metal coin box inside the cabin.","The dispenser holds up to 100 cardboard frames, each large enough to hold one portrait measuring 8 by 11 inches.","If the dispenser is out, a sign reading \"out of frames\" drops into the tray.","For security, the two doors enclosing the equipment each have two key locks, one at the top and one at the bottom.","The worker installs four signs on the cabin roof.","They're plexiglass boxes with vinyl posters and florescent lights.","The cabin's curtain lets you make goofy faces in private, but is short enough to let people know you're in there.","Inside the cabin, the control panel helps you guide the camera.","You press \"up\" or \"down\" to adjust the camera angle.","Then you choose one of three photos the camera has captured.","The computer bases its portrait on this photo.","You can tell it to make a caricature, a simulated work of art, or four small portraits in different artistic media.","You can choose an oil painting, a pencil sketch, or a drawing in charcoal or pastel.","Now you've got a masterpiece starring you.","The world's first postage stamp was introduced in england in 1840 as part of a major reform of the postal system.","Until then, the letter recipient had to pay the postage.","This first stamp was called the penny black because it cost one penny and featured queen victoria's profile on a black background.","Today's postage stamps feature all types of illustrations.","A graphic artist produces a design concept, working the computer cursor like a paintbrush on canvas.","The concept goes to the postal service's design authority for approval.","Once approved, the design goes to the printing company.","The printer produces one type of stamp using two different types of printing presses, one of which requires an engraved printing plate.","The company's master engraver draws his artistic interpretation of the concept using photographs of real subjects for inspiration.","Then he paints his drawing in watercolors.","The shading is key because it indicates where the engraving will have depth.","This helps him envision the end product.","Once he's happy with the result, he scans the image into a computer and shrinks the digitized image to the actual stamp size.","Then he lays a sheet of clear acetate over the reduction.","With a tool called a point, he etches the main elements into the sheet.","This etching process is known as scribing.","Now he tapes the scribed sheet onto a piece of soft steel.","He lifts the sheet and coats the metal surface with beeswax.","Then he lays the sheet down again and, rubbing with a burnishing tool, transfers the scribed image to the wax coating.","Now, under a microscope that magnifies the image seven times, he etches the design using what's called a pointing-in tool.","Then he sharpens another tool called a lozenge graver.","With that, he deepens the etched lines of the design's focal point.","This adds depth, which will make the deer appear almost three-dimensional on the finished stamp.","Once complete, the engraving will be copied multiple times onto a plastic master plate.","Workers coat the plastic with silver so that it will conduct electricity, then submerge it into a bath containing baskets of nickel.","They run an electrical current in both the bath and plate.","This dissolves the nickel and draws it onto the plate in a thorough and even coat.","With a nipping tool, workers remove the excess nickel along the perimeter, then extract their nickel printing plate.","Then they plate the nickel plate in chrome.","Now it's ready to go on to the intaglio printing press, a specialized machine used to print only select elements on certain types of stamps.","We will explain why later.","This machine, meanwhile, produces the templates for carving what are called chablons, the rollers on the intaglio press that transfer ink to the printing plates.","Here, the machine traces a pattern for one of the stamp's intaglio elements, guiding a router on the other end to reproduce it in half the size in thick plastic.","At another machine, meanwhile, a worker makes the chablons.","He takes several ingredients-- what they are is a closely guarded company secret-- and pours them into a roller forming machine.","The mix heats to about 350 degrees fahrenheit, and over about an hour and a half, it thickens and hardens.","Now an automated router machine with multiple heads goes to work.","Following the plastic template, the heads carve away at the rubber, leaving behind a raised design in the shape of the elements the intaglio press will print.","It's this raised area that transfers the ink to the printing plate.","Why do they print some parts of a stamp using one type of press and other parts of it using another type?","Simple.","Off-set printing presses are widely available, so if the entire stamp will be printed using that technology, counterfeiters would have it easy.","Intaglio printing presses, on the other hand, are harder to come by, making fake stamps harder to produce.","The sheets first run through the offset press.","It prints one color at a time, making a separate printing plate for each color.","The plate is wrapped around a cylinder.","As it revolves, the plate transfers or offsets the ink image to a rubber cylinder rotating against it.","As that cylinder turns, it transfers the image to the paper passing underneath.","A postal-service official inspects the press output.","Using a magnifying glass, she scrutinizes the color and print quality, circling any problem areas for the press operator to investigate and correct.","Now the offset printed sheets move on to the intaglio press.","The intaglio's chablon rollers spread ink over the printing plate the factory produced from the engraving.","The ink fills the recessed lines of the image.","The press runs the plate against the paper sheets, transferring the image.","Intaglio printing leaves the ink slightly raised above the surface of the paper.","This gives the image height, a third dimension.","Once again, the inspector checks the result.","It's up to the press operator to correct any error.","The cause can be as complicated as a printing plate problem or as simple as a speck of dirt in the machine.","The printing now done, a worker loads the stamp sheets into a computer-guided perforating machine.","Grippers pull the sheets forward one section at a time.","Down comes a die with rows of steel pins, each just a fraction of an inch in diameter.","They punch through the sheet, framing each stamp with tiny holes spaced less than 1/16 of an inch apart.","The machine knows just where to punch these perforations by reading the line of florescent ink that runs along the borders of each stamp.","This ink, called tagging, is visible only under ultraviolet light.","Tagging also plays a role later on.","The automated machines that process mail at the sorting plants are programmed to scan for tagging.","They reject all envelopes without it.","Those letters are either missing a stamp or bear counterfeit postage.","After stacking the perforated sheets, workers trim them down to the finished size, usually sheets of 10 called panes.","Their trimming machine is appropriately called the guillotine, but unlike the head-chopping version, this one slices with a sideways shearing action.","That puts less wear on the blade.","The machine holds the stack in place with more than 8,800 pounds of pressure so that it doesn't budge under the weight of the blade.","The blade rings in at almost 71 pounds.","Now it's time to group the panes into manageable-sized packs for post offices and other stamp retailers.","This machine is called a vacuumatic counter because it uses suction to draw the panes across a paddle wheel which counts them.","This stack adds up to 503 panes, so the worker removes three to make an even 500.","The counter inserts a tab between every 50.","Some stamps go through what's called bursting, the process of manually separating pairs of stamps for different post office product lines such as gift sets.","Some burst stamps go onto first day cover envelopes, one popular collector's item.","An automated pad picks up the stamps and runs them against a wet roller that activates the adhesive on the back.","After a worker positions an envelope against the guide bar, the pad places the stamps in a precise spot and applies even pressure over them so that they'll lay flat and adhere securely.","Many stamps are still the old lick-and-stick type printed on paper that's coated with a moisture-activated adhesive on the back side.","However, the most commonly issued stamps, known as definitives, are printed on what's called pressure-sensitive paper.","That's a technical term for peel-and-stick-- no water or saliva required."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Slat Baskets","Bells","Gyroscopic Stabilizers"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Traditional wood slat baskets are containers used to carry and gather food during a harvest.","They're also used in retail settings to display produce, providing the consumer with a farm-fresh marketing aesthetic.","Since the 1800, farmers have used wood slat baskets to hold and transport food.","Today, they still come in handy at harvest time.","Wood slat baskets are made out of american sweet gum trees.","First, the freshly cut logs are sprayed with water so they don't dry out and decay.","One at a time, spiked rollers grab the logs and turn them, as knives shave off all the bark.","The de-barked log rolls down a conveyor to be cut to the specified length.","The wood spins on a lathe as a blade cuts into the wood, producing long, thin sheets.","Technicians pull the sheets forward and stack them.","The sheets move through rollers.","The rollers feed the stack to a long guillotine-type blade which chops them into slats.","Once all of the slats have been cut, the slats are stacked and checked for quality.","Technicians use these patterns to configure the wood slats and form a web.","The technician distributes the slats in a specific order, which will add strength when the web is formed into a basket.","He uses a staple gun to place staples into the center of the web to hold it together.","At another station, workers evaluate and grade narrower strips of wood that will be formed into bands to hold the baskets together.","Then, using a basket machine, technicians form the web into a basket.","The machine wraps bands around the basket and staples them to reinforce the shape.","In seconds, the basket takes shape.","Once it's complete, the baskets are removed from the machine and placed on a conveyor belt.","At another station, technicians build a basket with a base made of solid wood.","This base will provide the basket with additional strength.","Workers arrange slats to build the basket.","Automated staplers secure the slats to the solid-wood base.","Bands are attached to hold the basket together.","A technician places the rim of the basket into a machine that drives thick wire into the basket.","The machine's formers bend the wire into a handle and cut the ends.","The technician turns the basket over for a matching handle on the opposite side.","The baskets now take a slow trip through a dryer.","This step removes the majority of the moisture in the wood.","Once complete, the produce baskets slide down a steel slope.","A technician evaluates their quality and stacks them accordingly.","Next, the lids are constructed.","Technicians place wood slats in the slots of a conveyor.","This positions them to be formed into squares, known as mats.","The conveyor takes them forward, and a device creates staples from wire, punching them into the mats to secure the arrangement.","Meanwhile, a worker prepares the lids' hoops.","First, he steams gum wood strips, which makes the wood pliable.","Then he tucks one end of the wood into the revolving wheel of the machine, which shapes the wood into a hoop.","The ends are then secured with staples.","An assembler fits the hoop around a circular platform...","And places the mat on top.","The platform rotates as a stapler attaches the hoop to the slats.","The mat must now be trimmed flush to the hoop so that it will fit more neatly on the rim of the basket.","To do so, another assembler places the corners of the mat under a semi-circular blade, chopping off the excess wood.","The wood slat lid is now ready to be put on the basket.","A device bends wire into a loop that will be used to fasten the lid to the basket.","This factory can make up to 6,000 wood slat baskets a day.","That's a lot of empty baskets to fill.","For thousands of years, we've used bells to make noise.","The concept behind them is simple.","A clapper or hammer strikes the bell wall creating vibrations that disturb the air.","The disturbance causes the ringing sound.","It's not high tech, but it can be high-pitched.","Every bell has a distinctive ring.","From the festive jingle of sleigh bells, to the clang of the boxing bell that marks the beginning of a fight.","Even the cow bell has a sound that's not quite like any other.","The bell's shape and the material it's made from affect the ring's pitch.","To make a cow bell, an assembler uses two flared steel components to form a cone.","He inserts a handle between the two parts at the top...","And welds the seams of the bell shell to hold the two parts together.","Then he welds the handle to the cow bell body.","The handle contains a small loop that extends inside the bell body to hold the clapper.","This strip of steel is about to be transformed into sleigh bells.","An upper die forces the steel strip into dies on a rotating platter.","The dies form the metal into a shape that resembles an open flower.","Ball bearings funnel into a shoot.","The ball bearings land in the open flowers on the platter.","The upper die closes the petals of the flower creating a round sleigh bell.","The rattle of the interior ball bearing will create the sound.","A device pops the bell out of the die and the sleigh bells fall into a bin.","Once the sleigh bells are plated with nickel, they are ready for rattling.","At another station, a boxing bell begins to takes shape.","An assembler transfers the bell to a punch that cuts a hole in the center.","The punch forces it on to a form that contours the area around the hole.","Oil keeps the metal lubricated as it's forming.","The gongs tumble around in a machine with vibrating ceramic stones, detergent, and water.","The stones scrub off the oil and rub off rough edges.","After about 10 minutes, the gongs emerge smooth and clean.","They land in the tub of ground corn cobs.","The corn absorbs residual water as it pulsates in this vibratory machine.","A technician places the gongs in an oven.","This heat treatment rearranges the crystalline structures of the steel and hardens it.","Making the steel more resilient will also make the gong sound more resonant when struck.","The gongs are sprayed with a powder coating.","When baked on, the powder particles will form a protective skin on the metal and provide the gongs with a uniform finish.","A powder coat is sprayed on the bell's baseplate, and an adhesive-backed company logo is applied to the back.","Posts have been installed on the front for assembling the other parts.","A brass lever for operating the bell hammer and the mechanism that will swing it, called a dog.","The assembler rivets the dog to the lever and hooks one end of a spring to the mechanism.","He fastens another spring to the hammer and then hooks the end to the baseplate.","He installs the hammer on one of the posts.","Using a push nut, he secures the hammer to the post.","He hooks the lever spring on the baseplate and slides the lever onto a post just under the hammer.","Another push nut locks the lever in place.","The assembler pulls the lever, examining the movement, adjusting accordingly.","He now adds the gong, aligning the center hole to the threaded post in the middle of the backplate.","He screws on a fastener to hold the gong in place.","He pulls the lever to confirm that the hammer hits the gong and makes a noise.","Finally this boxing bell is now ready for the ring.","at the turn of the 20th century, gigantic gyroscopes were used to stabilize ships.","Even though they were effective, the devices were large and heavy.","Today, gyroscopes are smaller, lighter, and are highly effective stabilizers.","The boat on the left has a gyroscopic stabilizer that counteracts wave action.","Different boats require different sized gyroscopes.","This complex device includes a flywheel and a hydraulic brake which controls its movement.","A large hammer forge has pounded the flywheels into this shape.","The process begins on a cnc lathe that shapes this aircraft quality alloyed steel to perimeters with very small tolerances-- roughly one third the diameter of a hair strand.","The shafts, or bearing journals, are put into a machine which form the axis on which the flywheel will spin.","A diamond wheel grinds the journal to the specified size and shape.","Once complete, the flywheel is balanced.","A state of the art balancing machine i.d.s exactly which spots need adjustment.","Highly trained technicians carefully grind off small quantities of steel in the identified spots before putting the object through more tests.","With tolerances of just a fraction of an ounce, even a tiny particle of dust can throw off the flywheel's balance.","A probe locates this aluminum cast hemisphere so that a machine can begin processing it.","The hemisphere will form one half of the enclosure that will house the flywheel.","It must be precision machined so that it can form a perfect airtight seal.","Made of aluminum to decrease overall weight, the airtight enclosure is one of the crucial elements of this gyroscope.","Once it's completely sealed, all the air will be vacuumed out and helium will be pumped in.","Because helium is so much lighter than air, the flywheel will be able to spin much faster due to radically diminished friction.","Machining with horizontal and vertical cnc tools and a vertical grinder brings the bearing housing within reach of the required parameters.","A technician attaches the vacuum valves which will allow air to be removed from the enclosure.","Then he installs some of the sensors that carefully monitor the gyroscope's status.","He applies a specified torque to tighten the component in place.","A generous amount of grease is applied to the large o-ring that fits perfectly into a groove in the lip of one hemisphere.","The o-ring will ensure a vacuum tight seal when the two hemispheres of the enclosure come together.","These heavy duty eye bolts form an attachment point for lifting, which helps move the gyroscope in and out of position.","Once everything has been put together, the technician connects the flywheel to the enclosure.","He begins bolting an inner and outer set of retainer rings in place.","These rings will support the flywheel assembly.","Faster spinning in its vacuum containment will allow the gyroscope to achieve the same stabilizing effect as a much larger, heavier flywheel spinning at a slower speed.","The technician joins the sub-assembly to the second hemisphere, carefully lifting and lowering it into place before bolting the enclosure securely together.","But the gyroscope stabilizer isn't done yet.","It still needs to be mounted to a specialized foundation assembly.","Early attempts to use gyroscopes for stabilizing boats weren't successful because the gyroscopes were too big and heavy.","But thanks to some state of the art technical innovations, a new breed of lighter, smaller gyroscopes can easily keep a boat deck steady, even in rough weather.","A technician uses a specialized device to measure three important factors of the flywheel's performance.","Concentricity, eccentricity, and clearance.","This means he's checking to see if the component is spinning smoothly and consistently without any wobbling.","He spins the flywheel slowly on its axis, evaluating the meter accordingly.","The gimbal shaft will allow the sphere to tilt back and forth, stabilizing the boat.","A technician installs a set of steel dowel pins that will hold the brake cylinders in place.","He uses a press to install the spherical bearing and urethane that will permit the sphere to shift its axial rotation and absorb vibration.","With the bearing and protector in place, he mounts the gimbal shaft securely to the gyroscope enclosure.","A total of 10 heavy duty bolts are tightened to the specified torque value.","Next, the technician installs the cover and bolts it in place, sealing the enclosure and fully rounding out its exterior.","Once the valve is installed, he checks for leaks by spraying helium outside of the enclosure.","This meter will register the presence of helium if the lightweight gas sneaks in through any cracks.","This magnetically mounted sensor will allow the technician to conduct final trim balance, ensuring a vibration-free operation.","It's vital to keep vibration to a minimum to make sure that the gyroscope provides a smooth, stable boat ride.","Now it's time to attach the cooling components.","When the flywheel spins at 9,000 rpms, it generates heat.","Sea water mixed with glycol is used to keep it cool.","The enclosure will sit in a framework known as the foundation, which is made of cast aluminum.","Once the gimbal shafts are set within their lower housings, which are situated on either side of the foundation, a technician installs the upper housings and bolts them securely in place.","This aluminum section of the foundation will support the hydraulic brake arm, a key component of the gyroscope's function.","The brake support piece also doubles as a support structure for the heat exchanger, which is an important element of the gyroscope's cooling system.","The technician installs the brake arm cylinder.","This helps the gyro perform in all weather and at all speeds.","He installs the hydraulic lines for the brake system.","They manage the flow of hydraulic fluid to and from the cylinders.","The solenoids that make up the major elements of this assembly dictate braking pressure to the hydraulic cylinder.","The drive box controls the brake, the start up, and speed of the flywheel and the angle sensors, which detect the roll rate and angle of the boat.","The drive box receives data from the rest of the gyroscope.","This wiring harness serves as the conduit of information to and from the components of the unit.","Once assembled, the technician installs the remaining support arm on the other side of the gyroscope.","Before the assembled gyroscope gets its aluminum cover piece, it must undergo a thorough factory assessment test.","The test ensures that it's fully functioning and meets all design parameters.","There is no question that gyroscopic stabilizers help maintain level heads on deck."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Custom Knee Braces","Ductless Air Conditioners","Window Film","Motorcycle Exhaust Systems"]},"text":["If you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee, your doctor might prescribe a knee brace.","Osteoarthritis is when the cartilage cushioning the knee joint wears out, causing bone to painfully rub on bone.","A brace relieves some of that pain by realigning the leg to shift weight off the knee joint.","This dual-action knee brace rotates the foot, which moves the thighbone, the femur, off the most painful area of the shinbone, the tibia.","It also creates what's called a distraction, pulling the femur and tibia slightly apart to further reduce stress on the joint.","The brace is custom-made for each patient.","An orthotist takes the measurements by passing a sophisticated 3-d scanner approximately 12 inches above and below the knee.","The scanner translates the data into a 3-d computer image with highly specialized medical-device software, then processes that image into anatomical blueprints for a 3-d model.","The computer then reads the plans and guides this carving machine to create the model from a block of high-density foam.","The carving process takes about 10 minutes.","The finished model is an exact replica of the patient's leg, which technicians now use to construct a brace that fits the patient perfectly.","After wrapping the model in plastic film to protect the surface and marking the main anatomical landmarks of the knee, they lay a thick foam band over the tibia and begin marking where they'll install the two articulation hinges, which rotate the foot and distract the femur and tibia.","This template is for the lateral hinge, the primary rotator.","It's situated on the outside of the leg.","Next, taking an aluminum bar and bending it on special tools, the technicians form the brace's tibial crossbar, the band that crosses the shin and holds the two hinges.","The foam band takes up the space of a silicone lining that will go under the tibial crossbar-- critical cushioning to prevent pressure points that can cause skin irritation.","Once the cross bar fits perfectly, they reapply the template and mark where rivets will attach the lateral hinge.","Then, using the same metal bending tools they used to shape the crossbar, they contour the hinge to follow the shape of the leg.","They attach the lateral hinge to the tibial crossbar with copper rivets.","Copper is a soft metal, so they can compact it to produce a solid joint, which won't loosen up over time with repeated use.","At the other end of the crossbar, they affix the medial hinge, which produces the distraction.","When the knee is extended, this hinge lengthens the brace by approximately 3/4 of an inch, pulling the tibia and femur slightly apart to eliminate pain.","It's time to mold the plastic shell, the upper part of the brace that fits onto the thigh.","First, they soften a foam sheet in a low-temperature oven and wrap it around the model.","This takes up the space of the fabric lining that will go under the plastic.","After covering the foam in a cotton heat barrier, they soften a plastic sheet in the oven, wrap it around the model, staple the ends together, then coat the surface in talc, which prevents their gloves from sticking when they apply pressure.","Once the plastic cools, they trace the shell's shape and cut it out.","Then, they wrap it in a protective vinyl finish, heating the material so that it becomes sticky and adheres to the plastic.","They also wrap the tibial crossbar in vinyl.","Then they apply a strip of velcro to the underside, where they'll later adhere padding.","They install a cover over each hinge to protect the mechanism.","Then they cut a fabric lining for the upper part of the brace.","It adheres to the plastic with velcro so that it's removable for washing or for replacement when worn out.","The brace applies the greatest amount of pressure at the tibial crossbar, so they line the crossbar with silicone padding for comfort.","The pad attaches to the velcro strip.","The brace fastens to the leg with three adjustable straps and works only when the knee is extended, which is when osteoarthritic pain hits the most.","The ductless air conditioner, invented in japan in the 1970s, transforms homes into cool spaces.","This system consists of an outside condenser and refrigerant lines that run to a fan in the wall.","In homes without ductwork, it provides cooling without renovations.","No central air?","Ductless air conditioners, also known as mini-splits, are a cool option.","To manufacture the condenser, they start with copper tubing.","It will be used to make the coils that cool and condense the refrigerant.","A machine unwinds six reels of tubing simultaneously and pulls them between rollers.","They iron out the kinks.","Little rotating knives cut the tubing to the correct length.","The cut tubes exit into a device that bends them around a mandrill.","This creates hairpin bends in the center of each tube, and they end up looking like big copper bobby pins.","Next, a sheet of aluminum feeds into a progressive die.","A press moves up and down to drive the metal into the die.","With each stroke, the aluminum is shaped into a part known as a fin.","They'll use a hundred or more fins in one air conditioner coil.","The fins fall out of the press into neat stacks.","A worker slides metal rods into the stacks to maintain the alignment of the fins and adds a steel end plate.","She now inserts the hairpin copper tubing following a precise pattern.","The fins will act as a kind of web for the tubes.","They're an important part of the coil, allowing heat from the refrigerant gas to be dissipated more quickly.","Next, a press drives mandrills into the tubes, expanding them so they'll fit tighter to the fins.","The coil has really taken shape.","At the next station, they load it into a hydraulic bending machine.","It bends one section of the coil around a metal form.","This gives the coil a more curved profile on one side so it will fit in the condensing unit later.","They close the open end of the copper tubes with u-bend connectors.","They brace the connectors to the tubes for a leakproof fit.","This ductless air conditioner coil is now complete.","They're ready to test it for leaks.","A technician pumps compressed air into the unit to simulate refrigerant.","By using compressed air, they're playing it safe, because unlike refrigerant, it won't damage the environment if they're actually is a leak.","Once the coil is full of compressed air, he immerses the part in water.","Air bubbling out would indicate a leak that needs fixing.","A worker keeps a close watch on each coil as it floats by for signs of trouble.","They're now ready to assemble the entire condenser.","The team screws the compressor to the base.","They install the coil and attach a motor and fans to cool the refrigerant.","The next part is the filter dryer.","It contains chemicals to remove moisture and filter out contaminants.","They install the wiring and control panel for the compressor and fan motor.","The team connects the pump to the coil to suction out air and create a vacuum inside, creating a perfect environment for the refrigerant gas.","He closes the service valves and sends the ductless air-conditioning unit down the production line to be charged with refrigerant.","After that, all that's left is the packaging and the installation.","On a hot day, all the consumer needs to do is grab the remote control and activate the ductless air conditioner for some cool air.","Developed in the 1960s, window film is a product with transparent benefits.","Applied to the windows of vehicles and buildings, this tinted film lets light in while shutting out some of the sun's harmful rays.","And depending on the darkness of the tint, it also provides a measure of privacy.","Tinted window film allows drivers to see things in a different light, one that can be a lot less harsh.","Not only does the tinting mean less squinting, it also reduces the amount of heat that permeates the vehicle's cabin.","This film will also hold glass together if it shatters.","Because dark tints can make it hard for the driver to see the road or to be seen, the use of window film is regulated in many jurisdictions.","The laws vary depending on the region, so the factory makes different window films for different markets and applications.","There are numerous formulations for the tinted coatings.","It all starts with the acrylic adhesive that will hold the layers of plastic film together.","The adhesive will also serve as the base for the tint and other additives.","The technician thins the adhesive with solvent, which will make it easier to blend in the other ingredients.","Those ingredients include chemicals to absorb ultraviolet rays...","Initiators to make the mix cure faster...","And finally the colorant.","It's carbon-based, and as a result, it's highly soluble and disperses well.","Achieving the right shade of colorant is truly an exact science, one that started beforehand in the lab.","A technician mixed up test batches combining one or more dyes with the adhesive base until satisfied with the results.","Once the adhesive has been mixed, they add a chemical catalyst to activate it.","They're now ready for the plastic film.","There are various grades and thicknesses.","The type used depends on the type of window film being manufactured.","The plastic film unwinds over rollers into the coating machine.","At the same time, the tinted adhesive flows into a pan in the machine.","A roller soaks up the adhesive and applies it to the plastic.","The coated film travels over a narrow cylinder with fine grooves etched into it, and the excess formulation collects in the grooves and drips back into the tank.","This gets rid of the excess and ensures an even application.","The film then moves through a long dryer, and the heat causes the coating to cure.","The film exits under a glare of blue u.v. light.","The light activates the initiator chemicals in the adhesive to further cure the coating.","Next, a second plastic film unwinds and meets up with the coated one.","They travel between rollers that apply heat and pressure to laminate the two films together.","A computerized system checks for defects, and a worker does a double check as the film passes in front of a bright light.","After a third film, mounting adhesive, and release liner have been applied to the product, a technician tests a sample.","She pulls it off a piece of glass, and a sensor measures the amount of force it takes.","The test confirms the window film grips the glass adequately.","The production run gets the green light, so next blades trim the sides and cut it to width.","The width of the film can be customized to the job.","At the end of the cutting line, a worker slides a plastic core onto a cylinder.","He sticks the end of the window film onto that core.","He activates the cylinder, and it revolves to wind the film up onto the core.","Sold in rolls, the film will later be cut for an exact fit to various windows by an installer.","Window film comes in a range of colors with a variety of characteristics.","The choice is up to the customer.","But no matter what, window film is sure to change one's view of things.","Motorcycle racers typically replace their bike's standard exhaust system with a high-performance one, which emits exhaust gases faster, clearing the way for new fuel and air to enter the engine's combustion chamber, generating more power and better traction, which produces greater speed on the racetrack.","This high-performance, aftermarket exhaust system isn't any louder than your standard exhaust system, yet it delivers up to 30% more power due to its more efficient design.","Rather than steel construction, it's made primarily of titanium, which is more durable and weighs half as much.","The exhaust system has two main components-- the muffler, which dampens sound, and the header, which routes exhaust gases from the engine to the muffler.","The header's tubing is made from a super-thin strip of titanium that's six inches wide.","It enters a forming machine, in which 14 stations of rollers apply tons of pressure to progressively curve the edge of the strip upward until they meet at the top.","The formed tube, two inches in diameter, then enters a chamber.","Inside, a welder heats the top until the edges fuse together into a solid seam.","After the 330-yard-long tube exits the welding chamber, a powerful, carbide guillotine blade chops it into several shorter tubes.","Then, workers mount each of those shorter tubes onto a computer-guided machine, which bends it to the shape required for several exhaust systems.","Workers then separate each system's tubing with a circular saw.","Like the guillotine before, the saw has a carbide blade.","An ordinary steel blade isn't hard enough to saw through titanium.","A welder assembles the tubes to the other header components, among them the collar and flange, which connect the header to the engine...","And the bulbous resonance chamber, also made of titanium.","It does a pre-muffler sound dampening.","Once the parts are welded and inspected, the header is finished.","They begin assembling the muffler by joining the two halves of its resonance chamber.","The parts must fit with a tight seal to prevent exhaust gases from leaking out.","They set the resonance chamber on a welding fixture, take a ring made of perforated titanium, and weld it to the chamber opening.","This ring allows a specific amount of gases to enter the resonance chamber at a time.","Next, they weld a sound-absorption tube to the resonance chamber.","They wrap the sound-absorption tube in a fiberglass blanket.","The muffler's housing is made of a titanium sheet which a machine shapes into a cannister.","At each edge, they peel back the film protecting the surface from scratches, then, with an automated welder, join the edges with a strong seam.","Then they remove the protective film entirely and electrically charge the cannister in a mild chemical solution for about a minute.","This anodizing, as it's called, changes the color of the titanium and hardens the surface, making it more durable.","After attaching an aluminum mounting bracket to the cannister, they insert the sound-absorption tube, then secure the cannister to the resonance chamber with screws.","They apply the manufacturer's sticker, and the muffler portion of the exhaust system is finished.","To install the exhaust system, you bolt the header to the motor, which is toward the front of the motorcycle, then mount the muffler to the other end of the header.","The muffler bolts to the bike chassis via a bracket on the cannister.","Now the bike is ready to hit the racetrack."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Robotic Hunting Decoys","Canned Tomatoes","Scoreboards","Lassos"]},"text":["The latest taxidermy trend is motion.","Today many museums and nature centers feature wildlife models that move.","These robotic replicas look so lifelike that hunters use them as decoys and game wardens set them out to catch poachers in the act.","Activated by remote control, the robotic decoy's head turns and its tail wags.","More elaborate models have additional moving body parts.","The decoys can be set up directly on the ground or installed on a track system, which moves it along as though it is walking.","At the decoy factory, they begin by waxing a two-part fiberglass body mold.","This one's for a deer.","Waxing the mold cavity will make it easy to extract the casting.","Next, they put steel reinforcement bars in the legs.","The bars stick out the bottom of the hoofs as stakes to prop the decoy on the ground.","They apply the other half of the mold and clamp around the perimeter to hold the two parts together.","They prepare the mold for the deer's head the same way, then pour in a bit of liquid casting material.","They pour about three quarts of it into the body mold...","And clamp on the head mold.","This casting material is expanding polyurethane foam.","It begins swelling immediately and within two minutes reaches full expansion, transforming from a liquid to a flexible solid.","Over the next hour and a half, the foam cures to a hard, inflexible state, at which point they remove the clamps and extract the casting.","Some foam seeped out between the two halves of the molds and between where the head meets the body, producing seams which workers now sand flat.","Using a round drill bit, they make one-inch sockets for eyes.","Then, with a miniature router bit, they drill out nostrils.","They glue a glass eye into each socket with a bit of wet clay.","When the clay dries, the eye is set securely in place.","No faux fur for these decoys.","Workers scrape any remnants of flesh off a real deer hide, then wash the hide and apply a preservative.","Then they slip the hide over the foam deer.","They fit the fur to the form snugly using a combination of staples, glue, and stitching.","Once the deer is fully dressed, it is put aside for four to six weeks.","This gives the preservative ample time to penetrate and do its job, which is to dry and harden the hide.","This is essential to ward off insects and prevent the hide from decomposing.","The taxidermy phase of production is now complete.","Now off with his head...","Because it is time to install the robotics, which will make the head move.","The first step is to drill out a cavity inside the neck.","This creates a pocket in which to install the plastic housing which contains the robotic components.","The first of those components is a compact motor.","It drives this hard plastic gear.","Next, the receiver for the remote control...","Then a aa battery pack that powers both the motor and the receiver.","All this goes into the neck pocket.","They drill out a cavity in the head and install a gear and shaft.","The final step is to mount the head on to the body, inserting the shaft into the gear on top of the motor.","So now when the motor runs, it rotates the gear, which turns the shaft, which moves the decoy's head.","Each moving body part has the identical mechanics, its receiver corresponding to a dedicated switch on the remote control.","The remote works for more than 3/10 of a mile away.","You can even program it to put the decoy through a pre-set motion routine.","Often considered to be a veggie, the tomato is actually a fruit.","It is developed from the ovary of the plant and it has seeds.","It is also the most popular one on the planet.","Mechanization of canning in the last century has made that possible, ensuring that tomatoes are preserved when they are ripe and ready.","All you need is a can opener to unlock the juicy flavor of the field tomato.","There are more than 2,000 varieties.","For canning purposes, they grow a type with a thick skin and firm consistency so machinery can pick and sort them without damaging the flesh.","Rotating clippers cut the vines as the harvester drives over the crop.","Once cut, the plants ride an elevator belt up into the harvester.","Inside the harvester, metal prongs shake the tomatoes to free them from the vines.","An electronic color sorter rejects the green ones.","A conveyor transfers the red, ripe tomatoes to a trailer traveling alongside the harvester.","Once they have a load of 24 tons, they deliver the tomatoes to the canning factory.","Here they fill the trailer with water to float the tomatoes out through a door at the side.","The tomatoes land on a slatted conveyor.","The water, dirty from residual soil, drains away through the slats.","The tomatoes land in a clean, water-filled channel, and here any rocks sink to the bottom and are removed.","The tomatoes float on into a big tank where jets churn up the water for more gentle cleansing action.","The tomatoes then head up to a sorting line.","They travel over metal bars and smaller tomatoes fall through the gaps.","They will be used to make tomato juice.","The others fly forward past 60 tiny cameras that detect pale or yellowish tomatoes.","Pneumatic fingers knock those tomatoes out of the batch.","It all happens in less than a second.","Looking for a damaged or broken fruit now, humans inspect the tomatoes.","They send any rejects to another part of the factory to be used to make juice.","The rest take the plunge into a very hot bath.","This scalds the tomatoes and loosens the skins.","The tomatoes then travel on a moving bed of rubber disks, and this gently pulls the skins away from the tomatoes.","A spray of water washes away the skins and they fall through the rubber disks so there is no mess to clean up after peeling.","The now-peeled tomatoes wash up on to another conveyor where sprayers give them another rinse.","This conveyor controls the flow of peeled tomatoes into the processing room by metering the produce as it moves forward.","Ahead, the dicer awaits.","It has three sets of cross-cutting blades for some serious slicing action.","The tomatoes tumble down a shoot into the dicer and are quickly chopped into small cubes.","The diced tomatoes ride by workers who pick out pieces that aren't perfectly red.","They also remove any core pieces.","Exiting a cleaning station, the cans cue up for a fill-up.","Ahead, the diced tomatoes flow into metal pockets.","This portions them out for the cans.","The pockets rotate forward to meet the cans now moving in sync below.","The bottoms of the pockets open to release the contents into the cans.","And it all happens with perfect timing.","They add hot tomato juice and flavorings...","And lids advance towards the open cans.","They land on top and a machine crimps the lids to the cans, creating a double seam for a complete seal.","Now in airtight cans, the tomatoes head into a hot oven for a quick cook.","This sterilizes them, eliminating the need to use preservatives.","The cans are now ready for labeling.","They spin across wheels that apply glue to the sides.","They roll over paper labels that adhere to the glue-covered cans.","Here is the labeling action slowed down for the camera.","The label contains brand and nutritional information as well as the exact time of production.","This means it can be traced if there is ever a quality issue.","It has taken about one hour for these field tomatoes to be harvested, canned, and labeled, preserving a taste of summer to be enjoyed year-round.","In every sport, fans need to know the score.","In the early days, scorekeepers climbed ladders to scrawl numbers on a chalkboard.","By the time they were done, the score might have changed, and it was time to start again.","Modern scoreboards serve up the numbers in an instant.","Today's digital scoreboards light up within seconds of a game change, delivering results fast and leaving fans cheering in the stands.","They start with the front of the board.","A computer program guides a plasma torch to cut out precisely-sized slots in a sheet of high-grade steel.","The slots will house the illuminated numerals and indicators like arrows.","A worker then feeds narrower strips of steel to a press that bends back the edges to create tabs.","These strips will serve as the sides of the scoreboard, and the tabs will be used to install them.","Using a special compressed air tool, a worker clinches the tabs to the back of the scoreboard.","This tool punches and stretches the steel to interlock it, joining the parts without using screws, rivets, or welds.","He fastens four strips to the back panel.","He then attaches the plasma-cut front panel to complete the basic structure of the scoreboard.","The next worker sprays a powder-paint coating on to the entire scoreboard.","Then it is into a giant convection oven for about 14 minutes to cure the powder paint.","The result is a tough powder-paint skin that will make it possible for the scoreboard metal to weather the elements.","They are now ready for working parts like l.e.d. light-studded digit boards, a data transmitter and receiver.","He connects the receiver to the power source and installs it inside the cabinet.","He pulls the antenna through a hole so it protrudes from the front, and he bends it out of the way for now.","There are several light-studded digit plates on a scoreboard.","Each can flash any number.","He wires them in a loop, interconnecting them in what's known as a daisy-chain configuration.","He also plugs in a ribbon-style cable to link the digits to the scoreboard's processing module.","He inserts the digits in the slots on the front and shields them with a sheet of transparent polycarbonate.","He screws a metal framework around each digit assembly to secure it.","He confirms that the wiring is good and that all the numbers light up.","He connects the wireless computer processing module to the numbers and also wires it to a power source.","He mounts the module to a panel that will then be installed through the back of the scoreboard cabinet.","An evening inkjet printer reproduces the company logo on adhesive-backed paper followed by some fierce-looking team graphics.","Later, a weatherproof coating will be applied to the paper graphics.","They also use vinyl decals.","The worker peels away the unwanted material from around the lettering.","This is called weeding.","After transferring the decals to applicator tape called the pre-mask, she carefully positions the grouping on the front of the scoreboard.","Satisfied that it's in the perfect spot, she tapes it at the top.","She then peels off the backing, and the letters cling to the pre-mask.","Using a squeegee, she presses the decals to the metal board, smoothing any messy-looking bubbles or buckles.","She removes the tape...","Then lifts the pre-mask very carefully so as not to lift any of the decals in the process.","With all the lettering now in place, the numbers on the board will mean something to the crowds in the stands.","They equip the scoreboard with a speaker and horn that will sound off in the event of a touchdown.","And no need to run cable from the scoreboard to the keyboard.","It is operated by remote control.","Using that system, a worker now tests all the functions of the scoreboard.","This test is thorough and takes about 20 minutes.","When it is done, he declares the scoreboard ready for game action.","Today's sports scoreboards come in any shape or design the customer desires.","When it comes to drumming up a little team spirit, a modern scoreboard can be a game-changer.","A lasso, also called a lariat, is a classic cowboy tool designed for catching running cattle.","On one end, there is a moving noose you throw over the animal's head.","This loop tightens around the neck or horns safely stopping the animal in its tracks.","Working a lasso requires tremendous skill...","So much so that rodeos typically hold roping contests and feature performances of jaw-dropping maneuvers.","The ropemaker starts by looping five nylon threads around a bushing mounted on a traveling box.","He ties the end onto the first of three spinning eyes...","Then runs the five threads around the bushing and the second spinning eye, then back to the bushing.","He then hops on his cart and drives the traveling box to another traveling box, pulling the threads for this lasso to a length of 15 yards.","He transfers the threads from the bushing to a spinning eye on this second traveling box...","Then pulls the threads back to make the other half of the rope.","When he arrives at the starting point, he loops the threads through a third spinning eye.","Then he pulls all the threads to equal tension, cuts them from their spools, and ties them off.","This completes what's known as the stringing process.","Next comes the twisting process.","A motor turns the three spinning eyes, twisting the 10 threads on each one into a strand and the three strands together into a lasso rope that's around 2/10th's of an inch in diameter.","The twisting force pulls the two boxes toward each other.","The ropemaker puts a certain amount of weight in each box.","That determines the stiffness of the rope, which can range from extra soft to medium hard.","A rope this length takes about five minutes to twist.","The ropemaker now wraps the end with electrical tape so that the rope won't unravel when he cuts it loose.","He pulls the rope at the center to release some tension...","Then just beyond the taped end snips the strands free.","He knots them, then trims the ends with a hot blade that slices the nylon threads by melting them.","He lays the rope in piping-hot wax.","It seeps into the nooks and crannies, permeating the threads deep inside, setting the twist.","After suspending the rope for a while to let the excess wax drip off, he connects it to a pulling mechanism inside a heated room, or, in summertime, outdoors under the hot sun.","Stretching for a couple of days pulls out any waves, ensuring the rope lies perfectly straight.","Next, he cuts off the knot and unravels just enough rope to tie a knot for what's called a hondo.","That's the eye in the rope which lets him build the loop that catches the animal.","On the other end, he ties a different type of knot, one which will keep the rope from unraveling.","Using pliers and a vice, he pulls both knots tight...","Slices off excess with the hot blade of the rope cutter...","Then burns the ends with a propane torch to seal them.","Now, he ties the hondo.","The hondo slides along the rope, loosening and tightening the loop.","He hangs the hondo on a hook and, using a specially designed wheel, pulls it tight.","Then he sews a piece of rawhide into the eye of the hondo.","This piece of leather is called the burner.","It prevents the eye from burning through, meaning wearing out, as the rope slides through it.","He bangs it with a hammer to seat it in the rope grooves...","Then stamps the company name on it and marks the rope's stiffness.","Lassos come in various degrees of stiffness for different types of animals and purposes, such as roping cattle by the head or by the heels."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Multi"]},"text":["Having a multi-tool on hand is like having a toolbox in your pocket.","It contains anywhere from 5 to 21 basic implements, from screwdrivers and scissors to can openers and pliers.","They all fold in and out of the handles, forming a case that's compact enough to be carried in your pocket.","This multi-tool contains 14 different tools, including scissors, a knife, wire cutters, two types of pliers, three different screwdrivers, and much more.","Most of these tools and the handle into which they conveniently fold are made of stainless steel.","The strip of stainless steel winds off a reel and moves through a 300-ton punch press.","It works like a giant cookie cutter, striking a series of dies against the passing metal, progressively stamping out, in this case, one part of the multi-tool's two-part handle.","17 strikes later, it's fully formed and ready to go through a heat-treatment process to strengthen the stainless steel.","Next, a polishing robot runs the handle against a grinding wheel.","It does so with specific programmed movements which produce a delicate lined pattern on the metal surface.","Certain tools, like knife blades, are made of premium steel that is too hard for the press to punch through, so they have to be cut out by a computer-guided laser.","The laser's heat literally melts through the metal.","The knife blades go into a polishing machine, where they vibrate among ceramic stones for several hours.","This smoothes out the rough edges by abrasion.","A magnet then removes the blades from the machine.","The knife blades, still dull at this point, go onto a motorized table that runs them back and forth under a grinding wheel.","This finalizes the dimensions.","The two jaws that form the plier head are cast in steel.","Workers assemble them with a spring...","A pin...","And a rivet.","Then a robot performs a two-stage polishing, first against a grinding belt with the rough grit, then against one with a finer grit.","The plier head is at last ready to be assembled to the multi-tool's two-part handle.","They align the holes of the handle with holes of the plier head, slipping a spacer in between.","They put a pin and screw fastener through the aligned holes to connect handle to head.","Back to the knife blade now.","Until this point, the blade's cutting edge has been dull.","Now a robot sharpens it against two grinding wheels.","This is what the knife blade looks like before...","And after.","With the handle and all 14 tools formed, heat treated, and polished, and the pliers connected to the handles, final assembly can begin-- the remaining tools stacked together inside the two handles with the stainless-steel ring to fill up the excess width.","The assemblers thread a rod all the way through the holes of the base of the handle and tools to hold the alignment until they secure the setup with the stainless-steel pin and rivet.","They repeat this process in the other handle with the remaining tools, except for the knife blade and scissors, which go in later.","They apply a few drops of thread lock to immobilize the pins in each handle.","A bronze washer makes the handle housing the knife blade open smoothly to prevent injury.","They install a safety cover on that same handle to shield the sharp knife when it's not in use.","Now the knife blade itself.","They rivet the scissors to the other handle, and the assembly is finished.","This multi-tool, with its 14 different implements, is ready to be folded up and tucked in a pocket or unfolded, offering up the right tool for the task.","Jojoba oil isn't actually an oil.","It's a liquid wax from the seed of the jojoba plant, native to the sonoran desert areas in arizona, california, and mexico.","Jojoba oil is a common ingredient in soaps, shampoos, moisturizers, eye makeup, lip products, and color cosmetics.","Cosmetics manufacturers buy refined jojoba oil from a processing facility.","Jojoba in its natural state is golden and has a slightly nutty odor.","Once refined, it can be rendered colorless and odorless.","The jojoba farm takes selected cuttings from mature jojoba shrubs, roots and grows them for 18 months to 2 years in a greenhouse, then transplants them into the fields.","The wind carries pollen from the male plants to fertilize female plants, after which the female seed starts developing.","Each seed is housed inside a hull that gradually dries out and separates, dropping the seed to the ground.","The fallen seeds are mature for harvest.","The mechanical harvester works like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking the seeds off the ground, along with a lot of sand, twigs, and rocks.","The harvester then dumps its collection into a large hopper that feeds an elaborate seed-cleaning machine.","In it, the seeds and debris move from conveyor to conveyor through a series of vibrating screens, each made of increasingly smaller mesh.","The process gradually sifts out smaller and smaller bits of debris...","Until only the seeds are left.","They go into huge polyethylene bags, then off to the processing plant where workers empty the bags into a holding area called a seed pit.","From here, conveyors take the seeds to the presses.","The liquid wax is contained within the hard, white flesh, called the cotyledon.","They expel the liquid wax with conventional expeller press.","A long screw conveyor feeds the seeds into the press, then crushes them against a shaft.","This forces out the liquid wax that makes up about half a seed's weight.","The mashed seed-solids, called cake, are put to good use.","Some are used for compost.","Some will be processed into exfoliates-- abrasives used in face and body products to remove dead skin cells.","Meanwhile, a second screw conveyor moves the expelled liquid wax into a holding container, and from there, a pump pushes it through a filter press.","This press consists of several plates and frames, each one covered with a filter cloth.","As the liquid wax passes through, the cloth catches the last remaining solids.","This buildup of seed particles and other minute debris is biodegradable waste.","To make exfoliates, machines grind the cake into particles, then vibrating sifters divide the particles by size.","What's too big or small goes back to the farm for compost.","The extracted liquid wax isn't yet fully refined.","It's still cloudy and yellowish, so workers add natural powdered absorbents, then filter them out.","This clarifies the jojoba oil to its finished state.","The company lab runs extensive quality tests on every batch.","Technicians analyze several criteria, including color, odor, and chemical composition, ensuring the oil meets strict product specifications.","As the jojoba oil flows from storage tanks into shipping drums, it passes through a final ultra-sensitive cartridge filter that removes any minute particles that might have slipped through the filter press.","This processor makes two varieties of refined jojoba oil-- one golden, with a mild, nutty aroma, the other, colorless and odorless.","The texture and consistency are identical.","Manufacturers buy whichever variety better suits their product.","String puppets, also known as marionettes, are an ancient form of performance.","It's not known exactly when or where the first string puppets made an appearance, but it was thousands of years ago.","Today, they've still got what it takes to entertain audiences worldwide.","digitized characters may rule in the movies, but onstage, there's no doubt that string-animated ones can still dazzle audiences.","A few movements of the puppeteer's hands, and some fantastical characters are brought to life.","Behind the scenes, making these marionettes is a major production.","Each one is painstakingly hand-crafted in a process that takes weeks.","It all starts with an idea.","The puppet maker draws several sketches of the character, tweaking the features until he's satisfied.","He then draws a full-scale version of the marionette.","Referring to that scaled drawing, he sculpts the head in clay, building it into a wooden framework known as the armature.","The clay is oil-based.","It doesn't dry out as fast as the water-based kind, so there's time to tweak the sculpture and perfect it.","Lines drawn for reference make it easier to position the nose, eyes, and mouth.","He defines the mouth a little more to give it a petulant expression.","He smoothes the top of the clay head, using a looped sculpting tool and his thumb.","With a caliper tool, he constantly compares the dimensions of the sketch to the sculpture to ensure the head won't end up too large or too small.","Once the lips and other features have been smoothed out, he prepares to make a plaster mold of the sculpture.","He divides the head into four sections, and he outlines a trap door at the back of the head for easy access later.","He now inserts metal shims along the dividing lines.","He's essentially building walls to contain molding plaster.","The shims will also ensure that the plaster, once hardened, can be removed from the clay sculpture in four intact pieces.","The plaster has been mixed to the consistency of cake batter.","He scoops a generous amount into a walled-in section of the clay sculpture.","The plaster generates heat as it hardens and sets.","It then cools for about half an hour.","He removes the shims that surround it.","He then uses those shims to wall-in the next section.","He adds more plaster to build up this part of the mold.","When all four sections are complete, he gently chisels them at the seams to separate them.","He opens the mold and removes the sculpture.","Its image has been transferred to the inside of the mold.","The sculpture is no longer needed, and he's ready to cast the puppet head, using the mold.","For that, he uses plastic-infused cloth squares, softened by solvent.","He transfers the squares to the mold sections and layers them papier-mâché style.","A release agent applied to the mold keeps the squares from sticking to it as they begin to adhere to each other, and, in the process, conform to the mold's curves and crevices.","With squares now applied to all four sections, he puts the mold back together and joins them at the seams.","After 10 hours, it's time for the big reveal.","All those little squares are now one solid marionette head.","The casting looks pretty rough at this point, so he covers the entire surface with plastic wood.","What a difference sanding the plastic wood makes.","He then paints the head and cuts holes for the eyes and mouth.","From the inside of the puppet head, he attaches springs to enable the mouth and eyes to open and close.","Over in the paint department, with every stroke of the brush, the puppet becomes a more colorful character.","Coming up next, the marionette gets its moving parts, and, of course, they come with strings attached.","With their string-operated limbs, marionettes can imitate almost every human or animal gesture.","The more joints and strings the puppet has, the wider the range of movement and the more lifelike the character becomes.","Before the head of the penguin puppet can be attached to the body, it just needs a few more dramatic touches, like curly fur.","Yes, in the fantasy world of puppetry, anything is possible--  even fur on a penguin.","He traces the pattern on the reverse side of the furry fabric and cuts it out from that side, too, to prevent any snipping of the fur on the front.","He stitches the darts together to conform to the shape of the penguin head.","This process must be repeated for each fur-covered part.","He checks out the fit and confirms that it achieves the desired effect.","Satisfied with the results, he moves on to the eyelashes.","He traces the pattern onto rubber and cuts the lashes out.","To accentuate the eyes, the lashes are substantial.","He inserts a pair of lashes into slits in each wooden eyeball.","From head to toe, no detail is overlooked.","Here, he glues rhinestones to shoes for some serious onstage bling.","He's now ready to build the torso and limbs of the marionette.","He traces the pattern of those parts onto blocks of poplar wood and then carefully cuts them out with a band saw.","This particular part is a hand for the penguin character.","The initial cut is rough and needs fine-tuning, so he chisels away at it to remove excess wood and define the shape.","He files it with a rasp to round the profile.","It takes about five hours to produce just one puppet hand.","The other parts receive an equal amount of attention, because with ball-and-socket-style joints, each limb must fit smoothly to the next.","He attaches the two limb segments with a hinge made from a kind of fiber board-- the same material used to make steamer trunks.","He confirms that the joints will move freely under the costume.","When the marionette body has all its moving parts, it's time to stretch those limbs.","So they suit him up and thread the strings from the puppet to the correct spot on the controls.","The control bars are shaped like an airplane.","They're known in the world of puppetry as an airplane control.","The thread they use is fishing line because of its strength.","They run nine strings or more, depending on the complexity of the marionette.","Some of these strings are for support, some for movement, and others for effects like nose growing or ear wiggling.","Of course, the string placement is crucial for proper movement.","With the strings strung and well knotted, the marionette body comes to life.","And now the defining moment.","They attach the head to the body.","It's a good fit.","This new character is almost ready to meet his audience.","All that's left is to run the strings for controlling his head and facial expressions.","And a little accessorizing.","They now manipulate the strings to check his limb dexterity and the movement of his mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.","This marionette is now ready for the stage.","Between shows, he reclines.","After all, you can't always be on.","Incredibly, it takes up to 1,500 hours to create each one of these marionettes.","After all that work, they're ready to cue the talent."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Police Badges","Muffins","Car Washes","Pressure Gauges"]},"text":["Ever since the days of the american wild west, badges have been a way to tell the good guys from the bad.","Sheriffs don't raise posses to maintain law and order anymore, but a badge continues to be a powerful symbol, and simply flashing one can still stop a suspect cold.","The badge comes with the uniform.","It identifies the officer's rank and unit.","So it's an accessory that makes a statement.","Each one is custom-made.","The client spells out the specifications on an order form, right down to the metal finish and the color of the lettering.","This machine delivers a powerful punch to cut sheriff star shapes from a coiled sheet of brass.","They place a star shape in the steel mold of a press.","It applies about 170,000 pounds per square centimeter to make an impression on the badge.","A punch press trims the ragged edges to make it look neater.","A mechanical stamper then inscribes the company name on the back of the badge.","This computerized engraver then marks the rank and other information on the front.","They apply a couple of dabs of silver solder to the back of the badge.","It's the substance that will hold the catch and pin joint in place.","They blast the back of the badge with a torch, and it reaches a temperature of over 1,400 degrees fahrenheit.","This causes the solder to melt, fusing the parts to the badge.","They then position the badge under a hydraulic press.","Like a steel fist, it punches the badge to give it the correct curvature.","Here they spray a mix of water and tiny glass beads onto the back.","This is called wet blasting, and it makes the finish cleaner and more textured.","A technician now hooks the pin in the joint that was soldered onto the badge.","He slides the assembly onto a rivet automatically served up by this machine.","The machine applies pressure to expand the rivet and lock everything in place.","The pin now fits in the catch, which will enable the badge to be fastened onto the police officer's uniform.","Next, they brush enamel into the engraved lettering.","The enamel is a mix of glass and water, which comes from an ancient metalworking technique called cloisonné.","They fire the badge in a kiln, and the glass enamel melts into the lettering.","After it hardens, they grind the enameled sections against a stone to expose the inscriptions.","They then polish the badge to a mirror finish.","This automated rack immerses the badges in a electroplating solution to give the brass a protective layer of nickel.","They plate some badges with 24-karat gold.","Now they apply a strong adhesive to the back of a medallion...","Then attach it to the center of the badge.","The medallion has an official emblem.","It's specific to the police force's jurisdiction.","They adjust the catch and its hardware to ensure it moves freely and is in good working order.","After all, no officer wants to lose his or her badge.","They give it a shine and check for surface imperfections.","And now it's ready to report for duty.","It takes three weeks to make one of these police badges, and they should be good for a lifetime of service.","The word \"muffin\" appeared in britain around the 11th century.","In victorian times, muffins were bought in the street from the muffin man, made famous in the popular children's nursery rhyme.","In america, cooks began to experiment with english muffin recipes, and the modern muffin was born.","These muffins are a lot like homemade, except to make this many, you need some pretty big equipment and a heap of ingredients.","At this commercial bakery, they make them with flour, then add salt, baking powder, and a prepared mixture of dry ingredients.","Finally, they add vanilla flavor and start up the barrel mixer.","It's a big one-- large enough to hold a ton of batter at least.","Next, they add oil and water, then vegetable shortening.","Now here come the blueberries.","They go into the mix once they're thawed.","Berries are delicate, so workers take care to pour them out slowly, weighing each bucket to add just the right amount.","Down below, workers pour out close to a ton of batter from the mixer.","That's a whole lot of batter.","Just one batch makes about 7,000 muffins.","They cover the trough to protect the batter until it goes on to fill baking pans like these that can hold 54 muffins, each with its own paper liner.","A conveyor advances the pans towards a machine called a batter depositor.","Prepared batter pumps in from the trough and into the pans as they pass below it.","The depositor fills the pans one row at a time, measuring out the batter by weight.","At the next station, blueberries pass through a funnel equipped with a turning gear and drop right onto the muffin tops.","A bar placed across the conveyor blows filtered air to remove any stray berries from the pans as they advance to the gas oven.","A metal arm pushes them right in to bake for about 30 minutes.","The oven, open on both sides, has dampers to keep in the heat.","The muffins come out of the oven baked a golden brown.","The pans cool for a few minutes and then continue on to a custom-designed machine that's pretty handy.","It removes the muffins from the pan and packages them all automatically.","Suction cups seize cardboard flats two at a time and push them onto a tray former.","The forming head pushes down on the preglued cardboard and voilà--  out comes a perfectly square box that falls right onto the conveyor belt.","Pans full of baked muffins follow alongside on another conveyor.","At the next stop, suction cups lift the muffins out of their pans.","With military precision, they set them down into neat rows in the cardboard boxes that wait on the back conveyor.","The conveyor carries the filled boxes to a station where they're covered, top and bottom, with a sheet of clear plastic.","Heated blades cut and seal the plastic at both ends.","Then the boxes pass through a heat tunnel that shrinks the plastic snugly over the trays.","They're now ready for shipping to customers in the food-service industry.","On another line, preprinted plastic film wraps the individual muffins as they flow along the conveyor.","Rotating brushes keep them moving forward while blades come down to separate the continuous roll into individually wrapped muffins ready for retail sale.","Blueberry, bran, pecan strudel, lemon poppy.","With so many flavors to choose from, why not try some of each?","The best car washes tackle everything from road grime and dead bugs to bird droppings that eat away at the paint and metal of your vehicle.","Car washes help you preserve your investment and increase its resale value.","They save you time and help you feel proud about the vehicle you're driving.","A state-of-the-art car wash can be an eye-opening experience.","Assorted soaps and waxes clean and pamper every part of the vehicle like never before.","This effective, yet gentle, cleaning power is made possible using the latest car-cleaning technology.","It starts with welding together the steel frame that travels inside the bay of the car wash, then adding the steel and fiberglass walls.","Using a milling machine, the worker then makes the wheels on which the frame travels.","The machine first prepares the center hole where the axle goes, then makes a groove in the wheel so it can ride on a track.","Before long, a steel blank becomes a finished drive wheel.","He then welds the wheel onto a drive shaft.","He places the wheel assembly in the bottom of the steel frame and bolts it in place.","He then connects a hydraulic motor to the end of the wheel assembly and makes sure it couples together perfectly.","Here a worker puts together the brush assembly that cleans the sides of the vehicle.","The brushes are made of material called poly-flex.","It comes cut to various lengths so that it gets into those hard-to-clean places.","Poly-flex won't trap in dirt particles.","It's smooth and very gentle on the vehicle.","The finished side-brush assembly consists of seven alternating columns of poly-flex.","A worker puts together the pneumatic regulators and gauges that control many aspects of the car wash, including the brush assemblies and the distribution of soaps and waxes.","He then bolts the hydraulic pump to the frame.","He screws on the system's hydraulic filter...","Then connects the hydraulic pressure line and makes certain it's secure.","The hydraulic power system moves the car-wash frame and rotates the brushes, but a computer controls everything.","He hooks up the system wires that connect to the computer.","The computer makes it possible for the car wash to run without an operator.","Workers then install the rack that supports an overhead curtain.","A worker attaches a shaft to the rack...","Then a heavy-duty bearing.","When the bearing assembly is in place, he secures the rack to the frame.","He tests the rack to make sure its computer-controlled pneumatic cylinders manipulate the overhead curtain correctly.","He tests the oscillating high-pressure nozzles.","Then he makes sure the wheels move the frame properly.","He turns on all the brush assemblies that clean and polish the car and makes sure they spin and oscillate in perfect harmony.","The definitive test, of course, is an actual car wash that proves the system works flawlessly and that every part of the vehicle gets the best washing and waxing possible.","After a quick drying, this vehicle drives out of the car wash sparkling clean.","Life without pressure gauges would be pretty rough.","Figuring out everyday things like oil pressure, air pressure, and blood pressure would be almost impossible.","Without pressure gauges, we'd even have trouble taking a proper shower because getting the correct water pressure in our homes would be a hit-and-miss affair.","For a pressure gauge to be trustworthy, whether it's measuring gases or liquids, it must be exceptionally well-made and accurate.","To start, a worker loads an aluminum faceplate into a printing press.","It applies a colored scale used for measuring pressure in pounds per square inch.","The type of scale it prints depends on the measuring unit being used.","Then a worker puts a copper tube into a bending machine that bends, cuts, and flattens sections of the tube.","The amount of flattening and bending determines the pressure range the gauge can measure.","Each piece becomes a pressure-sensing tube known as a bourdon tube.","Then a worker cuts lengths of brass that he machines into connectors.","They will link the bourdon tube to an inlet pipe.","He melts zinc solder in the connector's receptacle, and he mounts the bourdon tube in the correct position.","He fills the gap between the connector and the bourdon tube with solder.","Then he flushes the heated piece with water to cool it down, sealing the tube in place.","He puts the cooled piece on a mounting fixture and solders the other end of the bourdon tube to the gauge's internal mechanism.","He seals the gap and cools it down.","Then he puts the finished pieces, or pressure-system assemblies, as they're now called, into a cleaning machine.","Its hot, soapy water washes away any dirt and loose solder particles.","The pressure-system assemblies then go on to a leak-testing machine that pushes air into the tubes.","A stable pressure reading indicates there is no leakage.","Another worker takes a gear mechanism, which controls the mechanical movement inside the gauge, and places it on the connector.","A machine screws the gear mechanism in place.","He then takes the gear's connecting link and rivets it to the pressure-system assembly.","He fits the pressure-system assembly inside a protective stainless-steel housing.","A machine screws it all together.","Next, a worker calibrates the assembly.","She loosens up the connecting link slightly to prevent friction, puts on the indicator needle, and runs a test.","After a bit more adjusting, she puts the faceplate and the indicator needle back on.","She ensures the gauge reads accurately at three key positions and then screws the faceplate onto the gauge.","A final test confirms it is calibrated properly.","Then she puts a glass cover over the faceplate and adds a steel ring to hold it in place.","A crimping machine evenly folds the ring's edge until it makes a perfect seal.","Now she fills the gauge with glycerin.","Glycerin lubricates the internal mechanical parts and increases the lifetime of the gauge.","Glycerin also absorbs vibration well, which helps the indicator needle remain stable during operation.","A worker completes the pressure gauge by sealing off the fill hole with a rubber plug.","But, of course, not all gauges are built the same way.","As accurate and dependable as a swiss watch, a trustworthy pressure gauge also has a pretty face."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pasta Dies","Blueberries","Composting Toilets","Surge Arresters"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"...","Pasta dies.","Blueberries.","Composting toilets.","And surge arresters.","Industrial pasta machines produce noodles by extruding dough through a die.","The die has holes in it, which are shaped to produce a specific type of pasta.","As the dough comes through the holes in a continuous stream, a knife cuts the pasta to the correct length.","This industrial pasta die produces fusilli, up to one and a half tons of it per hour.","And this is just a midsize die.","The largest ones can produce four tons of pasta per hour.","The die block is made of a bronze-aluminum alloy.","A computer-guided machine drills holes for inserts through which the pasta dough will be extruded.","The front of the block is then chrome plated to protect against the sharp knife that cuts the extruded pasta off the die.","The next step is to make inserts that go in the holes in the block.","An insert is comprised of male and female parts and a nonstick plastic lining.","A computer-guided mill cuts the linings from a plate of nonstick plastic.","Another computer-guided mill machines the female part of the inserts in a more than quarter of an inch-thick brass plate.","Then a worker places a lining in each female part.","He taps it into position with a mallet and punch.","The plate then goes back on the mill, which cuts an extrusion slot in the lining.","The slot shape determines the pasta shape.","A mill machines the male part of the inserts in another brass plate.","A worker detaches the male parts from the plate with a punch and mallet.","He detaches the lined female parts the same way.","Then he assembles the male and female parts by forcing one onto the other with the help of a steel punch.","He finishes the die insert by cutting off the protruding excess plastic with a blade so that the lining is flush with the top.","The factory makes die inserts in thousands of different shapes-- some standard, others in the client's custom-made pasta shape.","This computer-guided lathe makes brass locking rings which will secure the inserts in the block.","Now, final assembly begins.","A worker places the block face-down, and from the back drops an insert top-first into each hole.","Next, he places a locking ring in each hole.","Then, with a hydraulic press and punch, he forces down each locking ring to within approximately 1 millimeter of the insert underneath.","In this position, the ring holds the insert in the hole but doesn't prevent it from spinning within the hole.","The next step is to adjust the inserts to make their orientation uniform.","He inserts a pin into each insert slot.","Then he rotates the pin to rotate the insert.","Once the insert orientation is correct, he forces the locking ring down all the way to immobilize the insert.","Once he has all the inserts oriented the same way, he sands the chrome-plated front of the die, first with a medium-grit disk, then with a fine-grit sandpaper.","The die surface must be smooth as silk for the knife to slice off the extruded pasta cleanly.","He verifies the width of every extrusion slot with a gauge.","This ensures every piece of pasta will be the correct thickness.","Then on the back of the finished die, he stamps the manufacturer's name.","The die is ready to be mounted on an industrial machine that extrudes dough into perfectly shaped, ready-to-boil pasta.","Blueberries are one of nature's healthiest foods.","They're low in calories, packed with vitamin c, and full of antioxidants.","And freezing blueberries doesn't compromise any of that nutritional value.","North and south america grow most of the world's blueberries.","The length of the harvest varies by climate.","In the south, it spans april to september.","Further north, mid-june to mid-august.","At this state-of-the-art blueberry farm, a mechanical harvester straddles the row of blueberry plants and shakes the leaves with vibrating fingers.","The berries fall to a sloped floor below and roll down into side conveyor belts.","The belts dump the berries into onboard bins which trucks transport from the field to the on-site packing plant.","The plant has two separate production lines-- one for berries to be shipped out fresh, and this one for berries to be shipped out frozen.","Workers empty the bins into a hopper, which feeds the berries onto a conveyor belt.","A vibrating conveyor belt then ferries the berries under a blower that suctions up loose leaves and twigs.","Then the blueberries tumble down a waterfall.","Stones and debris settle in the ledges.","The berries land in a wash tank.","Most of the ripe ones sink to the bottom while most of the unripe ones float on top where workers can easily scoop them out.","The berries exit the wash tank with fewer unripe ones among them.","The mesh belt vibrates to gently shake off water.","Then it runs the berries through the first of two color sorters.","The machine's camera is preset to ignore the color blue and detect only green and red.","Whenever a green or red berry passes, the camera sends a signal to the computer identifying its exact location so that one of the 136 air jets blows it off the belt to a collection trough below.","The ripe blueberries fly over the top onto a conveyor belt that takes them to the freezer tunnel.","The temperature inside is minus 29 degrees fahrenheit.","Five to 7 minutes later, the berries exit the tunnel frozen solid.","Workers perform a final visual inspection.","After passing through a metal detector, the berries drop into a preprogrammed scale that weighs out the specific quantity being packaged.","Meanwhile, in an on-site lab, government-trained inspectors pull samples off the line every 20 minutes for grading, which they determine by assessing factors such as color, aroma, and defects.","The frozen berries go into a freezer until shipped out by freezer truck.","The fresh berry production line is similar to the frozen line, minus the wash tank and, of course, the freeze tunnel.","However, the color sorters on this line are even more high-tech.","Not only are they set to detect red and green berries, but they also have a firmness detector, which by bouncing each berry on a pad can identify blue ones too soft to have at least a 12-day refrigerated shelf life.","Air jets blow those soft berries off the conveyor so they can be transferred to the frozen-berry line.","The rest continue to a final visual inspection.","The fresh berries are ready for packaging.","This electronic fill machine is preset to weigh out the specific quantity they're packaging, in this case, nearly 2-pound containers.","It drops that quantity of berries into an awaiting plastic container.","The final stop on the packaging line is the flat-seal machine.","It applies a printed plastic film to the top of the container, melting and bonding it to the perimeter without a touch of heat.","The film has ventilation holes because fresh berries require air.","From here, the containers go off to a refrigerated warehouse to await shipping to the store by refrigerated truck.","And provided they remain refrigerated, the blueberries remain fresh and juicy for 10 to 12 days.","There's a new john in town.","Composting toilets are the greatest thing since indoor plumbing.","In fact, they don't need any plumbing at all.","So they can go where traditional toilets do not.","They are little waste treatment machines.","They turn the unpleasant business of sewage into something more agreeable-- garden fertilizer.","This composting toilet works a bit of magic with sewage.","It transforms the solids into compost and makes the liquids disappear.","Making these toilets starts with a composting tank.","A worker sprays fiberglass into a mold of the tank.","Then he and another member of the team press out air trapped between the fiberglass and mold surface.","Once the part cures, a blast of compressed air loosens it from the mold.","And he lifts it out.","It's a bit ragged around the rim.","So they do a basic trim.","He drills holes in the tank for installing fittings.","Using a pneumatic circular blade, he slices a hole for the compost drawer.","And he grinds the rim to precise measurements.","He screws two overflow fittings into a threaded hole on the back of the tank.","He seals the fittings with epoxy from the other side of the tank wall.","This epoxy seal will prevent leaks.","Moving down the line, another worker sprays adhesive on the bottom of the composting tank.","He presses an aluminum panel to it.","This panel will radiate heat from a heating element he installs over it.","It will heat the evaporation chamber in the tank to dissipate liquids.","He places fiberglass insulation over the heater and encases it with a molded fiberglass cover.","He wires the heater and installs a thermostat that will regulate the heat and also shut off the system if the temperature drops below or exceeds the threshold.","He turns the composting toilet tank right-side-up to await further assembly.","Meanwhile, another worker assembles the fan for exhausting the evaporated fluids and any odors.","He inserts the motor shaft in a hole in the fan door so that it protrudes inside.","He then screws the motor to the outside of the door.","Next, he assembles the centrifugal blower to the motor shaft.","He installs a plastic shroud.","It surrounds the fan, protecting the blades' interacting airflow.","At the next station, a worker prepares the drum in which solid waste will be converted to compost by aerobic decomposition.","He fastens a stainless steel screen to an opening in the drum.","Liquid waste will drain through this screen and into the evaporation chamber.","Once evaporated, the fan will expel it through the vent stack.","He now places the drum in the tank, bearings elevated, so it sits just above the evaporation chamber.","He fits a plastic top to the tank and screws the two components together.","He inserts a metal shaft with gears, engaging them with grooves on the outside of the drum.","He inserts the fan into an opening at the back and secures it.","He wires the fan to the power source.","He installs a cover to protect the wiring.","And he connects the shaft to a handle at the front.","It rotates the drum to mix the contents and introduce air so that the aerobic microorganisms will thrive.","After electrical and other tests, a worker installs the drawer for the finished compost.","She fastens the seat to the base with nylon nuts and bolts with caps.","She inserts a plastic liner in the bowl.","And this completes the composting toilet.","By turning human waste into compost, things will eventually end up smelling like roses.","Electrical systems are vulnerable to voltage spikes from lightning or switching surges.","Surge arresters take over in these high-voltage situations.","When lightning strikes, surge arresters handle the fallout.","They divert the ensuing power surges to the earth, where they won't cause damage.","At their core are discs that act as switches.","They turn on and off to divert voltage spikes.","The discs are known as m.o.v.s, which is short for metal oxide varistors.","A worker loops fiberglass strapping onto aluminum endcaps to prepare the casing for the m.o.v.s.","He places a spacer on one end of the end caps.","He then packs numerous m.o.v.s on top, equipping this arrester to divert a 60,000-volt power surge.","He adds more spacers to fill in any gaps because the m.o.v. stack has to sit tight within the casing.","With the stack complete, he loops more fiberglass strapping around the m.o.v.s to complete the casing.","He torques the set screw to compress the stack.","The set screw also pushes back the end caps.","This pulls the fiberglass strapping tighter.","He now clamps the surge arrester assembly between two mandrels.","He ties a resin-reinforced thread around the fiberglass loop at one end.","He lowers a guard as a safety precaution.","The mandrels then spin the surge arrester module as a computer-programmed dispenser winds the thread around it to strengthen it.","It creates gaps between the windings.","This will allow sparks and fumes to escape in the event of a power overload.","With the winding complete, he cuts the end and tucks it under the last winding.","He hangs the module on a rack conveyer, which takes it into a chamber.","Here, a tank filled with an adhesive-promoting solution rises up and immerses the module.","This leaves a coating that will help silicone rubber housing bond to the module later.","He removes the hook used to hang the module on the rack conveyer and installs mandrels at both ends to be used at a later stage of processing.","He sets the module between the rungs of a chain-driven conveyer.","It takes it through an oven set at 302 degrees fahrenheit.","This cures the resin in the thread, causing it to harden around the fiberglass strapping.","It also preheats the surge arrester module in preparation for the next process-- the molding of the outer housing.","Using the mandrels, he locks two of the surge arrester modules in a platform and slides it under a mold press.","A lift takes it to the press.","It injects silicone rubber into the mold.","And using pressure and heat, it forms insulating jackets around the arrester modules.","The primer coating enhances the adhesion of the silicone rubber to the modules.","He clips off unwanted bits of silicone rubber from the molded housing and cleans up the ends with a wire brush.","Surge arresters come in a range of voltage ratings for different electrical systems.","He now lubricates the threaded bolt holes in one end.","He aligns those holes with the ones on a terminal connector.","He bolts the connector to the surge arrester.","He installs a base on the other end.","This base will allow the arrester to be mounted to the ground to send excess voltages to the earth.","He now puts the surge arrester to the test.","He connects electrodes to the terminal connector and to the base.","He runs different voltages of electricity through the arrester and confirms that it adequately discharges them.","This surge arrester is now ready to join others on the grid, forming a defense against lightning strikes and power spikes."]}
{"meta":{"things":["NASCAR Car Bodies","Hurley Sticks","Tube Power Amplifiers","Thermal Coffee Pots"]},"text":["The first stock cars were souped-up family sedans.","But today, they're custom-built for the racetrack.","Each car body must match the contours of templates set by nascar, the national association of stock car auto racing.","On the racetrack, the shape of a car can give it an aerodynamic edge over the competition, so in nascar races, car bodies must have uniform curves.","The regulations put the focus on driver skill and make the race a fair one.","They mold some of the car's body parts from a carbon fiber and kevlar material.","First, a technician applies a release agent to a mold for the car's front end.","Then he sprays a paint undercoat into it.","This undercoat will eventually transfer to the completed panel.","A computerized cutter slices the carbon fiber and kevlar fabric into strips.","It produces 22 pieces, each one cut to fit a different section of the mold.","The technician rolls epoxy resin onto the fabric one strip at a time.","Once the strip has been completely coated, he transfers it to the mold.","He tucks the fabric into the contours and smooths out any big wrinkles.","He layers the strips three deep in a crisscross configuration for structural integrity.","A co-worker covers the carbon fiber with perforated plastic.","They add layers of absorbent polyester and thick plastic, which they glue to the edge of the mold.","They insert a fitting and connect a vacuum, which sucks out air and excess epoxy resin.","The polyester material soaks up the resin as it flows through the holes in the first plastic layer.","This both smooths and compacts the carbon-fiber layers.","Then it's into a hot oven to bake for three hours.","This activates the epoxy and combines the layers of carbon fiber and kevlar fabric.","An employee removes the completed stock-car panel and inspects it.","Then it's over to a weigh station.","At just under 8 pounds, the part is lightweight yet virtually shatterproof.","Meanwhile, at another factory, work begins on the stock-car chassis.","They build it from square steel tubing that's super strong.","An employee welds the pieces together to create a support structure for the car.","At the next station, a worker forces narrow steel tubing against a spiral bit to carve notches in it.","This tubing is for the roll cage, the structure that protects the driver if there's an accident.","The notches will help form better joints.","He grinds the rough edges, creating a smooth surface to weld the tube to the rest of the roll cage.","Once complete, the team transfers the roll cage to the main frame of the chassis.","They tack-weld it before doing the final welds.","The next part is called the rear clip.","It holds the fuel tank and has mounts for the rear suspension.","With the car framework now complete, a technician scans it using a digital measuring probe.","The scan confirms that the dimensions are correct.","They now assemble the various steel and carbon-fiber body parts to the stock-car framework.","They measure the completed car body by laying template grids on it.","The biggest one sits over the center of the car.","They pull a gauge through the gaps between the templates and the car body.","The gap cannot exceed the tolerances set by nascar.","They often must tweak the shape of a body part to meet regulations.","Once the car has been painted, they apply headlight decals where the real ones usually are.","Real headlights would add too much weight and pose a safety risk if they shattered.","It's taken three weeks of intensive work, but this stock-car body is now ready for the mechanics.","Things are about to pick up speed.","The game of hurling has been played in ireland for at least 2,000 years.","Players swing a stick called a hurley to hit a ball the size of a hockey puck into a net.","Winning takes skill, quick reflexes, and, of course, the luck of the irish.","Pass the ball and pass on the tradition.","Hurling is a game that's older than the recorded history of ireland.","In ireland, hurleys are still made the old-fashioned way-- by hand in small shops.","Ash is the wood of choice.","They use only the part of the tree near the root because the grain flows in a natural curve there, making the stick less likely to break during play.","The hurley maker slices the trunk into planks that are one inch thick.","He'll make one hurley from each plank.","He stacks the planks and then picks through them to select one for shaping.","He scrutinizes the curve of the grain on the boards.","It needs to be suitable for the size of the hurley he'll be making.","His selection made, he places a see-through plastic pattern on the board.","The transparency allows him to find the curve of the grain and position it within the striking surface of the hurley.","He draws an outline around it with a pencil.","After a rough cut and some initial shaping, he re-pencils the pattern and cuts it with a band saw.","The striking surface of the hurley is called the bas.","It's the most substantial part of the stick.","He sculpts the stick to various thicknesses with a planer.","He keeps it thick at the bas and thins it at the stem to give the stick some elasticity when striking the ball.","This will allow the player to hit the ball farther.","He sands the edges to make them more even.","He tapers the bas to the very end, creating a sloped surface so the ball can be picked up easily.","He then switches to a finer grid abrasive belt and sands the handle and the rest of the stick until it's super smooth.","Next, he cuts steel banding to a length that's a little more than twice the diameter of the bas.","He loops the band around the end of the bas and clamps it snugly to it.","He drives large nails into the band to puncture it.","He hammers smaller nails into those holes and all the way through the wood.","He clips the protruding nails.","He then flattens the cut ends to turn the nails into rivets.","He folds the ends of the looped band together at the rim of the bas and nails them to the wood.","Now securely attached, the steel band will reinforce the hurley at its most vulnerable point--  the end of the striking surface.","Not every player wants their hurley banded.","This is an optional feature.","He now winds rubber tape just under the handle for better gripping.","He continues to twist it partway down the stick because players sometimes grip it there with both hands.","He finishes the wrap at both ends with electrical tape, which has stronger adhesive backing.","It will prevent unraveling of the rubber tape.","It's taken about 20 minutes to craft this hurley stick.","How long it will last is anyone's guess.","There's no warranty on hurleys, and it's sure to break at some point because hurling is a rough game.","Some players go through several hurleys in one season.","It doesn't matter if you lose a stick as long as you win the game.","In an audio system, the amplifier is the component which makes the sound louder and sends it to the speakers.","While most amps on the market are powered by transistors, many audiophiles swear by tube amplifiers, which use older vacuum-tube technology.","many believe that tube amplifiers produce a warmer, more natural sound.","This factory makes the amp's main chassis from a sheet of polished stainless steel.","A computer-guided punch press cuts openings for the power switches, control knobs, and other components.","The press prepares eight chassis per sheet.","Workers separate them with a few strikes of a mallet.","Then they place them one at a time in a bending machine called a press break.","Once they position the sheet with the help of metal guides, they activate a foot pedal, releasing 90 tons of pressure to bend the edge of the sheet.","Then they remove the adhesive film which has been protecting the mirror-finish surface of the chassis.","They clean off any remaining adhesive residue with alcohol.","Then they put the chassis into an offset press.","Using a silk-screen printing process, it labels the controls and connections.","Next are the speaker terminals, which connect the speaker wires to the amp.","These connectors are made of gold-plated brass, which are nonmagnetic metals.","Magnetic ones would react to the electric current and cause distortion.","The terminal's circuit board, installed next, carries the amplified signal from the main circuit board to the speaker terminals.","They install and connect the power switch and the circuit board for the vacuum-tube illumination.","This indicates the tube's status.","Meanwhile, this machine winds strands of copper wire around plastic bobbins to begin making the amp's output transformers.","Output transformers match the amp's circuitry to the electronic specifications of different types of speakers.","The number of wires, their different gauges, and the number of revolutions around the bobbin create this unique compatibility.","After taping the wires to prevent unraveling, they join, then solder the ends to additional wiring.","They will later connect to the amp's main board.","A fiberglass sleeve insulates the connection.","They place the bobbin in a lamination machine.","Laminations are thin plates of carbon steel.","The machine stacks them all around the bobbin.","Then workers put a bolt in each corner to hold them together.","They place the laminated bobbin in an aluminum housing and pour in hot black tar.","This immobilizes the laminations so they won't rattle when the amp is amplifying low frequencies.","Then workers install the two output transformers into the chassis, along with a third transformer to power the amp.","They take the amp's main circuit board, plug in ceramic sockets for the vacuum tubes...","And solder the sockets' leads to the board.","Then, after feeding the transformer leads, they mount the main board in the chassis, screwing it to posts to hold it in place.","Then they connect the transformer leads.","They plug the vacuum tubes one by one into the sockets.","The tubes are made of glass with a heat-resistant base.","The interior contains a combination of metals but no air, hence the term vacuum tube.","The amp has 11 tubes in all-- seven small ones to power input signals from a source such as a cd player and four big ones to power output to the speakers.","Then they attach the chassis' ventilated bottom cover made of painted steel.","They affix decals to differentiate the output transformers from the power transformer.","L.e.d. lights turn green when the amp is powered up and ready to deliver that warm, natural sound that many believe only traditional vacuum tubes can produce.","People generally like their coffee either hot or iced, hence the need for the thermal coffee pot.","Pour in hot coffee, and the pot holds in heat, keeping the coffee at that temperature for a good half-hour.","The trick to a thermal coffee pot is in the construction.","Both the body and lid have a double wall, two layers of stainless steel.","Between them is a tiny gap just 5 to 6 millimeters.","The air in this gap insulates the inner wall, trapping the heat inside the pot.","They start with a stainless-steel sheet just 1.2 millimeters thick.","The first step is to cut it into smaller pieces on a mechanical press.","To make the coffee pot's body, they cut it into strips, then each strip into squares measuring 8x8 inches.","Then they put each square in another mechanical press.","It stamps the square onto a circular die, which cuts it into a disk.","They'll now use this disk to make the outer wall.","They run the disk through a lubricator that coats the surface with oil to aid the next step on a machine called a hydraulic deep drawing press.","The machine's molders draw the flat disk into a three-dimensional shape.","This stretches the stainless-steel fibers to a very fragile state.","They strengthen the piece by what's called thermic normalization, heating the metal to 1,800 degrees fahrenheit, then letting it cool to room temperature.","This process restores the original molecular structure of the stainless steel so it can be shaped further without breaking.","But first, they even out the jagged rim with a trimmer.","Then they return the wall to the deep drawing press outfitted with a differently shaped molder.","The second drawing tapers the wall to a more rounded shape and forms a base to make the bottom perfectly flat.","Then it's back to the trimmer, outfitted with a different tool this time, to smooth the rim.","They repeat the same steps to make the coffee pot's inner wall.","The deep drawing press pulls the stainless-steel disk into a slightly different shape with a lip protruding to one side.","They heat the wall in the induction oven to restore the molecular structure before shaping the metal further.","Then they place the wall in a mold and release a press.","This shapes the protruding lip into a spout.","Then they transfer the wall to another press, which stamps it with a die, cutting off excess metal.","They check to make sure that the inner and outer walls fit together properly.","If everything is fine, they polish both walls inside and out.","A little polishing paste applied with a sisal brush on the polishing wheel has the surfaces glistening in no time.","The surface is now perfectly smooth and ready for welding.","The first part they weld is the coffee pot's stainless-steel handle.","They shape it with two strikes of a press, then polish.","They use a spot welder to fuse the handle to the pot's outer wall.","Then they turn the wall upside down to stamp the manufacturer's logo into the bottom.","Now the assembly.","They place the inner wall on a fixture, then the outer wall over it.","A press pushes the inner to the correct depth.","Then they weld along the rim of the outer wall, fusing it to the inner one.","The coffee pot's lid also has double walls for insulation.","They weld a hinged lever to the lid and the adjoining part of the hinge to the coffee-pot body.","Then they gently hammer a pin through the hinge, riveting the ends of the pin so that it can't fall out.","After a thorough cleaning in a dishwasher, the coffee pot is ready to use."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Wood Garage Doors","Sand and Salt Spreaders","Animatronic Dinosaurs"]},"text":["A garage door is more than just a functional component of a house.","It's part of the curb appeal, especially when the garage is prominently located at the front of the home.","Garage doors are made from a variety of materials, wood being the high-end option.","A wood garage door is pricier than standard steel, aluminum, or vinyl panel doors.","But they offer the most design flexibility.","Wood can be customized to any style and painted or stained any color.","Western red cedar, mahogany, and hemlock are popular choices because they hold up particularly well outdoors.","Garage doors start with the core structure.","For the core surface, they use exterior-grade plywood so that the indoor-facing side of the core can be stained to match the decorative wood on the outdoor side.","They build the core's internal structure out of finger-jointed yellow pine.","Finger-jointed means each piece is made of several short, connected pieces.","It is structurally stronger and less prone to twisting and bowing than a solid piece of wood.","They build a core for each section of the garage door.","The core structures can be designed to accommodate windows or other unique features.","They insulate every core structure with pieces of polystyrene.","This helps keep the garage warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.","Now they run two sheets of exterior-grade plywood through a machine that coats the top and bottom with glue.","They lay the sheets onto a core structure and place a second core structure on top of the first.","They repeat this process until they've stacked up enough core structures required for the door they are making.","They put the stack into a press for a half-hour.","The press applies 130,000 pounds while the glue cures.","Then they load each section onto a machine, which cuts it to the width required.","The machine also makes a lip to direct rain away from the door so that water doesn't run back into the garage.","When a core section has windows, they cut the openings for them with a router.","Using a template as a guide, they drill holes through the front of the core.","With a countersink tool, they cut a wide opening around each hole.","They insert \"t\" nuts into the holes.","This enables hardware to be mounted on the inside of the garage door.","At this point, the connected core sections can function as a structurally sound garage door.","However, there's still aesthetic work left to do.","The plywood on the front of the door serves as a blank canvas.","They glue decorative wood trim to the front door to produce the design specified in the customer's order.","For this door, they're using african mahogany.","They've already cut pieces to the required dimensions, with tongue-and-groove edges that enable adjoining pieces to connect.","Once the glue dries, they cut off the excess wood with a router.","Then they sand the surface and prepare the wood to be stained or painted.","They line up the remaining core section and glue on the corresponding wood trim.","They secure the wood trim to the core with nails.","After cutting off the last pieces of excess wood, they install the glass for the windows.","The dealer will install the hardware upon delivery.","Prior to installation, either the dealer or the customer will stain or paint the wood the desired color.","Sand-and-salt spreaders were developed in the united states in the middle of the 20th century.","Before that, crews kept winter roads safe by shoveling sand and salt from trucks.","Things got easier when mechanical spreaders took over the heavy lifting.","Winter storm brewing?","Sand-and-salt spreaders have it covered.","They distribute salt to melt the ice and sand for traction.","They start with two big sheets of stainless steel.","Computer-driven plasma torches carve the steel into the four panels that will be used to build the hopper.","Next, the operator transfers the panels to another computerized machine.","This one has numerous punch tools.","They cut holes for nuts, bolts, bearings, and other components.","Then it's over to a hydraulic press brake.","It bends the bottom of the hopper panel to create a wide rim.","This wide rim adds rigidity to the part.","The team flips the hopper panel around so the press brake can bend the top.","Computerized stops control the location of each bend.","A worker clamps the hopper panel in a fixture to prop it up while he welds ribbed supports to the outside.","He adds two or three ribs to each side panel, depending on the size of the spreader.","Once all the ribs have been welded, a team joins the four hopper panels together.","They clamp a bar across one end to square up the structure.","Once it's aligned, they weld the spreader hopper at the seams.","These tight seams create a rugged structure that will hold up under the burden of heavy road salt or sand.","Now a worker builds the steel chute that the sand or salt will flow through.","He attaches several brackets to the inside and outside of the chute.","These brackets are for the adjustable steel flaps that direct the flow of salt onto the highway.","Here he installs the adjuster bar for one of the flaps.","He swings the flap to confirm it moves freely.","A pin is inserted in the adjuster bar to set the flap at the desired spacing.","He attaches a bearing to each side of the chute.","He slides a long steel shaft through the bearings until it protrudes from the bottom.","He secures the shaft to the bearings...","And mounts a flexible plastic spinner to the protruding shaft.","This spinner will spread the road salt or sand evenly across the road.","Customers on tighter budgets sometimes choose salt spreaders made of mild steel instead of stainless.","They spray a dry powder coat onto these units.","Then they roll the part into an oven to bake it on.","This durable finish will protect the hoppers from corrosion and general wear.","Now back to the stainless-steel spreader.","The team fastens a gearbox to the side of the hopper.","It will drive the conveyer that delivers salt or sand to the chute.","A worker temporarily powers the gearbox with a drill to assist in the installation of the conveyer.","He pushes the conveyor forward until the gearbox takes over.","He installs a feed gate at the opening and screws the lever to the side of the hopper.","They stockpile hoppers, chutes, and motors separately until an order is placed.","This allows the customer to choose individual components before the final assembly.","For example, the customer way want a specific gas motor, or they may choose a hydraulic one.","Once they've bolted the chute to the hopper, this sand-and-salt spreader is ready for an icy highway.","It can spread material thick or thin, depending on the road conditions.","Dinosaurs have long been extinct.","But animatronics make models look, sound, and move like the real thing.","Developed by walt disney in the 1960s, this technique is a combination of art and technology.","The slit eyes, rows of sharp fangs, and a long, purposeful snout all look stunningly real.","With his razor-sharp claws, this velociraptor figure looks ready to leap right at you.","First, a designer uses 3-d sculpting software to create a detailed digital model of the raptor.","Key features, such as the size, shape, and number of the teeth are thoroughly documented.","The art director approves a small-scale 3-d printed model of the figure before an industrial robotic arm sculpts the full-size figure in four-pound foam.","The density of the foam allows for very precise styling.","An artist adds details by hand.","He uses precision sculpting tools to draw wrinkles and lines.","He brushes melted clay on top of the foam to bring out details and give more realism to the sculpture.","The clay needs to solidify before the sculpture can be molded.","A figure finisher prepares a mixture of monomer and polymer that is commonly used to make acrylic teeth.","He pours the mixture into a mold shaped like the jaw of the raptor.","He places the mold in a vacuum chamber.","He seals the vacuum-chamber lid and starts the vacuum pump.","The vacuum pump will lower the pressure inside, forcing air bubbles out from the acrylic mixture.","This process makes for an even and consistent casting.","These are sharp and strong velociraptor fangs.","The figure finisher separates the teeth by hand, then takes a dremel tool to file down the excess around the base.","The acrylic teeth accurately reproduce the shape of the predator's fangs.","The figure finisher places the teeth back in the jaw mold.","Massive teeth up to an inch long fill the reptile's ferocious mouth.","The figure finisher covers the teeth with flesh-colored dental acrylic to form the gums and palate of the creature.","Once the mold is filled with acrylic, he puts it in a vacuum chamber, where the gums and palate cure.","During the vacuuming process, the gums and teeth bond together to form a complete velociraptor denture.","To make the reptile's eyeballs, he places a transparent sheet in a vacuum thermoforming system.","The vacuformer heats the plastic to make it malleable.","The figure finisher pushes the sheet down on an eyeball shape and activates a vacuum pump.","Thermoformed eyeballs come in various shapes and sizes.","Now a plastics technician prepares the fiberglass mold.","He uses a chopper gun to cover the inside of the plastic mold with flexible fiberglass strands.","The technician bonds the strands together with resin.","Once the resin has cured, the hard fiberglass shell takes the shape of the initial foam sculpture.","Using a jigsaw, a worker cuts the shell at various articulation points.","This will allow the figure to move seamlessly once it's assembled on its animated mechanical structure.","The technician applies a primer coat with a spray gun.","This shell will house the mechanical components, animating the dinosaur's long tail, its strong upper body and neck, the birdlike head, the handlike front limb, and its powerful hind legs.","An encounter with a life-size animated dinosaur is quite an experience.","An elaborate range of advanced special-effects techniques and animatronic technology brings them to life.","A technician covers the fiberglass inner shell with a ripstop fabric lining.","It will support and reinforce the silicone skin.","She installs zippers on the liner to easily take off or put on the skin.","The liner fits tightly over the fiberglass and takes the shape of the inner shell.","Technicians use liquid-silicone rubber to make the figure's skin.","One technician connects a tube to the shell's mold-injection port while the other technician operates a high-pressure injector.","The machine pumps silicone into the mold.","The silicone cures inside the mold for a few hours.","Then a technician unfastens the bolts that are holding the shell tightly closed.","Technicians take the silicone skin out of the injection shell mold.","They inspect the skin to make sure there are no defects and that it mimics the features of the initial foam sculpture.","They take the skin off the inner shell for manual touch-ups.","A technician cleans up the edges of the skin by trimming off small silicone strips called flashing.","With small precision scissors, she meticulously trims off all the flashing to make clean, seamless joints.","A figure finisher inserts the molded acrylic denture to check its fit in the lower jaw skin.","He checks the fit of the thermoformed eyeball between the skin and the shell.","A character painter uses an airbrush to paint the skin with silicone paint.","He adds multiple layers of paint, giving the finish much more detail and realism.","A machinist mills a mechanical part for the metal frame.","Thousands of stainless-steel and aluminum pieces need machining.","He bores out holes for bearings inside each shaft.","Each piece can be customized to suit virtually any design and assembly requirement.","An electronics engineer tests a control card.","Each animated component of the figure is controlled by a card like this one.","The electronics engineer connects the card to an oscillator tester to verify that the cylinder responds accurately to the electronic-input signal.","A program on the card allows precise control over the motion of the cylinder.","The cylinders create motion, while the aluminum frame functions as the skeleton supporting the movement.","An animator assembles various parts into the mechanical assembly.","He connects a cylinder to the metal frame.","Each cylinder is dedicated to a specific function in the mechanical assembly.","This cylinder activates a finger in the hand assembly, allowing it to curl up in a smooth, seamless motion.","The animator attaches the hand assembly to the arm, bolts it on at the elbow, and screws claws on the tip of each finger.","The full frame of the figure is assembled on a test bench.","A hydraulics-and-plumbing engineer opens the compressed-air valve, which powers the pneumatic cylinders.","The show controller runs random programs to test the response of the animatronic dinosaur.","They check air-pressure variations in the hydraulic-cylinder tubes, as well as electronic direction and amplitude commands.","A creative director finally puts his seal of approval on the figure.","A lot of effort goes into making such a complex machine look like a living creature."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Car Tires","Silk","Art Conservation","Scuba Tanks"]},"text":["Historically, wheels were made of metal or wood.","With the invention of air filled car tires in the early part of the 20th century, the ride was revolutionized.","The inflated rubber tires could better absorb the bumps on the road and the addition of tread gave the invention serious traction.","Car tires have come a long way in the last century.","The modern summer tire is made of 10 to 15 different components, which include natural and synthetic rubber, chemical additives, and carbon black-- a pigment.","Giant blenders mix these ingredients under heat and tremendous pressure.","There are various formulations for different parts of the tire.","In each case, the result is gummy rubber dough, which machinery then rolls into sheets to await further kneading and processing.","Polyester fabric unrolls into a machine called a calender.","The calender is equipped with rollers that apply warm rubber to both sides of the fabric.","This produces a rubberized fabric that will be used to reinforce the tire.","This fabric ply is needed because rubber alone isn't sturdy enough to make a tire.","Numerous cotton cords now spin off bobbins simultaneously.","Machinery pulls them onto the warm, rubberized fabric.","They land on a bit of an angle and adhere.","This cording creates channels that provide pathways for venting air during the actual tire building.","Making rubber for tread requires three different rubber formulations.","Extruders shape the three streams of rubber and then they enter a die that forms them into one.","Mini paint rollers apply different colored stripes.","It's a coding system for identification of the ingredients during processing.","To avoid tension, the system creates slack in the feed.","A blade slices the tread rubber to length.","Next, many steel cables uncoil at once to make the bead-- the part of the tire that gives it the strength it needs to stay on the wheel rim.","Machinery arranges the cables in the desired configuration and encases them in rubber.","More equipment rolls the bead material into hoops sized to fit the wheel rim.","They're now ready to build the tire.","Using a special rotating drum, a worker arranges the two bead hoops on it.","Next up is an airtight piece of rubber that will act as an inner tube followed by the corded ply.","Inflated bladders roll the rubber around the bead on both sides and then retract.","A server applies side walls to the beads.","Little rollers fold the side walls over the beads.","This completes the inner part, or skeleton, of the tire.","They assemble the outer layer separately beginning with strips of rubber embedded with steel cord.","The system wraps this rubber around a second tire-building drum.","Next up are narrow strips of rubber ply.","The computerized system winds them with just the right amount of tension for a graduated effect.","They're now ready for the last layer-- the tread rubber.","Machinery applies it to the ply.","It's time for the two tire fabrications to become one.","A transfer ring collects the assembly and transfers it to the inner part.","Compressed air inflates the tire to shape it and all the sticky layers adhere together.","The machine rolls the edge of the tread rubber over the side walls.","They now have what's known in the industry as a green tire-- an uncured tire without tread pattern.","Next, it's into a mold to bake and shape the tire.","The two parts of the mold come together like a waffle iron.","Inside, hot steamy bladders expand to shape the tire and transfer the tread pattern to it.","This specific tread pattern is designed for summer tires.","This cutout of a car tire demonstrates how all the layers have been fused together.","The time in the hot, pressurized mold has caused the rubber to vulcanize-- a chemical reaction that transforms it from a weak and sticky substance to one that's strong and elastic.","A worker trims excess rubber.","After final inspections confirm the tire shape is uniform and geometrically correct, the tire is ready for shipment.","It's time for the rubber to hit the road.","Silk fabric originated in china at least 5,000 years ago and became a coveted luxury.","Silk thread is produced by silkworms when they make their cocoons.","Sericulture, or commercially breeding silkworms for silk production, is practiced in several asian countries.","From home goods to accessories and clothing, there are few textiles as elegant and luxurious, or as prized throughout the ages, as silk.","It's hard to believe this beautiful fabric comes from worms.","The female silkworm lays up to 400 eggs in one shot then promptly dies.","Each egg, about two weeks later, hatches into a larva.","The larva feeds on fresh mulberry leaves continuously, increasing its body weight 10,000 fold and growing to a length of about three inches.","Then, as it enters the pupa phase of its life cycle, it excretes liquid raw silk from salivary glands in its mouth.","When that liquid silk contacts with the air, it hardens into a single thread.","Pupating larva winds that thread around itself into a thick, cozy cocoon.","Normally, the pupa inside becomes a moth and the cocoon breaks as it emerges.","However, this severs the continuous silk thread.","So to keep the thread intact, they boil the cocoon for about three minutes to kill the pupa inside before it transforms into a moth.","Boiling the cocoons also makes the wound thread easier to unravel by melting away most of the sericin-- the gelatinous protein that binds it.","To harvest the silk, they take threads from 30 to 50 cocoons at a time.","They feed them all together through a hole in the bamboo stick onto a hand-operated reel.","Then, slowly and carefully, they turn the reel, unraveling the cocoons.","As the thread passes together through the stick, the remaining sericin glues them together forming a single, thicker thread.","The silk threads coming together are so fine-- only about one one-hundredth of a millimeter in diameter-- that it takes 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons to produce a pound of silk thread.","Unraveling cocoons is a time-consuming process, because a single thread can be as long as nine professional soccer fields.","To make this feather-like silk thread easier to handle, they weigh it down with sand before rolling it into a bundle.","Next, they wash away the sand and remaining sericin, then bleach the thread so it will uniformly absorb the synthetic dye.","It's critical to monitor the ratio of dye to hot water, as well as water temperature and soaking time, as all these factors combined effect the quality of the color.","After rinsing away the excess dye with lukewarm water, they hang the thread to dry.","They mount the bundles of dry, dyed silk thread on a big machine, which transfers them to smaller rollers.","Those rollers then go on an automated machine, which transfers the thread to small bobbins.","To craft silk fabric, weavers will pass bobbins of thread horizontally between vertical threads on a traditional, hand-operated loom.","Another machine, meanwhile, winds thread around spools.","A worker then installs a set number of spool threads on a mechanism, which aligns them vertically on the loom parallel to each other.","Fabric that's about three feet wide typically requires 4,000 vertical threads.","By stepping on the loom's foot pedal, the weaver repeatedly raises every second vertical thread, and with a tug of a cord, passes a shuttle containing a bobbin of thread horizontally in between.","This intertwining of horizontal and vertical threads weaves the silk fabric.","To create a pattern, the weaver uses multiple shuttles containing threads of different colors, thicknesses, and textures.","Some patters, such as an intricate weave called brocade, are so intricate that even the most experienced weavers produce just two to six inches of fabric per day.","Now, that's wearable art.","A centuries-old painting is actually easier to restore than a decades-old painting.","For hundreds of years, artists used pure oil paints, but by the 20th century, artists began using different types of paint, making restoration more challenging.","A traditional painting is typically oil on canvas, protected with a layer of natural resin varnish.","Over time, a linen canvas can become brittle, distort, and sometimes tear.","Varnish yellows and dirt and dust accumulate, rendering the once-vibrant painting dark and dull and in dire need of professional conservation.","The conservation process is multi-faceted.","They have to strip away any previous restoration, then perform a new restoration, yet make it entirely reversible to allow for future restoration.","The conservators begin with spot tests to observe how different colors in the painting react to cleaning.","They dip a cotton swap in mild detergent and rub gently, testing for discolored varnish and any previous restoration.","When all that's done, they swab on some solvent to neutralize the detergent residue.","Next, they spray the back of the canvas with water and lie the painting on a vacuum hot table.","The heat turns the moisture to steam, which relaxes the paint and linen as the vacuum pulls the bumps and puckers flat.","If the canvas isn't structurally sound, they apply adhesive, a synthetic backing, then a new linen canvas.","With thermometers monitoring the temperature, the heat activates the adhesive and the vacuum draws everything taut against the hot table, bonding old linen to new.","And the conservators can turn their attention to the artwork.","They begin by mixing a cleaning solution-- 1% chemical-grade ammonia, 20% strong detergent, and 79% water.","They dip a swab in the cleaning solution and another in the solvent.","Working a small area at a time, they gently glide the cleaning-solution swab over the surface.","It's critical not to rub, as any abrasion could harm the painting.","Next, they gently roll the solvent swab over the same area to neutralize the cleaning-solution residue.","They repeat the solution-solvent procedure area by area until they've removed surface dirt from the entire painting.","Then they start all over again, this time removing old, yellowed varnish, embedded dirt, and previous restoration.","The cleaning completed, they can now address the tears and damages.","Using a small pallet knife, they fill the cavities of the tear with gesso, material that's used as a background for paintings.","This gesso is reversible, meaning it can easily be removed, if required, during a future restoration.","Once the gesso dries, they wipe away the excess with a damp cloth, leaving a repair that's flush with the surrounding surface.","Then they seal the gesso with varnish.","This creates a barrier between the existing paint layer and the one they're about to add, making it removable for future restoration.","They retouch the repaired area, expertly matching colors to the original and blending them seamlessly with the surrounding area.","This process, called inpainting, is where the conservators' fine-art training is put to the test.","Rather than use oil paints, they mix pigments with acrylic resin.","This produces paint that looks just like oils but is removable with mild solvents in the event of a future restoration.","They brush varnish over the inpainting so that the sheen matches that of the surrounding area.","And now, the final step.","They spray the entire painting with a light coat of removable synthetic varnish that doesn't yellow over time.","This evens out and protects the surface.","Once the varnish cures, the painting goes back into its frame, just the way the artist intended.","Underwater exploration was a shallow experience until scuba tanks were developed in the middle of the 20th century.","Filled with compressed air and attached to a breathing regulator, scuba tanks enable divers to stay underwater longer.","This invention took diving to a whole new level.","Scuba tanks are a way to bottle the air we breathe and take it with us underwater.","To make aluminum scuba tanks, they start with solid, cylindrical chunks called slugs.","The aluminum-alloy slugs tumble around in a perforated, rotating drum, which takes them through a series of chemical baths.","The baths clean and treat the surface of the aluminum to prepare the slugs for forming.","The operator loads the slugs into a feeder system that serves them up one at a time to a hydraulic extrusion press.","An extrusion piston forces the slug into a die inside the press.","It hollows and stretches the slug into the shape of a scuba tank.","It takes about 1,300 tons of force to transform a solid, short chunk of aluminum into a longer, hollow cylinder.","The shaping process itself generates heat, making the aluminum softer and more malleable.","The press establishes the outer diameter of the tank, the inner one, and the base.","The process takes just 20 seconds.","The freshly formed cylinder now spins as a roller applies a lubricant to the open end.","The machine ejects the cylinder.","Then it's over to the hydraulic neck press.","This press forces the opening of the tank into a die to narrow it substantially.","This establishes the basic shape of the scuba-tank neck.","It still needs more work, but first, the tank shape must be firmed up.","They heat treat and then quench the scuba tanks in cool water.","The shock of the rapid cooling hardens the aluminum.","Back to the neck now.","A spinning, computerized cutter shortens it.","Then, another cutter moves in.","Filings fly as it carves excess metal from the outside of the scuba-tank neck.","A computerized drill widens the neck hole and cuts a pocket for an o ring seal.","The next tool carves a thread into the inside wall of the neck.","The threaded profile will allow for connections to an air-fill-up valve and to a breathing regulator.","Every scuba tank undergoes a test to measure tank expansion under pressure.","They fill each scuba tank with water and place it in a test jacket that's also filled with water.","Testing equipment increases the pressure in the scuba tank, and the tank expands, placing water from the test jacket.","By measuring the displaced water, they determine the rate of tank expansion, and if it's acceptable, the tank moves on.","A scuba tank now spins against a sanding belt.","This sanding gives the exterior a brushed finish, which some divers prefer.","They etch the serial number and other information onto the upper part of the tank.","For a more colorful look, the factory applies a vibrant, translucent powder coat to the brushed finish.","The finish is purely aesthetic.","Aluminum doesn't rust, so a natural finish would weather underwater conditions as well as the powder coat.","They bake on the powder coat, giving the tanks a glossy look.","These aluminum scuba tanks are now ready to take the pressure.","Life is sure to be one underwater adventure after another."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Rubber Gloves","Soap Carvings","Aircraft Cabinets","Motorcycle Brake Locks"]},"text":["It was an american nurse's sensitivity to an antiseptic that led to the development of medical rubber gloves.","The year was 1890, and the hospital was johns hopkins in baltimore.","Sympathetic to the nurse's plight, the chief of surgery asked a rubber company to develop protective gloves.","Around the world, healing hands wear rubber gloves to stop the spread of germs and save lives.","To make them, they need a lot of hands, the kind made from ceramic or aluminum.","They'll serve as molds.","First, they need to remove residue from the last rubber-glove production, so they do a thorough washing in soapy water...","And then in bleach.","They must remove every speck of residue because even the smallest contaminate could lodge in the latex rubber gloves and create holes.","Leaving the bleach, the ceramic hands twirl into round, revolving brushes.","Their bristles scour the surface and the hard to reach areas between the ceramic fingers.","After this thorough scrubbing, the hand molds dive into a tub of hot water.","It's the last cleaning before production begins.","As they exit the tub, the hands swivel on the rail carrier to drip dry.","Still slightly damp and spinning, the hand molds head into a chemical bath, which forms a film on the surface.","It's a critical coating because liquid rubber won't adhere to bare ceramic, but it will to this substance.","The ceramic molds now reach into warm, liquid rubber, which has been enhanced for extra strength.","The liquid rubber reacts with the chemical coating on the hands and becomes gel-like.","Coated with the rubber gel, the hands spin to shake off any drops as they head into an oven.","Under intense heat, the rubber dries to the hand form.","It also undergoes a chemical process called vulcanization that makes rubber stronger and elastic.","After a wash and dry, the gloves spin through brushes which roll up the cuffs.","This cuff roll, called the bead, has a specific purpose.","It makes it easier to pull the rubber glove off the mold.","Workers grab the gloves by the beads to peel them off the ceramic forms.","These particular medical gloves were molded from synthetic rubber for people who can't wear natural latex rubber due to allergies.","These synthetic rubber gloves are a bit stickier than the natural latex ones, and they must be removed by hand.","However, the natural latex gloves come off much more easily.","Bursts of pressurized air blow these gloves off the ceramic forms.","At a test station, a worker now stretches and inflates each medical glove to check for weak spots and holes.","Even a pinhole leak would be cause for rejection.","Next, they take a sample glove from every batch and pump water into it, again checking for leaks.","If the sample glove is watertight, they approve the entire batch for shipment.","They color code gloves for strength.","These orange cleaning gloves are thick and reusable.","Others, like the medical gloves, are for limited use and disposable.","Each rubber formulation is customized for color, strength, and other characteristics.","It has taken a lot of fake hands and real ones to make rubber gloves, and it all happens very fast.","They manufacture 200 rubber gloves a minute at this factory.","That's about 12,000 gloves per hour.","They pack them up in batches of 100.","A cornstarch solution applied earlier keeps them from sticking together in the box.","Later, that starch will also act as a lubricant to allow the gloves to slide easily onto hands.","And with all that, these rubber gloves are ready to protect the public.","In northern thailand, the tradition of carving elaborate flowers from soap began in the 1930s with farm workers who were looking for a creative outlet.","In their hands, pieces of soap became little works of art.","And in the process, they carved out a niche market for soap flowers.","Today in thailand, there's a thriving tourist trade in floral soap carvings.","These awesome blossoms are far too delicate for scrub-up duty.","They're made to be admired.","Infused with fruit powders, they also add fragrance to a room.","The carvers start by making their own soap.","Glycerin made of animal fats and oils is the main ingredient.","Other ingredients include fruit powder...","Water...","Food coloring--  in this case, yellow-- fragrance...","And vegetable oil.","He mixes the vegetable oils with the water as he heats the ingredients slowly.","He then adds the glycerin chunks to a separate bucket of hot water.","The glycerin melts on contact, and he whisks it to disperse it in the water.","He now pours the glycerin mixture in to the water and oil.","Using an electric mixer, he blends the ingredients, adding water as needed to achieve the desired consistency.","He blends the mango fruit powder into the soap mixture.","A dash of yellow coloring reflects the aroma of the soap-- mango.","He adds a mango fragrance formulation to enhance the powdered fruit scent.","That completes this aromatic liquid-soap mixture.","He transfers it to a square pan lined with plastic.","After a few hours, the soap solidifies into a big yellow bar.","He pries the hardened soap and the plastic liner away from the pan and flips it over.","The soap slab lands on the workbench.","He peels the plastic liner off.","Now, using a device similar to a paper cutter, he slices the soap into long, uniform bars.","He stacks them in piles of three.","He cuts the stacks of long bars crosswise, producing small soap squares the size of brownies.","Each soap bar will be transformed into a beautiful flower.","This takes artistic vision and skill.","The artist has many years of experience and carves with an expert hand.","As he scoops out chunks, the broad and distinctive petals of an orchid take shape.","He discards the broad base, and from a simple soap bar, a flower has bloomed.","He dips the carving in water to improve the adhesion of water-based paint.","He partially submerges the carving in paint, giving it a two-toned look.","The artist selects color combinations for their visual impact, and authenticity is not essential.","He brushes mauve paint onto the orchid's central column to accentuate it.","He extends the brush strokes to the petals.","These brush strokes mimic the look of veins.","With this colorful artistry, the soap carving seems to come to life.","He dips a toothbrush in paint and flicks his thumb across the bristles to spray flecks onto the center column.","With that final splash of color, the carving is complete.","He glues it to the base of a decorative box.","The box both protects the carving and adds to the presentation.","Taking the lid off reveals a surprise.","The carving could be any flower in any color.","But the most amazing thing of all is that it's been carved from soap.","The world of private-passenger aircraft is all about comfort and luxury.","Big corporations send their top executives to travel in jets with well-appointed interiors.","And the world's super-wealthy spare no expense making their private planes as lavish as their homes.","Just like building or renovating a house, you can choose all the decorative finishings of your new aircraft-- everything from the floor covering and seat fabric to the style, wood type, and color of the cabinetry.","It's critical not to weigh the aircraft down, so cabinets can't be made from particle board.","Even plywood is far too heavy.","The solution-- panels made of honeycomb-shaped hard paper sandwiched between fiberglass sheets, strong like particle board, but 1/4 the weight.","Computerized machines cut the panels to shape and drill holes for threaded inserts, into which bolts and screws for hinges and handles will fasten.","After refining the holes with hand tools, workers hold the inserts in the holes with tape while they inject epoxy glue to bond the inserts permanently.","The panels adjoin with a tongue and groove system, so computerized machines cut the edges accordingly.","The material is fibrous, so the cut edges are rough.","Workers smooth them before gluing and assembling.","Certain panel surfaces are too hard to access after assembly, so they receive their decorative wood veneer facade before being cut to shape.","These pieces are covered in a protective film to prevent damaging the veneer during assembly.","Once a unit is assembled, workers make sure it's square.","They also verify the dimensions.","Meanwhile, an automated belt sander preps the veneer.","Veneer is wood that's been sliced into thin sheets.","For these cabinet facades, these sheets are a mere 0.04 inches thick.","The most typical choices are walnut, ebony, cherry, and birch.","Workers disassemble the unit to access each component for veneering.","They lay the component on the back of the veneer sheet and trace it.","Then they follow the pencil line with a fine-tooth veneer saw.","Next, they spray contact cement on the component surface and the veneer's underside.","A plastic sheet in between prevents contact until the veneer is correctly positioned.","After pressing down the veneer, they place the component in a vacuum bag and suction out the air.","This flattens the veneer evenly over the entire surface.","Eight hours later, the component comes out of the vacuum bag, and with a router, they trim the veneer flush all around.","Then they glue the edges with epoxy and apply strips of hardwood to match the facade.","The epoxy cures in a couple of hours, at which point they sand the edges to remove any excess glue.","Now they reinstall the component and measure to make sure the surrounding gaps are precisely 0.06 inches.","Should some tweaking be required, they simply sand edges or adjust hinges.","They disassemble yet again and touch up any imperfections that sanding the edges caused.","Once the touch-up paint is dry, they spray on the first of nine coats of lacquer.","Each coat has to dry overnight.","They sand it twice before applying the next coat, first with an orbital sander, then with a sanding block to remove any waves in the lacquer left by the orbital sander.","After the last coat of lacquer dries, they do a final sanding with a very fine grit paper.","Then, using a wool pad and polishing compound, they polish the surface to a reflective, high-gloss finish.","Workers now reassemble the components for the last time.","They install the fixtures and accessories, the decorative hardware, and everything electrical.","The cabinetry unit is finished.","Not only does the luxurious look fit a multi-million-dollar private aircraft, it's also, as they say in tech terms, plug and play.","You just install and plug it into the aircraft, and everything runs--  no additional wiring required.","A motorcycle can be rolled into a truck or van and be gone in a minute, leaving an empty space and an angry owner.","To help put the brakes on this parking-lot theft, there are portable locks for brakes.","With the brakes in full lock down, the bike can't be rolled away.","When it's time for a pit stop, a disc-brake lock takes some of the worry out of leaving a coveted motorbike unguarded.","Simply clip it onto the motorbike's brake rotor, turn the key, and the wheels won't budge.","Equipped with an alarm, this handy gadget can also alert bystanders of a crime in progress.","Before they manufacture the lock, they cut the keys.","There are two for each lock.","The employee inserts two blank key blades into milling machines that carve eight different notches into them.","The combination of notches is one of over a million possible key codes.","The machine prints the key-code information onto a card.","In the meantime, the employee inserts the keys into a slot, and little brushes inside clean them.","The assembler slips the matching keys onto a ring along with the key-code card to keep them all together.","She installs batteries to power lights in the key grip.","To make a lock to match the keys, the worker refers to the key-code card to select notched brass wafers.","She stacks them in an assembly unit so that the notches in the wafers match the bits cut into the key blade.","She places the lock cylinder above the wafers and activates a spring that lifts them into the cylinder.","She flips the cylinder and removes it from the assembly device, then caps the cylinder, encasing the wafers.","She tries a key and confirms it's a match.","She brushes grease into two niches in the cylinder.","She inserts locking bars into each one.","The grease holds them in place as she slides a steel sleeve over the cylinder.","She tries the key again to confirm the assembly functions.","For extra protection, she encases the cylinder in a hard lock body.","She plugs the open end and secures the metal plug with two pins.","She now inserts bolts in the lock.","In operation, these bolts will be pushed into the brake disc to lock it.","A metal sliding cover protects the key hole when not in use.","The installer adds a plastic mechanism to slide it open and closed more easily.","They now have a completed lock bolt.","They assemble the outer lock body.","The two parts come together to form a slot to fit over the brake disc.","Using a custom measuring tool, the employee confirms that the hole for the lock mechanism is the correct size.","She then slides an applicator for lubricant into that hole.","It releases the lubricant, and she distributes it more evenly.","She slots steel balls into compartments in the lock mechanism.","When the lock is engaged, these balls will protrude and keep it engaged.","She pops the locking bolt into the outer casing.","She permanently secures it with a plastic spring, snapping it into place between the steel casing and the lock.","Another application of lubricant, and the motorcycle brake lock is ready for an alarm system.","The alarm has been pre-assembled at another factory.","It fits into a tray-like compartment of the casing.","With the help of a mechanized tool, she press-fits the alarm to the casing.","She slides a plastic dowel into the lock to confirm the alarm mechanism and gauges.","She replaces the section of the casing that was removed for the alarm installation and secures it with a screw.","She polishes the lock against a revolving wheel with little brushes.","She rubs some oil on it, and the metal gleams.","Now complete, this motorbike brake-disc lock looks pretty, just don't mess with it."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Ice Cream Treats","Wooden Golf Clubs","Aircraft Wings","Car Battery Recycling"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made,\" ice-cream treats...","Wooden golf clubs...","Aircraft wings...","And car-battery recycling.","Before refrigeration, ice cream was a handmade luxury.","Ingredients went into a mixing bowl inside a tub filled with ice and saltwater.","The salt helped the ice absorb heat, cooling the mixture to below freezing.","In the 1920s, commercial freezers made mass production possible, and the ice cream industry was born.","To make ice-cream treats, you first have to make the ice cream.","It all begins with fresh cream.","The factory stores it in refrigerated silos set just a few degrees above freezing.","The silos feed a high-speed mixer that blends the cream with other ingredients.","The main dry ingredients are powdered skim milk and plant-based stabilizers and emulsifiers.","Stabilizers prevent the ice cream from crystallizing, and emulsifiers allow the mix to bond with air during the whipping process.","The other ingredients are sugar and corn syrup.","After about three minutes of mixing, a pumping system moves the mixture into pasteurization tanks and heats it to 162 degrees for half an hour, killing any bacteria and activating the stabilizers.","Then the factory homogenizes the mixture, a process that breaks up the fat globules, giving the ice cream a smooth texture.","The mixture is cooled, and concentrated vanilla flavoring is added.","Then the concoction is chilled and whipped for about 15 seconds.","Whipping blends the mix with air, transforming it from a liquid to a soft solid.","Without air, the finished product would come out looking like frozen milk rather than ice cream.","The ice-cream sandwich wafers are made of chocolate-cake ingredients.","A filling machine feeds two lines of wafers toward an injection pipe.","Just as two wafers come together, the machine injects a third of a cup of vanilla ice cream in between.","The pipe's head fits the ice cream into a rectangular slab that fits perfectly between the wafers.","All this happens at a rate of 140 ice-cream sandwiches per minute.","As the sandwiches move on to packaging, the filling is still ice cold from the freezing phase, so there is no threat of a meltdown.","The packaging system raises each sandwich into a wrapper, then folds and tucks the ends.","The next machine counts the sandwiches and inserts them into boxes.","Once sealed, the boxes go directly into a storage freezer at minus 22 degrees.","On another line, ice-cream cone production is under way.","A feeder drops prewrapped sugar cones into holders on a conveyor belt.","Sprayers coat the insides with a chocolaty layer, which adds flavor and creates a barrier between the cones and ice cream, so the cone remains crispy until you eat it.","Next, nozzles squirt in the ice-cream filling.","One production line, two flavors.","One row of cones gets vanilla ice cream, the other row chocolate.","Now for a tasty surprise in the cone's core, an injection of liquid caramel.","This factory also makes ice-cream cones with chocolate and strawberry sauce inside.","Next, a chocolate-flavored liquid topping.","Then the crunchy finishing touch, a layer of chocolaty coated puffed rice.","Finally, the cones move under a lid dispenser that applies a wax-coated paper lid to each one.","A heating element instantly melts the wax, sealing the lids to the cone's paper sleeve.","From here, the ice-cream cones go into boxes, then straight into the freezer, ready to take a licking.","Up next, the forgotten art of wooden golf clubs.","High-tech metal clubs rule today's golf courses.","But don't count wooden clubs out of the game yet.","Wooden golf clubs are all about tradition.","Golfers have played with them for centuries.","And some players still prefer the look and feel of these finely crafted clubs.","Go with the grain, and your golf game could be on the upswing.","Each club head starts with a log of persimmon wood, which is a type of ebony.","It's sliced into quarters, and the lower quality center section is discarded.","Each quarter is cut down into a workable shape and size.","Then it's locked into this duplicating machine.","A more sculpted piece of wood, called a \"master model,\" is placed overhead.","A wheel traces the contours of the master model and guides a blade below so that it carves the rough chunk of wood into a duplicate of the master model.","The first master model is swapped out for a more refined version, and, again, the blade below copies the shape.","The duplicate stub is cut off, and it gets a light sanding.","Next, using a spinning cutter, a generous slot is carved into the face of the club head.","Heavy-duty glue is spread in the slot, and then it's plugged with an insert made of rigid plastic.","This reinforcement will protect the club head from the force of the golf ball.","The overlap is trimmed off, and the head is sanded until the plastic insert blends seamlessly with the wood.","Next, a router is used to carve an hourglass shape into the bottom of the golf-club head.","This slot will hold the sole plate, which will add weight and protect the bottom of club.","The club head can't be more than three grams off the target weight.","After factoring the weight of the sole plate that's still to be installed, this club head gets a lead pellet to make it a little heavier.","An extra hole is drilled in case more lead needs to be added later.","Then the lead pellet is press-fit to the club head.","Adhesive is slathered into the slot.","Then the stainless-steel sole plate is installed.","Again, sanding smoothes away any bumps or grooves.","A drill bores a hole in the neck of the golf-club head, and a glue-coated metal sleeve slides into that hole.","Then the neck is tapered with a sanding belt.","A jeweler saw is used to score the face of the golf-club head.","These lines are critical, because they help give the ball spin.","The club head gets a dip in water-based stain that soaks into the wood but doesn't penetrate the metal sole plate.","Then, things get messy, as a pasty substance is rubbed all over the golf-club head, plugging the open pores of the persimmon wood.","It's a crucial step that will insure a mirror finish down the line.","The head is numbered to identify it as a fairway club.","And then the sole plate gets a good scrubbing with steel wool to get rid of any fingerprints.","Five coats of polyurethane are sprayed on.","Next, the glue-covered end of the shaft is pushed into the sleeve and the club head.","The club's weight is fine-tuned with the addition of some pulverized lead into the extra hole drilled earlier.","For a player to hit balls accurately, each club in the set has to feel as if it's the same weight.","So, there's one more weigh-in before this wooden golf club is up to par.","Finally, it's time to hit the links with a club that lives up to tradition.","Coming up, crafting the wings that give us flight.","Aircraft wings provide the lift that takes us to the skies.","They're designed to be very strong and very light.","Producing them requires a strategic balance of old-school production methods and high-tech computer-assisted design.","The wing's frame is made up of three main components, the rear spar, the main spar, and the ribs.","The ribs are crafted from aircraft-grade aluminum.","It's corrosion resistant and has great strength, allowing it to resist extreme wind pressure.","A computer-guided stamping machine punches small holes for rivets and control cables.","It also stamps larger holes to reduce overall weight.","Workers break attachments called microjoints and extract the ribs.","Each rib now goes onto a metal-and-rubber forming die.","A hydraulic press applies 150 tons of pressure, stamping the rib to the die shape.","Using a grinder, workers smooth out the sharp edges left behind by the stamping process.","Then they peel off the plastic film that protected the ribs from scratches.","The factory uses the same process to construct the main spar.","The spars run the entire length of the wing.","It takes even more pressure this time-- 222 tons-- to bend the spars into shape.","That's because this aluminum is three times thicker than that used for the ribs.","To ensure they've aligned the ribs perfectly for riveting, workers push spring clamps into the spar.","These hold the ribs in position.","They hand drill holes for larger rivets and smooth out the sharp edges with a deburring drill.","Then, using a pneumatic riveting gun and bucking bar, they rivet the ribs to the main spar.","A tiny bucking bar is required for some of the tighter spaces.","The completed airframe now goes onto a positioning rack, where it will get an aluminum covering they call the wing skin.","Workers use spring clamps to position the top skin onto the airframe.","They use the same procedure for the leading-edge wing nose.","Once everything's clamped together, workers permanently rivet the assembly.","Meanwhile, welders fuse the wing's fuel tank using an argon gas torch, which contains fewer contaminants than the typical acetylene torch.","They fit the tank into the wing chamber, then secure it by bolting steel belts on to the spars.","Now they position the tank's covering plate and screw it onto the wing.","These holes are for fuel lines and control cables, which run the entire length of the wing.","Finally, the wingtip is fitted and bolted on to the wing.","It's made of a lightweight fiberglass-and-plastic composite.","The completed wing is now ready to be bolted on to the aircraft body.","This wing weighs in at a mere 175 pounds.","But it's certainly no lightweight when it comes to strength.","It can withstand nearly 5,500 pounds of wind pressure.","When we return, turning trash into treasury at a car-battery recycling plant.","Car batteries may die, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the road for their components.","These lead-acid batteries are routinely recycled.","This keeps toxic materials out of landfills and gives those old car batteries a lot more mileage.","This battery may be toast, but it's not trash, because dead car batteries are jump-starting a major recycling industry.","Pallets of old batteries are tipped on to a conveyor belt.","It takes them up into an enclosed machine that has over 30 rotating hammers.","They smash the old batteries to bits, and then a screen filters out the lead-acid paste.","The broken bits of lead and plastic tumble into a vat of water.","The lead and other metals sink, while the lighter plastic pieces float to the surface-- a convenient way to sort and separate the battery components.","Once the plastic pieces have been cleaned, a machine blows them into the back of a truck.","They'll be taken to a plastic-recycling plant and turned into pellets that will eventually be used in the production of new car batteries.","A worm screw now moves the lead and other metals to another part of the plant for further processing.","Remember that lead-acid paste screened out of the smashed-up batteries earlier?","The acid has been neutralized and turned into water.","This press squeezes the water out so all that remains is a lead paste.","It's removed and added to the pile of lead and other metals.","The water from the deacidification process contains some metallic residues, so it's treated with chemicals that cause the contaminants to precipitate, then settle into a sludge on the bottom of the tanks.","Workers sample the water to make sure the particles are settling properly.","They pump out the sludge, then filter the water, which now meets regulatory standards and can be poured down the drain.","The sludge goes into that big pile of lead and other metals.","A few shovels full of refined coal are added to the pile as a processing aid.","Then the battery solids head up a conveyor into a revolving drier.","The metals spend 20 minutes in here to remove any excess moisture.","Then it's into a furnace for 10 hours.","The lead melts into a liquid, and the other metals float to the surface, allowing them to be skimmed off.","The molten lead goes into a steel kettle, where it's mixed with caustic soda.","This cause some remaining contaminants to float to the surface for easy removal.","The liquid lead is now fairly pure, so it's time to pour.","The lead is pumped into bar-shaped molds, and any lingering impurities are skimmed off.","Below, a constant spray of ice-cold water chills the molds, and the lead hardens into bars in just four minutes.","The conveyor winds downward, and the bars are tapped free of their molds.","There's enough lead in one of these bars to make three car batteries.","They'll be remelted and molded into battery components.","And the final product is as good as new...","Proving that recycling can give old car batteries new life while keeping dangerous substances out of our landfills."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Aerospace Fasteners","Cactus Pear Puree","Lab Reactors"]},"text":["today on \"how it's made\"-- aerospace fasteners.","Cactus pear puree.","And lab reactors  an aircraft must be able to withstand extreme conditions and stress, so it's critical that the fasteners holding the parts of the aircraft together are made to precise technical specifications from high-strength corrosion-resistant materials.","This company manufactures fasteners for all types of aircraft.","These screws and bolts are made of aerospace-grade stainless steel.","It arrives from the steel mill as coil.","Certain fasteners are coated with copper, which acts as a lubricant, and the company further lubricates them with powdered soaps and other chemicals.","This prevents the coil from catching as this drawing machine pulls it through a round die.","Wire from the drawing machine enters this bolt-forming machine.","First, it heats the wire and cuts pieces called blanks.","Each blank then passes through five different dies, each of which progressively shapes it into a bolt.","This t-bolt is made from a different type of high-grade stainless steel that doesn't require extra copper lubrication.","The coil goes through the same process as the smaller bolt we just saw.","However, this bolt-forming machine is much larger and uses four dies rather than five to shape the t-bolt.","All fasteners must pass several quality-control checks throughout the manufacturing process.","In this particular test, the factory measures the bolt's head length and diameter and checks the results against the technical specifications.","When the fasteners come off the forming machines, they have sharp edges called burrs, so they have to go for a spin in a deburring machine.","This one is pretty low-tech but highly effective.","Fasteners made of certain types of stainless steel are sent to an outside plant for heat treatment, which strengthens them.","Fasteners made from copper-lubricated stainless steel soak in a bath of nitric acid for about 20 minutes to dissolve the copper without harming the stainless steel.","Workers thoroughly rinse the fasteners with water, then dry them off by spinning them at high speed.","The final step is to form threads on the body of the fasteners.","Forming threads adds even more strength.","That's because this factory does that using a process called thread rolling.","Rather than use machining equipment, which cuts threads into the shank, a process that removes steel and can weaken the bolt, this thread-rolling machine rolls one bolt at a time between two dies, which forms the thread pattern.","This process doesn't remove any material, and compressing the steel to form threads actually increases its strength and ability to handle stress during flight.","The threads undergo a thorough quality-control inspection.","A technician uses a precision gauge to measure them.","Next, he uses ring gauges.","If the fastener screws into the no-go gauge, the dimensions are wrong.","If it screws into the go gauge, they're correct.","This optical imagining system measures the fastener, analyzes the form, spacing and ankles of the threads, then sends the data to the company's computer system.","That system can trace every single fastener back to the batch of steel from which it was made.","Another quality-control test measures tensile strength, how much pull force the fastener can withstand before breaking.","In yet another test, technicians cut the fasteners into pieces, mount them onto a bake-like puck and polish them, then examine them under a digital microscope.","Among other characteristics, they analyze the steel's grain size and structure.","This type of stainless steel has a high nickel and chromium content, making it resistant to extreme temperatures and corrosion.","Another test assesses how hard the steel is according to an international standard known as the rockwell hardness scale.","Such rigorous testing is imperative for safety as these fasteners are what hold aircraft together.","It's a fruit known by many names-- cactus pear, cactus fruit and prickly pear.","It grows on several species of cacti, which are native to parts of north, central and south america.","Some growers, in addition to selling the fruit, produce a puree, which they sell as a flavoring.","Prickly pear martini, anyone?","Cactus pear fruit is high in fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals.","It's sweet and delicious eaten as-is or as a natural flavoring in foods and beverages.","In the salinas valley in california, the cactus pear harvest begins around late august and continues through early april.","The fruit is ripe when its skin begins turning red.","The harvesters wear thick leather gloves to protect their hands from the thorns and safety glasses to shield their eyes from loose thorns that blow through the air.","Tractors haul the cactus pears to the processing plant.","The fruit first passes over brushes and into a vacuum that removes loose dirt, then through a shower of chlorinated water, which kills off bacteria.","The fruit enters a cold-air dryer for about 5 seconds, then passes through a hot-air dryer for 20 seconds.","The fruit exits completely dry.","A quality-control team removes any with bruises or other cosmetic defects and transfers those cactus pears to the puree line.","The fruit that passes inspection falls into what's called a singulator, a machine that lines them up in single file.","The singulator deposits each cactus pear into a cup on a computer-guided weigh-and-sort machine, which classifies each fruit by size, then applies the grower's price code sticker.","The fruit then travels on the conveyor belt that leads to the padded tub designated for its weight classification.","A worker stationed at the tub packs the cactus pears into a lined shipping box.","Another worker removes any less-than-perfect fruit that managed to slip through the previous checks.","Those also go to the puree line.","On the puree line, the dumper drops the cactus pears onto a conveyor-belt system, which transports them to the crusher.","The machine crushes the fruit, separating the skins and flesh, mashing the flesh into puree and extracting the sweet magenta-colored juice.","From the crusher, the pressed skins drop onto the vibrating shaker while the puree and juice flow through it into a tank below.","The shaker separates any puree still caught in the skins.","The skins drop into a bin and are hauled off to be used as compost or sold as animal feed.","Once the tank is filled to capacity with about 400 pounds of puree, a pump transfers it to a large hopper.","A worker releases puree from the hopper to the finisher.","The finisher's fine screens trap the seeds while letting the puree pass through to a holding tank below.","The seeds are sold to businesses that press them into oil for cosmetic and hair products.","From the holding tank, the deseeded puree passes through a second finisher with even finer filters.","Then it flows into a tank for pasteurization, which kills off any remaining bacteria.","The puree is finally ready.","A worker fills a drum, which is double-lined with plastic bags.","She draws four 1-cup samples from each drum for quality-control tracking.","Once a drum contains 400 pounds of puree, the worker zip-ties each bag separately, closes the drum with a lid, safety-seals the lid with a lock, then puts the drum in the freezer.","The cactus pear puree is sold frozen to the food and beverage industry, which uses it to flavor many products, from ice cream, sorbet, and gelato to flavored water, wine, tequila, and brandy.","Lab reactors are vessels of discovery.","Inside these enclosed glass systems, chemical and biological reactions happen.","Useful for developing many products, including medications like cancer drugs, they can also be used to produce these products on a small scale.","A lab reactor is basically a sophisticated blender.","During mixing, it also heats or cools ingredients to start a chemical reaction, and there are ports for attachments like a condenser.","Making lab reactors starts with solid glass rods.","The rods are sometimes a bit crooked, so a worker heats and moves them across rollers to straighten them.","Grinding wheels round their shape to more precise contours, and a wet sanding smooths the surface.","The operator measures the outer diameter of each rod.","A worker heats one end of the rod and forms a rim using a special tool.","He applies dabs of liquid glass just below the rim.","This creates nubs for properly situating the blade hub on the main shaft.","To make the reactor's inner wall, he scores a wide glass tube and exposes the score line to a flame and then water.","Another worker heats the top end.","He supports the glass with a wide paddle until it's malleable enough to shape.","A forming tool gives it a wide lip that will serve as the opening of the reactor.","He aims a flame at the newly formed flange to smooth out any imperfections.","He slides a larger glass vessel over the flask, then fuses them at both ends.","This creates a hollow jacket through which liquids will be pumped to heat or cool the contents of the flask.","A different worker cuts another glass tube to length.","He scores it lightly and again exposes it to fire and water to break it along the etched line.","He shapes the tube into a port for the outside of the reactor jacket.","He'll make two of these ports.","They'll be used to circulate heating and cooling liquids.","Using the torch, a worker softens a spot on the reactor jacket.","With tweezers, he pulls away the softened glass, creating a hole for the port to be installed.","After inserting a ceramic holder in the port, he fuses it to the hole on an angle.","Once the seam solidifies, the port will be an intrinsic part of the lab-reactor vessel.","Abrasive wheels grind another glass tube to make it perfectly round.","This tube will be part of a drainage valve.","An employee then begins work on the rest of the drainage valve assembly.","He forms an internal thread for a plug.","And after cutting it shorter, another worker creates a flange on the other end.","He burns a hole in the side of the valve tube.","The drainage tubing, now also cut shorter, is ready to be attached to the rest of the valve.","He heats the connecting points, and they melt and meld together.","Since we last saw it, the reactor vessel has received a base.","A worker burns a hole in that base and fuses the drainage valve onto it.","Another employee then places the reactor vessel in a special fixture and checks that it sits level.","She adds specific amounts of water incrementally, beginning with 2 cups.","She draws a line on the outside of the reactor vessel to indicate the amount inside.","This will provide a reference for affixing a scale.","Using the markings as a guide, she applies the ceramic scale.","They'll become part of the glass when the vessel is baked and slowly cooled.","Stay tuned for a lot more, as this lab reactor comes together to create a stir.","Making a lab reactor is done for science.","Precision is important because these reactors will be used to develop new drugs, cosmetics and a range of chemical materials.","They can also serve as little factories, producing small batches of products.","A lab reactor needs sturdy impeller blades to generate an effective chemical reaction.","An automated milling tool cuts a notch in a disk made from strong chemically resistant plastic.","Another system carves screw threads into a hub made of the same material.","A tool bores a hole in the center for the insertion of what's called the agitator shaft.","The operator smooths the threads with fine sandpaper and then assembles the blades to the hub.","Next is the condenser.","It's an attachment through which vapor will travel to be transformed into a liquid.","The worker twists the softened glass tube around a rod to form the coil.","Another worker inserts a linear glass tube in the center of the coil.","She melts glass near the bottom to seal the center tube to the coil.","Moving to the top, she heats the glass and, with tweezers, pulls a bit from the end of the coil to pry it open.","With a pick, she opens it up a little more.","She uses a graphite reaming tool to shape the glass opening into a more flared profile.","The condenser body takes shape, and the worker forms a joint on the end.","He inserts a standard joint to test the fit.","The coil can now be inserted into the condenser body.","Another worker fuses the condenser wall to the coil and burns holes in the glass wall to connect hose attachments.","She exposes the seam to a less focused flame to bring down the temperature slowly.","The next worker creates a joint for the lower end of the condenser.","This joint will be used to connect the condenser to the reactor.","Once the basic taper profile has been achieved, grinding tools size it more precisely.","When the connector joint has been cut to length, the worker attaches it to the base of the condenser.","Another glass fabricator makes more joints, one of which will connect the condenser to the reactor lid, or head, as it's known in the industry.","He keeps the glass tube long for easy handling and then cuts it to the correct length.","The worker now seals the center joint to a hole in the reactor lid.","He burns holes in the reactor head for other connectors.","As the glass balloons up, he pulls it away to fully open the hole.","With all the connectors fused to the reactor head, a worker grinds the base of its flange against an abrasive wheel to make it perfectly even.","An employee then applies decals to the head.","These indicate the brand and the connector size.","The decals will be baked into the glass during its final heating.","He places all the parts in the annealing oven.","The temperature gradually ramps up to 1,040 degrees fahrenheit and slowly cools.","This final annealing removes internal stresses and strengthens the glass.","An inspector scrutinizes the head with a tool to confirm that the connector joints are in proper alignment and positioned at the correct angle.","Workers install the vessel on a stand, insert the shaft and blades, attach the head and connect the condenser.","To simulate how it works, a technician pours liquid into the reactor.","He adds colorful plastic solids that will show up better for this demonstration.","He activates the impeller blades.","These blades are designed to lift solids to the top, and they do that effectively.","He also runs cooling liquids through the condenser.","In practice, the cool coil will cause vapors from the vessel to convert back to a liquid.","This lab reactor is now ready to be a lifesaver."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Honey","Fiber Optics","Bricks","Pipe Organs"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Honey...","Fiber optics...","Bricks...","And pipe organs.","It's winnie the pooh's favorite treat.","It's sweet and sticky.","And it's produced by an industrious insect, whose miniature society is one of the most sophisticated in the animal kingdom.","It all begins in a field, where worker honeybees suck nectar from flower blossoms, such as clover.","They store it in their honey sack, then return to the hive, where other worker bees suck it out and chew it, breaking down the nectar's complex sugars into two simple sugars called glucose and fructose.","The bees then deposit the nectar into the cells of the wax honeycombs they've built.","They fan it with their wings until most of its water content evaporates in the warm air of the beehive.","What's left is thick and gooey honey.","The bees then cap each honey-filled cell with beeswax.","That's when the beekeeper steps in.","Bees will sting if taken by surprise, so the beekeeper sprays the hive with smoke from burning pine needles, a scented warning that foreigners are about to enter the hive.","Inside the hive are wooden frames hanging side by side, each holding a honeycomb.","A hive can house hundreds of thousands of bees, all descendants of the prolific grand pooh-bah of beedom, the queen bee.","She's the big one in the middle.","The queen bee lays up to 2,000 eggs a day, creating the work force needed to feed and protect the colony.","But the beekeeper tricks the colony's defenders.","He replaces the hive's cover with a device called a bee escape, that smells like cherries.","Bees dislike the scent, so most fly to the bottom sections of the hive.","Another warning spray, and the beekeeper removes the bee escape.","Now he can escape with the honeycombs.","Inside the honey factory, they put the honeycomb frames on what's called an uncapping machine.","Like a razor, it shaves the wax caps off the honey-filled cells of the combs.","They scrape off the remnants manually.","Then they set the frames on another machine called a honey extractor.","It spins the honeycombs until all the honey is forced out of the cells.","Afterwards, they filter the honey to remove any pieces of wax capping that slipped through.","Then the honey is ready for bottling.","Some beehives contain smaller frames, designed to produce honey that isn't extracted from the honeycomb.","Workers remove the frame and cut the honeycomb into pieces as is with a heated knife.","That seals the wax around the honey inside.","You eat it, wax and all.","The beeswax lining of the honeycomb goes to make candles, furniture polish, lipsticks, and other products.","When producers have more liquid honey than they can sell, they simply let it granulate, develop sugar crystals, and turn hard and white.","Then, when the orders come in, they return it to its original liquid form by heating it to 130 degrees.","They vacuum-clean the jars...","Then fill them.","One beehive can yield up to seven pounds of honey in a single day.","That's much more than the bees need for themselves.","The surplus is what we end up eating.","Honey production today is both efficient and humane.","For centuries, the only way to harvest honey from hives had been to kill the bees.","Then, in 1851, an american beekeeper invented a way to get the honey, yet spare the bees.","His method, with the removable honeycomb frames, is the one we still use today.","American researchers have invented a plastic that repairs itself when broken.","Just apply heat--  a simple hair dryer will do-- and the break automatically mends itself.","This could solve a longtime problem in electronics, because when components heat up and cool down, they weaken the plastic around them.","Every time you talk on the phone or go on the internet, what you say or type travels to its destination through fiber optics, voice and data gets transmitted via pulses of light through hair-thin glass fibers.","Those fibers start out as large glass tubes.","First, workers unwrap the tubes.","Then they submerge them in a corrosive bath of hydrofluoric acid that removes any oil residues.","Then they set a tube into each end of a lathe.","As the tubes spin, they're heated with a hydrogen-oxygen flame.","When the glass turns white, it's getting close to hitting peak temperature.","At about 3,500 degrees, the two tubes fuse together.","They put this new, longer tube onto another lathe.","As the tube spins, they inject a mixture of chemical gases inside, while a traversing burner heats everything up.","The gas mixture contains liquid forms of silicon-- an abundant chemical element found in nature-- and germanium, a chemical element similar to tin that's used as a semiconductor in transistors and other electronic devices.","As the gases heat, they undergo a chemical reaction that leaves a white soot on the inside of the glass tube.","The heat fuses the soot, forming what will eventually become the core of the optical fiber.","The glass tube itself will form the fiber's covering.","When there's enough fused soot, they turn up the heat until the soot itself turns into glass.","Then they heat the glass tube enough to soften it, and to soften the new glass inside.","The intense heat eventually makes the tube collapse on itself to form a solid rod.","The internal structure of the optical fiber has been achieved.","But it's in the form of a big, bulky rod called a preform, so the next step is to thin it out.","First, they excise the preform from the uncollapsed section of the glass tube.","Then they install it vertically into the drawing tower, which will draw out the final shape.","The drawing tower's oven heats one end of the preform to 3,600 degrees.","The glass softens.","Gravity helps pull it down, like honey dripping from a spoon.","Then, using a glob of glass as a weight, they stretch the soft glass and keep stretching it until they've formed a thin glass fiber.","A series of pulleys measures the tension on the fiber as it's being drawn.","A special monitor makes sure the fiber's precisely the right diameter-- just .","005 of an inch.","Then the fiber passes through u.v. lamps that bake on an acrylic coating to protect against dust and other contaminants.","Finally, the fiber is rolled onto a drum.","From here, it's either shipped out as is or put into a cable.","Fiber-optic cables are expensive to produce, but they're smaller and lighter than traditional copper cables.","They carry more information and need fewer repeaters to keep the signal from deteriorating.","And, unlike copper cables, they're immune to electromagnetic interference.","They're also hard to tap without being detected.","And all this is made possible by a complicated process based on a very simple principle-- light traveling through glass.","Those three little pigs knew what they were doing when they built that brick house.","Not only are bricks wolf-proof, they're also fireproof, pest-resistant, and weather-resistant.","No wonder they're one of the world's oldest building materials.","Bricks are often made of shale, a lightweight rock that splits easily into thin layers.","Quarry machines dig 16 inches down to expose the shale to the elements for 2 years.","This weakens it, making it easier to process once it gets to the factory.","A 4-foot-high stone wheel with a steel tire grinds the shale into powder.","It grinds up 50 tons of shale per hour.","A screen sifts out any pieces that need more grinding.","The powder goes to the pug mill that mixes it with water.","This makes a thick paste that will go through the extrusion machine next.","The extruder forces the paste through a rectangular opening to form one long, continuous piece called a slug.","At the same time, it shaves off the crustier top layer to expose what will become the face of the brick.","If this gray shale mixture is fired as is, it will naturally produce a red brick.","To engineer a different color, they coat the slug in sand mixed with an oxide mineral such as zinc or iron.","Next, they texture the surface with a textured roller.","This is just one of many popular designs.","Then a large knife comes down like a guillotine and slices the slug into 5-foot lengths.","You might be wondering where those three holes came from.","Well, remember how the paste goes through the extruder to form the slug?","Inside are three pins.","They make three holes designed to decrease the brick's weight.","Out of each 5-foot length, they cut 20 3-inch bricks.","The ones on the ends are uneven, so they go back into the mix to make new slugs.","Next comes the delicate job of stacking these newly minted bricks-to-be.","A machine first separates them.","Then, using inflating bags, it grasps them, raises them...","Then stacks them.","Meanwhile, the water in the bricks is starting to evaporate.","To hasten that process, the bricks go into a dryer for two days.","The dryer gets its hot air from the heat generated by the kiln, where the bricks go next for firing.","The kiln is really a giant oven.","It bakes the bricks at 1,900 degrees.","1 1/2 days later, the bricks are ready.","The transfer machine takes them out of the kiln.","But before they go to market, a technician does a quality check.","He weighs and measures a sample to see if it meets the design specifications.","Bricks are supposed to absorb some water, but not too much.","Yet, if they repel water completely, they'll also repel the wet mortars the masons use to stick the bricks together.","So to test absorbancy, the technician breaks a brick in half.","He weighs it before and after soaking it in water for 24 hours.","By comparing the weights, he can see how much water the brick has absorbed.","Once the batch gets the okay, they stack the bricks into cubes of 500 to 600.","Each brick weighs 5 1/2 pounds, so each cube weighs in at about 1/4 ton.","Brick is one of the sturdiest building materials around.","It doesn't rot, fade, warp, or dent the way some other materials can.","Bricks are also energy-efficient.","They absorb heat to help cool your house in the summer and hold heat to help keep it warmer in the winter.","The music it makes is as complex as it is majestic.","The pipe organ is one of the largest and most technically sophisticated instruments.","Building one is an incredible feat of engineering and craftsmanship.","Early man discovered he could make music by blowing across hollow reeds of different lengths.","In ancient egypt, an engineer devised what would later become the basic technology of the pipe organ, a steady airflow without mouth-blowing while controlling the air to each pipe to create different notes.","By the middle ages, the pipe organ was a fixture in churches throughout europe.","Johann sebastian bach composed his greatest works for organ while working as the musical director of a church.","a concept artist creates the design.","The design then goes to a draftsperson, who prepares the technical drawings.","The organ's pipes are made of a mixture of tin and lead.","Tin-- the harder metal--  gives brightness to the sound, while lead--  the softer metal-- gives it warmth.","Artisans pour the molten alloy into a tray, then draw it out to form a sheet.","As the sheet cools, the two metals react to each other, creating spots.","The sheet goes into storage to give the alloy time to stabilize.","Two to three months later, it's ready to be formed into organ pipes.","First, they cut pieces of metal in the shape of each pipe using templates and large rulers.","Then they roll each piece using a mandrel.","The larger the organ, the more pipes it has.","Pipes are grounded in sets of 61, corresponding to the 61 black-and-white keys on the keyboard.","And elaborate organ can have more than 10,000 pipes.","The pipemaker carefully seals the body of each pipe by hand, using tin solder.","Next, he solders the body of the pipe to the foot and languet.","The languet is the part that produces the pipe's sound.","The process of giving a specific sound to each pipe is called voicing.","This work is done by a trained musician called a voicer.","He enlarges the mouth of the pipe, called the cut-up, until it's approximately 1/4 of the width across.","He adjusts the pipe some more, blowing air through it to judge how to further refine the tone.","Next come the windchests, also called the soundboards.","These are the large wooden boxes filled with air on which the pipes stand.","Under each pipe is an air channel covered by a valve.","The valve is made of leather and sits on a wooden board.","When the organist pushes a key on the keyboard, the corresponding valve drops down like a trapdoor, releasing air into the pipe to play the note.","they glue the valves to the windchests one at a time, using animal glue.","It's suppler and dries faster than synthetic glue.","The valves are connected to the organ's keys mechanically by long tracks of cedarwood or by electrical wiring.","The electric signal triggers electromagnets to cause a sudden air depression, making the trapdoor valve drop down and let the air in.","The console is the organ's brain.","It contains all the controls for the keys and sets of pipes.","The organ's white keys are made of linden wood covered with bone, the black keys of ebony or rosewood.","An artisan adjusts the keys using a weight.","When the weight rises, the tension is just right.","The console, keys, and all the other components are finally put together in the assembly room.","After testing, they disassemble the organ and ship it to its destination, where it's reassembled.","The voicers come on-site to perform what's called tonal finishing.","They check and adjust each pipe according to the acoustics of the room.","This process can take many months for a large and elaborate organ."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Leather Briefcases","Crop Dusters","Corn Whiskey","Drag Racing Clutches"]},"text":["Briefcases come in many styles today.","The classic type is a rigid rectangular box made up of two hinged sections that close together.","It's often referred to as an attaché case because it was traditionally the type of briefcase used in diplomatic circles by cultural or military attachés.","These luxury attachés are entirely handcrafted, made from english bridal leather, a fine leather traditionally used for horse saddles.","The cutter lays out patterns for the various parts, then trims around them.","Leather, being an animal hide, naturally has scars and blemishes here and there, so he's careful to select blemish-free areas for use as the main surfaces.","Next he uses a punch press to cut out what are called foundation boards, which will reinforce the leather.","At this point, an expert leather craftsman takes over.","He positions each foundation board on the leather.","Using a tool called a bone folder, he marks where the leather will fold over each board.","Then he coats the boards with leather-bonding glue...","And positions them along the fold lines he marked.","With a tool called a sleeker, he pushes out air pockets and excess glue.","This ensures a thorough, wrinkle-free bond.","Next, with a tool called a stitch marker, he perforates the edges of the leather.","This ensures the stitching will be straight and evenly spaced.","It also sets the angle of the stitches, essential for both aesthetics and durability.","Now he bevels the leather.","This leaves what's known as a raw edge, which he then colors and seals with a reddish stain that highlights the tan-colored leather.","The attaché case frame is made of steel.","The craftsman uses contact adhesive to mate the frame to the foundation board and leather.","Now he can sew the leather.","He inserts an awl in each stitch hole to clear a path through the leather and boards.","Then he passes two strong saddle-stitching needles in opposite directions, pulling the pure-linen threads waxed with tallow.","Next he rivets in place two traditional-style locks made of hand-polished brass.","Then he constructs the handle by sewing several layers of leather around a piece of steel.","The handle has a raised rib on the top and bottom.","These risers, as they're called, make the handle comfortable to hold.","He uses the bone folder to fit a piece of finishing leather snugly against the risers.","He glues finishing leather around the handle ends...","Feeds each end through a brass ring...","Then folds over the ends to lock in the rings.","Then he wraps the rest of the leather under and hand-stitches all around.","The rings attach to brass handle plates, which he secures from the inside with washers and bolts.","Next he glues in the lid-pocket assembly...","An all-leather organizer that contains pen loops and pockets for files and business cards.","Finally, he lines the bottom section with sheepskin leather that's been coated with a semigloss glaze so it can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.","The outer leather is strong and weather-resistant because it's been tanned with natural plant and tree extracts, then conditioned by hand with fish oils and lanolin, centuries-old techniques they still use to make luxury leather goods today.","Crop dusters are airplanes specially outfitted for aerial spraying.","Farmers use them to seed fields and apply pesticides and fertilizer.","The aquaculture industry uses them to feed fish, and emergency crews fly them to spread retardant on forest fires and dispersants on oil spills.","Depending on its size, a crop duster can carry up to 2,700 liters of liquid or dry material.","The plane is designed to be able to swoop down low to accurately cover the target spray area.","At the factory, they manually weld lightweight aircraft-grade steel tubes to construct the frame of the fuselage.","Next they use spring-loaded fasteners to affix aluminum panels to the sides.","An anti-rust coating turns the aluminum golden color.","All the plane's aluminum parts require this coating, because many of the chemicals crop dusters carry are corrosive.","The tank that holds those chemicals is called a hopper.","The factory molds it out of many layers of fiberglass, which is deliberately transparent.","This enables the pilot to see at a glance roughly how much chemical remains.","Inside each of the plane's wings is a row of vertical supports called webs.","To make each web, they lay a soft aluminum sheet on a mold, place a rubber mat on top, then load the assembly into a press.","A built-in water bag distributes the pressure evenly.","This helps form the aluminum sheet perfectly.","Next they soak the web for a half-hour in molten sodium chloride at more than 900 degrees fahrenheit.","Then they immediately submerge the web in lukewarm water.","This triggers a molecular reaction that hardens the aluminum.","Each wing contains 32 webs.","Technicians line them up in an assembly fixture in between the wing's horizontal beams called spars.","Once they've riveted the webs to the spars, they cover the structure with aluminum panels using spring clamps for now.","The panels have holes in them to allow regular inspections of the structure inside.","After riveting the panels, technicians screw covers onto the inspection holes.","They also seal the seams between panels with liquid rubber so chemicals can't penetrate.","Next they install the engine and the propeller, which ranges from 750 to 1,400 horsepower.","The prop has from three to five aluminum blades.","Now the equipment that releases the chemicals from the air.","For spraying liquids, they hook up horizontal pipes lined with spray nozzles called booms.","To apply dry chemicals or disperse seed, the flight crew detaches the booms and installs a large stainless-steel funnel called a spreader under the plane's belly.","At release time, the pilot opens a door at the bottom of the hopper, enabling the wind to draw out the contents through the spreader.","To spray liquids, a wind-driven pump moves the hopper contents to the booms.","Technicians now assemble and install the instrumentation panel.","To fill the hopper with liquid chemicals, they connect a pump to a valve on the side of the crop duster.","For dry chemicals, they just lift the hopper's lid and fill 'er up.","More than three centuries ago, american bootleggers made corn whiskey by moonlight to avoid being detected by the tax authorities, and so this whiskey became known as moonshine.","Today, that whiskey has emerged from the shadows of history and is produced legally, but people still call it moonshine.","It was the nectar of outlaws-- clear, fresh corn whiskey that's 50% alcohol, and centuries later, it still has a potent appeal.","In virginia, they still make this whiskey the traditional way, allowing corn to germinate in a process called malting.","They mix a small amount of the malted kernels with regular corn in a big tank, then funnel the mix into a mill.","Inside this mill, automated hammers grind the mix to a cornmeal consistency.","This frees some of the starch and exposes it to enzymes from the malted kernels.","Those enzymes convert the starch to sugar.","They'll use some of this ground corn to make a big batch of yeast.","They add it to water in a tank and boil it until it becomes a thick soup.","Once it reaches the desired consistency, they allow it to cool to room temperature.","They add yeast and blow air into the mix to help the yeast grow, making this one big batch of liquid yeast.","In another tank, a ton of corn is being blended with water and boiled.","This breaks down more of the starch, converting it to sugar.","Once cooled, they pump the mix and the liquefied yeast into the fermentation tank.","Over a period of four days, the yeast turns the sugar to alcohol.","The process also generates carbon dioxide, which is vented into the atmosphere.","Every so often, the brewmaster scoops up some liquid and scrutinizes it.","If it looks too thick, the conversion of sugar to alcohol is not yet complete.","But when the viscosity is just right, they pump the batch into a big copper still.","It's just like the type used to make moonshine in the backwoods centuries ago.","They heat it to 82 degrees celsius.","At that temperature, alcohol will boil, but water will not.","As the alcohol boils off the mix, it's recovered through a condenser.","The recovered liquid is 80% alcohol.","Talk about a stiff drink.","So they add water to cut it down to about 50%, and then it's ready to bottle.","To make a darker whiskey, they steep it with what looks like a big tea bag.","It's actually wood chips wrapped in cheesecloth.","The whiskey absorbs flavor and color from the wood over a period of about two months.","When the whiskey takes on a golden hue, they transfer it into oak barrels.","They allow the whiskey to age for two years in a hot room.","The heat causes the whiskey to expand, causing it to absorb the flavor of the wood, but the pressure can also cause cracks in the barrels, so the brewmaster routinely checks for leaks.","After the whiskey has aged, they adjust the alcohol content by adding a little water.","The water is always softened and filtered to remove minerals that could affect the whiskey's taste.","At the bottling station, machinery pumps the whiskey into the containers.","There's no spillage, and not a drop goes to waste.","Machinery then twists on the caps for an airtight seal that preserves the aroma and flavor of this old-fashioned corn whiskey.","At the next station, robotic arms grab labels, apply glue to them, then press them onto the bottles.","It has taken a combination of down-home methodology and modern technology to prepare this old-fashioned american whiskey for market.","And whether it's aged or fresh, this historic whiskey is sure to set the taste buds ablaze.","This clutch is not for the family sedan.","It's a racing clutch designed for a car with an 1,800-horsepower engine.","Without this kind of heavy-duty clutch, there would be no way to transfer that much power to the wheels, and the racecar would be going nowhere fast.","Racecars use a manual transmission to transfer power to the wheels, so a good clutch is behind every win.","Production starts with a flywheel, which connects the clutch to the engine.","Computerized cutting tools shape this aluminum part, then move on to carve the cover plate for the clutch.","They trim its perimeter to give it the correct profile and reduce its weight.","Next they use a bolt with an industrial diamond tip to level the surface of an iron friction disk.","This will allow for better contact with other parts of the clutch.","There are typically two to three of these friction disks in a racing clutch.","The clutch disks will ride against this steel insert, which they position on the flywheel.","The technician applies locking compound to bolts, then uses them to attach the insert to the flywheel.","Here, the technician sets the bolts to a precise torque.","Next he uses this grinder to flatten the surface of the steel insert, again for better contact with the clutch disk.","These bolts will anchor the clutch assembly to the flywheel.","They're called stand bolts, and there are six.","Here, they sculpt titanium cylinders to act as stands for the bolts that were just installed in the flywheel.","Titanium is strong and lightweight, which is important because of the huge amount of energy the clutch must transfer.","The technician places a stand over each bolt, then arranges the clutch disks and a floater plate on the flywheel.","He presets the height of the stands.","Then he prepares the pressure-plate assembly.","He presses aluminum cups into holes in the cover.","These cups will hold springs that will be used to change the pressure of the clutch pack, but he holds off on inserting the springs in the cups.","First he installs a series of levers on the cover plate.","He slides pivot pins into each lever.","These pins will enable the levers to compress and decompress the clutch pack.","He applies lubricant to adjuster screws for the clutch springs, then threads each one into an aluminum casing.","He inserts an assembly in each cup, followed by a heavy-duty spring.","He now installs the pressure ring on the underside of the cover.","When the driver releases the clutch pedal, the levers cause the pressure ring to compress the clutch pack.","That action transfers power from the engine to the transmission.","He now slips the pressure-ring assembly over the stand bolts and secures it with nuts.","He adjusts each stand with a socket wrench, then checks the height.","He measures the tips of the levers to confirm they're even and makes any necessary adjustments.","He pushes the levers to test this clutch, and the pressure ring responds as it should, creating the necessary pressure on the clutch pack.","Finally, a certification sticker and some strapping to secure it for shipping.","At the track, this clutch will be serviced between every run, and if it's operating at peak performance, a win could be just down the road."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Bacon","Snowblowers","Luxury Cars"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Bacon...","Snowblowers...","And a special 2-part report on the making of the rolls-royce.","When it comes to breakfast, bacon is one of our favorite side orders.","Its popularity actually goes back centuries to the days when people cured and smoked meats in their own homes.","But, today, a quick trip to the store, and anyone can bring home the bacon.","Bacon is now processed and even precooked in factories.","It all starts with a load of pork bellies.","They're tossed into a big tumbler.","The action softens them, so it will be easier to remove the skins.","Each pork belly goes skin-side down on a conveyor belt.","This conveyor takes the pork bellies to a long, automated blade that slices the skin away from the meat.","The skins drop onto another conveyor belt to be processed into pork rinds.","Meanwhile, the meat pieces head toward a flipping device that turns them backside up, so workers down the line can trim off any remaining pieces of skin.","Next, they mix up a brine solution which will cure the pork.","Salt is funneled into a tank of water.","It's mixed thoroughly until the salt dissolves.","Then, liquid smoke and other flavorings are added.","The pork bellies now pass under an injector head.","Its needles repeatedly inject a curing solution into each pork belly.","A metal hanger, called a comb, is pressed into each of the pork bellies so they can be hung on a rack.","Then, it's into the drench cabinet for a shower of liquid smoke.","As liquid smoke bombards the meat, it adds flavor and color to the surface.","The pork bellies are transferred to a big oven.","They'll cook for five hours at a low temperature.","That allows the flavoring to permeate the meat.","Now it's into a blast freezer for a quick chilldown, then into another cooler for a couple of days.","The cooling firms the meat, which makes it easier to slice.","The pork bellies head to a sizing station, where their sides get a quick trim.","They also pass under a metal detector to confirm that no piece of the metal hanger has gotten lodged in the meat.","After that, the pork bellies are stacked and wrapped, then stored in the freezer until they're ready to be sliced into bacon.","This is called the slice line.","Here, workers load the meat slabs into chutes.","The chutes sway back and forth over a blade, which slices the meat into bacon-sized pieces.","The bacon falls neatly onto a conveyor belt.","Another conveyor belt rolls over the bacon slices to secure them for cooking in a browning microwave.","As the fat cooks off the bacon, it drain into a trough.","These drippings will be used to make gravy and pet foods.","The cooked bacon now exits the microwave oven and comes under the watchful eye of an inspector.","She discards slices that are broken or not up to par.","These wheels then roll the brown bacon slices onto parchment paper.","A tiny electronic eye keeps track of the number of slices.","Finally, the bacon is stacked for packaging.","Now, that's a job well done.","Time to put the coffee on and scramble up some eggs.","When we return, making the machine that makes snow shoveling obsolete.","Snowblowers first came on the market in the 1950s, and before long, this alternative to shoveling really took off.","Today's machines come in a range of sizes, from smaller models with 26cc engines to 50cc machines 3 feet wide for plowing through even the deepest snow.","At the heart of a snowblower are rotating blades called augers.","The left and right augers spiral in opposite directions in order to move snow toward the middle.","There, a fan called an impeller swallows the snow and blows it out a chute.","Each auger starts out as a blank-- a partially formed steel disk a little less than 1/8 inch thick.","This press finalizes the shape with about 200 tons of pressure.","The bigger the snowblower, the bigger its augers.","The press forms the left and right augers at the same time.","Then, a blast of air ejects them onto separate conveyor belts.","Next step, workers take a steel tube, called a hub, and mount it upright on an assembly jig.","Then, they take an auger and center it on the hub.","The hub and auger then travel down a conveyor belt to a robotic welder.","The robot fuses the two pieces into a single unit.","Elsewhere in the factory, workers construct the steel housing that will encase the augers.","This housing consists of four parts-- a cup to hold the impeller, a backpiece with a hole for the cup, and two side plates.","This bar aligns the pieces in a holder.","First, everything turns upside down so the robot can access the back and weld the cup to the backpiece.","Then, it flips right-side up again, and the robot welds on the side plates.","Total construction time-- 55 seconds.","The housings now undergo an electrostatic paint process.","Powder paint laced with a positive electrical charge is drawn like a magnet to the housings, which have been negatively charged.","Workers inspect the coat of paint and do any necessary touch-ups.","Then, the housings spend 15 minutes in an oven which bakes on the paint.","In another part of the factory, workers have bolted a gas-powered engine to a painted steel frame.","Inside this frame, they assemble the transmission-- the gear system that transfers power from the engine to the snowblower's wheels and augers.","After bolting on the impeller, that black component in the back, they attach a large, steel axle to the transmission-driven sprocket.","Then, they slide the now-painted auger and hub units onto this axle.","Now the housing arrives.","Workers bolt the auger assembly into it.","The impeller slides into the cup that's centered at the back of the housing.","Then, they screw the housing to the transmission frame.","The last component is the snowblower's handle, where the control panel is mounted.","There's a lever for selecting different speeds and clutch levers that can be locked down to direct the wheels and augers.","There's also a headlight so that you'll be visible to oncoming cars while clearing snow at night or on a snowy day.","And, of course, there's a lever that lets you choose the direction you want to blow the snow.","Coming up, behind the scenes at one of the most luxurious production lines in the world.","If you have one of these cars, you may also have a chauffeur and a pretty big bank account.","This rolls-royce costs more than an average house in some cities.","But a house is just a place to live, and you can really live it up if you have a car like this.","Since the company's inception in 1906, rolls-royce has been going the extra mile when it comes to perks and performance.","For many people, the car they drive is a measure of their personal success, and you don't get much more successful than this.","Each rolls-royce starts with a hand-welded aluminum body shelf that's rigid yet lightweight.","Then, workers handcraft the components for a lavish interior.","This gadget stitches together sheets of wooden veneer.","The veneers have been cut from the same piece of wood.","Workers match the grain so each side is a mirror image of the other.","The technique is called book-matching, and the look is seamless luxury.","There are 40 or more solid, wooden parts in the interior of this rolls.","These are for the dashboard.","Each of these parts is hand-finished.","Workers meticulously polish the wood with a special paste that enhances the grain.","A lacquer job puts a shine on the woodwork.","Inspectors scrutinize the leather for any natural defects and mark them in white.","They'll work around those blemishes so no imperfections will be visible on the car's upholstery.","It will take as many as 18 hides to make all the seats, panels, and consoles.","Leather pieces are carefully stretched onto various components.","The fit is set with a dryer.","Ensuring the sewn leather parts conform to all the curves and crevices on the door panels can be tricky.","But these workers, some of them former saddlemakers, are experts at the job.","They mount the upholstered leather parts to the car's interior and secure them tightly with screws.","They fit handles and control panels into the tailored slots.","Next, they attach switches, wiring, and other controls to the instrument panel.","This framework has been crafted from a single piece of magnesium so there aren't any squeaky joints.","The impressive radiator grille has a purpose besides bringing in cool air.","It houses the rolls' signature hood ornament and its automated platform.","Workers test the platform to confirm that it rises and retracts smoothly.","Then, they mount it under an opening at the top of the grille.","They check the spacing around the opening's cover to make sure there's enough room for things to run smoothly.","The rolls-royce mascot is called the spirit of ecstasy.","With the mascot now locked in proud position, workers are ready to assemble the car's mechanics.","So stay tuned.","This rolls-royce is looking good.","The body shell has the long lines of luxury.","It's been equipped with flawless leather upholstery and elegant wooden paneling.","Plush and posh, this car is now ready for some serious engine power.","It's bumper-to-bumper opulence at this factory as these cars are lined up to receive their engine components.","Workers install soundproofing material on the floor of the car to muffle engine noise.","Then, they run the wiring loom along the length of the vehicle.","This is the car's nervous system.","It transmits huge amounts of information that help run the engine, transmission, even the car's entertainment system.","Next, the engine and transmission system are hoisted onto a metal platform.","This v-12 engine has 400-plus horsepower.","Workers complete the assembly and make some final adjustments.","Then, it's time for the engine and car body to become one.","They call this the marriage.","The platform rolls the engine down an aisle to be joined with the awaiting car body.","Then, it lifts the engine into the cavity of the car.","It's secured with bolts.","Then, the platform moves away to get the next engine for the next car.","Workers double-check the installation and mark parts with yellow to confirm that they've been fitted.","The engine is now installed, but there are still a number of steps before the car is complete.","The instrument control panel is mounted to the dashboard and gets an upholstered leather cushion.","Veneer paneling is fitted around the dashboard controls.","And the headlining, made of cashmere and wool, goes into place.","Workers check the hydraulic cup holders in the rear of the car.","Then, they install two batteries-- one for the engine, the other for the cabin controls.","A rocker cover is fastened to the engine to stifle any noise.","They hook up a large air-intake system because optimum engine function requires a lot of airflow.","There will be no fingerprints on this windshield.","After it's wiped clean, workers use a pulley system with suction cups to lower it onto the car.","It's taped into place to allow the adhesive to set, then it's measured to ensure a perfect fit.","Next, the wheel-arch liners are installed.","These hefty guards will protect the car body from mud, gravel, and debris.","Finally, the wheels are mounted, and this rolls-royce is ready to roll.","It takes several weeks to assemble a rolls-royce, compared to the day or two it takes to manufacture an ordinary vehicle.","That's part of the reason why one of these will set you back a princely sum.","But if you win the lottery, this could be one way to splurge."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Binoculars","Sparklers","Rubber Boots","Circular Saw Blades"]},"text":["A pair of binoculars is essentially a handheld double telescope.","Light rays from the object you're viewing enter the lenses on the far end, the objectives.","This projects an image just behind those lenses inside the binoculars' housing.","The smaller eyepiece lenses you peer through then magnify that image.","The objectives are curved, causing the image to appear upside down.","The turn it right side up, each binocular half needs a glass prism.","Using u.v.-light-activated glue, workers mount several prisms on steel plates that take them through a series of grinding and polishing steps.","Protective paint prevents any dust from contaminating the pristine surface.","Grinding with diamond dust removes mere tenths of a millimeter of glass.","Polishing with an even finer abrasive removes another 1/100 of a millimeter.","At the end of it all, the three sides are perfectly flat.","This minimizes reflection, critical for making the glass see-through.","To make each prism, they glue two pieces of glass together at 90 degrees.","This special machine ensures the angle is precise.","A shot of u.v. light dries the glue.","The first piece of glass rotates the inverted image 90 degrees.","The second rotates it another 90 degrees, completing the flip.","Now for the objectives.","These curved lenses have undergone the same grinding and polishing steps as the prisms.","Now they go through a nine-stage computer-guided cleaning process.","After inspecting the lenses, a technician glues two together.","A double lens limits a type of distortion that causes fringes of color to appear around the image.","It's critical to match them to each other perfectly.","If the alignment's off by more than just 1/100th of a millimeter, the image will be poor.","This alignment machine displays a dot representing the center of each lens, so it's just a matter of matching the dots.","A 2-second shot of u.v. light dries the glue.","Next, a technician loads mineral pellets into a vacuum chamber.","Their exact formulation is a company secret.","The pellets produce an anti-reflection lens coating that lets more light come through the lenses.","Inside the vacuum chamber, a beam of electrons evaporates the pellets into microscopic particles that coat the lenses.","It's time to begin assembling the binoculars.","First, the objectives go into the housing, which is usually made of plastic, aluminum, or carbon.","Workers clean the lenses with a few blasts of compressed nitrogen...","Then secure them in place with threaded holding rings.","Now a few drops of glue behind the objectives, where the prisms will go, another blast of nitrogen to remove any dust, then they insert the prisms.","This optical machine aligns the focal points of the prism and its corresponding objective.","Then, some more glue to lock in the positioning and a blast of u.v. light to dry the glue.","Now they silicone the objectives and prisms to the housing's middle section.","Silicone creates an airtight and waterproof seal.","This holding mechanism presses the parts together while workers drive in the screws.","Onto the opposite end of the middle section go the oculars, the smaller lenses through which you look.","Those also attach with threaded holding rings.","Now, through a valve on each side, a machine sucks air from the housing and injects nitrogen gas.","Nitrogen prevents the lenses from fogging up.","A day after filling, they recheck the nitrogen pressure to make sure there's no leak.","This factory puts all the binoculars it produces through rigorous testing, subjecting them to prolonged vibration, water pressure, extreme heat, freezing temperatures, and other trying conditions.","After every test, inspectors make sure everything still works perfectly, both mechanically and optically.","Sparklers have sizzled on the party scene for decades, adding pyrotechnical glitter to weddings and birthday celebrations.","They evolved from more traditional fireworks and are the only kind that the consumer can handle when lit.","Lighting one definitely means excitement is in the air.","The splash of flash can last a minute or more, depending on the length of the sparkler.","They start with steel wires that are about 19 inches long.","They load bundles of them into slots of a sorting machine.","The machine vibrates, and the wires fall in single file into smaller openings.","The operator then moves a spring-loaded wooden rack into position.","It opens like the bellows of an accordion.","The operator rocks the sorting machine overhead, and the wires drop into the slits of the rack, perfectly aligned.","After 300 sparkler wires have fallen into position, the operator pulls a handle to close the rack.","Now, clamped in the accordion-style rack, the wires are ready to move on to the next station.","Wires for parade sparklers are much longer-- 36 inches, in fact-- which means they're heavier than ordinary sparklers.","The operator loads each of these wires manually into a rack that's larger and sturdier than the last one.","This system of loading is a lot more time-consuming, but parade sparklers are worth the extra trouble because they'll have a longer burn time-- up to four minutes.","Next, an operator loads boric acid and barium nitrate into a big mixing tank.","The barium nitrate is an oxidizer and will help the sparkler burn.","The boric acid is a neutralizer.","He adds water and mixes in cornstarch.","It will bind all the ingredients together.","Next, he pours in some very fine iron filings.","These bits of iron will give the sparklers their gold color.","The operator then suits up in protective gear and closes the door.","He's the only one allowed inside to load the sparklers' most volatile ingredient--  aluminum powder.","Once mixed into the wet slurry, the powder is virtually harmless, and they don't need to take as many safety precautions.","Chain conveyors now move the rack of sparkler wires into position.","An elevator lifts up a tank of the sparkler slurry to dip the wires in it.","The next rack of wires then moves forward for dipping.","286 racks of wires move through this dipping station every hour and 45 minutes.","They go through a second dipping station for one more coating.","The two coatings double the diameter of the wires.","After each dip, wires ride an overhead rail through an oven to bake the sparkler slurry until it's hard.","An inspector then examines each sparkler.","She checks for cracks and defects.","Any wire that's flawed will be rejected because these sparklers have to outshine the competition.","It takes her about three minutes to examine the 300 sparklers on a rack.","They check the diameter of each sparkler by sliding it through a template, and they bend it to check its integrity.","The sparklers have been stored for a week prior to packaging to allow them to cure.","And now they're ready for a party, and they're sure to be the center of attention.","Wellington boots, billy boots, galoshes.","By any name, rubber rain boots owe their existence to a 19th-century american, charles goodyear.","He invented the vulcanization process, a way of keeping natural rubber from deteriorating.","Nowadays, rain boots are made from a synthetic material called thermoplastic rubber, or tpr.","They're functional--  even fashionable.","Making rubber boots begins with spools of polyester yarn for their lining.","A colored spool adds a thin line of color to indicate the foot size of the lining.","A computer-programmed machine crochets the yarn with 242 needles.","As we can see in slow motion, each gate opens completely, then closes on the yarn.","The needles rotate 750 times per second.","They can program the machine to make linings for any size of boot.","For quality control, workers spot-check a few linings from every batch.","Now the action moves to this automated injection-molding machine with six stations.","Each one produces a pair of boots.","Workers carefully roll a pair of linings onto each station's foot form, called the last.","These lasts will create the space inside the boot for the lower leg and foot.","A five-part boot mold closes around the foot last.","Then, a high-pressure injection screw pushes in melted synthetic rubber, first in the soles, then in the upper boot.","The company lab regularly tests samples of the synthetic rubber pellets that feed the injection machine to make sure they melt and flow well.","The lab technician pours in some pellets, melts them, then pushes in a piston to extrude the molten rubber.","The machine measures what's called the melt flow index.","Back on the factory floor, a large suction hose feeds rubber pellets to the injectors-- black for the boot body, red for the soles.","And at this factory, nothing goes to waste.","It recycles rubber leftovers or rejects of all colors into a batch of black rubber.","The suction hose then sends the pellets into a hopper which feeds the barrel of the injection unit.","The heater bands inside the barrels melt the pellets at 200 degrees celsius.","Then, at the precise moment the mold arrives, the injector shoots in the molten rubber.","Giant clamps apply pressure for about 10 seconds, then release.","A hydraulic cylinder pushes up the last, helping to extract the boots.","Then it's quickly on with new linings for the next pair.","Total molding time?","Just 30 seconds.","The boots cool for 45 minutes, then head off to packaging...","Making just one stop along the way at the pad printing machine to get the company's logo.","Elsewhere in the factory, a seamstress carefully constructs a patterned boot lining.","The factory crochets white linings in a continuous roll, then has another company print on the design.","The trickiest part is shaping the toe because she has to curve and cut the material at the same time.","For these patterned boots, the machine injects a transparent synthetic rubber into the mold so that the printed lining will show through.","The mirror-finish surface of the mold cavity produces a high-gloss boot.","The printed boot requires more work and costlier materials and is therefore more expensive.","After the molding, for example, it has to go to the trimming station.","There, a worker shaves off excess material from the top of the boot.","Then he sews on a fabric binding to sandwich the lining.","The factory randomly selects a boot from each batch and puts it through a battery of tests on this flex machine.","It bends the boot in various ways some 300,000 times, ensuring that these rain boots can walk the walk.","When a construction site is buzzing with activity, it's usually the sound of the circular saw.","Its spinning teeth can take a bite out of any job in seconds.","There are many claims to the invention of the circular saw, but there's no doubt that when its design was perfected in the last century, it revolutionized woodworking.","With a circular saw, you can give odd jobs a whirl, and when the sawdust settles, you may have discovered your inner handyman.","To make a circular-saw blade, a laser burns into a sheet of steel to cut out jagged disks in the basic shape of a circular-saw blade.","They feed each disk to rollers that press grooves onto both sides.","These grooves are tensioning rings that will keep the blade from vibrating while cutting.","Without these grooves, the circular blade wouldn't cut straight.","At the next station, the assembler measures sags and buckles before feeding the disks to a machine that rolls them flat like a pie crust.","A grinding wheel polishes the blade.","And then they load barrels of the disks into an oven to bake until they're very hard.","This will take about 24 hours.","Meanwhile, carbide tips for the blades' teeth funnel past a laser that confirms they're properly positioned for the next step.","A robot then picks up one tip at a time and delivers it to nozzles.","The nozzles pump a paste called flux onto it.","Another robot places a piece of solder metal on the flux.","The next robot delivers the tips to the saw-blade body.","Elements melt the solder metal and flux to fuse the carbide tips to the teeth.","It's a technique called brazing.","Teeth with carbide tips last longer without losing their sharpness.","Circular blades for sawmills have a larger and different design.","They brush flux around a side hole and then place soldering metal on an elongated carbide tooth.","They braze the tooth to the flux-coated hole and install several more of these carbide side teeth.","The side teeth will enable this sawmill blade to tear through big logs.","The smaller circular-saw blade now spins on an axle while a spray nozzle sandblasts it.","The sandblasting cleans the surface and gives the blade a brushed texture.","A mechanical finger now moves one of the blade's teeth into position for sharpening.","A grinding wheel tapers each tooth.","A different wheel moves in and grinds the outside diameter of the blade.","The geometric angle of the grinding can vary, depending on the type of blade being made.","The grinding wheel then hones the face of each tooth to give it a sharper edge.","Next, a straightening specialist pounds out any remaining bumps in the blade...","And double-checks it with a straightedge tool.","He wipes off any smudges and then holds the blade to the light and examines it to confirm that it has no flaws.","A laser then etches the company insignia onto the blade.","And now the circular-saw blade is ready for its close-up.","A camera focuses on the teeth and sends the picture to a computer.","It analyzes the cutting angle and the clearance of each tooth to make sure each one measures up.","The result is circular-saw blades that should be able to keep their edge on the job."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Automotive Fuel Pumps","Cricket Bats","Change Machines","Ductile Iron Pipe"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"-- automotive fuel pumps...","Cricket bats...","Change machines...","Change machines...","And ductile-iron pipe.","And ductile-iron pipe.","When you start your car, it activates a pump that's usually located inside the gas tank.","This electrical system pushes the gas out of the tank and into injectors, which aerate the gas and deliver it to the engine cylinders.","Without a pump to get the fuel flowing, your car would be going nowhere fast.","You might think that submerging an electric pump in gasoline would be a risky thing, but liquid fuel can't explode, so it's actually a very safe place to be.","Production begins with the pumping mechanism.","A gear and several rollers are sandwiched between two metal plates.","The rollers will rotate to pull fuel into the pump before pushing it out of the tank.","Each roller assembly is tested by spinning it from the bottom.","A robot then pops it out and moves it to the next station.","Here the electric motor is attached to the roller pumping mechanism.","Then it gets a magnetic sleeve and a plastic cap.","All the parts that make up the pumping mechanism have now been assembled.","Next comes an end cap with a filter made of metal mesh.","A metal sleeve slides over the pump unit, and the whole thing is press-fit together.","Inside this chamber, large magnets generate a very strong force field.","This causes the metal sleeve to collapse, crimping at one end so that it holds everything together.","Next, retainer rings go into slots in the fuel-pump cap.","A metal bracket goes over the pump.","It steadies the assembly and serves as a guide as workers install the brushes and coils which will supply electricity to the fuel-pump motor.","A brass terminal slides onto the end of each coil and brush assembly to facilitate the electrical connection.","Then the terminals are attached to the assembly.","When the job is done, a robot removes the bracket.","They built this fuel pump from the inside out, and now the actual workings are complete.","Inspectors hook each pump up to a power source and run fluid through them to test the pumping action.","Then they check for proper flow and pressure.","If the pump passes inspection, a robot sends it down the assembly line...","Where a tubing system is being assembled to carry the gasoline to the engine.","The joints are sealed with a brazing paste.","Then it's into a gas oven, where the paste hardens and fuses to the tubing.","Workers remove the tubing from the oven and brush off any unwanted bits of metal and unwanted bits of metal and hardened paste.","Hardened paste.","The ends of the apparatus are capped to keep them from collecting dirt and debris during shipping.","Rubber tubing is attached to the pump and secured with metal clamps.","Then the rubber tubing is clamped to the metal tubing system.","Workers wire the fuel pump, then hook up a connector which will attach to the engine's wiring.","This is the sending unit.","It's a float with a metal arm that's attached to an electronic sensor.","The sensor sends information about fuel levels to the fuel gauge on the dashboard.","A computerized system checks the sending unit's accuracy as the sensor is moved up and down.","Once everything checks out, it's time to fill the tank and hit the road.","Up next-- cricket, anyone?","We'll go behind the scenes at a we'll go behind the scenes at a bat factory.","Bat factory.","References to the game of cricket date back to the 1300s.","Historians believe it started as a children's game.","In the 1600s, working men took up the pastime, and before long, it caught on with the upper classes.","By the 18th century, cricket was one of england's favorite organized sports.","Cricket bats are made of a particular species of white willow.","It has stringy wood fibers that are usually long.","These give the wood elasticity, the key to its performance.","Bat makers use as much sapwood as possible because it's moister and more flexible than the heartwood at the tree's core.","Production begins with willow pieces about 2 1/2 feet long.","The first machine trims them down roughly to size.","A few sprays of water limber up the wood fibers.","Then each piece goes through a pressing machine three to four times.","A curved roller applies up to three tons of pressure, rounding the bat's face and compressing the wood by almost half an inch.","This pressing is essential to the bat's performance and durability.","The bat maker draws a \"v\" on the end where the handle will attach.","Then he removes the bulk of wood behind the \"v\" on a table saw.","This minimizes the amount of work he'll have to do by hand later.","Now he cuts out the \"v\".","This creates a joint in which to insert the handle.","The handle is made of cane, dried vine stems, glued together in sections, and coated with rubber.","The grip end has been shaped on a lathe.","The other end will attach to the blade.","The bat maker cuts the block-shape tip into a wedge that will fit into the \"v\" cut, then glues the two pieces then glues the two pieces together.","Together.","A few taps with a hammer ensures a tight fit.","He spreads the excess glue all over the joint to seal it.","Now he shapes the bat's profile using a classic woodworking tool called a drawknife.","This takes only a few minutes but requires years of experience and an expert eye.","Then he completes the shaping with another pressing to curve the bottom third of the bat.","International cricket rules regulate the length and width of bats, but there's no restriction on curve.","Getting it right is tricky, though.","Too much curve, and he'll limit the blade's flexibility and performance.","The bat maker finishes off the shape using specialized tools.","Then he uses a metal hand plane to flatten the blade's edges.","He ensures the bat has good spring by hitting it with a dense wooden mallet.","He also analyzes the sound of the strike.","The softer the sound, the softer the wood, and the better the bat will play.","He smooths the bat against an air-filled drum sander that molds to the bat so it doesn't wear away the shape he worked so hard to achieve.","Then a worker smooths out the rest of the surface with a belt sander designed specifically for cricket bats.","The entire bat is sanded twice, first with a coarse abrasive, then with a fine one.","Next, the bat is mounted on a binding machine, where its handle gets a coat of glue.","A wrapping of twine binds together the sections of cane together the sections of cane that make up the handle.","That make up the handle.","Extra glue prevents the twine from unraveling.","Next, they polish the blade next, they polish the blade using a cotton wheel.","Using a cotton wheel.","Once the wood is shiny enough, brand-name decals go on.","Finally, a rubber grip goes over the binding to prevent the player's hands from slipping.","The bat's two main components complement each other when striking the ball.","The willow-wood blade flexes enough to deliver a good hit, and the cane handle absorbs that energy, protecting the player's hands.","When you return-- making the when you return-- making the machines that make our change.","Machines that make our change.","Change machines were invented in the mid-1950s in response to the vending-machine boom.","They began as simple mechanical coin changers, converting a quarter into nickels and dimes.","Today's modern machines can even convert $20 bills.","Times sure have changed.","It's like magic.","In goes the bill, and presto, out comes the exact change.","But behind the scenes, there's no slight of hand-- just innovative design and some pretty high-tech equipment.","Production begins with the machine's cabinet.","A computer-guided laser cuts the cabinet parts from a sheet of steel measuring 1 by 1/2 yards.","Workers shake the parts free and push out the openings in the panel that will become the cabinet's front door.","The parts are then shaped in a machine called the press break.","This is one of the door panels.","The machine forces it against a die, bending the edge.","These bent edges will strengthen the door and help it fit snugly into the frame.","The laser cutter also makes a series of holes in another cabinet part.","Then workers press threaded studs into the holes.","A vibrating feeder automatically dispenses the studs into the insertion machine.","Now they bend the sheet, again using a press break, and make the three-sided panel that will become the cabinet sides and back.","They attach the top and bottom panels.","Then they position the cabinet on a computerized welding station and rotate the table.","A robot makes precision welds behind a steel partition that shields workers from heat and harmful rays.","Now they assemble the change machine's coin dispenser.","It has two counter-rotating discs fitted to the diameter and thickness of a coin.","They work together to seize and align the coins, then drop them into the coin chute.","Workers set in these metal discs, along with a plastic gear mechanism that rotates them.","Then they secure the parts on a fixture...","And drill holes into the gear and drill holes into the gear mechanism.","Mechanism.","Roll pins are inserted to hold the parts together.","Then workers make sure the coin discs spin freely.","The next task is to assemble the coin-dispenser discs and gears.","This is precision work.","First, they set the parts in a metal casing.","Plastic rings go around the discs to guide and support the gears.","Then they attach the gear-train motor which powers the motor which powers the change-dispensing discs.","Change-dispensing discs.","A plastic guide on the casing helps the coins drop in properly.","Next comes the coin chute that guides the change out of the dispenser and into the machine's coin cup.","The dispenser holds up to $800, which can weigh a hefty 45 pounds, so it needs a strong handle.","It's locked into place with this tool, called a ring fastener.","Now it's time to put the whole machine together.","First, an electric power supply is installed on the inside back wall.","Next comes the bill validator.","And the coin cup.","Then the coin dispenser and electronic control board, the brains of the machine that calculates the change.","Finally, on go the instruction decals.","So, how do bills transform into coins?","Let's open the door and see.","First, the bill acceptor scans the bill's paper and ink, then stacks it in a box.","The processor calculates the transaction, then cha-ching, exact change.","Coming up-- turning iron and steel into the pipes that keep steel into the pipes that keep our cities running.","Our cities running.","Chances are you use ductile-iron pipe every day and don't even know it.","The underground pipes that transport a city's drinking water are cast from ductile iron.","So are the sewer pipes that take away household waist.","Ductile iron is more flexible than ordinary gray iron.","Under pressure, it will bend before it breaks.","Ductile-iron pipes are made of 90% recycled metal and have a life-span of hundreds of years.","Production begins in the pipe factory's scrapyard.","These old cars are on their way to a shredder that chews them up into little bits.","The factory sorts the bits by material.","It discards the plastic, sells the aluminum and copper, but keeps the steel and iron.","The factory also gets scrap steel from demolished buildings and other sources.","The shredded metal is analyzed by its chemical composition and sorted accordingly.","A crane operator uses an industrial magnet to gather precise amounts of steel and iron.","The shredded metals then go into a blast furnace fueled by coke, a form of coal.","At 2,500 degrees fahrenheit, the iron and steel liquefy, while impurities are carried away.","Workers then add magnesium.","This turns the metal from ordinary gray iron into stronger, more flexible ductile iron.","The molten iron travels down a trough into a casting machine.","It enters a spinning mold, where centrifugal force spreads the centrifugal force spreads the iron against the mold walls.","Iron against the mold walls.","A cooling system chills the walls, and the iron solidifies within seconds.","Then an extractor pulls out a 20-foot-long cast-iron pipe, the standard industry length.","Before each casting, workers insert a round form, called a core, into one end of the pipe mold.","The molten iron fills the void between the core and mold, forming a flared edge, called a bell.","The core also seals off that end of the mold, preventing molten iron from flying out during casting.","When it's time to connect the pipes, installers will fit the bell of one pipe over the straight end of another.","A rubber gasket seals the link together.","The casting machine can make pipes of different diameters by changing the size of the mold inside.","After the pipe is extracted, inspectors weigh it and measure the wall thickness to be sure everything meets specifications.","Then, on the bell end, they remove the core.","Since it's made of sand and plastic resin, it simply plastic resin, it simply disintegrates.","Disintegrates.","This factory makes pipes in several diameters, but regardless of size, the casting process is always the same.","It just takes less time with smaller pipes because they harden faster.","A freshly cast pipe is around 1,500 degrees fahrenheit, but it cools quickly after leaving the mold.","Such rapid cooling makes the iron brittle, so the pipe goes directly into a gas-fired annealing furnace that reheats it to 1,700 degrees fahrenheit.","This alters the internal structure of the iron, making it strong and flexible.","The pipe then runs through a cooling chamber that showers it in cold water.","To prevent the iron from corroding, the inside gets sprayed with cement, building up a lining an eighth of an inch a lining an eighth of an inch thick.","Thick.","Then the pipe is spun for a few seconds to smooth out the cement.","The entire pipe is painted inside and out.","This seals the surface, enabling the cement to cure over the next 24 hours.","It also provides some extra rust protection.","Finally, a robot paints a stripe around the straight end of each pipe.","This is a depth guideline so installation crews know when they've inserted the straight end of one pipe as far as it can go into the bell end of another."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fly Fishing Reels","House Paint","Weaving Looms","Ice Makers"]},"text":["Fishing reels date back to 12th-century china.","In the beginning, they were very basic devices used only for storing extra line.","But by the 1800s, craftsmen in britain and america reinvented the reel when they gave it a drag system for landing feisty fish.","These flycasters could hook the big one at any moment, and that's when a precision fishing reel will come in handy.","To make a fly-fishing reel, they start with a solid aluminum puck.","The puck turns on a lathe as a computerized cutter contours it to shape it into a spool.","A different tool machines a center hole.","The focus then moves to the other side as another tool completes the spool shape.","The dimensions must be exact if this fishing reel is to perform flawlessly.","They drill holes to both reduce the weight of the spool and provide some ventilation for wet fishing line.","They cut windows into the other side for an attractive look that further lightens the reel.","Next, another aluminum puck is transformed into a frame for the spool and other parts.","The frame goes into a bath of soapy water and plastic pellets, which rub the part clean.","The final touch is a black oxide finish.","They now transform this aluminum bar into feet, which will be used to mount the reel to the fishing rod.","A laser engraves the company name onto these attachments.","It also does a bit of custom engraving on the frame.","A worker now inserts a bronze bushing into the center of the spool and uses hydraulic force to entrench it.","He then positions a stainless steel ball on top of the bushing.","He activates a press that drives the ball through it to expand the bushing to the correct internal dimension.","Another worker applies a counterweight to one side of the spool.","This bit of stainless steel will offset the weight of the spool handle.","She installs the spool's magnetic locking mechanism.","This molded polymer part has a tiny magnet inside.","She applies a second magnet to it, followed by a release button.","One final magnet and an aluminum cap, and this assembly is complete.","She now installs part of the drag-engagement system.","It's this system that will create the necessary resistance on the fishing line for battling a big fish.","She applies adhesive to screws and then uses them to attach the footing to the fly-reel frame, using a screwdriver to set it to a specific torque.","She then resumes the assembly of the drag system by placing a rubber \"o\" ring in the frame's center groove.","She installs the thrust-bearing ring, which can be rotated by the fly-fisher to adjust the drag setting.","And it's now time to attach the spool to the fishing-reel frame.","She turns it to check the drag setting and adjusts it to its starting point.","She secures the setting by inserting a pin into the bearing.","Then she removes the center locking screw temporarily to assemble the knob base to the thrust bearing.","She reinstalls the screw and covers the assembly with the drag knob.","She turns the spool for a final inspection, confirming that this fishing reel operates smoothly.","And now it's ready to put a positive spin on any fishing experience.","A fresh coat of latex paint is a surefire way to spruce up a home.","Latex is a term for acrylic or vinyl resins.","Latex paint is water-based, so it has less odor than alkaline paint.","It also cleans up without any harsh solvents.","All you need is soap and water.","The paint factory produces an uncolored base.","The store then tints that base to the color ordered by the customer.","Latex paint contains water, latex for adhesion, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, potassium, zinc for mildew resistance, and whatever additives the particular type of paint requires.","For example, if it's paint designed for metal, a rust inhibitor.","They pump the water into a large mixing tank.","Then they add a thickening agent and stabilizer to prevent the ingredients from settling to the bottom of the tank and to the bottom of the can once the paint is packaged.","A vacuum duct sucks up the waste.","One at a time, all the ingredients except the latex go in.","There's a specific mixing time after each ingredient because proper blending is critical for quality.","Now they pump the tank's contents into another mixing tank that contains the latex.","After four to six hours of blending, the industrial-sized batch of paint base is finally ready.","The factory subjects a sample from every batch to extensive quality-control testing.","This viscometer measures the thickness of the paint.","This test assesses how well the dry ingredients have dispersed within the mix.","This tells them whether the mix is blended well enough to move into the second tank containing the latex.","Technicians also conduct color tests, adding recipes of liquid colorants to a gallon sample.","This is to ensure the shade comes out exactly the way it's supposed to.","To check if the paint covers well, they brush it onto test paper.","The stripes provide a contrast so that any defects in the paint, such as foam or grit, will show.","This test evaluates tint strength.","Once the paint sample dries, they analyze its color properties with a machine called a spectrophotometer.","Once the batch passes inspection, it proceeds to packaging.","Latex paint contains about 60% water, which corrodes metal, so the steel cans are lined with an anti-rust coating.","The cans run over a glue applicator, then over a label, which instantly sticks to the adhesive.","The next stop is a filling machine.","Each can sits on a scale that's positioned under a dispensing nozzle.","Once the scale detects the correct net weight, it triggers the nozzle to stop.","From the filling machine to a lid dispenser that drops a cover onto each can.","Then it's on to what's called a lid press.","As each can passes underneath, a row of cylinders gradually presses in the lid.","The next machine, called a baler, attaches a curved handle made of steel wire.","It locks the handle ends into metal disks on both sides of the can.","The factory varies its formulations to produce paint in lusters ranging from flat to high gloss and for interior and exterior use, making sure it's got every possible application covered.","Looms for handweaving cloth have become increasingly sophisticated over time.","But the basic concept still remains the same-- weaving horizontal threads, called weft threads, through vertical threads, called warp threads, to create the patterns in the cloth.","The loom lifts selected warp threads.","The weaver passes the weft thread between the warp threads, then uses a beater to pack the weft tightly.","They construct the loom's frame out of ash, which is strong enough to withstand the pulling of up to thousands of threads.","Workers submerge the frame pieces in mineral oil to prevent the wood from drying out.","They assemble the frame pieces with heavy-duty nuts and bolts, then mount high-strength plastic brackets for attaching the various components, such as the cloth beam that grabs and moves the finished cloth.","They wrap sandpaper around the beam's adhesive surface to grab the cloth without damaging it.","Elsewhere, workers make the loom's cables out of high-strength stainless steel.","These cables maneuver harnesses that lift and lower the warp threads.","After cutting each cable to length, she forms a loop through a cable crimp.","Then she locks the loop with this heavy-duty crimping tool.","On one of the frame pieces, they mount a metal plate bearing the loom's model and serial numbers.","They assemble the pulley system on which the harness cables run.","They thread the plastic pulleys onto a steel axle and position the axle with steel disks called stop collars.","A spring lever helps each harness lift its respective warp thread.","After hammering a pin into each lever, they hook a wire to the pin, then squeeze the wire closed so that it can't unhook.","They attach a chain to an eyelet on one side of the spring lever.","Shortening or lengthening this chain adjusts the tension of the harness.","Like the pulleys, the spring levers go onto an axle across the loom's frame.","Another loom component, called the warp beam, has holes which hold metal hoops that guide the warp threads.","A brake drum on the side provides counterforce to keep the threads taut.","At the front of the loom, they install foot pedals called treadles.","The weaver uses them to lift and lower the warp threads.","Next comes the beater, which the weaver uses to pack the weft thread into the fabric.","The pulley system for the harness cables goes on top.","This computer-controlled device, called a dobby head, lifts and lowers the warp threads according to the programmed weaving pattern.","Each harness cable hooks onto the dobby head, goes around one of the pulleys, and attaches to a hook on the harness.","The factory checks every dobby head on a test loom to ensure the device outputs the programmed patterns correctly.","Next, workers install the spring levers that help the harness lift the warp threads.","Each lever hooks onto a spring, which attaches to a chain, which connects to a harness.","They install the warp beam at the back of the loom.","The weaver installs the hoops and warp threads on the warp beam.","As the loom weaves, the cloth beam gently moves the emerging fabric forward.","The weft thread is wrapped around a bobbin called a shuttle.","This pattern requires a two-weft-thread technique that uses a second shuttle suspended in front of the weaver.","The loom keeps the threads evenly taut, producing a consistent and uniform weave-- the hallmarks of a beautiful, quality cloth.","Until the mid-19th century, mother nature was the only producer of ice, and the idea of man-made ice seemed preposterous.","It was a florida doctor who, in need of ice to cool feverish patients, invented the ice machine.","The technology took a few years to refine, and then they were ready to chill.","Today's commercial ice makers churn out ice on demand, allowing restaurants and other businesses to keep things cool at all times.","To make one, machinery folds the edges of stainless-steel sheets so they can be assembled into the icemaker frame and exterior panels.","Meanwhile, copper uncoils over a roller, which removes the curl from the metal.","A machine spiked with blades then punches the copper.","In one action, it cuts numerous slits in the strip and slices it to the correct length.","The notched strips are now ready to be assembled into a grid.","This grid is part of the evaporator.","It's here the liquid refrigerant will evaporate as it pulls heat from the water to freeze it into ice cubes.","This copper tubing is central to that process.","An automated arm bends it into a configuration called the serpentine, producing a coil that will fit on the back with the evaporator.","As liquid refrigerant moves through it, it will draw heat out of the water.","This machine flattens the tubing, giving it greater surface contact with the evaporator to facilitate heat transfer.","Then it's into a big washing machine to remove any oils or oxides on the parts.","A worker now applies strips of tin silver solder to the evaporator's back plate.","This acid solution will act as a bonding agent.","He then places the evaporator, solder side down, on the serpentine tubing and locks the assembled parts in an iron rig.","He hoists the rig into an oven to melt the solder strips between the back plate and tubing, fusing the parts together.","Then it's into an ultrasonic bath, where high-frequency sound waves clean off lingering contaminants.","An inspector now examines the evaporator to confirm that the parts have been solidly fused.","Next, he installs pipes on an icemaker's side panel.","These are the lines that supply refrigerant to the machine.","He turns the assembly around and removes the caps on the compressor to connect it to a network of pipes.","The compressor will force refrigerant through these pipes in a continuous cycle of heating and cooling to eventually produce ice.","He brazes the joints to seal the connections.","He attaches a fan to another side panel.","It will blow cool air onto the radiator to cool the refrigerant and help convert it back into a liquid.","Now he pumps the refrigerant into the system and measures the flow to ensure it receives a precise amount.","Meanwhile, at another station, they assemble the ice bin.","It's time to test this icemaker.","Water flows continuously over the surface of the evaporator grid as the temperature inside the cells drops below freezing.","Impurities, like minerals, are washed away as the water turns to ice, and the result is crystal-clear cubes, almost 6 1/2 pounds in just 15 minutes.","Finally, they install the front panel on the unit.","This job is done, and it's time for a little liquid refreshment...","On ice, of course."]}
{"meta":{"things":["LED Stage Lights","Apple Cider","Chemical Tank Trailers","Ornate Stone Floors"]},"text":["Today, on \"how it's made\"...","L.e.d. stage lights...","Apple cider...","Chemical tank trailers...","And ornate stone floors.","In the world of stage lighting, traditional incandescent or halogen bulb spotlights are making way for l.e.d.s.","L.e.d.s are light-emitting diodes controlled by electronics.","They use less energy, emit less heat, and can produce a wide array of colors without the use of filters.","Incandescent or halogen stage lights produce just one color.","The only way to create more is to shine the light beam through colored plastic called gel filters.","However, this l.e.d. stage light uses seven different colored l.e.d.s, which can be blended into a variety of different hues.","This computer-guided machine places all the components on the stage light's circuit board, which contains 60 l.e.d.s in 7 different base colors.","Another machine measures and cuts pieces of insulated electrical wire.","Then, the machine strips the insulation off the ends and crimps on terminals.","The machine processes up to 26 feet of wire per second.","Workers manually assemble 10 wires and two connectors into a control harness.","The harness will connect the light's control board to the l.e.d. array.","On the factory floor, they paint the stage light's two-part cast-aluminum housing.","The paint process is electrostatic.","This means the housing and the black powder paint are laced with opposing electrical charges.","This spreads the paint evenly over the housing.","Then, the housing goes through an oven, which bakes on the paint.","Back in the assembly area, workers install the stage light's electronic components, starting with the lcd screen.","It displays the current settings and modes and the menus for changing them.","After covering the screen with a protective plastic shield, they install the control panel.","It has an opening for the screen.","This plastic cover protects the lcd.","It also directs outside air into the housing to the light's cooling fan, which they now secure in place with this bracket.","The fan dissipates the heat the l.e.d.s generate.","This block of aluminum, called the heat sink, absorbs and quickly dissipates some of that heat.","They mount the l.e.d. array on top of this twofold cooling system.","Then, they install the optic assembly.","This plastic component focuses the individual l.e.d.s.","They construct the stage light's mixing tube, lining its interior with adhesive-backed aluminum mirrors.","The mirrors mix the seven l.e.d. colors into a single color.","The assemblers now join the two halves of the mixing tube, adding a glass lens on the front.","The lens focuses the light produced by the 60 l.e.d.s into a single beam.","Then, they install the tube over the optic.","Next, they mount the control card to the side of the mixing tube.","The control card is the stage light's onboard computer.","It processes the commands the lighting technician enters.","Commands can be entered from the control panel or remotely from a computer.","After installing the main power supply, they plug a dmx cable into the control card.","Dmx is the digital network through which the console or computer communicates to the stage light.","They join this completed unit to the rest of the housing, which has the dmx and power connectors.","This stage light is now finished and ready for a thorough quality control check.","They plug it into a testing machine, which powers it up and verifies several functions.","The machine also calibrates every color to ensure consistency in every stage light they manufacture.","Then, they run the stage light at full power for three hours nonstop to simulate strenuous operating conditions.","Once the light passes these tests, it's ready for its stage debut.","Apple cider is also known as sweet cider or soft cider.","It's darker and cloudier than conventional apple juice because tiny bits of apple are not filtered out.","These flavorful fragments are what makes this fall beverage unique.","When the apples on the trees are ripe, it's time to produce apple cider.","They process the apples within days of the harvest to produce a beverage that tastes both fresh and sweet.","It starts with the right mix of apples.","Some varieties are sweet, and others are tart.","This mix of flavors will spice things up.","The apples float to the surface of a water-filled pit and drift onto a conveyor that takes them into the cider mill.","Inside the mill, the apples spill into a washing station.","Water sprays the apples as they bounce across rolling brushes.","Next, the apples take a trip up to a grinder.","Inside, a steel arm pushes the apples against a grater.","It shreds them, pits and all, into a pulp.","This pulp is known as pomace.","The pomace lands in a funnel.","From here, a pump moves it through pipes across the plant, where it arrives at a press.","The apple pomace flows between two porous belts that wind around rollers.","The rollers apply pressure to squeeze out the juice.","The juice drips through holes in the belts.","The process strains out most of the pulp, but some remains as the juice spills from the press into large catch pans.","Then, they pump this chunky apple liquid into a holding tank.","From the tank, it flows through a revolving drum that filters out more pulp, pits, and apple stems.","The fluid seeps through the perforations in the drum and flows into a large trough.","After one more screening, only fine bits of apple and sediment remain.","This gives it the desired cider consistency and flavor.","The cider now flows into channels between hot steel plates.","The heat destroys pathogens and bacteria that would convert the natural sugars to alcohol.","This ensures that the cider is both safe to drink and nonalcoholic.","It's now ready for bottling.","A worker slides plastic jugs into position under nozzles.","The nozzles descend and pump the boiling-hot apple cider into the jugs.","They're filled to the brim so air can't get inside.","Air causes the cider to deteriorate.","Next, the conveyor moves the jugs forward to a capping station.","Plastic caps funnel toward the jugs as they approach.","The caps land on the rims with perfect timing.","Spinning wheels tighten the caps as the jugs ride by, hermetically sealing the hot apple cider, giving it a shelf life of approximately a year.","The jugs then head into a tunnel, where sprayers douse them with cold water.","Next, machinery pulls the liner off of adhesive-backed labels.","An electric eye detects the approaching jugs, queuing rollers to apply the labels.","The filtered-out pomace from earlier is cooked four to five hours.","This caramelizes the sugars in the apples, turning the pomace into a highly concentrated spread known as apple butter.","They bottle it while it's piping hot to preserve it.","Although not technically butter, this fruit spread has a similar consistency.","It takes a full day of processing to produce both apple butter and apple cider.","It's time to raise a glass and enjoy the sweet bounty of the harvest.","Chemical tank trailers roll down our highways every day.","They haul liquid chemicals for manufacturing and other needs.","Chemicals could be hazardous if released into the environment.","Making a chemical tank trailer is serious business.","Chemical tank trailers are built to ensure that a potentially harmful cargo arrives safely.","Their design is tightly regulated because safety is in everyone's best interest.","They build the chemical tank from scratch.","They start with a big sheet of heavy-duty stainless steel.","Pressurized rollers curl it into a cylinder that will become half of the tank's inner vessel.","Using a crane, they transfer the 20-foot-long rounded section to a welding station.","Here, an operator controls a semi-automatic welder with a joystick.","The welder joins the two sides of the sheet to complete the cylinder.","They bring two cylinders together to form a 40-foot-long inner vessel.","This seam is near the midpoint.","It will be subject to significant bending stress in transport.","It's critical that this weld is perfect.","The team caps the end with metal discs known as heads.","They tack-weld the heads to the vessel first and assure that the fit is exact.","Then, a semi-automatic welder does a permanent weld.","Next, they weld three long half pipes along the bottom, again doing tack welds first and then final welds.","The three pipes serve as a heating panel, keeping the chemical cargo at a liquid state.","This is important because, when some chemicals solidify, their purity is compromised.","The team slides the first of many metal rings onto the tank and clamps each ring to the shell.","These rings stiffen the structure and act as an exterior skeleton.","A worker does the initial tack welds.","Then, a semi-automatic welder makes the full welds.","After attaching a steel framework to the bottom, a crane transfers the inner vessel to the trailer.","A worker tucks insulation between the vessel and the trailer.","He secures the tank to the trailer with intermittent welds known as stitch welds.","Another member of the team wraps strips of rigid foam around the steel vessel.","He spaces the foam evenly apart and pulls them tightly against the vessel with metal strapping.","This creates compartments for fiberglass insulation.","He tucks the insulation into the spaces, blanketing the vessels so the chemical freight will stay warm and fluid.","The team now builds the outer shell.","They pull stainless steel sheets around the inner vessel using thick nylon ties.","These sheets are made of thinner steel than the kind used to construct the inner vessel.","They easily conform to the cylindrical shape.","A worker welds the sheets in place, completing the outer shell.","Once a manhole has been installed at the top, the crew builds a metal platform around it.","This platform allows a person to access the manhole without slipping or denting the outer shell of the tank.","A worker attaches a ladder to the tank.","It will be used for accessing the manhole.","Another member of the team connects l.e.d. taillights and inserts them in light boxes at the back of the trailer.","He secures the lights to the light box with screws.","It takes about five days to build a chemical tank trailer.","They last for 30 years or more, so this trailer should be good for the long haul.","Centuries-old churches and palaces have ornate stone floors that took craftsmen decades to create with chisels and other hand tools.","Today, factories can produce similar elaborate designs in a matter of hours thanks to computer-guided machinery.","These floor designs are so intricate, it's hard to believe that each component is an individually cut piece of marble, granite, or other natural stone.","Whether the design covers an entire floor, or it's a single decorative insert, the starting point is a stone slab.","It's massive but extremely thin, so it's actually quite fragile.","Workers use a pneumatic suction hoist to position the slab onto a cutting machine table.","The machine is entirely computer-guided.","It cuts with a jet of water.","The water contains particles of garnet, an extremely hard gemstone.","The jet cuts by eroding the stone rather than by sheer force, which would crack it.","Workers rinse away the stone grit and abrasive residue once the cutting is finished.","They use suction cups to remove the cut pieces one at a time.","They've cut squares for this design.","Some will go into the floor as-is, while others go onto a smaller water jet machine, which cuts them into intricate shapes.","Workers extract these smaller pieces with tweezers.","Every component of the design has a number.","Workers label the back of the corresponding piece accordingly.","Then, they print out a life-size version of the numbered design on a sheet of durable polyester film.","They tape it to the assembly table to serve as a template.","Then, they lay one piece at a time front side down onto the template.","Like a puzzle, the design slowly reveals itself.","Once the design is fully laid out, they tack the pieces together with glue.","This keeps them from shifting or separating.","They lay fiberglass mesh over the entire assembly.","Then, they prepare an epoxy resin specially formulated for stone setting...","And spread it evenly over the mesh.","They let it set overnight.","And the next day, they sand it flat.","The cut stone design is now bonded together in a solid unit.","Now, they can safely flip it face-up.","The final step is to fill the joints with epoxy grout then wash off any excess with a wet sponge.","This ornate cut-stone floor insert is finally finished.","This is just one of several components of a large, elaborate design.","Workers assemble them together to do a quality control check.","Then, they take the design apart and package each component separately for shipping.","Stone must always ship upright on its side because it can crack when transported horizontally.","However, the cut-stone floor will be sturdy enough to walk on once it's properly installed.","Just be careful not to bump into anything while you're admiring the art beneath your feet."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Pistons","Paint Rollers","Parachutes","Chimneys"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Pistons...","Paint rollers...","Parachutes...","And chimneys.","Pistons are key to the internal combustion process that drives engines.","A piston is a plug that slides up and down inside each engine cylinder, compressing gas and air ignited by a spark plug.","The resulting energy turns the crankshaft and drives the engine.","This company makes 9,000 different types of pistons for everything from dirt bikes to car engines.","A piston starts out as a 10-foot-long aluminum rod.","Aluminum is ideal because it's a lightweight and rust-resistant metal that's easy to cut.","A rotary saw slices the rod into slugs, the length of which can be changed by adjusting the feeder machine to push the rod at different intervals.","This piston model requires 2.7-inch slugs.","The factory recycles excess aluminum shavings.","The punch press and die are preheated to 800 degrees fahrenheit, the temperature required to forge the slugs.","The slugs are brought to the same temperature in an oven.","The punch applies 2,000 tons of pressure to form it into the initial shape of the piston.","He dunks about 1 in 10 forgings in water to check for defects.","To make forging easier, they pre-lube the slugs before heating them.","That's why the slug flames up when struck by the press.","It only takes two seconds for the press to do its job, but the forgings are so hot, they need at least an hour to cool before the next step.","Workers heat the forgings twice more, the first time at very high heat to strengthen the metal, the second time at a lower heat to stabilize it.","Now they insert each slug in a lathe to give the forging the correct shape for machines that handle it later.","These small holes allow oil to flow through to lubricate the piston when it's in use.","Another lathe reduces the diameter by an 1/8 of an inch.","The same machine then cuts three grooves, two for compression rings and another for an oil-control ring.","These rings help the piston glide and enable it to provide an airtight seal.","This hole is for the wrist pin that will attach the piston to a connecting rod.","A milling machine then shaves off up to 3/4 of an inch of metal from two sides of the piston to reduce the overall weight.","The white liquid is lubricant to cool the area during cutting.","Another milling machine cuts away part of what they call the dome.","This way it will clear other parts when moving inside the cylinder.","The pistons must be just the right shape and size.","Some of them move up and down as much as 6,000 times per minute when the engine is running.","Next, a lathe shaves a hair width more of the metal from the outside.","This cut enables the piston to expand slightly when heat builds up inside the cylinder.","An automated drill makes two intersecting oil-drain holes to enhance lubrication of the wrist pin.","Another machine now engraves model and production data.","Here, a worker removes sharp edges created during previous operations.","He then uses a belt sander to further smooth out the surface.","Sharp edges could damage cylinder walls.","This cutting machine shaves off a bit of metal inside the pinhole so the wrist pin will fit snugly inside.","Once the cutting is complete, high-pressure jets spray the pistons with hot, deionized water.","This cleaning removes all traces of lubricant and oil.","After a blow-dry with an air gun, the pistons are ready to be installed.","Norman breakey, a canadian, invented the paint roller in 1940.","It revolutionized painting, but breakey never got rich because he lacked the financial means to defend his patent.","Over the next 60-odd years, the paint roller, with its replaceable cylindrical refill, became the primary painting tool, alongside the paintbrush.","The refill is a tube covered in fabric made from either polyester fiber or lint-free acrylic and nylon fiber.","Regardless of fabric, all refills are made the same way.","The fabric is processed into a 2.8-inch-wide strip.","It goes into a machine called an automatic tube winder.","It first applies epoxy glue to the surface of pvc plastic tubes.","As the tension bar pulls the fabric strip taut, the machine winds the fabric around a tube.","An air jet pushes aside the wound fabric to avoid bumps as more is applied.","Once the tube is covered with fabric, the machine simultaneously wraps the end and the start of the next tube in masking tape.","Once the glue has dried for eight hours, the tubes enter a machine that cuts them into several refills.","The tube spins as it passes, so one small cut is enough to sever it.","One tube produces 9 7 1/2-inch-long refills or 7 9 1/2-inch-long refills, the two standard sizes on the market.","The next machine first runs a wire brush against the fabric.","This lifts and fluffs the pile...","Then makes a beveled edge on each end.","To fluff the fabric further, a high-speed spin at 3,500 rpm.","During all these operations, a vacuum sucks away loose fibers.","Meanwhile, the paint-roller handles take shape.","An injection molding machine shoots molten plastic into handle-shaped cavities.","A built-in cooling system hardens the plastic within seconds.","The handles are made of polypropylene, a semi-tough thermoplastic, and some colored polyethylene, a lightweight thermoplastic.","Now that the handles and refills are made, it's just a matter of assembling them.","These plastic bearings hold the components together.","The assembly is entirely automated.","The bottom bearing goes on first.","It rests against the part called the shoulder.","Next, the refill.","The bottom bearing slots right into the open end of the tube.","Now the top bearing goes on.","A metal clip locks the bearings and roller in place.","And, voilà, a three-inch roller for painting windows and trims.","This factory also makes disposable plastic paint trays and tray liners.","They're made of polyethylene terephthalate, p.e.t. for short, a type of plastic that's strong yet flexible.","This thermoform machine heats a p.e.t. sheet, then vacuums it into a tray-shaped mold.","Fans cool and harden the plastic.","This heat mold-and-cool cycle takes just 30 to 50 seconds, depending on the tray thickness.","The molded sheets go into a cutter.","It excises the tray in one slice.","The factory grinds up the leftover plastic and sends it back to the supplier for recycling.","This factory also makes roller refills for applying solvents.","Instead of pvc, the tube inside is made of a tougher material, either a chemically strengthened cardboard or a polypropylene.","Daredevils have parachuted from cliffs or towers for centuries.","When airplanes first took off, so did parachutes as the best escape.","Today's aerodynamic, lightweight chutes enable cargo and people to descend safely and land right on target.","This company makes military parachutes.","Each one has a 30-foot wingspan and carries up to 440 pounds.","Making the chute's canopy starts with a rugged woven nylon fabric with nylon ribbing.","This light table lets a worker detect any flaws in the fabric.","The alignment between the ribbing must be consistent, spaced no more than 1.5 inches apart.","They test the strength of the fabric by pulling the material until it rips.","To pass, the fabric must withstand a minimum of 44 pounds of pulling force.","A laser cuts out the parachute parts, 30 to 100 of them, depending on the model.","A vacuum system stabilizes the fabric by sucking it to the table during cutting.","The fabric is usually silver-colored to blend in against the daytime sky.","A seamstress now sews on nylon tape to attach the parts and reinforce the seams.","Some panels have holes about the size of a dinner plate to funnel air between the two layers of the canopy and keep it rigid during flight.","Once they finish sewing, workers meticulously inspect the stitching.","Every inch of stitching must have between 7 and 10 stitches.","If the stitching is too close or too far apart, the fabric could rip, and that's the last thing you want when your chute is descending at a rate of up to 13 feet per second.","So they mark any problem spots with a red ribbon and resew them.","Here, a worker sews nylon tape to reinforce an area called a flare, which is a triangular patch of nylon reinforced with silicone coating.","She loops the tape at one of the flare's points to later insert what's called a suspension line.","The 60 lines link the 60 flares on the canopy to the jumper's harness.","To reinforce each flare, she sews 42 zigzag stitches in a 1-inch area.","The nylon suspension line arrives on spools, so workers use this machine to stretch it straight.","A worker marks off up to 14 1/2 feet per line and cuts it on an angle to reduce fraying.","Workers later sew the ends into loops so they can attach each one to the loop on the flares.","A worker makes a lark's head knot in each line and ties it to a flare.","This type of knot is easy to undo if a line needs replacing.","Connecting the 60 lines to the canopy's 60 flares takes about two hours.","Only after all these knots are secure can they pack the chute into the backpack and ship it to the customer.","The nylon backpack has two identical parachutes, the main chute and a reserve.","This worker is sewing the panels that will encase the reserve chute.","Extra stitching reinforces the strap connecting the steel buckle, which fastens an extra pack for up to 100 pounds.","It's critical to strictly follow the company's instructions when packing the chute.","You roll the ends, then fold the rest into layers.","Before each jump, you have to untangle the lines and check for any tears from the previous jump.","Then you insert the lines and canopy into the pack.","You pull on this red nylon handle to deploy the main chute.","The yellow handle is for the reserve chute.","There are straps over the shoulders, chest, belly, and legs.","And three buckles attach the harness to the jumper.","Your home's chimney vents hot gases or smoke from your fireplace to the outside.","Some types also channel air to the fire to keep it burning.","Although the concept's very old, today's chimneys have come a long way.","They're energy-efficient and modular, so you can easily assemble them yourself.","This company makes chimneys for gas-fired and wood-burning fireplaces.","A chimney's inner chamber is called a flue.","For a wood-burning fireplace, they make the flue from stainless steel.","Workers unwind a sheet, then slice it to the size of the flue section they're making.","The sections are up to 10 inches wide and 4 feet long.","They assemble as many as they need to make a complete chimney.","Here, a worker folds the edges in opposite directions, which will enable them to interlock.","Rollers then curl the sheet into a cylinder.","The metal is only about as thick as four pieces of paper stacked together.","This keeps the chimney lightweight.","They weld together the top and bottom ends, and a roller flattens the welded seam.","They insert the bottom of the flue between two rollers.","They form a ridge to which a coupler will later attach.","They crimp the metal at the top so it can also hold a coupler.","To make top-end couplers, a die punches the shape from lubricated sheets of stainless steel.","A robotic arm then suctions out the coupler and places it onto another machine that cuts threads into the sides of it.","These threads enable the chimney sections to twist and lock together.","To attach the coupler, the worker mounts it on top of the flue.","A roller then pushes against the flue in the coupler.","This expands the metal and secures the pieces together.","Now to join the flue with the outer casing.","An eight-sided die pushes out against a coupler to attach it to the flue in the casing.","They insulate the chimney with shredded ceramic fiber that can withstand a temperature of up to 2,100 degrees fahrenheit.","Workers feed the fiber into a machine that packs it into the cavity between the flue and the casing.","The machine then moves the chimney to another station where it twists a coupler to the bottom end to close the cavity.","After a quick brushing to remove any fiber dust, a mechanical arm lifts the chimney and moves it to be boxed and shipped.","A gas-burning fireplace generates less heat and fewer corrosive gases, so the chimney flue is made of aluminum-coated steel and a casing of a zinc-aluminum alloy-- more-affordable materials, yet still well above safety standards.","The air space between the flue and casing provides the required insulation.","A worker places the flue inside an automated welder.","It fuses the edges with a laser that's as thin as a human hair.","This is called a butt laser weld because the machine butts the edges together and bonds them.","Next, an eight-sided die indents the section with three ridges.","A component will fit into these indentations later.","Here, a machine creates a star-shaped component called a spacer.","They use two of them to center the flue in the casing.","A worker installs one at each end of the flue.","He then inserts the flue into the casing and twists it to lock the spacers into the ridges.","This connects and aligns the chimney sections properly.","The tops of chimneys have steel rain caps.","They let smoke and gases vent but keep rain out, ensuring that where's there's smoke, there is indeed fire."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Compression & Extension Springs","Micro Drill Bits","Skiffs","Painted Glass Backsplashes"]},"text":["Compression and extension springs...","Micro drill bits...","Skiffs...","And painted glass backsplashes.","Coiled wire springs are designed to change shape when weight is added or removed.","Some coils, such as compression springs, are made to keep components apart.","Other types of coils, like extension springs, hold things together while the spring expands and contracts.","When a load is applied to a compression spring, it contracts, while an extension spring expands when pulled.","Compression and extension springs are made from steel wire.","The diameter and qualities of the wire varies, depending on the use of the spring.","Spooled onto a reel, the wire uncoils, pulled by rollers, which lead to a forming machine.","Guide rollers steer the wire, as does this aperture.","Multiple feed rollers push the wire towards computerized forming tools.","The rollers pause, while the tools do their work, and then resume to supply wire for the next spring.","Meanwhile, other rollers push the wire around a mandrel, where it's coiled into an extension spring.","A side-arm controls the diameter, while another tool cuts it to length.","The forming process has caused internal stresses.","To remove those stresses, the springs are heat-treated.","As the springs move out of the oven, they travel through a cooling chamber.","The heating and controlled cooling improves the physical properties, allowing the springs to withstand repeated compression.","With internal stresses relieved, it's time to work on the outer surface of the steel springs.","A rack conveyer dips extension springs into a vat of water-based paint.","The paint seeps into the crevices of the coils, providing even paint coverage.","Then the rack conveyer takes the painted springs on a ten-minute loop through an oven.","This step bakes the paint onto the steel, providing a corrosion-resistant finish.","This is what the springs look like before and after painting.","These truck suspension springs are made differently.","A machinist heats the end of a steel rod in a furnace, inserting it between forming tools to taper it.","This taper will allow the completed spring to sit upright.","Next, the entire rod goes into a 1,796-degree furnace.","Once the rod in red-hot and malleable, it exits the furnace and is transferred to the forming mandrel.","The mandrel spins to wind the soft, steel wire, transforming the straight steel rod into a spring.","The spring is placed in a bucket and lifted to an oil bath.","The bath quenches and hardens the steel.","Then the spring travels through a furnace.","The heat burns off quenching oil residue.","A technician inserts the compression springs in a revolving fixture, allowing the ends of the springs to extend outward.","As the fixture revolves, grinding wheels remove material to flatten the exposed ends.","This flattened profile is another way to ensure that the springs will sit upright.","Once complete, the technician measures the height of the spring to confirm that the correct amount of material has been ground off.","The grinding has made a substantial difference.","The next machine removes surface flaws.","An operator places the spring inside the machine.","As the spring spins, a fine, abrasive steel shot sands away imperfections.","You can see the difference this step makes in the spring on the right.","The exposure to heat has made the steel wire more flexible.","A technician places the wire in a press machine and sets the compression and height.","The press squeezes the coils until the desired amount of compression is achieved.","After the spring has been painted, the company name and model information is stamped onto the springs.","It takes two hours to make a spring, and now it's finally ready for some flex time.","Thousands of years ago, our earliest ancestors might have picked up a pointed rock and spun it between their hands to bore a hole in something they wanted to modify.","Today, you can buy drill bits in all shapes and sizes.","Drill bits are often associated with carpentry, but from electronics to surgery tooling, there are all kinds of fields that require ultra-thin, high-performance drill bits.","The production process begins with lengths of 100% carbide called blanks.","A diamond grinding wheel lubricated with a specialized cutting liquid is applied to a chamfered edge on one tip of the blank.","This step removes the rough edges left when the blanks were cut down to size.","A vibrating device organizes the blanks inside a rotating bowl.","The vibrating action shifts the blanks into single file so they can proceed one-by-one to the next step.","This machine is called a centerless grinder.","The blanks move between two rotating drums, which grinds them down to a specified length.","The blanks pour out of the machine immersed in the lubricating fluid.","An operator selects one and places it in a quality control gauge to check that it meets the manufacturer's required tolerances.","The blanks now enter a cnc rollomatic.","An operator sets up the tool and programs its work process.","A robotic auto-feeder picks up the blanks one-by-one from a specialized palette.","The robotic arms places each blank carefully and precisely in a waiting chuck, or collar, and then moves them back into position.","The tool moves forward, holding the blank perfectly still as a pair of wheels close in.","Liquid coolant pours over the blank as the wheels precision pinch-grind the tip of the blank, grinding it down to about 1/10 of a millimeter-- the width of a human hair.","It's a delicate process.","The rollomatic produces 48 pieces per hour.","Next, a technician places small sheets of plastic foil in a jig.","The foil is shim stock, color-coded according to its thickness.","The jig raises the metal support to a specified height.","When the blank advances over the support, a mark left in the blue ink determines whether the metal blank is centered.","Once complete, a technician uses a magnifying tool to fine-tune the placement of the blank and ensure that it's perfectly centered.","This process can take four to five hours.","The blank is finally ready for the crucial fluting process that will transform it from a cylindrical length of carbide with a narrow tip into a micro drill bit.","After hours of preparation, this operation takes just a few seconds.","An industrial grinding diamond wheel has sliced a microscopic groove at a precise angle.","The technician inserts the bit, sharp-end first, into a precision machining device.","A steel bushing with a brass insert holds the tip of the bit in place as a cutting wheel slices an angled point.","It's impossible to see the difference between a bit before and after fluting.","Using a magnifying device, the technician conducts a quality control check of the bit.","As the screen reveals the finely-cut flute, the technician ensures the tool's parameters meet manufacturing standards.","Once such parameter has to do with the shape of the flute, which has a forward taper.","This means the flue groove becomes shallower from tip to base at a very precise angle.","This feature simultaneously strengthens the tool while increasing the chip flow along the groove.","Although carbide is incredibly strong, when it's milled to the thickness of a human hair, it becomes fragile.","Needless to say, careful packaging is extremely important.","A skiff is a lightweight motorboat designed for use on shallow water.","Unlike most boats that have a v-shaped hull, a skiff's hull is relatively flat, allowing it to sit high above the water.","This type of boat is known as a poling skiff.","It's designed with a platform set over the engine, which provides fishermen a ledge to stand on while moving the boat along with a pole.","A technician cleans the hull mold and coats it with a release agent, then sprays on a gel coating.","The gel coating forms the glossy outer layer of the boat.","Then the technician measures the gel coat layer with a mill gauge and leaves it to harden for about an hour.","Computer-guided machines cut pieces for the hull, deck, and cockpit floor from four different materials-- woven fiberglass mat, rigid pvc sheet-foam, kevlar-- a high-strength, heat-resistant synthetic fabric-- and stiffer kevlar reinforced with carbon fiber.","Chopped fiberglass saturated with resin is applied onto the gel coat.","With spray-glue, a technician adheres a layer of carbon kevlar, fiberglass, foam, and a second layer of kevlar to the base.","These layered materials create a mold for the boat's deck and cockpit floor.","The flat squares are aluminum-retention plates, where components will be screwed down.","Raised squares are where openings will be cut out for storage compartments.","Each mold is bagged and connected with hoses to a vacuum-infusion system.","The vacuum compresses the layers to 2/3 their original thickness, then the system draws a specialized resin through the materials, which will bond them into a single unit.","The system removes all excess resin so that the ratio of resin to materials creates maximum strength with minimal weight.","Next, another technician assembles the boat's wiring into a unit known as a wiring harness.","He winds the individual wires around a schematic that's custom-designed for this specific boat.","He attaches connectors on the ends that fit into water-tight plugs.","Every wire is labeled for easy identification.","Once the resin has fully cured, the plastic vacuum bag is removed from each mold.","A technician knocks wedges under the flange that formed around the perimeter, and thanks to the release agent, a team can easily lift the flange out of the mold.","The flange is trimmed, and the openings are cut with a diamond saw, which leaves clean, straight edges.","Next, a team begins assembling the boat.","First, they apply adhesive to the hull to prepare the cockpit floor for attachment.","Once the cockpit's in place, white pvc tubes are installed for storing fishing rods under the deck.","Then the wiring harness is installed.","The aluminum fuel tank is mounted in the bow.","These components are made of strong, lightweight materials.","A technician places screws into the metal retention plates that were molded into the structure.","Next, the wiring harness is attached to water-tight plugs connected to the electrically-powered components.","After installing plumbing lines for the aerated live bait compartment, team members glue the deck to the hull.","The lids are installed for the deck openings.","This one covers the forward storage compartment containing the fuel tank and the tubes for the fishing rods.","Next, the console helm is assembled, which is the nautical equivalent of a vehicle dashboard.","Onto the helm, a technician installs the steering wheel, the engine gauge, the panel containing the ignition and switches for electrical components, and the throttle, which controls speed.","Then, two technicians bolt the outboard motor onto the engine mount at the stern.","While this skiff is built with a square stern and pointed bow, its sides are flat.","This enables the boat to move quietly through the water.","Next, technicians mount the poling platform over the engine, securing it with glue and screws.","Finally, a technician installs the finishing touches, and the skiff is ready for launch.","Due to its low profile and light weight, this boat can operate in just mere inches of water.","Painted glass is an un-traditional backsplash choice specifically designed to look minimalistic.","Due to fewer grout lines, these painted panels are also easier to clean so that when grease splatters, the backsplash can be wiped down quickly.","These panels are painted on the back so the neutral color shows through the front side.","Since glass is reflective, this backsplash brings both subtle color and light into the kitchen.","Production starts with an automated loading system.","Suctioning grippers transfer the glass to the rails of a conveyer.","This is low-iron glass, a kind of glass with a very high clarity.","Once color is applied to the back, the color will appear more clearly on the front than regular glass.","For easy identification, a computerized system applies labels to each of the parts to be cut.","A diamond cutting tool scores the glass, mapping out backsplash panels and smaller pieces to be used for showroom samples.","Once complete, rollers move the glass sheet to the next station.","Two technicians snap the glass along the score lines.","This snapping action creates clean cuts, preventing the glass from shattering.","The snap action doesn't work for cuts within the panel.","Instead, a highly pressurized water jet mixed with garnet grit cuts through the glass.","The cutting device makes holes for electrical switch plates and for mounting hardware.","With the cutting done, a technician rinses the residual grit.","The sharp edges are profiled so the glass will be safer to handle.","As this display model demonstrates, there are several choices.","Next, an operator loads the glass backsplash into a slotted conveyer, which transfers it to the edging machine.","Underneath the edging machine, there are a series of grinding and buffing wheels.","As the glass travels over the wheels, the edge of the glass will transform.","Once the machine is activated, the wheels spin, while lubricant flows over the glass.","The wheels profile and buff the edge of the glass that will be the top of the backsplash.","Next, the operator examines the edge to confirm that it's been contoured and that there aren't any imperfections.","Apart from making the glass safer to handle, the profiled edge will reduce the possibility of chipping and breakage.","At the next station, spinning brushes with soft bristles scrub the panel.","The process removes any dust or polishing grit to prepare it for the next steps.","Once out of the washing machine, the glass backsplash travels through a 1,299-degree oven.","The intense heat followed by a quick cooling tempers the glass to make it heat resistant.","Roller conveyers transfer the glass to the painting station.","A technician mixes the acrylic paint.","Since paint doesn't stick to glass on its own, a special adhesion-promoting chemical is added to the mixture.","The technician mixes the colorants into the white base according to the formula.","Specific amounts of red and yellow paint produce a brilliant orange hue.","Next, sprayers apply the paint evenly across the back of the panel as the glass moves along a conveyer.","Then the backsplash enters an infrared oven heated to 302 degrees fahrenheit.","The painted glass bakes in the oven for about four minutes.","Once heating is complete, a technician applies gray paint over the backside of the backsplash.","This coat won't affect the orange hue, but it will protect the backsplash from damage during transport and installation.","Neutral-colored backsplashes make a more subtle statement, while brightly-colored backsplashes can make a kitchen pop."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Fire Extinguishers","Doughnuts","Shock Absorbers","Banjos"]},"text":["Today on \"how it's made\"...","Fire extinguishers...","Doughnuts...","Shock absorbers...","And banjos.","The first fire extinguisher on record was built in europe in the middle ages.","It worked like a giant syringe that squirted water at a fire.","The modern extinguisher uses compressed air as a propellant and douses the fire with flame-retardant liquid, powder, or foam.","Squeezing the lever opens a valve that releases compressed air.","The pressure then propels the chemical through the hose and out the nozzle.","Production of the release valve starts with cylindrical pieces of aluminum called blanks.","A carousel runs each one through 16 different machining stations.","At each stop, under a shower of lubricant, tools shape the blank for 6 1/2 seconds.","As each blank completes the circuit, it comes off the carousel.","From blank to valve in a minute and a quarter.","Now the fire extinguisher's aluminum handle is riveted onto the valve.","It pivots on a pin.","Next, an aluminum lever is riveted onto the handle.","This is the lever you squeeze to use the fire extinguisher.","Then comes the valve stem--  the valve's inner workings.","Workers simply place it inside, and an automated assembly machine does the rest.","It positions a spring over the stem to create resistance when you squeeze the lever.","Then comes a retainer to hold both the stem and spring in position.","Now workers slip on a plastic thimble to position the rubber \"o\" ring that goes on next.","The \"o\" ring acts as a seal between the valve and cylinder so nothing leaks out.","The siphon tube runs from the valve down into the cylinder.","The firefighting chemical goes up this tube, then out the nozzle.","The compressed air inside the cylinder is what propels the chemical.","This gauge shows if there's sufficient pressure for that to happen.","After coating the gauge's threaded stem with sealant to prevent leaks, a worker screws it onto the valve.","The valve unit is now fully assembled, tested, and ready for installation on top of the cylinder.","To attach it, the cylinder needs a threaded collar.","With the help of a press, a worker positions it.","The cylinder also needs a bottom.","The technique this factory uses to fuse the bottom and collar is called brazing.","It's similar to soldering but with a copper ring as a bonding metal.","After positioning a brazing ring at the base of the open cylinder, a steel bottom is pressed into place.","Then workers position a brazing ring over the collar.","Now into a brazing furnace for an hour and 45 minutes.","The 2,000-degree heat melts the two copper rings, boding the parts they connect.","Next stop, the static-paint booth, where workers apply a positive electrical charge to the paint particles and a negative charge to the cylinders.","This draws the paint onto the surface evenly.","Then it's into an oven for 45 minutes to bake the paint.","Once the cylinders cool, automated machinery fills them with a fire-extinguishing powder.","The main ingredient is a form of ammonia.","When it's sprayed on a fire, the heat melts the particles of powder, fusing them into an oxygen-blocking blanket that smothers the flames.","After the cylinders are filled, an automated machine screws a valve onto the collar of each one.","Now it's time to pressurize the cylinder.","The lever is squeezed to open the valve, enabling a compressor to fill the cylinder with air.","They keep filling until the air pressure reaches 13 bars, about six times the pressure in a car tire.","Next, workers screw on the nozzle and install a locking pin.","This immobilizes the lever so the extinguisher can't discharge accidentally.","As the instruction sticker says, in case of fire, you just pull the pin, aim, and spray.","This mounting bracket lets you hang the fire extinguisher in an accessible spot so it's close at hand if you need it.","When we return, frying up one of america's favorite treats.","Doughnuts used to be called oily cakes because they were deep fried in pork fat.","When dutch pilgrims first brought them to america, they were ball-shaped.","But then someone found that removing a nut of dough from the center helped them cook far more evenly.","And so the doughnut was born.","In the world of doughnuts, there are two basic types-- yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts.","The batter for cake doughnuts drops from the mixer right into boiling vegetable oil.","The nozzles shape the dough as it passes.","The doughnuts fry for about a minute and a half.","Then a conveyor carries them out of the vat to cool.","Yeast doughnuts require more time to make.","A high-speed mixer works the yeast dough, then workers pull it off the machine into bins.","From there, it goes into a hopper that extrudes the dough as a sheet.","Then it's on to another conveyor belt where a series of rollers flatten the dough sheet to just 3/4 of an inch thick.","The sheet passes under a shower of cinnamon...","Then hits a rotating cylinder that rolls it into a log.","A small metal rod sprinkles the dough with water.","This keeps it sticky enough to hold its shape while going under another flattening roller.","A dusting of cornstarch keeps the dough from sticking to the blade that now cuts it into pieces.","A retractable arm drops the blocks of dough four at a time onto wire-mesh trays.","Then it's off to the proofer, a machine much like a large bread box in which heat and humidity help the yeast dough rise.","This leavening process takes about 20 minutes, during which time the trays--  over 300 of them-- go up and down and then out to the fryer.","A gate slows the doughnuts down just before the drop so they slide in without splashing hot oil.","Gas burners keep the oil at a constant boil.","Anything less and the doughnuts would come out partly raw.","Halfway through, they get a flip so they'll cook evenly throughout.","After two minutes, the doughnuts leave the fryer and move through a curtain of sweet glaze.","A strong air current blows off the excess.","And these fry cakes are ready to eat.","They gradually cool as they spiral through the production area on their way to packaging.","Now let's see how they make doughnuts with filling.","A machine separates the yeast dough into little blobs, then sends them rolling down plastic tunnels.","This shapes them first into pucks, then into round dough balls.","Rollers then flatten the balls before they enter the proofer to rise.","There's cornstarch everywhere to prevent the dough from sticking to the machinery or to the conveyor belt.","Row after row of doughnuts fry in hot oil...","Then slide into a large drum that tumbles them around, covering them with a sugary coating.","Now it's time for the doughnuts to get filled.","These nozzles inject just the right amount of jelly.","Each worker fills 45 doughnuts a minute.","After filling, these doughnuts, known as bismarcks, are ready to go on to packaging.","They're just one of the many delicious varieties that this factory turns out on a daily basis.","Next, the shocking truth behind one of your car's most critical parts.","Shock absorbers do more than just smooth your ride.","They counteract the bounce when you hit a bump, holding your tires to the road.","Without that traction, you could lose control.","So by affecting steering, stopping, and stability, shocks are actually a vital safety component.","Wheel vibrations cause a piston inside the shock absorber to force oil through a valve.","This absorbs energy, reducing the vehicle's bounce.","All this happens within the shock's two tubes-- the reserve tube and, inside it, the pressure tube, housing the piston rod and compression valve.","Both of these tubes are made from a steel sheet sliced into strips.","Inside this tube mill, coolant prevents the passing strip from overheating as one forming roller after another gradually rounds it into a tube.","Then, a copper welding wheel fuses the tube closed.","As the 6-yard-long tube comes off the mill, a cutting tool chops it into shock-absorber lengths.","The tube-making process is the same for the reserve and pressure tubes, except that the reserve tubes undergo one extra step-- compressing the ends.","This enables the shock to house a larger reserve tube that can hold more oil.","The reserve tube's final stop is a press.","A die inside stamps the part number, the manufacturing date, and the brand name.","Many components are made of powdered metal-- mostly iron powder mixed with some graphite and copper.","After a press compacts the powder in a die, a furnace fuses the particles.","This powdered-metal part is the valve through which the piston forces the oil.","Steel discs and a spring help control the speed with which the valve operates for varying driving conditions.","A stamping tool crimps the end of the tube, holding the spring in position.","The valve, now fully assembled, seals the bottom of the pressure tube.","Meanwhile, a press punches round steel discs into other components.","These loops mount the shock absorber to the vehicle.","A worker positions a cup on each one, then a robot welds them together.","They insert a cup-and-mount unit on one end of the reserve tube, then weld it on.","This unit is called the base assembly.","The base assemblies now go on a conveyor, open end up so that workers can drop a pressure tube inside each one.","Automated injectors now fill the tubes with oil that's specially designed to maintain its consistency despite changes in temperature.","Next comes the head assembly, which includes the steel piston rod and the mount on the other end of the shock absorber.","Two copper welding wheels fuse the head assembly to the base assembly with a cap.","This closes the unit, sealing the oil inside.","Next, workers weld on a dirt shield-- a steel casing that prevents dirt from hindering the movement of the piston rod.","A piece called a bushing is pressed into each mount.","This helps tone down the vibrations coming from the vehicle.","Now it's on to an automated carousel.","Robots pierce a hole in each shock and inject nitrogen gas to prevent the oil inside from foaming.","After injection, the robot seals the hole by welding on a tiny steel ball.","And now for the finishing touch-- an electrostatic paint job.","A machine runs a positive electrical current through the shocks and a negative one through the paint particles.","Like a magnet, the static electricity draws the paint onto the shocks in a flawless coat.","In the factory's quality-control lab, technicians use sophisticated equipment to evaluate how well a shock dampens movement at different speeds.","The tube-and-valve configuration inside varies by vehicle, so the shocks on a ground-hugging sports car are quite different from those on a luxury sedan or on a light truck.","Coming up, a production line that comes with strings attached.","The twang of the banjo resonates in american country music and bluegrass, but this down-home sound actually has its roots in africa.","Slaves brought to america wanted something that sounded like the instruments from home, so they devised the banjo.","And the rest is music history.","to make a banjo, a lip is carved into wood that's been steamed and bent into a circular rim.","The rim is carefully measured.","It must be a perfect fit for this metal tone ring.","The wooden back of the banjo acts as a sound resonator, and some plastic trim gives it a more stylish look.","A chemical accelerator helps the glue dry so the plastic trim adheres almost instantly.","The surface is then sanded until the plastic is flush to the wood.","This long piece of wood will become the banjo's neck.","Using a table saw, an artisan cuts a long slot into the neck so that a metal adjusting rod can be installed later.","He widens the end of the neck with two pieces of wood to form the instrument's peg head.","Next comes some very delicate work, as tiny mother-of-pearl decorations are embedded in a piece of ebony.","That inlaid piece of ebony is then glued onto the banjo's peg head and clamped to dry.","Now it's over to a saw with 22 blades.","A long piece of ebony is passed over those blades to make the banjo's fret slots.","This is the banjo's fingerboard.","Once it's been adorned with more inlaid decorations, the fingerboard is glued onto the banjo neck.","Next, the edges of the banjo neck and peg head are trimmed down to size.","Using this router, artisans give the back and sides of the banjo neck smoother contours.","The rounded edges will make the instrument easier to hold and play.","They finalize the shape of the neck with a rasp, then give it a thorough sanding.","Here, metal frets are tapped into the slots on the fingerboard, and the overlap is trimmed.","Now it's time for a little color.","Stain is rubbed onto the banjo parts.","When the stain dries, it's followed by 12 coats of lacquer...","And finally, a thorough buffing.","Now all the pieces come together, beginning with the pre-fitted tone ring and wooden rim.","The plastic head through which the banjo's sound will radiate fits on the tone ring.","The head is secured with a tension hoop and a series of hooks.","Tightening these hooks will stretch the plastic head to adjust the instrument's tone.","The banjo neck and its peg head are attached and secured with metal rods.","The tuning pegs are screwed into the peg head.","Then the banjo's strings are attached and tightened.","This little wooden bridge sits on the plastic head and is only held in place by the tension of the strings.","Finally, the back of the banjo goes into place.","And now this finely crafted instrument is ready to strum away."]}
{"meta":{"things":["Native Healing Drums","Raisins","Stereoscopic Viewers","Ribbon Microphones"]},"text":["For thousands of years, aboriginal peoples have used drums to call on healing spirits.","But the sound of the drum itself can be a source of renewal.","The repetitive beat can induce a meditative state which may actually have healing properties.","today, a new generation beats the drum to heal body and spirit.","These young men are from the tewa tribe of northern new mexico.","Like their ancestors before them, they chant and drum in a rhythmic appeal to heal.","To make a healing drum, they start with pieces of pine or spruce-- soft woods that are lightweight.","The native craftsman creates an octagonal design and leaves the glue joints to dry.","The next craftsman soaks a cowhide in water to make it soft and pliable.","He drapes the wet hide over a drum frame and as he does, he looks for cuts or thin patches.","He arranges it so that any flaws aren't apparent.","He then trims the hide.","This particular drum is for powwows.","So it's extra large.","It's a two-sided version for a deeper tone.","He pulls the wet hide to the desired tension and punches holes in the skirting.","He hammers nails through the holes to tack the hide to the frame and cuts a scalloped edge.","He then tacks a hide to the other side.","He places another piece of wet rawhide on a spiral blade and pounds the hide into it using a hickory mallet.","This slices the leather into a long, thin lace.","He extracts the lace from the cutter.","After softening it with water, he takes it outside.","He wraps one end around a post and pulls, stretching the leather to remove slack.","It breaks at any weak points, leaving the strongest parts.","He now laces the leather drumheads to the frame.","He cuts a slit in the end and pulls the rest of the lace through the slit to knot it to the drumhead.","He zigzags the lacing through alternate holes in the the two drumhead hides.","He tugs the lace as he goes to pull the leather drumheads tightly to the frame.","Once complete, he knots the other end.","He threads the second piece of lace through the remaining holes, creating a crisscross pattern.","Paint applied to the frame early on shows through the crisscross weave.","The leather dries to a dark patina for a stunning contrast to the blue hue.","This double-sided drum is now ready for a powwow.","To make a single-sided healing drum, they bend a piece of wood into a complete circle.","A craftsperson signs and stamps the maker's information on the inside.","Then it's over to the drum maker.","She pulls a wet hide to the wooden hoop and folds it under the rim, smoothing out any puckers.","She punches holes for securing the drumhead to the wooden hoop and slices off the excess hide.","She's now ready to lace the drumhead to the frame.","She ties the skin to the frame in a configuration that looks like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.","She pulls it tightly for the desired tonality.","It's all in the technique.","If she doesn't get it right now, the wet drumhead will warp as it dries.","The leather spokes meet at the center in a cross where the drummer will grip it.","The leather darkens as it dries and the tension sets.","She now weaves strips of tanned leather around the cross at the center.","It's a decorative touch that also gives the drummer something more substantial to hold on to.","The drummer will hook a thumb in the cross section to hold the drum with an open hand.","An artist paints symbolic images on the native healing drum.","She works freestyle.","A few strokes of the brush produce a buffalo...","And then then an entire herd.","for native peoples of north america, the bison is a symbol of strength and unity.","A corn maiden painting on a drum represents abundance.","It's art designed to help one heal to the beat.","incredibly, people have been drying grapes to turn them into raisins for 2,000 years.","Today, there are potato chips and chocolate bars, but people are still snacking on raisins.","Preserved and sweetened by the drying process, they can still be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.","2,000 years on the snack circuit, and raisins still get plenty of nibbles.","They're also a popular ingredient in baked goods, cereals, and salads.","At this california vineyard, they plant grapevine cuttings in late winter.","They're the seedless kind.","These cuttings take three years to grow and bear fruit.","Each winter, they prune the vines, cutting away weaker canes and dead wood.","Pruning reduces the number of buds.","So the plant's energy goes to the ones that remain, resulting in larger fruit clusters.","They twist the remaining chutes around an overhead wire trellis and tie them to it.","Grapevines are natural climbers.","Securing them to the trellis positions them to grow in an arc for maximum sun exposure.","They pipe water between the rows.","It pools there and seeps into the soil and down to the roots of the vines.","These particular vines are growing on t-shaped trellises.","It's an older style of trellis.","When the grapes ripen, they cut the canes.","The fruit continues to hang there and it dries on the vines.","After 6 to 8 weeks, the grapes shrivel up and become raisins.","A harvester with comb-like teeth shakes the raisins from the vines.","They fall onto a conveyer, and a vacuum pulls out leaves and then shoots the raisins into bins.","On this particular harvester, the conveyer and the bins are on board.","The t-trellises require a different harvesting system, and the bins are outside in the next row.","Once full, a loader retrieves the bin, and then it's on its way to the packing plant.","Upon arrival, these raisins undergo extensive scrutiny.","An inspector from the u.s. department of agriculture looks for defects as the raisins bounce by on a shaker conveyer.","Technicians also test the moisture content and general quality of the fruit.","A vacuum removes twigs and stems.","They're lighter than the raisins and so they can be easily pulled out.","Here's a sample of the raisins as they arrive from the field.","And here they are with the plant debris removed.","They often store the raisins for weeks before further production.","And during this time, the raisins stick together and form clumps.","A revolving wheel with paddles now breaks up the clumps and separates the raisins.","They tumble off the conveyer and onto a perforated shaker table.","This separates any raisins which may still be clinging together.","Some cap stems remain.","These bits link the grapes to the vine stems.","The raisins now flow into cone-shaped machines that spin them to knock off the cap stems without damaging the raisins.","Once the raisins have been sorted by size, they travel under sprayers for a rinse, wash, and then another rinse.","They cruise by a laser that detects any missed cap stems or plant material.","A blast of air then gets rid of them.","Next, the raisins go into an inspection station and a worker picks out any material that may have been missed by the laser.","With her approval, the raisins are ready for packaging.","Suctioning devices grab and unfold snack-sized boxes and place them, lid up, on a high-speed conveyer or.","Raisins spill into the open snack boxes, and it's all a blur.","They fill 30,000 snack boxes an hour at this facility.","It takes about a year to grow and dry these raisins and just minutes to package them.","Stored in a cool, dry place, they will last a year-- unless someone eats them first.","Stereoscopic viewers date back to the 1840s.","Then, you had to manually insert one photograph at a time.","In 1939, a new type of viewer was introduced which used a reel of slides instead of printed photographs.","You advance from one to the next by pulling on a lever.","Early stereoscopic viewers gave people a way to see the world.","When viewers with reels came out, travel remained the focus.","You could visit a tourist site, then buy yourself a reel at the gift shop as a souvenir.","Today, 3-d viewers are also a business tool.","Companies use them as a creative way to market products or train employees.","And consumers now buy them as a novelty or gift, going online to order custom reels featuring their personal photographs.","Whatever the purpose, it's all about the pictures.","The manufacturer can use photos shot with a 3-d digital camera or with a standard digital camera.","The company's editor transfers the photographs to a computer and types a caption for each one.","If the photos were taken with the regular camera, he performs some computer magic.","He moves the image backwards, away from the viewer's eyes, then floats the text in the foreground closer to the viewer's eyes.","This little trick makes the photo appear to be 3-dimensional.","He puts two of each photo on a reel template.","You view one with each eye and your brain combines the two, creating 3-dimensional depth.","A photo and title in the center identify the reel.","Then the editor sends the assembled reel file to a photo processing lab and sets up the number of copies to be printed.","The photo processor's lasers print the photographs pixel by pixel on polyester film.","The machine prints a full sheet of 35 reels in exactly 1 minute and 14 seconds.","Then the sheet travels through a series of chemical baths and a dryer.","And 11 1/2 minutes later, the film is ready.","The editor carefully inspects every photo on every reel.","If everything's perfect, he feeds the film through a laminator.","The machine sandwiches the film between two sheets of transparent plastic then uses simultaneous pressure and heat to fuse everything together.","Encased in plastic, the floppy film is now rigid and three times thicker.","They now feed the laminated film into a hydraulic punching machine.","Its cookie-cutter type dies slice the perimeter of the reels, releasing them from the sheet.","The viewer itself is made up of injection-molded plastic.","A worker secures the front part in an assembly fixture then places plastic lenses in the eyeholes.","A machine then expands the plastic, locking in the lenses.","Preparing two viewers at a time now, he places a frosted plastic panel on the back part to diffuse the daylight or artificial light coming into the viewer.","An inner eyepiece goes over the diffuser, then this machine applies heat to fuse it in place.","Next, the lever you pull down to advance from photo to photo.","This spring returns it to the \"up\" position after each pull.","Now he mates the two parts of the viewer.","A high-pressure air press squeezes them together in a permanent bond.","The finishing touch--  a printing pad stamps the front of the viewer with the brand name.","Stereoscopic viewers have come a long way since their invention in the 1800s.","While still offering a dose of nostalgia, there's a new twist-- putting your very own photos on a reel as a unique gift or a fun way to relive those vacation memories.","The ribbon microphone was invented in the 1920s and first commercially produced in 1931.","It's called a ribbon microphone because inside, a thin aluminum ribbon positioned between two magnets converts sound waves into electrical signals.","Introduced in 1931, ribbon microphones revolutionized the broadcasting and audio recording industries with unprecedented sound quality.","This company manufactures a modern version of the rca-44, one of the first ribbon microphones.","This manufacturer handcrafts the microphone, starting with the frame, which holds all the components.","After cutting a flat piece of brass, the machinist makes two bends with a press, then drills threaded holes for the fasteners that will connect the frame to the rest of the microphone.","Then he puts the bar into another press that bends the two ends upward to form a u-shape.","The frame goes off to another department to be chrome-plated and polished.","Meanwhile, another machinist takes a sheet of perforated brass to begin forming the microphone's signature grille.","He secures it to a die with two mounting plates.","The die is the shape of one half of the multisided grille.","He mounts it onto a fly press, a press operated by rotating a heavy counterweight.","As that counterweight spins, the die descends into a forming mold that's also in the shape of half of the grille.","A high-speed automated cutter trims the perimeter to make a neat, even edge all around.","Then the grille halves are sent off to be chrome-plated and polished.","Next, a technician assembles the motor, the heart of the microphone.","First, he snaps on two strong magnets.","The gap between them is where he'll later insert the key component-- the thin aluminum ribbon which gives this type of microphone its name.","After aligning the top of the motor with the bottom, he attaches the frame, which has since acquired a custom-made transformer, electrical terminals, and side brackets.","Now for the all-important ribbon.","A technician crafts it from a hair-thin sheet of pure aluminum.","It's so fragile, he has to handle it with tweezers.","First, using the edge of a razor blade, he glues down the edges to a thin sheet of paper set on a glass cutting surface.","Then, he places a second sheet of paper on top and, with a razor blade, slices lengthwise, dividing it into 4 ribbons, each 2/10 of an inch wide.","When sound waves pass through the microphone, they cause minute differences in air pressure between the front and the back of the ribbon inside.","This causes the ribbon to move in response to the peaks and valleys of the sound wave.","The technician corrugates the ribbon so that it responds to this minute air-pressure changes more accurately.","He removes the protective papers and installs the ribbon in the motor, between the two magnets.","In this position, the moving ribbon is a conductor in a magnetic field, generating a tiny current-- an electrical replica of the sound wave that can recorded, amplified, or broadcasted.","A technician tests the ribbon's tension to ensure it's neither too tight nor too loose.","He hooks up the terminals to an audio signal generator and measures at what frequency the ribbon resonates.","If necessary, he tunes the ribbon by adjusting its tension.","He installs what's called a puff shield.","It prevents puffs of air from stretching or tearing the delicate ribbon.","A two-part metal housing will encase the lower part of the motor.","However, before assembling it, a technician glues on an embossed medal medallion bearing the company's logo.","Then he takes the motor, which by now has acquired an output cable, stands it upside down, and assembles the housing around it.","Then he turns it right-side up and assembles the two halves of the grille.","A sleek-looking chrome-plated band hides the joint.","He fastens the microphone to a u-shaped stand called a yoke.","On each side, there's a thumb nut, which you loosen to tilt the mic then tighten to lock the position.","Although newer technologies have emerged since, the classic ribbon microphone still remains a favorite of sound engineers around the world."]}